July 30, 2008

Transformers are a house hold name these days. Ever since their creation in 1984 to the recent box office hit, generations of fans have fallen in love or back in love with them. Personally I grew up with the Transformers and they still remain one of my favorite cartoons of all time. Many fans of the show will contest which of the numerous shows was the best Transformers series.

To me, one that cannot narrow his choices down to one in some cases, there are three series that I hold as my favorites. My first choice would obviously be the Gen 1 series, followed by Beast Wars and finally Transformers: Cybertron.

This brings me round to the point of this article in the first place as I give you my review of Transformers Cybertron: The Ultimate Collection. This 7-Disc Collection covers the third and final section in the Unicron Trilogy. In this Ultimate Collection, viewers will get to see all 4 Seasons of the Transformers: Cybertron show. This show however takes on a whole new look for the previous one due to its perfect blend of CG and conventional animation.

Being a long time fan of the Transformers universe this new show is the much needed revamp that the series needs. Ever since the end of the Beast Wars show, I have found the Transformers series from there on out to be rather lacking in the intensity of the Gen 1 cartoons.

The story of this show starts after the destruction of Unicron in Transformers: Energon. Unfortunately with his destruction, a black hole that poses to destroy the entire universe was created. The AutoBots evacuate Cybertron but as they are transporting some last minute supplies they are attacked by StarScream. Realizing that this is a trick Optimus rushes off to the AutoBots headquarters while Vector Prime, an ancient Transformer, warps Landmine to Earth.

Here Landmine crashes on Earth and befriends Coby, Bud, and Lori. Optimus soon finds Landmine and reveals to the humans that the Map to finding the 4 Cyber Planet Keys has been stolen by the evil one himself, Megatron. Without the map, the Auto bots must find another way to locate the Cyber Planet Keys. With the help of the 3 children they spend their time searching and fighting Decepticons at every turn.

A few of the things I really like about this show is how some of earth’s legends such as Atlantis, vampires, werewolves, UFO’s and even Bigfoot are tied into the show. I will not go anymore in-depth on this matter as I would ruin all the fun.

The other thing that I like about Transformers: Cybertron is the fact that the Transformers and their human friends (after much begging and persuasion) get to visit several different planets and even an alternate universe. They even get to see an amazing discovery once they visit Cybertron.

Since this is Transformers: Cybertron in its complete 4 Season entirety, there is just too much stuff to bring up in this review. All I will say is that this show packs a serious amount of action into its 7 disc set with all 52 episodes. Cybertron instills all the morals, values, the importance of teamwork and courage that the original series did all those years ago.

Filmmaking: 10
Transformers Cybertron: The Ultimate Collection is quite possibly one of the best things to happen to the Transformers lore. This is the one series that brings back the glory of the original series of old and makes it new with a totally new look. The storyline over these four seasons is one filled with the same spark that made the original series great. The people behind Transformers: Cybertron did a fantastic job at bringing back the true spark of the original show.

Graphics: 9
Graphically, Transformers: Cybertron is amazing. This show mixes the classic animation of the old days with CG created Transformers that harks from the Beast Wars. The classic animation may be a bit more up to date and is more in line with shows like Digimon and the sort. The CG transformation scenes are amazing and really get you interested in the show.

The character design of all the characters in this show are detailed for both the Transformers themselves and the all of the humans involved, especially Coby, Bud and Lori. I really couldn’t ask for a better mix of animation types that this show offers.

Sound: 8
Transformers Cybertron: The Ultimate Collection has a very well rounded voice cast. Gary Chalk, the man behind Optimus’ voice for Optimus Primal in Beast Wars continues his roles as the AutoBot leader for Transformers: Cybertron. No real surprise there since he did the voices for the previous two shows in the Unicron arc. I have to say that he does an amazing performance that is worthy to fall in the footsteps of Peter Cullen’s work. David Kaye also continues his role as Megatron for the entirety of the Unicron arc as well.

I also have to mention that I absolutely love the new theme song for Transformer: Cybertron. In Japan this show like so many animated shows had several opening and ending songs. The English version however got a bit of a remix as those songs were replaced with the “Transformers: Cybertron Theme” done by none other than Paul Oakenfold.

Value: 8
Transformers Cybertron: The Ultimate Collection features no special extras but manages to deliver nothing but action in this 7-disc set. This set retails for around $40 dollars and for 52 amazing episodes you would be crazy not to pick this set up. Essentially 4 seasons in 1 Box set and still managing to keep it under $ 50 dollars is impressive.

Overall: 9.0
As I mentioned above this is one of my favorite Transformers shows. It is still not my ultimate favorite as it would not be around if not for the Gen 1 cartoons but it holds its own and deserves a spot in my Transformers memorabilia. As a long time fan, I have no doubt that any fan of the Transformers will let this version pass by unnoticed. It’s a great show that captures what I believe is the true spark and essence of the Transformers Universe. I recommend this title to any Transformers fan or to anyone that is just getting acquainted with our huge robotic friends.