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The Movie: It's interesting to see how the Transformers have carried on in different forms over the years. I remember playing with the toys when I was a kid (and I'm sure I still have a couple of them tucked away somewhere) and watching the cartoon series. From what little I remember, the whole enterprise revolved around two battling groups of robots (the good guys being lead by Optimus Prime) capable of transforming from vehicles into stories-tall robots, and the ability of the toys to also change was one of their most appealing points. Now, there's a "Transformers" feature film in the works and prior "Transformers" shows on DVD, including the previously-released "Beast Wars" and "Beast Machines". "Transformers: Armada" started shortly after "Beast Wars" ended its run. The series, which saw a return to traditional animation after the CGI "Beast Wars", offers a pretty basic premise: the Autobots (good guys, lead by Optimus Prime) fight against the Decepticons (bad guys, lead by Megatron), while both sides search for "mini-cons", which are smaller transformers that can add special powers to those who find them. It's up to Optiumus Prime and the Autobots to get all the mini-cons before the Deceptions get the mini-cons and rule the universe. After the enjoyable writing and animation of "Beast Wars" and other prior "Transformers" shows, "Armada" feels rather disappointing. A series of child characters get a good deal of screen time (in order to appeal to a younger audience) and they're not only bothersome, but take away time from the more engaging robot characters. Additionally, the stories and dialogue remain on the generic side; while this is certainly geared towards kids, it made me miss the stronger storytelling of animated shows from when I was a kid. The animation generally is adequate, although it does have a hyperactive, "Pokemon"-style. Every episodes offers a reasonable helping of action scenes, as well. Overall, "Armada" is a step down from prior "Transformers" efforts, but it has its moments. This set offers the second half of the series. The first half is available separately. Detection [Disc 1] Awakening [Disc 1] Desperate [Disc 1] Runaway [Disc 1] Past (Part 1) [Disc 1] Past (Part 2) [Disc 1] Sacrifice [Disc 1] Regeneration [Disc 2] Rescue [Disc 2] Mars [Disc 2] Crack [Disc 2] Threaten [Disc 2] Crisis [Disc 2] Remorse [Disc 2] Depart [Disc 3] Miracle [Disc 3] Puppet [Disc 3] Uprising [Disc 3] Dash [Disc 3] Drift [Disc 3] Portent [Disc 3] Cramp [Disc 4] Alliance [Disc 4] Union [Disc 4] Origin [Disc 4] Mortal Combat [Disc 4] The DVD VIDEO: "Transformers: Armada" is presented by Rhino in the show's original full-frame aspect ratio. Sharpness and detail are reasonably good on this presentation, which showed off the basic animation about as well as it probably looked when originally broadcast. Although some minor dirt and specks are seen on occasion, a good majority of the shows looked clean and clear. Colors remained bright and nicely saturated, with no smearing or other issues. SOUND: The stereo sound offered clear sound effects, music and dialogue. However, as one might expect from a show like this, there wasn't much punch behind any of the effects. EXTRAS: An interactive "Transformer" transformations feature. Unfortunately, that's all. Final Thoughts: "Transformers: Armada" offers rather thin stories and the human characters take away from the show, but the series - which is clearly geared more towards kids - still does have its moments. The DVD set offers fine audio/video quality, but minimal supplements. |