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[LiterSize]

To keep from derailing the movie thread, discuss the different versions here!

We've had G1 (wheeljack, OP, the ark, etc.) then Post-Movie (Springer, Arcee, Blur, Kup, Rodimus Prime, etc.), Beast Wars, Beast Machines, Armada, Cybertron, whatever.


What did you like/not like?  Why?  (try to stay away from the "it sucked" only responses please!  Get constructive!)

[Daniel]

I haven't watched much of the original series in a long time - a few episodes on tv, and I've borrowed a couple box sets, but the poor animation stopped me from getting into it. Later series'd probably be improved, I suppose.

The movie I still love. The greatest rock and roll adventure of all time, they say. They're not wrong.

Beast Wars I loved - I'm still curious as to why some people hate it so.

Beast Machines I've never seen, as much as I want to.

Armada I've seen episodes of, and they were sickeninly bad.

Cybertron I haven't seen either, tho I have heard that it is at least better than Armada.

[Aram]

Original I loved, and Beast Wars I loved.
Armada was alright, never got into it.

[Gryff]

Pre-movie = original and best. I think the low quality animation only adds to its charm. The movie was awesome, and I probably cried at that bit when I was a kid. Post-movie was also good, but some (most) of my favourite characters were missing by that stage so it was never quite the same.

Beast Wars was pretty cool, I thought, although I was more into sleeping in on Saturday mornings than getting up to watch cartoons at that point in my life so I didn't see that many episodes of it.

All the others I haven't seen and have no particular desire to. Didn't they change Optimus Prime into a fire engine or some junk?

[JLM]

what bit?  The part where optimus dies?

I don't think we need to worry about wrecking it for anyone, since the movie is 20 years old this year; I'm pretty sure it's past the statute of limitations.  

I've heard that Peter Cullen and Frank Welker are both interested in reprising their roles as Optimus Prime and Megatron, respectively.  If Chris "Starscream" Latta were still with us, the movie would have ruled on so many more levels.

[almost thursday]

oh man, beast wars was clumsy and repetitive and the dialogue sucked and the charecters were lame. i think, since the premsie was so cool it could have turned out awesome, but they blew it. yet another example of an idea i wish thety'd just given to me and let me work on. although, i have to admit, the robots looked really cool.

[Gryff]

I figured everyone would know what that bit in the movie was.

…Yes, it was Optimus dying.

Also, wasn't it kind of lame that the only reason that so many characters got killed off in the movie was because every child on earth already had all the toys and they needed a bunch of new toys to sell?

[Leonidas]

Unfortunately merchandising just had too muh of a say over the Transformers, hence the need to kill off some old favourites (Optimus, Ironhide, Starscream, etc...) and replace them with new characters, and therefor new toys. Hasbro also had the same influence over the comics, hence the introduction of such stupid characters as the Targetmasters and the  Headmasters......

With regards Beast Wars, I was never a fan. It simply wasn't the Trasformers I grew up with. I wanted my old Generation 1 characters back, and BW simply didn't cut it.

[Leonidas]

Yes, but they weren't the same characters, they just shared the same name. Just as the Optimus Prime or the Megatron of the recent Armada series weren't the same characters I remember from the original G1. Not only that but it wasn't set in the same universe as Generation 1, it was just another variation on the original story.

[Daniel]

Ravage was in an episode or two - the original, but rebuilt to be a humanoid robot with a cat head instead of a full-on robot cat. He was a Decepticon, could turn invisible, and was totally sweet.

And the spirit of Starscream came by once or twice, and possessed some of the characters - I think Ravage might in fact have been sent to capture him, in fact.

[Leonidas]

The "spirit of Starscream".........???

[Gryff]

Beast Wars was set millions (?) of years in the past, hence having no vehicles to transform into, only beasts. In one episode they find the original series transformers, who were lying dormant in their crashed ship under a mountain.

Correct me if there are any innaccuracies here. It's been awhile...

[Gryff]

I'm pretty sure it was the same timeline, but I could be wrong...

Anyone?

[JLM]

It was the same timeline, combining elements of Beast Wars and the G1 Cartoon and Comics.  

Starscream's ghost, or "spark," in the Transformers Universe, contains something akin to a genetic mutation.  Basically, his spirit exists outside of time, and cannot be destroyed.

At least, that's what I read.

[neomang5]

Dammit people! Now i want to go watch these shows again!
*runs off to get movie*

My personal favorites were the original G1, some post-movie (didnt see too much from here), and Beast Wars. Armada wasnt very good imo, and cybertron i wont touch. I've heard HORRIBLE things...

And to anyone who says beast wars is bad, remember this.

MEGATRON WAS A FUCKING T-REX. T-rex > Gun.

[JLM]

And to anyone who says beast wars is bad, remember this.
MEGATRON WAS A FUCKING T-REX. T-rex > Gun.

If that were true, then Grimlock would have been a bajillion times cooler than Megatron.  Quite frankly, he wasn't, and I'll totally throat punch anyone who says he was.

[Switchblade]

Mostly, I think of the original series and the movie, when I think of Transformers. I haven't really watched any of the stuff that came since.

Although I did read a pseudo-manga one time where they reimaged Grimlock as the Autobot's military leader - and a hovertank. Optimus Prime was their political leader.

[Daniel]

And to anyone who says beast wars is bad, remember this.
MEGATRON WAS A FUCKING T-REX. T-rex > Gun.

If that were true, then Grimlock would have been a bajillion times cooler than Megatron.  Quite frankly, he wasn't, and I'll totally throat punch anyone who says he was.

T-Rex Megatron > Handgun Megatron

So it's set way before the movie, or in a different timeline completely.

Way after.... and before!

A jillion (or so) years after the movie. Autobots and Decepticons have become the Maximals and Predacons, and pretty much have a truce going. A bunch'a Maximals and a bunch'a Predacons go thru a portal to a distant planet. They later find out that they've travelled back in time, to Earth.

An Earth before there are humans (mainly... ). An Earth where the Ark  and the Nemesis (??) have crashed a milion years ago, and the Autobots and Decepticons inside haven't woken up yet.

[Ozymandias]

G1 = teh hardcore awesome cartoon for the 80s.

Beast Wars = Incredibly good, for any decade.

Anything after Beast Wars = suck

And Megatron eventually became a damned dragon in Beast Wars after he merged with the original Megatron. That rocks.

[Leonidas]

And Megatron eventually became a damned dragon in Beast Wars after he merged with the original Megatron. That rocks.

Now I'm confused. Though also quite curious. Almost wishing I'd gotten into this Beast Wars thing rather than simply dismissing it for not being G1.

[greenblob]

editorial on the transformers

[jinexile]

Loved G1, along with the starwars movies, they were the only reliable babysitter my mom had.

The movie was the very first movie I ever saw in theatres. Funny story about that, I think I was 4 or 5 at the time so when I was at the theatre with my dad I asked him, "Dad is this a theatrenearu?" Because that's what I though they were called, the narrators would always say "Now playing at a theatre near you."

I loved G2, I liked when Megatron turned into a tank, it was a far better toy than the ghetto looking gun version of him.

Loved Beast Wars for the most part, got kind of bad towards the end with them evolving into a new transformer every other episode, but fun none-the-less. I loved the episode when they went into the arc, and you see the scale of the beasties vs the G1 robots.

Beast Machines was "meh." I liked it but it wasn't beast wars.

As soon as the transformers had to start announcing their weapons before they used them, that's when I stopped liking the series. Armada, RiD, all of them were way to americanized anime for me.