User reviews

when i was a kid. I for one, believe that the story and characters displayed here are incredible. Even as a kid i knew that this series was something more than just a mindless battle of good vs. evil. There is more then that, plenty more. It may have taken a brand new direction and introduced an entire new world and perspective of the characters, but the writers did a good job of making it work. On top of that, it is of the very few series that is completely done in C.G. The transformers look incredible as well as their surroundings.

The only downside to this series is well, Rattrap. I don't know, but in my opinion that bot is annoying. He of course if the comic relief of the show, but sometimes i just don't want to hear predictable corny jokes every 3o seconds. Other then that, the show will have you sitting down on a your couch during a lazy weekend and you WILL be entertained.

You can tell that the writers put effort into this show, but you also can tell that the focus was put in places you normally wouldn't think of as a Transformers series.

To this day Beastmachines is still a very divisive show in the Transformers univers, but to its defence that's the only thing that drags it down for me, because as a direct sequel series to the highly beloved Beast Wars the vastly different tone and subject matter cover the entire series' run.

It's much darker and more serious than its predecessor with very little humour which makes it rather tough to get through, but the central themes of the show like technology vs nature do take a more nuanced look at it instead of being so black/white like other movies/TV-shows like Ferngully: The Last Rainforest or Captain Planet And The Planeteers, but it's presented like this religious conquest by the now Guru of the Maximals Optimus Primal, which makes his ultimate goal not as likable as it should have been.

The animation is another commendable thing about Beastmachines. It has aged much more gracefully than earlier Mainframe Entertainment shows like Beast Wars and ReBoot, and the highly expressive faces of the Maximals can hit the uncanny valley at times. But the character designs are otherwise a mixed bag with Cheetor and Megatron being awesome while Silverbolt is garbage.

I see the problems with Beastmachines, but I can't deny that if I didn't think of it as a Transformers show, then I'd say it's a really good show if not a little dark.

Having seen probably every episode of the original Transformers, Beast Wars, and now Beast Machines, I feel I can comment on this series with some authority. I loved the Beast Wars even though it was a very different show from the Transformers. They took liberties and played with elements from the original Transformers, starting with the guest appearance from original Transformer Starscream, and culminating with the discovery of the Ark and the "guest appearances" of Optimus Prime and Megatron. The Beast Wars combined old and new, wonderful CGI with great voice talent and fun scripts. I was sad to see it end.

So then came the previews for Beast Machines. Sure, it was still animated by Mainframe, who did Beast Wars, so we knew it would look good. But what about the story? From the beginning there were questions. They were taking the surviving characters from Beast Wars and putting them in a new environment. This would be our first in-depth CGI look at Cybertron. I had no problem with this. We had done the "Beast Planet" thing, so a new setting was promising. Next was the idea of the mindless transformer drones, to provide "cannon fodder" as we hadn't seen before in the Transformers. No problem. New characters, new bodies for our survivors, this was all okay. We had grown accustomed to that in the Beast Wars. Most characters had changed appearance two or three times by the end of that series.

The problems I had were with the changes they made in the fundamentals of the mythos, and the characters. I don't remember much from previous series about the organic beginnings of Cybertron. Personally, I don't really see the point in them pushing it as the main element in this Beast Machines story arc. I would think they would have enough to do with a return to Cybertron, a new fight, new characters and such. Second, the characters change for the worse in my opinion. As established in Beast Wars, Optimus was rational, kind and a strong leader. Here he becomes angry, argumentative, and indecisive. Rattrap was a complainer in Beast Wars but not a coward or an idiot as he was in Beast Machines. It's only halfway through the series that he even figures out how to transform, something the others accomplish by episode 1 or 2! Cheetor becomes bull-headed and arrogant, a trait he was often scolded for in Beast Wars, but here he is rewarded and promoted for it. I understand that they probably wanted to show his progress to leadership, and bring in Nightscream as the new 'kid' of the team, but it still seems out of place. I guess what I'm saying is, the characters have all become kind of unpleasant and I don't really care about seeing any them succeed anymore. About the only one who is still 'in character' is Blackarachnia, who wisely spends much of the Beast Machines series following her own agenda away from the other Maximals. Megatron's obsession with eliminating the 'organic element' seemed odd to me since he was the one so obsessed with experimenting on organics in the Beast Wars. He cloned, he tampered, and he was awfully proud of the power of his newly acquired body each time he got one, half-organic or no. I don't understand the point of using established characters if you plan to change all of their personalities. Just create some new ones, at least the Beast Wars team had the respect to do that.

Having said my piece about the treatment of the surviving Beast Wars characters, let me say that I enjoyed the 3 Vehicons. This makes me think that the writers know how to write, they just don't know how to write the specific characters that carried over from before. The use of the Maximal personalities within the Vehicons lead to interesting speculation about who was who and what this would mean; but in the end, I hope we don't see that as an excuse to bury the characters of the Vehicons in favor of our "returning favorites." I would favor a story that finds a way to segregate the two sets of characters so they can live on their own.

All in all, although my review is very critical, I think there's a lot of potential here. The CGI is great. The voice actors are too and I'm glad that they didn't make any replacements, that they got the Beast Wars actors back to resume their roles. A lot of the visions of Cybertron are very chilling ... like somewhere between Blade Runner and Tron. Although there are characters I despise, I think they still have strong voices in Blackarachnia, Megatron, Rhinox-Tankorr, and I think Jetstorm is a hoot! I just hope they find a way to write their own ideas without just swiping a lot of stuff from the past and then bending the stories to fit their revisionist history. If season 2 is as good as the first I'll keep watching... but I think they can do better.

I am not going to bother saying its not that good compared to beast wars or how could they or why did the do that to the characters:optimous who as we all know is a strong great leader is know reduced to a appearingly disturbed guru or prophet that arguments a lot, and megatron who suddenly hates his organic side wants it gone and has gotten so obsessed with conquering cybertron that he his turned practically turned everyone ob cyberton friend and foe alike into mindless drones leaving just a few with free will such as jet-storm. not to mention rinoc's tittle tragedy all the other reviews have note. but I liked it and so did others and many fans of beast wars,G1 at least who try-ed to watch it. and why did we like it it was interesting still, the character development was bad and all,and was boring at times but it still had good action scenes and rough in a out of the blue kind of way it picked up and started a exciting final showdown between optimus and megatron of course the was a lackluster yet still good ending.

and of course we can understand the beast wars saga was a bit brutal the good guys and bad guys actually getting hit by gunfire,and misslefire compared to generation1 transformers,my cousin told me the shots from missiles and lazers missed a lot, I haven't seen G1 up until recently (thank you HUB channel even though its only show a late nights oddly). but I didn't notice much difference yet,but still giving it such a dark storyline just isn't right, Buuuuuuuutttttt all in all it was an OK show still 7/10

although not up to the bar of it's "transformers" elder, "Beast Machines" is still basiclly the same idea. they've landed on a strange planet, wheter or not it's Earth will still always be the mystery, and need to find a way to get home. But lo and behold the ever prominent villians in the plot some how manage to get stranded on the very same planet. well now they have to fix their ships, get enough crystal things , and fight each other doing it. i'm not saying this is bad, i enjoyed it very much, and i especially liked the beast asspect of the show, and the fact that it was computerized animation, i think, brought a sort of mobile freedom to the charecters and terrains, but overall i thought that this show was a good one.

Beast Machines is easily an animated TV series which proves that Transformers can be so much more than just entertainment and toy advertisements. This show is one of very few animated series that actually casts aside the more kid-friendly themes and embraces the darker and more intelligent aspects of storytelling.

This series tackles a good bit of philosophy with pseudo-religious undertones. It is not just a battle good vs evil, or of technology vs nature; that is just the surface and sadly that is all that people look at. Under that, there is the theme of "balance", sort of like yin/yang. A balance between cold hard logic and unpredictable primal emotion. One frequent complain by many was the whole "techno-organic concept and the concept of an organic Cybertron. I urge you not to take such concepts too literally. The very nature of "techno-organic" indicates a blending of Technology and nature. It is a metaphor for peaceful co-existence and not an actual literal concept(why do people take things too literally?). As the series moves along, we are shown the negative effects of swaying to either extreme end of the spectrum. Too much reliance on nature and emotion, without the focus of logic, makes one no better than a Neanderthal(as evidence by the Episode 5 "Forbidden Fruit"), savage and warlike. Now take that metaphor and apply it to the concept of "a once organic Cybertron". It makes perfect sense, if taken as a metaphor, in indicating Cybertron's long savage history of war. On the other hand, Sway the other way into cold amoral logic and one becomes nothing more than a mindless drone; Cybertron becomes a cold and foreboding place where individuality is crushed all for the sake of peace.

Metaphors abound in this series, challenging the audience to actually think deeper and not just take things at the literal face value.

Technology and Nature(embodied by Megatron's and Optimus' ideals) are metaphor for the very real-world issue of religious extremism. There is even a scene where Optimus tries to forcibly reformat an unwilling Megatron, similar to how some religious extremists would force someone into joining a cult.

Megatron and his vehicon drones are a metaphor for the amorality of technology. His goal is unity and peace, even if it has to be at the price of the individual selves. Throughout the series, the Maximals also turn technology to their own use, further advancing the theme that technology is not inherently bad, it only depends on who uses it.

These are just a few of the clever, thought provoking themes, so rare among animated series, that the producers decided to throw in.

Another complain was about the change of personalities in the main characters. Do know that the series starts off in the middle of the action with the Maximals already on the run from Vehicons, separated, locked in beast mode, and possessing no memory of what came before. Then the find out that their battles in pre-history was all in vain, and all that they believed in had been shattered.

Such traumatizing events are bound to change an individual and those changes make perfect realistic sense. Optimus had is faith in himself shattered by his humbling defeat, then turned to a new guiding light and principle, only to have that shattered also. RatTrap already had an inferiority complex in Beast Wars, and that is further compounded here by him being stuck in his tiny, non threatening beast mode and then discovering his ineffective combat mode. To see a once courageous warrior cowering in fear only adds to the sense of peril and the great level of threat that the vehicons present. Cheetor grows up, Black Arachnia finally finds her softer side etc. Overall, the good guys are not so "good" anymore. Their quirks and their flaws are more visible now but it all effectively makes them a lot more "human"(oh the irony) and adds to giving them a greater depth and dimension.

Oh and speaking of dimension, the 3D animation has take a huge jump in quality. A lot more detailed and fluid than its predecessors and possessing fully rendered shadows that add to the dramatic effect and the chilling new setting of a "ghost town" Cybertron. It actually holds up to the test of time and still look great even when compared to other more recent CGI in TV series like Transformers galaxy force. Voice acting carries on the high standards set in place in Beast Wars so no complains there.

The only thing that may put off some fans of Beast Wars is the lack of "fun". Beast wars balanced serious moments with more lighthearted comedic ones. Beast Machines however, is 26 episodes without a single laugh; Straight faced and serious all the way.

This is not a show for the kids, but one for fans of animation with the desire to see something more complex than just "good vs evil". The many underlying philosophical themes will keep the more learned ones busy with endless discussion while the casual viewer can still enjoy the serious tone, excellent animation, and intense action sequences.

Everyone remembers the cheesiness of the old Transformers. The honorable heroic good guys. The Mean powerhungry bad guys. It was one of the Transformer's trademarks of the original series (that and to sell toys). Thus it was Very Very suprising to find an entirely computer-generated cartoon on Saturday morning with a completely new Transformers premise: transformers no longer were cars and planes, but beasts. Even better were their writers who dispensed with the melodrama and came up with some really intricate plots, which kept you guessing. There =were a lot more action sequences in this series and they were always varied (not the standard Robot A shoots robot B with laser and misses). The one fault I think was that the action sequences always took up so much of the 24-26 minute episode that the plot advanced VERY slowly. I guess this is a compliment to the humor, drama, and suspense used in the series to make you want to tune in next week. A welcome surprise!

....I actually like this better than Beast Wars.

There,I said it.

To anyone out there who love Beast Wars as a child and wanted to see how their story continue,the follow-up,Beast Machines,gave us the opportunity to see their adventures unfold.

Beast Machines takes place after Beast Wars ended.The Maximals are returning home to Cybertron.However,when they get there,they discover they have reverted back to their original forms from Season 1 of Beast Wars,they can't transform,and they have no memory of why they are unable to do so.Not only that,but Rhinox and Silverbolt are no where to be found.Thankfully,Optimus is being assisted by the planet's computer,The Oracle,and they eventually find where she is residing.To help them transform and to prevent stasis lock(shutdown,basically),she gives them new techno-organic bodies(half beast/half mechanical),which means practicing a new form of transforming is required.Optimus,Cheetor,Rattrap,and Blackarachnia discover that Megatron actually managed to take over the entire planet and stole the Sparks from every single Transfomer and has store them away from Optimus and the others.He has also managed to utilize the Sparks of Waspinator,Rhinox,and Silverbolt and make them the generals of his drone armies:Jetstorm(Jet)-Silverbolt,Tankor(tank)-Rhinox,and Thrust(motorcycle)-Waspinator.The Maximals(along with Silverbolt(eagle),who returns in season two,Nightscream(bat,male),and Botancia(Venus Fly-Trap,female) must now save their friends and reclaim the planet.Optimus also discovers that Cybertron has an organic core and now he must find a way to restore life to Cybertron.

I like this series a lot more than Beast Wars,as I stated before.In fact,it may be my favorite series of all time.Why? It is so interesting.The characters have so much dimension,the storyline is fantastic,the action scenes rule,and the philosophical depth is so spectacular. It actually makes you think. Such a great series.You can find it on DVD. I really hope you enjoy it.It doesn't exactly fit into the continuity,but just think of it as a loose sequel to Beast Wars and you won't have a problem.

Now this is a rare thing and I love Transformers. I am a huge fan of the series the toys, the comic books the music, the video games I just am a huge fan.

However I know not everything about Transformers will always strike home runs and you could image my level of disappointment when it comes to Beast Machines.

Everything that could go wrong with this series does I mean what were they thinking with this?

First off the characters look terrible it was like they didn't care what happened to the characters fans loved and they pretty much look like scrap.

Also the story for the series got so confusing that I didn't even bother to keep up anymore, in fact this is the only Transformers Series I never finish.

Even the voice actors were disgusted by the series and some admitted to doing the show just to get a paycheck when you got your cast having a lack of faith in the series that's bad.

I mean the animation just look really disappointing it just really let me down to think that we get a Transformers series this bad and disappointing I didn't like the story line for the series nor the theme in fact I often wish this series wasn't created it just really disappointed me as a fan

I remember seeing pictures, and thinking, "eww." Quite literally, "eww." But watching everything in action was a sight. I loved the show's animation style. It somehow reminds me of traditional cel-style, and after watching two episodes (sadly I missed the first) and reading the official site FAQ concerning the transformations and the concepts for the show, I think it will make a fine addition to the Transformers series.

This show kicks ass!! This is WAY better than Beast Wars and easily better then the Transformer crap they make now, this series may actually be more enjoyable then the Original Transformers Movie, the CGI is NOT amazing however, it some parts it is good though, but they just concentrate on the main characters, the backgrounds all look like crap! But the story is bloody awesome!! If your even a small of the Transformers series you must get this asap! BUy it now! Don't download these guys deserve your money for making such an awesome show, and now its saying i have to mke it 10 lines even though most comments are more like 3 so its making me look like an idiot writing this just to fill it in... blah blh there we go

Just watched both seasons over two days. If you hate this show because it simply defies continuity here and there then I classify you as one of those utterly loopy extremist fan types.

I found this show to be a very exciting drama which really kept my attention captivated. Not once did I come across a moment in which I thought "Get on with it!". Powerful, emotional, dark, and most of all, very personal. A simply must watch, especially if you haven't seen Beast Wars. But if you have, go into this with an open mind; Try to view it as though Beast Wars never existed rather then expecting a direct continuation of it and you'll appreciate the strong writing.

The original show Transformers from 1984 is still the jewel of the franchise, and Beast Wars was the best Transformers series since it. Beast Machines is not without its merits but it's a disappointing follow-up. The animation is very good, richly textured and detailed, at times a little more refined in this regard than Beast Wars. The music underlines the drama beautifully, simple while never being simplistic, haunting while never being lifeless and beautiful while never being jarring in tone. The voice acting is also fine, Scott McNeil, Garry Chalk and David Kaye are the ones that stand out. The writing is lacking in focus and sophistication, often taking an overly-serious approach. There is occasionally attempts at slapstick but they fall flat. The stories have some good ideas that are rarely explained enough. They lack depth and soul as well, and the episodes later on in the show gets preachy which gives the feeling of a completely different show. The characters are nowhere near as interesting and their development is next to nil, Optimus Primal is too prophetic and the whole regret angle is out of character, Megatron comes across as downplayed and far too whiny, Silverbolt is an obnoxious jerk and Cheetor and Rattrap descend into dumbed-down stereotypes. Overall, not a terrible show but very disappointing. 4/10 Bethany Cox

Beast Machines: Transformers is the sequel to Beast Wars Transformers that lasted for two seasons, and it has been one of the franchise's less popular series. However, while it is not perfect, it is not actually as bad as people say.

For the story, the Maximals have made it back to Cybertron from prehistoric Earth, but Megatron has rose to power, releasing a virus on the planet and extracting sparks from the citizens, Optimus Primal, Cheetor, Rattrap, and Blackarachnia survive, but are degraded back to their original forms from the first season of Beast Wars thanks to said virus, and in the first episode, it has spread to the point where it is about to cause a permanent systems shutdown to the four. However, reformatted thanks to the Oracle, the Maximals must use their new form and powers if they plan to take out Megatron and his new army, the Vehicons.

Yeah, it had a good story, and the voice actors who were in Beast Wars returned to reprise their roles. The reason this is still hated by some is because of how the characters are portrayed. Basically, the characters act differently after being reformatted, with Optimus Prime going as far as to go off the deep end and fall into fanaticism during the first season, being anti-technology while Megatron, who has become more evil, being anti-organic, which causes the main monkeybot to destroy Cybertron, but season two manages to snap him out of his fanaticism, as the premiere has him see the error of his ways and to instead seek balance between the two, which redeems his character and sets him up to fulfill a destiny.

Also, other characters are said to be out of character, like Rattrap, who has been said to become cowardly, as his new robot form lacks weapons (as Fox Kids has forbidden the Maximals from using firearms), but later, he makes up for that by discovering However, there are some okay character changes, like Silverbolt, who, for the entire first season, is turned into the Vehicon general Jetstorm, who is considered the comic relief of the original three generals, but once he is turned back to Silverbolt (complete with a new technorganic body), we can see his time as Jetstorm has caused him to lose his way and seek revenge on Megatron. While it is kind of cliché, it is a good change from his goofy noble personality in the last series, and fits with Beast Machine's dark universe.

On the topic of character designs, some characters are a hit-or-miss. The Vehicons look good, with their futuristic vehicle forms and looking like actual robots in disguise (which is what Transformers is all about), but the Maximals... yikes. While their Beast forms are okay, the robots mode are another story, as they look more like humans than robots. Also, they introduce some new characters, like Nightscream, who I really hate because he is the whiny brat of the group, and Botanica, a Transformer who can turn into a plant as her crew was on a planet where they were the dominant life form, and Rattrap's love interest (which I found a good idea, since he needed some love).

The episodes are also a hit or miss as well. While the first season does have Optimus become a fanatic to elevate organics, he is fixed in season two by changing his goal to seek a technorganic balance for Cybertron. Also, the series does fill in the blanks for people who watched Beast Wars before both cartoons aired on Fox Kids, as it revealed what happened to the others who escaped with the four (something that would confuse newcomers), and it even keeps in continuity with the events of Beast Wars, as some episodes have flashbacks to the series.

So while Beast Machines is not perfect and does not live up to its predecessor, Beast Wars, it is not that bad a show. While it had some horrible new additions and the first season had Optimus Primal become a fanatic, it still had a good story, and the Vehicons are a good bad guy that pose a serious threat. It is worth checking out a few episodes to see if it will catch your interest.

While the show is a suitable follow-up to the Beast Wars series, it is not without some problems. However, if you are a fan of Beast Wars, you may like Beast Machines equally so. The thing to keep in mind is that the characters from Beast Wars that were carried over are in a new environment and facing new challenges. Along with some nice G1 references, Beast Machines is a fine program and does not deserve the amount of flack it receives. At least, in my opinion.

This is what happens when writers stop caring they mess up a good thing.BEAST WARS ruled when the predicons and the maximals transformed they actully transformed now they morph.The story lines lack originality and soul.When continuing a saga you have to be true to you and to your viewers sometimes it pays to listen to yourself not some corporate yes man.Beast Machines is a musn't see.

"Beast Machines" puts the remaining maximals - Optimus, Rattrap, Cheetor and Black Arachnia - back on their home planet Cybertron after the ending of "Beast Wars". Unfortunately, they wake up and find themselves with no memory, in their original forms (the very first ones from the first season of Beast Wars) and being pursued by fierce robotic drones. They find out that their nemesis, Megatron, escaped en route to Cybertron and conquered it before they could arrive. After escaping the drones they find "The Oracle" of Cybertron and are transformed into more organic transformers, who fight Megatron and his new team of henchmen - Jetstorm, Thrust, Tankorr, Obsidian and Strika.

There are quite a few mysteries at the start of the series, including how Megatron managed to conquer Cybertron and the true identities of the main villains henchmen. It is pretty exciting at times, especially with the introduction of character Noble at the start of the second (and last) season. I wont give away anything, just watch the show!

Of course, there are many faults that make "Beast Machines" not as good as "Beast Wars". First, it turns into a weird new agey, environmentalist show about three quarters the way through, because Optimus finds out that the planet's core has always been organic rather than metalich, so the maximals start fighting to bring plants and fluffy animals back. Also, Megatron often whines about how he wants to leave his organic form (a huge metal dragon) because instead he wants to be pure metalich. I have no idea why the writers put this development in, because in "Beast Wars" Megatron never complained once, and actually loved his dragon form. He basically becomes a metaphor for the evil logging corporation that's chopping down precious trees. And the introduction of Nightscream's naive character (a bat) takes away from Cheetor's conflict with Optimus for the same reason.

All in all, "Beast Machines" is a good show, but not a match for "Beast Wars", 7/10.

No one has lied to anyone. No one morphs. Granted it's not a traditional transformation, but there's still enough moving parts and pieces for it to not be a strait morph. And if you're going to let this one minor thing make your decision about whether you like or dislike the show then you have no business watching it IMO.

"Beast Machines: Transformers" was a good sequel to the popular "Beast Wars". I didn't see all of the episodes of this show, but from what I saw I really think this was a good show. The graphics were extremely cool and the characters are still original.

From what I saw my favorite episodes were: "Endgame (1): The Downward Spiral", "Endgame (2): When Legends Fall", "Revelations (1): Discovery", and "In Darkest Knight".

From what I remember I really enjoyed this show and if it ever returns to T.V. I would surely watch it. I suggest that anyone who is a fan of "Transformers" or "Beast Wars" to watch it. I give this 8/10 stars.

i just saw the first episode and let me say i was very impressed with it.it was very interesting the way the characters now have to learn HOW to transform as compared to when they could just easily transform at will.this series could be a ratings blockbuster for sat. mornings

Beast Machines is a excellent follow up to Beast Wars. The CGI is great, the characters are better than ever, and the stories are very good. Beast Machines is not better than Beast Wars. Not by a long shot. But it is still a very cool and very awesome program.