Transformers Prime Season 1 DVD - One Shall Stand - Action-Packed Animated Series for Kids & Collectors - Perfect for Family Movie Nights & Transformer Fans

Short Review: If you're a Transformers fan, get this DVD. Now. You won't regret it.Long Review: Wow. I don't even know where to start. This is, by far, the best Transformers series I've watched in a LONG TIME.I grew up in the Armada/Energon/Cybertron generation. Armada was my favorite out of all of them, but as I look back now, I have to admit that the animation and overall crafting of the show was pretty bad. I still love it, childhood and all, but I couldn't help but think, 'I wish there was a better Transformers series. One that I could take seriously.'Hasbro must have read my mind.I stumbled upon this show thanks to a close friend's younger brother, who told me that I should watch it. I was hesitant when I heard that it was CGI, after the Energon/Cybertron fiascos...so I hemmed and hawed and put it off for a long time. I finally gave in, looked it up on YouTube, and watched a couple of episodes.BOY was I wrong! I have NEVER been so wrong.Transformers Prime is the story of a small band of Autobots on Earth, vastly outnumbered by the Decepticon army. Same story as always, right? In a way, but the writers mix it up and make it original and very enjoyable.The main cast is small, with only six Autobots(Optimus, Ratchet, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, Arcee) and six main Decepticons(Megatron, Soundwave, Starscream, Knock Out, Breakdown, Airachnid), but I think that allows much more characterization and development. The voice acting is simply superb, with an all-star cast that was part of what sold me on the show. Peter Cullen(Optimus Prime), Frank Welker(Megatron), Steve Blum(Starscream), Sumalee Montano(Arcee), and Daran Norris(Knock Out) are the standouts for me, but I can't really play favorites. All of the voice actors do a smashing job of bringing their characters to life, giving them real emotion.These characters are so well written and acted that you almost forget that they're aliens. They have such a human quality to them. It's as if the writers took the original G1 characters, found every single good quality(and bad, in the Cons' case), and multiplied it a hundred times over. Optimus is as heroic and noble as ever, and Megatron is just as evil and as you remember, perhaps even more so. Starscream is every bit as conniving, cowardly, and treacherous as he ever was, but with a slightly more sadistic spin this time around. Arcee(voiced by Sumalee Montano), the only female Autobot, is one of the ones they probably changed the most. Instead of just being there to be the "girl", Arcee is a tough, battle-hardened warrior with a rather tragic past. As corny as that sounds, it actually works quite well. You actually find yourself empathizing with the characters in this show, once again, because it's so well written. Ratchet, the Chief Medical Officer, is the grumpy, sarcastic "Dr. McCoy" of the Autobots, and has an amazing voice actor in Jeffrey Combs, of Re-Animator and Star Trek fame. His Decepticon counterpart, an entirely new character named Knock Out, is a vain, sly, smart-aleck medic who HATES getting his paint job messed up. He's like an evil cross between G1 Tracks and Sunstreaker. I could go on and on and list every single character, but I won't. You'll just have to watch the show. ;)Even the humans are well crafted on this show. After Rad, Carlos, Alexis, Kicker, and all of the rest of the "Unicron Trilogy" humans, I was cringing at the thought of more annoying, whiny, useless humans. But once again, I was proven wrong. The three teenagers, Jack Darby, Raphael Esquivel, and Miko Nakadai, are actually not that annoying, and even relatable to some people, I'm sure. Humans are always necessary on a Transformers show, simply to provide a sense of scale, and these humans are very well portrayed, in my opinion. Some people might disagree, but you know. Diff'rent strokes and all that. (Whachoo talkin' 'bout, Willis?)As I said before, the CGI was what made me put off watching this show for so long, but let me say this: Don't write something off without giving it a shot first. The animation is absolutely breathtaking. It has a smooth, almost cinematic feel to it, and the lighting is very realistic. If you get this, buy the Blu-Ray. I'm kicking myself for not doing that, and I'll probably end up breaking down and buying the Blu-Ray someday. But, that said, even in standard 720p, this show blows me away with how much detail is put into each robot model. The textures of each character's paint job are even slightly different: a touch of glitter on Arcee's finish, muted and smooth for Bulkhead, reflective and shiny for Megatron and Starscream, the detail is just ridiculous. If the 'bots get in a fight, they LOOK like they get in a fight. The textures change with the situation: A sword on sword fight is going to see a lot of scratches, while a brawl in a subterranean Energon Mine will kick up a lot of dust. Even the explosions look amazing on this show, and they aren't overused. (Michael Bay, I'm lookin' at you.)Another thing about this show that surprised and delighted me was the fight choreography, and also the dark tone and the amount of violence. The bot-on-bot battles are just so fluid and natural looking, not too jerky and cartoony(ahem...TRANSFORMERS ANIMATED.). The interactions of some of these 'bots, particularly between Arcee and her Decepticon counterpart, Airachnid, are very dark and serious, sometimes even slightly disturbing, in tone. They have quite a history, to say the least. Some pretty dark and heavy stuff going on here, not like the shallow pasts of the G1 characters. But, baby, this ain't G1. This is one of the most violent Transformers cartoons I've ever watched. The brunt of the violence is taken by the Vehicons, the nameless Decepticon foot-soldiers, but still. These bots get blasted, blown up, stabbed, ripped apart, run over, shot, gutted, even BEHEADED. And when a character dies(yes, the potential is there), they die. They don't come back. They actually die. There's such an element of danger and tension in this show, more of a chance of seeing energon splatter than ever before. There have been times when I've been watching the show and I've gone "Whoa, man. Did they just do that? They did!" Of course, mind you, they're robots, so there's no actual blood, nothing overtly gory that's going to give your kid nightmares or anything.The story of this show is also quite good. The Autobots have been on the planet Earth for some time, hiding out as, of course, robots in disguise. The Autobots are accidentally discovered by three teenagers, Jack, Miko, and Raf. Since the Decepticons would naturally target anyone perceived to be an ally of the Autobots, Optimus and his team take the three humans under their watch to protect them from harm, much to Ratchet's thoroughly amusing dismay. Megatron's plans are as evil as ever, just not quite as corny as some of his G1 schemes. He plans to raise an army of undead Cybertronians with Dark Energon to invade the Earth and conquer the planet. So naturally the Autobots have to stop him. Instead of one stand-alone episode after another, the whole story progresses with each episode, building up to an explosive season finale and a maddening cliffhanger that will leave you kicking walls in nerd rage if you don't already have Season Two on DVD. I did, so my walls were spared.The extra features on this DVD include a "Making Of" special, several audio commentaries, a toy featurette, and a Season Two preview. The commentaries by the producers, artists, and voice actors behind the show are funny and informative. The "making of" special delves deeper into the creative process behind the show, and even gives you a tiny peek into the recording studio with the voice actors. The toy featurette is just that: a toy commercial, with the designers giving commentary. And the Season Two preview will make you question everything you ever knew about Transformers. Seriously, buy both seasons in a package, or you'll be ripping your hair out.If you like Transformers, and aren't a G1 purist, this one's for you. Just keep an open mind! Don't be put off on how different some of the 'bots look compared to their G1 counterparts.I'll stop there. I could talk about this show all day, but then you'd have no reason to watch it, now would you? So buy this DVD! You won't regret it.