Beast Wars/Beast Machines(Spoilers)

[Protoman]

Beast Machines was a well-written series, but as a Transformers series it was so so. Granted one can only wish to get writing like Beast Machines again for a TF series but Beast Machines over all had a lot of things against it. Specially characters that were well established that we once thought we knew were somewhat altered. Rattrap comes to mind.

[JLvatron]

Originally Posted by ohnaji

Whether it you should spend money on it,well.....Caveat Emptor.

I know, I don't know if I wanna dish the whole 50$ for it.
Perhaps if they ever release a boxed set with Caveat Emptor II and Caveat Emptor III as well, then I'd be willinger to open my wallet.

You know, for the complete trilogy.

[SPLIT LIP]

BM as a show is great, awesome characters and stunning CGI.

BM as a sequel to BW sucks shit, it totally destroyed everything G1 and BW tried to establish. However, the character development is amazing and really especialy brings Cheetor's development from child to adult full circle.


If you do watch it, try and think of it as a brand new series al together., because you may not like the changes from BW.

[mitchmurphy]

Originally Posted by JLvatron

I think we all heard it was a sequel, but the bold premise of the Maximals' memory wipe unfortunately resulted in the audience also being confused;
and not certain if we were watching the premier episode or if we'd missed like half a season.
That alone musta lost alatta viewers.

Some things are just too bold for casual viewers; like other epic storyline shows like Deep Space 9 and Babylon 5.
Casual viewers won't invest the time to have to watch every single episode; but the 1's who do end up loving it.

yea thats true, plus alot of the people expecting beastwars Part II were a bit let down

[ohnaji]

I remember being extremely hyped for BM when it was announced. After reading some of the themes the producers wanted to explore and seeing some of the designs, I was fully on board to give BM a chance. At the very least it was intriguing. I gave this show the benefit of the doubt, and unfortunately it let me down.
In terms of character development, there were aspects that worked. Optimus becoming a spiritual leader is a great example of this. However other characters like Rattrap were literally gimped. Cheetor evolved into this great warrior, and the series and marketing seemed to peg him as someone destined for greatness. At the very end, that greatness was only hinted at. I won't even go into how annoying Nightscream is and his improbable beast mode. The whole Tankorr sub plot just pissed me off. In relation to BW, what the writers did to this character could be considered criminal.
I'll applaud the writers and producers efforts for attempting to elevate this property and give it a grander scope. But when taking artistic risks with a beloved franchise, make sure to make smart decisions.

[SPLIT LIP]

It's Nightscream.

Rattrap was a character who had the most development. From being a battle hardend vetran of a horrible war on a primitive and savage alien planet, where he spent all of his time fighting, to being trapped in the rat body for so long affected his mentality, he felt helpless and defensless, then, when he finally transforms, he has no weapons. It's like getting your hopes up really, really high and having them shattered. The Weak component was my all time favorite BM episode. It really showed exactly how broken Rattrap had become, and I honestly felt so sorry for him.

I also notice that everytime Rattrap was dis-armed or in beast mode, he seemed the same as he did in BM.

On the Tankor note:

SPOILERS:

I still don't like the idea of Rhinox being a bad guy, but you act like you've never watched the series? Being so intelligent, and being trapped under the influence of an idiot controled by your greatest enemy, who's corruption in you has changed your very spark, no wonder he turned bad. Megatron did horrible things to Silverbolt and Rhinox. Though when Rhinox's spark was extinguished, his goodness did join the Matrix, which showed that he was still good deep, deep down.

Also, the writers had no idea how "beloved" the franchise was. BM couldn't have gone any different, and still have been any success.

[ohnaji]

What irked me about Rattrap, was the inconsistencies. In BW, he was the explosives expert, and probably the most resourceful Maximal of the lot. Primal even appointed him leader in an episode. I realize that in BM he had to be different, but the transition the writers put him through didn't make sense to me. They took a really fun character, and then made him pathetic. Coming out of BW, he had flare and panache. Plot devicing him into a character with obvious weakness solely to solicit sympathy is illogical. Whatever the situation, Rattrap was not a character to be pitied.
The main issue I have with Tankorr/Rhinox, was that his story was mangled. It was an interesting twist to the story, but ultimately had no payoff. In the second season, he became irrelevant. This is a character that was portrayed to be the pillar of support in the original series. It's infuriating to watch established characters treated in such a shoddy manner. His villainous turn was sudden and should have been handled better.
When it comes to the writers, they knew they were taking over a series with an established audience. After three years of BW,they should have some inclination that this same audience would have invested emotionally into the characters that they are writing. I feel that the core material could have been respected more. In regards to how successful this series was, I have no clue. But I do you know the follow up series Transtech, was mothballed in favor of the Car Robot line. Maybe it was just time for a change.

[JLvatron]

Originally Posted by SPLIT LIP

Rattrap was a character who had the most development. From being a battle hardend vetran of a horrible war on a primitive and savage alien planet, where he spent all of his time fighting, to being trapped in the rat body for so long affected his mentality, he felt helpless and defensless, then, when he finally transforms, he has no weapons. It's like getting your hopes up really, really high and having them shattered. The Weak component was my all time favorite BM episode. It really showed exactly how broken Rattrap had become, and I honestly felt so sorry for him.

I also notice that everytime Rattrap was dis-armed or in beast mode, he seemed the same as he did in BM.

Wow, I never thought of the Rattrap character as having any development, but you raise some very good points. I guess everyone has a breaking point, I guess many BW fans just wouldn't like to admit that Rattrap had 1.
Nice view of Rattrap and very intersting!

[Code of Honor]

What you just described ohnaji is the very reason I love BM so much. The writers took, established, well liked characters and F'ed with them. Rattrap by the end of BM was still the most resourceful Maximal, he created more gadgets and gizmo's then Blackarachina ever did, even during battle Rattrap used his tail attachments to take apart drones, I'd say thats pretty resourceful. Another reason I like this series is because it's been 8 years and people are still having interesting conversations about it, no matter what side of the argument they are on.

[Robimus]

Thanks for all the input everyone. I think I might order the first five episodes on DVD. A couple places have them for about $8. I'll give it a taste to see If I'll like the whole series, yes.