Revisiting BEAST WARS

"What? Transformers made from animals instead of vehicles and stuff? Doesn't sound so great, throw it to Kenner division, maybe they can make a quick buck or something."
Beast Wars, Machine Wars, Beast Machines... seeing a pattern? Coming soon: "Wars Wars"
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Mako Crab
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Re: Revisiting BEAST WARS

Post by Mako Crab »

Law of the Jungle
written by Mark Leiren Young

on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GH9z5pNnsE0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMSv7GEg ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WvUk5hu ... re=related

Oh dear Lawd, another Tigatron episode. It seems like there's a lot more of these then I remembered. But wait! This one is actually good! Starts off with a quick nature lesson; frog eats dragonfly. Snake eats frog. Eagle eats snake. And that's how rock, paper, scissors is played in the wild. Or... more likely a message on how nature is rough. Eat or be eaten! That's what I always say!

We find Cheetor and Dinobot walking along a mountain path nearby. They've been sent out to scout for more of the alien sites that they've located in the past. It's just a single throw-away line, but really foreshadows what's coming in the next 3 eps. Inferno flies up behind them and sets off what is easily his best showing in battle in the entire series! I mean it! The fire ant is really tearing loose this time! Pins down both Cheetor and Dinobot, easily dodges all their attacks, blasts Cheetor off the mountain. And he's just laughing and cackling the whole time and firing non-stop. Dang, Inferno's my favorite today!

Nearby Terrorsaur and Waspy are complaining that Inferno didn't wait for the signal to attack. Ah, that just makes me like him even more. Just takes the initiative when he sees the perfect moment! That, or he just got tired of waiting. Terrorsaur and Waspy join the battle, but are quickly dispatched in ACME fashion. Oh, and Terrorsaur somehow managed to take out Dinobot in the process. We got 4 solid minutes of awesomeness. Then Tigatron showed up. He jumps on Waspy's back and rides him into the ground! Nice. Not bad. A good start for the striped one.

Quickly reaching a damaged Cheetor, the two cats find themselves under attack from Inferno again. For just a brief moment Inferno's laugh goes high-pitched and it's borderline creepy, but kind of giddy too. I love it! Crank up the flamethrower! Oh, that just makes my day. :D Tigatron lines up his sites and takes a few precise shots at the psycho fire ant; all but one of his shots connecting. Ah, what's one stray shot?

OH MY GAWD, HE BLEW UP THE MOUNTAIN!!!

Tigatron looks on in horror as the stray shot tags the stockpile of bombs the Preds had stored on a nearby mountain, creating a giant rockslide that buries Tigatron's little tiger friend, Snowstalker, in rubble. Snowstalker. Why we haven't gotten a non-transforming white tiger toy called "Snowstalker" is beyond me. Come on, Hasbro! I feel cheated now. I can just imagine all the points of articulation; a turning head and tail, maybe some joints on the limbs. And it could transform from tiger mode to sleeping mode with a quick shift of the leg joints. Sleeping mode also doubles as "stalking mode". I'd buy it.

Anyway! Sidetracked, sidetracked. Tigatron recovers Snowstalker from one pile of rubble and gives her a proper burial under another pile of rocks. It's a solemn moment. Obviously traumatized, Tigatron denounces the Beast Wars, stating that he himself is guilty of causing the death of an innocent. Pretty powerful stuff for a kids cartoon.

Dinobot: "There are no innocents!"

Ah, I like that guy. The first of many great lines he delivers during this ep. His argument doesn't exactly sway the white tiger though. Tigatron is fed up with all the fighting and leaves the Maximals! He sheds a single tear before running off. Aww! Cheetor's in disbelief, but Dinobot knows what to do.

Dinobot: "Predacons know how to deal with those who won't fight."

Hehehe. He then orders Cheetor to return to base for repairs in a manner that says, "You don't want to be around when I find Tigatron."
Inferno's been observing the whole transaction and regroups with Waspy and Terrorsaur. I love this little bit! Inferno, acting like a sane person now, persuades the others to continue the pursuit until they capture or destroy Tigatron. Terrorsaur accidentally refers to Megatron as the queen, and Waspinator's love of the glowing signal beacon they'll use to announce their attack is adorable. Wonferful bit!

Later that evening... Dinobot is stalking through the jungle on the heels of Tigatron. Every time I see the big close-up of Tigatron hiding behind a fern leaf, I can't help but think of Xena. What can I say? Both shows were on at the same time. Tigs manages to surprise him, but Dinobot only wants to talk.

Tigatron: "I have nothing more to say."
Dinobot: "Then... LOOK!"

Ahh, that makes me happy. In so many shows, whenever you have a situation like this arise, the other person always seems to say, "Then listen." I'm glad they changed it up. Dinobot could've easily said something, but showing the visual image of an orange tiger stalking and running down its prey (complete with horribe screams) is a more powerful and direct way to convey the message; the Beast Wars is about survival.

Dinobot: "You do not really know the Predacons. We- ... They... "

I love that he caught himself. Still thinking like a Pred even though he's a Maximal. In fact, having Dinobot play the foil to Tigatron in this ep really works. Their viewpoints are so different, yet their basic understanding of survival of the fittest is right in-line with each other. We get a cool little "What If" moment where we see what would happen if Megatron wins the Beast Wars. His ship flies over Cybertron raining down havoc, and though it's a little hard to see due to having Megs' face transposed over the action, you can actually see half of Cybertron exploding. Really cool.

Tigatron still refuses to return to the Maximals, and Dinobot's heard just about enough. He snaps at the tiger! A miss! Another snap, but all Dinobot snares is a palm leaf. He transforms with the leaf ending up in his robot mouth, which he promptly spits out. Nice touch. He blasts the area surrounding Tigatron with eye lasers though it's apparent he's not actually trying to harm him. Dinobot orders him back to base, but Tigatron STILL refuses! At that point I think Dinobot pretty much loses it and intends to kill him right there (or maybe drag his carcass back to the Axalon for reprogramming), but Optimus arrives on the scene to break it up.

He orders Dinobot to return to base while he talks with Tigatron. Again, nothing can persuade Tigatron to change his mind. Just then they hear the sounds of battle in the near distance; the Preds have found Dinobot.
Another great showdown! The three flying Predacons all converge on Dinobot and keep him off-balance. He can't hope to take on all three of them and is put down by none other than Waspinator. Pretty incredible. Optimus shows up to lend a hand but gets blasted before he knows what hit him. Interesting to note; if you pause the screen at the moment Optimus is shot (by Terrorsaur, I'm assuming) you'll see a ghost image of Dinobot in the explosion. I don't know why the animators put it there, but there you go.

Optimus recovers mid-air and dispatches both Waspy and Terrorsaur in a single hit, but Inferno gets the drop on him and sends him crashing to the ground.
Inferno lands to finish off both Primal and Dinobot, when Tigatron pounces on the Predacon. Yay, Tigatron!

Tigatron: "You'll kill no more beasts today."

Watch Primal and Dinobot as Tigatron delivers that line. They're both wagging their fingers at Inferno along with Tigs! Inferno, laughing maniacally (god I love that guy), soars back into the air, but Tigatron dispatches him. You know, I never thought of it before, but the final confrontation between these two exactly mirrors their fight at the start of the episode with Inferno in the air and Tigatron firing up at him. Except this time all his shots count.

OH MY GAWD, HE BLEW UP ANOTHER MOUNTAIN!!!

Tigatron: "No. . . NOOOO!"

*L* Kidding, kidding. Everything's fine. Tigatron finds that no matter if he's part of the Beast Wars or not, the Predacons will continue to threaten this world. He can't stand by and let that happen, though states that he still needs to grieve for his fallen friend. A good note to end on.

This, I feel is one of the strongest episodes of the first season. Really well done from the opening crazy fight to the pacing, the moonlit jungle scenery, just everything is great in this one. Also, it feels more like a classic, self-contained season 1 episode, which is all about to change with the cliffhanger coming up. I am glad to see Tigatron interacting with Maximals other than AirRazor. Too often it seems they're kind of saddled together, and their relationship never seemed to work on a very deep level to me. Tigatron and Dinobot make for some great drama though.
This episode kind of reminds me of the G1 ep, "The Golden Lagoon," due to its message about war and nature. The message may seem a little more blunt here, but I think it works just as well if not better. I do like that in this case both Tigatron and Dinobot were right in regards to the their own world views. When it comes to pacifism, TV shows tend to oversimplify the issue or make the pacifists out to be cowardly. I don't think anyone would call Tigatron cowardly though (except maybe Dinobot, but he took it back :D ) Good stuff and definitely reccomended.

Next up: Before the Storm

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Mako Crab
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Re: Revisiting BEAST WARS

Post by Mako Crab »

Before the Storm
written by Larry DiTillo

on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpMQMZ0H ... L&index=63
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uibg38LP ... 8&index=64
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_RTrq7v ... 8&index=65

I like the whole setup for this episode. Everything is so low key and mellow. Megatron is roused awake when the ship's computer reports an alien energy signature in the vicinity. It's a glowing mountain! Uh... sorry, I'll go easy on the exclamation points for this review. Low-key. Mellow. :) I like that while Megatron is still sleeping, his T-rex head seems to have a mind of its own. That's both interesting and a little creepy.
Inferno is dispatched to the mountain and digs his way into a cavern within it. There he finds a small, rotating island in the center of a lake of ... mercury or mud or something. It doesn't look like water. At first you might not think anything of it, because visually it is just kind of neat looking. But it's a rotating island. That's weird. More weird is that there's a stone slab sticking up vertically on the island with a golden alien disk set into it. Inferno activates his blender flight mode and gracefully sails over the lake to the island. Again, mellow. I like this. He wrenches and heaves and ignores the energon build-up he's experiencing until finally he rips the disk from its place and soars up and out of the mountain. The camera holds on the scene for a moment as he flies up and out of view, the noise of his engines dissipating into quietness as the screen gently fades to black.

Mellow. :D

Back at Pred HQ Megatron congratulates Inferno on a job well done and sends him off for repairs, proving that every once in a while he can be a nice guy. He contemplates the meaning of the alien disk. . .

We cut to a scene of Optimus Primal flying near the same moutainous region that the glowing mountain was discovered in, but can't find any sign of "the alien energy anomoly that Tigatron reported." Wow. The tiger actually called for back-up for once. Hehe. Is he slowly becoming more of a team player? Anyway, just then an orb-like object jets past Primal, who gives chase. The orb halts in mid-air and projects a large image of Megatron's head. Primal screeches to a halt. Not exactly the most welcoming of greetings, heh. Megatron calls for a meeting to discuss a truce and Primal cautiously agrees.

Later, in neutral territory, the two leaders meet, and surprisingly Megatron was as good as his word when he said he would come alone. I like how Primal reacts to the idea of a truce.

Primal: "When Predacons talk truce, it just means they need time to reload their weapons."
Megatron: "Under normal circumstances yes..."

And I like how Megatron doesn't even try to deny it. Ah, good stuff. Primal doesn't so much agree to the truce as Megatron tells him that he has to accept it. Reluctantly, Primal delivers the news to his comrades back at the Axalon. As a Maximal, he has to give peace a chance. They determine pretty quickly that this has to do with the alien energy readings that were coming from the mountain and that Megatron's found out something that has him too worried to bother with the Maximals. They need to know what it is. I do like that they're all too aware that Megatron's still up to something and don't trust him for a moment. Good Maximals.

Deep within the Predacon base, which I still refuse to call the Darkside or the Darksyde or whatever jacked up spelling they have of it, Tarantulus is busy stealing one of the last few transwarp cells in Predacon possession. He easily bypasses Megatron's security and obtains the cell, when Waspinator shows up demanding to know what he's up to. Tarry fills the room with a smoke pellot and disappears. He pops up behind Waspy and boots him further into the armored storage containter.

Tarantulus: "The answer's simple; I'm leaving."

But Tarry's not the kind of guy to leave without giving his buddies a going away present. He tosses in a bundle of dynamite and locks the door. Hehehe. Bye-bye, Waspy. Unbeknownst to Tarantulus, Megatron's been observing this whole transaction of events through a security camera. Rather than punishing the spider, he allows him to proceed with his own plans for dealing with the aliens. Just to be safe though, he calls up Blackarachnia, who was in the middle of a frog dinner, and politely asks if she wouldin't check out a "disturbance on the transwarp level." He doesn't even wait for a reply before closing the channel. Hehe. I like that. Just enough to whet her curiosity without actually telling her what's up. Nice. Megatron eases back in his chair and waits for the inevitable Maximal infiltration.

He doesn't have to wait long either. AirRazor flies Rattrap's heavy butt into Pred territory, so that he can infiltrate their base. Ah, banter. Banter between the Maximals. I'd call it witty banter, but AirRazor can't really pull it off. Suddenly they come under fire and she drops Rattrap behind a large rocky outcropping.
Megatron receives an abrupt call from AirRazor. She's all like, "Is this the meaning of a truce??" He profusely apologizes, though he is rather busy brushing the teeth of his T-rex head. Totally taking his time about shutting down the guns. Hehe, you just know the whole time he was apologizing, he was hoping just one of those guns would tag her. Oh well, no such luck. He flips a switch with his toothbrush and the guns stop firing. Then, just as politely as before, he asks that she leave in the interest of continued peace. . . oh, and to take Rattrap with her. THAT'S RIGHT! He knew the whole time! Rattrap won't be infiltrating any bases today.

Sorry. Sorry. I couldn't help it. No exclamations today. More than halfway through. I can make it.

Rattrap and AirRazor report their failure to Optimus. It's cool though, because the whole thing was just a big diversion so that Tigatron could sneak into the Pred base. And, thank-you for cutting away from the Axalon. I don't know why, but AirRazor just kind of annoys me today. Just... stop trying to be cool. Please.

Elsewhere in Tarantulus' lair, work on the transwarp cell proceeds well. Blackarachnia's tracked him down though and presents him with what's left of his handiwork; Waspinator's head. He tries to cover up his work and stumbles around with a cover-story, all while Megatron watches via hidden camera. From what we can see, it looks like Blackarachnia's really scolding him too. Nice. While they're busy bickering, Megatron secretly accesses the transwarp cell that Tarantulus is tinkering with and adds some of his own programming to it. Oooh, foreshadowing. :D

Tigatron sneaks around the Pred base, his white fur coat not exactly hiding him very well in this "dark ship". Hee hee, he spotted Terrorsaur hopping around in beast mode. That always put a smile on my face. Quickly he finds the nearest access panel and hacks into the ship's computer. The graphics of the computer world look positively archaic; like the first Beast Wars video game. In other words, everything is non-descript lines and geometric shapes. One of the security walls is a rubic's cube that forms Megatron's head when solved properly. Cute. He locates the information that Megs has managed to decipher about the alien disk. It's pretty awesome, when just a simple picture of the disk, coupled with a bunch of stuff in Predacon writing that no one can read anyway isn't much. But coupled with the right piece of music, it becomes epic. Tigatron just found out something very, very bad. :D

Quick scene where Megatron goes on about power, glory, the usual. He's laughing maniacally and begins to cough. Inferno even shows concern over this. I only mention it, because I recall reading an interesting theory that maybe Megatron had some kind of techno disease. Apparently this isn't the first time he's coughed bad, though I haven't been keeping track. Still, I do like the idea that he has some kind of debillitating disease. It could explain why he takes bigger and bigger risks later on if he knows his time is short. Food for thought. He gives a surprised little hop when the alarms start blaring. That's just cute. Hehe.
Terrorsaur has located Tigatron and has him at gunpoint.

Tigatron: "You cannot shoot. We have a truce, remember?"

What Terrorsaur should've said was, "Yeah. And you're violating it right now." What he actually says is, "I remember. But you know my trigger finger; it might just forget." Ah well. It's good all the same. Tigatron swats his gun away and pounces on him. He makes for the exit, but Scorponok cuts him off. Oh no. Terrorsaur and Scorpy are both charging at Tigatron from opposite sides of the narrow corridor. I think we all see where this is going. Tigatron ducks through a hole in the wall at the last second and Scorpy and Terrorsaur pancake each other. All the available Predacons chase after Tigatron and right into the waiting hands of the Maximals, who dispatch them all in ACME fashion. Crushed by a boulder, the ol' charging bull trick, Rhinox' butt defeats another Pred. Yeah, you get the idea. And not a single shot fired. Nice. The Maximals escape unscathed, much to the delight of Megatron. It seems he wants them to know what he knows. Man, the guy is working some kind of crazy scheme.

Back in Maximal territory the Maxis are all eager to know what Tigatron learned. The mellow vibe of the episode has given way to dark storm clouds and lightning. The aliens that nearly destroyed them all before are on their way back, and they're not happy. Cue the foreboding moment before the credits roll.

OH YEAH!! Ah, there we go. The episode review is over, so I can get back to using exclamation points again. YEEE-HAW!! I've always liked this episode. In a long-standing series like Transformers where the stories are all about war and fighting, I've become more impressed over the years with writers that can tell stories that are still fun, engaging, and compelling even without the use of explosions and gunfire. What little amount of gunshots were seen in this episode didn't actually affect anything, and the manner in which AirRazor casually dodged blasts while on the phone with Megatron shows of how little importance they were to what was going on. Yeah, there was still some action, and I'm glad for it. At the end of the day, this is still a Transformers show and there needs to be some action, but by handicapping themselves, the writers are forced to explore new methods of bringing that across. Tigatron skulking through the Pred ship plays up a little tension as he tries to avoid detection, for example. Good stuff.

Next up: Other Voices part 1

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Re: Revisiting BEAST WARS

Post by andersonh1 »

"Law of the Jungle" was the episode that sucked me into Beast Wars, and once I got caught up in the show, I started collecting for the first time since I was a kid. So it's the fault of whoever wrote this episode that I have a closet full of Transformers!!
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Mako Crab
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Re: Revisiting BEAST WARS

Post by Mako Crab »

Lol! Nice story. :D

Other Voices part 1
written by Larry DiTillo and Bob Forward

on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRusz0OlCpk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKTXFnZN_Og&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mblj4xxo ... re=related

A quick recap of "Before the Storm" sets the ominous mood for this ep as we open to a wonderful shot of the planet and its two moons as seen from space. You know, whenever they start an episode in space, it just seems more epic to me. It's so very rare that we see anything in space, so it just feels kind of special. The first time we saw space, I believe was "The Probe" which gave us our first glimpse of Cybertron in the BW era. The secnod time was "Possession" which gave us some G1 love with the return of Starscream. And now this episode opens in space and the epic music's already playing. Oooh, something good's going to happen! Just beyond the two moons orbitting the planet, a transwarp rift opens in space and some kind of energy thing flies through and towards the planet. Already I know this is good.

The Maximals and Predacons have both detected the energy anomoly and instantly identify it as a match to previous encounters with the aliens. Primal dispatches Rattrap and AirRazor to investigate the landing site of the energy... thing. He'll meet them en route. Meanwhile Tarantulus is calculating his next move in light of the alien presence on the planet. He's thus far been unable to secure a stasis pod and built an escape craft, and the next pod isn't set to make planet-fall until days later. A familiar voice interrupts his pondering; Blackarachnia's snuck into his lair again and coyly suggests that together they could infiltrate the Axalon and steal one of the stasis pods being held there. It's really funny; it doesn't even occur to Tarantulus to use one of the Maxis stasis pods until BA suggests it.
Up on the bridge of the Pred ship, Megatron is watching the scheming spiders plot their treachery. He calls it "betrayal", but who can blame them for looking out for themselves? Especially when they know that they'd be lucky to get just the two of them off the planet, let alone the entire Predacon crew. Megatron is okay with their selfish sense of self preservation though. He's already thinking how to turn it to his advantage. He keys up a monitor and catches Waspinator emerging from the CR tank, now fully repaired from being blown up last episode. Waspy is none too happy with Tarry, but Megs doesn't have time for it. He orders Waspinator to the site of the alien landing.

Speaking of which, AirRazor and Rattrap soar overhead as the landing site comes into view. The energy thing has transformed into an entire circular platform with strange patterns on the ground, rows of... uh... lamppost things, and a stable energon crystal at the center. OMG, AirRazor's talking again. Why? Why do I despise her talking so much?

Rattrap: Yay! We get to be vaped first!
AirRazor: "Do you ever think positively?"
Rattrap: "Hey, that was positive! You know, I could've said we could be tortured and then vaped."
AirRazor: "You're a real fun bot, you know that?"

What is it about her? Why do her lines grate on my nerves so much? Can anyone help me out here? Anyone feel the same way? I mean, I don't necessarily hate AirRazor, but she so consistently irks me the wrong way. I've tried to identify it as her trying to be cool, and this kind of comes off as the same way. Like, she's just sooo aware of Rattrap's personality flaws and snaps back with what was supposed to be a witty remark that completely fails. GAH! I can't take it. Better to just move on. So they land on the platform and Rattrap comments that the crystal at the center is stable.

AirRazor: "Then I should be able to scan it safely."

Bad idea. A high-pitched humming signals that the device is building up power and one of the lamppost things zaps her clear across the floor! Knocks her right out! Strangely, I didn't mind her delivery of that last line. The crystal lowers down into the floor like they just set off some kind of booby trap. Oh yeah, they've done it now. The humming is building up again and knocks Rattrap clear off the platform with an energy wave. He goes flying through the air and smacks into the side of a sand dune. Hm. Don't think we've seen sand in this show yet. A new texture. Kinda cool. :D When he recovers, the platform is still building up energy and radiates waves of it outward. Suddenly a flash of light- and then a reptillian-like tent is generated out of pure energy that encloses the entire platform with AirRazor still trapped inside.
Rattrap gets on the phone right away to Optimus, but before he can hang up, Waspinator divebombs the rat from behind! Hehe.

Rattrap: "Oh maaan. It's a-MAZ-ing how sweet we're all being these days."

One of my favorite lines in the whole show. :) This is cute. Very short, very satisfying fight between the two smallest beast warriors as Rattrap explains to Waspy that if he wants to fight with a rat, he'd better fight dirty. KNEE TO THE GROIN! If you thought Waspinator was high-pitched before, prepare to be surprised. Hehehe. Waspy takes off just as Optimus lands on the scene.

Optimus: "I swear, I can't take you anywhere."

Heehee! Kind of an odd couple moment. Cute. Inside the construct, AirRazor is groaning and moaning. Ugh. I can't even stand it when she does this. However, when she gets back to her feet, we get a wonderful panning shot of her backlit by blue lights, and I swear this is the single best shot of her in the entire show. This is postcard material. Love that shot. The spires along the perimeter of the room strike her with more bolts, levitating her into the air and electrocuting her! She holds out as long as possible but finally reverts to beast mode. The spires deactivate. Somewhere... intangible voices speak among themselves in an alien tongue. We can only understand one word they speak; "Cybertron."

Outside, the Maximals attempt to cut through the outer wall of the alien construct with little luck. Just then Megatron arrives with Terrorsaur and Scorponok in tow. Megatron mockingly asks if Primal really thought using an laser cutter would really work seeing as how the aliens can create energon itself. Du-hur! Shut up, Megs! They try a biological weapon next; Scorponok's toxic stinger, and it melts a hole right through the wall in no time! Primal congratulates the Preds, but quickly states that they'll be the first ones to go in since it's a Maximal that 's trapped inside.

Megatron: "Of course, of course. We have a truce, remember?"
Optimus: "Just as long as you don't forget."

I love Optimus. So stern. It's like, you can tell he already knows Megatron's going to try and stab them in the back at some point. He's not even fooled for an instant, and it really sounds like he's telling Megatron just that. Love it. The two Maximals head inside the alien construct. . . and find AirRazor unconscious on the floor. Rattrap drags her out by her head (WHAT??) while Optimus remains behind to try and communicate with the aliens. Bad, bad idea. He's almost immediately bound with cables and hoisted off the ground. A scanning beam slowly passes through his body as he screams in agony!

At the Axalon... Tarantulus and Blackarachnia have crept their way up to the edge of the ship's forcefield. Showing off her tech skills, Blackarachnia produces a device she invented capable of cutting a small window into the force field for them. She comments that it's a spiffy little gizmo, as though she's almost fishing for a compliment, but Tarantulus remains unimpressed. Maybe he's just annoyed, knowing how vital every second is at this point. It's one of those minute little exchanges that I always liked, and always made me wonder if Blackarachnia really cared what Tarantlulus thought of her. Anyway, they pass through the force field unaware that Inferno is hot on their trail. He makes for the window, when Blackarachnia' device gives out and the force field resumes its former shape. No problem- he starts tunnelling under it.

Back at the alien site- Primal twitches in pain after the aliens have finished scanning him. He slowly regains his strength and demands to know who he's dealing with. A swirling tornado of golden energy fills the room above him and coalesces into the visage of... UNICRON! Oh man, I always loved how they did this reveal. They don't just show you Unicron's face, no. They hold on Primal's face for the reaction shot as the camera zooms in on his optic in which we can see Unicron's reflection. Damn cool. Primal is understandably shocked, but "Unicron" explains that the aliens they're dealing with have no physical form and so took the image of Unicron from Primal's mind. Nice. More on that later.
"Unicron" explains that Primal, his crew, and their enemies have contaminated a global experiment that the aliens have been conducting. The results now contaminated, they intend to wipe the slate clean and start from scratch, and that means exterminating every living thing on the planet. No amount of reasoning can persuade them otherwise, believe me, Primal really tries. He's got some great dialogue during this scene as he tries to bargain. "Unicron" vanishes and the entire alien construct begins to emanate bright white light. Rhythmic humming fills the air. Out of desperation, Primal manages to shatter the coils that hold him and he jets right through the walls of the construct!

Outside, the Preds have gone back on the truce; just what an exhausted Rattrap and AirRazor didn't need. But the alien activity distracts the Preds, and the Maximals take quick advantage of the situation. Scorponok, Megatron and Terrorsaur are all taken care of in no time. The Maximals regroup and bail out of their for the Axalon! But while the beasties have all fled the site, the camera holds on it for one of those eerie silences... The construct reverts back to its pure energy state and sends a beacon of light towards one of the moons. Oh... my... gawd... The surface of the moon disintegrates! Just below it; endless rows of spires like the ones on the platform! And one of the creepiest moments ever; far off on the moon's horizon you can see as millions of rows of spires light up, cascading all the way back to the spires in the foreground. By this point my jaw is on the floor. WHAT'S GOING ON?!?!?!

Speaking of, Rhinox detects the crazy activity just as the spiders break into the base. They put him down with a dose of cyber venom. Dinobot fares no better when he runs in on the scene. The spiders walk over to the computer that Rhinox was working at; the monitor shows something happening to one of the moons...

Tarantulus: "It's the beginning of the end... "

*gasp!* It may be a cliche'd line, but the delivery makes it. And just before the episode ends, just when you thought it couldn't get much crazier- giant slits in the moon light up and illuminate the night sky! OMG, it's frickin' monumental! It's epic! It's... OVER!! NOOOOOO! *huff huff* . . . NOOOOOOO!!! Can you tell I love this episode? It's like... it's so good. When Beast Wars does epic, it does it soooo GOOD. And now is where I explain exactly how it is that the epic stories of Beast Wars succeed where the "Faux Epic" junk of the Beast Wars comics fail. It's very simple. They spent the last 24 episodes fighting a tiny, self-contained war. Little victories are of much greater importance, because when resources are limited, everything becomes valuable. Rhinox develops a new comm. link so they can communicate over longer distances; victory. The Maximals manage to get home while blind; victory. The Predacons knock down a communications tower; victory. It's all these little things that characterize the struggles of the Beast Wars. So then comes along this episode and THE ENTIRE FRICKIN' MOON IS LIGHTING UP!!! AND UNICRON SHOWS UP!! AND JUST EVERYTHING IS SO MUCH GRANDER IN SCALE AND SO MUCH MORE BEYOND WHAT ANYONE THOUGHT!!! It completely blows my mind. :D
And about Unicron- you know why I love Beast Wars and Beast Machines? Because Unicron is NOT, NOT, NOT in it! I love that they give him a brief reference in this episode. It's very appropriate considering that the aliens intend to destroy the entire planet. But here's the thing; the Beast era is great for the simple fact that it created an entire host of new, memorable villains. It doesn't need Unicron or the Quintessons or the G1 Decepticons or any of them. The villains of BW and BM are more than able to stand on their own. That's also why I despise so many of the BW comics from the conventions and from IDW. They keep trying to fit all these old villains into the Beast universe and they're just not needed. Anyway, excellent episode. One more and season 1 is done.

Next up: Other Voices part 2!

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Mako Crab
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Re: Revisiting BEAST WARS

Post by Mako Crab »

Other Voices part 2
written by Larry DiTillo

on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyQ9DBjI770
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UoDBi6G-Yk...feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ3flFpD19M...feature=related

Other Voices part 2
written by Larry DiTillo

And at LONG LOOOONG last, here's the review! (Sorry for being so late!)

The episode opens...
The Aliens begin their attack...
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The Predacons sit in their base. . .
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The Maximals sit in their base. . .
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Tarantulus and Blackarachnia build an escape pod. . .
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Primal flies the escape pod into the moon.
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And it is the most epic thing ever. EVER! Seriously, when you break it down, there's not a lot happening. The Predacons are literally sitting in their base the entire time waiting and hoping that Tarantulus and Blackarachnia succeed in their own scheming. You know what it is? They've made an episode about people sitting around watching their monitors intensely, and it works! It's like people watching the SuperBowl at work and all they have are those stupid little updates on the score without any actual footage. They get all excited over some dots on the field and some numbers. For as great as this Megatron's reputation is for being the most intelligent Megs ever- he's got no backup plan! When Inferno takes out the spiders, Megatron just loses it, because he knows that he'd bet all his chips on them.
Blackarachnia recovers, of course, and takes out Inferno, who was working on the stasis pod/escape pod. I wonder if Megatron's backup plan (if indeed, he had one) was to have Inferno fly the thing into the moon? Maybe. I wouldn't put it past him. At least with Inferno at the helm, there'd be no chance he could override Megatron's controls, whereas I'd wager money that Tarantulus would laugh in Megatron's face, override all of Megs' little codes, and fly away to safety while everyone on the planet fried.
For a while it seems as though Blackarachnia actually intends to escape with Tarantulus, but he has no time for her coy teasing. This, apparently was the tipping point where she decided that he had to go. Seriously, he's trying to rig together a flying machine from spare parts WHILE the planet is detonating around them. And she's put off that he's got no time for her? Pfft. So much for their arachnid alliance. We get a great scene where Blackarachnia accesses an offline Tarantulus's mind to get the information she requires to finish building the pod. And we find out just how dangerous it can be to be inside his head. Dang. Scary stuff.

OMG, what else is good about this ep- besides all of it? AirRazor... no, stll not. Sorry, AR fans. She has a moment where she's stalking through the halls silently with Rattrap. That's pretty good. But when she and Rattrap find Blackarachnia inside the Axalon rigging up one of their old stasis pods, well...

Blackarachnia: "It's done. I did it!"
AirRazor: "Hooray for you."

COFF! COFF! *cough* COFF! Painful! Painful, I say! Rhinox and Dinobot are still in the CR tanks. The Preds are irrelevant except for Megatron. The Maximals are freaking out, because without Rhinox, they don't even know where to begin mounting a counter-offence. I love it when Primal asks the computer for an estimation of their remaining time, and there just isn't enough of it. He starts pounding on the table and wracking his brain. Everything's falling apart at the seems!

Then they see that the spiders have built an escape pod and Primal gets the idea to detonate the transwarp cell that powers it right in the center of the PLANET BUSTER. Everyone gives their big sappy, "But I should do it!" speeches (everyone except Rattrap). It really is sappy, and Blackarachnia comments on how sickening it is to listen to. AirRazor punches her out and that's all for her. If you happened to catch this episode on FoxKids after they'd hacked it up in the editing room, you wouldn't hear BA's comments. You'd just see AR punching her out for no apparent reason. Good going, Fox. I'm sure the lesson there is to knock out the people that help you save the world. Or maybe sucker punch your enemies without provocation? Yeah, that sounds good. Silly Fox.

Anyway! Primal flies the escape pod right into the center of the Planet Buster, and you know what I like about this guy? Nowhere in his mind is this a one-way trip. He even says that suicide isn't in his job description. Self sacrifice is a noble gesture, but he wants to live! He's not resigned to death, and that's what makes the next part so delicous. The voice of Megatron fills the tiny escape pod. Primal's surprised as the cabin window flashes an image of Megatron's face no more than a few inches away from his face.

Megatron: "Oh you Optimuses do like to sacrifice yourselves, don't you? This time it will cost you."

I love that he flat-out mocks G1 Optimus. Optimus dying in the '86 movie was always like this epic moment of heroism and self-sacrifice. Megatron doesn't care. It's just stupid to him. G1 Optimus is a bad joke to him, and he's making sure that Primal does the noble and heroic thing by going down, "Or should I say- 'up' with the ship." Hehehe.

Primal: "MEGATROOOOOOOOOON!"

When I first watched this episode back in 1996, I knew, KNEW, that Primal would escape the pod somehow. I knew he would succeed in blowing up the moon/planet buster and save the day. He'd fly back to Earth and regroup with his friends for a victory party. I knew all these things, because I'd been watching cartoons since I was a kid, and all kids know that the hero always wins. The Decepticons never won. Up til now the Predacons haven't done much better. Primal's safe.

But the pod kept getting closer and closer to the planet buster. Nearly to the center. Primal still hasn't jettisoned.

Primal: "MEGATROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!!!!!!"

And then the moon exploded. Like, Death Star (in the special edition) exploded. No Primal. Oh wait, there he is! OMG... no, it's pieces of him. Holy- ! They killed Optimus Primal! An ominous "The End?" appears on the screen before fading to black.

Absolutely epic. I really love this episode. There's so much going on and yet so little. The tension is constant throughout the entire episode, with the planet buster heating up the planet and causing all the energon deposits to explode worldwide. It's just really, really good. I still love watching it every time even to this day. And um... I'm not sure what else to say about this one. Season 1's done, I guess. Wow. Only took me a year or so to do. Heh. Enjoy the pics.




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andersonh1
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Re: Revisiting BEAST WARS

Post by andersonh1 »

I have to admit, the ending of the first season is a great bit of drama, with a few continuity references for the long-term fans. Unicron, Megatron's remark about Primes loving to sacrifice themselves.
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Gomess
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Re: Revisiting BEAST WARS

Post by Gomess »

It's also when everything went to the the Pit, because then half the fans started wracking their brains trying to fit BW into G1 continuity.... Thank goodness those days are gone. Xp

I suddenly became much happier when I realised it was futile trying to fit all the TF serieses together; I wasn't respecting any kind of author intent, 'cos it was evidently never the creators' intent that they DID truly fit together. Ahhh.

I think S1 might be favourite BW, but I do have fond memories of the early second.......
COME TO TFVIEWS oh you already did
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andersonh1
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Re: Revisiting BEAST WARS

Post by andersonh1 »

Well, considering that the Maximals find the Ark with all the dormant G1 Transformers in it at the end of the second season, I'd say that Beast Wars is very clearly established as a part of G1 continuity. :lol:

Even before that, what about Starscream's appearance in season 1? He even refers to Unicron and Galvatron, and lies about how he "died", while Blackarachnia is able to dig up the truth. Cheetor sees Starscream in jet mode in a dream in the third episode. Waspinator gets bonked on the head and talks like Shrapnel. There are various references to G1 throughout the first season, mainly from the cartoon continuity.
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Dominic
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Re: Revisiting BEAST WARS

Post by Dominic »

Ah, but which G1 is it? Which G1?

And, for that matter, which BW? There are at least 2 BW continuities in the US, (the cartoon/comic and the one explicitly mentioned in some "Armada" profiles), and credible evidence for more.

Dom
-not helping at all.
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