The Transformers: The Movie (1986)

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.

Director:

Nelson Shin

Writer:

Ron Friedman

Stars:

Orson Welles, Robert Stack, Leonard Nimoy

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Norman Alden	...	Kranix (voice)
Jack Angel	...	Astrotrain (voice)
Michael Bell	...	Prowl / Scrapper / Swoop / Junkion (voice)
Gregg Berger	...	Grimlock (voice)
Susan Blu	...	Arcee (voice)
Arthur Burghardt	...	Devastator (voice)
Corey Burton	...	Spike / Brawn / Shockwave (voice)
Roger C. Carmel	...	Cyclonus / Quintesson Leader (voice)
Victor Caroli	...	Narrator (voice)
Regis Cordic	...	Quintesson Judge (voice) (as Rege Cordic)
Peter Cullen	...	Optimus Prime / Ironhide (voice)
Scatman Crothers	...	Jazz (voice)
Bud Davis	...	Dirge (voice)
Walker Edmiston	...	Inferno (voice) (scenes deleted)
Paul Eiding	...	Perceptor (voice)

Storyline

This theatrical movie based on the television series (which was also based on a popular multiform robot toyline) did not go over very well at the box office. The movie takes place in 2005, twenty years after the television series, and chronicles the efforts of the heroic Autobots to defend their homeworld Cybertron from the evil Decepticons. Both factions are seething with anger, and that hatred has blinded them to a hideous menace headed their way. That hideous menace is the colossal planet known as Unicron, who has been ready to consume anything that stands in its way. The only thing that can stop Unicron is the Autobot Matrix of Leadership, which is possessed by the Autobots and which the Decepticons, through Unicron's orders, plan to take away from them.

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Plot Keywords:

optimus prime character | megatron character | weapons fire | autobot | decepticon | 

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Taglines:

Escape into fantasy this summer, into the incredible rock and roll adventure.

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Genres:

Animation | Action | Adventure | Family | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA Japan

Language:

English Japanese

Release Date:

8 August 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

Transformers: The Movie

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,779,559, 10 August 1986, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$5,849,647

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sunbow Productions,Marvel Productions,Hasbro

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Gears is seen next to Ironhide for one scene at the movie's beginning. He had lines but they were deleted. However, he is still listed in the ending credits.

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Goofs

In the close-up shot of Rodimus Prime running towards his companions, the green lighting effect behind him is mismatched; it is shifted a bit to the side, overlapping parts of Rodimus, with some of the background still visible in his other side.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Kranix: Arblus, look! It's Unicron!

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Alternate Versions

The original German version of the film was released in 1994 on television, and acted as a sort of pilot movie to the "Generation 2" recut of the Transformers animated series. The movie's title was changed to Kampf um Cybertron, or Battle for Cybertron in English. The second German dubbing was later produced for a cheap, bargain-bin DVD release. This version became infamous for its amateurish voice acting, its numerous translation errors and the stilted dialogue that rendered almost every line as a word-for-word translation of the original, regardless of whether the results made sense in German or not. For example, Megatron's "Die, Autobots!" yell became "Dead Autobots!".

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Connections

Spoofed in Out of Jimmy's Head: Cartoons Drive (2008)

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Soundtracks

The Death of Optimus Prime
Performed by Vince DiCola
Produced by Vince DiCola and Ed Fruge

User Reviews

Either tap in or get lost. You'll be missing a great film if you don't though.

I'm biased. There's no two ways about it. They could have gotten two six years olds to draw the cels, a troop of monkeys to write the dialogue and then printed the film upside down and full of static and I'd still have loved it (if anybody out there says 'Didn't they do that anyway?', I'll thump them.) I am one of a dying but suprisingly populous breed: the Tranformers fan, and to me this film is like the Holy grail.

If you think I'm going to get all gooey and teary-eyed then go into nostalgia overload then forget it because I'm not. I say this with a straight face and a critic's eyes: this is a good film. It may be a two hour toy commercial. It may have made zip at the box offce. It may get bad press from idiotic fossils that just aren't prepared to make the effort to tap into the universe the film is set in. But the fact remains that to anybody that's grown up with Transformers, this film is marvelous. Why? Because it does it right! The characters act right. The style is right. It's all done so perfectly that no right minded Transfan could possibly complain. How many Batman fans (and I mean real Batman fans) can honestly say the same thing about their film franchise.

It's easy to get preachy about the violence in a film aimed at kids. It gives the moral majority something to do other than examine each Disney film for subliminal messages. I found it refreshing to actually see this kind of film refuse to pull its punches. It's an action film without tapping into the over-sentimental gushy stuff that usually turns kids off anyway. This is a war. Death and violence are part of it. Will it effect the children that watch it. Maybe, but I don't know which way. I saw first saw the film when I was 7. I saw all of my favourites get blown apart. I saw my absolute, total, complete and utter hero, the person that personified all that was good and noble to me (you know who I mean) get killed saving his friends in an ultimate display of bravery and courage. I cried. My mum cried. I still do. I think that one moment made me more afraid and ashamed of death and destruction than a dozen Private Ryans.

The animation is top notch, there's an amazing soundtrack and the voice talent is good too. Not perfect, but Nimoy's portrayal of Galvatron is incredible. Espicially when you consider that it was probably done as a 'For the money not the art' job. The script isn't bad either. It has a host of sharp, quotable one-liners that would put Bruce Willis to shame ("I've got better things to do tonight than die.") The story is a rip off of Star Wars but what isn't and who cares? It's cool. The animation is superb. I said that earlier but I really do believe that it's better than Disney at some points. Certainly better than the average output at the time. It doesn't compare with today's graphics but it hasn't aged badly at all. The sountrack can sound a little too cheesy at times but the energy and verve of the film is there and it backs up the visuals with ease.

In the end it won't matter. This film won't mean a thing to anybody that doesn't know who Jazz, Bumblebee and Soundwave were to begin with. They won't watch it. They won't like it. And you know what? We don't care. Those of us that can name all five mebers of the Stunticons know better. They gave us what we wanted. And we remain eternally grateful.