Stubs – The Transformers: The Movie (1986) (Second Opinion)

The Transformers: The Movie (1986) Starring: Eric Idle, Judd Nelson, Leonard Nimoy, Robert Stack, Lionel Stander, Orson Welles, John Moschita, Jr., Peter Cullen and Frank Welker. Narrated by Victor Carroll. Directed by Nelson Shin. Screenplay by Ron Friedman, based on Transformers by Hasbro. Music by Vince DiCola. Produced by Joe Bascal and Tom Griffith. Run Time: 84 minutes. U.S. Animated, Sci Fi, Fantasy.

Today being the 26^th anniversary of the release of The Transformers: The Movie is excuse enough to watch this animated feature again. While I’m old enough to have seen this movie when it was first released, I did not see it in initial release. And while I have seen this in a repertoire theater, my review is based on watching this on DVD this morning.

My experience with Transformers has been mostly limited to the three Michael Bay films, the first season of the original series and the current and excellent Prime and Rescue Bots incarnations on television. And I will admit that I have enjoyed most of my exposure to the Transformers universe. And I have come to this film wanting to like it.

To begin with, there is a lot of interesting stunt voice casting; none bigger than Orson Welles as the planet-sized villain Unicron (insert your own joke here). While I’m sure this was considered quite a coup at the time, it is somewhat sad to know that this was Welles’s last role. The boy genius who had arrived in Hollywood four decades earlier had burned through all his goodwill and talent by this point in his career and this is a rather sad way for him to go out. Even then, his voice is somewhat over synthesized to the point that it’s almost unrecognizable.

The stunt casting doesn’t stop with Welles. Eric Idle, of Monty Python and Rutles fame, plays Wreck-Gar and Leonard Nimoy, best known at this point in his career as Mr. Spock from the original Star Trek series, plays Galvatron, the leader of the Decepticons after Megatron (Frank Welker) is neutralized by Unicron. Robert Stack, from The Untouchables TV series and Airplane!, plays Ultra Magnus, the leader of the Autobots after Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) is killed.

Let me say that if you’re not aware, Optimus Prime is killed in The Transformers: The Movie. And that’s sort of like killing off Groucho Marx in a Marx Brothers movie. That would be the last thing you’d want to do; kill off your best known character. But in its desire to sell new toys, Hasbro made the decision that Optimus Prime’s time had come and gone. After two seasons of the TV series that predated this movie, Optimus wasn’t to return until late in Season 3, which followed it, and then as a zombie.

Fast forward to the recent films and TV series (not to mention toy store shelves) and you can see that Hasbro has since come around and considers Optimus Prime (and Peter Cullen’s voice) are essential to the Transformers experience. The main struggle in the Transformers universe needs to be between Optimus (and the Autobots) and Megatron (and the Decepticons); Cullen and Welker. Optimus Prime is more than just a toy to many Transformers devotees.

Produced quickly and with a small budget, especially by today’s standards, The Transformers looks like a cross between Yellow Submarine and Heavy Metal. The coloring choices are interesting and daring, but sometimes off putting. Some of the new characters Hasbro was trying to introduce for its new toy line, like the Quintesson and the Sharkticons, don’t look like they would really work as toys, especially Transformers toys.

Any movie with this much killing in it would need some moments of levity to break the tension, but the sequence played against “Weird Al” Yankovic seems to almost be too much for this movie, almost like a beach party breaking out in the middle of a World War II film. It’s cute, but maybe too much.

And like the Michael Bay films, the humans, specifically anyone with the last name Witwicky, are the weak link and their presence seem to weigh the movie down. While they were holdovers from the TV series, they are not needed to tell the story and serve only to give us a human to root for.

On its own, The Transformers: The Movie is an interesting, but ultimately unfulfilling ride. Too many characters synonymous with the franchise are limited or dumped all together from the movie. And judging from the fact that the movie did not recoup its budget when first released, that feeling must have been shared at the time. However, if you like the Transformers universe, this first full length adventure is a necessary stop.

[OLD] The Transformers: The Movie - It Still Has The Touch

This film has been re-reviewed. Read it here: https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2016/08/second-look-transformers-movie-1986.html

As I have stated before, I am a big Transformers fan, having collected and learned more about the franchise for most of my life. I wasn't there from the beginning, but my first exposure to the brand was an animated series in the early 2000's called Transformers: Robots in Disguise (RID). I was so excited by this series that I began asking my parents for the toys at many an opportunity. During one trip to Amoeba Records in Hollywood, I saw a DVD called The Transformers: The Movie, and managed to obtain it. When I saw it for the first time, I didn't fully understand what was happening, but I was certainly amazed by it. It was definitely different from what I had seen on TV at the time, but it was also my first exposure to the idea that the Transformers franchise had existed before I was even born, and that another series, Beast Wars (followed by Beast Machines), also existed shortly before RID. Since then I have seen the franchise in the US grow into what it is now, and it remains a part of my life to this day. If RID is what got me into Transformers, then the animated movie from 1986 cemented it.

So you may be asking, why am I reviewing The Transformers: The Movie now when I could have done it at any other point in this blog's lifespan? Well, as it turns out, today happens to be the 26th anniversary of this movie hitting theaters for the first time (if my sources are accurate). Now, since the first time I've seen this movie, I have seen episodes of the original cartoon via old VHS releases and, more recently, a Shout! Factory DVD box set (the Matrix of Leadership Edition), so I have some knowledge of the continuity this movie takes place in. However, since I was not around in the 80's, I will be talking about the movie from a more modern perspective, with minimal references to the cartoon so I can discuss it on its own merits while attempting to maintain an 80's mindset. With introductions out of the way, let's get started.

In the then-futuristic year of 2005, the war between the Autobots and Decepticons still rages on. After Laserbeak receives some intel on the Autobots, Megatron initiates an attack on them, starting with an Autobot vessel. Once the vessel reaches Earth, it is discovered that the Decepticons have taken over as Megatron orders an attack on Autobot City. After much opposition, Optimus Prime confronts the Decepticon leader, hoping to end the conflict once and for all. Meanwhile, a mysterious planet known as Unicron has been devouring other planets in its way, and the Transformers' home planet of Cybertron is its next course.

The plot of this movie has more of an impact (and makes more sense) if you have some knowledge of the first two seasons of The Transformers cartoon series, but on its own it still tells an interesting story. It has plenty of dramatic moments in it to keep the viewer invested, including a number of plot points that leave a big impact on the events (and the franchise as a whole), but there are still a few lighthearted moments to help ease the tension. In any case, the air may be thick, but no matter what happens you want to see the Autobots pull through in the end.

On the technical side of things, this movie features some of the best 80's animation I have ever seen, especially in regards to the Transformers series on which it is based. Thanks to its bigger budget, the robot characters are much more fluid in their movements and most everything is given an impressive amount of detail, made even more awe-inspiring on a big screen. However, being an animated film, there are still some animation errors here and there, but that doesn't stop it from being any less admirable.

This movie also features an amazing voice cast, with voice actors from the original cartoon reprising their roles amongst big names such as Eric Idle of Monty Python fame, Leonard Nimoy from Star Trek, John Moschitta (the World's Fastest Talking Man), and, perhaps most famously, Orson Welles in his final film role ever as Unicron before his death. Everyone manages to pull off a good performance, especially those who have had more experience with their characters, and you really get a feel for what everyone's personalities are like. Overall, there isn't really anything bad that I can say about the voice acting.

Even more amazing is the background music. The soundtrack is filled with some truly epic sounds, including songs from the likes of Stan Bush (best known for The Touch), Lion, NRG, Spectre General (aka Kick Axe), and even one from "Weird Al" Yankovic. When there isn't a song being played from one of these artists, Vince DiCola's score perfectly sets the tone of a scene, including plenty of action scenes among the more emotionally heavy ones. The soundtrack is a delight to listen to on its own, as I have seen for myself with the CD release, and I can say that once you own a copy, you will not be disappointed. (The soundtrack can also be found on vinyl and cassette formats.)

While there are a lot of positives about this movie, there is one thing that deserves mention: all the Autobot and Decepticon deaths. You see, at the time the movie was released, Hasbro was trying to promote a brand new wave of Transformers toys to replace the ones already on the shelf that were advertised seen in the first two seasons of the cartoon. As a way to do this, the first half hour or so of the movie is really intense as it is filled with Autobots being killed off by the Decepticons, some of whom are given new bodies and identities, with at least one death on their side as well, making these scenes especially shocking at the time to those who grew up with these characters.

But one of, if not the, most memorable of these moments has to be the death of Optimus Prime. Among all the casualties on the Autobot side, Optimus Prime's has the most focus and is, as a result, one of the heaviest emotional scenes in the movie, made even more so by Vince DiCola's music for it. From my experience with the movie, it didn't mean too much to me the first several times I watched it because I hadn't seen that much of the cartoon before. However, thanks to the Shout! Factory release, I was able to get to know this version of Optimus more as a character, and as result, I was actually close to tears during my last couple of viewings. It's a very heavy scene that, once you get to know the character, is very unforgettable.

After all this time, I believe that The Transformers: The Movie has stood the test of time. Is it one of the greatest movies ever made? No. Is it a feature-length advertisement? Absolutely. However, it does represent the highest point of quality in 80's Transformers animation, and it tells a pretty good story on its own even if you're not too familiar with the original cartoon. After seeing this movie several times in all the years that I've possessed it, it is one that I never grow tired of seeing, especially because of all the positive attributes of it. If you are a Transformers collector, this movie is a must-have for your collection.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Aan Lot Tey Do Ahkrin Ahrk Faal Suleyk Do Geinmaar

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a game that has been out for about nine months now since its initial release on 11/11/11. I then received it as a Christmas present, but had not even played it until about three or four days before San Diego Comic-Con International 2012, at which point I temporarily stopped playing and then picked it back up as soon as I came back. My time not playing this game has been due to a combination of my college life as well as playing the games and watching the movies needed for the reviews that were posted on this blog throughout 2012 so far (you can view the exact volume to the right if you don't trust me). I have more than made up for my lack of play time however by playing whenever I could for three to four weeks, committing a total of 88 hours and 28 minutes (aka ~88.5 "man hours"). For further evidence, look no further than my beard, grown and cultivated to represent my dedication to this masterpiece.

Now I can say "I've played Skyrim for this long."

And now with my apologies out of the way, I'd like to officially open with a more proper introduction. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is the fifth entry in the popular Elder Scrolls RPG franchise by Bethesda. While I was never really that interested in the Elder Scrolls franchise to begin with, I was able to witness the initial hype surrounding the release of Skyrim, with a beautifully rendered teaser featuring living stone to tell only a mere portion of the tale the player would be able to live through. While admittedly I tried as hard as I could to avoid getting swept into the craze that would follow, the huge amount of hype generated by the internet, including the infamous "arrow in the knee" "jokes", and the fact that my friends liked it got me to get a copy of my own, which I finally got around to playing. Now that I've played it for so long, I understand why it has received universal acclaim.

The story, for those who are unfamiliar, is thus: You are the Dovahkiin, the dragonborn, someone who only turns up once in a lifetime. At the same time, Dragons, once thought to be extinct, have returned to Tamriel to wreak havoc on the land. They are led by the dragon god Alduin, who seeks to destroy the Empire in Skyrim and claim rule once more over the Nords. It is now up to you to harness the power of The Voice to strengthen your Thu'um, your shout, and defeat Alduin to restore peace in the world.

Being the kind of game that this is, that of the open world variety, it's hard to determine where to begin beyond this premise. In this case, it's probably best to begin with the gameplay, and boy is there plenty to talk about here.

The land of Skyrim is massive, riddled with enough places to go and things to keep you busy for a very long time. Thankfully, getting to these areas where you can do something isn't too much of a hassle, provided you know what you are doing. When going somewhere for the first time, you'll need to hoof it, which sounds like a pain at first until you actually begin your trek through the mountains and wilderness. The innumerable amount of locations you can discover along the way can really ease the travel time, providing you with places to go later on when somewhere you are required to go happens to be nearby. A great complimentary feature that helps make this work is the ability to fast travel, which means that, as long as you are outside, you can instantly go anywhere you have already been once, severely reducing the amount of walking needed. It is also possible to travel by horseback, which while allowing you to go slightly faster and up steeper inclines, can only be acquired, as far as I know, from either paying a pretty penny or stealing one from someone. In any case, you are actually better off walking in the long run, since a horse can be difficult to control at times.

No matter how you decide to go about your journey, you're bound to run into an enemy sooner or later. There are numerous groups that they may fall under, with such types as Giants, Trolls, Frostbite Spiders, Drauger, Dwemer Machines and more; these are just a couple I can name off the top of my head, but the sheer variety is actually exciting to discover, each type having many sub-types appropriate to their location. Sometimes their strength is on par with your level, with higher level variants spawning in place of their lower level counterparts to give you more of a challenge. What's more, they are all creative in their design and are rendered in stunning detail so that their appearance may match the visual their name may conjure up. With a very good spawn rate in the many dungeons and fairly balanced attack and defense ratings and abilities, I relished every victory and every death felt like my own fault in some way.

Of course, when you get involved in an encounter with one of these enemies, you'll need some of way of fending them off or, perhaps more desirably, killing them. It is through the excellent combat system that this task can be fulfilled, with multiple gameplay systems that help suit your personal play style. First off, the weapons are all interesting, with many different types to choose from, be they one or two-handed. The material that these are crafted or forged from may influence their weight, though it is up to you to decide if the damage output is worth taking up more of your maximum carry weight.

If physical attacks aren't your style, then you can opt to cast magic instead. There are a few disciplines of magic, including Illusion, Conjuration and Destruction (though there are a few more). Magic uses up some of your Magicka gauge depending on whether it's a single burst or a continuous use. You can learn additional spells by collecting and reading spell books scattered throughout the world, allowing more depth in the discipline(s) you choose to follow. It's also possible to temporarily use a spell you haven't learned yet by activating a magic scroll and using it from the spell menu to cast it. I personally used Destruction the most, which seems to have elemental magic, with a hint of Restoration for healing and Conjuration to summon forth a follower, although my play style didn't really involve heavy use of magic. Still, it's good to know that there are many options for magic-heavy players.

What makes combat more interesting however is the ability to dual-wield, meaning you can have something different in each of your hands. Since this applies to both magic and weapons, it's entirely possible to hold a one-handed weapon or shield in one hand and cast a spell in the other or have some combination of weapons, shields and spells in use at once. A two-handed weapon can also take up both slots, suiting my play style as a "human tank" (or Nord in this case), but this only further shows the great amount of depth dual-wielding allows. Sometimes it's fun to experiment with this and see the kinds of things you can do, such as dual-casting Flames to produce a Kamehameha style animation. The fact that combat on consoles uses the shoulder buttons makes it even easier to pull these things off.

If you're engaged in battle with a Dragon however, or if your in a situation where you need just a little more power than you already have, then you can utilize your Thu'um to perform a shout. These shouts come in many different flavors, including the internet popular Unrelenting Force shout (Fus Ro Dah) which has the power to stun or throw enemies, as well as other shouts with the ability to summon a lighting storm, set enemies on fire, slow time to a crawl, eliminate nasty weather and more. To gain a shout, you must first learn at least one of the three words associated with it, usually from a word wall in an area or dungeon, and then unlock each individual word in the shout with a dragon soul, obtained by killing a dragon and using your passive ability as the Dovahkiin to absorb their power. Shouts also have a cool down time, meaning that you'll need to wait a little while between shouts, the exact length of which is dependent on how many words in the shout you used by holding down the shout button. Shouting adds a bit more depth to the combat and grants the player a great sense of power as well an advantage on the battlefield. It is an essential skill that I simply could not do without and I actually enjoyed finding each word, sometimes even the need to fight for my life to get to it.

Your travels through Skyrim will also get you involved in several side quests of varying objectives. Usually it requires you to fetch something, but you may also be tasked with delivering items or letters across vast distances, which can sometimes give you a sense of the world around you and just how the inhabitants go about their day-to-day lives. Completing these quests can grant you valuable rewards like gold or other items for your inventory, but perhaps the most invaluable is the insight into the game world. In any case, performing side quests remains a way to get what you need and offer experience in many ways. Also, the radiant quests and ones with random objectives heavily contribute to the game's replay value (I again direct you to my beard).

I hate camera flash, don't you?

The two biggest quests however are those that affect the game the hardest, which are the Main Questline and  the Civil War Questline (sort of like "Main Quest part two"). Both are excellently written, with great character development that reveals the hidden depths of some of the most important NPCs in the game. The stories unfold in ways unimaginable, with the main quest's mysticism and exciting mysteries climaxing in a truly epic fashion that I haven't seen in gaming before. In Skyrim's civil war, while you can postpone it a long time, you are forced to pick between supporting the Empire's Imperials or the Stormcloak Rebellion (I picked the latter). Both have their own reasons for fighting, the Imperials wanting order and the Stormcloaks wanting their basic freedoms, and it is truly fascinating to learn about how each side functions and see how conflicting personalities collide. With engaging plots and spectacular endings, it makes playing through both campaigns absolutely worth it in the end.

In terms of sound, Skyrim has very good voice acting that matches the characters perfectly, but what really steals the experience is the score. With various pieces that match the situation very well and accentuate the right tone in combat or when just walking around, it provides the perfect soundtrack to your adventure and gives you the right feeling, whether it's the taste of victory or that you're in for a heck of a fight. On top of this, the main menu music, which also comes up sometimes when you fight dragons, is one of the most awesomely epic pieces of music I've ever heard in my entire life.

Graphically speaking, this game is simply beautiful. As I stated before, the character models are rendered with intricate detail that is amazing to look at, but the environments themselves are absolutely breathtaking. With a gradual and, as far as I know, realistic transition from a grassy area to a snowy mountain range coupled with dynamic weather, I couldn't help but be in awe at each new sight. The best example of this for me would be the 7,000 steps that lead up the side of a mountain to High Hrothgar. For me it achieved the feeling that long journeys like that would actually have been designed for: I felt a sense of peace in the real world and I was able to think more about the journey itself as a form of meditation; quite a feat if you ask me.

Now, while the game is very well designed, there's one thing that all of the good things can't quite overcome: glitches. If there's one thing this game is known for it would definitely be the glitches. I once killed a dragon and half of its body sunk into the ground, I've had enemies disappear through the game world never to be seen again, I've had a necessary quest dialogue be invisible and I've even faced a couple of lockups that caused me to reset my system. Despite the fact that I've been playing the PS3 version with all of the patches up to 1.5 installed (so the infamous lag problem never occurred), there are still glitches abound. I've seen what these patches are supposed to do and while some of the fixes add things that feel like they should have been in the game to begin with, including extra kill cams and combat on horseback, it's a little heartbreaking to know that such an amazing game can be held back by so many technical glitches that should have been ironed out before release, though I have a theory that they really needed to make the 11/11/11 deadline and decided they could fix it all later. It is for this reason that I don't think I can consider it a classic in a few years time, unlike games such as the absolutely perfect Batman: Arkham City, unless all of its patches and future DLC are compiled into a special edition disk down the road.

Another thing that I'd like to bring up is that throughout my playthrough, I couldn't help but feel similarities to Fallout 3, another game from Bethesda, due my lack of experience with the studio's titles. Differences from Fallout 3 however include the fact that weapons and armor don't deteriorate over time and thus don't require repairs; experience is gained not from killing enemies, discovering locations or completing quests, but rather from leveling up your various skills by performing actions related to their discipline; your health, magicka and stamina bars regenerate over time; perks are specific to improving different skills rather than your overall performance. The similarities however included the follower system and limited carry weight, as well as fast travelling and just the overall feeling that I had done it before. This isn't bad though, since I really liked Fallout 3 and considered this game to be a major improvement on its systems.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a game worth playing. While riddled with glitches, it also plays host to one of the most intriguing storylines I have ever experienced and a very dynamic and awe-inspiring world. Fans of Bethesda games or those who are wondering if Skyrim is worth playing should definitely try this out. If you haven't played it yet, then perhaps the number of patches released has created a very good opportunity to give it a go, as it's a game you'll have a hard time wanting to put down. If you still need something to push you toward this game, then consider that you can literally kill dragons just by shouting (and you can even have a beard!).

And if you don't shave for a month, you too can have one.

For those of you wondering, the subtitle of this review is in Dragon Language from the game. It translates to: "A great tale of courage and the power of oneself."

[OLD] Transformers: War for Cybertron

This game has been re-reviewed. Read it here: https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2020/06/second-look-transformers-war-for.html

Transformers is a highly popular franchise that has been going on continuously for almost 30 years, so naturally a number of video games have been made based off of it. The success of these games has been mixed overall, from downright terrible to okay at the very least. In 2010, High Moon Studios, a developer previously known for the games Darkwatch and The Bourne Conspiracy, released Transformers: War for Cybertron, considered by many to be the best Transformers game ever made. This month, the company will put out a follow-up game, Transformers: Fall of Cybertron. While I have played War for Cybertron before, I decided to play it again in anticipation for the sequel, and it's still as good as I remember it.

Throughout the many iterations of Transformers lore one aspect that has been prevalent is an event called The Great War, a civil war between the Autobots and Decepticons lasting for eons on the planet Cybertron prior to their arrival on Earth. In this version, Megatron leads the Decepticons on a mission to take Zeta Prime, then-current Autobot leader, offline and infect the very core of the planet with Dark Energon in order to make it his own. In response to this, an Autobot named Optimus leads a resistance in order to return Cybertron to its former glory. The finer details of the plot have some intriguing character development and twists, in addition to a great number of callbacks to the original 1980's cartoon, known as Generation 1.

Speaking of which, this brings up my thoughts on how this game relates to the Transformers franchise. In order to tie in with the newest iteration of the brand, Transformers: Prime (which I highly recommend), Hasbro has officially stated that this game takes place before the events of the show as part of the current continuity. However, the aforementioned callbacks seem to suggest that War for Cybertron was made with the Generation 1 cartoon in mind. For instance, the characters Rumble and Frenzy are blue and red respectively, much like the original cartoon (contrasting most other depictions where they are red and blue respectively). Other things that seem to enforce this are the visual aesthetic and the voice acting, both of which I will expand upon later.

What I like about the story is not only what’s being told, but also the way it is told. Usually in a Transformers game that has an Autobot and Decepticon campaign, the two stories share similar elements but go in completely different directions. However, High Moon has taken a more interesting approach in that, while there are still two campaigns, the Decepticon portion of the story takes place before the Autobot half, forming a more complete and seamless plot. This approach is improved upon in High Moon’s videogame prequel to Dark of the Moon.

While I don’t have much experience with third-person shooters, I enjoyed the gameplay of War for Cybertron. Before each chapter of the campaign, you are given a choice between 3 different Autobots or Decepticons to play as (depending on the chapter), each with their own set of abilities that can change your combat experience (and sometimes, by extension, what you experience during the narrative). Each character has two special abilities, each tied to a shoulder button on the controller; the one on the left can regenerate immediately, with abilities such as levitation or dashing quickly, while the one on the right, ranging from powering up allies to unleashing a deadly shockwave or siphoning enemy health, requires Energon Shards from fallen enemies in order to recharge.

You are also given a long-range weapon to match the character that you want to play as for that chapter. You are able to hold up to 2 of these weapons, excluding grenades, both of which can switched out at any point you find another one, some of which can be real life savers on the battlefield. Ammo and health are also plentiful at times, and when you get up close to an enemy, clicking the right analog stick will bring up a close-range weapon that can do the job (in the right circumstances of course).

Of course, what’s a Transformers game without the ability to transform? Thankfully, this is made easy by simply clicking the left analog stick, which frees up the rest of the controller for other actions. The transformation itself is a smooth transition between robot and vehicle form that is really fun to watch. The robot models also have some parts on them that organically move on their own, which may end up becoming a slight distraction when not engaged in battle.

On that topic, the visuals of War for Cybertron are amazing, especially in the designs of the robots. Aside from the aforementioned moving parts, the robot designs take several design cues from Generation 1, another thing that seems to tie the game to that continuity, while still looking fairly unique on their own.  Cybertron itself also looks rather impressive, though admittedly it could’ve used somewhat of a larger color palette. In any case, everything manages to stand out pretty well, especially the more brightly-colored robots, despite the fact that the game overall looks a little dark.

Praise also goes to the sound design of the game. All the proper mechanical sounds are the right places, including the iconic transformation sound, and the background music is simply amazing. During especially intense moments, the music can go from setting the basic tone to a guitar-heavy metal sound and even an epic drum solo. The voice acting also deserves special mention, including such names as Steve Blum, Nolan North, Liam O’Brien (Asura in Asura’s Wrath), and Peter Cullen (reprising his role as Optimus Prime) among others, all doing a fantastic job with their characters. Most of the characters that appear, with some exceptions, sound fairly close to their Generation 1 counterparts to good effect. Steve Blum also does a good job as the narrator setting up each chapter, seeming to channel Victor Caroli, narrator of the original cartoon, as he does so.

During my last experience with this game, I ran into a couple technical issues that ended up being mildly hilarious. At one point during the Decepticon campaign, if you decide to remain idle during a conversation on what happens next, there is a good chance that, if you’re not playing as him, Soundwave will inexplicably start floating upward until he hits the ceiling, only to go back to being grounded when you keep the plot moving. There was also a point in the same campaign where, during my first battle with a Destroyer, the giant enemy seemed to magically levitate off the ground, acting as if it’s standing on a flat surface, until it, like Soundwave, went back to being grounded as it went through its death animation.

However, there were also a couple technical problems I found that, while relatively minor, brought down the experience a little. There are some moments in the game where you have to wait for the textures to load completely, and not even the cutscenes are safe as this happens. It even got to where, during the Autobot campaign, as I got to the end of a corridor, the walls on either side of it just suddenly popped up out of nowhere, leaving me very confused for a moment. There was also another moment in the Autobot campaign where, during the flying section, the sound went out after I respawned, leaving me with nothing to work with but the rumble feature of the controller. Thankfully, this problem never repeated once I respawned again.

Transformers: War for Cybertron is perhaps one of the best Transformers games ever created. It has a great plot, the sound work is amazing, and transforming feels like a natural process during play. It may be somewhat buggy, but if someone was looking for a good Transformers gaming experience, I would not hesitate to direct them to this game. As a Transformers fan, I had a blast while playing, and I’m sure that other fans who have not played it yet will enjoy it much the same way.

Now I’m looking forward even more to High Moon’s next Transformers game, Fall of Cybertron.

Stubs - Total Recall (1990)

TOTAL RECALL (1990) Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rachel Ticotin, Sharon Stone, Michael Ironside and Ronny Cox. Directed by Paul Verhoeven. Screenplay by Ronald Shusett, Dan O’Bannon, Gary Goldman. Based on story by Philip K. Dick. Music by Jerry Goldsmith. Produced by Mario Kassar and Andrew G. Vajna. Run Time: 113. Color. U.S. Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Fantasy.

As with any Hollywood summer, 2012 has its fair share of remakes, sequels and reboots. The latest in this is a remake of Total Recall, starring Colin Farrell. While I’m not planning on seeing this remake, I did think it would be an opportunity to take a second look at the original.

Prior to being Governor of California and fathering kids with the family maid, Arnold Schwarzenegger was a body-builder turned actor. A savvy businessman, Schwarzenegger built his muscles into becoming one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. By 1990, Schwarzenegger was big enough to demand and receive $10,000,000 and 15% of the gross, as well as approval over the production team, screenplay, cast and promotion for his part in Total Recall.

I remember at the time I saw this in a theater that I liked it and I was a little disappointed at how poorly it seemed to age in twenty-two years. To begin with this was one of the last major films to rely on miniatures for the special effects, something that is now predominately done with CGI; hence the long credits at the end of any big budget movie nowadays. There is also a lot of nightmare fuel in the film thanks to the makeup and prosthetics used for mutants. Again, some of these effects are frankly done better these days and again with CGI.

But what actually has held together better is the story. Douglas Quaid (Schwarzenegger) is a construction worker living in the year 2084. Things seem to be going well for Quaid. His job, though menial, lets him take advantage of his huge muscles and allows him to live comfortably with his hot wife, Lori (Sharon Stone). Things are good, too good. At night Quaid keeps thinking about Mars, a planet that he has never been to. Lori tries to get him to stop thinking about it, but Quaid can’t shake it.

On his way to work one day, he sees an ad for a service called Rekall, which will plant memories in your mind, so that you can remember vacations that you actually never take. Quaid is fascinated by the idea and discusses it with one of his friends at work, Harry (Robert Costanzo). Harry tries to dissuade Quaid from going to Rekall, but he is still curious. One day after work he goes and signs up for a trip to Mars with espionage bent to it. But while they are planting the memory in his brain, he becomes violent. Rekall manages to sedate him, wipe out his memory of coming there and sends him home in an automated cab, called a Johnny Cab in the movie.

But as soon as Douglas gets out of the cab, he is confronted by a gun toting Harry and a couple of goons, who plan on killing him. However, Douglas manages to turn the tables on them and kills them all. Back home, Lori also turns on him, telling him that their eight year marriage was only a memory implant. She tries and fails to kill him. He knocks her out and escapes just ahead of Richter (Michael Ironside) and other armed men. Richter turns out to be Lori’s real husband and is working for Vilos Cohaagen (Ronny Cox), the governor of Mars. It is clear that Richter is able to track Quaid, but Quaid doesn’t know how.

He runs to a hotel, where he is almost immediately contacted by a mysterious man who advises him to wrap a wet towel around his head and who leaves a mysterious suitcase for him. Quaid picks up the suitcase, but is only steps ahead of Richter. Stealing a Johnny Cab, Quaid drives out of town to an apparently abandoned cement factory. There he goes through the contents of the suitcase, which contains money, food, gadgets and a video player.

On the video, Quaid, calling himself Hauser, instructs himself on how to remove the tracking device, which he pulls out of his skull through his nose. This is also the first visual effect that didn’t age well, as there is obviously a prosthetic make up being used, since the tracking device is obviously too big to be pulled out through a nostril. Hauser explains to Quaid that he used to work for Cohaagen, but has information about a Martian artifact that forced him to wipe his own memory to protect himself. Hauser’s advice for Quaid is to get to Mars and meet Kuato, the leader of the Mars resistance against Cohaagen.

Per Hauser’s instructions, Quaid checks into the Hilton hotel and follows clues left by Hauser to Venusville, a red light district filled with clairvoyant mutants and a three-breasted hooker (Lycia Naff), as well as a Jack-in-the-Box restaurant. Quaid is taken by Benny, a cab driver with five children to support. At the bar, he meets Melina (Rachel Ticotin), the woman literally of his dreams. Melina was Hauser’s girlfriend, but she wants nothing to do with Quaid now.

Back at his hotel, Quaid is first approached by Dr. Edgemar (Roy Brocksmith), who claims to be the President of Rekall. He tells Quaid that he is not on Mars, but is living out the memory implant, even with the espionage side-story. He tries to use Lori, who is just outside the door to convince Quaid to take a red pill to get him out of the dream state he’s in. But Quaid notices that Dr. Edgemar is sweating, so he kills him. Richter arrives with more armed thugs and they manage to subdue Quaid. But Melina arrives and saves Quaid and kills Lori.

Benny takes Quaid and Melina back to Venusville just ahead of Richter’s men. They escape into the tunnels. When Richter can’t find Quaid, Cohaagen orders the ventilation be turned off in Venusville to force cooperation. Quaid, Melina and Benny are taken to a rebel complex and Quaid is taken to see Kuato. Kuato is, naturally, a mutant, attached to the stomach of his brother George (Marshall Bell). Kuato is also clairvoyant and reads Quaid’s mind. He tells Quaid that the artifact is a reactor that, if activated, will turn the turbinium in the mines into breathable air. Coohagen’s men, led by Benny, burst in and kill Kuato and most of the resistance.

Cohaagen takes Quaid and Melina under his control and shows them a video of Hauser revealing that this has all been part of the master plan to get close to and to kill Kuato to end the resistance. He orders that Hauser’s memory be reimplanted into Quaid, but before that happens, Quaid and Melina escape. They run and hide in the mines, where they fight off and kill Richter and his men. But Cohaagen is waiting for them in the control room of the reactor. There is a gunfight, which blows out one of the walls sucking Cohaagen, Quaid and Melina out into the vacuum of the Mars atmosphere. But on his way out, Quaid manages to set off the reactor. While Cohaagen dies of asphyxiation, Melina and Quaid last long enough to breath in the fresh air of Mars. And every one in Venusville is saved.

Not a bad story, really, though the science doesn’t really hold water or in this case air. While asphyxiation is shown as we expect it to look, this isn’t what would happen in the vacuum of space. But then again, what would you expect from a sci-fi movie.

There is a cheap feel to the movie, as if a $50 to 60 million budget didn’t go very far back then. Maybe it’s the aging of the movie itself, but the sets look flimsy and the mutant make up a tad overdone, as if more was better than good. The prosthetic make up doesn’t look believable, either. In the scene where Quaid goes to Mars dressed like a woman, when the fake mask malfunctions, the head underneath it looks like a prosthetic Schwarzenegger. And the cars of the future look poorly designed. Why would a car driven by the torso of a robot need a steering wheel and accelerator?

Some of the special effects are pointless, as when the electric Johnny Cab blows up and catches fire when it crashes. It doesn’t appear that anyone really tried too hard to think about what the world and Mars would look like in 2084, other than a slightly more advanced and cheaper looking present.

Jerry Goldsmith’s score doesn’t seem to be quite right, either. The prolific composer tries too hard to make you think this is an important movie and therefore the score is too over blown for this piece of sci-fi fluff. The acting’s not bad, but there isn’t really anything remotely approaching Shakespeare here, though there are a few good lines sprinkled throughout.

For the most part, the movie is like cotton candy; enjoyable while it melts away in your mouth, but when it’s over there was really not much to it.

Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves

At last we have come to the final game in the current Sly Cooper trilogy, Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves, originally released the year following Sly 2. Within this short time frame, some changes have been made to the Sly Cooper formula, which may either help or detract from the experience depending on your perspective. As a whole though, though it nicely ends Sucker Punch's run on the series, it isn't my favorite thieving adventure.

Sly Cooper and the gang have reached Kaine Island, on which sits the Cooper Vault, containing the Cooper family fortune that has been built up over several generations of thieving activity. Once Sly finally reaches the vault, he opens it, only to be stopped by Dr. M, who happens to own the island. Furious, Dr. M, having plugged himself into one of his experimental creatures, grabs hold of Sly and attempts to crush him. As this happens, Sly begins to think back on what led him to this point in time...

The remainder of the story is told primarily through flashback, retaining the heavier tone set up by the second game while still having a few lighthearted moments to offset it. There are some rather interesting plot twists to be found along the way, and some old faces show up from the first two games to help (or hinder) you along the way. As with before, the villains that the team must face are actually pretty interesting, and while they may not be likable, they are no less memorable. The overall experience still manages to have some of that Saturday morning feel to it, which again isn't really a bad thing.

The level design of Sly 2 is retained here, with the exception of the clue bottles from previous entries. I found the absence of this feature somewhat odd, since their inclusion encouraged exploration throughout each world in the previous game. Regardless, I got somewhat used to this as I kept playing. In its stead there are a few times where you have to search for a number combination within a painting, with the assistance of a magnifying glass of course, although it quickly gets to the point where it seems they didn't even try to cleverly hid the numbers.

Like with the last game, some changes have been made to the gameplay. For instance, whenever you pickpocket a valuable item from a guard, the amount the item is worth is automatically added to your coin total instead of having to go back to the Safehouse and selling it off through ThiefNet, which admittedly helps the game go by faster. Other features include safe cracking, in which you unlock a safe by turning a lock and feeling controller vibrations; and wearing a disguise to get around certain areas, though if a guard sees you, you must repeat a password given to you by Bentley.

Much like the last installment, you have the ability to play as Sly, Bentley, or Murray at any given time, though in certain mission you are able to use even more characters, including Carmelita (though these are in the guise of Sly/Bentley/Murray missions). Each of these characters has their own unique playstyle, which adds more variety to the gameplay presented and allows each mission to get a little more creative. However, it sometimes becomes apparent that Bentley has gained somewhat more bloodlust between games, as some of the missions involve murder (ex. feeding guards to a crocodile in order for it to chase other guards out of an area).

Continuing the trend from the first two games, Carmelita Fox once again changes voice actresses, this time being voiced by Ruth Livier. I didn't have too much of a problem with this voice, though at times she sounds sort of nasally, which can get a little grating. In the end I thought her performance was okay, it's just not my favorite Carmelita voice.

While I did actually have a good time with this game, there were a few things that bogged down the experience for me. At a later point in the game, there is a pirate themed stage that introduces new gameplay concepts, including treasure hunting and ship combat. While I understand the need for variety in a game, I think the stuff in the pirate stage feels like a little too much and only serves to introduce players to a multiplayer mode and another bit of extra gameplay (more on that later). On the other hand, the ship combat does prove to be an excellent source of coins.

Another point I want to address involves said coins. This time around there's even more abilities that you can purchase through ThiefNet for Sly, Bentley, and Murray, but at the same time it also gets more and more expensive. This can lead to hours of grinding simply to get that new button combination (for Sly) or another fire-related ability (for Murray). Because of this, I decided to forego grinding during my last run-through, which made the game go by much faster and allowed me to absorb the story more. This also allowed me to weigh my ThiefNet options and think about whether or not the ability I was about to purchase would actually be useful. (In essence, I wholly recommend not grinding.)

The game also has extra missions that can be done once a section is over, adding replay value in place of the clue bottles. However, it is possible to quickly lose interest in these side quests, since completing all of them essentially requires you to play the game twice in order to get 100% completion, whereas in Sly 2 you could easily get full completion in a single run.

Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves also introduces a couple new features to the Sly Cooper series, one of them being 3D functionality, namely analog 3D (the one with the cheap red/blue glasses). There are only a few sections that use this function, and soon you figure out why: while it works really well, especially in a dark room, it can cause minor eye strain after an extended session. Whether or not this is worth it depends on the player, but I would still give it praise since it really gives you a feeling of depth.

The other new feature to the series is local multiplayer, which accommodates two players. The modes you'll find here are simple in nature, including hacking, plane combat, the aforementioned ship combat and Cops and Robbers; in Cops and Robbers, two players (one as Sly, the other as Carmelita) must compete to get 5 points, Sly by stealing items and Carmelita by hunting Sly. Of the mutliplayer modes that I explored, I personally found the Cops and Robbers one to be the most exciting, since it was the most unique.

Extra features aside, Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves is a good way to cap off Sucker Punch's run on the Sly Cooper series. It has a compelling story that hits the right marks for a Sly Cooper title and there is some good variety in the gameplay, though some of the new elements can sometimes get in the way. Regardless, it is a game that Sly fans must have in their collection, especially since it ends with a lead-in to Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time.

How good will it be? Only time will tell...

The Dark Knight Rises

With the release of the very highly anticipated The Dark Knight Rises on Friday, what has become known as The Dark Knight Saga is now complete. Over the course of the past seven years, Christopher Nolan has been able to make Batman into a box office hit, creating new hype for and awareness of the comic book movie. Being the box office hits that they are, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight have been highly praised by both critics and moviegoers alike and have reached some memetic status across the internet, especially the latter film. After watching the previous releases again, I was able to view the final installment this morning; while the end result is a well made movie, I did end up finding some problems with it.

Eight years after the events of The Dark Knight, Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) has retired his identity as Batman and the Dent Act has significantly lowered the crime rate in Gotham City. Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) meanwhile keeps the conspiracy created at the end of the previous film to himself, believing that Gotham is not ready for the truth, also promoting officer John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) in order to gain his assistance. However, Bruce's retirement and Gotham's peace are about to come to an end thanks to the appearances of the master thief Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway) and a mysterious terrorist named Bane (Tom Hardy).

To get my praises out of the way, I'd like to first speak about the acting. Christian Bale and Gary Oldman continue to put out great performances that show exactly why they were picked for the role, Batman voice aside. In the film they are both shown at first as being in a state of crisis, which they portray really well while continuing this level of acting throughout their recoveries and later roles. Morgan Freeman is also still great as Lucius Fox, providing Batman with new gadgets that end up helping him greatly in overcoming his latest nemesis. This character is still a good source of lightheartedness, giving a little balance to the otherwise dark picture.

The new actors also give solid onscreen performances. Anne Hathaway is a good fit for Selina Kyle, playing the character's cunning and charm with enough grace that makes her screen time very satisfying to watch, backed by great chemistry between her and Bale. I also thought that Joseph Gordon-Levitt did well enough for his character, though I'm not sure I feel the same way about Tom Hardy as Bane. While his acting wasn't bad at all, there were some outside problems that prevented him from shining through completely; more on that a little later.

What always impresses me is Batman's gear. His ever-expanding arsenal gets a couple of upgrades this time around, including a brand new vehicle that fills the shoes of the Batplane very nicely. The additions to his combat weapons and disruption tactics are impressive and his fighting prowess is improved by what he now has. What gets me every time though is seeing the Batpod, a motorcycle originally ejected from the Batmobile previously, in action; I'm delighted whenever I see the wheels spin to the side for the extra maneuverability. Overall, the designs and implementation of each vehicle or gadget is of very high quality and excellence.

At this point, I should acknowledge again that while the film was good, there were some things that held it back from perfection. One contributing factor comes from the film's running time. Clocking in at nearly three hours, making it the longest theatrically-released English-language color superhero movie in history, this movie is long and feels that way too. The pacing could get a bit slow, almost to a crawl at some points, causing me to look at my watch and wonder when the next scene would happen. With all the dialogue and stuff going on, I'll also admit to zoning out for a few seconds in a couple of scenes and thinking about something else. I feel that if the movie was paced a little bit quicker, I might have had a tighter focus on the events.

This brings me to my next point, which would be the sound. While the sounds themselves, including music and dialogue, were all good, there was a bit of a problem with the mixing. Sometimes the music would be mixed too high, causing me to miss some potentially important dialogue from the various characters. This problem I believe hit Bane the hardest, which is that outside problem I previously mentioned. While Bane at times can already be incomprehensible, whoever was in charge of the sound must have decided that Hans Zimmer's score was more important, thus sometimes rendering the character completely inaudible. This affects other characters as well, but it really robs Tom Hardy of some of his superb acting ability, and thus Bane of some of his power.

While I'm still talking about Bane, I also believe that he may have been a little mishandled in the final product.  I almost didn't really see the point of giving him a ventilation mask, seeing as how in at least the Arkham games he does not possess this handicap. To top it off, the film focuses on him to be a major threat to the dark knight, with truly twisted ideals that make him worthy of Christopher Nolan's vision. However, his character arc near the end is concluded in a way that felt very anticlimactic to me, though the reasons are particularly spoileriffic (if you've seen the film already: it's the part where he is suddenly replaced by Talia al Ghul, thus demoting him to just another mook, and then having both of them be killed off rather unceremoniously, Bane with Batpod missiles and Talia through a car crash).

Then there's the transition from the events of The Dark Knight to this movie. While I understand that The Joker is not in this one out of respect to Heath Ledger, the fact that he doesn't even get a passing mention almost makes the entirety of the previous movie completely pointless, save for the fact that Harvey Dent is somewhat pivotal here. In fact, there are so many call backs and references to the first movie that going from Batman Begins to this one feels like a much better transition (I also say this due to the fact that, due to circumstances outside my control, I watched The Dark Knight and then Batman Begins when catching up).

This next point relates a little to the pacing, but the movie is good at introducing some plot points and scenes and then leaving them hanging. While not quite as bad at it as The Amazing Spider-Man, I did feel that a couple of scenes could probably have been cut without affecting the overall build of the movie. Even then though, the ending felt a little rushed and still left some things unexplained while simultaneously hinting at future adventures that may never be filmed. In some ways the film suffers from the same problem that affected The Dark Knight: it had too much plot. The only difference this time of course is that it also manages to reduce the caped crusader himself to a bit part in his own movie, since he has very little screen time compared with literally everyone else.

Before I end my review, I feel it necessary to mention a recent tragedy that now unfortunately is forever connected with this movie. At the midnight premiere in Aurora, Colorado, a man went into a theater armed with sophisticated armor and weaponry and proceeded to massacre some of those in attendance. While he has been arrested, the pain of this awful turn of events cannot be erased so easily. I initially thought about this event during my showing, not helped by the fact that the exit door was open most of the movie, but as it went on, I was able to feel safe where I was and enjoy the movie itself. Still, my thoughts go out to the families of the victims of the shooting and I wish them a brighter tomorrow.

In the end, The Dark Knight Rises, while having the qualities of a good Batman movie, does not reach over the bar set by its predecessor. The sound mixing and overall pacing are more of a detriment and it could have been better about not only tying the trilogy together, but also its own loose ends. Fans of The Dark Knight Saga are encouraged to watch this for some (somewhat mishandled) closure, as well as those who want to see what all the hype is about. It's not on the same level as The Avengers, but it's a movie worth watching nonetheless.