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‘Beast Wars’ Review #30 – ‘Code of Hero’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!

We’re getting close to the end of Season 2 of ‘Beast Wars: Transformers’. How fast time flies when you’re having fun? 😀 In today’s instalment, we have a very significant exit for one of the best and well-loved characters in the ‘Beast Wars’ TV series as well as ‘Transformers’ in general. It’s time for ‘Code of Hero’, an episode where Dinobot makes the decision to fully oppose against Megatron and his tyranny when he attempts to destroy a valley containing proto-humans (Neanderthals). Dinobot ends up fighting against the Predacons, including Megatron, on his own whilst the Maximals are on their way to help him. The first time I saw this ‘Beast Wars’ episode was via GMTV and it was on the Monday of the October half-term week of 1999 in the UK. I had this episode recorded on VHS, which I saw repeatedly during that October half-term. I later saw the episode on an official VHS tape as well as in the ‘Beast Wars’ 15th anniversary DVD box set. The episode is currently available on YouTube for everyone to enjoy! Continue reading →

‘Beast Wars’ Review #28 – ‘Other Visits’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!

Here we are back with another ‘Beast Wars: Transformers’ story and it happens to be a two-parter featuring the return of the mysterious aliens that almost scorched the planet Earth in ‘Other Voices’ at the end of Season 1. It’s time for ‘Other Visits’, a story where we see the return of Tigatron and Airazor. It’s also a story where the aliens form a unique base in the heart of a huge valley, one that Megatron attempts to take control of using the alien golden disc. I saw this two-parter over the course of two Bank Holiday Mondays. I saw ‘Part 1’ as the second episode of a double bill over Spring Bank Holiday Monday in May 1999 and I saw ‘Part 2’ as the first episode of a double bill over August Bank Holiday Monday in 1999. It was very exciting for me to wait in-between the two episodes for the cliffhanger to be resolved. And this was all recorded on VHS for me via GMTV in the morning. ‘Other Visits’ was later released on an official VHS tape as well as on DVD and is currently available on YouTube for everyone to enjoy! Continue reading →

‘Beast Wars’ Review #27 – ‘Maximal, No More’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!

Let’s return to another ‘Beast Wars: Transformers’ episode where we check out the Season 2 episode ‘Maximal, No More’. This is the fifth episode in Season 2 of ‘Beast Wars’ and it’s the fourth in the season. In the episode, Dinobot finds himself put to the test where he must decide whether he’s going to be a Maximal or a Predacon. He initially rejoins the Predacons, thinking Megatron will achieve a great victory in his agenda. But his loyalty is tested, especially when he’s made to destroy a Maximal comrade. Who could that be? 😀 I first saw ‘Maximal, No More’ as part of a double bill of episodes on Spring Bank Holiday Monday in May 1999. This was on GMTV early in the morning. The episode was later released on an official VHS tape as well as on DVD and is currently available on YouTube for everyone to see it. Is ‘Maximal, No More’ a great instalment in the ‘Beast Wars’ TV series featuring Dinobot as a Transformers character? Continue reading →

‘Beast Wars’ Review #26 – ‘Tangled Web’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!

It’s the New Year and we’re continuing where we left off in Season 2 of ‘Beast Wars: Transformers’. Hopefully, I’ll have finished updating the rest of my ‘Beast Wars’ reviews by May. 🙂 Anyway, let’s check out, ‘Tangled Web’, the fourth episode in Season 2 of ‘Beast Wars’ and the third story in the season. In this episode, Tarantulas, Blackarachnia and Quickstrike are sent on a mission by their Predacon leader Megatron to build a refuelling station in a cavern full of Energon cubes. Rattrap and Silverbolt of the Maximals are sent to investigate a signal that leads them to Tarantulas, Blackarachnia and Quickstrike. I saw ‘Tangled Web’ after seeing ‘Part 2’ of ‘Coming of the Fuzors’ via GMTV on Early Bank Holiday Monday in May 1999. The episode was later released on an official VHS tape as well as on DVD and is currently available on YouTube for everyone to see it. Is ‘Tangled Web’ a worthwhile episode to check out in Season 2 of ‘Beast Wars’ or is it a fairly average filler episode? Continue reading →

‘Beast Wars’ Review #25 – ‘Coming of the Fuzors’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!

After checking out ‘Aftermath’, it’s time to check out the first two-part story in Season 2 of the ‘Beast Wars: Transformers’ TV series. It’s time for ‘Coming of the Fuzors’, which introduces us to two new characters and a new breed of Transformers where a robot can transform into a mixture of an animal. The two new characters include Quickstrike, who can transform from a scorpion-cobra into a robot and vice versa, and there’s Silverbolt, who can transform from a wolf-eagle into a robot and vice versa. They’re recruited by Megatron for the Predacon cause. Very soon, the Predacons battle against the Maximals, who are defending their base of operations. I saw ‘Part 1’ of the two-part story on Easter Monday in April 1999 and I saw ‘Part 2’ on Early Bank Holiday Monday in May 1999. The story was later released on an official VHS tape as well as on DVD. Will the Maximals be able to cope in their fight against the Predacons without their fearless leader? Continue reading →

‘Beast Wars’ Review #24 – ‘Aftermath’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!

It’s time to start checking out Season 2 of the ‘Beast Wars: Transformers’ TV series. In the first episode of Season 2 of ‘Beast Wars’ called ‘Aftermath’, we see numerous changes made to the TV show’s cast line-up, both on the Maximal and the Predacon sides. Following on from the end of ‘Other Voices’ in Season 1, the Maximals and the Predacons find themselves in trouble when a quantum surge hits the mysterious planet they’re on. This episode is where we’re introduced the new Transmetal forms of some of our characters. I recall purchasing the toy versions of the Transmetal ‘Beast Wars’ characters when I was getting into the TV show as a kid. Such happy, exciting times for me as a kid in the late 1990s. 🙂 The first time I saw this ‘Beast Wars’ episode was on Easter Monday in April 1999. I recorded it on VHS and saw it umpteen times. Is this episode a good follow-up to the end of ‘Other Voices’ as well as the beginning to Season 2 of ‘Beast Wars’? Continue reading →

‘Beast Wars’ Review #23 – ‘Other Voices’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!

Here we are! We’ve made it! This is the two-part finale of Season 1 of the ‘Beast Wars: Transformers’ TV series. This is ‘Other Voices’, a two-part story featuring the Maximals and the Predacons in a battle against time, as the mysterious aliens with their strange artefacts on this mysterious planet come with the intention of destroying their ‘experiment’, thanks to the Beast Wars taking place. Optimus Primal must find a way to stop the aliens from destroying the planet completely as well as the Maximals, Predacons and other living beings. Will it mean having to self-sacrifice himself in the process? I first saw this two-part story on Good Friday in April 1999 via GMTV. I rewatched it numerous times, especially as it’s a very dramatic close to Season 1 and it features a shocking cliffhanger. What is it about this two-part finale that traumatised me as a young kid when I saw it over the Easter holidays in 1999, especially since I recorded it on VHS tape? Continue reading →

‘Beast Wars’ Review #22 – ‘Before the Storm’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!

We come now to the penultimate story in Season 1 of the ‘Beast Wars: Transformers’ TV series called ‘Before the Storm’. This is a prelude to the two-part finale ‘Other Voices’. In this episode, an alien golden disc is discovered and Megatron establishes a truce between the Maximals and the Predacons. Optimus Primal and the Maximals work on finding out what Megatron has discovered, but they need to do it via peaceful means. I never saw this episode on TV back in the 1990s via GMTV, which is a shame. But I’m pleased to have seen it in the ‘Beast Wars’ 15th anniversary DVD box set for Christmas in December 2011. Things that were established in episodes like ‘Chain of Command’ and ‘The Trigger’ are built upon and come to together in the concluding story of Season 1 of ‘Beast Wars’. Is ‘Before the Storm’ a worthy prelude to what’s to come in the two-part finale of Season 1 of the ‘Beast Wars’ TV series? Continue reading →

‘Beast Wars’ Review #20 – ‘The Low Road’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!

Here we are again with another ‘Beast Wars: Transformers’ episode from Season 1 of the TV series in October 2025! 🙂 This is a rather unusual ‘Beast Wars’ episode, as it features Rhinox being infected with a deadly virus by Tarantulas. Dinobot and Rhinox must work together to locate the counter-virus and save Rhinox. Sounds like a typical filler episode in the ‘Beast Wars’ series, right? Well, what I found unusual about this episode is the tone that it goes for, especially when it becomes more humourous and it’s not so dramatic. Does that make the viewing experience worthwhile? I saw this episode for the first time in the ‘Beast Wars’ 15th anniversary DVD box set for Christmas in December 2011. It’s been great to revisit some ‘Beast Wars’ episodes I didn’t see from the 1990s via the 15th anniversary DVD box set in 2011. Does ‘The Low Road’ bring back happy memories for me when I first saw it on DVD back in 2011? Continue reading →

‘Beast Wars’ Review #19 – ‘Possession’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!

It’s time again for another ‘Beast Wars: Transformers’ episode in Season 1 of the TV series. Today, we’re checking out a rather unique and special ‘Beast Wars’ episode. In this episode, the Maximals and the Predacons meet Starscream, a Decepticon from the ‘Transformers’ Generation 1 TV series. Starscream’s spark comes to Earth and takes possession of Waspinator, one of the Predacons. I never saw this ‘Beast Wars’ episode as a kid in the 1990s. I saw it when I purchased the ‘Beast Wars’ 15th anniversary DVD box set for Christmas in December 2011. In-between the 1990s and 2011, I did see episodes of the ‘Transformers’ G1 TV series as well as the 1986 ‘Transformers’ movie to know who Starscream was as a character in this ‘Beast Wars’ episode. Was it a satisfying episode to sit through? Did it meet my expectations in being the first ‘Transformers’ G1/‘Beast Wars’ crossover in the ‘Beast Wars’ TV series? Continue reading →