TheLittleSongbird Review of Beast Wars: Transformers

Beast Wars: Transformers (1996–1999)

The best Transformers show since the original

[9/10 · 12 September 2013]

The original 1984 show is still the jewel of the Transformers franchise, but of the shows that followed it the best was Beast Wars. This show is wonderfully done in most respects, it took a few episodes for the show to find its feet which is perfectly normal actually for any show and some of the animation towards the start was a little on the iffy side. But when Beast Wars did find its feet, it was exciting and emotionally impactful, and ranking it along with the others Transformers shows it was definitely one of the best written too. The animation, done with computer animation in its early days, mostly is fine with the fluidity and detail getting stronger all the time and the characters are well-modelled. The music is dynamic and beautifully scored, complete with a very memorable theme tune. The writing is some of the absolute best of the franchise, it's very thought-provoking and sophisticated and never falls into cheesiness, and the stories are really well thought out and compelling, complete with very exciting action sequences. A good thing too because Beast Wars has a lot of them, though neither fall into the trap of overshadowing the story lines so the substance is not lost. Part of the show's appeal is that it's not just enjoyable for children and adults but also you can re-visit it some time later and it has every bit the magic and more. Some may not find that the case, but it was with me personally and with a lot of friends who grew up with it as one of their favourite shows. The characters are great, Optimus Primal and Megatron hardly disappoint, though the standout characters in this show were Cheetor, Rattrap and especially Dinobot. The voice acting is equally great, Dinobot is some of the best voice acting Scott Macneil has ever done and Ian James Corlett, Garry Chalk and David Kaye to name a few are similarly expressive. All in all, wonderful and the best since the original 1984 show. 9/10 Bethany Cox