The Transformers — The Movie Review
The Autobots & Decepticons Take War to the Big Screen in 1986 Film
By the late 1980s, Hasbro's Transformers franchise had become incredibly popular with the young boy demographic. Like with most tv shows of that era, the full-length feature movie was made to gain even more profit off the toyline that went with it.
Set in the year 2005, The Transformers: The Movie is bigger and more epic than the original children's cartoon.
The Autobots' war against the Decepticons has carried over for many years and new reinforcements have been stationed around Earth (consisting of Luke Skywalker-esque Hot Rod, old-timer Kup, cautious Ultra Magnus, female Arcee, tough guy Springer and speedy Blurr).
However, their war proves to be a minor dispute when real evil decides to rear its ugly head. Little do the Decepticons or Autobots know that Unicron, a gigantic planet-eating Transformer that bears a striking resemblance to the Death Star from Star Wars, is up to no good, seeking the Autobot Matrix of Leadership so he can wreak havoc across the galaxies.
The Transformers: The Movie is an Archetypal Tale of Good Versus Evil
The first noticeable thing about The Transformers: The Movie is its decent animation compared to the tv show. A few goof-ups are evident (like a few character miscolorings, characters being sized wrong and much, much more) and it's not exactly Disney-level quality, but it's still miles ahead of the choppy, low-budget look of the cartoon.
Another well-animated part of the movie is the epic opening scene. Dark, cool backdrops work nicely in contrast to the neon-colored planets, and crumbling structures bring out the sheer terror and pandemonium when planets and moons are literally sucked up by Unicron.
Perhaps the most brutal scene is where the second-in-command Decepticon warrior Starscream is violently murdered by a recently-resurrected version of Megatron, the Decepticon leader (now named Galvatron). He is literally incinerated into ashes right on the spot during his coronation as the new leader.
The sound department really worked hard to make sure the characters had decent voicework to fit their personalities. Big names like Orson Welles (Unicron), Judd Nelson (Hot Rod) and Leonard Nimoy (Galvatron) were used to give the film star quality, probably in hopes to draw in a larger audience at the time of its release.
The cheesy '80s synth rock soundtrack is very dated, but it still fits the movie well considering the era it was released. Since there's a song by Weird Al Yankovic featured in it, that makes it even cooler.
For the most part, it's still better than the atrociously bad '07 movie's soundtrack (not the '07 score, though. It's brilliant).
The script also has some memorable quotes, particularly Optimus Prime's "One shall stand, one shall fall", which was even reused in the '07 movie.
While Transformers is a Fun Film, it Has Numerous Flaws
The main problem with Transformers has to do with new characters that aren't nearly as endearing as the old ones from the 1984 cartoon. Daniel Witwicky is the biggest contribution to this issue since he is nearly completely useless until the end where he saves his heroic father Spike.
Unfortunately, characters like Blurr also add to this complication. The writers just didn't do anything with him and he is really just pasted into the movie for the sake of being in it. He is extremely out of place, but this could've easily been avoided if the writers had just made him more useful.
He could have used his speed to battle some of the faster Decepticons and take them out all on his own. Hot Rod, Galvatron and Ultra Magnus are really the only characters who had purposes or good uses in the movie, and this is unacceptable.
Arcee is not going to appeal to many girls unless they love playing with Barbie dolls. She is just way too stereotypical, especially because she's so gentle, delicate and pink in color.
A girl Transformer is a good idea, but she should've been a tougher character like Metroid's Samus Aran or even Ripley from Alien. Plus, the pink needed to go and darker colors should've been used in its place. That might have actually made boys (and maybe even some girls) buy a female action figure.
Too many well-liked characters are killed off with little to no reason, not to mention they were taken out way too early in the film. Death scenes can be powerful if done correctly, but Optimus Prime should've at least lived until the end of the movie, then committed an act of self-sacrifice.
Not only does the Matrix of Leadership just show up from out of nowhere to choose the next leader of the Autobots, but Unicron's backstory is nonexistent. His origin was just never explained and viewers aren't really given a good motive for him wanting to destroy everything and gain the Matrix from Ultra Magnus.
The movie is not newcomer-friendly at all because it does nothing to make casual viewers care about the characters since the movie jumps right in to where the series left off. They will be forced to watch the cartoon to really understand why Optimus Prime, Ironhide, Wheeljack, Megatron and Starscream are so loved by fans.
The biggest issue is that the movie is just one gigantic toy advertisement. That's fine, but it should've done more to cover up all the previous flaws so it would disguise itself better.
The Transformers: The Movie Tries to be Great, but Falls Just Shy of the Mark
While The Transformers: The Movie is an enjoyable experience, it has too many problems and inconsistencies to be considered a solid film.
If more had been done with the characters and storyline, it could've easily been a fantastic work of animated art, but it seems as if the writers put as much heart into the film as they did lack luster episodes of the cartoon. This reviewer expected more from the movie that fans claim is the best of the bunch.
This movie should only be recommended to die-hard Transformers fans.
The Transformers: The Movie
Starring Leonard Nimoy, Orson Welles, Judd Nelson and Robert Stack
Written by Ron Friedman
Directed by Nelson Shin
Running time: 84 min
Rating: 2/5
These Disguised Robots are More Than Meets the Eye
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