Transformers Prime stars a lot of the familiar characters that have made the Transformers franchise what it is today. Better still, some of the original voice cast, including Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime and and Frank Welker as Megatron, are on board. There are also some unfamiliar characters, such as Arcee, a female speed bike, and Bulkhead, a brute enforcer type, that were interesting to get to know. Overall, David Hartman (Director) has put together a compelling new series in the Transformers lore that is fresh enough for young audiences and still traditional enough to rope in franchise veterans.
Prime, a returning series on The Hub, begins with a five part story arc known as Darkness Rising. This basically sets the stage anew for battle between the Autobots and Decepticons, between Optimus Prime and his followers and Megatron and his minions. At the outset, we see Cliff Jumper get into a skirmish with a pack of Decepticons who are harvesting a mysterious element with unknown, but very potent power. Cliff Jumper is taken prisoner aboard Megatron’s ship, and we begin to learn more about this “Dark Energon” that, surely, Megatron intends to use for no good.
Meanwhile, Jack Darby accidentally discovers Arcee, who reluctantly befriends him. Two of Jack’s human friends, Miko and Raf, soon learn about the Autobots as well. Together with the Autobots, the trio will bring their own unique talents to bear against the numerous Decepticon forces as they try to keep Megatron from destroying Earth.
Overall, the themes and story within Prime are familiar, but they are well presented and tied together well, mixing character driven narrative and fun robot combat very well. Having Peter Cullen and Frank Welker helming the voices is a boon to the show for me, too.
Although I enjoy the storyline and characters, I still struggle with some of the character designs and the CG. Certain old favorites of mine, like Soundwave, look and sound nothing like they used to, and generally speaking, the character designs have too much of a Japanese anime look to suit me. I like the bulky design of Bulkhead and Ratchet, however, but the bony thin appearances of Arcee, Starscream, and Soundwave aren’t nearly as appealing.
Art direction issues aside, the technical image and sound quality of this DVD release are okay, although this release could have benefited from a Blu-ray version. That said, expect a widescreen image that gets the job done, but it may give you extra reason to wait and pick up the complete series release in early March.
As for extra features, there are three included. The first is the original episode presented in animatic form. It’s enough to warrant watching the episode a second time, or at least to skip around in it for several minutes. The other two features are much shorter, but more interesting. They each run about five minutes and profile the locations and characters used in the show.
This is a very basic release that’s offered at a reasonably low price to give viewers a chance to check out Prime before committing to a full season purchase. If you are a fan of the show, you might as well wait for March, but if you haven’t seen Prime and are curious, this makes for a fine rental or even purchase.
To the summary…