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Post by CkRtech on Jan 2, 2008 0:11:09 GMT -5
It sucks.
I turned it off just before the 20 minute mark.
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Post by Devastator_2000 on Jan 2, 2008 0:20:35 GMT -5
It sucks. I turned it off just before the 20 minute mark. Wow. That bad huh? What turned you off about the show? the animation, the story or both?
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Post by CkRtech on Jan 2, 2008 0:59:29 GMT -5
I am definitely not too fond of the animation. The artwork wasn't that great, and seeing it put to motion did not help. After a few minutes of seeing the animation and hearing the dialog, it was obvious they were shooting for the seven-year-olds range once again. Many other series nowadays write for an older audience and then tone down the violence. I prefer the "overshoot and scale it back" more so than I do the "just write something along the lines of the smurfs and don't worry about it." So at that point (a few minutes in) I thought - let's see where they take this. I didn't like the G1 connection at all, and I am tired of all the cliches (Optimus is going to lead, Megatron is the bad guy, Starscream will always betray him, etc). So where did it go from there? Humans - *kids* - on a field trip. First I was watching some Transformers show & now I am watching Dora the Explorer. So there is some experiment gone wrong and now the humans are fighting a gigantic bug. It was at this point I had seen enough - "seen enough" as far as the "had enough" phrase is concerned as well as "seen enough" to know that they've churned out yet another Transformers series that is an insult to my intelligence. In my mind, the quality of the show seems to mirror the style of the artwork - the artwork shows a lack of maturity & so does the basic approach to the writing. I don't need animation that is made for age 18+, but this totally looks like it is 7-10. That is way too young. It didn't help that Blitzwing made a reference to Batman and Robin - one of the worse movies ever made. ![:(](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/sad.png)
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Post by Jo'Roq on Jan 2, 2008 2:29:55 GMT -5
First I was watching some Transformers show & now I am watching Dora the Explorer. Umm, Dora? Speaking as a parent who has had to suffer through that, there is NO similarity to Dora whatsoever. OK, if having a "cliche" TF series is bad, is trying to introduce villain possibilities other than Decepticons is also bad? Yes the giant cockroach was cheesy, but at least it was attempting to set up both a technological base for humans (derived from Megatron, hence the effectiveness against the Autobots) and establish that there will be enemies to fight not directly controlled by the Decepticons. For Cartoon Network, this IS mature animation (from a relative point of view) given that its an attempt to blend western and manga styles together (which in my opinion rarely turns out better than "passing" anyway). It could have been in the choppy styles like Samurai Jack, Powerpuff Girls, or Dexter's Laboratory. Of course this isn't up to Justice League or He-Man (the most recent series) quality, but given CN's recent history with the truly high quality shows I wouldn't have expected it to be. I am not a fan of the animation style in general myself, but I did see the art used to reasonable effect to provide physical emphasis to the characters's personalities and traits.
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Post by CkRtech on Jan 2, 2008 3:07:00 GMT -5
First I was watching some Transformers show & now I am watching Dora the Explorer. Umm, Dora? Speaking as a parent who has had to suffer through that, there is NO similarity to Dora whatsoever. I've never seen Dora, but I say there is a similarity. I was pulling a cartoon out of air that has a kid with a backpack in it. So basically my comparison was PERFECT and without flaw. What sort of "NO similarity" are you referring to? Story? Maturity level? My comment was made as both a joke and an insult to this Transformers show. I see a bunch of deformed, goofy-looking, backpack-wearing kids on some sort of field trip despite the fact I am watching the premiere of a new Transformers show. That was my main point. While I enjoy the Rocky movies, they are essentially a "reinterpretation of themselves." The same overall theme is there. Rocky fights Apollo. Apollo and Rocky team up to fight someone else. Rocky fights Clubber Lang. Rocky fights He-Man errr.. Dolph....<snap>...Ivan Drago. I don't see what my irritation with cliches of Transformers series has to do with there being another villain other than the Decepticons. I once had a debate with someone (in person. Not a member of ES or any other board) regarding Star Wars episode 1. His defense for why Episode 1 was not good and didn't meet expectations was simply, "everything has to have a beginning!" My reply was, "That doesn't mean it has to suck!" A giant cockroach? I simply cannot accept your "was cheesy, but..." part of that phrase. That's where it stops for me. A giant cockroach. If they want to add other enemies - cool. But....a giant....cockroach. General rule of thumb for me is - get me interested in any given animated series before making me accept the ...giant cockroach. Ahh - but the style of Samurai Jack and Dexter's Lab was duplicated for a Cartoon Network series called "Star Wars: Clone Wars" - a series that, in my opinion, managed to take a "different" style of animation and have success with it. I mean...I liked Clone Wars. Maybe nobody else did. In fact, Clone Wars was one of those things in the back of my mind that had me hold out hope for Transformers. Transformers looks weird...okay....but maybe it will be good in a different way. Nope. And that's....okay I guess..but it was difficult to swallow. Physical emphasis on character traits is often a foundation of animation. The looks didn't really sit well with me...but I kept watching. However those same looks were glaringly annoying when I saw them in the kids and this ...giant...cockroach. That was enough for me to determine that I'm not interested.
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Post by Wheeljack35 on Jan 2, 2008 10:06:03 GMT -5
Wow this is so opposite from another board I attend
I'm the only one who likes it there and they got on my case
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Post by Raggletag on Jan 2, 2008 12:41:37 GMT -5
Umm, Dora? Speaking as a parent who has had to suffer through that, there is NO similarity to Dora whatsoever. Actually I thought the same thing when I first saw Sari, hehehe. Just something to do with her facial features and overall shape/proportions. I'm still undecided if I like the character yet or not though. She had a few witty lines, but an equal number of groan-inducing quotes too. But I have to admit, the part where she tells Optimus where babies come from was pretty funny. I definitely like Animated better than Chris, but I can see why he wasn't wowed by it. The cockroach/caterpillar look like it belonged in Men in Black, not in a TFs cartoon. I think they could've found a better non-Decepticon threat for the Autobots to fight. And while I liked the G1 references and easter eggs, the fact that the show doesn't seem to actually take place in the G1 universe makes it a tease. And as a sidenote, it really bothers me how so many fans beat down G1 these days, claiming it was poorly animated and had horrible writing. Yet some of the same fans are tickled that the NEW show uses the G1 transforming sound and that Starscream's voice is so close to the original. It makes these fans look like trolls, out to rile up those of us that love G1. Fans need to turn off their immature, snarky, sarcastic attitudes, and stop being so intolerant of other fans' preferences.
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Post by Destro on Jan 2, 2008 14:23:46 GMT -5
The way I see it, g1 was subpar as far as writing and animation goes, but I still am a fan bc of nostalgia, and I cut it a break bc it's 20 years old; I can still enjoy watching bc, in spite of its flaws, there were some good eps and interesting characters. I know some fans bash it simply for bashing's sake, but there is another side of that coin; some fans love it to the point that they think it's flawless and won't accept anything else (I'm not saying you're doing that raggletag or ck, or anyone else here).
As far as the "bug" thing, I can understand that; I wasn't a big fan of it myself. However, ck, I don't think you're giving the show fair shake; the rest of the episode(s), especially w/ starscream, is pretty good. I'm not saying I think everyone should like it, but at least give it a fighting chance.
I can say that, so far, this is the only tf cartoon in which I actually like most of the human characters; Sari, her father, and fanzone are much better than the armada kids, daniel, and the rid kid (can't remember his name). I like how Sari has a connection w/ the robots bc she spends more time w/ them than humans, as a line during the tour would show us (paraphrased):
Tour kid: "What's it like spending all your time w/ robots?" Sari: "I dunno, what's it like going to school w/ other kids?"
That line, I think, is important bc it shows how she is more comfortable w/ robots than w/ people, hence her connection w/ the autobots, esp. bumblebee; one of the few times a human character has at least some depth in a tf cartoon. Hopefully that is built upon, as well as her father's connection w/ megatron and his struggle to come to grips w/ what his robotic empire has been built upon..
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Post by Wheeljack35 on Jan 2, 2008 14:28:09 GMT -5
And as a sidenote, it really bothers me how so many fans beat down G1 these days, claiming it was poorly animated and had horrible writing. Yet some of the same fans are tickled that the NEW show uses the G1 transforming sound and that Starscream's voice is so close to the original. It makes these fans look like trolls, out to rile up those of us that love G1. Fans need to turn off their immature, snarky, sarcastic attitudes, and stop being so intolerant of other fans' preferences. It allways comes from the kids nowadays mostly They don't know how special that cartoon was and there was special feel to it that cannot be described G1 loved to have confrontations you liked to see like the Dinobots vs Devastator These kids now have 6 transformers toons to choosed from unlike us at the time who had only G1 and needed nothing more
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Post by Raggletag on Jan 3, 2008 0:18:38 GMT -5
The way I see it, g1 was subpar as far as writing and animation goes, but I still am a fan bc of nostalgia, and I cut it a break bc it's 20 years old; I can still enjoy watching bc, in spite of its flaws, there were some good eps and interesting characters. I know some fans bash it simply for bashing's sake, but there is another side of that coin; some fans love it to the point that they think it's flawless and won't accept anything else (I'm not saying you're doing that raggletag or ck, or anyone else here). I've considered the fact that the only reason I like G1 best is simply because of the nostalgia factor, but it just doesn't quite gel. There are literally dozens of shows and movies that I grew up loving, that now I can't STAND to watch. But shows like G1 TFs, GI Joe, and Robotech stand the test of time for me. I think the art in G1 (with a few exceptions) was absolutely amazing, and the voice acting and characterizations were the top of the heap. I agree that the stories themselves weren't that amazing or involved, but the dialogue, action, character designs and personalities made the show a huge winner in my book. All that being said, I'm not an absolute purist. Beast Wars was a pretty big departure from G1, but I was hooked in from the beginning. I also thought RID was pretty decent, even if it was a little goofy at times. But Armada/Energon/Cybertron... ugg. These three may have had a bigger and more epic storyline than all of the G1 cartoon, but the delivery was atrocious imo. I guess what I'm trying to get at here is that it bothers me when fans gets bashed for not liking "TF show 245b", saying they're stuck in the past and can't accept change, yada yada yada. I can accept change no problem... just so long as it doesn't suck. ![:P](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/tongue.png) I'm not talking about anyone here, btw, it's just something I've observed on MANY TF boards I've been reading the past couple years. It's like anyone with a negative opinion is immediately treated like a leper. Fans need to grow up a little bit and show some tolerance for other peoples' opinions, even if they go against the grain. The verdict is still out on TFs: Animated for me. I think it'll end up being fairly decent, but nowhere near a match for G1 in my eyes. I give the creators bonus points for putting forth a lot more effort this time though.
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Post by CkRtech on Jan 3, 2008 0:31:51 GMT -5
However, ck, I don't think you're giving the show fair shake; the rest of the episode(s), especially w/ starscream, is pretty good. I'm not saying I think everyone should like it, but at least give it a fighting chance. I'm a little confused. How did I not give it a fighting chance? I watched about 20 minutes, didn't like the feel of it during that time, and then one particular scene put it over the top enough to turn it off. This is entertainment - not torture. Would it have killed me to watch the rest of it? Well no...but why would I want to watch it after I felt like I did?
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Post by Destro on Jan 3, 2008 0:55:05 GMT -5
However, ck, I don't think you're giving the show fair shake; the rest of the episode(s), especially w/ starscream, is pretty good. I'm not saying I think everyone should like it, but at least give it a fighting chance. I'm a little confused. How did I not give it a fighting chance? I watched about 20 minutes, didn't like the feel of it during that time, and then one particular scene put it over the top enough to turn it off. This is entertainment - not torture. Would it have killed me to watch the rest of it? Well no...but why would I want to watch it after I felt like I did? Well, it seems like your biggest problems were the bug scene and the kids touring the factory; you're missing out on starscream and the other bots..well, doing what they do, which was pretty cool. I just don't think watching one ep of anything is enough to throw out the entire show, esp. when it seems you're hung up on a scene or two; things pick up after that, esp. w/ starscream showing up.
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Post by Wheeljack35 on Jan 3, 2008 15:15:40 GMT -5
It sucks. I turned it off just before the 20 minute mark. The regular episodes start on saturday morning Would you consider giving it one more try?
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Post by CkRtech on Jan 3, 2008 20:31:51 GMT -5
Possibly.
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Post by Raggletag on Jan 4, 2008 1:56:10 GMT -5
Wow this is so opposite from another board I attend I'm the only one who likes it there and they got on my case That's because most boards have their "heirarchy" of more popular fans, and whatever the concencus of that heirarchy is (yay or nay), the insecure friend-seeking fans adopt the same opinion in order to fit in and gain more "street cred". And when an independent person goes against the majority, they get singled out and picked on. TF fans are generally like elementary school children. I'm happy to say that Energon Station doesn't fit the mold, and we can have differences without resorting to petty insults and sardonic comments... usually. It's also nice to see a board where the posters don't bring up their love of alcohol every two seconds. *rolls eyes*
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Post by CkRtech on Jan 4, 2008 10:38:15 GMT -5
There is so much truth in what you just said, I do not know where to begin. Haha!
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Post by Devastator_2000 on Jan 4, 2008 13:53:28 GMT -5
That is why this board was formed.
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Post by Wheeljack35 on Jan 5, 2008 8:59:10 GMT -5
Seibertron used to have bullies about 4 years back until Ryan decided to ban them all
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Post by Destro on Jan 5, 2008 21:42:54 GMT -5
Just watched the 4th ep; I think prowl may be my favorite right now; I'm all about that nature and stillness/zen-type stuff. ![:P](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/tongue.png) It's cool that he has respect for organic life and is learning from it. The ep overall was ok; nice to see more characterization for prowl, and megatron using sumdac to get a body should be interesting. I like how it's building to something and not just throwing it all at us from the get-go. ..and a human that speaks in a shakespearean way is always fun; a goofy character of course, but at least he's interesting.
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Post by Raggletag on Jan 6, 2008 1:11:01 GMT -5
Just watched the 4th ep; I think prowl may be my favorite right now; I'm all about that nature and stillness/zen-type stuff. ![:P](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/tongue.png) It's cool that he has respect for organic life and is learning from it. The ep overall was ok; nice to see more characterization for prowl, and megatron using sumdac to get a body should be interesting. I like how it's building to something and not just throwing it all at us from the get-go. ..and a human that speaks in a shakespearean way is always fun; a goofy character of course, but at least he's interesting. :SPOILERS AHOY!!!: -Yeesh... I thought this Angry Archer guy was supposed to be a major villain in the series judging by the Animated panel at BotCon '07, but he was caught within the first few minutes of the show! I didn't really care for him though, so no big loss. -I liked Prowl in this ep too. He was kind of a jerk in the movie, so it was nice to see him rebound a bit this time and help out the team and teaching them something useful. I thought all the Autobots were likeable in this episode actually. -Not much structure to this episode. Just a lot of goofy hijinks, and a tiny bit of story arc. I prefer it when shows have a plot within each episode itself, while still having an overall arc (ala Beast Wars). -The quick transformation sequences didn't bother me at all (since they were in the heat of battle and meant to imply speed), but what the heck's the deal with Optimus's hands at the beginning?! It's like these pieces of licorice came out of his wrists, then exploded into hands! The hell?!? -Megatron's head reminds me of his appearance in the G2 comics for some reason. Must be the squarish look of the helmet. -Is there anything Sari's magic key CAN'T do?? I foresee this plot device getting old real quick. -TFs having a slumber party and playing Twister? D'oh... Anyway, despite my gripes, the episode still amused me, so I'll keep on watching. Even with its bizarre goings-on, I like how the show doesn't take itself too seriously. We'll see how it progresses...
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