Tag Archives: tarantulas (bw)

‘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 →

‘Beast Wars’ Review #18 – ‘Dark Voyage’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

It’s October and we’re back on track with checking out the rest of the ‘Beast Wars: Transformers’ TV series. Let’s continue by checking out another exciting episode in Season 1 of ‘Beast Wars’ called ‘Dark Voyage’. It’s an episode where four Maximals – Rhinox, Cheetor, Rattrap and Dinobot – get caught in an Energon explosion and are blinded. They must find their way back to the Maximals’ base through darkness whilst overcoming obstacles, including being attacked by Predacons. I did see this episode on GMTV over the Christmas holidays from 1999 to 2000 and it was after seeing Season 2 of ‘Beast Wars’ in 1999. I recorded the episode on VHS to watch again and again, and years later, I owned the episode in ‘The Beginning’ Volume 3 VHS release. I also saw the episode when I purchased the ‘Beast Wars’ 15th anniversary DVD box set for Christmas in December 2011. It’s great to revisit these ‘Beast Wars’ episodes and update my reviews on them, having such fond memories of watching the TV series as a kid in the 1990s. Continue reading →

‘Beast Wars’ Review #17 – ‘Call of the Wild’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

Today, it’s Bank Holiday Monday in August 2025 in the UK (England, Wales and Northern Ireland to be precise). And it’s time to check out another exciting episode in Season 1 of ‘Beast Wars: Transformers’. Today, we’re checking out ‘Call of the Wild’, an episode that I saw on ‘The Beginning’ Volume 3 VHS release, not on GMTV. 😀 This episode has the Maximals, including Optimus Primal, Cheetor, Rhinox, Dinobot and Rattrap struggling to overcome their beast personas when they’re forced to stay in beast mode after the Predacons attacked their base and stole their rectifier coil, which is meant to shield our heroes from Energon inside the Maximals’ base. Once the Maximals have succumbed to their animal personas, Megatron leads a hunt. Tigatron and Airazor must do all they can to help their Maximal comrades. I’m very pleased I saw this episode on ‘The Beginning’ Volume 3 VHS as well as in the ‘Beast Wars’ 15th anniversary DVD box set, which I purchased for Christmas in December 2011. Continue reading →

‘Beast Wars’ Review #16 – ‘Spider’s Game’

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

We’re back to single episodes for a while in Season 1 of ‘Beast Wars: Transformers’. It’s time to check out the second of two episodes that I saw on New Year’s Day in January 1999 in the morning via GMTV. The first episode was ‘The Spark’, which introduced Airazor as a new Maximal character. Today’s episode is ‘Spider’s Game’, which introduces a new Predacon character in the form of Inferno. I didn’t get to record the full episode of ‘Spider’s Game’ on VHS back on New Year’s Day in January 1999, as I recorded only the first half of the episode, having run out of tape. I did get to see the full episode on ‘The Beginning’ Volume 3 VHS and later owned the episode in the ‘Beast Wars’ 15th anniversary DVD box set. This episode showcases Tarantulas and Blackarchnia as the two spider Predacons when they get to team up. Continue reading →

‘Beast Wars’ Review #14 – ‘The Spark’

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

Here we are on the fourteenth story/fifteenth episode of ‘Beast Wars: Transformers’. It’s called ‘The Spark’. I first saw this ‘Beast Wars’ episode on GMTV in the morning on New Year’s Day in January 1999 – which was a Friday. It was the first of two ‘Beast Wars’ episodes I saw on that day. The other episode was ‘Spider’s Game’. I managed to record the episode on VHS back in 1999 before owning it on ‘The Beginning’ Volume 3 VHS and later owning it in the ‘Beast Wars’ 15th anniversary DVD box set. This episode introduces a new ‘Beast Wars’ character, as it involves the plot of a stasis pod crash-landing to the mysterious planet our heroes are on. The Maximals and the Predacons race to get it. Will the new protoform robot inside the stasis pod be a Maximal or a Predacon? Continue reading →

‘Beast Wars’ Review #12 – ‘Dark Designs’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

We’re now on the twelfth story/thirteenth episode of ‘Beast Wars: Transformers’ called ‘Dark Designs’. I saw this episode along with another one called ‘Double Dinobot’ on Monday the 28th of December during the Christmas holidays in 1998. This is a compelling episode where the Maximal named Rhinox gets reprogrammed into a Predacon by Megatron. But it turns out Megatron may have got ‘a little more than he bargained for’, according to Optimus Primal, as Rhinox starts turning the Predacons’ base upside down once he’s become a Predacon. I recorded this episode on VHS tape back in December 1998 before owning the episode on ‘The Beginning’ Volume 2 VHS and owning it in the 15th anniversary DVD box set of ‘Beast Wars’. Continue reading →

‘Beast Wars’ Review #11 – ‘Victory’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

It’s time to talk about the eleventh story/twelfth episode of ‘Beast Wars: Transformers’. This was the fifth and final episode I saw on the Friday of the half-term week in October 1998 via GMTV, and it’s called ‘Victory’. In the episode, the Maximals assume the Predacons blew themselves up in their base. Therefore, they decide to take what they can from the abandoned base and use it to repair their ship to make the return journey to their home planet Cybertron. Dinobot decides to stay behind on ‘the mysterious planet’ they’re on, but it seems Megatron and the Predacons aren’t as destroyed as Optimus Primal and the Maximals think. I greatly enjoyed this episode when I had it recorded on VHS, and it’s been great to revisit it again after all these years. Continue reading →

‘Beast Wars’ Review #9 – ‘Gorilla Warfare’

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

It’s time to check out ‘Gorilla Warfare’. And no, that’s not the ‘Dad’s Army’ episode of the same name. 😀 It’s the ninth ‘Beast Wars: Transformers’ story as well as the tenth episode in the series. In the episode, Optimus Primal and Dinobot get attacked by Scorponok who fires a Cyberbee on Optimus, which attaches itself to his chest and makes him go berserk like the Incredible Hulk. 😀 I saw this episode in the half-term week of October 1998, but sadly didn’t get to record it on VHS. I later owned the episode in ‘The Beginning’, Volume 2 VHS as well as in the 15th anniversary ‘Beast Wars’ DVD box set. Will the Maximals get to save Optimus in this episode? Continue reading →