Customer Reviews

Transformers: Seasons Three & Four (25th Anniversary Edition)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I really never used to care for the final 3rd and 4th season all that much when I was younger, boy what was I smokin' back then?! I preffered Optimus Prime and Megatron at that time and still do for the most part. I just purchased this set to finish off my entire collection and its awesome. Watching these again they are much better now IMOP. These episodes are, at times a little more on the bizzare side in contrast to seasons 1 and 2. What I like the most now is the whole spiritual nature to these 2 final seasons. It's like a whole " Transformers horror spoof series " in a lot of ways for me. I really think it's unique. I also like the whole outerspace thing, the Autobots and Decepticons traveling and fighting each other on different, distant worlds and the interaction with diverse alien species besides just humans. With that said, if youre a hard core G1 Transformers fan then you owe it to yourself to complete the collection with this set. Thank you so very much "SHOUT!" productions you have made the Transformers child in me come out again. I never thought that I would see these final last 2 seasons ever again. G1 TRANSFORMERS FOREVER!!!!

This set contains the final episodes of Generation 1 Transformers. It picks up where the movie left off, although I feel that the episodes in this set aren't as good as the first 2 seasons let alone the movie. If you watch this set without watching the movie prior to this, you're going to be confused as to what happened between Seasons 2 & 3, especially due to a new Autobot leader as well as a new Decepticon leader. The ending of Season 3 a lot of people enjoyed that and for those who haven't seen this series I won't say a thing, never like giving away any kind of spoilers just hints. There's only 3 episodes that make up of Season 4 which would later become what is known as the 'Headmasters' series. I give Seasons 3 & 4, 4 stars out of 5.

This set has some good things and some bad things. The Post-Movie G1 Transformers episodes where considered the worst seasons the Transformers G1 cartoon show ever had. However, If you compare these Cartoons to the Live-action Transformers films. The Transformers G1 cartoons are way better! Some of the best episodes in the Post-movie Transformers G1 series are the Five Faces of Darkness parts 1-5, the Killing Jar, Starscream's Ghost, Thief in the Night, Forever Is Long Time Coming, Surprise Party, Fight of Flee, Ghost In the Machine,The Ultimate Weapon, the Quitesson Journal, Only Human, Grimlock's New Brain, Money is Everything, Call of the Primitives, A Burden Hardest to Bear, The Return of Optimus Prime Parts 1 & 2, and Rebirth Parts 1-3. The Post-movie episodes where considered poor back in 1986-1987 because there were too many changes that they made to update the Transformers G1 cartoon series. Optimus Prime died in the Transformers The Movie (1986) animated film. I do not recommend this DVD if you only care about the pre-movie episodes with Optimus Prime and Megatron. However, if you want to complete your collection of Transformers DVDs, this is the last one to purchase. The cartoons takes place after the animated movie in 2005 and continue in the year 2006, Rodimus Prime and Galvatron are the new leaders. New Autobots and Decepticons are introduced. If you don't care about what others say about these cartoons.,I will recommend them. A+++

When I was younger, I didn't really care much about these seasons of the Transformers. I thought they made Grimlock into a bumbling baffoon, Rodimus was never a good leader for the Autobots and Galvatron was just as bad (sometimes worse), and the whole fourth season with the target and headmasters was confusing.

That was then, this is now. Being older, and maybe a little wiser (just a little), I think I have gained a little more respect for these last two seasons. The surprising episode called, "Webworld," caught my attention the most. First, Len Wein helped write the episode. If this is the same Len Wein I know of, he has written some wonderful comics for DC and others for a very long time and I always have enjoyed his work. Second, the concept of this story is much better now then when I was younger. I found it very fascinating how Cyclonus tries to help Galvatron with his mental instability by taking him to a planet, and people, who try and "help" creatures with mental challenges. When they can't help Galvatron, they resort to pretty much eliminating Galvatron by turning him into a lifeless shell. Cyclonus trys to stop them from doing this because this would destroy what makes Galvatron who he is as the leader of the Decepticons. I won't say anymore, but let's just say the madness of Galvatron cannot be "contained"!

Season 4 was alright since I was able to follow it a little better now. It seemed like an interesting concept, but it still seemed a little "lacking" as far as using humans to improve the Transformers efficiency. I think that it kind of sends a contradictory message when you have robots that already think and feel and then add humans/human-like beings as their heads or weapons because they just can't survive without them? Maybe that's why it gets confusing because you have humans trying to do one thing and the robots trying to do another and your not always sure which voice is which when you have so many talking at once.

The stability of the seasons lies with the multi-part episodes, they start out with a good concept and are able to play out to have a good quality storyline without confining them to a half an hour.

Still an enjoyable set of DVDs, but I will always be a fan of the first two seasons over the last two.

One of my truly life-changing moments came in the early 80s when my dad returned home from a business trip abroad with a gift for me. It was what appeared to be a toy car, but - WAIT! - there was something special about this one. If you pulled out the sides...like so...and then grabbed the back and pulled...this looks like legs?...and then flip up the top...hey that's a face...presto you have a robot! Never in my young life had I ever seen anything like it and one thing I knew for sure was that I wanted more of these. This first one was, in all honesty, actually a go-bot (less popular cousins to the Transformers) but soon my room began to fill up with some choice selections from the Transformers catalog (or however many my allowance would cover). I still recall how amazed I was one birthday (the third grade, I believe) when I peeled the wrapping paper off a large package to reveal...it couldn't be!...the Autobot City Metroplex!! When I brought the big guy to school my friends were all suitably impressed. One of my friends had Trypticon (Metroplex's arch nemesis, a Decepticon city) and the battles we staged were epic.

Having the toys was one thing but it was the animated TV series that really brought these guys to life and captured my imagination in the the same way that Star Wars had a few years back. The toys alone were fun and intriguing, but the TV series gave them a context in a larger story. There was good, evil, epic struggles, robots, laser guns and horribly corny dialogue (what more could a kid want??). The first two seasons of the series were set mainly on Earth and the Transformers' home world of Cybertron, where the Autobots followed the lead of Optimus Prime against the evil forces of Megatron's Decepticons. However, the third season opened up a whole new universe with all kinds of bizarre characters from the conniving five-faced Quintessons (creators of the Transformers) to the babbling nonsense-spewing Junkions. The stories were darker and the protagonists often seemed to be in real peril. Add to that a villainous leader who was completely unhinged and totally unpredictable, often squabbling uncontrollably with his own henchmen, and you had the makings of something interesting (at least to the mind of a geeky eight year old) and weirdly captivating.

It's great to have these slices of nostalgia back again. I picked up a copy on a whim and was instantly brought back to some of my favorite childhood memories. There they were, all the characters I remembered so well from my childhood, battling it out again on my screen. The picture quality and sound seem great and the extras are a treat. Now all I need is some sugary cereal and my inner child will be one happy little guy.

You'd think with me wanting to collect the Generation 1 Tranformers Cartoon series that I would start with the first set. Well, folks, I didn't...I started out with the last two seasons of the show. Even so, I wasn't disappointed that Optimus Prime or Megatron wasn't in them. I enjoyed seeing the Autobots under new leadership. Though, Rodimus Prime couldn't hold a candle to Optimus..really. What I liked most about the last two seasons is that the stories were alot darker and more intense than the earlier episodes. Too, they were alot more sci-fi in nature than the earlier ones and I liked that. We get to find out alot more about the history of the Transformers as well as travel to distant planets and galaxies.

Like everyone else, I never really cared for these last two seasons episodes all that much when they first aired way back in the day. Optimus Prime and Megatron were the reasons to watch back then. We all had our favorites. Yet, now that I've watched them over again, I kind of prefer them alot better. Overall, this set is a worthwhile purchase for the Tranformers fan to complete their Generation 1 collection. These cartoons are way better than later sagas, that's for sure.

The Decepticons are tearing each other apart for scraps of energy on the burned world of Charr (a world they themselves probably burned back in their golden age), the Autobots enjoy their victory and the end of the last great cybertronian war by hosting a galactic sporting event to bring the races of the galaxy together, and the cackling ghost of Starscream lurks and plots deep in the heart of cybertron.

This is it, the end of the G1 series. And MAN is it GOOD! This is how Transformers should have been from the beginning! Dark, desperate, and full of sci-fi weirdness only the 80's could have dreamed up.

The video/audio quality is serviceable for such an old show, the heart and charm are still just as vibrant as the day they aired, however. Whether you hail Galvatron, or fight for a day 'til all are one, this is a must see!

This 4-DVD Set Includes the entire three and four seasons of Transformers 80's cartoon.
Includes archived image files from Hasbro, 80's tv commercials and much more.

Sure Starscream shows up as a ghost in one episode but that was my guy, after he died in the movie I knew this series wouldn't be the same. Accompany that with Optimus not coming back til the end of the season, and the pitiful attempt to resurrect Megatron as Galvatron gay is all I can say about that! We all grew up watching Transformers for the big names Starscream (my guy), Optimus, and Megatron without them this series was really on borrowed time. Stick to Season 1 and Season 2!

I know I'm in the minority on this. But I don't care. This season was vast improvement from season 2 for me. This is where everything ties together. Yeah it was sad to see some of the characters from Season 1 get trashed, but c'mon! We got characters just as likeable out of the deal. Even at 8 years old, this was my favorite season. We get more space adventures, some attempt at character development for Rodimus Prime, and the best Transformers origin story ever. With the exception of the 3 part Rebirth episode and the Return of Optimus Prime, this Season had some of the better episodes.