Beast Wars Transformers - The Complete Second Season
by Asaph Fipke, Bob Forward, Cal Shumiatcher, Colin Davies, Craig McEwen
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Campbell Lane, David Kaye, Garry Chalk, Ian James Corlett, Jim ByrnesDirector: Asaph Fipke, Bob Forward, Cal Shumiatcher, Colin Davies, Craig McEwen
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Animated, Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 330 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-03-23
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Rhino Theatrical
Movie Reviews of Beast Wars Transformers - The Complete Second Season
Movie Review: The Transformers Strikes Back
Summary: 5 Stars
My early impressions of Beast Wars were formed based on several toys that didn't exactly excite me. For someone who first knew the Transformers in the 1980s, perhaps it's too wide a cultural gap for me to accept Transformers being turned into animals. Still, I decided to give the animation series a try, and bought my first Beast Wars DVD three years ago, Atlantic Alliance's Beast Wars Classic Episodes Vol. 1. To my surprise, I actually enjoyed the show, and the rest, as they always said, is history.
I didn't buy Rhino's Beast Wars Season 1 DVD Boxset, because I was faithfully following the progress of the Alliance's Classic Episodes release. But when there were no signs of Alliance proceeding with more volumes, I decided to order Rhino's Season 2 Boxset. So, here I am, giving you a lowdown of what to expect from this latest release.
The episodes for Season 2 are as follow:
201 Aftermath
202 Coming of the Fuzors, Part One
203 Coming of the Fuzors, Part Two
204 Tangled Web
205 Maximal, No More
206 Other Visits, Part One
207 Other Visits, Part Two
208 Bad Spark
209 Code of Hero
210 Transmutate
211 The Agenda, Part One
212 The Agenda, Part Two
213 The Agenda, Part Three
It's difficult to run through a section about episodes without revealing some spoilers. Do pardon me if I reveal too much. It has now been established that the Beast Wars were indeed happening on a prehistoric planet Earth. The Maximals and Predacons, who're descendants of the Autobots and Decepticons respectively, have unwittingly travelled back in time, when Earth was the target of an alien experiment. Think about the movie "Back to the Future", or simply, imagine your current self being transported back to a time when your grandfather is a young kid. You get the picture. It's therefore all the more interesting to see the sequences unfold. The following are just some of my recommended episodes.
Picking up the pieces from an abruptly concluded Season 1, "Aftermath" documented the transition of some Transformers into "Transmetals", due to a quantum surge. The gloomy atmosphere in the Maximals' camp, following the supposedly destruction of Optimus Primal, was very well rendered. We get to see very distinctive character developments in the ways how Rattrap, Cheetor, Rhinox and Dinobot handled their leader's death.
"The Coming of Fuzors" two-parter wrapped up the loose ends from earlier episodes, as well as introduced two new characters in the form of Silverbolt and Quickstrike. These episodes liberally employed a "western cowboy" style of story-telling, which is a joy to watch. Of course, the return of Optimus Primal saved the day for the Maximals, again!
"Code of Hero" is perhaps one of the best Transformers episode I've ever watched. It featured the death of a fan favorite, the Predacon-turned-Maximal Dinobot. His shocking departure will rank as the best death scenes in any Transformers episode, outdoing even G1 Optimus Prime's death in Transformers: The Movie. Dinobot single-handledly took on the entire Predacons army in protecting humanity, and died a hero that he always aspire to be. The impact of his death was as compelling as the first time I watched the show.
And of course, "The Agenda" three-parter provided the most blatant linkage of the Beast Wars series to the original G1 story. We saw the appearance of the G1 Decepticon Ravage and the many cameos of G1 characters like Optimus Prime, Soundwave, etc., and we rejoiced that an excellent animated series like this has finally went into history as being an official continuation of the great G1 series. These are episodes that you'd want to watch again and again, because just by the sheer thought of mentioning, I'm already experiencing goose pimples.
There are more action that I could ever pen from these 13 episodes. The relationship between Silverbolt and Blackarchnia was also an interesting subplot, as well as the evil schemes of Tarantulus. In short, you could very well be tempted to watch all 13 episodes at one go, which I did! If you need to read detailed sypnosis and comments on all the episodes, you may visit Ben Yee's BWTF.com.
For a DVD Boxset, the special features are pretty flat. We're given a 360 degrees characters shots, close-up headshots/ poses, scale reference charts and some transformation sequences. Sadly, none of these are narrated, and it really does get very boring after a minute. Perhaps an inclusion of episodes introductions, or some interviews with the creators of the show would have make this more enjoyable.
Excellent story-telling and some compelling action sequences made Beast Wars Season 2 one of the best animated series ever. For those who've yet to watch the show at all, I suggest getting all three season boxsets and enjoy the ride. For those who have, take this opportunity to get a re-introduction. This is a highly recommended product.
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