written by Duncan Styles on 12/01/2009
When the 2007 Transformers film was announced I was happy that I would get to see my favourite childhood heroes and villians on the big screen. Little did I know that Micheal Bay had other ideas. He set about changing the look of some of the biggest Transformer characters. I suppose I can understand that the cartoon versions didn't carry enough detail for the big screen but I cant forgive him for what he did to poor Starscream.
The toy itself is pretty good. Based on an F22 Raptor jet, Starscream looks pretty good from above. Its when you turn the jet over you notice all the non jet parts. There was no way the designers were going to fit all of the robot parts into such a small toy so the jet looks real enough but with slightly fatter undercarriage than the real thing and huge missile launchers mounted under each wing.
The transformation is very clever and the resulting robot does well to hide his aircraft alter ego, only the wings and the cockpit folded round the back give it away.
There is enough range of movement on most joints. The missile lauchers from the jet become Starscream's hands, each one able to fire three missiles by rotating them. The trigger mechanisms are a little sensitive and you may find the figure launching the missiles into your eye or down the back of the sofa every now and then.
The look of the robot mode is great, very scary. Problem is, to anyone who knows the Transformers, this isn't Starscream. Its ugly and clunky and Starscream was always quite sleek.
Overall, good toy but a poor version of a much loved character.
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