Customer Reviews

Beast Wars Transformers - The Complete Second Season

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The second season of Beast Wars saw the introduction of Trans-Metals. Some first season 'bots saw a Trans-metal transformation, while others died off, only to be replaced with new 'bots.

Episodes included are:
27) Aftermath: The alien machine is destroyed and Optimus went up with it, but the explosion sets off a quantum surge that changes the planet - and several of the robots. In his new, more powerful transmetal body, Megatron hopes to take out the Maximals before they have a chance to regroup and recover.

28) Coming of the Fuzors (1): Two new Maximals awake in Predacon territory, both with bizarre looks and unusual personalities due to the damaged systems in their stasispods. Taking advantage of their confusion, Megatron convinces them they are Predacons, hoping to finally crush the Maximals with these reinforcements. Meanwhile, Blackarachnia returns to the Predacon base with Tarantulas' body, Tigatron and Airrazor go of looking for more stasispods, Rhinox shuts down and connects to the Axalon in an attempt at reaching Optimus' spark, and Dinobot realizes that the aborted armageddon has left the planet looking awfully familiar.

29) Coming of the Fuzors (2): Hopelessly outnumbered and outgunned, Rattrap, Cheetor and Dinobot try to keep the Predacons away from the Axalon where Rhinox lies delving deep into the Matrix, pursuing a faint hope...

30) Tangled Web: Megatron sends out Tarantulas, Blackarachnia and Quickstrike to build an energon refueling station, though the spiders' scheming complicates even the simplest task.

31) Maximal, No More: Dinobot is captured while on a recognizance mission, and surprisingly asks Megatron for permission to rejoin the Predacons, offering the golden disk as proof of his sincerity.

32) Other Visits (1): While out surveying the planet, Airrazor and Tigatron trigger a remaining alien site. While the Maximals scramble to their rescue, Tarantulas is already on his way, determined to thwart the aliens' plans.

33) Other Visits (2): Surviving the energon surge thanks to their new transmetal bodies, Tarantulas sets up a shield around the alien construct and heads inside along with Megatron and Quckstrike. Outside, Optimus and Rattrap try to figure a way in, while the two other transmetalized Maximals return the wounded Rhinox and Dinobot the CR chambers

34) Bad Spark: Cheetor discovers a huge stasis pod, containing Protoform X - a failed Maximal experiment that created an indestructible spark but drove it insane in the process. When Predacons arrive, a fight breaks out over it, setting off an energon storm that leaves Blackarachnia and Silverbolt together damaged, having to fend for themselves - While Protoform X awakens, looking for a victim...

35) Code of Hero: Rhinox discovers that the Trans-Warp wave will soon reach Cybertron, meaning that a rescue may at long last be at hand. Megatron also learns of this, and decides that he will not surrender. Instead, Megatron uses the Golden Disk to destroy key details of the past that would severely alter the future. Meanwhile, Dinobot is still searching for a way to reclaim his lost honor. He gets the chance upon finding out Megatron's new target for destruction: The early human race.

36) Transmutate: A series of earthquakes uncovers a heavily damaged stasispod. Out of it comes a freakish robot - barely sentient, but with extremely powerful weapons. Scoffed at by the others, both Silverbolt and Rampage sense a kindred spirit, each in their own way.

37) The Agenda (1): As the transwarp wave generated by the explosion in "Other Voices (2)" nears Cybertron, the Maximals rejoice, thinking the rescue is on its way. But unbeknownst to them, it is intercepted and diverted by the leaders of the Cybertronian Predacon alliance, who view Megatron as a loose cannon and wants to deal with him quietly, by sending one of their covert operatives.

38) The Agenda (2): Megatron is captured, but the battle used up too much of the cruiser's energon supply for there to be enough for the travel back to Cybertron. While Ravage interrogates Megatron about where they might find more, Primal confronts Silverbolt about his relationship Blackarachnia, leading the Fuzor to go off on his own to find her.

39) The Agenda (3): The Maximals manage to take out the transwarp cruiser and fend of the Predacon attack. But the battle is far from over, as Megatron heads for the now uncovered Autobot Ark - containing the heroes and villains who'll shape the Cybertron where the Predacons and Maximals come from.

My early impressions of Beast Wars were formed based on several toys that didn't exactly excite me. For someone who first knew the Transformers in the 1980s, perhaps it's too wide a cultural gap for me to accept Transformers being turned into animals. Still, I decided to give the animation series a try, and bought my first Beast Wars DVD three years ago, Atlantic Alliance's Beast Wars Classic Episodes Vol. 1. To my surprise, I actually enjoyed the show, and the rest, as they always said, is history.

I didn't buy Rhino's Beast Wars Season 1 DVD Boxset, because I was faithfully following the progress of the Alliance's Classic Episodes release. But when there were no signs of Alliance proceeding with more volumes, I decided to order Rhino's Season 2 Boxset. So, here I am, giving you a lowdown of what to expect from this latest release.

The episodes for Season 2 are as follow:

201 Aftermath
202 Coming of the Fuzors, Part One
203 Coming of the Fuzors, Part Two
204 Tangled Web
205 Maximal, No More
206 Other Visits, Part One
207 Other Visits, Part Two
208 Bad Spark
209 Code of Hero
210 Transmutate
211 The Agenda, Part One
212 The Agenda, Part Two
213 The Agenda, Part Three

It's difficult to run through a section about episodes without revealing some spoilers. Do pardon me if I reveal too much. It has now been established that the Beast Wars were indeed happening on a prehistoric planet Earth. The Maximals and Predacons, who're descendants of the Autobots and Decepticons respectively, have unwittingly travelled back in time, when Earth was the target of an alien experiment. Think about the movie "Back to the Future", or simply, imagine your current self being transported back to a time when your grandfather is a young kid. You get the picture. It's therefore all the more interesting to see the sequences unfold. The following are just some of my recommended episodes.

Picking up the pieces from an abruptly concluded Season 1, "Aftermath" documented the transition of some Transformers into "Transmetals", due to a quantum surge. The gloomy atmosphere in the Maximals' camp, following the supposedly destruction of Optimus Primal, was very well rendered. We get to see very distinctive character developments in the ways how Rattrap, Cheetor, Rhinox and Dinobot handled their leader's death.

"The Coming of Fuzors" two-parter wrapped up the loose ends from earlier episodes, as well as introduced two new characters in the form of Silverbolt and Quickstrike. These episodes liberally employed a "western cowboy" style of story-telling, which is a joy to watch. Of course, the return of Optimus Primal saved the day for the Maximals, again!

"Code of Hero" is perhaps one of the best Transformers episode I've ever watched. It featured the death of a fan favorite, the Predacon-turned-Maximal Dinobot. His shocking departure will rank as the best death scenes in any Transformers episode, outdoing even G1 Optimus Prime's death in Transformers: The Movie. Dinobot single-handledly took on the entire Predacons army in protecting humanity, and died a hero that he always aspire to be. The impact of his death was as compelling as the first time I watched the show.

And of course, "The Agenda" three-parter provided the most blatant linkage of the Beast Wars series to the original G1 story. We saw the appearance of the G1 Decepticon Ravage and the many cameos of G1 characters like Optimus Prime, Soundwave, etc., and we rejoiced that an excellent animated series like this has finally went into history as being an official continuation of the great G1 series. These are episodes that you'd want to watch again and again, because just by the sheer thought of mentioning, I'm already experiencing goose pimples.

There are more action that I could ever pen from these 13 episodes. The relationship between Silverbolt and Blackarchnia was also an interesting subplot, as well as the evil schemes of Tarantulus. In short, you could very well be tempted to watch all 13 episodes at one go, which I did! If you need to read detailed sypnosis and comments on all the episodes, you may visit Ben Yee's BWTF.com.

For a DVD Boxset, the special features are pretty flat. We're given a 360 degrees characters shots, close-up headshots/ poses, scale reference charts and some transformation sequences. Sadly, none of these are narrated, and it really does get very boring after a minute. Perhaps an inclusion of episodes introductions, or some interviews with the creators of the show would have make this more enjoyable.

Excellent story-telling and some compelling action sequences made Beast Wars Season 2 one of the best animated series ever. For those who've yet to watch the show at all, I suggest getting all three season boxsets and enjoy the ride. For those who have, take this opportunity to get a re-introduction. This is a highly recommended product.

I'm not going to bother with giving you a break down of the episodes, since you're looking at this you should know what they are. But rather my flat out opinion of this DVD set.
Beast Wars was a show that like a fine wine, got better with age.
The first season was more for the kids, where this season really got back to the roots of the Transformers for us older fans, and the stories are great. One thing I noticed about Beast Wars was the fact it was not as toy driven as G1, you were introduced to new characters (toys) for the sake of storyline only, not have 10 characters all of a sudden crammed into an episode. Beast Wars stayed primarely with it's starting characters, developing great personalities for each one, you actually cared for these guys. The "Code of a Hero" episode for example.
The voice acting also is top notch, great talent used for this show.
The animation is far much better than the first season and gets even better in the third, my favorite of the three.
It's great to see this series uncut, Fox Kids butchered some episodes, and that definitly ruined the impact of some stories.
My only complaint is the lack of special features on the disc, but that's a small price to pay to finally get one of the best CG series out on DVD. Hurry up Rhino. The fans await season 3.
And I want to give Amazon.com a big "Hooah!!!" for delivering my order and some much needed entertainment to us troops serving in Kuwait & Iraq.

Probably the best all round season of all the transformers saga. The characters and plots are taken to the next level and the ongoing storylines are animation are amazing. The only drawback are some of the new beast modes (I am sure the were just bending to the needs of the toy manufacturers) as some of them were just not good. This is the season that all others should be held up to.

For those of you who didn't like season 1 of the Beast Wars, don't let that cloud your judgement of getting this DVD set. The Beast Wars plot picks up, becoming dramatic and suspenseful, especially for G1 fans like myself. The environment of the show also becomes very dark, due to the fact that there is a plot with a direction and Megatron is actually evil in this season, as compared to his more annoying self in season 1.

I found the episode "Code of Hero" to be my favorite; a very powerful part of the series. The cameos of G1 transformers in "The Agenda" series also put me on the edge of my seat.

Lastly, I'd just like to add that the creators of the show do a great job balancing the appeal to the show to kids and adult fans as well. If you liked the original Transformers, you'll like this show.

I won't go into the great depths that some of the other reviewers here have, other than to say that Beast Wars is a great series to watch whether you grew up on the old Transformers Sunbow cartoons 20 years ago as I did or whether you are a fan of the more recent shows such as Armada, Energon and Cybertron.

If you're like me, and you liked the old stuff, a few classic chcracters pop up during this season in cameo appearances, such as the original Megatron, Ravage and Optimus Prime. The nice thing is that these characters don't totally steal the show, but what they do is make the regular Beast Wars characters look even better by the way they interact together.

If you are someone more used to the newer shows, you might recognize a lot of the voice actors because many of them are the same as those being used right now (like Megatron's, for example)

Also, the 3-D look now utilized in the Cybertron series was first introduced in Beast Wars, except that I feel it was done a little better here. Instead of mixed anime and 3D, it's pure 3D.

If you've never seen any Beast Wars shows, you might want to purchase Season 1 first, although you can't go wrong with any of them.

I feel the Beast Wars Series is a little better than Beast Machines, and have reviewed that, also.

This season is a great step up from the 1st season. This season we saw improved 3D Graphics, Improved Surround Sound, and of course better writing. Season 1 was good, but this season was much better. The depth of the writing was incredible. "Code of Hero" and "Transmutate" are standouts. These 2 shows were so good they had me choked up towards the end. The way the writers bridged the gap from G1 Transformers to The Beast Wars was phenomenal and caught most people by surprise. Megatron's Megalomania has also been kicked up a few notches. He is by far the most entertaining Transformers Character of all time! His voice alone is mesmerizing, the way he speaks to his troops is hilarious. David Kay, who does his voice deserves an Emmy for doing it so well for 5 seasons (3 seasons for Beast Wars, 2 for Beast Machines).

With that said about season 2, all I can tell you is...Season 3 is even better! Optimus Primal gets an incredible new Transmetal 2 Body (Optimal Optimus) & Megatron get a new body as well (Dragon Megatron). Buy this DVD, and when Season 3 comes out grab it as soon as it drops!

WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS
Ok, season two picked up right where season one left off with the death of Optimus Primal, however a 'quantum surge' hits the planet pretty hard and permanently changes the landscape as well as what might be called 'forceably upgrading' several of the Maximals and Predacons into transmetals. Right in the first ten minutes of the first episode Terrorsaur and Scorponok are killed. This season was much more mature in terms of content and storylines then the first season, the ominous fate of Tigertron and Airrazor, the heroic death of Dinobot, as well as one of the finest episodes ever "Transmutate" this contains very mature themes about respect for all forms of life, and if I'm not mistaken was the writers way of commenting on how we treat the mentally and physically handicapped in our society. The series centerpiece is there "Code Of Hero" which is about accepting the responsibility for your actions as witnessed in the heroic albeit depressing death of Dinobot (my favorite character), as well as pointing out the fact that war has consequences which is something that is rarely discussed in a 'kids' show. Then of course we have the three part "Agenda" episodes, featuring the return of the Decepticon Ravage from the original 1984 Transformers series as well as cameos by G1 Autobots and Decepticons, what emerges is a powerful tribute to the original series something thst in my opinion became a huge part of American culture. All in all a great season to own with great ideas and episodes, this proves that what is normally labeled as a 'childrens series' can indeed be thought provoking as well as entertaining to people who are my age. I highly recommend this in addition to season one.

well, my husband has't left the couch yet, so i guess they are great! ha, ha, yeah seriously they are pretty good, i have even enjoyed watching them. i never saw them the first time around, but now see why he recommended them.

This season, while only half the length of the first, manages to become even better. This season introduces a new form of transformers, transfmetal. It also introduces two characters that have the combined traits of two animals at once, the Fuzors. All the characters that have gone transmetal also get an additional mode for their beast form, which generally allows for easier transportation and opens up a whole new wealth of combat situations, which the creative writing staff cover well.

Story-wise this season is incredible as well. Dinobot has a number of interesting episodes, imperitive to his character development and even including his final demise. Optimus Primal returns from the dead! And it has a number of ties to the original cartoon series as well, including the appearance towards the end of the last surviving decepticon, Ravage!

The incredible plot and action sequences that fill the beast wars series reach a whole new level with this season.