The recent press release for the 20th Anniversary DVD of The Transformers: The Movie (1986) is exciting news, indeed. Thank you! Fans have been clamoring for such a release for a long time.
Anyway, I think I speak for many, many Transformers fans when I say that Rhino Home Entertainment's prior DVD releases of the original Transformers tv series (1984-1987) were sorely lacking in quality control and historical accuracy. Fans looking for fidelity to the original broadcast versions of the episodes were, instead, given incomplete versions of most episodes (based on early, 35 mm film masters instead of the revised 1" broadcast master videotapes that aired on television) with an excessive amount of newly-added (and annoying) sound effects. Several threads have been posted at the influential Home Theater Forum website (
www.hometheaterforum.com) regarding both the original Transformers and G.I. JOE television series (Which Rhino never even finished releasing before they lost the license!).
Here are several HTF threads that describe these concerns in detail:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...d.php?t=216647http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...d.php?t=164121http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...d.php?t=235650
The original versions of these classic episodes must be preserved for the sake of historical accuracy!
Fans would love to see:
1. The episodes in proper chronological order, with the DVD versions preferably based on the uncut 1" broadcast masters that originally aired on tv (with the original mono sound mixes), the PROPER main/end titles and recaps/previews/historical trailers for all episodes, and the original commerical bumpers between acts, (but with a "watch without bumpers" seamless branching option for everyone who complains about the bumpers).
2. Detailed, fact-laden text or audio commentaries (which give original airdates, trivia, things to watch for, etc.), perhaps by some of the very knowledgable TF fans out there.
3. Classic Transformers-themed DVD menus that use imagery from the series and music from the series. There could also be a section where one can listen to the series' background music cues, season by season.
4. Classic Transformers-themed packaging and extras on a season-by-season basis (for example, season 1 would have season 1-themed extras and packaging).
5. Classic Transformers-themed extra features, like a documentary on the history of season 1 and the 1984 toys for the season 1 DVD set (with each succesive set focusing on the episodes and toys from that year), a documentary on the history of the Transformers franchise, voice actor/writer/producer interviews, season-by-season character model sheets/storyboards/scripts, and season by season toy commercials (for example, 1984 commercials on the season 1 DVD set).
We would hope that a worthy release of the original Transformers television series, one with the proper versions of the episodes originally seen on television, as well as copious extras (related to the original series specifically instead of the various spin-off series or the live-action movie), be placed under serious consideration. There's a whole fanbase out there (myself included) that is more than willing to provide learned consultation on such a project. Thank you for your time!
