The Rebirth

Post by **Blackjack** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 6:54 am

Just curious, do you like Season four of the G1 Animated series? It was made up solely of a three-parter, the Rebirth. Watched it recently, and was wondering did any of you actually LIKED it. I don't.

Target · Post by **Target** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 9:04 am

My 3 and a half year old did...mostly because Optimus Prime was back! She spent most of season 3 asking where he was!!

Halfshell · Post by **Halfshell** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 10:13 am

I enjoy it. It's rubbish and phenomenally hampered by having to introduce an entire year's worth of new characters in the space of an hour, but I just find something irrestistably fun about it.

It gets points for at least attempting epic. Especially without resorting to "everything in the universe can transform."

Post by **Denyer** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 10:17 am

It doesn't really work unless you already know who the characters are... but yeah, Rebirth is one of the few cartoon stories I have a nagging fondness for.

Halfshell · Post by **Halfshell** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 10:21 am

I think it stems from being one of the few stories available on video in the UK. It just took on this mythical "OMG" quality that can only be inspired within an 8 year-old who's not quite seen anything like it before.

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 1:01 pm

Aye - I love it for all its' faults. TF on video at the time was, for me, the same sort of hype-factor as, say, going to see Fulham is now - a real treat, very exciting. Loved it as a nipper, largely because I had so many of the toys featured (by the time I had much pocket-money and TF had elbowed everything else out, most of the earlier stuff was discontinued) - it was great seeing the Throttlebots (I love the Throttlebots) and the Technobots actually on the telly (up until the age of about 10, anything being on the telly is much more important and exciting than anything else EVER automatically, largely because it was rationed). I have very strong memories of rooting through a shelf in Woolies soon afterwards looking for a Freeway that didn't have the windscreen guns missing... And it was great to have Prime back (didn't see TRoOP until a while later) - all the toys I had being led by Prime (who I did have) was a real treat, rather than him charging around with blokes I didn't have, and with him against Galvatron (even though they barely meet, if at all). The opening battle was jolly exciting too.

I still love it now, despite the blatant faults. There are a couple of really good bits - Cerebros is one of about three Autobots from the whole cartoon who isn't, when you come down to it, a "Yeh, let's get the Decepti-creeps!" zombie, Spike's a complete bastard just as you'd expect someone involved in a war with robots for ~30 years to be, and most of the new characters manage the same level of personality some of the older ones did in two years. Considering the cramming, I think they did quite a good job with Hardhead, Brainstorm and Highbrow at least, as well as Cerebros. Plus Magnus and the Protectobots ambush Galvatron with the simple plan of shooting him until he dies - any Autobot plan ever been quite so direct and ruthless? There's an actual stab at depicting a war in the thing which is hard to begrudge, seeing as most of the other episodes revolve around the Decepticons trying to steal whichever Prime it is this week's newspaper or something. Plus, and this is a huge plus, Grimlock is nowhere to be seen. I like to think Hardhead just got fed up with him and killed him.

Even most of the bad bits are quite charming - "We can't fly!" shout the jet and the helicopter (the way both sides insist on walking everywhere on Nebulos is also great); "I live only to destroy our mutual enemies!"/"I think the name Aimless suits you better"; Cyclonus throwing his gun Nightstick into the air so Nightstick can fire a tiny pistol at the Autobots while Cyclonus just stands there; the way the 'rules' change depending on the plot; Mindwipe just grabbing Crosshairs because he wasn't going to be a Headmaster and the way Crosshairs just doesn't react at all; Magnus being left in charge of Cybertron for five minutes leading to the near-total defeat of the Autobots; Punch's abject stupidity; Goldbug and Bumblebee dancing alongside each other...

I'm going to go and find the video...

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 2:56 pm

Whilst I do think TROOP would have made a better "final" episode I do enjoy Rebirth for most of the above reasons. But also for Peter Cullen, he never gave a bad performance but all of Prime's post 86 film showings have him really throwing himself into it. Plus there's some nice continuity in Galvatron being portrayed as a marginally more sane character than before the Matrix zapped him, and how often can you say "Nice continuity" about the cartoon?

Vin Ghostal · Post by **Vin Ghostal** » Mon Jul 28, 2008 1:47 pm

Even in looking back and appreciating all its mind-numbing drawbacks, Rebirth is still fun for me because it comes off as though the writers and animators were actually trying. They knew this was the show's swansong, and while saddled with the near-impossible task of introducing an NFL team's worth of characters in 63 minutes, they still managed to dole out characterization and a compelling (if far-fetched, even by TF standards) story. There are nice touches here and there, both in the characters (like Slugslinger cowardly hiding behind Triggerhappy while cheering him on) and the animation (the bit when the 'Con Targetmasters first show up, and Cyclonus shoots Chromedome et al and Chromedome's wheel flies off is beautifully done). Plus, Hot Rod's more entertaining in this episode than just about any other ("Yeah, we never seem to get a break" and his banter with Kup when they meet the Nebulons always make me smile).

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Mon Jul 28, 2008 2:12 pm

inflatable dalek wrote:how often can you say "Nice continuity" about the cartoon?

Four other times: -

1) Remembering Defensor only had one arm in "The Ultimate Weapon"
2) Spike knowing who Bumblebee was in "Ghost in the Machine"
3) Actually managing to transmit Season 1 in an order that made sense
4) No, that's actually all I can think of. Three other times, then...

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Mon Jul 28, 2008 7:01 pm

Mind, it's undone in Rebirth when they forget the Autobots had a way of allowing severly crippled humans to lead some sort of normal life without becoming a Headmaster in just the previous episode...

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Mon Jul 28, 2008 7:56 pm

I bet Hot Rod had one in his pocket as well, and there's the medical skills of Blurr on hand.

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Mon Jul 28, 2008 8:03 pm

If Brainstorm and Highbrow are smart enough to rig up a suit that can turn Daniel into a head without snapping every bone in his body a chastity belt life support system should be a piece of piss for them.

Halfshell · Post by **Halfshell** » Mon Jul 28, 2008 8:07 pm

They forgot they could fly...

Post by **Blackjack** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 9:37 am

Watched the episodes over and over again, and you know what? I can't end up but changing my perspective about it. The story is kinda good (not as good as Bob Budiasky's Headmasters, but still...) and the animation error-ridden. You can't help but love this. I stand corrected, really corrected. Now I can't have enough of the Rebirth.

As for the characters that appeared from season one throughout four, let's see the list...

-Optimus Prime (first and foremost, obviously)
-Spike
-Bumblebee (due to my favourite error)
-the Constructicons

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 11:50 am

Blackjack wrote:the Constructicons

It's been a long time, but IIRC you don't see all six - there are six there, but one of them (Bonecrusher?) is duplicated, and someone else is missing... But it's been a while, as I say.

Some of Ichikawa's ehobby bios probably claim their figures are in all four seasons (most likely Hauler), but I don't think anyone in the world bar him actually take the things seriously...

Post by **Blackjack** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 1:21 pm

It's been a long time, but IIRC you don't see all six - there are six there, but one of them (Bonecrusher?) is duplicated, and someone else is missing... But it's been a while, as I say.

I never noticed that. The problem with the Constructicons is that when they are not standing still or getting a closeup so we can actually see their FACES, we never know which one are they. Besides, getting your colour schemes swapped with your teammates every episode doesn't help either.

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Tue Jul 29, 2008 1:38 pm

Assuming I've not missed something and there are other Constructicon cameos in Rebirth: -

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ak4txI8t--E

Scrapper's the one missing... the pair of legs behind Bonecrusher the straggler are purple - it's difficult to see much more on such a tiny video, but I guess wherever I read it [Zobovor's place, I suspect - off-hand that's about the only site that anal I've ever read] says it's Scavenger again. Bonecusher/Hook/Long Haul/Mixmaster/Scavenger do get a complete set of series, though. It's weird, when you think about it - the list of characters to appear in any three series would be huge thanks to the handful of old stagers hanging around post-movie (The Dinobots, Starscream, Soundwave), a few cameos (Jazz, Megatron, maybe Skyfire) and the Vector Sigma teams (Aerialbots, Protectobots and Combaticons all appear in Rebirth IIRC). And yet the number that managed all four drops off hugely...

I suppose you could argue Bumblebee appears in all four series regardless of whether animation errors count, as Goldbug is a very clear-cut case of a simple body upgrade unlike, say, Megatron/Galvatron where the personality also changed.

Pacerwolf · Post by **Pacerwolf** » Wed Jul 30, 2008 2:04 pm

I liked rebirth mainly for the character bits in it. Sure it was crammed full of new characters but it did give us a few cool ones. I really liked Hardhead, Brainstorm, Highbrow and Mindwipe.

Best Rebirth moment: Hardhead silencing Blurrs panicked flow of words by the simple act of putting a hand over his mouth! Ha ha, priceless!

AndyTurnbull · Post by **AndyTurnbull** » Wed Jul 30, 2008 2:59 pm

It's a guilty pleasure for me. I remember swapping a friend my More Than Meets The Eye video for his copy of Rebirth. I was annoyed that it never had the intro on it for some reason but I enjoyed it nevertheless. It is something of a huge character dump but it almost works. There are enough established characters in it so as not to make the viewer feel out of depth. Admittedly some of them don't get much to do.

I loved the scene with Gort explaining about The Hive and he says "but their bodies have weakened and are totally useless" and then a short time later we cut to Lord Zarak who's more ripped than the Ultimate Warrior ever dreamed of being!

Punch/Counter Punch despite having very little time looked very cool and I wanted a toy of him after watching the show (so it did it's job). Cerebros is probably the only proper pacifist Autobot, (the abortive bits with First Aid never really rang true) and is indeed the sensational character find of Rebirth!

I did like the big battle between Fortress Maximus and Scorponok, much better than any of the Metroplex/Trypticon battles imo.

Andy

Vin Ghostal · Post by **Vin Ghostal** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 4:12 pm

[quote="AndyTurnbull"]I loved the scene with Gort explaining about The Hive and he says "but their bodies have weakened and are totally useless" and then a short time later we cut to Lord Zarak who's more ripped than the Ultimate Warrior ever dreamed of being!/QUOTE]

People often bring up that detail, but I'm wondering: is there any evidence that Gort and the others have actually seen the Hive members in person? Might it be that Gort's explanation of the Hive is more legend than pure fact?