Energon was hated, but it's quite possible that Beast Machines is even more reviled. Afterall, this is the show that turned Optimus Primal into a religious zealot with a garden, the origin of Cybertron was completely reworked, technorganics were foisted upon us, and the returning characters from Beast Wars were completely different! God, no! Whyyyyy? *SAWB* Whyyyyyyyyy?!?!?!

Actually, I like this show. It took me 2 complete viewings to realize that I did like it, but now it's my favorite TF show ever second only to Beast Wars (sequels always have a hard time topping the original). Anyway, I'm going to do one episode per week so that I'll finish this thing at the exact same time TF Animated finishes its first airing. At least that's the plan. I'll try not to do more than one a week.   And because Mach Saber always says that no one ever has any good pics of BM up, I'll be doing a little something extra.

 

I like it too, and it took me multiple viewings to realize it as well. The only thing I still don't really like is the drastic change to Cybertron at the finale, but thats just coming from a guy who grew up with G1. Overall, I like the darker tone, and the CG is great as well. There were several drastic character changes that happened between BW and BM, but I didn't mind them too much. It was an entirely different type of show. The Maximals got home only to realize the planet was the victim of Genocide at the hands of the villain they thought they'd defeated, not to mention they had to immediately go into hiding with new bodies they knew nothing about. I'd say thats enough to change any character's attitude.

 

Got a case of Skir-vy? Clear that right up with a little vitamin Crab! Okay here we go, hee!  

5.No links to illegal downloads or copyrighted materials.
This includes MP3's, games, pirated software, movies, full book or full comic scans.

2005 Staff

Whatever then. This episode can be found on youtube, so anyone interested can just go there and find it for themselves, I guess. Unless they have the dvd set? Eh? Eh!?   Okay, enough of that:

Episode 1: The Reformatting
written by Marty Isenberg and Bob Skir

We begin with an extreme close-up of a flower growing out of the cracks in the metal surface of planet Cybertron. A familiar form comes running towards the screen; Optimus Primal, and as he passes out of view, a tank tread crushes the flower underfoot. That, in a nutshell, is the theme of the entire show in 5 seconds.

A swarm of tank drones is chasing after Optimus Primal, who is having some serious difficulty transforming. Every time he tries, he crackles with sparks and electricity and remains firmly locked in beast mode. Outnumbered and outgunned, he runs for his life, but the tank drones are all over him! Suddenly his eyes light up with an eerie glow that directs him towards a passing railcar. He leaps onto the roof the railcar and finds Rattrap there also in hiding.
Rattrap likewise is unable to transform. Between the two, they quickly deduce that they've been infected with some kind of virus that prevents them from transforming and has clouded their recent memories. Ah, cute little writer's ploy; the characters that can't remember a thing. Provides a wonderful excuse for the cast to give us plenty of exposition. Thankfully they don't dwell on it too much since they're being chased around by killer tank drones and such. Speaking of which, the tank drones blow up the railcar moments after Primal and Rattrap leap off. Hehe. Nice. The white light that's been guiding Primal points him in a new direction and off they go.
They're chased down an alley and boxed in, but Cheetor is lurking high above and leaps down onto one of the drones, blocking his shot. For the first time today the Maximals are back on the offensive, proving that they've still got what it takes even in beast mode. Very cool. Kinda' makes me think back to that old BW episode, "Call of the Wild" where they all had to deal with that. Anyway, they thwart the tank drones for a few moments and make a hasty escape.
It's not long before more drones are on them though and the re-introductions are put on hold. A large hole is blown into the ground and the Maximals waste no time taking advantage of it (Primal sees the white light again and it goes down the hole). They fall through a black abyss for a long, looooong way (it had to be long since they were falling through the entire commercial break). They land in Blackarachnia's web and - and - yeah!

Okay, I just have to say that Blackarachnia's always been my favorite character since I saw "The Trigger parts 1 and 2". Here, it just makes me happy that she was the last one to be found. Like, I don't know why- it just makes her seem... don't know. Kind of special like they were saving the best for last. She's got some great pessimism right off the bat, first being disappointed that it was the Maximals that fell into her web and not some drones. She had hoped to destroy a few before she went offline herself. Then with thick sarcasm she says how wonderful meeting up with them was since they can all go offline together.

Primal isn't ready to give up though and they continue downwards. Some real nice scenery of ancient Cybertronian civilizations that have long since been built over. Very cool. They're all climbing down Blackarachnia's energon string, but she's finally over-exerted herself and plunges into the darkness. The other Maximals, all feeling the effects of the virus, also lose their grip and fall far below.

And they fall into... nothingness. No light, no shadows. They can't see anything. And they all know they're going to die down here in this dank pit. But Primal won't hear it! He grabs a brick (is it a brick?) and hurls it through the air, shattering a ... some kind of hologram? Coolies! Nice trick. They find themselves standing before a roaring wall of fire, which also turns out to be a hologram. Once Primal clears through it, he discovers the Oracle behind it; a sort of mystical super computer with omnipotent whatchamathings and whodidits. Apparently it can see the future and has been in existence since before Cybertron came into existence... which we get to see by way of a trippy vision that it gives to Primal.

In the vision we see what looks like Earth. It could be any planet really, but it's blue and has white clouds and all that. It undergoes a technological revolution in moments, which I take to mean was the last few million years of Cybertron all condensed into a short span. Nice, nice. And then we get those tidbits of wisdom from the Oracle:

"The seeds of the future lie buried in the past."
"To release the warrior within, tame the beast without."
"Transform your destiny. Transform and transcend."

Got that? Cool. Anyway, Primal re-emerges from the Oracle looking all sharp with a brand new body that's a mix of technological and organic elements. Looks good, actually. A lot more commanding than his regular gorilla look from earlier in this episode. The virus is cured, though he still has memory loss. Hey, at least he's not in immediate danger of dying, right? The other Maximals step into the light of the Oracle too and all emerge with brand new technorganic bodies. Hehee, I love how Blackarachnia is the tallest of all of them in beast mode!

Suddenly- motorcycle drones! Ooh, and they look cool. Well not exactly. Their wheels look cool. Not so sure about the rest of them, but I just like that they used what could be considered the most state-of-the-art wheels currently here on Earth instead of the usual spokes that you always see in cartoon bikes. Very, very cool especially for anyone that's a motorcycle enthusiast (I'm not, I just happen to know about that one aspect and think it's cool). The Maximals are all ready to transform and kick some butt, when... when they can't transform! What?! Oh holy hell!!! RUN! RUUUN!!!

Some more good bits of the Maximals using only their beast modes to beat up on the bad guys. Who needs robot modes with moves like these, right? And probably my favorite little squeel moment- Blackarachnia lies in wait for a cycle drone and you can hear the old spider theme from Beast Wars remixed and playing in the background! It sounds a little bit more whymsical. I'm not sure if that's the right word to describe it; more feminine perhaps since it's just Blackarachnia now and there's no sign of Tarantulus. Yeah, sure, that works. Whatever you want to call it, I love it and as far as I recall this is the only time in the entire show that they play it, so enjoy it while you can.

The cycle drones dish out some good moves too. Man, this is just sad. They fight better than most of the Decepticons in the other series and they're just DRONES. Some good strategy like using other cycle drones as ramps to clear a huge chasm. And when Primal finally transforms and carries 2 cycle drones over the chasm, threatening to drop them unless they give him information, they rev their engines and burn out in his hands forcing him to drop them to their deaths. Now sure, they're only drones, but whoa! How do you fight an enemy that has no fear of dying?! Already I love the Vehicons.

Primal informs everyone that according to legend (ACCORDING TO LEGEND NOW) the first Transformers to come to Cybertron had to learn to transform like it was a martial art or something. It required purity of spark and years of training, blah blah blah. Primal figured it out pretty fast. I bet those old Transformers are rolling in their graves, hehehe. So he leads the other Maximals off to begin their training.

And elsewhere... somewhere dark and unpleasant... hooked up to a mass of cables running from the back of his head and upwards into the unknown heights of the ceiling above: Megatron. Alive. And aware of the Maximals' presence on *his* Cybertron...

And as promised: a little something extra (I can still post pics, right?).











I really love the backgrounds in this first episode. The shadows and lighting especially are the best ever seen in a TF cartoon. And check out the symbols engraved around Primals' collar. Anyone know Maximal?

 

one of the best transformes show imo secound to beastwars of course.

 

I liked one or two episodes, but in comparison to Beast wars its a big turd. I honestly don't get why the BW ended for Beast Machines. Its was a downgrade in story and in toy quality.

 

I really liked Beast machines, mainly because it's a departure from the norm with Transformers. I liked Beast Wars and the movie for the same reason, and which is probably why I like Animated thus far. I'm glad Transformers isn't so intertwined with what was done previously that it can't reinvent itself.

 

They should've skipped straight to Transtech, then we wouldn't have had to suffer through Armada.

 

I just recently watched Beast Machines. Interesting is my point of view. I am taking it as an orwellian nightmare that Optimus Primal has while "sleeping" on the journey back to Cybertron.

I liked the atmosphere and the look but the story took way too much liberty with the TF cannon for me to keep it up there.

 

To be honest, I do genuinely believe beast machines to be a better show than beast wars. For all that people want to claim about the 'maturity' of beast wars and especially the depth to 'code of hero' ,which in both case is none if barely existant (not to say they aren't good shows, just overrated in certain aspects...) Beast Machines was the only Tf show to actually look at thematic ideas beyond fighting robots, and apply those to an arching narrative. Thats not to say that it was entirely successful, but when it did work, it kicked alk kinds of every shade of ass. The loss of Rhinox/tankor will always be a far better balanced than the much loved 'code of hero'.

 

I know what you mean. When I first saw it the first thing I hated where the character designs, to this day I still hate some. I also didn't like how they change some characters like rattrap and optimus, the writers made them uncool.

Then i bought the dvd boxset, and i liked it more.
I think the conclusion wast great. I still wanted to see an episode where they showed how megatron really felt. Since in his eyes he was a hero, he can be viewed as hitler the bad guy who thought he was good. I think we I first saw it I didn't pay attention the the story, as it is meant to be seen.

 

I like the Vechicons of BM. Liked it a lot too when the RID line recolored many as Autobots. BM was the only TF series where I wanted the bad guys to win. Hate a weed/grass covered Cybertron. Terrible, terrible alter-universe ending to G1. Finally, I think no other series had such least show-accurate figures, which may be a blessing becuse BM had some of the ugliest Maximals I've ever seen. Transtech may have been better, but I think I was happier with RID.  

 

h

i know officially there is a difference but i think of BW/BM as one long series.it may be two series but it's one story.
i saw them inside and out as i was taping them from the t.v. so i dont really do individual episodes anymore.i got the discs as they came out [it was the reason i got a dvd player] and once in a while i'll watch the whole thing straight through.not all in one sitting but spread out if i end up with a week off of work or something.stepping back and viewing the whole epic story you really get to appreciate the arc thing it has going.plus it hits you how the animation just gets better and better each episode.it really does,every single episode in that thing has some form of improvment over the previous one.cooler camera angles,new lighting and shadow techniques,deeper and richer coloring,better action/battle seens,cooler and more detailed backgrounds/environmental elements,and edge of your seat,tune in next time storylines!the final episode is 77 times better than the first episode.

 

the fact that vehcilce transformers (cars, jets, tanks ect) became replaced by animals is depressing. At least the Wreckers series replaced that.

 

Plenty of Vehicons running around through the whole show. And even after the reformatting at the end, who says you can't have a technorganic vehicle mode? It's all the rage in recent sci-fi shows.

 

I got to thinking about some of the comments I've been reading on the various boards that I've posted this to and I think I realized what it is about the IDW Beast Wars comics that are disappointing to me; BW and BM took risks. Big risks. When BW came out the whole fandom erupted into insanity and we got Trukk not Munky for years to come. When BM came out we got even more insanity and the whole show just turned Transformers right on its head.

The IDW comics though... what have they done? Sure, the stories are okay, but they haven't exactly taken any risks. Whereas BW and BM were about small casts and large character development, the comics are the reverse; massive roster and a focus on plot development instead. What bums me out the most is that after the first mini they're already bringing Shockaract into the mix and trying to tell an epic saga without any of the foundation required to justify it yet. It'd be like if you saw the 1986 movie without having ever seen the cartoon show first. You wouldn't care that all these bots and cons were dying because you simply wouldn't know who they were or why it was important.

 

I liked the BM series. It was definitely a change in gear from BW but I thought it was still good nonetheless. I didn't care much for the toys however.

 

I have to admit, I didn't like Beast MAchines at all when it first came out. But the Botcon Wreckers comics changed my view of it And the Universe comics as well. Adding the Wreckers story to Beast Machines plot really helped flesh everything out for me, because for me the show lacked something. An Autobot, a Decepticon, a Predacon, something other then an all Maximal cast. You have no idea how much I wanted to see an Autobot among the Maximals. But anyway, I digress, I like the series a little more now then when it first came out.

 

It took me maybe a season (or less) to get into it, but I did start to like it. I love BW much more for the characters and the overall feeling, but BM was good in its own way. I didn't really like the whole techno-organic thing for the designs of the maximals, but the vehicons looked pretty cool.