DVD Review: Transformers The First Season (25th Anniversary Edition)

Long before the likes of Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox were muttered in the same sentence as ‘Transformers‘, kids all across the world were enamored with the Generation 1 (or G1) series of the transforming robots. And just like me, many kids spent a good part of the 1980s wishing they could be a robot in disguise. Now, you can relive those times with today’s DVD release of the animated series that started it all.

That’s right, you can now buy The Transformers: The Complete First Season 25th Anniversary Edition. But this isn’t the first time that Transformers has been on DVD. If you were smart enough to purchase it when the Collector’s Edition was released by Rhino in 2002, you would’ve had these episodes before they went out of print.

You’re probably familiar with the story: The Autobots and Decepticons were warring groups of robots that left their home planet of Cybertron in search of a new energy source. They crash landed on Earth and were rendered unconscious for 4 million years. After they’re awaken from their sleep, they continue their war on Earth mixing in with the human race and ‘transforming’ into common Earth vehicles.

Compared to later seasons, the first season of the show is admittedly a little rough around the edges. The Decepticons schemes were far more simplistic than they would eventually become. Technically speaking, there are a number of audio and visual goofs with some robots being the wrong color (Starscream being the color of his brother jets Skywarp and Thundercracker) and voice overs being used for the wrong characters.

But this season still set the stage for one of the most beloved of cartoons. And it does finish strong as Hasbro started introducing even more characters, with cooler transformations. Skyfire/Jetfire, The Insecticons, the Dinobots and the Constructicons. Not that Optimus Prime and Megatron weren’t enough, but the introduction of new transformers always made me feel all tingly inside.

The release comes in a 2 disc set and includes the following bonus features:
•    Restored To The Original Broadcast Versions With A New Stereo Soundtrack Created From The Original Audio
•    Triple Changer: From Toy To Comic To Screen – The Origins Of The Transformers
•    A Printable Script
•    Rare PSA

If you never bought the show on DVD, this is a must own.