Search - Transformers - Season 1: Vol. 2 on DVD

THE classic 80s cartoon series! ...but over-remastered

wkjun | 09/05/2002

(2 out of 5 stars)

"PICTURE QUALITY (2/5 STARS)
The overall image quality has definetly been improved: brighter colours, sharp images and heavy remastering (scratch removal, ect.) but WHAT HAVE THEY DONE?? They really made some devastating mistakes! Some scenes are played in reverse (i.e. the infamous Ironhide transformation scene from 'Heavy Metal War'), some visual heat-, smoke- and fire-effects are just missing!! And there is this mistake-documentation which should show the people what errors the original film masters had and that they have been corrected... they found the errors, but forgot(?) to correct many of them.
Sharpness and colour of the image deserve 5 STARS, but in fact of the errors 2 STARS is the proper rating!SOUND QUALITY (2/5 STARS)
Generally the sound is very clear and free of hiss/crackles but WHAT HAVE THEY DONE...AGAIN?? They have remixed the soundtrack to Dolby Digital 5.1, initially that sounds brilliant but to reach this goal Rhino added some really strange&stupid soundeffects. Ok, the explosions have a great *boom* but gunfire sounds like children toy guns.
The Dolby Stereo soundtrack is another mess, some episodes have the new 5.1 remix simply downmixed to stereo, but others have the original soundtrack with no added effects. I believe every fan of the series demands at least an option to hear the original sountrack!
First a disappointment then you (have to) get used to it. Nothing more and nothing less.EXTRAS (1/5 STARS)
No Extras included. You have to buy the Season 1 Box Set containing a fourth disc with all the extras. To match the Amazon-rating there is a 1-star rating because of the non-existent zero-star rating option.SPECIAL/UNIQUE ON THIS DVD RELEASE:
- all new transfer from the original 35mm negative
- Dolby Digital 5.1 remix & Dolby StereoCOMMENT:
I am a great fan of Transformers G1 and I would have loved to see the TFs in its original form, without remastering mistakes and additional soundeffects.
As a Transfan I also bought the UK boxset of season 1 which contains a lot of other worthy extras. The picture quality is not so sharp and brilliant but there are NO MISTAKES and errors. The soundtrack is the 5.1 remix from this US boxset. I highly recommend buying both editions or if you are not sure, just buy the UK Region 2 boxset if your DVD player is PAL-compatible!"

Lackluster and Hurried

Kevin RE Watts | Welland, On. | 02/11/2003

(2 out of 5 stars)

"After watching the first Transformers DVD, I couldn't believe how well the episodes were holding up after all these years. Sadly, the quality in the episodes on this second DVD is really quite poor. The writing and basic premises are poor, the animation is poor and the presentation is poor. It was a chore to finish them, as more times than not the day is saved by some previously unmentioned device. Everything seemed hurried and there simply isn't enough consistency to truly enjoy them.I'm quite disappointed in these episodes, and hope things pick up in third and final DVD of Season One."

80s relived

veronica solorio | APO, AP United States | 02/09/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"My boyfriend loves the old cartoons so I knew I had to buy this. He loves it. All the old episodes he grew up on."