In 1996, the franchise was restarted using computer-generated graphics. It certainly had a distinctive look and fans of the original, who were initially skeptical, were mostly won over due to the improved scripts and graphics. The themes were similar and the show was set 300 years after the original series had ended. The names were slightly changed and the war long over. In the opener, representatives of both sides (Maximal and Predacon) ended up stranded on another planet, this one in its prehistoric stages of development. The planet had an abundant supply of their power crystals, too abundant it seems, and to survive without overloading their circuits, the robots had to take on forms more conducive to the huge fluctuations in power, including animals and dinosaurs.

Much like the original show, the series combined the action kids like, typically frequent fights between the warring robots, and the moral messages about teamwork, loyalty, and all the usual sermons you get on kiddy programming. The upside was that it was all done with minimal preaching. As a tribute to fans from the original series, some of the older characters, in terms of voices or robots, were brought in on a regular basis. The acting was the over-the-top style you'd expect from such a show but the characters all had their own personalities and some of them evolved over the season. This is unlike lower quality series that typically populate Saturday morning/weekday afternoon programming for children where the characters are written by different writers each week and none seem to care what went on before (although the writers, in their interviews, admitted to not researching the original series, they kept their own characters in mind when writing episodes).

In all, the series was well made and pretty a pretty good example of the style used in series like Reboot. Such examples of CG graphics helped expand the playing field for that which we've all seen in video/computer games as well as television and movies so beyond the show itself, this pioneer series furthered other forms of entertainment in a positive way. I think the combination of style and value here were high enough to give this series a rating of Highly Rated. The following is a breakdown of the episodes from Rhino, some of which were included in the paper insert, but keep in mind that they include some spoilers and air dates may be off in some cases.

Episode 1.01: Beast Wars, Part One: 9/16/96: Out of a warp in space, two interstellar ships appear—one Maximal and the other Predacon. They exchange fire and crash-land on the planet below. With Energon levels too high on this planet, the marooned Cybertronians reconfigure their sequences, assuming new beast modes to better protect themselves from Energon overload. Ousted from the Predacon camp, Dinobot challenges Optimus Primal for leadership of the Maximals.

Episode 1.02: Beast Wars, Part Two: 9/17/96: Megatron interrupts the duel between Dinobot and Optimus Primal, but both Maximal and Predacon alike are distracted from this fight when everyone notices a huge deposit of crystal Energon in a nearby mountain peak. Now it's a race for this unstable power source, with an imminent and explosive battle amidst the powerful but dangerous Energon.

Episode 1.03: The Web: 9/18/96: Beyond the Maximal perimeter and on a mission to test Rhinox's new communications device, Cheetor sees Scorponok investigating a cannon that broke free of the Predacon ship during its crash. Later, scouting Predacon HQ for the cannon, Cheetor is captured and finds himself locked in beast mode, sapped of all his strength and stuck to Tarantulas' stasis web—a prisoner within the arachnoid scientists' lair.

Episode 1.04: Equal Measures: 9/23/96: Cheetor is assigned to place a series of communication relay devices away from the Axalon, the Maximals' ship, but Optimus orders him to stay put until a lightening storm blows over. The impulsive feline dashes off anyway, eager to beat the storm and show his mettle. One of the devices gets lodged into a large cache of Energon, and Cheetor is in for a shock when a freak bolt of lightening strikes him and the relay device he's holding, teleporting him kilometers away to the interior command center of the Predacon ship Darkside.

Episode 1.05: Chain Of Command: 9/24/96: Investigating high levels of Energon at the standing stone formation, the Maximals are caught in a surprise attack by the Predacons. Terrorsaur destroys most of an Energon cache hidden within the center of the stones, expelling a huge energy beacon into the night sky and out into space. Later, Optimus Primal and Megatron spot a small alien probe and set out to investigate. But the probe emits a blinding pulse of energy and Optimus Primal disappears…

Episode 1.06: Power Surge: 9/24/96: Terrorsaur discovers a floating mountain filled with a huge supply of unstable Energon. Returning to the Darkside, Terrorsaur challenges Megatron for leaderside and soundly defeats the mighty dinosaur. But this new power source comes with a price, and Terrorsaur finds he must recharge often to maintain his newfound power levels. When the Maximals learn of this strange Energon formation, Optimus and Rattrap head out to the mountain in order to neutralize it.

Episode 1.07: Fallen Comrades: 9/30/96: When a stasis pod carrying a Maximal Protoform crashes in the northern wastes, the Maximals and Predacons race to reach it first. Despite Dinobot's objections, Optimus Primal sets off on his own to retrieve the Protoform and is caught in a Predacon ambush. As Optimus Primal recovers from the attack and the other Maximals race to the crash site, Dinobot is forced to protect the Maximal base alone from a Megatron-led assault.

Episode 1.08: Double Jeopardy: 10/7/96: When Optimus Primal and Dinobot are ambushed trying to retrieve a stasis pod, the Maximals suspect Rattrap is a traitor. To prove his loyalty, Optimus Primal sends Rattrap to retrieve energon in the dangerous lava pits of Sector 12. When he is captured by Terrorsaur, the Maximals have no choice but to attack the Predacon base and retrieve their comrade, unsure whether Rattrap is a traitor or not. As a Maximal attack ensues, Terrorsaur struggles to maintain leadership of the Predacons.

Episode 1.09: A Better Mousetrap: 10/8/96: Rhinox invents a defense grid impervious to Predacon attacks. However, before it can be activated, Rattrap sets it off prematurely. The Defense grid thinks the Maximals are intruders in their own base. As they flee their ship, Rattrap stays behind to deactivate the grid on his own. Meanwhile, Tigatron must thwart the Predacons before they tunnel into the Maximals' base.

Episode 1.10: Gorilla Warfare: 10/14/96: Optimus Primal and Dinobot are attacked by the Predacons during an exploration of their new planet. During the attack, a viral mine attaches itself to Optimus Primal and begins to take hold of his personality. Intended to take away his courage, instead it turns Optimus Primal into a Predacon-hungry warmonger. He sets out to attack the Predacon base by himself. Unable to rid himself of the viral mine, Optimus Primal must choose between his own life and allegiance to the Predacons.

Episode 1.11: The Probe: 10/15/96: A space probe sent to find Optimus Primal and his crew promises rescue for the Maximals. However, unable to contact it, the Maximals are forced to build a homing array in Predacon territory. Seizing the opportunity, the Predacons launch a full-scale attack. Reeling from the onslaught and vulnerable in their beast forms, the Maximals struggle for one last opportunity to contact the space probe and return home.

Episode 1.12: Victory: 11/1/96: When a fight breaks out between Terrorsaur and Megatron—destroying the Predacon base—it appears the Maximals have won the Beast Wars. The Maximals pillage the Predacon ship for parts in hope of salvaging their own ship and returning to Cybertron. What the Maximals don't know is that the Predacon's demise is an elaborate ruse. As his Maximal ship leaves the planet, Optimus Primal must choose between returning with his crew to Cybertron and saving his friend Dinobot from a Predacon ambush.

Episode 1.13: Dark Designs: 11/4/96: After witnessing Rhinox's deft defense of the retreating Maximals, Megatron orders Tarantulas to capture the stalwart scientist. Tarantulas does just that and reprograms Rhinox as an evil Predacon. Learning of this shocker, Optimus Primal surprises his fellow Maximals by taking no action and allowing Megatron to keep his brainwashed prisoner. What does Primal suspect that the rest of the Maximals don't?

Episode 1.14: Double Dinobot: 11/5/96: Megatron creates a near-perfect replica of Dinobot, flawless in every way except that the saurian simulation cannot transform into robot mode. Meanwhile, Terrorsaur traps the real Dinobot within a nearby cavern and the Maximals are none the wiser. Megatron's mission for the clone: Enter the Axalon and disable Sentinel.

Episode 1.15: The Spark: 11/11/96: A Damaged stasis pod crashes to Earth after its orbit decays. Megatron sends Scorponok and Blackarachnia to secure it, while Cheetor heads toward the crash site as well. Already on the scene, Rhinox races to save the life of the dormant Maximal within the pod.

Episode 1.16: The Trigger, Part One: 11/18/96: Patrolling the arctic regions alone, Tigatron is taken by surprise when Waspinator and Terrorsaur attack. The Maximal scout is thrown off a cliff by Predacon missiles and rifle blasts, and seemingly falls through a huge cloud blowing over a deep chasm. Tigatron is shocked when he awakens on firm ground—within the could—on a giant, temperate floating island.

Episode 1.17: The Trigger, Part Two: 11/19/96: The race for the prize begins as the Maximals and the Predacons head towards a mysterious obelisk at the far end of the floating island. Blackarachnia claims victory and interfaces with the device, channeling the full power of this artifact and the island itself. But what is the island's purpose, and how does it relate to the mysterious artifacts seen all over this planet?

Episode 1.18: Spider's Game: 1/6/97: From his lair, Tarantulas discovers a stasis pod descending from orbit, so he disables power at both the Axalon and the Darkside so he can reach the protoform first. Blackarachnia appears and offers her services, and the two spiders set out for the pod's landing site, unaware that Tigatron is also headed there. Tarantulas' plan: to reprogram the nascent Maximal as a Predacon, and to alter the stasis pod DNA scan so that the new Predacon's beast mode is arachnoid, making this new recruit more loyal to Tarantulas than to Megatron.

Episode 1.19: Call Of The Wild: 1/7/97: During a Predacon attack on the Axalon, Megatron sends Terrorsaur and Waspinator inside the ship to steal its Energon shielding component. Without it, the overloading effects of the planet's Energon fields begin to wear away at the Maximals. They stay in beast mode to lessen the effects, but over time the Maximals begin to lose their personalities and intelligence as their animal instincts take over.

Episode 1.20: Dark Voyage: 1/27/97: Rattrap, Cheetor, Dinobot, and Rhinox investigate a huge store of Energon but come under attack by Waspinator and Scorponok. When the Energon is destroyed in the firefight, the Maximals take heavy damage from the resulting explosion. Low on power, self-repair systems down, and, worst of all, sightless, the beleaguered and blind Maximals must somehow make it back to base.

Episode 1.21: Possession: 2/3/97: Lost to time and space, the disembodied spark of Starscream—legendary traitor to the Decepticon Army and second-in-command to the original Megatron—floats down to the planet's surface and infiltrates the Darkside during an Energon storm. Starscream takes over the body of Waspinator and immediately offers his services to Megatron. His goal: the destruction of the Maximals!

Episode 1.22: The Low Road: 2/10/97: During a brief battle just outside the Axalon, Tarantulas fires a strange device at Rhinox's face. It attaches itself there and infects the Maxomal scientist with an Energon Discharge Virus. This virus gives Rhinox symptoms similar to the common cold of Earth, but also quickly drains away his energy. The Maximals begin searching for an antidote, but time is running out.

Episode 1.23: Law Of The Jungle: 2/17/97: During a mountainside battle between Predacon and Maximal forces, a noncombatant falls: an organic white tiger, companion to Tigatron. Blaming himself, Tigatron vows never to fight again and abandons the Beast Wars. Can Dinobot and Optimus Primal convince the Maximal scout to return?

Episode 1.24: Before The Storm: 2/21/97: Set in stone within a faraway mountain, Inferno retrieves for Megatron a mysterious golden disk bearing alien markings. As Megatron begins to unlock this puzzle, he surprises Optimus Primal with a request for a cease-fire. The Maximals can only wonder what this all means as both Megatron and Tarantulas separately begin plotting and planning for something…big.

Episode 1.25: Other Voices, Part One: 3/31/97: Airazor, Rattrap, and Waspinator converge at the landing site of a mysterious blue orb, sent there by their respective commanders under the assumption that the unseen aliens are playing another hand in their grand game. After a rounded structure envelops the orb, Optimus Primal arrives and infiltrates the alien building only to be chained and scanned. The aliens assume a corporeal form and explain that the experiment they have been conducting on this planet has been tainted by the Cybertronian "infestation"—the appearance of the Maximals and Predacons. They announce the sterilization of the planet and begin by reformatting one of the two moons into a monstrous space weapon.

Episode 1.26: Other Voices, Part Two: 4/1/97: The Planetbuster moon begins its vaporization of all Energon deposits on the world below. Desperate to escape the doomed planet, Tarantulas and Blackarachnia infiltrate Maximal HQ in order to convert a stasis pod into a makeshift escape craft. Optimus Primal has one chance to stop the planet-wide devastation, but it's risky. As time runs out, Megatron reveals a foolproof plan to kill the Maximal leader.

Picture: The picture was presented in 1.33:1 ratio full frame color. While the animation style was blocky, the series was made 7 years ago (an eon in terms of computer generated graphics), and it looked really clear. It may be retro, in a sense, but it was better than it ever looked before.

Sound: The sound was presented with a choice of either a Dolby Digital 5.1 or 2.0 track in English (no subtitles). The 5.1 track, although remastered for this set, had a greater dynamic range but in a few episodes there was a crackling noise. The stereo track wasn't as good but it did not have the issue with the sound. In general, the vocals and music were well balanced and clear though.

Extras: The extras included a couple of interviews and a paper booklet that contained the listed scene descriptions. The interviews totaled about 30 minutes with ~half the time spent on an interview with writer Larry Ditillio and the other half with series writer Bob Forward. The box itself was the folding book format with an embossed coating and made to look like a book with a slightly larger cover than the disc holders (which held all four discs snuggly).

Final Thoughts: Aside from a couple problems with the sound track (not bad considering the boxed set had a lot of material), this was a great set for fans of the show. It presented all the episodes in order of appearance and cleaned them up quite nicely. Between the quality of the content and the DVD set itself, I think fans of this type of show will be pleased. I only hope future (and earlier incarnations of the series) are released in similar fashion.