Transformers: Prime - Season 1

[Captain Craig]

I get why the premise states there are only 6 Autobots but it's obvious from Prime's lifted and reedited movie speech that other 'Bots are out there.

Optimus said there are only 5 Autobots left on Earth (that he's aware of, at least) but that others may remain elsewhere in the cosmos. (Not necessarily in the Cosmos, however.)

I'm accounting for the hope that Cliffjumper will be back, making it 6 eventually.
Prime, Bee, Ratchet, Arcee, Bulkhead and then a returned Cliffjumper.


October for the toyline.
Obviously they want/need the shelf space for TF3 movie figs. I wonder if the Generations line will run parallel during the summer and continue. Is it possible we might have 3 lines of toys out by October '11? The TF3 line, Generations and Prime.

 

[Unicron]

I'm undecided. I'm not really that keen on Animated and can't judge it without watching it, but I don't like how cartoony the character designs are for that incarnation. The only one that's halfway decent that I've seen is Animated Arcee. I'd agree with the views mentioned here that, artistically, this is sort of a hybrid between the Animated and movie aesthetics.

 

[Christopher]

The look of Animated is an acquired taste, but I found the stories to be worth it. The look of this show is an acquired taste too.

 

[Hound of UIster]

Animated did TFs better than anything short of BW.

I find it bizarre, people get hung up by the smallest things.

 

[Greylock Crescent]

I agree that the visual style of Prime doesn't immediately impress. But I wasn't all that impressed with the style of Clone Wars, either. Ultimately, as long as the writing is strong, I'll enjoy it. So far (two episodes in), despite a few minor issues, the writing has been pretty good.

Animated did TFs better than anything short of BW.

How would you compare TFA to BW? I never saw TFA.

 

[Christopher]

After seeing part 2 of the miniseries, I'm finding myself unimpressed with the character animation. The movements of both the human and Cybertronian characters are stiff and awkward, and the human faces aren't very expressive. There's also a distinct lack of extras in the outdoor scenes. Where is everybody?

Frank Welker seems to be playing Megatron differently than he did in G1 -- less histrionic shouting and more cool, calculating malevolence. I think I read somewhere that he can't quite pull off the more shouty Megatron voice anymore, or at least that he's choosing to avoid the strain on his voice. Anyway, it's an interesting choice, and he's doing his usual workmanlike job, but I don't think I find it quite as effective as Corey Burton's Megatron; maybe about on a par with David Kaye. It is an improvement on Welker's original Megatron voice, though.

Having instant teleportation to anywhere they want to go seems to undermine the premise of disguising themselves as vehicles. It was kind of silly seeing them transform to drive into the "ground bridge" and then transform back the moment they emerged. Why bother?

And I'm growing increasingly convinced that Arcee has a much larger volume in robot form than in motorcycle form. Really, I don't think that if you unfolded the contents of a motorcycle into a bipedal shape, it would be anywhere near that large.

 

[Timby]

Obviously they want/need the shelf space for TF3 movie figs. I wonder if the Generations line will run parallel during the summer and continue. Is it possible we might have 3 lines of toys out by October '11? The TF3 line, Generations and Prime.

The Hunt for the Decepticons line is over, and Generations is ending after Wave 6; they're being folded into the "Reveal the Shield" line, which will then become the Transformers 3 line. As I understand it, Prime and Dark of the Moon will be the two toylines starting with next summer.

 

[Gojirob]

I like a lot of it, but Megatron coming back from a butt-kicking exile with even more power than he left with reminds me of Beast Machines. While that upgrade had an explanation of sorts, it still always struck me as 'Well, we kicked his butt and humiliated him and left him all damaged in a bad position, but when he comes back, this will cause him to overwhelmingly win'. Even on G1, I didn't mind when Megs would out think the Bots, but an absurd amount of dumb luck would also fall his way, making a random thing seem annoying. As long as Megs-TP doesn't become the '19 kinds of invincible/every burp is all part of my plan' wall-banger from Beast Machines, I look fwd to this.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I've not really been a fan of any of the TF series that have come out post-Beast Wars (and that includes Beast Machines) but I've decided that I will give this show a chance to convince me to watch it.

 

[Greylock Crescent]

In part 3, I liked the opening with the Autobots bonding with the humans. I also liked Megatron's zombie army at the very end. But the middle section of the episode was the first dud for me. The humans finally became annoying. Here's hoping that it's a blip in the radar.

 

[Christopher]

I dunno, I really like Miko. I like characters with that kind of unbridled enthusiasm and innocence. She's also the only human character with a reasonably good design.

But Jack and Raf should really have known better than to go into danger on their own and leave the base unmanned. They deserve a serious chewing out for that.

It's looking as if Ratchet and Bulkhead are basically the same characters they were in Animated (respectively, gruff old veteran and feckless, insecure big lug) despite the very different voices. All the other characters are different, though. This Optimus is the imposing, wise leader of his original characterization rather than the more inexperienced Optimus of TFA. Arcee is much more temperamental than the introspective Prowl. And Bumblebee's hardly even got a personality here, thanks to the annoying and pointless non-speaking gimmick. I guess Megatron is fairly close, but Starscream is less openly rebellious and more subtle. The only other distinct Decepticon character, other than those interchangeable goons, is Soundwave, who, like Bumblebee, doesn't have a personality so much as a gimmick.

 

[Greylock Crescent]

I generally like the human characters, but this episode just wasn't the best portrayal of their personalities. Like I said, the opening, which the humans and 'bots did some bonding was fun. But then it was a kind of overload of the most overt parts of their personalities -- Raf being way too much of a wiz and hacking the governments systems, Jack rushing off like he's a hero, Mika being way too enthusiastic. These are good parts of their characters, but they needed to be in smaller measure (or at least, only ramp up one of them at a time).

 

[isralexba]

I wonder how it will compare to the old (somewhat scruffy) animated series ....

 

[Christopher]

^Which old animated series? There are quite a few by now. And there's never been a Transformers series that wasn't animated, so it's kind of redundant to mention it (which is why Transformers: Animated was such a silly title; presumably it was to distinguish it from the live-action movies, but the Transformers in the movies were still animated even if the humans and scenery generally weren't).

 

[Greylock Crescent]

Part 4 is much better -- and not just because the action was ramped up. The kids were much, much better. I liked how the battles on the Decepticon ship took a toll on the kids. And I especially liked the final scene between Mika and Jack. Overall, a very good episode.

 

[Christopher]

Yeah, I like it that Jack is not reacting to the danger like it's a fun adventure, and that he's talking about being responsible. Nice to see a kids' TV hero acknowledging concepts like responsibility and caution. (I was always really annoyed by how reckless and disobedient Jade was on Jackie Chan Adventures, particularly since she never suffered any cost for it. It sent a bad message. "Hey kids, go ahead and disobey the parents and caregivers who are trying to protect you from danger! Danger is fun, you can't possibly get hurt, and they'll need your superior competence and attitude to save their butts!")

 

[Gepard]

Agreed that part 4 was really good. In fact, I'd say it was freaking awesome. In no particular order:

• Agree with Christopher about the responsibility angle. Disobeying rules and regulations that exist for very good reasons is too often portrayed as a good thing. Glad it wasn't the case here.
• This Megatron is pretty damn, unapologetically, evil. Raising zombie armies for universal conquest and wasting no time beating the shit out of Starscream for stepping out of line? He showed a lot more enthusiasm for his villainy here than either his Animated or movie counterparts.
• Loved the bit with the cell phone camera being used to photograph the Decpeticon computer screen. That was my first thought on seeing it, and much more logical than the usual way of ignoring tech (in)compatibility. *coughIndependenceDaycough* I also like that they acknowledged that just plugging in a USB drive wouldn't work.
• Optimus is so much cooler with his faceplate on. That's one thing I really haven't liked about his most recent three incarnations.
• And the BSG-style episode-ending galaxy-spanning cliffhanger planet revealing epic zoom was great, too.

I really hope this episode sets the tone for the series and isn't a fluke.

And I'm growing increasingly convinced that Arcee has a much larger volume in robot form than in motorcycle form. Really, I don't think that if you unfolded the contents of a motorcycle into a bipedal shape, it would be anywhere near that large.

Seeing Miko inside Bulkhead's chest makes it pretty clear there's some scale hanky-panky going on with him, too. I think most of hte main characters grow in size a bit when they transform. (Have we seen Ratchet or Optimus in alt-mode yet?)

 

[Christopher]

Given that Jack was talking about responsibility here, it's amusing that he's played by Josh Keaton, whose previous series-regular role was as Peter Parker (Mr. "With great power comes great responsibility") on The Spectacular Spider-Man.

 

[Nick Ryder]

I never had a problem with a bit of mass shifting - hell in the old G1 cartoon, there was an episode where Soundwave and Megatron were both sitting on a guy's desk in alt mode, a security guard puts them in a lost and found cage, they transform and grow quite a bit. Bay was the one that didn't want mass shifting in TF, felt that it should all work with whatever space was in the alt mode - although TFs are sorta like origami, they can fold and such - but hey like MST3K taught it "It's only just a show, I really should relax."

I'm just looking forward to seeing more 'Bots join the team, I know they want to start off small, but it'd be nice to see others show up. Ironhide, Prowl, Wheeljack, Huffer, Hound, Kup...

 

[Nick Ryder]

Given that Jack was talking about responsibility here, it's amusing that he's played by Josh Keaton, whose previous series-regular role was as Peter Parker (Mr. "With great power comes great responsibility") on The Spectacular Spider-Man.

So THAT'S why he sounds so familiar - I was trying to place where I heard him before.