And I say this while fully admitting that many things that I LOVE, are in fact not very good (and that conversely there are lots of truly excellent things that I just don't appreciate). In fact, I'd say the true measure of "taste" is in being able to recognize this. The world would be a better place if people were more aware of the distinction, instead of equating their personal tastes with an overarching assessment of "quality". I think "preference" and "objective quality" are (or should be) VERY separate things. It's like comparing McDonald's to an authentic bistro with a master chef. which explains why so many absolute crap things in this world are also so popular. People often have terrible taste, and give almost no thought to the things they like in life, or why they like them. The truth is, it's NOT a popularity contest. well, that has almost NOTHING to do with "most liked". as in most accomplished, appropriate, sophisticated, effective, etc. You don't get Tom Hanks to replace James Earl Jones for Darth Vader, y'know?Īs for first vs best, and best vs popular.įirst isn't always best, but when it sets a massive paradigm for the character, I think it's fair to say that it becomes the benchmark against which later versions are judged.Īnd "best". If you want that kind of Prime, you go with someone who can do that kind of voice. but for me, none of them convey the confidence, warm reassurance and soulful humility of Cullen's Prime. Some people like their young, flawed Optimus figures. Now, I can appreciate people liking Animated Optimus or BW Optimus as their "favourite" Primes, but as has been pointed out, they really ARE different characters in almost every sense, and they deserve different voices. one who was able to wallow in his hammy vaudevillian excess and still remain convincing. Burton's BW Megatron, on the other hand, was a great character. He never felt right to me (in that sense, Leonard Nimoy's Galvatron was a fantastic shift in the '86 movie). I have no such nostalgic attachment to Welker's Megatron, whose voice was always so irritatingly raspy and carried so little gravitas. You could chalk that up to nostalgia, but I think it's actually a mark of quality as well. and in all honesty, he has the deep sonorous voice that makes it easy.īy all accounts, Welker in his prime was a superlative voice wizard with an incredible range, but Cullen had a voice (and a character in that voice) that no other Optimus actor has managed (or perhaps attempted). Cullen took inspiration from the iconic frontier heroes, and blended his approach into a resonant, credible patriarch, mature yet vigorous, forceful but kind, dramatic yet earthy. it is a function of his natural talents and performance. However, Cullen is, for all intents and purposes, the definitive Optimus Prime. just like artists, screen actors and musicians, they have a period when they are truly at their peak, and usually decline later in their careers when they aren't as "hungry". It's also possible that Cullen's grown too comfortable and complacent in his character in his later roles. The specific recording and filtering in the sound design can make the difference between a character who sounds lame and one who sounds GREAT. The voice editing and sound mixing on the Energon Trilogy for example was terrible, and the dead metallic hollow echo that has been used for "robot voices" in so many series sounds so much less distinct than the vocal processing that was used in the G1 cartoon. Also, even post-production can play a role. Okay, from what I'm seeing here, MOST of us agree that Cullen's work on TFPrime has been less than stellar, and that a lot of that can be laid at the scriptwriter and voice director's feet.
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