The Energon Pub

With today marking 30 years since the release of The Transformers: The Movie, the fine folks at Shout! Factory (from whom you may Preorder the upcoming Blu-Ray release of the movie by clicking here) posed a question: how did this movie capture a special place in the hearts of millions and kids of the 80s? We'll explore the answer to this by carefully looking at the characters, themes, and imagery of the movie with a bit of input from the Seibertron staff along the way.


Transformers has always been about its characters, not merely robotic automations as seen in other media, but rather fully fleshed out individuals with distinct personalities and stories. The Transformers: The Movie continued this tradition and made new room in the hearts of fans for the characters it introduces even as it takes away some beloved favorites.


This movie introduces around a dozen more icons to an already robust mythos. Hot Rod, Galvatron, Cyclonus, Springer, Kup, Scourge, and even characters that didn't get toys at the time like Arcee, Unicron, and the Quintessons all brought something new to the table. A cavalier Autobot? Not a brand new idea, but never had children seen that element within an Autobot destined for leadership. A sleek futuristic car mode tricked out with flames and attitude to spare and you've got a character designed to capture the imagination of a young audience. For those looking for the stately authority figure, another Autobot introduced by the movie, Ultra Magnus, was around to pick up the slack. Forum Administrator Burn offers his personal story about how Ultra Magnus made him a Transformers fan for life:

Burn wrote:The year was 1986, and The Transformers: The Movie was released on Boxing Day here in Australia. I was 10 years old. I remember going during the day to see it as this could very well have been the very first movie I got to see on my own. It was at "The Airdome Theatre", one of those 'old style' movie theatres with canvas seats, thick red drapes, and even a balcony area. Very old school. (This theatre would be demolished a few years later and the town has been left without a full sized theatre since.)

So there I was, 10 years old, on summer break. I went into the theatre as a burgeoning fan of The Transformers, and I came out an even bigger fan. Oh sure there was that traumatizing moment when Optimus died. But then, there was Ultra Magnus. "ULTRA MAGNUS IS AWESOME!" is all I could think right then. I left that theatre on a high and walked around the corner and up the street a bit to a newsagent, going straight to the comics section and that's where I found it: Marvel UK Transformers #74.

That began my collecting of the Marvel UK comics, which also had a tremendous influence on my life. So on the same day so many years ago, not only had I walked out of the theatre after witnessing what I considered to be the greatest movie ever, but I also became a comic book fan.

Just a few weeks ago, my girlfriend, who is a major Studio Ghibli fan sat me down to begin what my introduction to Studio Ghibli movies, "My Neighbour Totoro". It was one of the first Studio Ghibli movies she saw as a child and wanted to share that with me. So we watched it, and I decided that it would only be fair that I show her The Transformers. She'd never seen it before. She sat there watching, listening some of the greatest lines in cinema history ("Why throw away your life so recklessly?", "One shall stand, one shall fall", "Their defenses are broken, let the slaughter begin", "Megatron must be stopped, no matter the cost"), and it was just wonderful to be able to share something special in return.

To say this movie that is 30 years old had an influence on me would be an understatement. It turned me into a fan of comic books, it made me (and most of you may not even know this), a Ultra Magnus Fanboy and a hater of Hot Rod. As an adult I can watch it and see all the flaws. But I don't care, this movie, like collecting Transformers toys, reminds me of a simpler time in my life where I didn't have to worry about bills and other annoying adult things.

Happy anniversary to The Transformers: The Movie!

While the impact of new characters from the movie would mark a lasting shift in the franchise, it was perhaps the ones who were taken away that left the biggest mark on the fandom. In most cartoons of the time, if older, established characters needed to step aside to give some screen time to new ones, plot devices would be used more often than not to harmlessly have them go off on another adventure, or disappear ambiguously to set the stage for some future return. Not in Transformers: The Movie. Within the first ten minutes of the movie, the body count begins to add up. Most famously, Optimus Prime falls in battle with Megatron, an emotional moment that was a sad, but somewhat protracted goodbye to the hero that kids had idolized since the series' inception.

There are dozens of accounts and articles about Optimus Prime, but less about other significant characters such as Ironhide, Prowl, Ratchet, Brawn, Wheeljack, and more. Why would the deaths of these characters also lead to emotional moments that made this movie stick in the consciousness of countless fans for years? It was hard to know as a child, but reflecting back, as this was a story about war, even these important characters were killed off in darkly appropriate, anti-climactic, quick, and not really even mentioned again ways. The desperation in Peter Cullen's Ironhide, crying "No!" when he hears of the plan to destroy Autobot City, is then cut off by one of Frank Welker's most ruthlessly delivered lines as Megatron - "Such heroic nonsense." Ironhide then takes a point blank shot to the head from a fusion cannon and is never heard from again. It's quick, it's brutal, then it's over. It's war.


While Transformers had always been a story about a war, it was more or less toy soldiers off to battle, and whatever the result, they would come back next week for you to pull out of your toy box while their adventures continued again on screen. With Transformers: The Movie, some of kids' favorite heroes became disposable, and their endings signified just that. This battle between Autobot and Decepticon was now more real than it had ever been, and the quick establishment of this new paradigm gripped those that weren't crushed, as now, truly, anything could happen.

There was another foreboding presence casting a shadow over the film’s events in the form of a giant planet that devours other worlds: Unicron. This now legendary villain is introduced in a beautifully animated opening sequence, with a slow panning shot revealing the colossal scale of what Vince DiCola's score immediately tells you is a villain to fear. A quick look at the surface on an unknown alien planet, later found out to be Lithone, shows beings very similar in appearance to Transformers on what looks like a peaceful world. Just as your new robot friends go to do some science, they are (mostly) eaten. Yes, eaten alive by the new terror that's been put in front of the audience and there is no room for doubt that the danger to our transforming friends is very real.


Many children could watch the Battle of Autobot City and think in the back of their minds "what happens if that big planet shows up again?” The futility of the conflict finally comes to the forefront when a depleted Autobot crew trying to rebuild receives a transmission from Jazz and Cliffjumper that their moonbase is about to be eaten, but then receive a similar message from Daniel's dad, who was the kid avatar Spike in the earlier TV episodes. Now, suddenly, even the characters intended to represent the captive audience in front of the television was in mortal peril. Before they can act, a rebuilt Megatron, now Galvatron, shows up and chases them away. All of that establishing material, which took away many childhood heroes, was now, ultimately, for naught. The recently defeated Megatron not only immediately returned, he did so rebuilt and strengthened by a galaxy-spanning threat the like of which the Transformers had never seen.

The lessons about the nature of conflict and its brutal consequences are ones that have resonated with the generation that grew up on the movie through the theatres or the various VHS releases. Those consequences are real for the Transformers just as they are in a real war, without the sugar coatings that accompany some of the other TV cartoon movie adaptations of the same era.

Yet among the heavier messages, there's still a childlike wonder to the film that's kept us captivated enough to go back and be able to find those all these years later. The imagery alone, such as a shuttle taking off from a massive Moonbase, Daniel seeing those first glimpses of Autobot City over the horizon, an entire city transforming, Optimus Prime catapulting through the air to stop the Decepticons in his final battle, an underwater minefield of aquatic robot threats on a planet that looks like a corkscrew, and even a planet made of nothing but actual trash painted a picture of a much larger world. The tagline of the cartoon had always been that the Transformers were "More Than Meets The Eye". It certainly delivered on this promise, but The Transformers: The Movie took it to another level.


This wonder also facilitated a necessary escape into a friendly place for many fans, even those born much later than the Transformers franchise itself. Site News Staff member Brozewolf shares a story about why this movie means so much on a personal level:

Bronzewolf wrote:"I'm not an 80's kid, far from it actually, so I didn't grow up with the original cartoon or the original toys, but Transformers is still a big part of my life. I first watched Transformers: The Movie with my brother. We were "Vacationing" to Kansas City at the time due to some issues in our family. It was stressful for all of us, especially my brother and I. We had heard of Transformers before. We had seen a bit of G1, a bit of Prime, we had a few toys, but when that movie came on TV, we both knew we were hooked. It gave us the ability to forget about what was troubling us for a moment and get sucked into a world of action, adventure, cool cars, and awesome robots. It was a world we knew we'd never leave, and years later, we still haven't."

Ultimately, fans keep coming back to watch this movie again and again and buy it repeatedly on different formats because it's not only amazingly animated, composed, and acted, it's also a story about growing up. People change, like Spike, now a father to his son Daniel. We make well intentioned mistakes, like Hot Rod accidentally helping Megatron to deliver the fatal shots to Optimus Prime. Our moments of triumph are sometimes short lived, like Starscream's incredibly short leadership of the Decepticons. But if we take the lyrics of Stan Bush and stay sure to be at our "best when the going gets rough", we can rise above the darkest hours of our lives and become people that can make a difference, at least for a moment.


Arise again, The Transformers: The Movie. Thanks for traveling with us on this journey through life, and hopefully we'll be here to celebrate many more birthdays to come.

I like how you listed every Autobot who died in the movie except for Windcharger (yeah you did not mention Huffer by name but you still linked his toy)

Shows how forgettable the most forgettable of the original Ark crew Autobots was I honestly feel like at most Windcharger got 2 maybe 3 episodes to show off his personality heck he was the only ark crew Autobot not to get a voice line in the original 3 parter episodes he had to wait for episode 6 to speak.


Alas I shall remember you Windcharger...maybe



Great review overall I personally don't like the movie as much when they left Earth after Prime died but I still enjoy the movie for what it is.

This is a beautiful article. I relate to many of what was said and this was a movie that furthered my love for transformers. I watched it while I was over at my friends house while we were playing with the G1 toys and War for Cybertron toys, I was still in grade school at the time (I am 15 now), and was quite amazed as how 2005 took a toll on my beloved heroes lives. How Optimus fell in a battle with Megatron surprised that Megatron was asking for mercy. How Galvatron interrupted a Coranation. How beautiful the movie was after all these years (I watched it on VHS). This movie was quite amazing and I can't wait for its release in September.

Nice write-up ScottyP!! Can't wait to watch it tomorrow night in celebration of thirty years. I mean, it's been a few weeks since I watched it anyway I do listen to the score/soundtrack multiple times a week. I shared the experience with my dad when I was a kid, and sharing it with my daughter brings it full circle for me. Crazy that it has been thirty years, and that no matter what it's been the one constant in my life.

Here's to another 30 TF:TM!!

Would this be an appropriate thread to share our own experience with this movie?

That was a great article. I can't say much about the movie that hasn't already been said but I can tell my story with it.

I first saw the G1 series when I was young kid when they were released by Shout! during the 25th anniversary of the Transformers. I slowly got the rest of the DVD releases for Christmas and such, and I wondered what happened between Season 2 and 3. Then I found out when the Hub aired The Transformers: The Movie around the time of the beginning of Season 2 of Prime. I don't remember watching it for the first time but I imagine it was an amazing experience.

Over the years I've went back to it and watched it. It is a great movie. I've also gone back to the G1 series and some of the episodes are honestly rather cringy. I get none of the cheese from the series when I watch the movie and I always enjoy it when I watch it. One of my favorite parts of the movie is the music and how much it adds to the film, both Vince Dicola's score and the soundtrack. I've had it recorded since I first watched it; being the only way I could watch it; but I lost it when we switched from DirectTV to cable. I can't wait for the DVD release this year. That was a long post.

Happy Anniversary to The Transformers: The Movie!

Ironhidensh wrote:Would this be an appropriate thread to share our own experience with this movie?

No you can not express your Transformers movie experience in the Transformers movie experience thread...


Just kidding go ahead this thread is probably for long speeches about our experience and memories with the movie.

Though I was introduced to Transformers watching episodes of Cybertron, it was this movie that really made me a fan. I must have rented that thing a thousand times! While the different aesthetic did throw me off a bit ("why does Megaron have a flat head?"), it still captivated me in a way that no other movie has to this day; I feel a thrill every time I listen to the soundtrack or watch a clip. It certainly changed how my 7-year-old brain viewed the TF franchise. It was bigger and crazier than I had imagined. I still remember trying to pry open the chest of every Optimus Prime toy I could get my little hands on in a (usually) futile quest to obtain a Matrix! Not to mention all the times I tried to get Prime to hold his gun with two hands the way he did in Autobot City. All that goes to say that though I wasn't an 80's kid, the '86 movie will always hold a special place in my spark!

The one thing that comes to mind when discussing TF:TM is just how big a part of my life it would become. My Paternal Grandfather (RIP) must've drawn the short straw and took me to see the movie; maybe on opening day, more than likely opening week. I was a big fan of Transformers growing up, it was always part of my trifecta of toys; Transformers, GI Joe, and whatever brand was the new hot thing. Watching the season 1 and 2 Autobots die was a shock, something at the time I really didn't process. Reflecting on it, I think that was the first time I had to deal with death. The bigger thing that happened, though, came from the music. I was a big 80s fan, MTV was my gateway to all those wonderful sounds, especially Hard/Melodic rock. After Unicron's snack, a drum beat ushered in a delayed guitar lick that introed the heaviest cartoon theme I ever heard. Involuntarily, my young hand raised, the middle and ring fingers folded down, with my thumb folding over top, my soul had been sold. The music of TF:TM got me to fall in love with Melodic Rock, an affair that continues today. What's funny is finding out the artists involved with the soundtrack, played a significant role in some of my favorite bands. Doug Aldrich was the guitarist for Lion, he went on to play with DIO (RIP Ronnie) and Whitesnake. Later in their career, Lion would be produced by Geoff Downes of Buggles fame (First video on MTV) and my beloved Asia. Weird Al, need I say more? I did feel a tinge of affirmation when I found out years later that TF:TM became a midnight movie staple due to the violence and music. In the darkest hour of my country, after 9/11, I found solace in the hopes of a few overcoming insurmountable odds. The imagery of death and resurrection wasn't lost on a Freshman English major either. I look forward to finally getting this film on Blu-Ray (Thanks Amazon for the Steelbook), and watching it once again, this time in 1080p on a nice flat screen (Thanks, Dad). Now how about a re-release of GI Joe: The Movie on Blu Ray, with an Amazon Steelbook too?

Deadput wrote:I personally don't like the movie as much when they left Earth after Prime died but I still enjoy the movie for what it is.

Yeah, after Prime dies it goes downhill fast. It's hard to follow after one of the greatest battles in cinematic history.

Ironhidensh wrote:Would this be an appropriate thread to share our own experience with this movie?

Oh hells yes!

Burn wrote:

Deadput wrote:I personally don't like the movie as much when they left Earth after Prime died but I still enjoy the movie for what it is.

Yeah, after Prime dies it goes downhill fast. It's hard to follow after one of the greatest battles in cinematic history.

I wish most of the movie or at least the final battle was like the Autobot city battle in terms of quality.


Why couldn't we got that instead?


Budget probably I know but I'm saying this as someone who wants to watch more not make more (not really a creator of things I wanted to be a writer when I was younger and I could and still can make up great and creative story ideas and concepts but I suck at writing them.)

Fantastic review guys

This movie was a staple of my childhood ever since I discovered it though time has obscured it's origins for me (brothers hand me down vhs or car boot sale find?). When I saw this movie I had put seen a handful of episodes, mainly the opening episodes and recorded tapes of key to vector sigma, which incidentally cemented my love for giant combining robots.

To say I was blown away would be an understatement. Everything touched me and I knew I was watching a different beast from the happy go lucky g1 episodes. The soundtrack combined elements I'd never heard before and would stay with me, even now, I feel a warm fuzzy feeling whenever I hear the opening bars of the touch or dare.

In fact, those two songs are part of a special mix I try to listen to when I'm at my lowest and thinking of dark silly thoughts. The music may be one of my favourite aspects of the movie.

The odd thing was I was more shocked at primes death than sad, same goes for the violence against the others at the beginning I had no idea at the time that cartoons were capable of anything like that (though it was scant few years later that my dear older brother decided to show me an anime called legend of the overfiend that I truly learned what animation was capable of. I was 8 years old. A word of warning for those who don't know, do not Google that anime, especially if you are at work)

Sorry for that tangent, but yeah this movie was the first glimpse I had that the franchise could be something more than a cheesy Saturday morning TV show.

Now that I'm older, I still revisit the film and I recognise the flaws it contains but I still love it.

This post as gone on a bit longer than I thought so, I'll wrap up here with saying happy 30th, let's see if we can get you to your 50th anniversary

Despite it's many, MANY flaws and total rip off plot from Star Wars (but hey, the crappy Force Awakens did pretty much the same thing recently and that's in the same franchise) it's still the only animated version of Transformers I enjoy watching. I dunno if it's cos the cooler animation style and shading compared to the series (though still with it's fair share of errors) or the cool new characters or having Leonard Nimoy voice Galvatron as a badass (I love Welker but not as Galvy) or the rocking soundtrack (both the very 80s songs and the Vince DiCola score). I dunno. I dunno if I need a 30th anniversary blu ray of it but maybe I do JUST so I can have a version sat next to my four blu rays of the live action movies for completion sake. Otherwise the cheap old DVD I have is fine.

I actually remember cheering when Megatron blew Ironhide away in the theatre. As a kid I HATED Ironhide, he was always trying to steal Jazz's place as second in command.

Of course now I realize the reason Ironhide was used so much, but at the time, hated him. The movie really would have been a lot better if they had made it a battle for retaking Cybertron I think, then we could have really seen some destruction.

I was annoyed the Dinobots didn't stomp Devastator flat and that basically none of the Decepticons died in the entire movie.

I still watch it and I still love it, it's better than all of the Bayformer movie crap combined.

I think for those of us who are kids of the 70's and 80's the Transformers are a defining thing from our childhoods and this movie is the culmination of that.

my grandfather took me to see this movie in a theatre with poor air conditioning. Every seat was filled. A cloud of smoke hovered over the audience of mostly children and teenagers. Everybody was loud, but they were into the movie. Cursing, shouting, cheering.

Things sure have changed in 30 years.

Galactic Prime wrote:I actually remember cheering when Megatron blew Ironhide away in the theatre. As a kid I HATED Ironhide, he was always trying to steal Jazz's place as second in command.

Of course now I realize the reason Ironhide was used so much, but at the time, hated him. The movie really would have been a lot better if they had made it a battle for retaking Cybertron I think, then we could have really seen some destruction.

I was annoyed the Dinobots didn't stomp Devastator flat and that basically none of the Decepticons died in the entire movie.

I still watch it and I still love it, it's better than all of the Bayformer movie crap combined.

I think for those of us who are kids of the 70's and 80's the Transformers are a defining thing from our childhoods and this movie is the culmination of that.

If you look at in the context of the movie only then starscream dies rather definitively. Plus characters like the insecticons and thundercracker and skywarp you could argue that their characters died as the cons they became acted nothing like them.

A touching and wonderful write-up you guys got here. Thanks so much for doing that! I can definitely relate to it myself.

Glad to see people sharing their positive comments about Transformers: The Movie! As a child of the 80's and a very loyal G1 fan, growing up with Transformers and GI Joe brought so much fun and excitement to my childhood. I first remember seeing Optimus Prime on TV on a Saturday morning watching the very first episode on KCOP Channel 13 in Los Angeles. After that episode, I was hooked! As a 10 year old in 1984, I started to collect Transformers and Joes at an early age. Then once the TV shows for both series expanded and now was on everyday, it was awesome! I remember going to Toys R Us all the time which was down the street from my school with my friends, we would check out all the new toys and then wait for them to be on TV. When 1986 came, we were trading toys, playing with them and enjoying the story lines from the TV shows. When Transformers The Movie came out, we could not wait to see it on the big screen! We were so impressed with the animation, the story line and of course we were shocked about the death of Optimus Prime! We were happy to see a new generation of characters, and the direction of the show. I remember being at the Glendale Galleria one time before the movie came out and we saw Ultra Magnus on the stores shelf. I could not wait to tell all of my friends and we had to go back to the store to check him out. The TV show and the movie will always be a positive part of my childhood. It still resonates with me today. My G1 collection is growing and I just picked up An AFA quality Ultra Magnus G1 1986 with the movie poster and I am getting him graded now. I can quote you the entire movie that's how many times I've seen this masterpiece! This movie doesn't look 30 years old, the animation, the story still looks great today and holds up to any animae, or other animation made recently. This is THE ONLY REAL TRANSFORMERS MOVIE! Plain and simple! Michael Bay's crap has nothing to do with this brand. This movie is really all about the 1980's and my childhood. I feel bad for today's kids because they have nothing like this that makes them think, interact with toys, that develop a story line with the toys but also it connected us with each other, it made us explore new ideas and it drove our creativity. By far this movie is in my all time top 10 of movies. It never gets old, it only gets more interesting to watch. I will pull out the Blu Ray today and watch it again. I cant wait for the US version of the Blu Ray as well. Til all are won!

Deadput wrote:I like how you listed every Autobot who died in the movie except for Windcharger (yeah you did not mention Huffer by name but you still linked his toy)

Probably because Huffers death is never actually seen or referred to in TF:TM, only in the episode Dark Awakening is Huffers death mentioned by Daniel.

Anyway...Nice write up. I too remember seeing the film, though it was not on opening day, it was probably 3 or 4 days later. My mom took myself and two other friends. The theater where it played is no longer even in existence (now a Target shopping center). But I'll never forget the experience. We were all excited to see "The White Optimus Prime" (We knew it was Ultra Magnus, we just liked calling him that though) . The death of so many characters was certainly a shock, but it was definitely a growing experience. I don't think I actually cried when Prime died, was definitely misty eyed though, and my mom was definitely not one of those who "wrote angry letters"....in fact I cant help but wonder if that is more of an urban myth than anything else.

One thing that was pretty cool though was I remember renting the movie on VHS only a few months later. My uncle had 2 VCR's and made a copy for me (before VHS tapes had copy blockers on them). For the longest time I was the only kid who had TF:TM on VHS, in fact I watched it at home every day the following summer. I wore that tape out, probably watched it several hundred times over the years until I chanced across a copy for purchase in a Suncoast Video sometime in the mid 90's (Before Rhino released their VHS) . The only bad part was of course it was *edited*, telling friends in highschool that the theatrical version actually had a curse word and getting stares of nonbelief was so frustrating. Thankfully at SDCC in 1993 I was there with 2 friends from high school. We woke up at 5am to walk to a hotel across town which was screening a film print of TF:TM at 5:30. it was rough to get up so early, but totally worth it to see the looks on their faces when Spike belted out his line.

Also I'm *hoping* Screen Junkies does a retro honest trailer. As much as I love this film, I think it would still be fun to see.

I'm new to joining Seibertron. I always read the comments and I feel like i'm with like minded people. I saw Transformers: The Movie opening night. My father remembers me turning to him and saying 2005 is so long away. yes I was one of those kids that got ptsd from Prime dying. Not really, but I went home home and ordered the toy through the mail.
30 years later it still has a special place in my heart. Enough to own a 16mm film print bought it from the Nashville Library for $20 in 2006. Everyone one's comments show the love of this film. So great to see/read the love of this movie. This is my first post. So if I did, said something wrong, i'm sorry. If anyone passes through Chattanooga, TN, I will thread up the film and show it.

Will T.

o.supreme wrote:
Also I'm *hoping* Screen Junkies does a retro honest trailer. As much as I love this film, I think it would still be fun to see.

This is a great idea. Any inside scoop on this, Jon? Any plans?

ScottyP wrote:

Burn wrote:It turned me into a fan of comic books, it made me (and most of you may not even know this), a Ultra Magnus Fanboy

For that, Burn shall be my best buddy!

In regard to the 30th Anniv Blu-ray, easily pass for me since I already have the Rhino DVD TFTM and 2 set of the 20th Anniv TFTM DVD.

With that being said, I would get the Blu-ray if Shout used the original cover, either the original U.S TFTM cover or use the Japanese TFTM cover. That would've given me a reason to purchase the blu-ray for the sake of nostagia. Too me, my eyes aren't too keen into detail so DVD or blu-ray quality doesn't impact me much. Furthermore, I'm not a fan of the false advertise as Prime never open the Matrix in TFTM as shown in Shout Blu-ray cover or the 20th Anniv. DVD cover.

REMINATOR wrote:Furthermore, I'm not a fan of the false advertise as Prime never open the Matrix in TFTM as shown in Shout Blu-ray cover or the 20th Anniv. DVD cover.

The art has been criticized (both constructively and non constructively) so if you don't like it, that is fair. I too would have preferred the original US poster as the cover, but it wont be the make or break reason for purchasing the Blu Ray. Also would not call this *false advertising*, it is more of artist interpretation. We know Megatorn and Galvatron also never appear together onscreen, for obvious reasons, but they are both on the cover...

This movie marks the pinnacle of the G1 era as well as bookmarks the moment in my life where I was at the age that I needed to decided whether to "put down the toys and grow up" or "forever embrace your fanaticism". Where most of my classmates (I was in that interim space of grade 6 moving on to 7) were starting to get girlfriends (of that puppy-love nature), I was still a late bloomer who was appreciating the stunning bump-up in animation art of this feature film, and it's slightly more mature turn in a cartoon series I was already invested in.

Yes, Transformers the Movie was that "Heavy Metal-for-kids" animated feature, in a decade where animated features were at times pretty experimental. Anyone remember Rock n' Rule, Starchaser: the Legend of Orin and The Last Unicorn? Transformers the Movie stands tall along with those fims. Aside from the stunning visuals, you got an appropriate soundtrack, a few uttered expletives (Ultra Magnus saying "dammit" was stunning, but Spike crying "Oh ****...!" was shocking). I still recall seeing this film with my 2 older brothers in a discount UA theater in Manchester, CT. It was us 3 and a mother with her 2 sons. She had fallen asleep and the kids were immersed in the carnage exploding onscreen. I have since purchased numerous versions of the film on home media over the years and will probably continue to do so.

Has anyone heard if there is a difference in the content of the Steel Book version and normal 30th version blu ray?