Machinima Transformers Titans Return Episode 3 REVIEW

Maybe it's just me, but It didn't exactly sound like Starscream was Controlling Tripticon. I got more of the impression that Starscream was more like a "battery" so to speak, or maybe a key. Like his Spark was used to Activate Tripticon but not allow him to control the Titan.

Simply put, I thought Starscream sounded more like he was in pain, then anything else, but that's just me.

Not too long after the last interview with Peter Cullen about his role as Optimus Prime in Machinima's Titans Return animated series, we have another one with the great man, coming from the LA Times! The questions cover how he first landed the role back in the days of Generation One; the changes to the voice-acting process over time since he started his career; his bond with frequent (though not present in Machinima's series) voice of Megatron, Frank Welker; and even more!

The article doesn't touch too much on Machinima's series specifically, but it nonetheless contains a fair few interesting tidbits about Cullen's role, and his feelings on the current acting environment in animation. Check out a couple excerpts below, and of course read the full interview here! And as always, stick around Seibertron.com for more news and coverage of Machinima's series (like our review of the recently-released third episode) as it happens!

Did you ever think you'd see the Transformers characters as characters in a live-action/CGI movie?
No. Not really — especially after the 1986 [animated] movie because I was killed off. Frankly I didn't pay much attention to the show after that. I may have checked out a few [episodes] while I was doing it, but I had a family of my own. And my kids — my son — was not interested in cartoons and animation. He was a motocross and jet ski guy. He was not a sit-at-home-and-watch-TV kid. So I didn't get any feedback for years!

Your animation nemesis — voice actor Frank Welker — isn't in this latest Transformers iteration, but playing against his Megatron for so many years must have created a special bond.
A great bond. There's something about voiceover actors ... they're really underestimated and taken for granted. When I'm in a room with these talented guys ... they're really talented people and humble people. They're just marvelous people. Judd Nelson, who did Rodimus Prime or Hotrod in the newest series, what a great guy. Sensational human being and great talent. A great intellectual approach to a lot of his characters. And Frank — that's a bond that has lasted decades. It's such a privilege to be in a room with those people.

A lot of voiceover now is done, as you said, on a microphone in someone's home nowadays. Most would imagine that performing in-studio with other actors adds a different tone as opposed to being strictly digital.
The way I would express it would be like if you played on a football team and you weren't in the main locker room getting ready for a game around all the other players. You were just put in a room with your uniform and told to meet up on the field. You're missing 98% of the whole thing. You're missing the team, the camaraderie , the energy, the spirits, the willingness to combine efforts together and produce something good. When you're with a full group, you're inspired. And not only that, but the amount of laughter that ensued was just — you can't describe it. If it was school, we'd all be staying in detention.

Because it is so recognizable, have you ever thought of your voice as a liability in terms of getting other roles?
No. I never use Optimus Prime's voice for anything else. I studied voice, so I know I can get down and [lowers his voice] add the timber. It's just something I was capable of doing and I've never looked back.The voice is an instrument like any other. It's just about how you play it.

so, my son wanted to get caught up so I gave episode 3 a second viewing this afternoon. There was one part I'll admit that intrigued me a bit.

When Op and Megs are conversing and the Requiem Blaster is referenced along with the Enigma of Combination, as powerful ancient relics,...I wonder what this is in reference to? Has the Requiem Blaster ever been mentioned outside of Armada?...maybe it will be a super weapon in PotP?

Also I know this is in some *alternate* OG continuity...but I cant think of any continuity off the top of my head that this would be remotely based on whereby, after Optimus Prime is Resurrected, that Megatron, Starscream, and the original seekers would still be around in the distant future...But I guess that's a good thing. Distancing this from the actual original series as much as possible.

Does anyone know how a canadian can view these series? Or where i can find them...

o.supreme wrote:so, my son wanted to get caught up so I gave episode 3 a second viewing this afternoon. There was one part I'll admit that intrigued me a bit.

When Op and Megs are conversing and the Requiem Blaster is referenced along with the Enigma of Combination, as powerful ancient relics,...I wonder what this is in reference to? Has the Requiem Blaster ever been mentioned outside of Armada?

Yes. The Aligned continuity reimagined a terrible weapon of devastating potential called the Requiem Blaster as the personal weapon of Megatronus. The novel trilogy and the Covenant of Primus went into more about it.

The official Transformers Facebook page lists https://transformersprimewars.tumblr.com/ as the official host of the series for non-US viewers.
https://www.facebook.com/transformers/v ... 319446655/

Tried to give this a shot on their tumblr. It kept reloading itself, so screw it. I care not.

It's up on KimCartoon now - http://kimcartoon.me/Cartoon/Transformers-Titans-Return

The amount of posts I'm seeing on the Facebook ads asking where to watch the show, when said ads have links to both go90 and the Tumblr in them, is kind of timing my faith in the human race.

King Kuuga wrote:The amount of posts I'm seeing on the Facebook ads asking where to watch the show, when said ads have links to both go90 and the Tumblr in them, is kind of timing my faith in the human race.

Actually they're legitimate questions. go90 isn't available to anyone outside of the US (unless they're using a VPN) and the Tumblr has no controls other than Pause/Play. You can't go full screen or anything. (At least that's how it is in my browser)

when the mistress said she was going to the chamber, I thought "thoughts and prayers" And she was the one who had the gall to consider Perceptor ineffectual because "he's not a warrior". I would consider Perceptor more effective than the mistress - or anyone who locks themselves up in a chamber to pray.

Burn wrote:Actually they're legitimate questions. go90 isn't available to anyone outside of the US (unless they're using a VPN) and the Tumblr has no controls other than Pause/Play. You can't go full screen or anything. (At least that's how it is in my browser)

What I'm seeing are people who see the video ads, go "okay this looks neat", and go to the comments to ask where they can watch it.... even though it says right there in the post where they can watch it. Neither service is ideal but the information is right there.

King Kuuga wrote:

Burn wrote:Actually they're legitimate questions. go90 isn't available to anyone outside of the US (unless they're using a VPN) and the Tumblr has no controls other than Pause/Play. You can't go full screen or anything. (At least that's how it is in my browser)

What I'm seeing are people who see the video ads, go "okay this looks neat", and go to the comments to ask where they can watch it.... even though it says right there in the post where they can watch it. Neither service is ideal but the information is right there.

If it's Facebook, some people need to be replied directly to. They're incapable of reading other comments.

See, I kinda get not reading the other comments, especially with FB not showing everything all the time. But not reading the original post which contains the video and promo blurb about where and how to watch....

Episode 4 - https://www.go90.com/videos/4H177OeLiXt

Somehow, Overlord sounds really goofy and yet delightfully so at the same time.

Whereas Emissary ends up sounding like a dime store version of Will Friedle.

Well I watched it last night. I guess we can put that Overlord rumor to rest. I give the series makers 1/2 gold star for not revealing all the surprises before the series premiere. I wonder if there are any more to come...? However, the information was leaked on Wikipedia before the series came out (we can say that with confidence now that it was not fans making false entries...) I just wonder where said info came from...?

Wow...Misrtress of Flame can fight?!? It was an Attack of the Clones Yoda moment heh...Too bad she went up against a bot that evidently can really take a beating without flinching.

While this Overlord is closer to IDW than Masterforce #NOTMYOVERLORD, it was still interesting to see. I guess all we can hope for is to see at some point a throw down between Megatron and Overlord.

I guess the missile being "our salvation or our ULTIMATE DOOm" was pretty much...all for nothing Still it was cool to see the titans finally use some weapons. Starscream is in control, and he knows it, and is happy about that. Metroplex is Cyclops from X-Men evidently.

I'll have to go back and watch the beginning. I saw all the prime symbols in the chamber, but Mistress dialogue was hard to hear over my sons constant rambling (he was excited heh...) But I thought I heard her mentioned Sentinel Prime (?) He's not one of the 13, also being an overall baddy, I'm thinking praying to him wouldn't be such a good thing.

Finally

Sabrblade wrote:Whereas Emissary ends up sounding like a dime store version of Will Friedle.

I knew it was supposed to be Jason David Frank, but my son said the exact same thing (well he said, why does Emissary sound like Bumblebee)...but you get my meaning. Pretty good catch for an 11 year old.

No Windblade in this episode, and some decent Combiner dialogue, plus everything I previously mentioned makes this episode probably the highlight of the series so far. Am I ready to say it's *good* yet...no but at least it's trending in the right direction.

R.I.P. Staff Doinks

Well, at least they did Overlord a good turn. Not perfect, but close enough to make me want to actually finish the series now. At least they nailed the OP-ness of Overlord.

WOAHHH WE'RE HALF WAY THERE, WOAH-OH! LIVIN' ON A PRAYER.

That's right! Somehow we're almost half way through the second Machinima Transformers series, Titans Return. The episode brings new threats, the loss of old freinds, and the appearance of some new ones. So, heat up some Turkey Day leftovers, and let's dive into the fourth episode of Transformers Titans Return!

We open with the Mistress of Flame in her Prayer chamber, where she prays to the original 13 Primes. This scene, again, is sort of teasing the next animated series, Power of the Primes, with the name dropping of the Primes and the use of their symbols on the floor. I'd prefer this method of tying the shows together over throwing it in at the last second like the previous series did with the Titans.

Her meditation is interrupted by who she thinks is Megatron, but is really Overlord, a new addition to the series. It is then we are introduced to one of the biggest issues with this episode...


...SPLIT FRAMES!!!

They're so bizarre and out of place, and haven't been used at all in this show (or the previous show, if memory serves), but are suddenly in every other shot. They're not very well framed, either, with the direction of each section being really confusing and not focused on a specific thing. They're quite distracting and I hope this isn't a running change.

Anyway, back to the plot. Overlord arrives, bringing his extremely goofy voice with him. It's this weird sort of Colonel Sanders/New Orleans accent mix that is just so ridiculous for this character it almost kind of works.


He sounds like he's about to play some ragtime in the steamship down by the Bayou,
or offer the Mistress a 5 dollar Fill-Up

The Mistress tells this new threat he's not supposed to be in the sacred chamber, and then just gets punted across the room. She retrieves her hammer and just starts wailing on him to no avail. It is by far the funniest moment of the series so far, and, matching Overlord's character overall, is just ridiculous and incredible at the same time.


This is the equivalent of that old Cartoon cliche where the bigger character yawns while holding the smaller character back with a hand on their forehead

She finally gets one good hit in, but then returns to the inconsequential wailing. She calls in some security drones, but their shots do nothing. I understand what kind of fight scene they were going for here, sort of a Star Wars-like "Bad-ass new villain character comes in and just dominates other character who makes their final stand against him" scene, but it just doesn't work. Whether that's because I'm unable to take it seriously, or some of the direction, lines of dialogue, and movements are just a beat or two off, I don't know. I think it would have been a more emotional scene had we actually seen the Mistress getting injured. Every time she gets tossed around, she just gets back up, looking good as new. Some damage here or there, some energon dripping our of her mouth, anything like that would have gotten the emotion and tone I think they were trying to convey across.

Overlord tosses the Mistress into the light of the Prayer Chamber, which electrocutes her, and she eventually dies, in a pool of Energon, on the floor.


Ooh, she's smokin' and crispy, just like my Nashville Hot chicken tenders, with 11 herbs and spices!

While this is all going on, it's revealed that the missile launched by Fort Max actually has Emissary inside of it. He jumps off the rocket and takes control of Metroplex, telling the titan he's here to help. Metroplex says he's too late to aid in the battle, but Emissary insists, giving him LASER EYES. No, seriously


All I want is Metroplex with frickin' LASERS coming out of his eyes.

While the battle rages on anew, the combiners are still working to fix up Fort Max. Computron discovers that, while all his weapon systems are functioning, his Transformation cog is destroyed. Victorion decides to fire all weapons systems at Trypticon, even though they have the potential to hurt or kill Metroplex in the process. While the lasers are sill soaring through the air, the episode ends.

This episode was...interesting to say the least. I'd be inclined to call it the worst episode so far, but I honestly don't think it is. I mean, sure, it's goofy and ridiculous, but it at least feels like there's something actually happening. That's a quality that past episodes have been lacking, and I've mentioned that all through-out the reviews. When looking at the episode as a whole, the pacing is by far the best of the series. Everything chugs along, with a satisfying amount of action, conflict, and story. New characters are making their way into the story which is a nice change, as well. Very little felt awkward or unnatural. The split screens were annoying, yes, but they're tolerable. It will be interesting to see where the plot goes from here.

...and that's episode four! Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving, and I'll see you in December following the release of episode 5! Thanks for reading!

Bronzewolf wrote:That's right! Somehow we're already half way through the second Machinima Transformers series,

Hate to burst your bubble there Bronzewolf, but there are 10 episodes to this series, your pain is going to have to endure a little longer, were not quite half way there yet.

There are 11 episodes... 4 is not the halfway point, 5 is.

o.supreme wrote:

Bronzewolf wrote:That's right! Somehow we're already half way through the second Machinima Transformers series,

Hate to burst your bubble there Bronzewolf, but there are 10 episodes to this series, your pain is going to have to endure a little longer, were not quite half way there yet.

westjames/notirish. wrote:There are 11 episodes... 4 is not the halfway point, 5 is.

...what?!


Post edited accordingly. Thanks guys.

That episode was...pretty weird.

Overlord just shows up out of nowhere and casually murders the Mistress of Flame in an action sequence straight out of Dragon Ball Z. Why? Who knows!

We get more Titan fighting, which was fine. I can even buy the laser eyes given that Titan Masters are supposed to provide power ups to their hosts. What I don't get is why Victorion unilaterally decided to potentially destroy Metroplex along with Trypticon. We already know that the combiners are out of communication with anyone else. Why was Victorion so sure that Metroplex was losing the fight if she isn't receiving any updates on it? And why is MENASOR of all bots the voice of reason?

just watched the last two back to back thank to the facebook link you lads steered me in the direction of.

i enjoyed it !

the first was a bit lack lustre but we got some nice snark of megs to prime. its just for a battle between two titans there doesnt seem be be alot of collateral damage going on- plus all they seemed to do half the time was run at each other.

at the very least one of em shouldve fell over crushing a good portion of the surrounding city. i thought at one stage metroplex was gonna do that but ah well.

i did get a laugh out of the combiners dialogue too. particlarly menasors response when asked what he did

the second was much better.

an actual decent badass introduction of a new character- overlord. who comes off as the superpowered jerk he is. and we get our first fatality of the series IIRC . plus our first titan master in the form of emmissary.

TBH i dont recall him having the power to do what he did in any bio ive read of the guy- but it IS nice to see them actually implement the notion of them upgrading bots in the show.

i really liked how fort max looked too. though i do wonder just how big cerebros is if he's that central tower !



all in all im liking this alot more than combiner wars.

MrBlack wrote:That episode was...pretty weird.

Overlord just shows up out of nowhere and casually murders the Mistress of Flame in an action sequence straight out of Dragon Ball Z. Why? Who knows!

We get more Titan fighting, which was fine. I can even buy the laser eyes given that Titan Masters are supposed to provide power ups to their hosts. What I don't get is why Victorion unilaterally decided to potentially destroy Metroplex along with Trypticon. We already know that the combiners are out of communication with anyone else. Why was Victorion so sure that Metroplex was losing the fight if she isn't receiving any updates on it? And why is MENASOR of all bots the voice of reason?

i dont think

she had a clue if he was losing or not. i think she just saw a way of taking out trypticon and took it. TBH more conscerning to me was the fact this means not only would both titans be taken out- but odds are the very city they were trying to save and everyone in it would be leveled in the fallout too.

i think they were going for a "hiroshima/nagasaki" thing where its a horrible act - but it ends the war/threat.

How come nobody is talking about how weird it is that Mistress of Flame thinks Sentinel Prime is one of the original 13 primes?? I had to rewind to make sure I heard that part correctly

Ugh. The animation in this series is so slow. It makes me want to fast forward so it can be watched at a normal speed. That split screen thing also was really jarring. Who animated these shows? Did they even play it back after making it?

The Titan battle made the WORST Godzilla movie look like an Oscar winning performance. Emissary coming out of nowhere was unexpected and was probably the only pleasant surprise of that battle.

Overlord coming in was cool and I like his voice, but killing off MoF so easily was lackluster. My complaint about her boring monolithic voice in Combiner Wars is just the same here, so maybe killing her is not a bad thing. Maybe they will make her become Elita One?

The combiners being the personality again instead of the individual bots is lazy IMO. The scenes with them feel like a boring exercise why Combiner Wars wasn't well received in the first place.

Rodimus Primal wrote:The combiners being the personality again instead of the individual bots is lazy IMO. The scenes with them feel like a boring exercise why Combiner Wars wasn't well received in the first place.

I disagree. I'm more inclined to believe, similar to the IDW continuity, the Combiners are the new 'default form' for their parts. As such, it'd make more sense that they'd appear more often in combined form than otherwise. Also, it's quite interesting (in a good way) that the Combiners have more personality than the previous show. That being said...

...ain't it annoying that they've gotten more screentime and personality than the show that was supposed to be centered around them?

This merits mentioning.

This is the first representation of Overlord in western animation. Ever.

I think they did him decently. His voice was kind of hilarious.

Ok so, 1 major critique and 1 major compliment.

Bad: That episode was so random, so scatterbrained, and so disjointed. Overlord was random, as was Emissary. And it all felt bad. Oh and the Mistress died and wow that is a lot of energon.

Good: Overlord. That right there: that was spectacular and brilliant. I loved the voice, the mannerisms, and his IDW-ness. Must be looking for Megatron to kill him here too? I loved him.

Also, in many continuities, there is a 13th, an Arisen, who is almost never named. Maybe here they think that is Sentinel, or in this one Sentinel was a good guy? Maybe, since he was a TR figure, he will show up too?

I've been enjoying Titans Return so far but this was the weakest episode for me.

Overlord and Menasor's voices just seem wrong. Especially Menasor. What moron cast his voice actor?

Otherwise I enjoyed it. I did think Mistress of Flames death, with her crawling on the floor was dark for a toy franchise but at least she died putting up a fight.

Episode 5 - https://www.go90.com/videos/1QpxyeZtl4n

Well well, the first Western Transformers cartoon to have a real cuss word in it.

Which is not what I wanted in this, but "adult audience".

Madeus Prime wrote:Again, not bad, terrible audio matching to movement when overlord was gloating, but it looks like TR isn't out of surprises with what appears to be the Dark Spark or some other evil version of the Matrix giving us Rodimus Unicronus. Now THAT is a kind of twist in the writing I didn't expect.

Well, considering that Rodimus Unicronus's bio flat out says that it's called the Matrix of Chaos and belongs to Unicron, it begs the question of just what to slag Foghorn Overlord here is doing having such of thing with him when he's got nothing to do with Unicron.

Madeus Prime wrote:Again, not bad, terrible audio matching to movement when overlord was gloating, but it looks like TR isn't out of surprises with what appears to be the Dark Spark or some other evil version of the Matrix giving us Rodimus Unicronus. Now THAT is a kind of twist in the writing I didn't expect.

That's what I thought, the whole introduction of Rodimus Unicronus, I mean they've got to introduce him somehow, haven't they

Sorry...I just wasn't into this episode...I don't know if its merely longer that makes them more tolerated or what but...I don't really feeling like writing a full review like usual, so I'll just give my thoughts individually.

1. Trypticon toy gimmick to eat Titan Masters used (check)

2. Windblade is so annoying in this episode. Either Hasbro is delusional (Windblade's line about being a fan favorite), or they are trying to be in on the joke that people don't like her, to which I say...Hasbro (you don't get to be in on that joke...)

3. Trypticon is only 30 stories tall? (Probably a jokey line from the HB Godzilla cartoon), but anyway, that only makes him roughly 300 feet? Unless these are *Cybertronian stories*?? (is there such a thing?), which are maybe 30 feet tall , making him 900 feet tall...I can *kind of* get behind that. I mean as a huge fan of Godzilla I see all the comparisons people make with Trypticon. Matt Franks' IDW artwork is awesome etc... But its just a fantasy, There's no way these two could ever fight as the scale would be way off, unless Trypticon was in city mode and Godzilla was just allowed to rampage through it .

4. Laser attack ineffective. The Combiners are killing it with all their button pushing

5. Megatron talking to the dying Mistress was probably the best part. Also can we rewind and see that previous alleged whoopin' Megatron put on Overlord last time

6. Dialogue....pauses....from Bill Shatner...school of....acting

7. Couldn't understand a word Overlord was saying, I just have 2 words here "Bad Touch"

Still love Megatron, and I am a fan of this Overlord. I am liking Hot Rod too, and that ending, well, I can't wait to see where that goes

straight back to Fort Max no doubt, to get him up n activated

o.supreme wrote:

Bronzewolf in review 4 wrote:That's right! Somehow we're already half way through the second Machinima Transformers series,

Hate to burst your bubble there Bronzewolf, but there are 10 episodes to this series, your pain is going to have to endure a little longer, were not quite half way there yet.

...what?

westjames/notirish. wrote:There are 11 episodes... 4 is not the halfway point, 5 is.

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

...

...

...

Machinima Transformers Titans Return Episode 5. Let's get it over with.

We open again on the Metroplex/Trypticon fight, as the giant robot Kaiju charges the City Titan. Windblade checks in on the fighting as Hot Rod arrives and we get something new in the series. Something completely revolutionary...

Diagonal split frames!

The dialogue in this scene is especially badly paced. It doesn't flow like a normal conversation, and it's so apparent you can't ignore it. Hot Rod and Windblade join the battle, and Hot Rod actually gets a couple cool shots here that flow really nicely thanks to some pretty good animation!

Like this! This was awesome! I know, I didn't expect it from this series either.

Hot Rod realizes the spirit of Starscream is within Trypticon as he and Windblade try to assist Metroplex. The city robot is taken down eventually by Trypticon, however, and Trypticon finishes him off with the most ridiculous scene in the series.

Hey, guys? Yeah, Godzilla Vs. Gigan called. They want their campiness back.

It appears that Metroplex is defeated as Emissary ejects himself from the Titan's body. As he runs from the battle, Trypticon spots him and eats him, absorbing his Laserblast power. Hot Rod realizes that he must free Emissary as the laser beams fired by the Combiners in the previous episode finally arrive at their target and start falling from the sky. It doesn't phase Trypticon, as he continues to terrorize the city.

Yep, singlehandedly destroying the city more than Trypicon and Metroplex combined. Good job, guys.

We cut away from the action for a moment to a tank entering the Mistress of Flame's prayer chamber. It's revealed to be Megatron, who discovers the Mistress' body on the floor. She uses the last of the power in her spark to ask him if the combiners were successful in reactivating Fortress Maximus. He says he doesn't know anything about that. She tells him Overlord has returned, and dies.

Finally, the sarcasm of Megatron has come to save us all.

Back in the battle, Hot Rod makes it inside of Trypticon to save Emissary, and launches back out through Trypticon's eye. He trows Emissary to Windblade as Trypticon bats him across the city. Windblade rushes to his aid and promises she'll send Ratchet to help him.

Ratchet?? Why can't he be in the show? But...but..

She transforms and takes Emissary away, mentioning that they haven't been properly introduced. Emissary already knows who she is, however, as she's well known amongst the Titan Masters. Windblade laughs and says that she's "Quite the fan favorite".

Yeah.

HAHAHA HASBRO YOU'RE VERY FUNNY WE GET IT

Overlord arrives on the scene, and starts threatening the injured Hot Rod. As he talks, he makes the most bizarre movements in both Combiner Wars or Titans Return. He flails around like something out of Food Fight. I shouldn't be reminded of Food Fight when watching your TV show/Movie. Just as kind of a general rule.

Can someone put Disco music over this? Please?

Eventually Hot Rod tries to shoot Overlord, but yet again it does nothing. Overlord then says he has something for Hot Rod, bestowing upon him what appears to be an evil matrix, turning him into what is assumed to be Rodimus Unicronus, although we never see that. It's certainly a twist that I didn't see coming, and is actually pretty intriguing. With that, episode 5 is over.

It's certainly one of the more action-packed, interesting episodes out of the lot so far, but I'm not certain that makes it good. There are severe issues with the pacing of the dialogue, but we've come to expect that by now. There are times when Windblade and Hot Rod are talking where you can tell the two voice overs were recorded at separate times, and there's a lot of emotional disconnect because of it. The animation at times, though, is actually really good. It shows how much of an improvement it's had over the previous series. The mouth movements are tighter, closer to the words actually being spoken, and characters are far less jerky. It's so much better that Combiner Wars, and the series is so much more enjoyable because of it.

Well, that's episode 5! Wanna watch it for yourself? You can find it over on Go90. Please share your thoughts below in the Energon Pub forums! Do you agree with me? Do you disagree? I want to hear it! Thanks for reading, and I'll see you all next week!

Mmm, yeah. Now THAT'S finger-licking good.

This was easily the worst episode yet.

The dialogue between Hot Rod and Windblade was atrocious. Terrible writing, probably made worse by that stupid face mask of Hot Rods.

A bunch of lasers fired by Fortress Maximus can't stop Trypticon. But Hot Rod is able to blast a hole into his side with his little hand gun. Yeah, okay, whatever.

The only thing I did enjoy was the background music. They've nailed the 80's style well.

Bronzewolf wrote:
Hey, guys? Yeah, Godzilla Vs. Gigan Megalon called. They want their campiness back.

fix'd that for ya . But truly, Godzilla did a goofy dive very similar to this in Godzilla X Megaguirus (2000)

Oh yeah, and I forgot the moment when Hot Rod breaks out of Trypticon's eye (callback to TFTM), we see glass shatter, but the eye stays in tact...wait...what???

o.supreme wrote:

Bronzewolf wrote:
Hey, guys? Yeah, Godzilla Vs. Gigan Megalon called. They want their campiness back.

fix'd that for ya . But truly, Godzilla did a goofy dive very similar to this in Godzilla X Megaguirus (2000)

I just finished Megalon! Hilariously campy.

So is the sole purpose of Hot Rod's face mask, they don't have to match lip flaps to sound?

The series has been a big improvement over CW, but I still can't get over the terrible lip sync and "conversations" being made between the characters.

I'm just amazed at how bad the writing and voice direction is for Hot Rod. I'm really shocked that we're listening to Judd Nelson, the same guy who's done Hot Rod in TFTM and TF Animated... and it's just horrendous. It's like he's tired / bored.

karyuudo wrote:I'm just amazed at how bad the writing and voice direction is for Hot Rod. I'm really shocked that we're listening to Judd Nelson, the same guy who's done Hot Rod in TFTM and TF Animated... and it's just horrendous. It's like he's tired / bored.

Exactly! He sounds so bored, Cullen sounded pretty lifeless, JDF isn't being allowed to emote... Perceptor is the only one who is fully expressive, although I'll grant Windblade and Overlord have some expression. The voice direction is just awful, and the awkward pauses in conversations aren't helping.

It's like this show is getting better and worse at the same time.

Oh good, I wasn't the only one who was reminded of Food Fight. Wait no, that's a bad thing!

This is an "eh" episode for me. I wish the voice work was better, because this would've been twice as better (and funnier) if it had. The animation is pretty, tho. Except...

Bronzewolf wrote:Overlord arrives on the scene, and starts threatening the injured Hot Rod. As he talks, he makes the most bizarre movements in both Combiner Wars or Titans Return. He flails around like something out of Food Fight. I shouldn't be reminded of Food Fight when watching your TV show/Movie. Just as kind of a general rule.

I hate you. I forgot that existed. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you.

Kidding, or course. Keep up the good work!

Haha, Food Fight. I was totally expecting Overlord to just randomly pirouette mid-strut.

Noideaforaname wrote:Haha, Food Fight. I was totally expecting Overlord to just randomly pirouette mid-strut.

Charlie Sheen is best Overlord.

Nexus Knight wrote:This is an "eh" episode for me. I wish the voice work was better, because this would've been twice as better (and funnier) if it had. The animation is pretty, tho. Except...

Bronzewolf wrote:Overlord arrives on the scene, and starts threatening the injured Hot Rod. As he talks, he makes the most bizarre movements in both Combiner Wars or Titans Return. He flails around like something out of Food Fight. I shouldn't be reminded of Food Fight when watching your TV show/Movie. Just as kind of a general rule.

I hate you. I forgot that existed. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you.

Kidding, or course. Keep up the good work!

Okay, I've seen it mentioned a couple of times now... What is Food Fight?