More than meets the eye! by Gord Lacey (All reviews)
6/03/2002
If you say that phrase to any 80s kid, they'll likely know what you're talking about. It seemed like all the boys had transformer toys, watched the cartoons and maybe had transformer wallpaper or a bedspread. Ahh...the 80s. Thanks to Rhino Home Video, many of use can capture a bit of our youth as we sit down to watch the first season of this cool cartoon. Before watching this disc I had to dig out my old Transformers (yup, I still have them). Bumblebee was just one of the Transformers that watched the show with me, although he didn't contribute to this review.
Rhino has released Transformers: Season One in 4 different packages. You can purchase each of the 3 discs that contain the episodes separately, or you can buy the 4 disc set; the fourth disc being full of extras. I received the first disc which contains the first 5 episodes.
Episodes:
More Than Meets The Eye Part 1
With their energy reserves dwindling, the Autobots set out in their ship to find new reserves but are followed by the Decepticons who attack inside a meteor shower, they board the Autobot ship, and in the battle which ensues, the ship is damaged and thrown off course to crash-land on Earth.
More Than Meets The Eye Part 2
The Autobots escape from the rubble to save the humans. Spike and Sparkplug return to Autobot Headquarters with them to help them in their battle. The Decepticons continue to plunder the Earth's resources and make Energon cubes, planning on returning to Cybertron with enough energy to lead the Decepticons to victory.
More Than Meets The Eye Part 3
Bumblebee and Sparkplug are quickly rescued from an explosive device, but the Decepticons are able to blast their way out. Hound and Prime come up with a plan to trick the 'Cons, the captured Ravaged is allowed to escape, having overheard the (false) location of a rocket base. The Autobots await the Decepticon attack at a holographic rocket base generated by Hound.
Transport To Oblivion
The Decepticons, working out of an undersea base created from their crashed ship, create a "space bridge" back to Cybertron. Bumblebee and Spike are caught spying and are to be used to test the device which has already failed to work once.
Roll For It
The Decepticons, now led by Starscream, continue to attack targets on Earth, but are easily thwarted by the Autobots. Prime sends Prowl and Bluestreak after the Decepticon attack force, but they bite off more than they can chew. A very much alive Megatron contacts the Earth-bound Decepticons and returns via the space bridge.
Video
While Rhino spent money remastering the series, the age of the material is still evident. The first few episodes contain a great deal of dust, but the latter episodes look better. I noticed some jagged lines in the animation, usually when the shot panned quickly. The colors look great, and chapters are appropriately placed.
Audio
Rhino has remastered the audio in Dolby Digital 5.1 and also included the original audio track. I'm torn between the new mix and the original. While I enjoy panning effects, I found the rear speakers were a tad too loud, and sounded slightly fake. In all honesty, I think I prefer the original stereo soundtrack.
There aren't any extras on this disc. If you want tons of extras, pick up the 4 disc boxed set.
Summary
It's wonderful to see a company bringing 80s cartoons to DVD, and doing a good job with the franchise. I would have rather seen the extras spread over the 3 discs, or also had the 4th disc available for purchase. All in all, it's a cheap, fun flashback to the 80s.
