Machinima's Transformers: Combiner Wars Episode 7 REVIEW

Wednesday, September 21st, 2016 5:44pm CDT

Categories: Cartoon News, Reviews, Site Articles, Editorials
Posted by: Bronzewolf Views: 50,774

Topic Options: View Discussion · Sign in or Join to reply

Welcome, Seibrtronians, to the Combiner Wars Review Extravaganza! In a celebration of the Machinima Combiner Wars series and it's conclusion, I'll be posting episode 7's reivew and then, later today (or potentially tomorrow), I'll share my review of the finale (along with some final final thoughts) as well! It'll be one big day of celebration and thanking primus it's over. Let's look at Episode 7.

We open on Cybertron once again, and see Starscream has finally formed into his "Combiner Combiner" mode. Megatron takes a shot at him, but is thrown across the city, smashing into a building.

While Optimus runs to Megatron, Starscream deals with the amount of power he posses. He envelops him, and he explodes. Bits of the various combiners are thrown across the landscape, and a piece of Computron tries to take out Prime.

Transformers News: Re: Machinima Transformers Combiner Wars Animated Series Discussion Thread

Ah, Geez, Rick, what are we gonna do now?

Starscream emerges from the rubble, now only a ball of Galactic Glitter Glue with a head, and launches some missiles(?) from his shoulders(?) at the city below. Optimus and Co. dodge the incoming debris, as Starscream starts making a black hole, sucking all of his loose parts in.

Pictured: Starscream

He "throws" the black hole at Optimus and Megatron, but here comes Windblade, saving the day again with her Turbine Attack, which can apparently stop the force of an inverted star.

Huh.

Never knew.

I...I hate this episode

Windblade follows this up by rushing the literal Screaming Star, while he shoots what sounds to be lasers trying to connect to dial-up internet out of his mouth.

If they lasted any longer, you would have started to hear the Windows XP boot-up noise, too

Windblade is somehow able to block the large, continuous beams of pure energy with her thin sword, but is finally taken down by a lightning blast from Starscream. She falls, many stories, and lands on the ground. Optimus and Megatron have a moment to mourn her before Starscream jumps at them, Screaming and laughing.

I...I really hate this episode

Okay, Final thought time:

Why? Why? You had potential here, those couple of episodes in the middle of the series were great, compared to what has come before and after them. Why make Starscream's plot a cliche Starscream plot? You already had one of the most interesting Megatrons we've ever gotten, why couldn't you have left Starscream be and have one of the most interesting Starscreams we've ever gotten? I want you to challenge my perception of what I already know about these characters, or I want to be pleasantly surprised with a interesting continuation of what I know and love. This series can't decide which of those it wants to be, so it fails miserably at both. It's not a good new idea, or perhaps just poorly executed, and it's not a good continuation of the same old same old. What is it trying to be?

-gasp- Father! Please! Help!

I think this series could have been good, (heck, it could have been great) if it would have picked a lane. As it sits, it comes across as a slapped together mess, with 0 pacing and no cohesive, understandable plot until halfway through act 4. And even then it makes no sense.

If your going to go back on your set idea of different, more civil, changed Starscream, give him a viable motive. He is literally already one of the rulers of Cybertron. He couldn't climb the latter more if he tried. He even said how he convinced the public to trust him. He's where he wants to be! Where he's always wanted to be. Why would he ruin that? Why?

To be continued

Tune in later today/tomorrow when we continue our celebration and conclude the series with the review of episode eight!

And, as always, I'm the Nostalgia Critic, I remember it so you don-wait, wait, no. Wrong thing.

Ahem

And, as always, keep it right here, on seibertron.com for all your latest Transformers news (and reviews!).

Credit(s): Machinima, Go90

This article was last modified on Thursday, September 22nd, 2016 11:26am CDT

Got Transformers News? Let us know here!

Most Recent Transformers News

HobbyLink Japan Sponsor News- Kingdom Series Air Zar & More Transformers Preorders

Posted 3 days ago

RobotKingdom.com Newsletter #1573

Posted 3 days ago

Entertainment Earth Sponsor News- March 4th

Posted 3 days ago

Video Review for Netflix Transformers deluxe Ironhide Redeco Quintesson Soldier

Posted 3 days ago

Click here to post your comment about this news story!

Re: Machinima's Transformers: Combiner Wars Episode 7 REVIEW (1827061)
Posted by Lorekeeper on September 21st, 2016 @ 6:00pm CDT

To steal some dusty philosopher's phrase, that was nasty, brutish, and short. There was no sense of space or weight to the animation. There was no sense of meaning or interaction in the dialogue. The plot was stupid.

The animation models were cool.

Some moments in the voice acting were good (Megs), so long as it did not rely on any other character's lines.

I had not though DoTM could have been topped for bottom, but this is the worst.

Re: Machinima's Transformers: Combiner Wars Episode 7 REVIEW (1827062)
Posted by Randomhero on September 21st, 2016 @ 6:07pm CDT

Awe come on, if you were the nostalgia critic this review would be 75% of cut aways of bad acting and a "fair use" public service announment about how mean and nasty companies don't want you cashing in on their successes.

Re: Machinima's Transformers: Combiner Wars Episode 7 REVIEW (1827078)
Posted by .... on September 21st, 2016 @ 7:01pm CDT

Can I PLEEEEEEASE make a small request? Can someone take a picture of Victorion with CW Computron's hands?

Re: Machinima's Transformers: Combiner Wars Episode 7 REVIEW (1827079)
Posted by Sabrblade on September 21st, 2016 @ 7:03pm CDT

SillySpringer wrote:Can I PLEEEEEEASE make a small request? Can someone take a picture of Victorion with CW Computron's hands?

...Wrong thread?

Re: Machinima's Transformers: Combiner Wars Episode 7 REVIEW (1827082)
Posted by .... on September 21st, 2016 @ 7:07pm CDT

Sabrblade wrote:
SillySpringer wrote:Can I PLEEEEEEASE make a small request? Can someone take a picture of Victorion with CW Computron's hands?
...Wrong thread?

...yes.

Sorry. I read Combiner Wars and skipped over "Machinima". Forgot this cartoon even exists.

Re: Machinima's Transformers: Combiner Wars Episode 7 REVIEW (1827099)
Posted by RodimusRex on September 21st, 2016 @ 8:12pm CDT

Big Grim wrote:
o.supreme wrote:Anyone trying to say this bares any resemblance to the original animated series is about as far off as you can be.

Not particularly. All his points are pretty spot on. For all the love the G1 cartoon gets, it was poorly written and could be appallingly bad now and then. IDW ain't 100% perfect but it's a damn sight better than the G1 cartoon.

The ways that the writing is "bad" are not the same.

G1 cartoon tended to be maybe a bit trite and moralistic and employed what would now be regarded as some offensive ethnic and gender stereotypes. The humans were often forced into plots and action was often constrained or disappointing. It had a perhaps formulaic sitcom structure.

This had no moral. It was all action. It didn't have trite morals because it didn't have morals, really. It lacked structure.

I would seriously prefer Optimus and Elita One going on a date where a bumbling Grimlock and Computron dress up as butlers, trying to create a romantic dinner for them. Hot Rod, Bumblebee, and Daniel try to make spare cash to get Jazz new hubcaps by selling cookies door-to-door. Meanwhile, Galvatron wants all the cookies for himself and sends Bruticus to steal them.

I would absolutely take that and call it Combiner Wars over the forty odd minutes we just watched of action figures tearing one another's limbs off.

Re: Machinima's Transformers: Combiner Wars Episode 7 REVIEW (1827131)
Posted by Decepticon Stryker on September 21st, 2016 @ 10:56pm CDT

So, my thoughts on the last episode and the series... It wasn't good. It wasn't that bad either. Not a fan of Starscream's final words being the same as the only lines said by the Banshee in Darby O'Gill and the Little People. I mean, they excited me with a Combiner Combiner, but then they made it a giant Starscream hologram. Now, I would have been able to get past that.. But THEN they turned him into a head (Am I the only one who thinks he looks like BB-8?). However, I really enjoyed Megatron's performance and was sad to see him leave in the end. But what gets me is that it's all like "Yay! Starscream's dead! We won!" then *BOOM* the Titans have instantly returned. There's no conclusion like the Council rebuilding Cybertron, Metroplex's arm is left standing there in the city, and Rodimus is still missing an arm. There are good things about this episode. Like the look of the characters. By God I love that. The next good thing would be Megatron and his tank-gun-robot triple changing gimmick. But what I actually liked was the ending, and not just because it meant the end of this. It was the nod to a possible Titans Return series. Half of me actually wants to see that become a reality, the other half is a bit apprehensive. That's all I can say about this series. (Phew, I haven't gone on a semi-rant like that since I talked about King Kong vs. Godzilla on my blog...). Actually, being only five minutes long, all 8 of these episodes would make nice shorts for a certain show...

Re: Machinima's Transformers: Combiner Wars Episode 7 REVIEW (1827133)
Posted by Bronzewolf on September 21st, 2016 @ 11:01pm CDT

Decepticon Stryker wrote:Actually, being only five minutes long, all 8 of these episodes would make nice shorts for a certain show...

Ehh, I doubt that would happen.

Maybe in the not too distant future...

Re: Machinima's Transformers: Combiner Wars Episode 7 REVIEW (1827135)
Posted by Decepticon Stryker on September 21st, 2016 @ 11:47pm CDT

Bronzewolf wrote:
Decepticon Stryker wrote:Actually, being only five minutes long, all 8 of these episodes would make nice shorts for a certain show...

Ehh, I doubt that would happen.

Maybe in the not too distant future...

Will it be next Sunday A.D.?

Re: Machinima's Transformers: Combiner Wars Episode 7 REVIEW (1827138)
Posted by Bronzewolf on September 22nd, 2016 @ 12:24am CDT

Decepticon Stryker wrote:
Bronzewolf wrote:
Decepticon Stryker wrote:Actually, being only five minutes long, all 8 of these episodes would make nice shorts for a certain show...

Ehh, I doubt that would happen.

Maybe in the not too distant future...

Will it be next Sunday A.D.?

Maybe by someone not too different from you or me.

Re: Machinima's Transformers: Combiner Wars Episode 7 REVIEW (1827141)
Posted by Decepticon Stryker on September 22nd, 2016 @ 12:48am CDT

Bronzewolf wrote:
Decepticon Stryker wrote:
Bronzewolf wrote:
Decepticon Stryker wrote:Actually, being only five minutes long, all 8 of these episodes would make nice shorts for a certain show...

Ehh, I doubt that would happen.

Maybe in the not too distant future...

Will it be next Sunday A.D.?

Maybe by someone not too different from you or me.

Will they work at Gizmonic Institute? And be just a regular face in a red jumpsuit?

Re: Machinima's Transformers: Combiner Wars Episode 7 REVIEW (1827142)
Posted by Bronzewolf on September 22nd, 2016 @ 12:52am CDT

Decepticon Stryker wrote:
Bronzewolf wrote:
Decepticon Stryker wrote:
Bronzewolf wrote:
Decepticon Stryker wrote:Actually, being only five minutes long, all 8 of these episodes would make nice shorts for a certain show...

Ehh, I doubt that would happen.

Maybe in the not too distant future...

Will it be next Sunday A.D.?

Maybe by someone not too different from you or me.

Will they work at Gizmonic Institute? And be just a regular face in a red jumpsuit?

He'll do a good job cleaning up the place, but his bosses won't like him, and they'll shoot him into space.

Re: Machinima's Transformers: Combiner Wars Episode 7 REVIEW (1827143)
Posted by Bronzewolf on September 22nd, 2016 @ 12:57am CDT

Bronzewolf wrote:
Decepticon Stryker wrote:
Bronzewolf wrote:
Decepticon Stryker wrote:
Bronzewolf wrote:
Decepticon Stryker wrote:Actually, being only five minutes long, all 8 of these episodes would make nice shorts for a certain show...

Ehh, I doubt that would happen.

Maybe in the not too distant future...

Will it be next Sunday A.D.?

Maybe by someone not too different from you or me.

Will they work at Gizmonic Institute? And be just a regular face in a red jumpsuit?

He'll do a good job cleaning up the place, but his bosses won't like him, and they'll shoot him into space.

I'm all seriousness, though, I had a really good laugh at this. Good to meet a fellow MSTie.

We better get back on topic, though, before Burn yells at us.

Re: Machinima's Transformers: Combiner Wars Episode 7 REVIEW (1827151)
Posted by jON3.0 on September 22nd, 2016 @ 1:48am CDT

SMH. No one ever considers the cast of an animated project is doing the job as they were directed by their employee to do it.

Re: Machinima's Transformers: Combiner Wars Episode 7 REVIEW (1827153)
Posted by Bronzewolf on September 22nd, 2016 @ 2:08am CDT

jON3.0 wrote:SMH. No one ever considers the cast of an animated project is doing the job as they were directed by their employee to do it.

I do consider it, actually. Like I said, Megatron is great, and his voice acting is a large part of that. I love your Prime, and I think it's obvious that you've had experience doing him before. You can't blame the VA's for bad writing/directing/producing/instruction in general, and so I haven't in my reviews.

No one blames Ben Affleck (in many people's opinion, the highlight of the movie) for Batman Vs. Superman, I don't think anyone is blaming the voice actors for anything that was out of their control. I think we know you all weren't given the best instruction in the world for this.

Don't take anything I say in the reviews personally, because I certainly don't mean it that way. Now, the writers? Them I would blame, but you all came in, did a job, and worked with what you are given. Nothing against you.

Re: Machinima's Transformers: Combiner Wars Episode 7 REVIEW (1827156)
Posted by RodimusRex on September 22nd, 2016 @ 2:18am CDT

jON3.0 wrote:SMH. No one ever considers the cast of an animated project is doing the job as they were directed by their employee to do it.

Like I said: I found the casting for the principals to be good. You and Jason were fantastic, although Jason was a real breakout talent here. Abby and Jason were good. Frank had big shoes to fill with Starscream and all the Starscream/Cobra Commanders since Latta passed have been hit or miss for me. Beyond the principals, some of the voices sounded like odd choices, especially Metroplex. (And especially sounding so unprocessed compared to how processed your voice was.)

I would be up for you and Jason returning as Prime and Megatron for everything Welker, Cullen, Kaye, and Chalk don't do.

Just because this wasn't my thing doesn't mean I don't appreciate your choices, your growth into the role, your process as an actor, or the amazingly awesome rich tones in your voice.

If you and Jason did Transformers 6 or a professional dub of the Japanese Headmasters or the next show after RiD or the video game sequel to Devastation? Awesome. If you did voice recordings for toys? Awesome.

For me, any criticisms I have with casting, audio processing, animation, or writing don't rest with the actors.

Re: Machinima's Transformers: Combiner Wars Episode 7 REVIEW (1827157)
Posted by ricemazter on September 22nd, 2016 @ 2:28am CDT

RodimusRex wrote:
Big Grim wrote:
o.supreme wrote:Anyone trying to say this bares any resemblance to the original animated series is about as far off as you can be.

Not particularly. All his points are pretty spot on. For all the love the G1 cartoon gets, it was poorly written and could be appallingly bad now and then. IDW ain't 100% perfect but it's a damn sight better than the G1 cartoon.

The ways that the writing is "bad" are not the same.

G1 cartoon tended to be maybe a bit trite and moralistic and employed what would now be regarded as some offensive ethnic and gender stereotypes. The humans were often forced into plots and action was often constrained or disappointing. It had a perhaps formulaic sitcom structure.

This had no moral. It was all action. It didn't have trite morals because it didn't have morals, really. It lacked structure.

I would seriously prefer Optimus and Elita One going on a date where a bumbling Grimlock and Computron dress up as butlers, trying to create a romantic dinner for them. Hot Rod, Bumblebee, and Daniel try to make spare cash to get Jazz new hubcaps by selling cookies door-to-door. Meanwhile, Galvatron wants all the cookies for himself and sends Bruticus to steal them.

I would absolutely take that and call it Combiner Wars over the forty odd minutes we just watched of action figures tearing one another's limbs off.

^
This

One addendum to G1's writing compared to this...thing's is that in G1 you actually understood what the stakes were to any given conflict. Heroic Autobots vs. Evil Decepticons, got it. Decepticons want to steal resources to fuel their war machine, Autobots want to stop that. Yes. We know the basic rules of the story and why characters are doing what they do.

Combiner Wars, though? Not so much. Something happened to Caminus because of combiners, we don't know what, who was involved, or even if people still live on the planet. Combiners are their own faction, except when they're not and are fighting each other. The enigma of combination needs to be destroyed because it creates more combiners, or maybe it powers up existing combiners, or maybe it destroys them, or maybe it does all three. The council on cybertron doesn't seem to know exactly what it does at any given time. They just know they want to use it. The combiners are a threat to society, except when they're doing their own thing, fighting megatron for funsies, or fighting each other on behalf of their factions.

Windblade is angry at combiners for the thing we don't know about, but despite the fact that some are working for the council, Computron, she's mad at all of them, even though there's a total of four. Starscream wants peace, except when he doesn't. It's not clear if this was a long term plan, if he knew how the enigma worked, or if he was a mindless monster at the end. Is his plan to just blow up Cybertron? Does he want to be the sole ruler? How does he plan to do that if he's just a screaming blob monster with laser beams?

The story seems to take a lot from the IDW fiction that most of us are familiar with, but makes key changes and expects us to just know how things are supposed to work. It's infuriating. Were the G1 episodes ridiculous and over simplified to the extreme, yes. But that is so much better than not understanding the basic premise of the story.

Re: Machinima's Transformers: Combiner Wars Episode 7 REVIEW (1827172)
Posted by Kurona on September 22nd, 2016 @ 5:36am CDT

RodimusRex wrote:I would seriously prefer Optimus and Elita One going on a date where a bumbling Grimlock and Computron dress up as butlers, trying to create a romantic dinner for them. Hot Rod, Bumblebee, and Daniel try to make spare cash to get Jazz new hubcaps by selling cookies door-to-door. Meanwhile, Galvatron wants all the cookies for himself and sends Bruticus to steal them.

I... I want this

Re: Machinima's Transformers: Combiner Wars Episode 7 REVIEW (1827201)
Posted by Microraptor on September 22nd, 2016 @ 7:41am CDT

jON3.0 wrote:SMH. No one ever considers the cast of an animated project is doing the job as they were directed by their employee to do it.

Dude. The voices were like the only good part of this. Don't worry about it.

Re: Machinima's Transformers: Combiner Wars Episode 7 REVIEW (1827281)
Posted by Flashwave on September 22nd, 2016 @ 12:56pm CDT

From the News post, because I suspect the thread has long since buried it...

He couldn't climb the latter more if he tried. He even said how he convinced the public to trust him. He's where he wants to be! Where he's always wanted to be. Why would he ruin that? Why?

In hind sight, I think the point they were trying to get to, some of the things Megtron was trying to say, was that while Starscream had Political Power, an illusionary power, he wanted physical power. He wanted to be not just a leader, he wanted to be Strong. The giant among men, who lead because to be defied menat he destroyed the world of lesser bots. The COuncil was just a way to get to the artifact.

Click here to view additional comments about this topic at the Energon Pub Forums ...