As the first original Transformers show produced since the orignal Generation 1 cartoon ended it's run in the late 80's, Beast Wars had the tumultuous task of introducing the series to a new generation of potential fans unaware of the brands legacy. Seeing as previous attempts to reinvigorate interest in the brand throughout the 90's had been met with failure, a lot was riding on the shoulders of Beast Wars to pull the brand out of the slump it was currently in. While it's by no means perfect, the opening episode does a pretty good job of setting up the show and introducing the audience to it's characters and concepts.
The episode opens in space with the Maximal and Predacon ships engaged in battle. This results in both ships taking damage, leading to both ships crashing on a nearby planet. Both vehicles are left unflightworthy, leaving the crews of both ships stranded upon the planet. Since the planet is rich in Energon, the energy source used by the Transformers, both sides are required to take on alternative animal modes to protect them from the exess Energon that would cause them to short circuit if they remained in robot mode too long. The leader of this group of Predacons, Megatron then tasks his troops to hunt for the Maximals and destroy them.
As the show's opening episode, this is a really solid start to the show as a whole, doing a good job of establishing the status quo while not getting overly bogged down in exposition, making for an episode that is an overall engaging watch.
The episode's opening throws us right into the action, opening with a fast paced space battle between the two ships piloted by the Maximals and the Predecons. This starts the episode off on a good note as it immediately catches our attention and makes us want to know what's going on. This is similar to the opening of the original Star Wars film, which also opened with a chase between two spaceships.
This scene also helps to establish certain things to the audience with regards to the status quo. It's clear from the design of the spaceships who the good guys and who the bad guys are. The Predacon ship is darker in colour and has a somewhat more pointy and sinister/alien looking design, whereas the Maximal ship is white and more conventional looking. Dialogue in this scene also helps to establish some of the characters, with Rattrap complaining "This is ridiculous, we're an exploration ship, not a battle cruiser!", telling the audience that our heroes are out of their league, and not prepared for combat. However, Prime's response that they were the only ship able to lock onto Megatron's warp signature tells us that they had no choice but to pursue the fugitive Predacons.
The first scene with the Maximals following the crash does a great job of this as we see the four initial Maximals interact with each other. We're introduced to each Maximal in turn, with each introduction perfectly getting their characters and personalities across to the audience. We first meet Cheetor, who is incredibly enthusiastic and thrilled about his cheetah form. We then meet Rattrap, who's a bit more snarky about the situation, which leads to conflict with Cheetor which is then broken up by Rhinox, who's shown to be the voice of reason. Then we meet the Maximal's leader, Optimus Primal, who is established to be in command of this unit.
Later in the episode, we get to see another example of Cheetor's more impulsive and immature nature in comparison to the rest of the Maximals as he gets excited upon seeing two real cheetahs and decides to show off his speed by running after them. We're also shown that Rattrap is more cynical and not eager to put himself in the line of fire. He's often complaining about the situation he's ended up landing into since he wasn't prepared for combat. Then, when the Maximals and Predecons end up engaged in combat during the episodes end, he outright disobeys an order from Optimus since he doesn't want to get himself fried.
Speaking of Optimus himself, we also get the sense that he prefers negotiation to full scale conflict, which is shown during the first meeting between the Maximals and the Predecons when he tries to talk to Megatron first, asking why he's starting the conflict up again considering that the Maximals and Predacons have been at peace. We're also shown that he's not averse to combat when forced into a situation, and that he's able to hold his own and make tactical decisions.
This more dysfunctional dynamic between the Maximals established in this episode is welcomed as it makes the characters feel more real as opposed to cardboard cut outs. It's also understandable considering that their initial mission was one of exploration and science rather than combat and, since there's been peace between the Maximals and Predacons for years, it makes sense how none of them are particularly trained for combat of this manner. In their first battle with the Predecons, they end up forced into retreating and only manage to get away as the Predecons start to short circuit due to being in robot mode for too long - this is good for showing how these Maximals are not combat soldiers like the Transformers that were seen in Generation 1. The concept of a small group of protagonists forced into a combat situation that they're ill prepared for is one that gets utilised in 2007's 'Transformers Animated'.
While the Maximals are pretty fleshed out in this episode, the same cannot be said for their adversaries, the Predecons. We don't spend as much time with them as we do the Maximals, and the only one that we really get to know is Megatron. During the opening space battle, rather than outright obliterating the Maximal ship once the shields are lowered, Megatron decides it would be better to play with them a little more. This gives us a feel for his character and shows that he enjoys to play with his foes. We also learn what his plan is - to get a hold of a vast quantity of Energon in order to reignite a conflict known as 'The Great War'.
However, the other Predacons don't really do anything asides from act as Megatron's lackeys. The only other Preadcon asides from Megatron that we really get to spend time with is Dinobot, but even then, he defects very early on in the episode due to Megatron's percieved incompetence, and doesn't show up again until the very end of the episode where he challenges Optimus to a fight to the death with the victor assuming command of the Maximals. However, the remaining Predecons do get their chances to shine (for the most part) in future episodes.
One thing that I like about the Maximals and Predacons is that they are easily distinguished by the types of animals that each side turns into. This is determined by the creatures local to where each side's respective spaceship crashed. The Maximals all turn into animals such as gorillas, cheetahs, rats, and rhinos, and then the Predacons take on reptillian and insect forms, with some taking their forms from dinosaur fossils that they had scanned. This gives both sides a distinct look which boils down to their character design.
Unlike the original Transformers series which had a surplus of characters on each team, the Beast Wars cast is significantly smaller with both sides only having a handful of characters. This was primarily done due to the complexities of the CG animation and needing to build multiple characters (with the amount of characters doubled due to each one needing an alternate animal mode). This change ended up being a positive for the series as a whole, since it meant that the writers could focus more on the characterisation of the core cast of characters.
The story manages to convey bits of information to the audience that will become important over the course of the show very well. After the exciting space battle at the start of the episode, we then get drip fed tid bits of information that flesh out the world of the show and convey that information to the audience very well. We learn that the Maximals and Predecons have largely been at peace, and that Megatron's group of Predacons wish to restart a conflict known as the 'Great War'. We also learn that Megatron stole something from Cybertron called the 'Golden Disk'. We're not told too much about it, but it's importance is made clear to the audience with Optimus referring to it as 'Cybertron's most sacred artefact'.
The origin of the planet they're on is also up in the air, with it being established by Dinobot that they are supposedly not on Earth (Megatron's intended destination) - this being the main point of contention with him that lead to him defecting from Megatron's ranks. Likewise, Rhinox establishes that they travelled through both space and time, so they could not only be anywhere in the galaxy, but at any point in time. This is something that will get played out throughout the course of the season.
At the start of the episode, when the ship begins to crash, Optimus orders his crew to eject Statis Pods from the craft which then stay in orbit around the planet. This is something that comes into play a lot in later stories, especially when the show needs to introduce new characters to the cast. This was something that was initially included to appease Hasbro who weren't happy about the show using only a handful of characters per side as opposed to using all 20 characters from the first wave of toys. The idea of the statis pods was that, when Mainframe had time in the schedule, a stasis pod would come down into the show and a new character would be introduced. Hasbro ended up liking this idea since it was a great way of them introducing their new toys they wanted to promote into the show.
The excess of Energon plot point is good for giving the characters a reason to transform into their animal modes. Since they're on a planet with seemingly no intelligent life, there's no reason for the characters to disguise themselves. The idea that the animal alt modes are a neccessity to shield the characters from the excess Energon that would cause their robot modes to short circuit if exposed for prolonged periods of time is a clever way around this.
However, this episode isn't quite perfect. For one, there's some pretty ropey dialogue in places (normally coming from Cheetor). Plus it's heavily implied that the characters name themselves after the animal forms they take is a little confusing since they only took on these forms after they crashed - leading to the question of 'what did they call themselves beforehand?'
The animation is also a little hit and miss in places. While the characters look fine in their robot modes, some of the animal modes haven't held up super well. However, this is due to the fact that they're supposed to look like actual animals, and the CGI at the time wasn't quite able to realise that. I'm not someone who is averse to primitive looking CGI as I find it to be quite charming, but I do understand how it can be a barrier to some people who find it too janky and off puttting.
Likewise, the backgrounds this season are mostly pretty barren. This is due to most the budget being spent on making the characters. In spite of this, the CGI is pretty impressive for it's time, and gets better as the show goes on. It's certainly a lot better than the Donkey Kong Country cartoon from around the sime time which looks considerablly worse.
In spite of my handful of gripes, I think this is an entertaining start to the series even if it doesn't quite hit the highs that the show will hit later on. It manages to get a lot of things across to the audience without letting up on the action and intrigue, allowing the audience to get hooked and see where the show will head from here, ending on a cliffhanger with Dinobot challenging Prime to a fight to the death over command of the Maximals. Will the episode's second part be able to live up to the promise set up by this one?
Next week: The Maximals gain an unlikely ally in 'Beast Wars (Part 2)'
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