Brian gives Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen one star out of four on this June 26, 2009 Radio Free Cybertron. He likes Jetfire, Starscream and the new Cybertronian backstory, but he calls the film poorly paced and anti-climactic, with a terrible villain. Exvee reviews the Revenge of the Fallen Ransack toy, a World War I biplane, and praises its vehicle mode. Brian jokes about everything that happened in the four years RFC was away, from Cybertron to Transformers Animated. Robo Rob closes the show with a Michael McDonald-style take on the movie theme.
RFC Is Back
Brian jokes that RFC missed “a week” and lists what happened since: the Cybertron cartoon, BotCons in five states, two live-action movies, Transformers Animated, the Classics and Universe lines and a wave of Transformers podcasts. He announces that Goldimus Prime now goes by Exvee. He points listeners to an Atlanta newspaper story on Hooper X, Robo Rob and Chris Templeman, linked on the new RFC blog.
Toy Review: Revenge of the Fallen Ransack
Exvee’s It Figures review notes that Ransack is based on the World War I Albatros D.III flown by the Red Baron, possibly making him “the first documented plywood Transformer.” The robot mode looks skeletal and dead, with bony arms and a skull-like head. The arms pose well, but the close-set hips, a friction waist and mismatched ankles make the legs frustrating. Transforming back to robot mode is worse, since parts pop off. The biplane mode spans just over five inches with Decepticon markings in a German squadron style. Exvee calls Ransack a very good toy, mostly for its unusual, well-executed vehicle mode.
Movie Review: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Brian went in expecting to hate it, given the overwhelmingly negative reviews. He tells fans arguing with critics online to lighten up. The first half hour is fun, especially the Autobot and human task force hunting Decepticons, which he likens to G1 Season 3. Sam’s parents are funny again. Starscream finally gets some character, and Jetfire adds Cybertronian backstory the first movie lacked.
On the negative side, Brian disliked Soundwave’s satellite design and how lightly Frank Welker’s voice was vocoded. He calls the film poorly paced, “one climax after the other,” with a terrible villain in the Fallen and an anti-climactic ending. He also found the swearing heavy for a toy movie and the Autobots bloodthirsty. Some fans call Mudflap and Skids racist caricatures. Brian says they seem pretty ethnic to him but did not grate on his nerves. His favorite part was the packed Hickory, North Carolina, crowd and one fan cheering every Optimus Prime moment. Final verdict: one star out of four.
Radio Free Cybertron is the world's first and oldest toy and action figure podcast — broadcasting from the heart of the Transformers fan community since October 1999. What started as a scrappy fan show has grown into an institution, with nearly 1,000 episodes and over 25 years of coverage. Every week, host Brian Kilby and the RFC crew dig into the latest Transformers news, toy reveals, collecting, and everything hitting shelves from Hasbro, Takara, and beyond. No fluff, no hype — just informed, passionate collectors who have been doing this longer than anyone else on the planet. The original. The longest running. Till all are one.