Transformers Prime Season 1
TFG1Mike’s DVD Thoughts:
So the first thing I see on this set is:
Transformers Prime: The Game Coming Fall 2012!!! .. For Wii and 3DS *headdesk*
As soon as I heard about Transformers: Prime, and the fact that Frank Welker and Peter Cullen would reunite to voice Optimus and Megatron, I was very excited! When I saw the promo clips I was even more excited, hello CGI Transformers hell yes! Now I know there are people out there that have dissed this series, however I truly believe that outside of the Beast Era this is the BEST Transformers cartoon series ever!
Coming up on March 6, 2012 Shout! Factory is releasing season 1 on DVD and Blu Ray! Huge thanks to Brian Ward and Tom Chen for hooking me up with the DVD Version. I’ve watched all 26 episodes, and they look amazing! Shout! Factory has done a great job in bringing this awesome series to DVD. In Season 1 of Transformers: Prime we meet the Autobots, and the Decepticons, as well as the three humans for the series. In my opinion Jack, Miko, and Raf are the best humans in any TF cartoon. The CGI is awesome, the sound design, and music are superbly done.
Honestly I think there’s only one complaint I have about the set, which would be that the transition fades between scenes seem very forced. What I mean is when a scene ends, and fades out the fade in is more like HEY the show is back. The fade out is correct, but there is no real fade in. Other then that Shout! Factory has done an amazing job putting Transformers Prime Season 1 on DVD.
Back in December Shout! Factory released TF: Prime Darkness Rising, a single disc DVD that compiled the 5 parter into a movie length feature. However here on the Season 1 Set the Darkness Rising 5 parter is in the original form of five episodes. For me outside of having the episodes on DVD, the best thing is the commentaries. In my years of collecting DVD sets there has only been one other set that had more than ten commentaries. That was Batman The Complete Animated Series. It had twelve commentaries on it. Transformers Prime Season 1 has FIFTEEN commentaries! I loved watching the episodes with the commentary tracks.
In closing I absolutely can’t recommend the DVD set enough. I give it a 5/5 overall rating.
DVD Aspect Ratios:
Video: 720×480 Anamorphic
Audio: English 5.1/2.0
Bonus Features For DVD/Blu-Ray:
Disc One:
Audio Commentaries:
“Darkness Rising Part 1”
Executive Producer: Jeff Kline, Hasbro Studios Developer: Mike Vogel, Therese Trujillo, and Art Director David Hartman
“Darkness Rising Part 2”
Jeff Kline, Mike Vogel, Therese Trujillo, and David Hartman
“Darkness Rising Part 3”
Hasbro Studios Executive Director: Brian Lenard, Actors Tania Gunadi, and Ernie Hudson, and Art Director Jose Lopez
“Darkness Rising Part 4”
Brian Lenard, Tania Gunadi, Ernie Hudson, and Jose Lopez
“Darkness Rising Part 5”
Composer Brian Tyler
“Masters and Students”
Production Manager: Mathias Dougherty, Animatic Artist Meghan Burleson, and Production Assistants Nathan Johnson, and Jacob Riviera
“Scrapheap”
Production Manager: Sonya Park, Production Coordinator: Meredith Rogers, Production Assistant: Kathy Cavanaugh, and Post Supervisor Austin Block
Disc Two:
Audio Commentaries
“Convoy”
Actor: Peter Cullen, President Hasbro Studios: Steve Davis, Producer: Rafi Ruthchild
“Predatory”
Director: Todd Waterman, and Actors Sumalee Montano and Josh Keaton
Disc Three:
Audio Commentary:
“Shadowzone”
Supervising Director: David Hartman, Actor: Andy Pessoa, Editor: Mike Miles, and Bumblebee
Disc Four:
Audio Commentaries:
“Stronger, Faster”
Actor: Jeffrey Combs, Writer: Mairghread Scott, and Director: Shaunt Nigoghossian
“One Shall Fall”
Writers: Joseph Kuhr and Nicole Dubuc, Director: Vinton Heuck, and Character Designer/Prop Designer/Colorist: Augusto Barranco
“One Shall Rise Part 1”
Joseph Kuhr, Nicole Dubuc, Vinton Heuck, and Augusto Barranco
“One Shall Rise Part 2”
Supervising Producer/Head Writer: Duane Capizzi , Staff Writer: Marsha Griffin, Supervising Color Designer: Christophe Vacher, and Background Design Supervisor: Vince Toyama
“One Shall Rise Part 3”
Duane Capizzi , Staff Writer: Steven Melching, Christophe Vacher, and Vince Toyama
Making Of Transformers: Prime (1080p, 11:02):
An brief look at the creation of the show, with a look back at older franchises, and moving onto examine the presentation for a new generation, the voice acting, the Transformers cast, the human characters, and the animation.
Toy Featurette (1080p, 16:31):
A look at continuing with Transformers lore, creating new characters, characters who didn’t make the cut, toy design, and the characters the crew would like to see in the show.
Season 2 Teaser: The Clip we saw at NYCC 2011 (1080p, :20)
Steve/Megatron’s Blu-Ray Thoughts:
First of all I agree with the comments of my friend above. My initial impressions before opening the Blu-Ray provided thankfully by Shout! Factory, were that of awe. I ripped open the plastic to see the nice cover which is a staple of the company’s many other productions. I love the artwork provided on that.
Upon delving into the case, I saw a nice TPB Comic in there along with the Blu-Ray case. The prequel comic here I loved. I loved the incite provided by this telling what exactly happened prior to the first episode of the series. After reading that superb piece, I began with popping the disc into the player. The menu design I loved. I loved seeing the animation above and around it. Although at times is was slow and lag filled on my cheaper blu-ray player while switching menu items (My better one was regular speed). I watched the episodes and to see this in epic HD 1080p quality was awe inspiring. I love this disc set!
After watching that I switched to some of the Behind the Scenes, Toys and Other Series information. I liked the detail and the content I got to hear in here. This set is FILLED with great content besides the episodes themselves.
That’s why finally I have to recommend this set. I love quality of this Blu-Ray set. My final rating is 5/5 – Must Own!
In closing Steve/Megatron and TFG1Mike highly recommend both the DVD and Blu Ray version of Shout! Factory’s Transformers Prime Season 1 Set. You can buy it from Shout! Factory or Amazon on March 6, 2012.
TRANSFORM AND ROLL OUT!!!!!!
We can’t wait for Season 2 on TV and DVD!!!
Great review guys (except for the unwarranted headdesk about the game being for the Wii, thats what I prefer!!!)
the point about the headdesk was I thought the game would have been all platforms. Not just nintendo!
Thanks for the comments Kevin! Yeah I have the Wii and XBOX 360 so either are what I prefer.