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The Hub Channel’s “Transformers Prime” animated series is more than meets the eye, offering the satisfying story and character development that was too often lacking in the “Transformers” feature films. The Blu-ray presentation is a solid one, and includes a similarly strong set of special features built around an impressive number of cast and crew audio commentaries.
Transformers Prime: Season One
Release Date: March 6, 2012
Studio: Shout! Factory
Packaging/Materials: Four-disc Blu-ray case with slipcover
Year: 2010-2011
Rating: TV-Y7-FV
Running Time: Approximately 9.5 hours
MSRP: $64.99
| THE FEATURE | SPECIAL FEATURES | |
| Video | AVC: 1080p high definition 1.78:1 | High definition |
| Audio | DTS-HD Master Audio: English 5.1 / PCM: English 2.0 | Stereo |
| Subtitles | None | None |
The Feature: 4.5/5
Though it capitalizes on the recent success of Michael Bay’s “Transformers” feature films, the Hub Channel’s animated series “Transformers Prime” has few - if any - relation to its live action counterparts.
The five-episode “Darkness Rising” miniseries that essentially reboots the storyline finds a small contingent of Autobots, led by Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen), already settled on Earth, but still isolated from any contact with humans, other than the occasional visit from the often-irate Agent Fowler (voiced by Ernie Hudson). When the Autobots inevitably and inadvertently reveal themselves, it’s to a trio of kids named Jack, Miko and Raf (voiced by Josh Keaton, Tania Gunadi, and Andy Pessoa), who get caught in the middle of a tussle with the Autobots’ longtime enemies, the Decepticons. Though initially just interested in protecting the kids from further danger, the Autobots soon learn the humans can be valuable members of their team, despite their diminutive size and physical vulnerability. The kids also manage to bring Agent Fowler deeper into the fold, convincing him to be less of a planetary hall monitor and more of a vested ally against Megatron and Starscream (voiced by Frank Welker and Steven Blum), leaders of the Decepticons.
As with a live action series, “Prime” begins its first regular season episodes with mostly self-contained stories, which serve to introduce new elements of Cybertronian culture as well as new Autobot and Decepticon characters (voiced by fanboy favorites like John Noble, Gina Torres, and Adam Baldwin). At the same time, the events and consequences from the mini-series (having to do with the dangerous substance Dark Energon, which turns dead Transformers into zombies) are kept in the mix, getting further developed throughout the season and culminating in an epic three-part season finale.
Though at first the series is easy to dismiss as yet another cog in Hasbro’s Transformers merchandising machine, solid storytelling and likable characters go a long way towards distancing the program from that first impression, not to mention the frenetic action standard established by the Bay films. Those who found the latter especially excruciating should find much to appreciate in the animated series due to its longer format and ultimately engaging (and coherent) narrative arc. The CGI animation is a clear step up from most TV cartoon fare (winning a Daytime Emmy award for its efforts), though compared to animated movies it still lacks a noticeable polish in its detail and character movements.
“Transformers Prime: Season One” on Blu-ray includes the five-part “Darkness Rising” miniseries that aired in late 2010 and the 21 series episodes that aired from February to October 2011. Each episode runs just over 22 minutes in length.
Video Quality: 4/5
The 1080p, AVC-encoded transfer is framed at 1.78:1 and features inky blacks, strong contrast, and deep color. The lack of high detail textures don’t make the image pop, however, resulting in a picture that often looks deceptively soft. The transfer is also subject to consistent color banding, with artifacts like aliasing and moiré showing up from time to time. Still, I suspect the high definition Blu-ray presentation improves upon the show’s original cable and satellite broadcast.
Audio Quality: 3.5/5
Dialogue in the 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track is consistently crisp, clear and detailed. Surround effects can be somewhat subdued given the show’s action-adventure nature, though when they do appear they seem reasonably balanced. LFE is similarly limited, lacking real “oomph” in moments when viewers will want it shaking the room. As a result, the audio presentation is a little disappointing, though ultimately it seems to serve its intended purpose.
Special Features: 4/5
Audio Commentaries: Fifteen of the 26 episodes include commentaries from writers, voice actors, directors and producers. From a random sampling, there’s plenty of information about the show’s background and development to be found, spread across over two-thirds of the episodes.
Making Of Transformers Prime (11:02, HD): Electronic press kit style preview interviews writers and cast about the premise and direction for the series.
Toy Featurette (16:31, HD): Provides a look at the collaboration between Hasbro’s product development teams and the production studio tasked with bringing its toys to life in animated form.
Season Two Teaser (:20, HD)
Comic Book: The four-issue “Transformers Prime” reprint from comic publisher IDW provides the back story to how two Autobots started working together, as well as the events leading up to the miniseries.
Recap
The Feature: 4.5/5
Video Quality: 4/5
Audio Quality: 3.5/5
Special Features: 4/5
Overall Score (not an average): 4/5
Shout! Factory delivers a solid video presentation and a serviceable audio track for the first season of the “Transformers Prime” animated series. The special features package includes a number of behind-the-scenes items, the most in-depth being the audio commentaries from various members of the cast and crew.
