Transformers

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs

Golly gosh,is Transformers really nearly 20 years old?This timeless celebration of colourful good machines versus bad machines is a piece of genius.I was channelsurfing today,and saw this on one of the channels.It was an episode I remember called The Revenge Of Bruticus.That holds your attention as well now as it did when you were a young kid.In fact,strangely enough,it almost seems better caught up in the pretentiousness of adult life.I would be very happy if they made a big hollywood blockbuster movie adaptation of the series,even though this would contradict my movie laws no end.Maybe the heartless marketing moguls at hollywood should leave this old classic alone,and let it stand the test of time in it's current posistion.*****

Along with "G.I. Joe", this was my one of my favorite cartoons as a kid. It deals with Optimus Prime and his Autobots in their never-ending battle with the evil Decepticons. Yes, the show was a commercial for the unending line of toys, trading cards, and other merchandise, but it was the best commercial EVER in my mind. The adventures were thrilling and I couldn't wait to watch it every day. The show was greatness personified until after the movie. Everything that came afterwords only tainted the memory more and more. Armada being the pinnacle of ass. However watching anything before the movie still remains pure gold and instantly takes me back to my wonderful childhood in the glorious '80's.

My Grade: A

For me, TRANSFORMERS is a cultural thing. It's larger than the '84 TV show and taps right into childhood. It's like the '89 Batman where I can't separate that period sentimentalism from the actual thing. I sit down and watch this, and I'm plugged back into the formative years. It's kinda funny to think of the show as an adult because it was the direct result of the early '80s FCC deregulation, paving the way for half-hour toy commercials as kids' programming. But that's the Lisa Simpson in my head talking. Hasbro's campaign worked, and I've been a fan for 30 years . . . even with the show's dodgy production values and toy line that was both overly complicated (I was constantly referring to the instruction manual) and inconsistent with the animated characters.

But the show worked its magic on me with a vengeance. And there are certainly bigger fans out there than myself. People who've spent years collecting the various iterations, series and live-action movies. But if we're talking the G1 stuff, I'm all over it. And there are other shows from that time that were better produced, but none that hit as precisely as this one. That link between TRANSFORMERS and being a kid is ironclad.

8/10

Transformers, for me were the coolest toys as you could actually do something with them, hey they transformed. The cartoon was a very good compliment to said toys. It followed the story of the Autobots who were good and the Decepticons who were well not good. They raged most of their battles on earth and the show was at its best during the first season and parts of the second season. The ones that occurred after the movie were pretty good, but then I thought the headmaster and target master miniseries that would mark the end of the Transformers generation one was very weak as it was nothing but one big toy commercial and featured many Transformers that were never introduced before playing a rather large role. My favorite episodes usually involved the Decepticons called Constructicons. Six robots that formed the super robot Devastater. They were my favorite toys as a kid and I actually still have them. The show was not without other problems than just the weak ending. A lot of problems stem from problems with the plot and origins of some of the robots. Apparently, they didn't think a kid could remember how a robot was introduced so they created a new origin. Such as Devastator. Clearly introduced in season one as being created on earth they would in a later episode show them having been on Cybertron and they were good guys no less. Also, it was clearly shown you could make a new transformer on earth, but in later episodes it was shown you had to use a special device to infuse them with personality. Still, the problems were not enough to steer me away from this cool cartoon.

Ah, what a gem this was and still is! Sixteen years later, this series still has not lost its sparkle. This is due to the obvious care that was put into this production. Kudos to the animators for successfully animating a slew of WAY cool transforming robots (which, I am sure, is not very easy to do). Kudos to one of the best voice casts ever assembled for a production for bringing the characters wonderfully to life. (The cast list reads like a miniature "Who's Who" among voice artists.) Special thanks must go to Frank Welker, who brought Megatron (among other characters) wonderfully to life. And then, of course, there was the Autobot leader who became so beloved by kids everywhere that he rose to the status of genuine icon for many a child: OPTIMUS PRIME. Now, I liked "Beast Wars" and thought that Gary Chalk was good as Optimus Primal, but the one TRUE voice of the REAL Optimus Prime will ALWAYS belong to Peter Cullen. They could not have gotten (nor will ever get) a person so perfect for the role as him. He brought both gentle warmth and fearless commanding to Prime, and those traits are what made him last, in my opinion. Here's hoping the series will continue to do the same.