

From what I remember of his performance, he felt more like a military commander than Primal or G1 Prime did. From what I remember, he did a pretty good job as Prime in the Unicron Trilogy. Garry Chalk: He does a great job as Optimus Primal, but that's not really the focus of this thread. It's just too bad that he was stuck playing an Optimus who wasn't particularly interesting. While he's obviously taking cues from Cullen, he does a good job at making the role his own (especially since, as the first Optimus Prime voice actor after Cullen, he was facing an obvious uphill battle). Having sat through Siege and Earthrise, I would now like to apologize to him for thinking that. Neil Kaplan: I used to think his performance in RID 2001 was too much of a Peter Cullen impression. I just find his voice relaxing for some reason. I still like to listen to his voice in those shows, but he has one of those voices that I would probably enjoy listening to read the phone book. His performances in Prime and RID 2015 are rather more underwhelming, although given his performances in the movies, I suspect that that may be linked in part to vocal direction for those shows. He emotes! His lines may be a tad uncharacteristic of Optimus at times ("Give me your face!"), but he does emote and generally gives a good performance. I also find him to be enjoyable in the WFC/FOC video games and, surprisingly enough given my general dislike for them, the live-action movies.
TRANSFORMERS ENERGON OPTIMUS PRIME VOICE ACTOR MOVIE
I also like his performance in the 1986 movie, which was one of the few tonally appropriate things about that movie (I love the movie, but it has mood whiplash problems to the nth degree), even if it eventually led to a lot of the problems that seem to be endemic to the modern Optimus Prime. He's the team dad and a respected leader, obviously, but he's not the Stoic Hero of the Universe that he would become later. It's remarkable to watch G1's first two seasons and see just how.normal he is. Peter Cullen: His performance in G1 is well-renowned in the fandom, and for good reason, though I will concur that Hasbro seems to have forgotten a lot of what made his performance so memorable. I honestly think retiring Peter from the role is for the best, G1 nostalgia be damned.ĩ) Jake Tillman (WFC) - No redeeming value whatsoever. Basically limited to "epic stoic ultimate leader", and it's actually painful to listen to. More of a military leader than G1, but still retains some of the paternal feel.Ħ) Jon Bailey - Serviceable but doesn't really make the role his own.ħ) Jake Tillman (Cyberverse) - Puts in a decent performance but not really memorableĨ) Peter Cullen (modern) - Lacks the character his G1 portrayal, whether its loss of vocal range due to age, or poor direction. You get the feeling that he doesn't quite feel up to the task, but is putting up a front while doing his best to rise to the occasion.ĥ) Garry Chalk (UT) - Hampered by terrible dub scripts in Armada & Energon, but still managed to bring energy and character to the role.

Compassionate, authoritative but still one of the guys.Ģ) Garry Chalk (BW) - excellent emotional range, captures the idea of a born leader on his first command excellently.ģ) David Kaye (Ani) - Similar strengths as Chalk's Primal, but with a bit more uncertainty blended in.Ĥ) Neil Kaplan (RiD) - Emulated Cullen, but a touch naïve. 1) Peter Cullen (G1) - More of a team dad than a military leader, which is perfectly in keeping with the intent of the character.
