Transformers: Season One (Collector's Edition)

I forgot how good this show really was. It was incredibly loyal to the each of the characters and everything at this point. The voice actors are an all star cast as well.

The remastering job was very good when you consider what they had to work with to start. They cleaned up a lot of noise and dirt off of the film and made the colors a lot more vivid and clear. There are some occasional sound effects added, but they are not intrustive and not that frequent, really. A couple of scenes in "Heavy Metal War", the last episode on the disc, turned out pretty poor, but otherwise they did an awesome job restoring this first season run, even including the original opening of the show and the commercial bumpers.

I am still annoyed by the constant coloring mistakes made by the original animators of the show. I guess it's part of the charm, and it's probably best that Rhino left them like they were. I remember these coloring mistakes in the original series just as well, and it even bothered me back then in 1984-85 that Sunbow couldn't seem to tell the difference between Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp most of the time (though as the series goes on past the first 5 or 6, they DO get better about it...save for the part in Heavy Metal War where there are two Starscreams side by side, one of which was supposed to be Skywarp).

I wish Rhino would take out the stupid cartoon openings on their videos and DVDs, though. While I know they are mostly a children's video company, with things like Transformers and GI Joe, they are mostly catering to adults...adults who don't want to sit through a cartoon rhino dressed like Elvis at the start of each disc while we wait for the menu to appear.

Overall, if you grew up with this original series of Transformers, as I did, you will very much enjoy this set. I enjoyed every minute of it, and can hardly wait until late November now, where Rhino releases the first half of Season 2 in a box set. The second half of Season 2 follows in the Spring.

So if you are waiting like I did, stop waiting now. After watching this, I felt like a kid again, and you will too.


THIS DVD BOX SET ACTUALLY DELIVERS!   April 20, 2002
Alan George (Murphy, NC United States)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful

I just got my copy of the Transformers Complete first season, so I took the day off and sat down and enjoyed a trip down memory lane. Firstoff each episode has the commercial lead in's as well as the "scenes from the next episode" endings. This was a huge surprise, but I enjoyed it greatly. The episodes are crisp and the sound is amazing. I thought that the interactive dvd menu( the 3D Ark Control room) could have been better, but thats my only complaint and really thats more of a personal peave. I think that any collector should buy the boxed set rather than the individual DVD's (three in all) because you get cool animation cell cards, mine were of Starscream and Rumble.

Finally we have a collection of the Transformers episodes that are clear, and in a numerical order with the many extras I mentioned above. I was very pleased with the dvd and I say that anyone who watched this cartoon as a child should buy this dvd for the historical value it has. I actually remember getting up and watching Transformers as well as my other favorite cartoons and for a while I remembered what it was like to be a kid again!! If I could I would give this collection 6 STARS, but unfortunately I couldn't. So what are you waiting for... "Transform and Roll Out"


A must have for any fan. Disappointing quality for being "remastered"   April 29, 2006
John (Northeast USA)
10 out of 11 found this review helpful

Anyone reading this is a fan. And if you're a fan, this is a must have, as others who grew up with the Transformers, have repeatedly said. I'm grateful that this DVD box set was made available and admit that I STILL watch the epsisodes on boring nights when I want to unwind and feel like a kid again. The writing was excellent and made for a superior cartoon.

Like many other childhood fans, I taped the episodes when they were on TV and watched them over and over again as a younster. I just couldn't get enough! I practically had all the dialogue and little glitches memorized. Those tapes are long gone so you can imagine my uncontrollable, child-like excitement when I spotted the box set in the store.

That said, I began to watch the episodes with an ear to ear grin and relive my childhood. My memory was jarred and the dialogue was all coming back to me as I watched. ALSO, I was really looking forward to seeing the episodes truly "remastered" with all the improvements of modern technology...not to mention the anticipation of seeing all those annoying little color and voice glitches corrected...or so I thought. I almost felt cheated not only to see all the glitches still there but EVEN MORE glitches than the original! MORE color gaffes and flaws! I couldn't believe they went thru all this trouble and produced a product that had MORE mistakes than back in 1984! How irresponsible and careless! They even added silly sound effects where they were none in some cases! "Divide and Conquer" is especially rife with extra (and annoying) sound effects and more color mistakes than the original! I actually still have that episode on VHS and side by side, the VHS version is actually better: fewer flaws than the DVD! I fully expected all the mistakes to fixed. In a remastered DVD, I expected perfection for all of us who cherish the memories. Not only were all the mistakes ignored but they added new ones!! I can't say it enough. I still shake my head. It's like taking the same test twice with the benefit of seeing the answers between attempts and scoring LOWER on the second. Inexcusable! Utterly amazing!

Oh well, I still have them and love them. But, it must be said: Shame on Rhino Video! Shame! You delivered a less than half-hearted effort. Half-hearted would have simply been an exact duplicate. I would glady repurchase a PERFECTLY remastered addition if anyone with the rights to it is listening.