Customer Reviews

Transformers Energon - The Return of Megatron

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

 

 

I stated in the early episodes that this series has the potential for greatness and this is what I was talking about.

This dvd starts off with another failed attack by Scorponac (who has since recruited Cyclonus and Tidlewave to his side) to steal more Energon from the Transformers. The end result is that upon their return they witness the Unexpected revival of none other than Megatron, the Autobots most feared foe. After Megatron swiftly crushes Scorponac he returns to earth to get Energon. Upon his arrival the Autobots are defeated as Megatron defeats Hotshot and forces them to retreat. However Alpha Q is not pleased with these turn of events and ressurects another villian from the past, Starscream (who because of being dead for a while suffers from memory loss). As a result Starscream can go completly undetected by any one except Alpha Q and Kicker. It's in this series of Epsiodes that the villians show their true might as there is an awesome sword fight Between Prime and Megatron, as well as a duel between Prime and Starscream. These episodes are action packed and just fun to watch.

However there are complaints as well. It bugs me that all the characters are in Anime style yet Alpha Q (who is not that great of a villian) is CGI and pretty cruddy (although I have seen much worse). Also the final episode on the Disk is only a So-So and really should of been saved for the Next DVD Installment (as I recall Episode 5 was removed for some reason).

However there are many positives as well. Starscream and Megatron are both great villians who both beat the tar out of Prime. Kicker is starting to evolve into his own character (Despite being equally as annoying at times as Spike and Sparkplug of Gen 1) and is not just an excuse to have a human around. Also in other unexpected Character development is the dillema with Demolisher who is a decepticon who has grown fond of his life of peace (despite Guard Duty half the time) yet when the time comes for Megatron to require his services he is quite hesitant. This would be second tier character is getting some unexpected development not really seen in Transformers (yes there were characters who switched sides but they were generally major characters). This move in my opinion shows that the creaters care about all their characters to even consider this type of screen time.

Overall this is great set of episodes that exposes the raw potential that I see in this series. With a some fine tuning and carefully working at how they do things I can see this series taking off and being rembered by this young Generation as being beloved much like we who grew up with Generation One love it today. However in case you jaded Gen 1 fans think this is just a load of garbage remember this, I too am a huge Gen 1 fan and I do think that it is the best. However these are not the Transformers (the huge story driven marketing scheme that it was)that we grew up with. These are new Transformers for a New Generation. By you old foggies slaughtering it you may forever destroy the legacy of Transformers when it goes off the air for the final time, and then what... the only thing left will be distant memories of a time when a young child could watch the Robots in Disguise with awe.

As an avid Generation 1 Transformers fan I must say that I am extremely disappointed with Armada and its successor Energon and must fully concur with all of the reviewers who have written prior to this entry.

Armada and Energon's plot are terrible at best. This is the first time since I watched Generation 1 and Beast Wars that I hoped that the Decepticons would obliterate the Autobots and their human sidekicks.

The humans in Armada and Energon are annoying and hold no special purpose. In comparison, Spike, Sparkplug and Chip from Generation 1 were not put in every episode in an attempt to try to help the Autobots. In many episodes in Generation 1, we did not see any human counterparts that played a pivotal part in deciding the victor of the battle between the Autobots and Decepticons. However, in Armada and Energon the Autobots cannot win without their human companions.

I disagree somewhat with the voice casting in Armada and Energon. In Generation 1 we had great voice actors for the Autobots and Decepticons. For example, Peter Cullen, Frank Welker, Chris Latta, Neil Ross, Michael Bell, Scatman Caruthers, Casey Kasem and other greats portrayed my heros that I have watched growing up. In Armada, I am pleased with the voice casting of Megatron (David Kayle), Optimus Prime (Gary Chalk), Hot Shot, Starscream, and Demolisher. Mr. Kayle has done an extremely wonderful job since he started with Megatron back in Beast Wars and the same complement is extended to Mr. Chalk, but the other voices are sub par at best. For example, Ironhide in Energon sounds like Carlos...ridiculous.

Real Transformers should be ashamed of the latest incarnations of the Transformers story line. I have not seen a suitable Transformers story since Beast Wars and Beast Machines and odds are that I never will again.

Now to the DVD review, first off I would like to congratulate Rhino for releasing box sets of Transformers Generation 1, Jem, and G.I. Joe. Compared to the Armada releases the Energon DVD's are in sequential order, however the plot of the show is horrible. The human named Kicker, reminds me of Gohan in Dragonball Z because of Kicker's ability to turn his hair golden when he is near Energon. This is stupid to say the least. In addition, is Optimus Prime now Voltron? The way Optimus combines with those other four parts it appears Energon has also ripped off the idea of Voltron. I would not be surprised if we later see Energon rip ideas from Jem and the Holograms or the Care Bears.

In conclusion, the best thing about the Energon release is the cheap price. This DVD is selling for a cheap price because the Armada and Energon television show is a cheap product.

To the executives at Rhino STOP releasing Armada and Energon DVD's and release Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light also done by our friends at Sunbow and contains the same voice actors and writers who appeared in Generation 1 Transformers, Inhumanoids, Jem and G.I. Joe. Rhino please complete the Sunbow dynasty.

...to have episodes 1-4 on one dvd and 6-9 on the other dvd,what happened to episode #5? sorry like the armada series
I'm going to wait for a box set of this before even thinking about getting this series,the dvds for energon and armada makes no sense,I will say that energon is slightly better than armada but not much better,at least the animation is better...

I was bored as hell this morning, having finished watching four or five episodes of Armada. I changed the channel, hoping something good was on, and discovered this [...]. It started out with Megatron, looking really, really UGLY, rather than cool. I had never seen this show before, but turned it on becasue it was a Transformers show. At times, I don't know if it's anime or CGI. I have to say that the anime was infinitely better. It's a load of [...]. I ony gave it one star because that was the lowest rating. Don't waste your time on this. Go watch something else.

[...] Don't EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER watch Energon.

I think my point is made.

Transformers Energon:The Return of Megatron is a great DVD! This DVD set contains the episodes that re-introduces Megatron into the Transformers Energon series as Energon Megatron! This episodes in this set are Megatron's Ressurection, Megatron's Raid, StarScream the Mysterious Mercenary, and the Battle on the Astriod Belt. These Transformers episodes are really good because they combine both CGI and Japanese Anime for a Transformers cartoon. I like the Japanese animation in this series a-lot. Megatron and Starscream return form the previous series, Transformers: Armada. They are both as villianous as they ever were! I highly Recommend this Transformers Energon DVD! A+

Megatron is revived in this set of episodes and easily takes over scorponok's leadership position and once again leads the decepticons whom all leave the autobots. StarScream is also revived, although not completely. More great Transformers Energon episodes. I love em.

Thursday night, I did not sleep at all. Fed up with what I was hearing on the radio, I noticed it was getting sunny out, so got up and went outside. I poured some cereal, listened to some birds, came back in, then turned on the TV set. I think it was nearly 6:00AM when this all happened, so I was not prepared at all for what I was about to see.

A show came on called Transformers: Energon. And quite literally in the first five seconds of the show, there was a robot who came on, and shot LASER BEAMS OUT OF EVERY PART OF HIS BODY.
I knew I was in for a treat.

First of all, let me get this out of the way: THIS IS THE MOST EXTREME MOTHERFREAKING SHOW ON TELEVISION. Every line of dialogue in this show is SCREAMED, and ALWAYS LOUDER THAN THE LAST. The show is so intense that in the middle of one robot's line, he DOES A BACKFLIP, JUST FOR THE HELL OF IT.

All the robots are CGI, meaning the animators can pull off fancy tricks such as even when walking slowly, the robots still move at 1000MPH. There are scenes where there are literally HUNDREDS OF LASERBALLS onscreen per second. For added excitement, they seem to have increased every scene's rate of speed to the speed just before your eye can't perceive any movement. In this episode, Destructive Power, one character spends the entire episode growing larger, and the entire episode, he is covered with SMALL EXPLOSIONS.

The show is also full of great dialogue, such as this:
"Trust your instincts, Optimus, and count on me to back you up."
"I appreciate that."

and this:

"How should we cut off the Super Energon?"
"I guess we should cut right through it."
"Are you sure?"
"We don't have any other choice!"

Also, the attacks have great names, such as (and these are quoted from Episode 50:) BATTLESTORM LASERATTACK and NARROW LIGHTBEAM CANNON ATTACK.

Coming back from the commercial to this show is like coming out of a COMA at a DINOSAUR RAVE IN SPACE, it's THAT FREAKING INTENSE. When characters have disagreements in philosophies, they solve it with PUNCH FIGHTS, just like real life. Whenever the camera spins around two characters, the background pans TEN TIMES AS FAST, FOR EXTRA INTENSITY.

I give this show an infinity out of everything, just because it is the most intense thing created thus far by man. Your life sucks if you haven't seen this.

FINAL SCORE:
∞/EVERYTHING