“The Transformers: Season 1”
a review by Darby O’Gill
It’s the show that started it all. And if you’re in your 30’s, chances are good you grew up with Optimus Prime and Megatron bringing the battle of Cybertron to Earth.
The toys were the most groundbreaking things of their time, and the cartoon series just brought things to the next level. I’m going to be upfront with you guys, I’m more than bias when it comes to “The Transformers.” This stuff was a BIG part of my childhood. Now, just like most childhood memories, revisiting them could always be rather dangerous. I’ll never forget the first time I watched “Davey & Goliath” in my adult years… Wow! But I am glad to say for the most part these cartoons do hold up. They may not be as flashy as the animated cartoons of today, but if you can get past that, they really do give you a taste of your childhood. It’s amazing to realize just how much “The Transformers” was largely responsible for my deep seeded imagination and love of story telling. The new 25th Anniversary transfer of the first 16 episodes is truly outstanding. It may not be Blu-Ray, but it still looks good on an HDtv. I think one of the biggest surprises for me, from watching Season 1 again, is just how early the Dinobots were introduced in the series.
For some reason I seem to remember the Dinobots being added to the show later, but the truth is they came into play in episode eight. How about that? The bottom line is, it’s a must have if you ever loved this cartoon. I don’t know about you, but I’m planning on sitting my kids down in front of “The Transformers” and not “SpongeBob SquarePants.” Now let’s see what we can do about getting “M.A.S.K.” on DVD.
My Bias Rating:
DVD Special Features:
- Triple Changer: From Toy to Comic to Screen – The Origins of “The Transformers”
- Printable “Transport to Oblivion” Script (DVD ROM)
- A Rare PSA
- Archival Hasbro Toy Commercials
There could stand to be some more special features here. The featurette about the making of the toys and cartoons is great, but something a little more would be great on here. It’s fun to see the old toy commercials, but for rights reasons they have to blur out the kids’ faces. And I thought they were scary before.
2 comments
Comments feed for this article
June 25, 2009 at 8:10 pm
jeremyrscott
I already have the Rhino sets from 7 years ago, but I have a feeling I am going to get this any way. Those sets have added sound effects and some of the effects were missing. GOD, every time a hear that sound track I feel like I am 7 again
June 25, 2009 at 9:15 pm
Darby O'Gill
I have a 20th Anniversary Import Box Set of the whole series from Japan, and the video and audio quality on this 25th Anniversary set is much better. Also all the menus on my old set are in Japanese. It says on the back of the new DVD that they added the missing animation and remastered it the best they could. The price point is really good too. The Rhino sets were like $100 or $150 bucks each, which is why I never got them, but the new one is anywhere from $16 to $19 depending on where you go. Season 2 is a much bigger set, hopefully they won’t jack the price up too high. Because if the price stays low, I’ll have no problem replacing my Japanese set.