The Transformers: The Movie Review

 

Back when Transformers One was released it wasn't until a couple days later I realized I missed a huge opportunity to review this prior to Transformers One coming out. But apparently that was a blessing in disguise because the good folks at Hasbro decided to celebrate this movie's 40th anniversary but re-releasing it to theaters. Although I'm little bummed out because that big Fathom event will include new footage but I sadly won't be able to see it because that event isn't close by. Oh well, I can still celebrate the 40th anniversary by reviewing this anyways.

The Transformers: The Movie is an animated sci-fi action film based on the Transformers TV series and acts as a bridge between the show's second and third seasons. Production was done by Sunbow Productions, Marvel Productions (and yes, that is connected to Marvel Comics. This was an old production studio of theirs), and Toei Animation with De Laurentiis Entertainment acting as distributor. Nelson Shin directed while both Ron Friedman and Flint Dille wrote the screenplay. So if any of you 80's kids want to blame someone for traumatizing you those are the writers to go after. 😆

The story is, it's the year 2005, twenty-years after the second season of the show. The Decepticons have conquered the planet Cybertron but their leader Megatron still wants to kill all Autobots. His plan to invade Autobot City will lead to one final fight between him and Optimus Prime. But while this war is going on something far more evil is in space devouring entire planets. This evil is known as Unicron, and he has his sights set on destroying the one thing that can kill him, the Matrix of Leadership.

• Negatives

I've got nothing.

• Mix

The first slight issue is the tone. Now I liked that the filmmakers took the risk of making things a very dark compared to show's lighter tone. With the darker tone they were able to take risk and do more serious stuff with the material. You get that very serious vibe with moments like the opening Unicron scene, the battle at Autobot City, and the deaths. Oh boy the deaths. This was actually my second time watching and I was still shocked by how many characters straight up die in this. It's no wonder kids in the 80's were shocked and traumatized 😆. Poor kids thought they were in for a fun movie next thing they know they had to see their favorite Transformer die because they didn't buy enough of their toys. But with all that said sometimes the movie will give you tonal whiplash. One moment we'll see something brutal then the next moment the Autobots are dancing while Weird Al's Dare to be Stupid is playing in the background. No, for real, that last part actually happens. It's by far the weirdest part of the entire movie.

Then there's the animation quality. For the most part the animation is really good. Transformation sequences can have a fluid movements and there's lots of time when it feels like an anime. Although the latter shouldn't be too surprising considering Toei Animation was involved. But there are moments where characters can be very stiff.

• Positives

One praise I'll give is the pacing. Now if you know me then you know I'm not a full blown hater of the Michael Bay Transformers movies, but I do admit a lot of them have some slight pacing issues. Not the case here. This movie is a breeze to get through.

Then we have the music. Vince DiCola's score is pretty good. I especially loved the music when one of the major Autobots died. DiCola's score really set the tragic mood for that scene. But then we have the songs. You got the main staple song that being "The Touch" by Stan Bush, but my personal favorite is "Instruments of Destruction" by NRG. Sure the music is 80's as all hell but I think that adds to the movie's charm.

The last thing I'll credit is the voice acting. Peter Cullen despite his limited time as Optimus Prime still delivered, especially since this time around he was playing it straight so you get to hear more of a serious tone in his work. Then you have newcomers like Judd Nelson (if that name sounds familiar it's because he plays John Bender in The Breakfast Club) who brings out Hot Rod's youthful energy, swagger, and eventual growth. Robert Stack (probably best known to some as the later host of Unsolved Mysteries) gives a stiff, military authority, and slightly formal voice for Ultra Magnus. Which is perfect for that character because he's a good soldier but an imperfect leader. Leonard Nimoy gives Galvatron a colder, calculated menace, and a slightly contained madness. Lastly Orson Welles (best known for the ever classic Citizen Kane), in his final film role before he sadly passed away, was amazing as Unicron. He brings out Unicron as an ancient and terrifying destructive god. And the best part of his performance is Unicron sounds indifferent rather than a cartoonish villain.

This was a fun movie to watch. I think even with those slight flaws your experience watching the movie isn't gonna be ruined. I think the better aspects slightly help, just slightly.

My final rating is, Good.

Now you can come back on Saturday, Sept 19th, for my review of Zack Cregger's Resident Evil, but right now I want to be serious for a moment.

So as all of you Transformer fans know, on August 27th, news broke that Peter Cullen the voice of Optimus Prime had passed away.

It's sad to hear such a talented man is gone but worse than that it's sad to know a great man and a hero to many is no longer with us.

There's a quote at the end of Transformers: Age of Extinction that Optimus Prime said that's always been stuck in my head. This quote is now even more special and hits hard given Cullen's passing.

It goes, "Whenever you look to the stars, think of one of them as my soul."

I don't think I have the right to speak for every single fan, but we'll be doing just that Peter Cullen.

Rest in Peace.