Revisiting BEAST WARS

Mako Crab · Post by **Mako Crab** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 8:05 pm

"Let's do the trans-warp again!!!"

Right then! Next up is...

Chain of Command
written by Jesse Winfield

on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqzeXiwf4As
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsJjoLYv ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fjqF4FF ... re=related

In the first episode of the series Rhinox spotted some stonehenge in a valley. Today we get to find out what that's all about! It starts out quietly enough. All the Maximals are along for this little field-trip and discover an energy source coming from a large pile of boulders at the center of the stonehenge. That's not... natural. Everyone wants to know who built the stonehenge anyway, but that's a question that'll have to wait for another day. The Predacons have shown up!

Quick little battle and wouldn't you know that Waspinator is the first one to fly up to Megatron's side. If "The Web" was about Tarantulus and "Equal Measures" was about Terrorsaur, then this episode is to highlight Waspinator even though this is more of a group-centric episode. It features Waspy more though.

Battle, battle, battle, and it's not going so well for the Preds. Notice that Scorponok is still wearing a Maximal badge! There's a scene in the Pred base later on where it's really easy to see. Terrorsaur takes a little initiative and decides that if they can't have it, no one can. He blasts the pile of boulders! The energon crystals hidden inside the pile start to resonate. Not good. Everyone flees the area and await the energon wave...

... but something else happens. A powerful energy beam is sent into space! A moment later the crystals disintegrate. You ever have one of those moments when you hate being right? Rhinox is having one of those right now. Looks like a signal, you say? A signal to who? Ooooh...

That evening... Optimus Primal is hanging out, reading a datapad. I really like that split second shot. I always said that Transformers Energon suffered from never showing their characters during their down-time, so little scenes like this are nice. Anyway, he spots a falling star? A stasis pod? What is that thing? He heads inside to confer with Rhinox. Whatever it is... it's heading for the standing stones, er- I mean the stonehenge. Are we freaking out yet?!?!?!

Over at the Predacon base the object in the sky has also been spotted. Megatron calls out for a flier to join him and Waspinator is the lucky volunteer. And they're off.

At the stonehenge Primal and Dinobot have arrived first. A gold, egg-shaped probe hovers just above the base where the pile of boulders had been. Before they can examine it too closely, Primal is blasted by Waspinator. Yes, Waspinator! It's dark, I love this lighting, and Waspy gently touches down on the ground with a little "clank" as he does. Wow, that pose and everything. He's actually fairly confident and in-charge looking. What a badass.

They prepare to double-team Dinobot while Primal is down, but the Probe begins glowing and building up energy. Oh no!!! It emits a wave of energon that completely overloads everyone there. They're all reeling in agony as white light pours out of their mouths and eyes, when the probe fires another shot that hits Primal. The boss-monkey vanishes in a flash of light!

BOSS-MONKEY, NOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Sometime later... Dinobot's optics slowly come into focus to the sight of Rattrap, Cheetor and Rhinox all standing before him. He freaks out and thinks he's in a Maximal torture chamber! He busts out of there and runs to the other side of the room still freaking out before he finally calms down and realizes where he is. Heh. Cute bit as he's busting out when Cheetor's all like, "Heyyy." He sounds annoyed more than surprised. Rattrap tells him that Maximals don't have torture chambers although it's an idea he could get used to. Hehe.

For shame, Rattrap! Actually, no. That put a smile on my face for the simple reason that you'd never hear a good guy in any other TF toon say that.

Rattrap is already suspicious of Dinobot, saying that *someone* dumped him outside their base like an innocent little orphan. Dinobot tells them what happened and already you can see that Rattrap's more suspicious of Dinobot than any alien probe. The squinty optic and cocked eyebrow give it away.

You know, I like that it's the fifth episode and Rattrap still doesn't trust Dinobot. In so many other TF shows (like, all of them) a Decepticon will defect to the side of good and everyone trusts him right away. No mention is ever made of it again, and the traitor is welcomed whole-heartedly into their ranks. Not Rattrap. Not with this guy. Something stinks and it smells like scaley, raptor butt.

In any event, Primal's gone and it's now time to choose a new leader. Uh... choose? Did I say choose? I'm sorry, Dinobot's just going to claim leadership. The hell!! Over Rattrap's dead body! They're in each others' faces with swords and guns until Rhinox yanks the two of them apart. Honestly, Dinobot only thinks he's the toughest because he hasn't had to go against Rhinox yet. That guy would put him into the ground without a second thought.

So it's time to cast a secret vote to determine their new commander. BECAUSE RHINOX SAID SO. That's right, Dinobot, you're tough. We know, we know. You're just going along with it to keep everyone happy, right? Yeah. Right. *hehehe*

Four votes. Three Maximals. One Former Predacon. This one's in the bag. And the count is....

2 votes for Rattrap
2 votes for Dinobot

Rattrap understandably slams his fists on the table and demands to know who the other traitor is. You know what, I think I got this one figured out. Okay, so Rattrap obviously voted for himself. And Dinobot voted for himself. That just leaves Rhinox and Cheetor. So far Rhinox and Dinobot haven't been shown to have anything much of a friendship. And we know that Rattrap and Rhinox are pretty good friends. Cheetor, on the other hand, might think a little better of Dinobot after "Equal Measures," when Dinobot encouraged him to try and outrun the storm and at the end when the raptor gave the kid a knowing smile.
Contrast that to Rattrap, who saved Cheetor from Tarantulus but came down pretty hard on the kid afterwards in "The Web". Yeah, I think we know exactly who voted for Dinobot.

So it's a tie. No good. Dinobot decides to break the tie with some good ol' eye-lasers to the chest! Rattrap is blasted clear across the room and slams into the glass door on the elevator. I noticed that Rhinox is standing to the side of Dinobot and has his arm raised, ready to deliver what would surely be a knock-out punch (yeah, he voted for Rattrap

) when they all hear Primal's voice!

His voice is coming over their communications station! I love the microphone. It has a very um.... I want to say 1940s vibe about it with all the rings around the central mic. But anyway, he explains that he's got no body, but that his conciousness is somehow being stored inside the probe. He puts Rattrap in charge and warns them of an impending Predacon attack, because, you know, the Preds will surely want to take advantage of their smaller numbers now.

CHA-BOOM!!

Boss-monkey was right on the money. Preds outside! Three of them! To... take advantage of... the Maximals diminished numbers. Huh. It's 3 against 4 in the Maximals favor.
*smacks forehead*
WTF, MEGATRON! The idea was that you'd overpower them with your greater numbers, right? How can you do that when you only bring 3 Predacons with you! And this is supposed to be the smartest Megatron we've ever gotten. Geez.
So big fight and Rattrap finds himself already having to think on his feet and it's not easy. After some hard moments of thinking, he decides a frontal assault is the best plan.

Dinobot: "Pure madness."
Rhinox: "No, he's right!"

Translation: Get out there and fight before they bring the ceiling down on us!

Rattrap orders Rhinox to stay behind and cobble together a device to extract Primal from the probe. How? How exactly? Rhinox hasn't even seen the probe. He hasn't taken any scans, doesn't even know what it's made of. But he stays behind and gets to work. What a trooper.

Outside it's a big ol' slugfest and wouldn't you know that the odds are evened up now? Lucky for the Preds that Rattrap had Rhinox stay behind. Ooh! Megatron is charging right for Dinobot! I don't think we see him run too often, so it's pretty cool to see it here. He gets into a heavy stride, which looks realistic considering how big and lumbering he is. I was talking about a sense of weight in the last episode. A lot of CGI shows can't convey a convincing sense of weight, but I believe it here. Dinobot does a jump-kick right to Megatron's face and he's down! From there it boils down to a slugfest as Megatron throws a bunch of hay-makers Dinobot's way. Already this is much better to watch than that cheesey sword fight in the pilot episode. More hay-makers! A couple combinations! Dinobot lost his sword! It's not looking good. Ooh! SMACK!! A comeback! Dinobot is on the offensive and delivering 2 and 3-hit combos to Megs' mid-section. A knee to the face! Eye lasers to send him packing! Yeah!

Tarantulus is busting out with his machine gun spider legs. If I'm not mistaken, this is the first time we've seen them in the show. Right on. Terrorsaur is in the air causing trouble as usual. He's just about to bring the shields down for good and Rattrap knows it.

Rattrap: "Dinobot! Get those shields back to full power!"
Dinobot (getting gnawed on by a T-rex mouth) "A little busy here."
Rattrap: "That's an order!!! .... Please???"

Seriously, what's he expect ol' choppaface to do? The moment he turns away from Megs to head towards the shields' control panel, he'll just get shot in the back. Rattrap has no other choice but to do it himself. More shots from Terrorsaur! The power levels are practically beyond critical! More shots! Rattrap dives for the panel, rolls in the air, fires at Terrorsaur, lands, rolls, hits the button, full power to the shields and a stunned Terrorsaur gets a blast to the face. Awesome.

Tarantulus suggests a quick retreat so they can go claim the probe and meet up with reinforcements. So this whole time Scorponok and Waspinator have been guarding the probe... from all the Maximals who were cooped up in their base.

*glares at Megatron*
This was your plan.

The Preds run away and Dinobot's all feeling bad for disobeying an order.

Dinobot: "I am dishonored."
Rattrap: "Ehhh... next time."

Hehe. Great response. SO! Primal's still stuck in that probe. The probe that the Predacons are after. Guess where we're going, kiddies?
A short trip later and the Maximals arrive at the probe. Oddly enough, there's no sign of the Predacons, which should be their first indication that they've just walked into a trap.

Surely enough, the Preds all drop in behind them and it's another big firefight. The Maximals take cover behind the probe and trade shots whenver they can. Rhinox puts his new invention to work on the probe, and I just love this thing. It's duct-taped together and you can see the batteries and everything! Talk about cobbling together junk. It was a nice effort, but it's not doing a thing against the probe.

He looks up and in the reflection of the probe he sees Waspinator... sneaking up behind him. Oh no. Here it comes! He plays dumb for a moment... and then.... and then.... THE CHAINGUN OF DOOM!!! For a solid 7 seconds Rhinox shreds Waspinator to pieces with the most awesome weapon in the entire show at point blank range. Ohhhhhh My gawd! And can you believe that this is the first time in the entire show that Waspy has been really slagged?? Oh yes, it's the start of a new trend.

The twitching, spasming Waspinator stumbles back and falls against one of the stones in the stonehenge, causing an energy wave to ripple through the entire structure. Rhinox realized the truth a moment before he saw it; the entire place, the stonehenge and the probe are all a single device.

The whole place lights up and the probe opens like a flower petal (sorta). What in the world... what's going on inside that thing? Weeeeeird. A flash of light shoots out and Primal is restored to his old self! Better even! He takes advantage of the Predacons' surprise and brings them all down in short order.

Realizing they've lost the day, Megatron calls for his troops to withdraw. Funny how they just walk away and the Maximals just let them. I guess they were all sick of shooting at each other that day. Whew. But what a day. Well now, what to do with this probe thing?
Wait, what probe thing?
Where'd it go, it's gone! Dissolved into nothing! Oooh, you know that bad feeling Rhinox was getting at the start of this episode? It's coming back. Whoever sent that probe apparently learned everything they needed to know about the Maximals and Predacons. But who are they and what are they after?

Dinobot: "Are they enemies, friends, or something more..."

My bet is on something more but who knows?

Anyway, that does it for this episode. Good episode too. I think this is the first one that really hinted at the bigger things to come in the near future. I really like seeing Rhinox analyze the planet and everything. I love his whole observation about how the energon doesn't match the geology of the planet. Stuff like that. How many Transformers cartoons actually bother to talk about the geology of the planet they're on?
Two moons, energon veins, stonehenge, etc. etc. They've really made the setting as much a factor of the story as the characters and I like that. Yep. Well I think that wraps it up for this one.

Next up: NOT "Power Surge".

You all know I like to spice these reviews up with some pictures from the episode, some Kodak moments, but it's starting to get a little out of hand. I started with 46 pictures from this episode and despite how much I tried to weed it down, I still have 26 pictures. It makes me laugh a little thinking that with the first episode of Beast Machines I somehow kept it to *just* 6 pictures. I'm so bad. But here they are for this episode!

Mako Crab · Post by **Mako Crab** » Mon Sep 01, 2008 12:39 pm

OMG, I want Beast Wars on the PS3 RIGHT NOW. Just imagine all the flat, blank swaths of green that pass for grassy fields in the show being fully realized like this:

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/25233.html
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/36157.html?type=flv

Rampage01 · Post by **Rampage01** » Mon Sep 01, 2008 2:24 pm

I've always wanted a Beast Wars game with graphics that look just like the show, because that would be awesome.

Post by **Gomess** » Mon Sep 01, 2008 3:01 pm

The N64 one wasn't FAR off.

It was just entirely the wrong kind of game. Seriously Genasia, WAT?

Mako Crab · Post by **Mako Crab** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 10:48 am

Fallen Comrades
written by Bob Forward

on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIWkfy6x4i0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIN7C1N2Emg&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XU7QRiSzLeo&feature=related

This is actually a pretty good episode despite the fact that it introduces Tigatron. Sorry, Tigatron fans, I just don't like the guy. But this episode manages to be good anyway, mainly because Tigatron is wisely kept absent for the all but the last two minutes. Hehehe. Sorry again, Tigatron fans!

The episode starts out simply enough. Waaay high up in orbit Tigatron's stasis pod begins to fall towards the Earth. The Maximals and Predacons are both watching this very closely and it's great to hear Terrorsaur's enthusiasm. Can you tell he's been cooped up in the base for a while? But now imagine this; you're falling from orbit. No parachute, no landing gear, no thrusters. Falling. And you're inside a coffin. Tigatron's stasis pod slams into the snowy terrain in the northern hemisphere and you KNOW his head got beat around the inside of that pod! AhaHAaHAaHahahaaHAHA!

*wipes a tear away* Ahh... I so hate Tigatron.

So Terrorsaur's all anxious to get moving, but Megatron has other ideas. With only one flier on the Maximal team, he decides it'd be in their best interest to take out Optimus Primal first. Good, good thinking.
At the Maximal base Primal seems just as eager to get to the pod as Terrorsaur. I can't belive that Dinobot is actually being the voice of caution in this scene. That almost never happens.

Dinobot: "Megatron does not always act as one might expect."
Primal: "He'll want to get to the pod first, same as us."

I like this. In the broad scope of things Primal and Megatron get to know each other very well to the point where they can almost predict each others' moves, but early on we see Primal still has a lot to learn about his adversary.
Dinobot convinces Primal to allow him to exit the base first and make sure Waspinator and Terrorsaur aren't waiting right there to ambush him. D'oh! We get this wonderful night shot of the Axalon that I love. It's quiet, you can hear the birds and animals chirping, and it's just... hmm... maybe too quiet. Dinobot returns inside and requests to lead a full-on scouting party. Primal ain't having none of it! There's a pod to be rescued! No time for dilly dallying! They both exit the Axalon and Primal takes to the air, hovering while he gives Dinobot orders to follow along with the other Maximals.

OMG IT'S TERRORSAUR AND WASPINATOR!!! They blast Primal and he goes down hard, but not before Dinobot can retaliate. He blasts a giant boulder, that falls right on top of Waspy. Doesn't matter. Terrorsaur blasts the boulder apart and helps Waspy up and into the air. Aww! See, they do care.

Cheetor and Dinobot run to Optimus' side. Oh no! Oh he's dead! Really, really dead!

Dinobot: "Fear not, I will insure your funeral is a glorious one!
Primal (half dead): "Afraid not. I'm not scrap yet."
Dinobot: "You sure? It'd be really cool."

Hehehe. Back at the Predacon base! And can you believe that Waspy and Terrorsaur bothered returning to their base? Why didn't they blast Primal and then head right for the stasis pod themselves? Wasting more time here, guys. Megatron figures out what the Maximals' next move will be; they'll send a land party. Um... yeaaah. What else? Wasn't that the whole idea in the first place?
This is my favorite Megatron ever, and he is widely regarded as the smartest of all Megatrons, but every now and then he's way too impressed by his own ability to state the obvious. Guess what he does next? He sends Terrorsaur and Waspinator to go fetch the stasis pod! OMG, what a clever plan! At least he has the good sense to load up Scorpy and Tarantulus and attack the Axalon while everyone else is out.

So everyone's on the move! The Maximals are a little wary leaving Dinobot alone to guard the base while Primal is in the CR chamber, but there wasn't much choice since both of them got damaged. And just up north it seems there's a problem... the stasis pod hatch pops open and Tigatron is instantly hit with a searing wave of pain as his systems overload from the energon radiation!!

AhaHAHAHahahahAHAHAHAAA!

Back to all the Preds and Maxis on the move. Good blizzard effects. Looks nasty and cold, but the blizzard only lasts for a couple seconds. Aww. Terrorsaur and Waspy spot the Maximals down below and decide to have a little fun. They unload with everything they've got, but the two Preds are proving to be really capable at dodging today. Hey hey. Ice bridge! Terrorsuar and Waspy fly right *through* the bridge and destroy it! Awwwesome. They're having a really good day today. Smoking Primal, evading thousands of shots, taking out the bridge. Yeah, doing good. I like seeing these two paired up. They should do it more often.

Rattrap calls into the Axalon, because the lack of a bridge kinda' screws up their plans. Dinobot just yells back over the comm. that he will accept no excuses and then closes the channel. Still, even he knows that their chances of beating the Preds are slim, so he accesses the mind of Primal while he's still in the CR chamber. Kind of a cool little trick. A hologram of Primal's head appears over their conference table and they're able to discuss their options. If they could somehow send a signal to the pod and activate it... but they'd need something to bounce the signal off of.

Dinobot has a moment of inspiration and gets topside right away, setting up a big satellite dish that seems to be aimed at the moon. Just then Megatron appears! He's not even trying to be sneaky. He just comes right out and says hello. He offers Dinobot the chance to surrender the base him and reclaim his place as a Predacon. Sounds tempting, but Dinobot doesn't go for it. He blasts Megatron in the face! Oh but Megs isn't worried. While he was acting as the distraction, Scorpy and Tarantulus have snuch up behind Dinobot and blast him.
Charred and on fire, Dinobot rolls to safety and activates the auto-guns just in time. They make quick work of the Preds and Megatron calls for a quick retreat. Aww, it sounded like a halfway decent plan, but that's how things go sometimes.

Inside the Axalon Primal comes out of the CR chamber just as Dinobot goes in. That thing gets a lot of use. Oh yeah, and they activate the satellite dish. The programming signal bounces off the moon and hits the stasis pod, feeding it info and whatever else.

And way up north Rhinox, Cheetor and Rattrap have finally caught up to Terrorsaur and Waspy, who are already well into the process of cutting open the stasis pod. It's a stand-off, when Megatron shows up and tips the balance of power. He takes aim at a couple white tigers nearby and threatens to kill them if the Maximals don't give up the stasis pod.
The Maximals comply and Megs heads over to the stasis pod. Come on! He's not aiming at the tigers anymore! Go for it! Or... not. Turns out there's another surprise in store for Megatron anyway. The pod is finally opened and there's nothing inside.

Megatron: "Whaa-aa-aat???? Where is the Maximal??
Tigatron: (in the softest, soft voice ever): "Right... here."

Oh gawd, here we go. One of the white tigers transforms and it's minty green Tigatron! He fires some wrist rockets and everyone gets in on the fight. The Predacons are blown halfway back to their base. And then the fun part!

Optimus Primal: "Hey, you'd be a great asset to the team. We could really use the extra help."
Tigatron: "That's why I'm going to stay up here. Screw all you guys. Nyah nyah!"

Really, it's for the best. Tigatron just never meshed really well with the whole team. Better to keep him up north where it's cold and distant; just like him. He says that his identity programming is all screwed up and he still isn't entirely sure who he is or where he belongs. Maximal or tiger? He gives a wink over to his new tiger friend. For being a big cat, Tigatron sure is a dog. A dog!!!

Primal: "Alright, but I have a feeling we'll be meeting again. And soon."

Not too soon, I hope. The end!

What can I say about this episode, really? It's good, it's fun, I like seeing Waspy and Terrorsaur as a team (why didn't they do that more often?). Tigatron is barely in it, which is perfect. Yeah, this one was pretty good all around. It was a simple race to see who could get to the pod first, but they threw in enough spice to make it TAS-TAY!!

Next up: Double Jeapordy! Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about Power Surge.

Post by **Onslaught Six** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 7:06 pm

What don't you like about Tigatron?

Also, isn't coming into the series with pre-conceived notions like "I hate Tigatron!" counter-active to the purpose of these escapades? The purpose behind rewatching Energon in the first place, for example, was to see if the series was as bad as everyone said it was--which, of course, it totally was. Likewise, the purpose behind rewatching BW like this would be to see if it's really as 'good' as everyone said it was.

And yeah, going in with the attitude of "Tigatron sucks!" defeats the purpose, dunnit? You're not even giving him a chance to win you over.

Plus, you never really give any good 'reasons' for why you dislike him, just "Tigatron sucks and it's good he's barely in this ep!" Now, I'm assuming you 'do' have some good reasons, so I'd be interested to hear.

Mako Crab · Post by **Mako Crab** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 8:35 pm

*L* I do tend to type these reviews fast and loose, and so I often over-exagerate to some extent or another. I don't really hate hate Tigatron. I know I used that word, but I don't really hate any character on Beast Wars. It's more like he's simply nowhere on my top 10 list of favorite characters in this show. I find plenty of things about him that are good, and I'll be sure to point those out as they come up, but overall he just never interested me. And like I was saying, I never felt that he meshed with the rest of the Maximals very well. I know that he's supposed to be the loner of the group, and for a moment at the end of "Spider's Game" it seemed as though they were going to take that aspect, that flaw some might call it, of his character and go somewhere with it. But they kept sending him off on long solo missions and out of the stories.

It reminds me of something Ben Dunn, the creator of the Ninja High School comic book, once said about writing one of his characters. Sammy, a girl that was pretending to be a boy, was one of my favorite characters in the book, but she'd never get used. He explained her scarce appearances by saying that she was just too hard to write. That always struck me as a weak excuse and irritated me.

With Tigatron it seems to be the same problem. They don't seem to know what to do with him most of the time or where to take his character development. He establishes a strong personality but then they send him away and it annoys me to see a character treated so shabbily. Especially when I see plenty of opportunities to do more with him and make him a vital part of the team instead of the stray cat.

Also, isn't coming into the series with pre-conceived notions like "I hate Tigatron!" counter-active to the purpose of these escapades? The purpose behind rewatching Energon in the first place, for example, was to see if the series was as bad as everyone said it was--which, of course, it totally was. Likewise, the purpose behind rewatching BW like this would be to see if it's really as 'good' as everyone said it was.

Well, you're right. I shouldn't be so quick to jump to the same old conclusions going into these. The main difference with Energon was that I could barely remember anything about that show. It was all just a big haze. Beast Wars has remained crystal clear in my mind for years, so I guess I felt more comfortable jumping all over Tigatron right off the bat.
How about this- I already said that there are plenty of things I like about him. I'll be nice from now on and won't automatically write him off as dead-weight in future episodes.

*edit*

Just like I did for the other characters:

Tigatron is a White Tiger!

Post by **Onslaught Six** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 9:40 pm

Hooray, a post that's written well enough that I shall simply congratulate you and say nothing else.

Post by **onslaught86** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 5:57 am

With Tigatron it seems to be the same problem. They don't seem to know what to do with him most of the time or where to take his character development. He establishes a strong personality but then they send him away and it annoys me to see a character treated so shabbily. Especially when I see plenty of opportunities to do more with him and make him a vital part of the team instead of the stray cat.

So..you actually 'do' like Tigs, just not his treatment?

Mako Crab · Post by **Mako Crab** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 7:59 am

Mm... now that I think about it... yeah, I think that must be the only real reason I dislike him.

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