Sadly Over-hyped

People are voting emotionally.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

I need to get the fact out of the way that I grew up with Transformers and this film too so revisiting this was quite an exciting ride. This review is coming from a fan of the franchise by the way and why I believe this movie is significant to all of the Transformers fans (including myself). This movie was rather controversial to the fans of the show when it released. The sole reason for this movie being made was to kill off much of the main cast and progress in development with some of the original characters so that the show would be prepared for the third season. This results in lots of the main characters being wiped out within the first 20 minutes; including Optimus Prime himself. However, what the company didn't realise was that people had become attached to these characetrs and therefore the film received negative reviews for how it disposed of many characters they had been previously building up in the show. I believe that this is a movie that gets better with age. As I said before, people were critical of the film at the time of release due to what it did with the main characters, Optimus Prime especially. His death was so controversial that in the UK DVD release it included a narration at the end stating that 'Optimus Prime will return'. Thankfully on the new blu ray release it is the original without anything added as people now know that these characters lived on to this day and weren't just forgotten about; Optimus Prime plays as big a role as he did back then, possibly even bigger at the moment. Now into the film itself. I've got to say that I thought the voice performances were great, it may be because these are the ones I've came to know but every single one was unique, the ones that stood out to me were Peter Cullen as Optimus (I loved him as usual, despite his role being very small), Leonard Nimoy (Spock himself) as Galvatron (the reincarnation of Megatron) and also none other than Orson Welles in his final film role as the villain Unicron. I really liked the animation which was always bright and appealing and very impressive for the time, with them needing to animate battles, transformations and whatnot. The character designs were also very creative and much more appealing of those nowadays. The thing I believe makes this film unique is that it's just an animation from the 80s. It really has an 80s feel; not very serious (even though it does have dark moments), LOTS of 80s music, cheesy sound effects and just plain fun. It's exactly what you'd expect from an 80s animation film, I guess the critics at the time were probably expecting more. I respect this film for what it is as it was just trying to be a fun animation film and not the greatest thing in the world. This film was also different to the series and had a different, darker feel to it. Obviously it shows that many characters are in fact vulnerable and shows some of the Autobots as a group of survivors basically rather than an army which shows them in a state of more peril and that the army has met a foe more powerful than them. It also shows a threat to both the Autobots and Decepticons which makes for a different type of villain. Overall, I'd say this is a love it or hate it film; if you're a Transformers fan, you'll likely love this. However, if you share many of the same opinions as the critics then you'll probably hate it and I can easily see why someone would hate this film to be honest. However, I can at least say that you should watch this instead of The Last Knight or any of the Michael Bay Transformers films any day. 7.5/10 Fun fact: this movie takes place in 2005. Wish we'd seen some REAL Transformers by then. No, the Michael Bay ones don't exist.

For the toy company of Hasbro, one of their most successful cartoon TV adaptations and iconic staples among many children are the transformers robots. Who knew that such a simple idea of a robot that could transform into item that we are familiar with everyday could be so entertaining? To many, the TV series is what made the toy line even more fun for people because at that point, they had characters with personalities and backstories that made them somewhat relatable to their viewing counterparts. Twenty years later or so action director Michael Bay got a hold of the rights turned it into even more of a phenomenon, spawning sequel after sequel. While seeing how popular the concept had become it's important to take note that the "robots in disguise" characters originally had their own animated movie two years after its official TV airing. With that said, expectations should be different for this viewing. The problem is even with a different set of expectations; the end result is disappointing. There is effort here, but it lies among a pile of questions.The story takes place in the midst of war between the Autobots lead by Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) and the Decepticons lead by Megatron (Frank Welker). During this period they are interrupted by a massive alien planet known as Unicron (Orson Welles) looking to destroy anything with life and can only be stopped by the matrix of leadership. The premise at first is acceptable but once immersed into the conflict all buildup is lost. Penned by Ron Friedman (who wrote for a lot of other TV shows), this feature length film was actually a connecting point between seasons 2 and 3 of The Transformers TV show. This is the immediate problem for several viewers. For those who never saw the TV show, are now required to see seasons 1 and 2 before even thinking about viewing this movie. On top of that, there are numerous characters listed and seen throughout the run time but yet are not mentioned, given backstories to or even speak dialog. This makes it all the more difficult for a viewer who is not familiar with the TV show.Then there's the whole plot, which originally stated seemed easy to follow. However as the viewer watches, they will notice that for Unicron's motivations and background go untouched. Why does Unicron want to destroy all life and where did he come from? Why does he destroy his own kind? Even the plot point of the matrix of leadership isn't very clear. How does it keep Unicron from doing its business? All these questions go unanswered in the form of convenient contrivances. Perhaps this information was given prior in the TV show? Again though, how would this win over new viewers if they've never seen the show? This lack of exposition can make the viewing feel quite empty. Nonetheless there are still some elements that provide enough saving grace to keep this movie at an average level. One of the more noticeable things is for anyone who saw Michael Bay's live-action franchise before this, they will at least be able to point out any of the characters they've seen before but in their 80s version.Another positive is the voice-actors cast for the characters. Of the most popular you can't go wrong with is Peter Cullen who will always be Prime and Frank Welker who is practically anybody and anything else. There are also vocal appearances for Grimlock, one of the dinobots (Gregg Berger), Shockwave (Corey Burton), Jazz (Scatman Crothers), Bumblebee (Dan Gilvezan), Starscream (Chris Latta), Blurr (John Moschitta Jr.), Hot Rod (Judd Nelson), Galvatron (Leonard Nimoy), Ultra Magnus (Robert Stack) and Kup (Lionel Stander). But the voice that stands out the most of this bunch is none other than the voice of the late Orson Welles. Although it was reported that Welles hated his role, the magnitude of his voice-work at which it is used for the massive planet destroyer is gleefully astounding. Welles voice is so deep and booming that it matches the look and presence of this memorable character with ease. Imagine if Welles voiced a character today? Holy cow.Helping at least make what's left of this product somewhat enjoyable is the overall visual design and animation. Directing this movie was Nelson Shin whose main expertise is being an animation director. So although he wasn't heavily involved in the actual steps of animation, his supervision was still critical. Other animators like Satoshi Urushihara (Akira (1988)) also worked on this project and most of the animation looks great. The entire look of the film has a very anime inspired feel to it, making the detailing on a lot of the backgrounds and close up shots look very intricate. Lastly, the musical score composed by Vince DiCola is actually well put together. Although he tried his best to score Rocky IV (1985) as his first attempt, his style just didn't match. Here however, DiCola feels like a better fit because of his reliance on synth musical instruments. It centers on robots so why not? Also Stan Bush's "Touch" single is quite the catchy song. It rings all the more 1980s to anyone looking for a blast from the past.It's not the movie some fans of the newer films may expect it to be. If you never followed the TV show then it will be confusing to understand much of the plot devices, extra characters and their motivations. This is where it fails. Yet even with that, it's hard not to enjoy the anime-style detailed animation, appropriate electronic musical score and respectable voice cast, including a final stoic performance from the late Orson Welles.

The Transformers The Movie is a loud attempt to reboot the series, but destroyed the originality and spirit of the original show. SPOILERS: The Transformers Movie manages to kill off almost every notable character from the show in the first 30 minutes. Actually, the Death count in this children's movie is so enormously high, it's insane. To top things off, Optimus Prime (The Flagship Character of the Franchise)is killed before the plot really gets going, a choice that haunted the franchise for years to come. It's completely obvious that the filmmakers and studio execs wanted to eliminate as many characters as possible so that they could sell new ones for new toys. In this way the film is defining, as it shaped the series for better or worse, but at the same time completely destroyed it.

The Autobots must stop a colossal planet consuming robot who goes after the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. At the same time, they must defend themselves against an all-out attack from the Decepticons.One of the odd quirks about cartoons in the 1980s was the use of various shows to sell toys. "Masters of the Universe", for example, was notorious for making toys first and introducing them as cartoons after. According to director Nelson Shin, the decisions on which Transformers characters to include or kill off in the movie were made by Hasbro, the toy company. "They created the story using characters that could best be merchandised for the film. Only with that consideration could I have freedom to change the storyline." And yet, within that restraint, Shin has created an iconic film."Transformers: The Movie" is arguably the greatest cartoon movie of the 1980s. First of all, it features some of the most iconic characters of the decade, who have a longevity that continues more than thirty years later. The only others who can claim that are, maybe, the characters from My Little Pony. And second, the voice cast is epic. Even in an age when the word "epic" is overused, this is an epic cast: Orson Welles, Judd Nelson, Leonard Nimoy, Eric Idle, Robert Stack. Today, an A-list cast is not unusual in cartoons, but can any compete with these icons?What's more, the movie remains memorable years after viewing it because of some oddities. We have a kid's movie with the "S-word" being dropped. Just one, and at a very appropriate time, but who decided that was a good idea? Even more strange is the prominent use of Weird Al's "Dare to be Stupid" on the soundtrack. This is a strange song for any movie, but one about battling robots? This makes no sense.In honor of the 30th anniversary, Shout! Factory is offering the film on blu-ray with some very nice bonus features in September 2016. They have ported over previous features, such as the audio commentary with director Nelson Shin, story consultant Flint Dille and star Susan Blu (Arcee). But we also have "Transformers: The Restoration" showcasing the new 4K upgrade, and a brand new documentary with interviews from Flint Dille, cast members Gregg Berger (Grimlock), Susan Blu, Neil Ross (Springer), Dan Gilvezan (Bumblebee), singer / songwriter Stan Bush, composer Vince DiCola and others. A must-have? Heck yeah!