2011 Flashback Review - Transformers (1986) Movie

[griffin]

I'm seeing if we can make Boxing day a commemorative day for the Original Transformers series and Movie, as it was the day of release of the 1986 Movie in Australia.

Yes, it has now been 25 years today since that Movie hit our big screens here... what are your thoughts on it, both now and then?

So if you have a chance over the Christmas long weekend, pop on the DVD/Video/laserdisc/digital copy etc, and post up what you think of it right now (after watching it), and what you thought of it the first time you saw it (and when that was).

[Jaisun]

This was the first ever movie I went to see with a friend without supervision (we were 6, so it was a big deal), and it has stuck with me so long. Although I didn't watch it today, I watched it 2 days ago, so it's still quite fresh in my mind. I'm not really a reviewer or critic, but as is, flaws and all, it is truly a staple in my existence. Yes, some may delve into it's animation/plot/continuity/physics/colour errors, but for a 6 year old TF fan seeing it on the bigscreen, it couldn't get any better (well, aside from an entire MISB G1 series landing in your lap (ouch!)). That is how I prefer to remember it, so I re-watch it with a pinch of salt, remembering that it is indeed 25 years old, it is indeed to advertise toys, and it is indeed one of my fondest memories.

[GoktimusPrime]

This was the first ever movie I went to see with a friend without supervision (we were 6, so it was a big deal),

Absolutely! I was a bit older and went with my brother and cousin (who was 3 and fell asleep during the film) - and we were supervised by my father. The first movie I was allowed to watch in a cinema without adult supervision was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!!

I should be able to find 80 min some time today to watch the movie (heh, ironic... just this morning I was talking to Ben Yee about TFTM on DVD )

[Jaisun]

The first movie I was allowed to watch in a cinema without adult supervision was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!!

Lols, that was my second unsupervised film outing XD Still puuurty cool in my memory bank, but not as cool as TFTM =o)

[griffin]

That's funny, as it was also my first "unsupervised" movie, as I went with a friend I had recently met, to a theatre in Ipswich that was about 10 minutes walk away from the motel we were staying at.
I guess that next level of independence in our childhoods helped make this particular movie more significant in our lives.

When I went to see it, I wasn't expecting anything spectacular, because I didn't even know it existed before my friend asked me about going to see it... and I think I may have been thinking it would just be an extra long regular episode.
Then again, the UK comic story "Target 2006" story may have been here by then (it was out around September in the UK, and the Movie was out here some 4 months after the US), so I may have been prepared for the new characters and setting.
I don't even think I was upset over Prime's death... I do remember that we were both just so amazed at what we had just experienced.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

I think I went to see it for my birthday. My Mum went with me as well. She says she was bored, as she believes that I made her see this and Mcahinemen and the Rock lords in the same week

I know I was upset at the death of Prime, but not enough to be too sad about it, especially since he always showed up in the early season TV cartoon repeats. However I must admit that my interest started dropping off as the Transformers galavanted about space. I didn't really get back in until Powermaster Op was about, so I guess there ya go, I was affected more than I thought...

I enjoy it still to be honest, I keep a copy on my laptop and put it on when at work. Rarely actually watching it, just litening. Kind of like Monty Python, doing my own impersonation of the characters as they speak.

When I sat down to watch it when I got the DVD (the longest break as I hadn't found it on video), I remember thinking "Wow, that's action right from the start to the end." I still think that now, the action never really lets up.

Sttill enjoy it now, more as an audio feature I guess though.

[GoktimusPrime]

A schoolmate of mine spoiled the whole story for me (at that age I didn't care about spoilers - I actually welcomed them!). I also remember there was that saturday morning cartoon show hosted by one of the Daddo brothers (Cameron?)... and they showed a preview sneak-peak of the scene where Galvatron is confronting Unicron... can't remember if they went and showed Unicron transforming or not, but I don't think they did.

I honestly don't remember hearing anyone crying when Optimus Prime died, but I definitely remember people gasping and giggling when Spike said, "Aw shit", and everyone burst out laughing when Slag said, "Excuse me!"

Never saw Battle of the Rock Lords in cinemas... there's no way my parents would've let me see both movies, and I think I made the right choice.

[griffin]

25 years ago today, the original (and for some, the best) Transformers Movie was released to Theatres in Australia. (and I feel so old, because I was one of the few lucky ones to see it at the Theatre during that original release)

With Boxing Day being the only verified release date for anything Transformers related in Australia, I'm wanting to see if we can make it a "Transformers Day" in this country.

I have also tried a few times to get theatres here interested in having the Movie screened, even as a one-off anniversary deal, but none have been interested.
So the next best thing is to watch it today, 25 years after seeing it for the first time waaaay back in 1986.



But before that, a flashback of when I first saw it.
After only just moving to Ipswich from Perth just a couple weeks, a friend I had recently met at the Motel who was the same age and was an even bigger fan of Transformers, suggested we go and see the Transformers Movie. I was like, there's a Transformers Movie? We were allowed to go, which was at a Theatre about 10 minutes walk away, and we were both blown away by all the action. We were both only 11, and we were just as excited by this movie as we were of our new-found independence (of adult supervision).
It wasn't until a number of years later that I saw it again on TV and on Video, and as soon as it was released on DVD, I bought it... actually, I bought it 3 times - each version was a different edit - the US version, the UK version (which was what we had at theatres here), and a hybrid version that combined the two versions to include the bits each one had that the other one didn't.
But that wasn't all... I also had to buy the soundtrack CD, because this movie was ahead of its time by having a soundtrack of "non-kiddy" songs on an animated movie. And it was so 80s with its sound, that much of it has been as timeless as the 80s genre, in terms of being able to play the CD and still nod (and sing) along with it.
The two songs by Stan Bush (The Touch & Dare), the two songs by Spectre General (Hunger & Nothin's gonna stand in our way), and even the Transformers song by Lion... all some of my favourite songs, ever.
Those songs, and the score by Vince DiCola, gave the movie a constant background of upbeat music, that complimented and heightened the excitement of the action, that was already there from start to finish.

So, back to present day. With a viewing of the Movie just an hour ago, I found myself still enjoying it, after all these years. I certainly don't watch it often any more - probably less than once a year - but I have seen it more times than I could care to guess, so knowing it almost word-for-word can make it a little less interesting (if you know exactly what is about to happen or be said, every minute of the movie).
I am amazed at how well the movie was written, considering it wasn't expected to be much more than an extended toy commercial. It manages to identify the main character roles, and stay true to them throughout the movie (as opposed to the three recent Transformers Movies, that has characters contradicting themselves with their personalities and character traits), not to mention being able to fulfil a perfect plot structure that has the hero characters progressively separated to the worst possible point, and then slowly regroup and carry out the climax of the story at the end. All the while, keeping the action happening as much as possible, and not be bogged down with too much dialogue or emotion.
Sure, there's sadness and joy, fear and humour... but the core theme of an action adventure is exactly what this movie achieves.
The turning point in the movie is what gets me the most, emotionally. We have the Autobots at their worst, spread out to the point of hopelessness, and then the Dinobots arrive (while Hot Rod and Kup are fighting off the Sharkticons on Quintessa). With the rock music playing in the back, and the Dinobots "saving the day", we being a momentum of all the separated Autobots regrouping, for their big final battle at the end of the Movie.
Which brings me to the other emotional part of the movie. Hearing Optimus announcing to us that Hot Rod was now Rodimus, and having Rodimus telling Galvatron that this was the end for him. The ultimate "saving the day" moment of the movie... making you feel that everything was going to be okay, and a happy ending was coming.
I guess most would expect a greater emotional moment during the Death of Optimus scene... but I don't think I was ever sad by it. Not sounding heartless. I just think that maybe I was already aware of the "changing of the guard" from the UK comics at that time (because the movie was released 4 months after America and UK), so the comics by then were already detailing the new characters and the future universe. Or maybe it was that "future universe" element that had me not worrying about the death, because it was 20 years into the future (the movie was set in 2005), and I would have felt that we still had 20 years of Optimus Prime stories before this movie "occurs" in 2005.

Animation errors aside (and this movie has a fair few), this movie had very detailed animation, of a standard that was higher than cartoons, or even animated movies, at that time. Just look at some of the screen shots of the the Movie (if you don't have a copy of it), and you can see how much detail was in every frame.
And going back on the plot element for a second, the climactic end portion of the movie is well directed... or written, as it follows a similar structure to the end of the Return of the Jedi - jumping between three subplots that are all related, but separate from each other. It keeps your mind actively watching what is going on, while also getting that extra level of satisfaction when all three subplots intertwine and merge into the final defeat of Unicron at the end.

The negative elements of this movie to non-fans would be the gruesomeness of some of the deaths and robot corpses (which traumatised a lot of the fans when they first saw it as kids), the "heavy" rock music for a young kids animated movie, and the inclusion of a couple of swear words, just so that the movie distributor could gain a PG rating in America (which was calculated as being a more profitable rating than G).

Well, after 25 years and dozens of viewings (probably at least 50 by now), I'm still rating this as a must-see film, by fans (new and old) if you haven't seen it yet.
And if you have seen it, see it again this weekend... to celebrate this quarter-century milestone of the Movie that helped give Transformers a Legacy that has lived on through to the present day - and I'm not just talking about the Traditions of Optimus Prime always dying or Megatron always turning into Galvatron.
It gave us fans of Transformers a significant benchmark (an Animated Movie) to hope Hasbro/Takara would one day replicate or exceed... and now they have, with a Live-Action Movie. And not just one, but three and counting.
Here's to the one that helped make all this possible... 25 years ago.

[Sam]

After all these years, the animated movie still remains one of my favourite films of all time.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

On the blurb on the back of one of my dvd releases, it states that the Movie has animation techniques that had never been used before. Anybody aware of which ones it is referring to?