Submitted by joalr0 t3_zannis in television
I'm going to drop the link right here, right at the top, and then tell you why you should click it.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_hfDtD68l8V8MXCfBd1JZCN5GyfxChPT
So yesterday, Transformers: Rise of the Beast trailer dropped. Now, the Transformers movies have had a... spotty history. I have no idea if Rise of the Beasts will be more like Bumblebee, or more like Age of Extintion. But what I do know is that this is going to be the first time we see characters from Beast Wars in live action, and I am not giving up this opportunity to make everyone realize one, very important fact.
Beast Wars is good. Really, really good.
So, some background:
Beast Wars is a sequel to the original Transformers show, as well as one of the first CGI TV series ever. It takes place in the same universe, many years after the last season of Transformers from the 80s. The war between the Autobots and Decepticons ended, and an era of peace began. It lasted for so long that the Autobots and Decepticons themselves transformed into new factions: The Maximals and the Predacons. (While not discussed in the show, this event is known as "The great upgrade", which made the robots more energy efficient, as well as allowing them to adopt realistic animal forms, instead of cars).
This serves as the backdrop to the start of Beast Wars, where we see that long-lasting peace get disrupted by a band of renegades Predacons who stole a golden disk, and a team of Maximal explorers are ordered to intercept them. Cue the opening shot of the show.
The series begins a little weak. While it does set up some interesting mysteries early on, it also forces you to sit through some pretty clunky dialogue that makes it very clear you are watching a kids show.
But just wait. It continuously gets better throughout the first 6 episodes. Then it becomes pretty good. By the end of season 1, it's very good.
Season 2, though, is a masterpiece. Season 2 is the reason everyone needs to watch this show. It has a brilliant science fiction story to tell, with incredible, deep story arcs that explores the very concept of what it means to be a hero.
I really don't want to say too much more, because it really is worth going through this story for yourself. The link above is not only the entire series, but an AI generated upscaled version. It helps overcome the fact the show IS nearly 30 years old at this point, which is a lot for CGI effects. However, the dialogue, the characters, and the plotline is timeless. In nearly every other way beyond the animation, it has aged beautifully.
It deserves to be remembered in the same vein as Batman: The Animated Series or Avatar: The Last Airbender. It's truly that good.
(And since I KNOW I'm going to be asked this... here is the AI upscaled version of ReBoot as well)