Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters - Predacons Rising

As an epilogue to the show which went of the year earlier this year, Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters - Predacons Rising returns the Autobots and Decepticons to the restored planet of Cybertron to face the new threat of Unicron (John Noble) who has assumed control of Megatron's (Frank Welker) fallen body and returned to Cybertron to destroy the planet once and for all. Sadly, like the series which proceeded it, the Beast Hunters movie closes without and appearance (or mention) of Grimlock and the Dinobots.

For a TV-movie with a running time of just over an hour, Predacons Rising includes quite a few storylines including Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) and Wheeljack (James Horan) heading into deep space to recover the AllSpark, Predaking (John Noble) meeting two more of Shockwave's (David Sobolov) Predacon clones who nearly kill Ultra Mangus (Michael Ironside), Unicron creating a zombie army of Terrorcons out of the fossils of the original Predacons, and Autobots, Decepticons, and Predacons coming together to save Cybertron.

With no Dinobots (or a proper version of Galvatron) and a melancholy ending, Predacons Rising is a bit of a mixed bag. Yes, the movie wraps up various storylines including bringing an end to the Autobot/Decepticon war, but large elements of the series aren't touched on at all (such as the human element as none of the Autobots' friends from Earth earn even a mention). That said, the movie does make sure to give several of the Transformers their own moments including Knock Out (Daran Norris), Starscream (Steve Blum), Arcee (Sumalee Montano), Bumblebee (Will Friedle), Smokescreen (Nolan North), and Shockwave (David Sobolov).

The only extra included with either the DVD or the Blu-ray/DVD combo pack is a single featurette on the partnership between the show's creative team and Japanese 3D animation studio Polygon Pictures. As a final note to the three-year series neither the so-so feature nor its lack of extras provide much incentive for anyone outside the show's fan base to seek it out. [Shout! Factory, DVD $16.97 / Blu-ray $24.97]