Plot: What’s it about?
This release includes the three episodes which encompass The Ultimate Doom, the tale of a grave struggle for power and some giant robots, which can transform at a moment’s notice. As usual, the Decepticons have a heinous plan to unveil and this time with the help of Dr. Archevil, that plan might just come to fruition. It seems that Archevil has invented a potent device called the Hypnochip, which turns humans into mindless slaves. The main plan is to use the chip to amass an army of slaves and use them to produce massive amounts of Energon cubes, which power machines, including the Decepticons. But before the widescale implementation is unfurled, the evil robots decide to test it out…on Sparkplug. Now the Autobots must forge a plan to halt their nefarious foes before it is too late, but they soon discover the fight is on two fronts, as the Earth is being torn apart by natural disasters of all kinds. Can even the might and good of the Autobots be enough to win this one, or will the Decepticons finally win one in the end?
I’ve always wanted to see more shows like G.I. Joe, Transformers, and other 1980s cartoons on this format, so of course, I am glad Rhino has started to release episodes of Transformers. But while I am pleased to have some episodes on disc, I am not all that satisfied with the approach taken by Rhino here. I admit the suggested retail of 19.99 is a welcome price, but with only three episodes and no extras, that low price still seems a little high to me. I would prefer to pay a higher ransom if more episodes were included, even large boxsets would be welcome. The more episodes the better if you ask me, so these dinky little releases don’t hold much water with me. But if you want Transformers on region 1 DVD, these discs are your only real options. The three episodes in this storyline, The Ultimate Doom are good ones and should delight fans, but the disc just lacks value, to be sure. I hope Rhino decides to alter their plans for this series (and others) and allow fans to purchase more episodes per disc, perhaps even release some nice boxed sets. As it stands, this release is somewhat recommended, but only to diehard fans of the series.
Video: How does it look?
The episodes are presented in full frame transfers, which preserves the original broadcast aspect ratio of the series. The main problem with the image here seems to be the source material, which looks weathered, beaten, and poorly maintained. I saw specks, dirt, and all sorts of debris here, sometimes to extreme levels. Of course, this dulled the colors and contrast to an extent, but much less in the last two episodes, which look a little better. Even so, the image on the episodes is very aged and a let down, not too cool in the least.
Audio: How does it sound?
This release uses a Rhino special 5.1 surround track, in which the audio is pushed through all the speakers at the same time. This allows a much more immersive experience, but I would rather have a more skillfully created, more simple effort instead. I heard a lot of distortion and hiss in this mix, much worse than the old VHS releases even. I am not all that let down here, but I wasn’t that impressed either, a pretty mediocre overall track.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This disc contains no bonus materials.
