Episode Review - BH Ep56 - Rebellion

[GoktimusPrime]

Though we need to remember that in the end it is kids program and some of the stuff wont make much 'logical' sense to us grown ups.

Beast Wars was still primarily created as a children's programme, but still successfully managed to engage an adult audience. Also as G1 voice actor Michael McConnohie says, children aren't stupid. Don't treat them like idiots. I reckon most kids watching that scene where Wheeljack took his swords out would've thought, "Why didn't the Decepticons take his swords away??" Think back to our own childhood -- we often laughed at this kind of stuff even in the G1 cartoon... like when Chip Chase tore a floppy disk apart with his bare hands!

[Sinnertwin]

Think back to our own childhood -- we often laughed at this kind of stuff even in the G1 cartoon... like when Chip Chase tore a floppy disk apart with his bare hands!

I still can't do that. And ive been trying since 1985
But you're right, kids are far more intelligent than we sometimes give them credit for.

[ILikeSoundwave]

And where did Knockout go in this episode?, on a vacation?

[GoktimusPrime]

I was watching this episode again while doing the housework (as ya do), and I noticed this...


Wheeljack grabs his sword handles and pulls his swords out, but there are still two sword handles sheathed on his back after he's drawn his swords and uses them!!

So wait... how is this possible?? Does he have four swords? If so, why don't we see four sword handles before he draws the first pair? At first I wondered if this has been a long standing anomaly that I've just failed to notice before (or maybe I'd noticed it and forgotten about it), and I was gonna post about this in the "Things you never realised about Transformers" thread... but then I went and watched a previous episode - the scene where Wheeljack is Starscream's prisoner - NO sword handles! So obviously there are moments where his swords are absent, other times when they're present... and times like this where they're extra present!

Go home swords... you're drunk.

[lancalot]

wow Gok you got keen eyes ..hey arnt you suspose to be doing the housework .. Thinking they rushing to put the epi out fast and was too lazy to remove it from the model ..

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

I found this episode a little dull to be honest. Very predictable. I also thought the animation of Optimus as he flew in and punched Megatron looked very awkward. Despite all that momentum he had from flying in, it looks like he is trying to wash most of it off as he span around twice. Another whacky bit was when he grabbed Megs and chucked him at the gun energy source, all of a sudden he is flying right in front of the gun cannon, like he is in the exact same spot as from before Megatron attacked him.

That really took me out of the moment.

I liked the quote'looking robust" ha ha ha! I also really dig Ultra Magnus. Predaking is finished all ready? But it was a clever way to take him out and a nice reminder of the Scraplets ep. Hmm, continuity.

On a side nite, I did see an advert for teh BH toys, with little animated Ops and Bees fighting with Predaking ala Toy Story. It was pretty cool. Maybe that's where some of the budget has gone, and only the 13 episodes

[Zommael]

I'm afraid I'm with those who thought this episode was a little on the boring side. I thought the previous episodes provided some great set up that could have been used to maintain the whole season, albeit with the Autobots getting OP back, but still being on the run from the Decepticons who are gradually taking control. Instead all that got wrapped in four episodes. I hope given that this is a shorter season we do get more of a season-long arc rather than waste of time episodes, but I don't really see how that will happen with the status quo having been restored. I also felt OP should have been mad at Smokescreen for doing what he did and that no real explanation was given as to how he was reformatted. Given his prominence in the toyline the way Predaking was taken out sucked and he needs to come back and be more of a threat.

[GoktimusPrime]

Yeah, "Coming of the Fuzors Part 2" had the same premise but handled it a lot better IMO.
e.g.:
+ The new 'Cons weren't uber-powerised-then-powered-down like Predaking. We had the two Fuzors, who bolstered the ranks of the Predacons and gave them an advantage, but individually they weren't shown to be extraordinarily powerful or easy to beat like Predaking was.
+ Whereas the Autobots were taken captive - unshackled and not disarmed, the Predacons took no prisoners. The Maximals were beaten with a freakin' millimetre of their life and would've been killed if not for Optimus Primal's timely return. Optimus Prime's return was convenient in stopping the Decepticons from using Darkmount's fusion cannon against the humans, but our heroes (the Autobots) were in no imminent danger... and were obviously capable of freeing themselves whenever they wanted to. In CotF, the Maximals desperately needed salvation! Rhinox had a freakin' massive hole in his chest!
+ Optimus Prime did that very fancy/stylised (and highly unrealistic) twirly moves -- Optimus Primal transformed into his new artillery robot mode and "brought the rain." The great thing about that was that it's not even an official mode for the toy (the instructions and stock photos never show it; most probably never intended to be a mode for that toy by HasTak) -- it was basically a fan mode that the animators had made up themselves! This clearly showed that the animators actually played with the toys! (because Hasbro always sent them samples of the toys for them to 3D scan and render as CGI models). This of course wouldn't happen in TF Prime where the models are made concurrently with the toys, and not afterwards.

This...

...was not as cool as this: