Customer Reviews

Reboot - Season III, Vol. 3: The Web

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Okay, I've been checking out the reviews just out of curiousity. I've been a fan of this series since episode 1 aired way back in 1994, and have faithfully followed the evolution of the seires since its debut. First off, Mr. Solomon keeps going on and on about how uneven the "motion-capture animation" is. Well guess what - unlike the majority of other computer animated shows, Mainframe Entertainment does NOT use motion capture for their characters! All of their animators are trained in TRADITIONAL animation techniques, and apply that skill to the 3D animation of this show. The characters are animated using KEYFRAMES, and by MANUALLY positioning the articulation, movement, etc. It is a long and painstaking process, but the end result is you get much smoother animation that does not suffer from the "jerkiness" that is often the problem with motion-capture animation. There are pros and cons to both techniques. Now, that said, compare the animation of Season 3 of Reboot with that of Seasons 1 and 2.
You'll notice a quantum leap forward in quality! This was the season where the series really came into its own, presenting far more adult storylines that were most definately NOT geared towards the kiddies. In short, this is an EXCELLENT series and far superior to anything else that was on television, be it animated or otherwise, in 1997. Mr. Solomon should try to take the series for what it IS, instead of talking about what he thinks it SHOULD be. And what it is is one of the best darn animated series' to appear on regular television in a loooonnng time. Featuring genuinely engaging characters (especially the way Enzo/Matrix evolves over the course of this season! EXTREMELY complex for a character in a non-anime animated series!), absolutely gripping (and at time GENUINELY moving) stories that will keep you coming back for more until there's none left, and more eye candy than you'll know what to do with.
The bottom line: GET THIS SERIES! You won't be disappointed. I also highly recommend "Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles" for much the same reasons. Now, THAT series uses motion-capture. But they do it quite well. And for a NON-MOTION-CAPTURE computer animated series, Reboot does an excellent job. Just my two cents.

Third of four season three DVD's, The Web maintains the overall quality that was the hallmark of the previous episodes.

The Web is darker in tone than the other DVD's in season three, due to AndrAIa's condition and the foreboding abyss that is the Web, according to the ReBoot universe. Still, some humor is to be found. Look for the cook binome peeling potatoes for the entire DVD, and keep a sharp eye for the cargo (Yo ho ho and a barrel of ROM, etc)

If there is a gripe to be had here, it's that Bob's voice has changed. I suppose we could rationalize this by his degradation in the web, but I still preferred the original voice acting from the first two seasons. He was much more expressive, and the voice just seemed to fit better. No matter, it's a trivial point.

With the imminent release of the Reboot movies this fall a trip back to Mainframe is a must. Reboot turned heads with its groundbreaking computer animation when it first hit the airwaves but kicked into full throttle with the debut of Season three. A massive arcing storyline traced our heroes through a swashbuskling adventure that appealed to the kids on YTV but really was talking to the grown-up geeks who *got* the seemingly endless in-jokes and Pop-cultural references. It was pretty clear that the Reboot creative team were tired of insipid, wasted use of computer animation and decided to up the ante of creative television on that front. Shockingly strong story writing for juvenile television and great voice acting (particularly Tony Jay's delicious 'Megabyte') lifted Reboot and Mainframe into the TV Pantheon (Lord knows what happened with junk like 'Battle Planets').

Crisp DvD copies of Season 3 Reboot are a must for video enthusiasts and animation lovers of almost any stripe. Funny, fast-paced and filled with good stuff, Reboot lives on as 'Must see TV'.

Buy Em! Nuff Said...

This show has great animation, lots of action, and wonderful humor. I can't say anything bad about it, because there isn't anything bad to say!

It is a real shame that seasons 1 and 2 (the first half) were soooo lousy. But these season 3 (and 2nd half of season 2) episodes were excellent. I've heard that they intentionally "dummied-down" the seasons 1 and 2 so that they could air them in America without offending anybody or ticking off the censors. This wouldn't surprise me condisdering how American TV has managed to ruin some of the best shows--DBZ and Beast Wars (Beast Machines--the American version--was awefull!)

Anyway, when REboot didn't sell in America the Canadian animators were freed the bonds put on them and really cut loose! The humour episodes were the best, they mocked everything from james bond (best reboot ep. EVER) to the Prisoner, to Sailor Moon, to Xena and Hercules. Definitly check this series out!

Vol. 3 was ok, Vol 1 and 2 are much better. I'd recommend getting it on DVD and not VHS though.

I have been a fan of ReBoot ever since the beginning. Being the first fully CGI TV series made it a big hit in my eyes. My first ReBoot DVD purchase was Season 4, but when I saw the season 3 DVDs, I knew I had to have them. I only hope that they'll release Seasons 1 and 2 someday.

While I'm a great fan of reboot, my second favorite show growing up (transformers was my first), this is outrageous, to charge this sort of price for four or five episodes, and they didn't even release season 1 or 2, I would gladly pay the price there asking if it was the full season, but this isn't worth it.

ReBoot has never use motion capture for animation.... Mainframe Inc didn't start using that technology until (much) later- shortly after they finished season 4 IIRC.

Aside from the (very minor) reduction in realism this causes, ReBoot seasons 3 and 4 are still some of the best animation Mainframe has done IMO.

I think they did excellent animation for Season 3! They have
pushed to the limit again for the new Season of episodes. You narrow minded editorial folks don't seem to have a clue as to what's good animation, especially computer animation.
I don't see any other companies that do such a good job at this
kind of stuff but Mainframe! Please take your flippant comments somewhere else and let the viewers(i.e.)the people who are buying this stuff judge what's good and what isn't THANK YOU!