Awesome Show, Great Set by Gord Lacey (All reviews)
11/28/2012
Unicron is defeated, but what was thought to be the end of the Autobots' darkest hour is actually proving to be just the beginning! The centuries-old war rages on, pitting Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) and his team of heroic Autobots, alongside their most trusted human allies - Jack, Miko, Raf and Special Agent Fowler (Ernie Hudson, Ghostbusters) - against Megatron (Frank Welker) and his nefarious Decepticons rages on, coming to a boldly exciting climax you absolutely have to see to believe!
From Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, the writing team behind the mega blockbuster Transformers feature films, and executive producer Jeff Kline comes a brand-new season of the Emmy Award winning series that Crave Online describes as the show "die-hard fans have always wanted." Now you can catch all 26 episodes of the outrageous second season in stunning high definition!
The first season of Transformers: Prime caught me off-guard by how awesome it was, and I went in with high expectations. I raised them even higher for the second season... did the show disappoint? Read on...
This 4-disc set includes all 26 episodes from the second season:
Disc 1 (2:34:49)
Orion Pax, Part 1 (22:07)
Orion Pax, Part 2 (22:08)
Orion Pax, Part 3 (22:07)
Operation: Bumblebee, Part 1 (22:07)
Operation: Bumblebee, Part 2 (22:07)
Loose Cannons (22:06)
Crossfire (22:07)
Disc 2 (2:34:47)
Nemesis Prime (22:07)
Grill (22:06)
Armada (22:07)
Flying Mind (22:07)
Tunnel Vision (22:07)
Triangulation (22:07)
Triage (22:06)
Disc 3 (2:34:44)
Toxicity (22:07)
Hurt (22:07)
Out of the Past (22:06)
New Recruit (22:06)
The Human Factor (22:06)
Legacy (22:06)
Alpha/Omega (22:06)
The high quality of the first season continues with this set. I'm in love with the detail you can see in this picture; the texture-mapping on the models is absolutely awesome. The color-banding that can be seen in season 1 is here as well, but that's a common problem with animated shows. I kept looking for compression issues with all the high motion scenes, but there's none to be seen. Each disc has a "play all" option, and a chapter is set after the opening credits (but not after any "previously-on" segments that open some episodes).
Audio
Like the video, the high-quality audio is back as well. There's a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track and a PCM stereo track, and the choice as to which you should listen to is a given (it's the DTS-HD track). I love the bass that comes from the .1 track; you can feel the show, not just see it. One small nit-pick; the stereo track (which you shouldn't be listening to anyway) on "Grill" has an odd echo. Not a problem though, as you can just choose the DTS track and have it mixed down to stereo if you don't have a 5.1 capable system. There aren't any subtitles for the set.
A Look Back at Season Two (22:37)
Brian Ward, DVD producer extraordinaire, hosts a discussion with TONS of people involved in the show. Hasbro executives, producers, directors, production people... it's an impressive lineup of people that participate, and there's some great content in here. I found the picture to be a bit washed out; that's my only complaint here.
Optimus Prime: Up Close and Personal (28:04)
A focus on Peter Cullen, the man who has voiced Optimus Prime in nearly every appearance the character has made. This is a piece recorded at Comic Con, and hosted by Larry King (yup, THAT Larry King).
Summary
Did the show disappoint? No, no, no! I absolutely love this show; it looks amazing, the audio (and music) are awesome, but the writing is just superb. I really enjoyed not knowing what was going to happen, thinking they'd take the show one way, and it went a completely different direction. Obviously I've watched a ton of TV over the years, and so I'm impressed by shows that can keep me guessing. The fact that this is a cartoon, and aimed at kids, makes me even more impressed.
This is another top-notch release by Shout! Factory. They just get this genre, and give these types of releases all the love they deserve. One thing that I noticed was how awesome the menus are. If you're watching an episode and hit the pop-up menu button, you see a list of all the other episodes. Same goes for the special features section in the final disc. Menus are something you shouldn't really notice because they should just work, but having recently dealt with some horrible menus, I'm thankful for awesome menus like these ones. While there are only two pieces of bonus material, they're definitely going to appeal to fans of the show (no fluff here!). The "A Look Back at Season Two" was a great piece featuring a ton of people connected to the show, while "Optimus Prime: Up Close and Personal" was a great piece on a single person. The lack of commentary tracks makes me sad, because I really enjoy listening to them when I have the time, but I really like these longer video pieces.
If you're not watching Transformers: Prime, you're really, really missing out. It's one of the best cartoons I've seen in a long time.
