Transformers: The Animated Movie [Special Edition]

We have been back to the 80s a few times over the last few years, including the current fluro experience overtaking the club scene… The actual 80s were a time when men were men with their big hair and spandex pants, when power rock ballads were actually cool and didn’t have an electro beat blasting underneath, and Bumblebee was a yellow Volkswagen Beetle. The 1986 anime version of Transformers: The Movie will send you right back into the action and romance of the 80s, igniting the spark for ‘Robots in Disguise’.

For those of you too young to have experienced the original frenzy around the original Transformers cartoons and movie, the characters were actually created as a spin off from toys released by Hasbro in 1984. Hasbro developed a line of characters from the successful Diaclone and Microchange Japanese toy line, releasing them in the USA. Around the same time Hasbro worked with Marvel Comics writers to produce an animated TV series and several comic lines. The reign of The Transformers had begun.

Transformers: The Movie takes place roughly 20 years subsequent to the events of the second season of the TV series, serving to bridge into the third season. The story follows the rampage of an artificial planet called Unicron (voiced by Orson Welles, his final film). Unicron is determined to wipe out anything that stands in its way, in particular the Autobot matrix of leadership, held by their leader Optimus Prime. The ongoing battle between the Autobots, the Decepticons and Unicron take them on adventures around the universe, including the Planet of Junk (with a classic description; “this must be the junk capital of the universe!”) ending in a climatic battle above the surface above Cybertron.

Several new characters are introduced, and several others retired, most notably the death of Optimus Prime! But don’t worry kids, he comes back alive series 3. The animated movie also includes an upgraded Megatron (called Galvatron, voiced by Leonard Nimoy of Star Trek fame), Ultra Magnus (the new leader of the Autobots), the Junkticons, the Quintessons and several Autobot upgrades.

The appeal of this movie is manifold. Robots and warfare are obvious pluses for excitement-hungry kids, but there was more to it than that. The classic battle between good (the Autobots) and evil (the Decepticons) brought a sense of romantic, grand-scale idealism to our small lives. The film was all that and more. With its messianic themes, theatrically quotable lines (e.g. “Bah weep graaagnah wheep ni ni balm.”), multiple betrayals, bizarre humour and an eclectic cast, the movie was mechanoid melodrama at its best.

One of the most memorable features of this film is the 80s soundtrack. I can absolutely guarantee to you that you will be hunting around on eBay for a copy of it after watching this DVD. From the hard rock of ‘Transformers – Robots In Disguise’ opening credits, to the inspirational ‘The Touch’ by Stan Rush, you will be up and around your front room air guitaring like a madman!

One of the noticeable things about the soundtrack is that it pretty much plays all of the way through the film, something rarely experienced these days. It really adds to the atmosphere and drama. A perfect example of this is when Hotrod and Cup are trapped on a planet controlled by the Quintessons (a very old race who have enslaved another race for their evil purposes). The two Autobot heroes are deemed guilty of trespassing and plunged into a pool of killer robots, cue the music change from calm and relaxing to ‘Nothin’s Gonna Stand In Our Way’ by Spectre General, a cheesy almost thrash metal classic and the perfect accompaniment to one hell of a battle.

The special addition of this film introduces several featurettes, including both fan and film makers commentary. The DVD also features TV spots and commercials for both the movie and the toys, including several trippy Japanese ones. Scramble City, a new episode of Transformers, has been included and it gives a bit of background to Ultra Magnus and why he can all of a sudden take over the leadership of the Autobots. Notably, the DVD has been re-mastered to widescreen and also had a sound upgrade that adds to what was already an absolute cult classic. Don’t underestimate this movie, there is defiantly more to it than meets the eye!

Plot: 4/5 – Morally just, classic battle between good and evil, tear jerking loss – What more do you need!

Soundtrack: 5/5 – I cannot stop raving on about this soundtrack, worth buying buy itself

Re-Watchability: 4/5 – I have had the original movie for over 20 years and still watch it regularly

Extras: 3/5 – A bit of let down, but the commentary and music videos are an absolute cack.

Overall: 5/5 – One of the best movies to have ever been released, if there’s something that should be filling you Christmas stocking this Christmas, this is it!

You need to be logged in to add comments... Login Now

There are 0 user comments