When Transformers: The Movie premiered almost 40 years ago, I was 11 years old and not realizing that these were the animated representations of the last toys I would play with before I learned how to ride a skateboard and leave toys behind. But there in that theater I was enraptured seeing my favorite Autobots and Decepticons go from battling it out on my living room TV to the big screen, and in some cases, literally battling it out to the death. Upon rewatching the 1986 animated film, I was fascinated by what entertained me as a kid back then. I mean this movie has fishing by a lakeside, an elder telling war stories, and a court holding a trail. How could I possibly enjoy this? Oh that’s right, it had robots doing the fishing (and a kid riding a hoverboard 3 years before Back to the Future II), telling the stories to Dinobots, and that trial ended in a battle with Sharkticons. This was indeed a great time in the Transformers lexicon. I wonder why there was never a Transformer named Lexi-Con? But I digress.
By this point in the animated series which was only just over two years-old, and young audiences had grown to love these robots-in-disguise. Every kid I knew had their favorites, (mine were Bubblebee, Grimlock, Mirage and Skyfire/Jetfire) and going into the movie, seeing them projected on the big screen was even better we could all imagine. The animation studios Sunbow and Toei had way more money to play with than they had for the TV show. The opening alone with Unicron (Orson Welles) is very anime looking. The expensive kind and it’s all on the screen, there were more lines, more shading, more vivid colors. This was a real life movie. Then the murders began…
As the Autobots attempt to make their last stand to take back their home planet of Cybertron from the evil Decepticons, that wicked cassette tape turned robotic bird Lazerbeak, intercepts their transmission and the Decepticons attack an Autobot shuttle killing, yes killing Ironhide, Ratchet, Brawn and Prowl. You know they are dead as the light in their eyes go out and smoke comes out of their mouths. What’s going on? How can they be killing off these TV heroes? Being young, I did not understand marketing, and didn’t bat an eyelash at all the new characters that were front and center on the movies poster. It was time for a new toy line, time for new blood, which meant spilling the old blood on a giant screen presented to horrified children all over the country.
20 minutes into the film, we witness the final face-off between Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) and Megatron (Frank Welker) “One shall stand, and one shall fall.” as Prime declares in his legendary voice. The fight is filled with cool moves, multiple weapons, and epic shots. The battle leaves them both on the edge of death. The Decepticons retreat as the Autobots deal with the fallout of losing their heroic leader. The death of Optimus Prime felt so final, though they would revive him later in the show due to the fan backlash. But there in that time, in that theater, I cried. The remaining Autobots led by Ultra Magnus (Robert Stack) who now possesses the matrix of leadership, learn of a new threat to Cybertron: Unicron. As Megatron and several of his minions are left to the vastness of space, they come upon the planet eater who offers them new bodies in exchange for destroying the matrix. Megatron now transformed into Galvatron (Leonard Nimoy) hunts down the remaining Autobots. In a very Empire Strikes Back way, our heroes split up and have their own adventures all leading to the Death Star like Unicron where they battle once again, but not to the death this time, because these characters need to make it to Season 3 of the show.
Despite getting a little long in the middle, Transformers: The Movie still holds up with its strong opening half hour, and its solid final act. The hairband songs and synth score fits with the movie involving giant metal robots punching each other. Director Nelson Shin bings a magnificence to these characters, by lighting them in beautiful ways, and having them brush up against the screen to show the detail of these complex machines. And Wally Burr as the voice director brings out some great performances from the younger cast like Judd Nelson (Hot Rod) and Susan Blu (Arcee), as well as the aging group like Welles and Scatman Crothers (Jazz) both of whom would pass away shortly after they recorded their voices for the film.
It’s still a great film with a tremendous history in the realm of animation and television. Even though these classic characters would get a less than stellar run in the live action Michael Bay films. I am happy that the franchise has seemed to have found it’s footing. And with the release of the latest film entry, the animated Transformers One these robots-in-disguise will hopefully find a new audience that will discover this classic film and realize what I knew years ago. Hoverboards were awesome before Marty McFly discovered them.
