Transformers Reviews News on Seibertron.com
Date: Tuesday, September 18th 2007 6:47pm CDT
Categories: Toy News,
Reviews,
Digital Media News
Posted by: i_amtrunks |
Credit(s): Bombus distinguendus
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Seibertron's own Bombus distinguendus has found his November issue of Toyfair is packed to the rafters with Transformers!
Here's what he found inside:
TF Animated Prototype pics :
- Prowl (robot form),
- Bulkhead (robot and vehicle mode),
- Starscream (is a grey blue and red colour, both robot and vehicle mode)
- Bumblebee (vehicle and robot)
Star Wars Transformers:
- TF Darth Vader/Death Star
- Luke/Snowspeeder
- Commander Cody/ Turbo Tank
Other Figures:
- 6' Optimus Prime
- Masterpiece Skywarp (vehicle mode only)
- Optimus Prime Ipod Docking Station (vehicle mode only)
- Masterpiece Starscream (in G1 colours/robot mode)
As well as all the Transformers pictures, Toyfare also features a Huge Story on The Gobots!!!
So if you need a fix of Transformers toys, or want a sneak peek at the Animated figures, you may want to check out the November Toyfair magazine.
Date: Monday, June 4th 2007 9:19pm CDT
Categories: Cartoon News,
Movie Related News,
Reviews,
Site Articles
Posted by: Hotrod |
Credit(s): Chris McFeely
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Our own Chris McFeely has stopped by. He has posted a review of Metrodome's THE TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE – ULTIMATE EDITION DVD. Here is his review:
THE TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE – ULTIMATE EDITION
Dir: Nelson Shin
Cert: PG
Starring: Judd Nelson, Leonard Nimoy, Robert Stack, Lionel Stander, Eric Idle, Orson Welles, Peter Cullen, Frank Welker
FEATURE
Yeah. It’s the movie. You know it, I know it. That’s not what we’re here for. Let’s move on.
VIDEO
THIS is what we’re here for.
This is Metrodome’s second shot at properly releasing the movie – leaving aside cheapie budget versions that have nothing about them worth speaking of, their previous effort was “Transformers: The Movie – Reconstructed,” which aimed to show every millimetre of footage that was animated by peeling aside the edges of the screen to reveal it. This resulted in a rather misjudged “curtained” image which was fine for widescreen-television owners, but shafted those with regular-size sets. Additionally, the image was taken from the original negative, but was inadvertently converted to NTSC before being converted to PAL, resulting in a badly interlaced image. The colour balance of the thing was all over the place, and the picture was very soft – I recall speaking fairly well of it when it came out, but time has opened my eyes to its flaws.
This “Ultimate Edition” of the film takes it cue from Sony’s 20th Anniversary release last year, which featured a newly-remastered widescreen version of the film, to replicate its original theatrical presentation. This time, Metrodome have succeeded in making a PAL transfer directly from the negative, resulting in smooth video (which, due to PAL speedup, runs a few minutes faster than viewers will be used to, and while the faster speed is not noticeable to my eyes or ears, the quality it brings with it is) that is sharper in Sony’s, with colours that I would describe as... “cooler,” but for the most part, more “correct” to my eyes. Most notably, of course, Hot Rod is no longer the bubblegum-pink of Sony’s version.
All I can do is echo the sentiments of all the other professional reviews that have compared the two, and say that this is the best that the movie has ever looked on DVD.
AUDIO
The audio for the Reconstructed DVD was also a bodge-job, thanks to Magno Sound, who were responsible for adding all those extra noises to the series DVD boxsets (from both Rhino and Metrodome), and did it again for the movie – on both the 5.1 and 2.0 audio tracks. For the Ultimate Edition, the Reconstructed audio was dissected with a fine-toothed comb, and while not every sound could be removed (otherwise it, uh, wouldn’t be 5.1), the most offensive, inappropriate offenders have been ganked the hell out of there. This includes, but is not limited to, those insufferable, overbearing “sizzling whipcracks” that were all over the place in the series, and the pop-gun banging of Prime’s gun. It’s still not QUITE perfect, mind you, because the levels seem not to have been modified following the removal of these sounds – consequently, the actual sound of Prime’s gun is very low.
There is, however, a completely unmolested 2.0 track to enjoy, with nary an extra zip or zap in sight. That’s how I’ll be watching it!
PACKAGING AND PACK-INS
The movie is available in both a single-disc and a two-disc version.
The single disc is packaged in a standard DVD case, with a rather artsy cover image that’s a paintbrushed version of the image of Optimus Prime that Andrew Wildman drew for the Season 1 box set. This version – I don’t have it, so I’m not 100% on this – does not have any extra features beyond the remastered picture and the two audio tracks. It is simply labelled as a “special edition.”
The two-disc set is the “Ultimate Edition.” It consists of a metal case, decorated with the above-mentioned illustration, which opens to reveal a standard DVD case with a different sleeve, bearing the original UK movie poster artwork. This is awesome. It’s nothing against Don Figueroa, but when I look at the Sony set, or the Australian release that he also provided a cover for, it just looks *wrong* to me to have this stylized, modern artwork appearing on the cover of a release of a twenty-year-old film. I’ve always preferred the use of the original poster artwork, be it US or UK, for releases of the movie, and this tin-and-case combo balances new and classic art in just the right way to keep me merry.
Depending on where you buy the two-disc set, there could be one of several different bonuses in store for you when you open the case. Buying it from Play.Com will net you a set of three postcards commemorating the different movie artwork – one displays the US poster, the second the UK poster, and the third the Ultimate Edition cover art. Snag it from HMV, and you’ll find that the sleeve is reversible, with the US artwork on the other side. Pick it up from Virgin, and there’s a set of art cards waiting for you, displaying various images from the film. Woolworths and Toys R US include posters with their versions, but I’ve not seen these, so I don’t know what they’re of.
The set comes with a sixteen-page booklet written by me (I assume this isn’t included with the single-disc version). It serves as an overview of the movie and the DVD, beginning with a personal introduction, then a discussion of the remastering of the video and audio, and a four page “essay” on the making of the movie, discussing the production, writing, animation, actors, soundtrack and distribution. After this, there’s a section on where the movie falls in the chronology of the series, summarising each of the seasons, ending with an explanation of what Scramble City is (it’s included as an extra feature), and thanks from me and Metrodome to various good chaps. In general, as with the commentary discussed below, my aim with the booklet was to put the information across in a clear and descriptive manner and without “familiarity,” if you know what I mean, so that newbies and nostalgics inspired to buy by the live-action movie can read it and understand it without being baffled by terminology or the tendency to take certain things as read, as hardcore fans do, while at the same time, discussing topics and trivia that not even regular online contributors may be aware of.
I also wrote a large selection of actor biographies/filmographies, but there wasn’t room in the booklet for them. I’m told they might appear on the website –
www.transformersdvd.com – at some point.
MENUS
After the copyright stuff at the start of the disc, the traditional Metrodome logo has been replaced with a Transformers logo, rendered like the live-action movie logo, as if it were tarnished metal (the same effect is employed on the DVD cover), which then “transforms”, like the logo in the LAM trailer, into the word “Metrodome.” This is cute. I like it. :)
The menus themselves are fairly simply affairs with clips of the movie running in the centre, and a lot of geometric shapes for buttons that are not *entirely* intuitive. They’re not stunningly attractive, but they are functional, and while not as intricate or impressive and Sony’s shifting design, I’ll take actual footage of the movie over Sony’s use of purse-grabbing Dreamwave art for reasons very similar to those discussed above over the cover.
EXTRAS
The meat and potatoes of it all.
DISC 1
This disc includes a feature-length audio commentary by me. It’s a pretty breathless experience, as I just had *so* much stuff laid out in my notes in front of me that I didn’t have time to let up anywhere. No slight against those that participated in the Sony commentary track, but I felt that it fell into the trap I discussed above – the tendency to be very “familiar”, talking not just about the movie, but Transformers as a whole, as if all the listeners are automatically informed about all of it, and will know what “Diaclone” is, and other such things that are not the province of Joe Public, with the presence of multiple commentators preventing them from dwelling on any one topic long enough to get really specific about it. I go out of my way to begin the whole affair by summarising the creation of the Transformers toyline, going through G.I. Joe, Henshin Cyborg, Microman, Diaclone and MicroChange, so that viewers will understand what I’m talking about when I refer to them, and I always make sure to clarify what characters I’m talking about by saying something like “Dirge, the blue cone-headed jet,” given how few of them are actually named in the film. It’s a very concentrated effort to make the commentary open to everyone, to not confuse those who aren’t as informed as fans on message boards, but at the same time, to include lots of obscure facts, trivia and anecdotes that will ensure that even informed fans get something out of it.
At least, uh, I hope. /: )
Next on the list is a familiar feature from the Reconstructed list of extras – a compare-and-contrast of the differences between the US and UK versions, offering clips of the opening, closing and Spike’s expletive. Twelve TV spots for the movie follow (in contrast to Sony’s eight), alongside the US theatrical trailer and the Japanese “trade trailer” with Diaclone Magnus. Both Sony and Metrodome include the “final title check” and “cinex check” reels, the former featuring the Superman-style flying text cast credits, and the latter featuring several animation effects, including a “clean open” version of Laserbeak’s approach to Cybertron, without text.
After that, there are a selection of character biographies – these appeared previously on the Reconstructed disc, and actually come from the Australian release, but whereas Reconstructed just literally cropped the screens of text and pasted them in, background and all, this version reproduces the text with a new design. Profiles included are for Arcee, Blurr, Hot Rod, Kup, Springer, Ultra Magnus, Brawn, Ironhide, Optimus Prime, Prowl, Ratchet, Wheeljack, Windcharger, Cyclonus, Galvatron, Scourge, Bombshell, Kickback, Megatron, Shrapnel, Skywarp, Starscream, Thundercracker and Unicron. The presence of so many unimportant characters, only included to give a sort of “book of the dead” side to the profiles, is sort of bothersome when characters like Wreck-Gar, Grimlock and Perceptor go unmentioned, as is the sweeping statement that Skywarp unequivocally became Cyclonus, or the *ridiculous* notion that one of Galvatron’s weaknesses is a “reliance on Unicron,” but overall, they’re as nice as they ever were.
The final extra on this disc is a rather nifty little trailer that Metrodome created to promote this DVD release.
DISC 2
As I haven’t mentioned it before, this would be a good time to point out that this disc features the original, fullscreen version of the film. It is an unremastered version, the same version included on those budget releases you can pick up for £2 in any store, hence it is entirely unremarkable – kinda dark, but watchable anyway, and certainly nicer looking that the fullscreen version on the Sony disc, where the colours are all *over* the place. What is notable is that is it the UK version of the film, with the opening text crawl, no swear and Caroli’s closing narration, thereby making both versions of the movie available in one set. Nice!
After this, the disc includes a 25-minute interview featurette with story consultant Flint Dille, then a 20-minute video of Peter Cullen’s Q&A session from… I don’t know what convention this is from, I’m afraid, but the video comes courtesy of Evantainment.Com. Both men talk about their history in the industry and their involvement in Transformers, coming across as likeable blokes, with Cullen getting emotional in a few spots.
The next feature is Scramble City, the big draw of which is that – unlike Sony’s version – it contains the original Japanese audio and subtitles, as well as a new commentary from me. The subs, it must be said, are “hard” subs, permanently on-screen, which cannot be turned off – I believe this is a rip of that bootleg that goes about. The subs are functional, conveying the action and intent decently, and thankfully, were already translated into English terminology, talkin’ about Optimus Prime, Autobots, Decepticons, etc, rather than Convoy, Cybertrons and Destrons. I don’t think they use an apostrophe correctly in all 30 minutes, though. VERY disappointingly, however, something has gone horribly wrong with the video. The individual disc I received of the episode during production of the DVD was of the same sort of quality as the version included on Sony’s – however, somewhere between that disc and the final release, the video has become washed out and greenish throughout, looking like a bad VHS dump. I mean, yeeeeah, audio and subs, but… what *happened*? I’m playing detective on this one right now…
Next on the list is the “Alternative and Deleted Footage” also seen on Sony’s disc – a lot of stunningly unremarkable footage that is either missing some luminous effects or small overlays, or not immediately distinguishable from the finished affair, and then the sole second or two of ACTUAL deleted footage that has been uncovered. This has no audio, so I provide some colour commentary, as Paul Hitchens did on the Sony disc... there is not a lot to say, so I try to spice it up by talking about how the luminous effects are created and such things.
The first theatrical trailer for the live-action movie is also included here, as opposed to the Mars Rover teaser on the Sony disc. After that, the animated storyboards feature on the Sony disc, courtesy of Paul Hitchens, put in an appearance here, with storyboard stills of Hot Rod and Daniel’s fishing sequence, the Decepticon attack on Autobot City and Optimus Prime and Megatron’s battle set to the audio of the finished sequences, as well as one “deleted scene,” when Magnus, Tracks, Sideswipe and Red Alert attack Devastator, and Red buys it. Also featured on the disc are the original movie script (the ACTUAL original script, featuring all the wacky stuff that didn’t get into the finished movie, not the transcript included on Reconstructed), and the “5.1 breakdown” I made singling out all the added noises from the Reconstructed audio. Beware of snideness!
OVERALL
The disc offers a superior video presentation to Sony’s, so that is a major plus to it. Beyond that, it really comes down to a battle of the extra features, and what is present and what is not. Metrodome’s version lacks some extras that Sony has, due to the dissolution of Sony BGM making their acquisition challenging, but features some of their own unique extras which Sony did not have. For starters, the Flint Dille, Nelson Shin and Susan Blu commentary is absent, as are the collection of featurettes with that trio, Jay Bacal and Tom Griffin – however, Dille was the only real reason to listen to the commentary, and he covers the same basic stuff in his interview (unique to Metrodome’s version), while the inclusion of a Peter Cullen segment is a worthy substitute for any featurette, given his complete absence from the Sony disc (also, I’m not afraid to mention that I culled a bunch of stuff out of the featurettes for use in the commentary, so a chunk of what was talked about in there is already covered on the set in some way). Sony also included some toy commercials and a gallery of production art that are not here, but Metrodome features the original script, more TV spots, audio and subs for Scramble City and two different versions of the movie. I don’t really think that any one selection of extras is particular better than the other – Sony has some good things Metrodome don’t, Metrodome has some good things Sony don’t. This one’s a judgement call for all y’all out there, but if you’re basing it on the video, then Metrodome wins.
Date: Wednesday, March 28th 2007 8:50am CDT
Categories: Movie Related News,
Reviews,
Site Articles,
Digital Media News
Posted by: Stormrider |
Credit(s): Ghost One, Ghosts of Yesterday
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Our own Ghost One has posted a synopsis of the Transformers book,
Ghosts of Yesterday, by Alan Dean Foster. The
Ghosts of Yesterday is a prequel to the up coming
Transformers Movie.
*WARNING - Contains many spoilers
-----------------------------
Transformers: Ghosts of Yesterday
By Alan Dean Foster
As the world watched Apollo 11 launch for the moon (1969 for you young’uns), they missed out on Sector Seven’s (SS) launch of their prototype starship, Ghost One. Ghost One was developed using tech reverse engineered from the “Ice Man” (IM). Its mission is to investigate the possibility of IM’s friends staging an invasion fleet forming behind Jupiter. Slingshot around the sun, flyby to Jupiter and slingshot home, easy.
SS’s Artic Base has received orders to transport IM down to a new facility south of Las Vegas. SSAB’s C.O. (Kinnear) argued against the move to the “Old Man” and insisted on bringing “The Cube” to his facility. Kinnear is told it’s easier to move IM then to move the Cube (?).
Ghost One begins it slingshot around the Sun when the engines outperform the system specifications. Their acceleration opened a wormhole (think Back to the Future) and disappeared from SSAB’s sensors.
The Nemesis Transport (not Warship) drifts through deep space, commanded by Starscream, acting leader of the Decepticons. Crew: Barricade, Blackout, Frenzy, and Bonecrusher. Their standing orders: Locate Megatron, Aquire the Allspark. If the Decepticons locate Megatron, Starscream loses his command and that’s not going happen as long as he has anything to do about it (Starscream is more G1 than G1 Starscream!). As he is about to secure his leadership by ordering the plunder of a local system, the first new acquisition since Megs disappearance, Barricade receives a weak Decepticon signal on the deep field array. Barricade and Blackout argue that it might be Megs. Starscream hopes not as he succumbs to checking the signal.
The Ark, Autobot Transport and long time mobile home, exits a wormhole near a star cluster that is showing signs of containing the Allspark (beacon pulse once every thousand years). Optimus wonders if Megs will make an appearance when they find the Allspark. Ratchet is ordered to keep the Ark outside the system while Prime, Bumblebee, Jazz and Ironhide meet in the Docking Bay. They exit and transform into their Cometary mode and head off for their individual worlds to search. Ratchet stops them cold as he picks up a weird Signal from not to far off.
The Decepticons reach the signal and find Ghost One. Scans showed no Megs, but confused by its design, an investigation is ordered. And cut short as the Ark dropped out of a wormhole near Ghost One. Starscream orders a surprise attack before the Autobots even notice they are there.
The Ark’s sensors also confirm no Megs, but Prime believes it to be a Decepticon trap. A debate as to whether the Decepticons would use such a primitive vessel were heard when it was noticed that Ghost One had deployed a mounted weapon.
Back on Earth, Kinnear is trying to find out where Ghost One disappeared to when he received a call that there might be a Russian spy in SS. The IM transport team is just about ready to leave when an artic blizzard kicks up.
The Nemesis is in hiding behind the planet’s moon. The Decepticons are arguing, again (not in a bad way, but defining how they don’t trust Starscream). Starscream says he’s going to put a stop to this by destroying Ghost One and then the Ark.
The Autobots determine that Ghost One’s weapons will be less than ineffective against them in combat. They also note how instead of attacking like Decepticons, they are slowly shifting planet side. Prime dispatches Bumblebee to make contact with the animals inside. After Bumblebee leaves, the Ark picks up Starscream also heading towards Ghost One.
Ghost One finds a nice little place to hide planet side and the crew discusses there options. IM’s friends are around but not sure what they want. They don’t know where Earth is or where they are or even if they can get home if they knew where they were. No communication from SSAB. The most alone a Human can be.
Bumblebee makes his way to Ghost One when Jazz radios saying that they have detected the Nemesis and Starscream, who was heading his way.
On the Nemesis, Blackout (Megs Supporter) revives the anti-Starscream commentary. Barricade (leader loyalist, not necessarily Starscream) opposes Blackout’s plan to assault the Ark while Starscream is gone, but Bonecrusher and Scorponok are ready for action.
Ghost One tries to send a message home stating, simply, were lost, can you help and, oh yeah, we ran into some of IM’s friends. Ships sensors pick up something big moving in on them.
Kinnear received a call from “Old Man”. Wanting updates on the operations, Kinnear tells him the good news, IM is almost ready to go. The bad news, we lost Ghost One. “Old Man” wasn’t too surprised but had news of his own, new course for IM’s road trip and Kinnear is going with because he understands that if IM wakes, it’ll be worse then if the Russians captured it.
Planet side, Bumblebee tries to approach Ghost One in as unthreatening a way as possible for a giant alien robot. Then Starscream ambushes him. Bumblebee’s only option is to run. He transforms into a wheeled vehicle (predefined secondary alt? no cars on this world) and races off bobbing and weaving through spires of rock while Starscream shoots for the kill.
SSAB: Kinnear meets with Jenson (IM road trip manager) and they discuss how to keep IM frozen, deal with the storm and navigate a new course. As they ready to leave, Nolan (Ghost One manager, him and Kinnear served in Black Ops together) stops Kinnear and reports word from Ghost One. They discuss how to handle the message.
Starscream returns to Ghost One after chasing off Bumblebee. He studies the vessel and after downloading everything, makes contact via a form of Instant Messenger. “Greetings, it is fortunate that I arrived when I did. The other creature you encountered would have surely destroyed you and your ship.” (Told you he was slick.)
On the Ark, the Autobots ready themselves for the coming Decepticons. Prime, Ironhide and Jazz leave the ship to do battle with Blackout, Bonecrusher and Frenzy. Hell breaks loose (read it, this combat is incredibly well written). The Decepticons call a retreat. When the Autobots board the Ark, they receive word from Bumblebee about his encounter with Starscream.
Bumblebee takes cover by some peculiar outcroppings only to find himself dragged down a sinkhole into a natural underground labyrinth. As he finds the direction out, he also finds that the planet is not entirely devoid of life.
At SSAB, Nolan gets the tech to send a message back to Ghost One: “Glad to hear you’re alive, try to keep it that way, we’re working on a way to get you home”. To all their surprise, they got a real time response. Ghost One and SSAB traded updates and bad news. Bottom line that Ghost One received was that they are on there own. That did not boost morale.
Starscream talks to the “Humans” and convinces them that he is good, Autobots are evil and Prime is the vilest killer in the universe. Also, if Ghost One would be so kind as to help him with destroying the Autobots, he will help them get back home. (Your boss told you you’re lost and as good as dead, how bad do you want to get home?)
Ratchet points out that they haven’t heard from Bumblebee since just before he fell down the hole. Prime decides to go find him while the others stay and defend the Ark if the Decepticons return. If things start to turn for the worse, take the Ark, ditch the Nemesis somewhere and come back for him and Bumblebee. Prime heads planet side.
Kinnear and Jenson talk business as they plow through the snowstorm taking IM to his new home. The roads are treacherous, iced and visibility is like 10 feet. So when the lead truck spins out, the entire convoy piles up and the mission is officially halted. Also Kinnear gets his femur pulverized in the wreck.
Bumblebee hides against a wall as these Giant (Bumblebee’s size and bigger) Leech /Snake /Worms (Buggers) come barreling into the chamber and more hell breaks loose.
Prime pretty much follows Bumblebee’s footsteps to the letter, including the sinkhole and reaching the chamber where he finds battle in progress. Prime and Bumblebee retreat to preserve their sparks from the impressively tough Buggers. System checks indicate that it won’t be easy to get out, not to mention that they can hear the Buggers regrouping. It sounds like there are more now.
The crew of Ghost One is at ends with each other over how to handle the fact that if they go home without the destruction of the evil Autobots, they would just be leaving a trail for them to make there way to earth. After much conversation, they decide to help Starscream hoping that when it’s safe, he will take them home.
Starscream receives word from the Nemesis that Prime is planet side. Starscream orders the Decepticons to take out the Ark while Prime is gone. He turns his attention to Ghost One and explains the situation to the crew. They offer to help and Starscream accepts and leads them to the sinkhole.
Kinnear is woken up by Jenson who gives him the bad news, IM’s storage unit is damaged and loosing its cool. They set up a base camp and are trying to get the vehicles operational again.
Barricade brings the Nemesis to bear and the other Decepticons launch for their assault on the Ark. The Autobots are preparing, Ratchet stays behind to run the Ark (he has a little Wheeljack in him) while Ironhide and Jazz launch to face off with the Decepticons.
(Note: It is clarified that both the Ark and the Nemesis are purposely designed as weak attack vessels because the Cybertronians are far more powerful and efficient fighting bot to bot. In Fact, as best I can tell, the only reason they need the ships is for repairs and traveling through wormholes.)
Kinnear awakes yet again to find himself in a med tent and finds out that the lead driver is missing, as the search order is given, the driver is drug in half frozen. He’s Russian and he has alerted his comrades it is time to collect their prize. Instead of killing him, Kinnear strips him to his skivvies and has him placed in another tent. Fears of IM waking are beginning to manifest as reports of heat signatures and twitchy fingers come in. Kinnear’s clearly dying at this point.
Prime and Bumblebee find a way out but Starscream is waiting. They BS for a minute when Prime had enough he grabbed Bumblebee, hit his thrusters and raced through the opening towards Starscream. Starscream and Ghost One opened fire on Prime who pulled a 180 and went back underground. Starscream collapsed the opening on top of them.
Nolan at SSAB receives a call from “Old Man” who informs him that there has been an incident with the convoy. He was told to take the Rangers training there with and go fix the problem. Nolan was reluctant but set it up. He left a desk jockey in charge to find a way to get Ghost One back.
Ghost One is following Starscream after having taken out Prime and Bumblebee. They fake a malfunction to buy some time to talk about what just happened. Starscream buys the malfunction story (both Autobots and Decepticons couldn’t help but talk bad about how terribly primitive this vessel was) and anxiously waits. The crew discusses how weird it was that this most terrible of beings chose to speak with Starscream instead of fighting. Not to mention that he didn’t fire on any of them. They lie to Starscream and say they are going to be out of commission for a while. Starscream tells them that he will be back after he helps destroy the Ark. After he leaves, Ghost One tries to run when the Ship gets stuck in a sinkhole and before long they find themselves buried in a tin tomb on the ass end of the galaxy. Also, they’re not alone down there.
Prime and Bumblebee ducked from chamber to chamber trying to avoid another confrontation with the Buggers. In the next chamber, the more injured Prime pulls the less injured Bumblebee behind him and articulates his weapon in a stand off with Ghost One. This act eventually convinces the crew that Starscream twisted the truth and they lowered their weapon. Prime followed suit and Bumblebee initiated contact. They make friends and tell Prime that IM/Megs is on Earth. Prime must warn Earth of the danger it is in.
At SSAB, Nolan and his artic rangers prepared to leave to find Kinnear’s convoy. Nolan defends his current shape to the lead ranger and talk about “Old Man”.
In Orbit, Jazz’s plan wasn’t working out as well as he and Ironhide hoped (This battle sequence was very cool). Jazz is messed up real good and then Starscream shows up to knock the scales of the table. Not looking pleasant.
Prime finds a weak spot that can be blown open to allow for them to escape. Then the Buggers attack and screw up the plans. Prime gets a complex idea that can not only open a door and not kill the Humans, but take out the Buggers as well. With Bumblebee and Ghost One clear, Prime’s escape is delayed when he is caught by a hidden Bugger.
Kinnear wakes up and demands a stimulant, can’t lead if he’s asleep. As Kinnear ‘wakes up’, the Russians attack. Kinnear orders a perimeter and IM cannot be taken. They also begin to start firing the flares. Nolan and the Rangers see a flare in the distance.
Jazz and Ironhide have been successful at staying alive with Ratchet at the turrets, but Starscream, Bonecrusher, Blackout and Frenzy have a very large advantage. As the Autobots near the Ark, the Decepticons slow pursuit to avoid the turrets. That’s when Jazz and Ironhide made a mad dash for the Ark. Once behind the shields, they argue whether to follow orders and split or to stay and wait for Prime.
Starscream insists on finishing the Autobots before they escape, but the others won’t hear it. They want to know what is the deal with Ghost One (Starscream hasn’t told them a thing, in fact he’s been avoiding the subject). Starscream swears that if the Ark gets away he’ll take them all out. Blackout tells him that Scorponok is onboard already, destroying their engines. Blackout now demands to know about how Prime and Bumblebee died. Starscream says their dead because he says so. It’s on! Blackout opens fire on Starscream and a brawl ensues (I just realized Brawl wasn’t in the book, hmm). The other Decepticons just watch the fun.
At SSAB, that desk jockey calls up Ghost One to tell them that they are ordered to stay there if there is any chance for IM’s friends to find a way to Earth. The crew talks seriously about what has happened and decide that if they are going to die out here, they are going to do it as heroes. Prime reluctantly accepted their assistance after they explained their new situation.
As they made Orbit, they found the Decepticons infighting. Prime called everyone out of the Ark for the final showdown before they lose their advantage.
Jenson sees Kinnear and informs him that the perimeter is falling and the IM re-freezing has pretty much stopped. Then gunfire rang out, it was the rangers. Relieved, Kinnear gives Jenson his seal of approval as he heads out to defend the IM. Kinnear is next visited by the Russian Driver with a nasty knife. Kinnear, not being able to walk, is having a bad day. Nolan and his rangers arrive at the outskirts of the battleground. The rangers deploy on foot and Nolan drives the Sno-Cat.
Starscream and Blackout go at it pretty rough until Starscream all but kills Blackout. Having asserted himself as unquestionable, he sends Bonecrusher to take the remains to the Nemesis with Barricade while he and the others go to finish off the Ark. Before they could move, Barricade warns them of the approaching Prime, Bumblebee and Ghost One. Thought they were all dead, Starscream?
Kinnear was dying and crippled, the Russian was frost bitten and sick. A cripple fight is the best analogy here. The Russian pierced one of Kinnear’s lungs before he was slit ear to ear. As Kinnear laid there ready to die, he heard tearing metal and loud thumping from where the convoy’s direction. Nolan comes rolling up in time to see IM swaying on his feet, so he ‘ghost rides’ the Sno-Cat into IM, knocking him into an exploding truck which bounces him a little bit. Nolan looks to see that Kinnear has dragged his ass out into the battle to help with the IM. He was all that mattered now.
Aboard Ghost One, desk jockey tells the crew that their wormhole is still open, barely. They should come home regardless of the order to stay away. Conflicts flare between just going home and making sure home is safe. The Capt. puts an end to it all by ordering that they all stay and do what is right. They call SSAB and declare their intentions and sign off. Attack positions people.
How does the final battle end?
What happens to Ghost One?
How do they get the “Ice Man” back under control?
Do you get to hear the ‘squishy’ sound?
What goes down between the Decepticons and Starscream?
Did Scorponok complete his mission?
Do Kinnear and Nolan have a Brokeback Mountain moment on the artic tundra?
The last answer is NO.
I'll answer any questions EXCEPT those listed above.
For the rest, GET THIS BOOK!
Date: Monday, February 19th 2007 9:26pm CST
Categories: Site News,
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Posted by: Seibertron Discuss This Topic · Permanent Link
Views: 334,023
Written by Ryan Yzquierdo
February 13th, 2007
Ok, where to begin? As many of you know, I've been a pretty big naysayer about a variety of issues regarding the upcoming Transformers Movie. Most of my concerns have revolved around the designs of the robots. While I still think the look of Megatron and Starscream is pretty bad, other characters such as Blackout, Barricade and Bumblebee are saving my overall opinion. The leaked script that I read during August 2006 is actually a big part of what started to turn me around about the movie. While I think it's great that Transformers "transform", I've always been more interested in the story behind the Autobots and the Decepticons. I found the script interesting, entertaining, compelling, emotional and true to an alien invasion of Transformers robots coming to Earth. While I found the script up to par, I still had my reservations about the movie.
Until tonight.
Click here to view screen captures from the trailer ...
Event Introduction
Let me rewind by about 6 hours. Tonight was the big event that truly brought me from Chicago to a fun-filled weekend in New York that just happened to intentionally coincide with Toy Fair 2007. The event was located at the Walter Reade Theatre on 165 W 65th St in New York city, on the northside of Manhattan and east of Central Park (near WABC's studios). The doors to the event opened at 5:45.
Upon entrance to the event, I had begun to immediately feel underdressed in my black pants and button up shirt. It had become obvious very quickly that the event wasn't designed to cater to guys who run major Transformers fan websites. Regardless that I was missing the attire that most were wearing, I quickly saw some familiar faces from Hasbro, Hunter PR and, of course, several key people within the Transformers hobby.
The walls of the front rooms to the theatre were decorated with various Transformers Movie posters, most of which prominently featured the Autobot and Decepticon symbols. The cardboard cutouts of Optimus Prime and Bumblebee were near the place where we checked in our coats. The 4 primary products featured at Toy Fair (Optimus Prime helmet, arm blaster, Leader class figure and Ultimate Bumblebee) were also on display. I expressed to Aaron Archer that I thought the Bumblebee figure was excellent. He seemed to be really proud of the figure. I got the same sense from Brian Goldner during a brief conversation with him at Hasbro's Toy Fair event this past Saturday.
The staff of theatre people operating the theatre were all dressed in black Autobot and Decepticon t-shirts. It was pretty cool to see all of these people wearing Transformers shirts ... and we weren't even at a BotCon or comic book convention. The staff of people handing out drinks had black Autobot and Decepticon napkins which several of us kept as souveniers.
Click here to view screen captures from the trailer ...
After a few drinks, we started moving into the theatre to view the presentation. I sat next to Tony Bacala (tfw2005.com) and Rick Alvarez, one row above Brian Savage and one row below Kevin and Jason Lukis (unicron.com). Ben Yee (bwtf.com) was there also but I'm not sure where he sat at the event. I'm assuming that most of the people who were in the theatre were executives of various companies or worked for Hasbro, Hunter PR, Paramount, Dreamworks or various retail chains (the CEO of Toys R Us was apparently there).
Brian Goldner (Hasbro - CEO) took the stage once everyone was in the theatre. He made several comments about the Transformers franchise before making some introductions. I missed the name of one of the people who were on the stage. Tom DeSanto was present, but not on the stage. Brian Goldner was joined by Adam Goodman (Dreamworks), Wayne (didn't catch his last name) and, of course, Michael Bay (Director). Here are some of the things that were said about the Transformers Movie prior to playing the 4 different scenes:
Click here to view screen captures from the trailer ...
- This movie will be "Revolutionary" in the same sense of the Matrix trilogy starring Keanu Reeves from Warner Brothers.
- I wrote down in my notes: "Robots in Disguise". If I recall correctly, Brian Goldner was talking about how the movie really plays up the aspect of the Transformers being "robots in disguise." While this might not seem like an important part to some of you, it really is the key idea behind the Transformers. The ability to infiltrate society as everyday objects, cars and planes is what makes the Transformers so unique.
- [You will be] blown away.
- Transformers is a 3 billion dollar brand behind Star Wars and G.I.Joe. I was surprised to hear that Transformers makes less money than G.I.Joe but this might have something to do with Hasbro's brand sharing with Takara Tomy.
- The Transformers Movie is one of the few original franchise flicks that will be released in 2007. Mentioned other franchise films such as Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, Spider-Man and several others.
- For Dreamworks, this movie will be bigger than War of the Worlds and Mission Impossible 3 (both movies starred Tom Cruise). The Transformers Movie will be a worldwide event.
- Shia Lebeouf (Sam Witwicky) was compared to a "young Tom Hanks".
- The scenes that were previewed were "most ready to show but not finished." This meant that there was temporary sound, music and animation still in place in the scenes that we saw.
- Mentioned that this movie harkens back to the fun days of Steven Spielberg's Back To The Future and other Amblien movies from the 1980s.
- Really stressed that Steven Spielberg is a really big fan of the Transformers and was familiar with the comics and toys from when his kids were into the Transformers during the 80s. For those of you who saw Spielberg's message on the TransformersLive.com website about 1.5 to 2 years ago, it seemed like this was a rehash of things that Spielberg himself said in that video clip.
- Michael Bay stated that this has been a really fun movie to work on. He really seemed to have enjoyed his time with this movie. He told us some about the origin of him getting involved with the movie. His initial reaction was that he didn't want to be involved with a toy movie to "how can I find out more about this franchise" in about 30 seconds.
- I read in some of the existing reviews of this event that people quoted Bay as saying it took 38 hours to render 1 frame of film. I wrote in my notes that it was 38 hours to render 1 second of film. I don't know if I misheard or what, but that's what was in my notes. I'm sure we'll find out clarification at a later date.
- I think it was Bay who said that the movie was "mind blowing." It was also said that the film was ILM's "heaviest digital effects ever." Considering their work on Star Wars, I find this hard to believe but after the full sophisticated transformation of Blackout, I could see how it was more complex than just rendering a shell of a ship (for example).
Click here to view screen captures from the trailer ...
Descriptions of Movie Scenes
There were a total of 4 scenes previewed at the event. If you do not want to read any spoilers, please do not read any futher. Here are my notes and thoughts on the scenes that were previewed:
- Qatar 1: Blackout Transforms and Attacks!
- The tension that builds up to Blackout's transformation (not to mention my anticipation) was excellent. The execution of this entire scene was very well done.
- I noticed the Hewlett Packard logo on a couple of products in this scene. Knowing how movies work these days, I'm sure this was NOT a coincidence. I think we can add Hewlett Packard (HP) to the list of official movies sponsors alongside Pepsi and Burger King.
Click here to view screen captures from the trailer ...
- Josh Duhamel (Las Vegas) and Tyrese Gibson (Four Brothers, 2 Fast 2 Furious) were both prominently featured in this scene. Amaury Nolasco (Prison Break, Mr 3000) was also in this scene. It was a running joke during his scenes that he was always speaking Spanish.
- Captain Lennox (Josh Duhamel) speaks with his wife over a video phone. His wife recently had a baby during Duhamel's tour of duty. There's some fun cutesy comments shared between the couple. I'm assuming the video connection was lost during the couple's conversation thanks to Blackout's EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) deployment.
- During Blackout's transformation, the original transformation was used briefly during one part of his transformation. I am assuming this is one of the temporary sounds that were mentioned in the introduction. It sounded out of place and much louder than the other transformation sounds. As much as I love the old school transofrmation sound, I would prefer it to be more realistic ... kind of like a cross between the "whirring" sound from Beast Wars when the Maximals and Predacons transformed. The actual sound of the transformation that was used throughout the rest of Blackout's transformation sounded more like I would expect: metal moving against metal, parts moving and shifting.
Click here to view screen captures from the trailer ...
- Blackout's transformation was more complex than I would have imagined. This was a big area of concern for me originally. I was worried that the robots were going to have parts that "morphed." I was reassured by seeing an actual Blackout truly "transform" from a helicopter to a robot. I couldn't believe the complexity of his transformation on screen. It was unbelievable and much longer than I was expecting. If I recall correctly, Blackout is the first Transformer to transform in the movie. It was everything I could have hoped to see a helicopter transform for the first time on the big screen. It was absolutely amazing and even gave me chills while I saw this incredible event happen.
- When Scorponok "ejected" from Blackout's helicopter mode, there was a round of applause.
- Sam's "first" encounter with Mikeala
- Sam and Mikeala at the Witwickys' house
- I believe all 5 Autobots were in this scene (Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Ratchet, Ironhide and Jazz) who took
Spike (Sam, yes, his name is "Sam" in this movie. I hope he becomes codenamed "Spike" at some point.) and Mikeala to the Witwickys' house. - Sam was looking for his grandfather's glasses (Archibald Witwicky is his grandfather's name) which have the code from the AllSpark encoded onto the glasses if I remember the script correctly.
Click here to view screen captures from the trailer ...
- While Sam was desperately searching his room for the pair of glasses, Optimus Prime lifts Mikeala up to Sam's window with the palm of his hand.
- Sam tells Mikeala that he can't find the glasses. They argue back and forth about who should go tell the alien robots that they can't find what they're looking for.
- Optimus Prime does have a mouth in this scene. While I can't really remember what his mouth looked like in this scene, it reminded me of a really detailed version of Masterpiece Convoy / Optimus Prime's mouth when you removed the toy's face shield. It was very alien looking just like the rest of the Transformers faces. It will take some time getting used to it though I imagine Optimus Prime will mostly have the face shield based on all of the marketing pieces that I've seen so far. I didn't really like it but I knew it was going to happen. It's better for live film (the same reason why Cybertron Optimus Prime and Beast Wars Optimus Primal had mouths.
- There was only one line that I caught as sounding like Peter Cullen. It honestly sounded like a filler voice to me during the scene but everyone I asked about it said that it was indeed Cullen. Apparently, Cullen was talking quietly or whispering to keep quiet during this scene so that could be part of why it didn't sound like the Optimus Prime that I'm used to hearing. Generally, Optimus Prime is "commanding" the Autobots, which he definitely wasn't doing in this scene.
- I especially liked the scene where Sam was attempting to keep the Autobots quiet. The mute Bumblebee acknowledged Sam's request by holding his index finger up to his face.
Click here to view screen captures from the trailer ...
- It was pretty humorous when the Autobots transformed into car mode to "hide". This is a great example of the Autobots not always being able to pull off being "robots in disguise" which I appreciated as a fan. Sam commented on how transforming into car mode while still on the lawn wasn't "hiding". It was a pretty humorous scene that the audience seemed to genuinely enjoy.
- The Autobots seemed very "real", which I guess is the main objective. This is one of the things that really seemed to gain my interest and trust in what the movie folks are doing with the Transformers property. If they can convince me, one of the most die-hard Transformers fans ever, then I think they've done their job regardless if I feel like the robots could've benefited from better designs in robot mode.
- One of the Autobots almost step's on the Witwicky's Chihauhau. The dog retaliates by peeing on Ironhide's foot. The Autobot turns his weapon on the dog which causes Sam to flip out.
Click here to view screen captures from the trailer ...
- Sector Seven, lead by John Turturro's character, arrives at the Witwicky's house who want to take Sam with them once they find out he's covered with "isotopes" (??? can't remember if that was the term used) from being around the Transformers. Determine he's had physical contact with them. Sam's father, Ron, tries to prevent them from taking Sam with them. From reading the script, I can tell you that Ron and his wife (can't remember her name offhand) were unsuccessful in their attempt.
- Someone refers to the Witwicky's dog as a Taco Bell dog ... I think it was one of the Sector Seven guys.
- Ratchet trips over some power lines while trying to leave the scene quietly so as not to alert Sector Seven. Ratchet's line that he says after falling was originally supposed to be a line Jazz says from the February 2006 script.
- The Transformers seemed very real and despite some of their odd faces, they seemed to be able to express emotions just fine. Kudos to ILM for being able to pull that off with these designs.
- Qatar 2: Scorponok Attacks!
- This scene was shown as an encore, thanks to Brian Goldner.
- There's a humorous scene during Scorponok's attack of Captain Lennox trying to get a Middle-Eastern Operator to connect him to the Pentagon. Lennox obtained the phone from a civilian. The operator was trying to get Captain Lennox to use a credit card number when he obviously didn't have access to one during the middle of a battle.
Click here to view screen captures from the trailer ...
- Jon Voight appears briefly during this scene at the Pentagon.
- While Scorponok was one of my least favorite characters from the movie roster, I have to admit that watching him "slither" mechanically in and out of the desert sand was pretty damn cool. Scorponok is really little more than a plot device to show off a pretty cool desert battle scene but it appears they succeeded in coming up with a compelling action sequence that is sure to please audiences.
Click here to view screen captures from the trailer ...
- The humans attack Scorponok with an onslaught of weapons. The humans are eventually successful in forcing Scorponok to retreat. Part of Scorponok is left behind which will be used as a plot device during a later scene in the movie.
- For whatever reason, I don't remember as much about this scene as I do the others. It seems like it was pretty action intense. It was just an all-around incredible action sequence.
My Thoughts on the Sneak Peak
After the event, a group of us were gathered near the coat check toward the front of the building. I talked to Paula Walsh (Hasbro's Public Relations Director) for a little bit. Brian Goldner joined the group to ask a few of us what we thought. I said "Remember that little Transformers 101 stunt from my website?" everyone kind of chuckles nervously, not sure where I'm going with that comment. "Let's just say that tonight was Transformers 102 and it was MY turn to get schooled." Everyone in the group laughed and I felt a lot better after acknowledging the Transformers 101 thing directly to Brian. No hard feelings, right? ;)
The Transformers Movie reminds me most of Independence Day (ID4). It doesn't seem to have the stupid slapstick humor that I didn't find appealing in Armageddon but it does retain some of the classic humor that Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum demonstrated in Indepence Day as well as Bruce Willis and Ben Afleck in Michael Bay's Armaggedon. It's not Steve Buscemi type humor.
Click here to view screen captures from the trailer ...
The action seems very similar to Indepence Day (ID4 - Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum). ID4 is one of my all-time favorite movies so I'm pretty pleased with this direction. The scenes were absolutely incredible, the transformation of Blackout was fascinating and spectacular, and the mood was exactly what I was hoping for in the movie. I still think some of the robot designs could have used some improvements to be more reminiscent of the original characters but it's too late for that now. From what I've seen and from the version of the script that I've read, I think ILM has done a top notch job with bringing Transformers to life. The robots are designed to look like REAL Transformers, not computer animated or cell animated or toys for that matter. I think this goal was accomplished.
I've read that a few people out there were questioning if Hasbro/Paramount/Dreamworks "bought out" some of the outspoken people such as myself who attended this event. If getting to see a sneak peak of the movie so that I can share my thoughts with all of the fans of my website constitutes as being "bought out", then that's what happened. I think their main objective was to give some key people in the Transformers hobby a taste of what Hasbro/Paramount/Dreamworks have been seeing so that we could share that with you. It's a little different to hear the opinion of a die-hard fan like myself and not from someone who's officially involved with the movie. I saw it. I got it. It's going to be a spectacular summer blockbuster that most of us should enjoy. Ben Yee (bwtf.com), Kevin Lukis (unicron.com), Jason Lukis (unicron.com), Rick Alvarez (Transformers Collector's Club, etc), Tony Bacala (tfw2005.com) and myself all seemed to genuinely enjoy the movie. If I can look past some of the robot designs that I don't really like and was able to thoroughly enjoy myself while I watched the scenes that I saw, then I'm pretty confident that most of you will be able to enjoy the movie as well.
Click here to view screen captures from the trailer ...
The Transformers Movie is going to be a very solid action flick that audiences worldwide will thoroughly enjoy. If you're a fan that is really against this movie, all that I ask is that you see the movie at least once with an open mind. You know the movie is going to be different. If you can accept the Transformers Movie for what it is, I'm pretty confident that you'll find yourself having a great time with the rest of the audience.
Stay tuned to Seibertron.com for all of the latest news regarding the Transformers Movie. I'll see you in theatres starting July 4th, 2007!
Sincerely,
Ryan Yzquierdo
Seibertron.com
Other Links
Transformers Movie - Official WebsiteTransformers Movie News on Seibertron.comTransformers Movie Toy GalleriesTransformers Movie Trailer Screen CapturesUnicron.com's Preview ReviewBen Yee's Preview Reviewtfw2005.com's Preview ReviewTFormers.com's Preview Review
Date: Tuesday, February 6th 2007 10:50pm CST
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Posted by: Air Commander Starscream |
Credit(s): Hotrod
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Views: 76,687
Our very own
Hotrod has been able to take a look at the upcoming
Transformers: The Movie Prequel #1, and has been kind enough to write a review for all of us here on Seibertron.com to read. We are very excited to be able to give you a first glance of this amazing prequel to the
Transformers Movie whose release date is creeping ever closer!
Covers for The Transformers: Prime Directive (Live Action Movie Prequel) #1 |
Transformers: The Movie Prequel #1
Story: Chris Ryall
Writers: Simon Furman & Chris Ryall
Artist: Don Figueroa.
Colorist: Josh Burcham.
Letterer: Robbie Robbins.
Editor: Dan Taylor.
Release Date: February 21, 2007
Plot Summary
For only twenty-four pages of story the first issue of the Transformers: The Movie Prequel miniseries is packed from cover to cover. Right away we know we are on the Planet Cybertron. The planet’s life and energy is dependent on an object known as the Allspark. Both Optimus Prime and Megatron once ruled the planet together until Megatron decided he wanted the power of the Allspark for himself and civil war ensued. Megatron was able to secretly build an army that took the planet by storm. Many who stood in his path fell, however, there are those who still offer resistance and will do what ever it takes to stop Megatron from getting his claws on the Allspark.
The story starts off with Bumblebee, who has blasted off into space from Cybertron in his protoform mode, similar to the one that both the Optimus Prime and Starscream Transformers Movie Preview toys have. While in space Bumblebee begins to explain recent events. The story then flashes back to a fierce battle where Bumblebee, a female bot named Arcee, and a hand full of others are fighting against Megatron’s vast army at Tyger Pax. The odds seem long at best but the brave warriors are not trying to defeat Megatron, they are only hoping to hold his attention long enough for Optimus Prime. Prime is leading another force at Simfur whose mission is to make one last attempt to stop Megatron from gaining control of the Allspark. The plan is to launch it into deep space.
While the battle at Tyger Pax rages on; Megatron arrives more determined then ever to get his hands on the Allspark. However, the Autobots continue to resist until the end. Bumblebee has the unfortunate luck of running into Megatron who is furious and wants information about the whereabouts of the Allspark. Bumblebee is able to hold out, but takes a severe beating that leaves him near death and his voice box critically damaged. By holding out as long as he did Bumblebee was able to buy time for Optimus Prime to launch the Allspark into space.
Soon Megatron realizes what has happened and wastes no time and starts out after the Allspark. The Autobots know that they must get to the Allspark before Megatron so a few brave warriors are chosen to go after the Allspark. Bumblebee, who is not completely healed from his near death encounter with Megatron, is one of the first to volunteer. The race for the Allspark is on.
Art Review
I must admit, the designs chosen for the characters for the upcoming Transformers Movie may not have been the best and left me scratching my head from time to time. However, both Don Figueroa and Josh Burcham have done a stellar job trying to make the Movie designs work. The designs do take some getting use too. They are a radical departure from anything we have seen in the past. It is as radical a departure as Beast Wars was from Generation One, if not more so.
Being visually appealing is one thing that all good comic books should be, and Transformers: The Movie Prequel #1 is visually stimulating. The art really tells a compelling story almost on its own. Also the action seems to flow seamlessly with many good visuals panel to panel. An example of this is when Megatron is thrashing Bumblebee. I found myself studying panels long after I read the text.
Some may find this hard to believe because they do not like the Movie designs, but Don Figueroa and Josh Burcham do an excellent job depicting the Autobots and Decepticons. They made good use of the protoforms for the characters who appear in the movie. They also seem to play with a lot of other designs that seemed to be influenced by other Transformers lore. I think this was the right direction to take; otherwise the images of the characters would be very busy and distracting. Overall the duo did a great job bring the designs to life on the pages.
Another aspect of the art that really stands out is Cybertron itself. It seems really familiar. The art for Cybertron seems to drawl on a lot of elements we saw in Strombringer and the flashback scenes in Beast Wars: The Gathering. Personally, I felt this was a nice touch. Don and Josh did a great job of making the reader grasp the fact that the planet Cybertron is ravaged by war by the color pallet used. The artists make great use of dark backgrounds, which depict a battle torn city left in ruin with all of its grittiness. The familiarity helped me connect with the story more.
Plot Review
The writing team of Simon Furman and Chris Ryall out did themselves with this issue. I must admit I did not have high hopes for this miniseries. I thought it would just be another piece of the Movie media blitz that would quickly be forgotten. Boy was I wrong! Ryall and Furman made this a true Transformers story. They used elements from the Transformers mythos we all know and love, but added some slight spin where they could because of the restrictions placed on the story by the Movie. Though it is not exactly Generation One, it does seem better then some of the recent reincarnations Transformers has gone through the last few years.
The story told is full of substance. Ryall and Furman give us an incredible back story for the Transformers Movie that would otherwise be lacking. Not only that, but there is plenty of action to be found on every page. The fast pace action of the story never lets up until the end. There is never a dull moment. Also, the issue has decent character development, which is a pleasant surprise because character development is not always possible with a miniseries that is part of a larger film. Both writers do a good job developing the main character, Bumblebee. Bumblebee has a lot of depth as a character and you want to know what is going to happen to him next. We see a brave warrior who thinks he should have done more to help his comrade’s cause, and questions why he is called a hero. I for one prefer whole characters instead of dull flat ones who serve no real purpose other then furthering along the plot.
Over All
Over all I would say Transformers: The Movie Prequel #1 is a winner for many reasons. First is the writing. This issue contains some super writing from Simon Furman and Chris Ryall. They were able to give us more in this one issue then we sometimes get in several issues in other series. Furman and Ryall did such a good job that I would love to see Ryall do some more work on Transformers outside of the Movie Prequel. I would seriously suggest picking this issue up when it comes out. it is a real page turner. We all read books where we struggle to finish. Trust me, Transformers: The Movie Prequel #1 is no such book. I was actually a little disappointed when I got to the end, because I now have to wait for the second issue to come out in March. Another reason I would recommend this comic, it the art. The art is everything you would expect from talents like Don Figueroa and Josh Burcham. Trust me they do not disappoint. So when February 21st roles around you should seriously consider picking up Transformers: The Movie Prequel #1, you may be surprised.
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