Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie

Sunday, August 7th, 2016 9:28PM CDT

Categories: Site Articles, Digital Media News
Posted by: ScottyP Views: 65,224

Topic Options: View Discussion · Sign in or Join to reply

Dare To Be Great
The Transformers: The Movie Turns 30 - A Tribute
Author: Scotty P | Editor: Counterpunch
Additional Written Contributions from: Burn, Bronzewolf
Special Thanks To: Shout! Factory, Seibertron

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!

Transformers G1 Ultra Magnus Gallery

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.

News Search

Got Transformers News? Let us know here!

Most Recent Transformers News

Leaked Gameplay Footage of Transformers Reactivate

Posted 2 days ago

Transformers #15, Hot Wheels Optimus Prime, SS Swoop, SDCC Death's Head + more @ Seibertron Store

Posted 3 days ago

Pre-order Links for all New Age of the Prime Transformers Toys and Sonic X Over Set

Posted 4 days ago

First Look at Optimus Prime Cab solo Release in 2025 Hot Wheels Mainline

Posted 5 days ago

Official Images for Age of the Primes and Sonic Crossover Reveals

Posted 8 days ago

Holiday Sale, Sectaurs, SDCC Death's Head, new Transformers and more at the Seibertron Store

Posted 9 days ago

More Images and Reveals from Cybertron Con: Star Convoy, Heatwave, Sky Byte, Prima, Solus and More

Posted 9 days ago

First Look at Extra Kibble that comes with AOTP Silverbolt to make Superion Frame and More

Posted 9 days ago

Click here to post your comment about this news story!

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813168)
Posted by Deadput on August 7th, 2016 @ 9:52pm CDT

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.

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813170)
Posted by THEOrize2000 on August 7th, 2016 @ 9:56pm CDT

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.

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813177)
Posted by galvatron00 on August 7th, 2016 @ 10:21pm CDT

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 :lol:

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!!

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813181)
Posted by Ironhidensh on August 7th, 2016 @ 10:42pm CDT

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

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813184)
Posted by SureShot18 on August 7th, 2016 @ 10:49pm CDT

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!

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813186)
Posted by Deadput on August 7th, 2016 @ 10:49pm CDT

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.

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813196)
Posted by Silverwing on August 8th, 2016 @ 12:00am CDT

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!

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813198)
Posted by chuckdawg1999 on August 8th, 2016 @ 12:26am CDT

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?

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813207)
Posted by Burn on August 8th, 2016 @ 2:00am CDT

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!

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813215)
Posted by Deadput on August 8th, 2016 @ 4:21am CDT

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.)

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813216)
Posted by ZeroWolf on August 8th, 2016 @ 4:44am CDT

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 :-D

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813221)
Posted by Carnivius_Prime on August 8th, 2016 @ 5:40am CDT

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.

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813224)
Posted by Galactic Prime on August 8th, 2016 @ 6:47am CDT

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.

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813227)
Posted by 1984forever on August 8th, 2016 @ 8:00am CDT

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.

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813229)
Posted by ZeroWolf on August 8th, 2016 @ 8:07am CDT

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.

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813230)
Posted by Tyrannacon on August 8th, 2016 @ 8:08am CDT

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

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813244)
Posted by 9adam83 on August 8th, 2016 @ 9:53am CDT

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!

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813245)
Posted by o.supreme on August 8th, 2016 @ 10:02am CDT

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. 8-)

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.

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813251)
Posted by WillT1980 on August 8th, 2016 @ 10:43am CDT

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.

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813253)
Posted by Bronzewolf on August 8th, 2016 @ 10:47am CDT

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?

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813256)
Posted by REMINATOR on August 8th, 2016 @ 10:58am CDT

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.

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813260)
Posted by o.supreme on August 8th, 2016 @ 11:08am CDT

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...

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813284)
Posted by Menace-Or? on August 8th, 2016 @ 12:28pm CDT

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 Shit...!" 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.

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813345)
Posted by gothsaurus on August 8th, 2016 @ 2:51pm CDT

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

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813371)
Posted by Sigma Magnus on August 8th, 2016 @ 3:38pm CDT

I wasn't a G1 kid (my first exposure to TF fiction was Cybertron, but I had some Energon toys), but this movie still has a place in my heart. I got the 20th anniversary rerelease of the movie (tried to get the Masterpiece Prime too, but to no avail), along with the IDW comic adaption (the bonus Spotlight: Hod Rod confused me for years :lol:

). It was with this movie that I was introduced to G1, and it set me on the path to being the fan I am now.
I hope I still will be for the next thirty. ;)^

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813408)
Posted by Tigertrack on August 8th, 2016 @ 5:46pm CDT

Excellent rememberance Scotty et al contributors.

Sadly, I'm older and my memory of this is a little hazy. If 86 was the year' I was 12 and my brothers were 8 and 16. I can't remember which adult took us to see it. I know my older brother and I enjoyed it, but younger brother I don't think did. The thing that I remember most besides the animation, deaths, and Blaster and Soundwave's battle-- sort of-- was the lack of combiners besides Devastator, metroplex not transforming, and the other missing characters from season 2. My brother and I really felt that the combiners were a missing piece of the counterattack on Unicron.

And what the hell, how could you (movie writers/illustrators) forget the 5th dinobot ( who happened to be my favorite dinobot), in almost every scene? #-o

It was a cool movie, but I was more into Star Wars and GI JOE... Yes, I had Transformers and dutifully watched it on Saturday mornings, and after school, and even tried to record episodes without commercials using our VCR WITH CORDED REMOTE!

but I also loved my Joes, D and D, and other random toys and comics (x-men).

I forgot about it for awhile. But in college at U of M my freshman year, a popular guy on my dorm floor had a movie viewing night of Transformers the movie. There were dozens of us packed into this tiny dorm room to watch this wonder from our pasts, and nobody was ridiculing anyone else. This is when I started to be made to realize that things like this movie, and the comic, cartoon, and toy culture that I had been secretly a part of for awhile-- cause high school and wanting to be popular/accepted-- was something that many enjoyed, secretly or outright. Since then, I started to embrace that side of myself more, for better or worse, and it has continued on to this day! Having places like this would have been very helpful, when I was a 16-19 year old.

Anyway, I do appreciate it now a days. Haven't yet shown it to my boys. They're 7 and 4 1/2 and I'm not ready for them to see a cartoon Prime die. They have interest in rescue bots, and some of my old G1 toys, and they sometimes watch a classic G1 episode with me now and again, but not enough for me to turn them off by something as possibly traumatizing as that

Nowadays, I really appreciate finding out about all the cut scenes, and why some characters were not included but should have been. Cause that's what it was about for me. I hated the deaths, but also hated seeing the lack of representation of some of the characters that I had really started to identify with.

A very impressive appreciation for this childhood treasure. I don't know how many versions I own of this, but no doubt, I'll own yet another.

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813436)
Posted by chuckdawg1999 on August 8th, 2016 @ 7:54pm CDT

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

No difference at all. I just like steelbooks because if somebody talks during the movie, you can shut them up good. :-D

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813447)
Posted by AutobotAlvaron on August 8th, 2016 @ 8:38pm CDT

Watching TransFormers The Movie stands as an indelible milestone of my childhood. To be more accurate, the insatiable wanting I had to see the film in a theater back then in 1986 is a deep-seated bittersweet memory for me.

After watching the first two seasons of the absolutely awesome cartoon series, and being enamored with everything TransFormers related (the show, the toys, the merchandise, etc.), the TF Movie brought a new fervor of excitement to my 8yr-old self. The TV commercials shown during after-school afternoons blew my mind. The music, animation, new characters, and the "Death of Optimus Prime" drew my attention and grabbed my imagination like nothing before. Optimus Prime was my first fictional super-hero, and his death effected me even though I had not yet even witnessed it on the big-screen at that point. And though it promised to be a very sad thing to have happen, I really wanted to know what would transpire in the film. I wanted to see the TransFormers Movie soo badly, more than anything else that Summer. It was sadly, not to be when I was about to lose my own real Optimus Prime...

...In my Life, I've been Blessed with two Great Men in my Family to Love, Protect, & Teach me how to be a GOOD MAN; my Dad, Joe Sr., and my Grandpa Basilio. My Dad was a loving, generous, self-sacrificing, hard-working, humble, faithful person who could be fun & silly, social & talkative, music-loving & loud, and was so very GOOD. Dad was my Father in the best sense of the word, and he was my BEST FRIEND.

My Grandpa Basilio, was a different type of person. He was kind-hearted, honest, hard-working, quiet & serious, yet gifted with a fine dry wit, and so very wise. He was my Optimus Prime, he was my HERO. In my family, I've been told I resemble my Grandpa (even Dad said so) and that I have his mannerisms, and that I also have elements of my Dad's personality (I'm nerdy, a bit goofy, but more reserved than he). They were my living Primes, and are still my guides on how to conduct myself, and how to treat others, and if I'm even half as good as either of those two, I might even make it to the Pearly Gates someday. Anyway, I hope so.

The Summer of 1986 is of monumental importance to me because of a much more real and important reason than wanting to watch an awesome movie about battling robots from space. It was my last Summer with my dearly beloved Grandpa. He was 82 and had had a major heart-attack and was gradually declining in health. We used to see him every weekend, but that June, July, and August, we visited him every day. I loved that sweet old man and spent days and weekends "taking care" of him. We would watch "Las Luchas" (Mexican Wrestling) and "El Chapolin Colorado" together, water his roses & plants, march through the driveway, and play with the wooden bridges & highways he built for my HotWheels. They had Cable TV at Grandpa's House and so I could watch TransFormers more often and more clearly than at home on the old "rabbit ears" antennae TV. It was AWESOME!

He spent his last weeks with me before he died on August 16, 1986. That's the day my own personal Optimus Prime died. I'll always love him, I'll always miss him, I always remember him. In my culture, out of respect for the loved one lost, there's no going to parties, or playing loud music, or going to movies, so that I never got to see the movie I had been longing for all those weeks back then. At the time, I resented it and didn't understand why I wasn't allowed to do something that I thought might cheer me up. Seeing my fictional hero dying would probably not have helped me at all just then.

Since that time, thanks to VHS then DVD, and finally at Alamo Drafthouse Theater in Austin Texas, I've seen one of my all-time favorite films over and over. There actually are several important life-lessons to be gleaned from TransFormers the Movie. There are things to learn about good fighting evil, self-sacrifice & death, & hope & victory, and life moving on, growing by taking on new responsibilities, and working for peace. It may be silly to some, but Optimus Prime's death helped prepare me for the tremendous loss I was about to endure. It gave me a frame of reference and taught me that there was a way to say good-bye to a real-lifeHERO.

Happy Anniversary TransFormers the Movie!! :APPLAUSE:

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813456)
Posted by SlyTF1 on August 8th, 2016 @ 9:22pm CDT

There's a trailer:

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813475)
Posted by Ironhidensh on August 8th, 2016 @ 10:16pm CDT

I was a wee lad of 6 when this movie came out. I can't swear to it being the first movie I ever went to, but it is definately the first one I remeber, and I remember it well. If it wasn't for this movie, I wouldn't be a fan today. Sure, I liked Transformers, but it wasn't my favorite thing. This movie also introduced me to my life long love of Rock 'n Roll.

In fact, lets talk about the soundtrack first. How awesome was it? It is still, to this day, my favorite album. Those beats just get me pumped. Sure, todays kids might call it old, but they are idiots.

Before this movie, my music exposure had been pretty much limited to disney children's songs, and church music. I didn't care for it. But this magical sound coming from the speakers? It moved me, it spoke to me, it made me enjoy music of all kinds, but I'll always come back to rock. Hell, I'm listening to "Nothings gonna stand in our way" right now. Rock has become something that helps me in any mood. Happy, sad, angry, scared, incouraged, it speaks to me at any time. Sure, something probally would have introduced me to the sweet sounds later in life, but this movie was my first taste, and I've never tasted anything sweeter.

Then there was the movie itself. Don't get me wrong, I'm an adult, and I can watch the movie today and see its many flaws, but I ignore them out of love. They don't override the warm feelings of nostalgia I get. Sure, the second half of the movie feels rushed, but the first half is beyond amazing. After two seasons of the Autobots and Decepticons battling it out, over and over, without much ever changing, Prime and Megatron finally get down to it, and it was more than we could have asked for.

This movie was my fist introduction to death. I hadn't come across it yet in life. No family had passed that I was old enough to understand. Hell, I hadnt even lost a pet. Now, I said Transformers wasn't a huge thing for me yet, but Optimus Prime was. He was the ultimate good guy. The leader you wanted to follow. He was the man.

And he fucking died!

This disturbed me. I cried in the theatre, but my mommy was able to calm me down. I finished the movie, but afterward, I had questions. I didn't really understand that sometimes, things happen, and somebody is gone. They don't come back. I won't lie and tell you that I came away form this film understanding death and all it entails, but it was finally on my radar, one of those early unpleasant learning steps we all must take in the walk of life. Prime wasn't the only death, as my second favorite (at the time) transformer bit it as well. Ironhides loss was greatly felt during season 3.

Yes, we lost a lot of characters, but we gained some great new ones. Hot Rod was kinda like the older brother we all wished we had. Cool, brash, didn't take shit from anybody, and always ready to take you with him. Ultra Magnus, the only autobot that could make you second guess Prime. Kup, your favorite grandpa with the war stories. Arcee, the........ yeah, sorry, but I never really cared for Arcee. Springer, your uncle with the cool gifts. Galvatron didn't do much for me, nor did his new lackies. Those new Autobots though, they were awesome.

This movie is just plain fun. My mom bought me a copy when it was first available on VHS (remember those?) and I'm proud to say I watched it so much it died in the rewinder one day. I bought my own copy shortly after. The day I found it on dvd was a red letter day, and now, I enjoy watching it with my own two little boys. My oldest will jump up and air guitar with me when the songs come on. This film has passed the test of time, and now the next generation is enjoying it, though they have yet to watch Prime die.

This film jumpstarted my love for Transformers. Now days, it is my favorite non family/real life thing. I couldn't tell you why I still stick with it, investing time and money on a hobby that i really shoudl have left behind over 20 years ago, but I do. Those of you who are my age can relate. I think it just comes down to the fact that Transformers make us happy, and remind us of those care free days of our lives, before reality, and the need to adult all the time set in. There are far worse things to have as a hobby, that is for sure.

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813491)
Posted by Delicon on August 8th, 2016 @ 10:58pm CDT

I started watching Transformers on the day the mini-series first aired so I am about as G1 as you can get. My reaction to the movie was much different than most kids my age, though.

My parents weren't able to take me right away. By the time that they did, I had already seen the Five Faces of Darkness mini-series. I was one really confused kid because there were all these new characters and I had no idea where they all came from.

Believe it or not, the death of Optimus wasn't the most shocking death in the film for me. I had already seen the Autobots with a new leader in the cartoon so it actually made sense now. What did hit me was at the end of the film when I realized that Ironhide and the other dead Autobots weren't coming back. I think I did cry a little, but like I said at a completely different part of the movie than most.

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813503)
Posted by chuckdawg1999 on August 9th, 2016 @ 1:03am CDT

SlyTF1 wrote:There's a trailer:

LOL they say it's out now, It's NOT out now, I wish it was!

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813527)
Posted by ausbot on August 9th, 2016 @ 6:50am CDT

I've seen the movie a hundred time, but that trailer got me excited to watch it again, still the greatest movie of all time. :BOWDOWN:

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813573)
Posted by o.supreme on August 9th, 2016 @ 9:34am CDT

Tigertrack wrote:Sadly, I'm older and my memory of this is a little hazy. If 86 was the year' I was 12 and my brothers were 8 and 16. I can't remember which adult took us to see it. I know my older brother and I enjoyed it, but younger brother I don't think did. The thing that I remember most besides the animation, deaths, and Blaster and Soundwave's battle-- sort of-- was the lack of combiners besides Devastator, metroplex not transforming, and the other missing characters from season 2. My brother and I really felt that the combiners were a missing piece of the counterattack on Unicron.

Believe me...there are more people out there like you, than there are like us that remember vividly. Nothing wrong with that, as you say, some people just had different interests and remember different things.

I don't often use Pixar films as a reference, but my experience seeing this film in the theater, related earlier in this thread, along with several others I'm sure would equate to a Core Memory, if our brains really worked as depicted in Inside Out.

I wondered also for years why many season two characters didn't make it in the film, but it was explained several years ago, that Marvel/Sunbow & Toei started working on the animated film at the same time as season one of the TV series(which makes sense as I remember the original trailers saying "3 years in the making"). So most of the late season two characters would not have made it in. I'm actually surprised they got Blaster, Percepter and the con' triple changers in there.

But IDW's comic adaptation is pretty cool. It adds a page depicting Omega Supreme and the other combiners battling at the site of the Autobot HQ. If Skyfire had been in that scene too it would have been pretty much what I always imagined was going on off screen 8-)

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813574)
Posted by gothsaurus on August 9th, 2016 @ 9:35am CDT

Yeah, I liked the small IDW additions to the story. Thanks for reminding me.

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813715)
Posted by cruizerdave on August 9th, 2016 @ 3:41pm CDT

It's funny, all these years later, I still love this movie. Not in a nostalgic way, or in an ironic way, but I honestly still love it.
The beautiful animation, the fact that gun blasts blew characters up, the deaths, the 80s hair metal, the new central protagonist in Hot Rod ... I love it all.
I know that it was savaged by critics at the time, and not very successful, but it's become a cult hit.
Does it lift heavily from Star Wars? Sure. Was it designed to sell toys? You bet, but in killing off beloved characters, the people who made this movie gave an emotional weight to the entire franchise. All of the sudden characters could die, roles could change and Saturday morning cartoon rules no longer applied.
My only wish is that they had continued the better animation through Season 3, which to my way of thinking, is the best season of G1. Hot Rod as a self doubting leader who grows into the role. Galvatron unhinged to the point that his own soldiers know they should abandon him, but are too afraid to. Disturbing episodes like Dark Awakening or Dweller in the Depths are still enjoyable to this day.
I know it's not cool to just say you like something without pointing out the faults and saying, "of course there are these weak spots," but you know what? This is a site dedicated to stupid toy brand, so I don't care. I love TFTM. I won't apologize for saying so. :RUBSIGN:

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813718)
Posted by o.supreme on August 9th, 2016 @ 3:54pm CDT

cruizerdave wrote:It's funny, all these years later, I still love this movie. Not in a nostalgic way, or in an ironic way, but I honestly still love it.
The beautiful animation, the fact that gun blasts blew characters up, the deaths, the 80s hair metal, the new central protagonist in Hot Rod ... I love it all.
I know that it was savaged by critics at the time, and not very successful, but it's become a cult hit.

No apologies necessary. I too genuinely like this film. There has to be a balance. Sure there may be some fans that accuse us of "having on nostalgia glasses", and that's fine, let them think that. In 2001 I actually took part in a "general state of animation" panel at SDCC. I proudly stated that TF:TM was one of the best animated films I had ever seen. I got some sideways looks...but it was worth it as I did get some applause as well. Also oddly enough when I looked at animated series like Zeta Gundam etc... and always wondered why I liked them so much. well...it all stems from the same studio (Toei) in the same time (mid 80's).

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813722)
Posted by gothsaurus on August 9th, 2016 @ 4:02pm CDT

Your mention of 3rd season animation reminded me....there have been "new" scans from the negatives for much of the G1 series. They've filtered into some of the download services as high-def episodes... though seems like they were in Australia. I heard about 2/3 were from film, and the others were decent quality upscales. (Still looked better than DVD.) Maybe they will turn up in USA in iTunes, etc.?

Bummer is, I point blank asked Shout Factory about them, and they said they had no current plans to issue G1 on Blu-Ray. Maybe if we all keep hitting them up and they know there is a market... I'd also love a nice issue of the odd episodes like Scramble City. It makes a great prelude to the movie. I try to show it as a double-header whenever I screen the movie.

I'm certainly looking forward to the remaster / 5:1 mix of the G1 music that was promised. Maybe that will be worked into an eventual blu ray release.

But yeah, totally agreed. 3rd season was a significant drop in quality... save Call of the Primatives, which was jaw dropping stellar.

And while TFTM certainly stuck in the 80s, for those of us who grew up then and have any nostalgia at all, it's an emotional experience. The music, animation, voice acting... all top notch. Down sides, I wish the plot and flow locked together a bit better. Of course, I wish Ironhide and Prowl and company could have surfaced in season 3 under the pretense that Brawn (who clearly just had a surface wound) pulled that ship out of it's dive and managed to save the crew.

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813723)
Posted by o.supreme on August 9th, 2016 @ 4:08pm CDT

gothsaurus wrote:I'd also love a nice issue of the odd episodes like Scramble City.

I know its a long shot...but has there been any confirmation from S!F that Scramble City will NOT be included as an extra?

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813724)
Posted by gothsaurus on August 9th, 2016 @ 4:09pm CDT

It's on the UK version, but I don't see it listed in the extras show on Shout's site. :-(

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813734)
Posted by ZeroWolf on August 9th, 2016 @ 4:41pm CDT

o.supreme wrote:
cruizerdave wrote:It's funny, all these years later, I still love this movie. Not in a nostalgic way, or in an ironic way, but I honestly still love it.
The beautiful animation, the fact that gun blasts blew characters up, the deaths, the 80s hair metal, the new central protagonist in Hot Rod ... I love it all.
I know that it was savaged by critics at the time, and not very successful, but it's become a cult hit.

No apologies necessary. I too genuinely like this film. There has to be a balance. Sure there may be some fans that accuse us of "having on nostalgia glasses", and that's fine, let them think that. In 2001 I actually took part in a "general state of animation" panel at SDCC. I proudly stated that TF:TM was one of the best animated films I had ever seen. I got some sideways looks...but it was worth it as I did get some applause as well. Also oddly enough when I looked at animated series like Zeta Gundam etc... and always wondered why I liked them so much. well...it all stems from the same studio (Toei) in the same time (mid 80's).

Hate to be a pain but it was actually sunrise who animated and produced zeta Gundam, sunrise have worked with Toei but not on any Gundam productions. :-)

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1813874)
Posted by WillT1980 on August 10th, 2016 @ 5:40am CDT

I'm pretty sure Best Buy is getting the bonus disc. My brother works in their "deluxe media" department. I'm going by what he said.

All He said he know of 3rd disc is the following
9 minute Promo Reel in HD
"To Those Who Have Passed" I guess this is a memorial to the voices no longer with us.

To be fair, take this w/a grain of salt til an "official announcement"

Cheers
Will T

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1814154)
Posted by chuckdawg1999 on August 10th, 2016 @ 8:40pm CDT

WillT1980 wrote:I'm pretty sure Best Buy is getting the bonus disc. My brother works in their "deluxe media" department. I'm going by what he said.

All He said he know of 3rd disc is the following
9 minute Promo Reel in HD
"To Those Who Have Passed" I guess this is a memorial to the voices no longer with us.

To be fair, take this w/a grain of salt til an "official announcement"

Cheers
Will T

Wha? This is the first I've heard of store exclusives besides packaging. Is Target getting anything special?

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1814379)
Posted by BattleConvoy on August 11th, 2016 @ 2:08pm CDT

Maybe Metrodome will release a 30th anniversary set, but I bet they won't. :BANG_HEAD:

I don't have multi region so I can't import it.
Why does America get all the good DVDs and the UK gets almost nothing?
Metrodome still haven't released the Shout factory versions of teh cartoon on DVD even when it can be done
by simply releasing the same DVD with all the shout logos removed and the discs being coded for region 2.

Rant over.

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1814393)
Posted by o.supreme on August 11th, 2016 @ 2:34pm CDT

he you guys got Scramble City, and the English Dub (as awful as it is), and subtitles without Hasbro's meddling with character names. I guess its true the grass is always greener...

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1814611)
Posted by o.supreme on August 12th, 2016 @ 10:21am CDT

ZeroWolf wrote:Hate to be a pain but it was actually sunrise who animated and produced zeta Gundam, sunrise have worked with Toei but not on any Gundam productions.

Never a pain to bring out the truth. I apologize for the error, and appreciate your correction. I got my information mixed up. Still I guess there was a connection...albeit a subtle one:

The animated classic Transformers: The Movie is finally getting a BluRay release this September to commemorate its 30th anniversary.

For those that didn’t grow up in the 80s, Transformers: The Movie was a huge deal. The movie followed on from the events in the TV show and was meant as the bridge to an all-new series, with updated protagonists and antagonists. So, the movie was meant as a passing of the torch from the old generation to the new.

Not to mention it was also one of the last movies Orson Welles worked on, as he initially voiced the planet destroying Unicron though he sadly died during production and Leonard Nimoy had to take over.

It also had luscious animation and that is no surprise when you consider that much of the movie’s animation was handled in Japan. This Japanese angle resurfaced a few times, not only in the movie itself but also in its eventual promotion.

As Transformers already came from two Japanese properties, specifically Diaclone and Microman, the cultural linkage had always been there. However, the multi-toned cel shading and animation in the movie was a real step above most of its competition (as shown below).

This was no accident though, as around the time the movie was in production Zeta Gundam was also underway. That too had some amazing animation and it seems that some of the production worked on both projects, as parts of Zeta Gundam mobile suits ended up in Transformers: The Movie.

The other major part in this is that Yoshiyuki Takani was called in to do the key art, that was later used on posters for promotion. Takani was one of the main toy and model kit box artists at the time, with the other being the equally talented Yuji Kaida.

Takani’s intricate paintings brought anime like Aura Battler Dunbine and Char’s Counterattack to life and his work is still greatly respected event today. In that regard, his work on Transformers: The Movie is something that most fans both in Japan and abroad still think of fondly.

Now, to be fair this is not technically the first time we’ve had a BluRay release of Transformers: The Movie in the West, as back in 2007 we had a European version. However, that release had coloring issues but this edition looks to have been entirely remastered.

Transformers: The Movie is released on September 13th on BluRay and DVD.

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1814732)
Posted by chuckdawg1999 on August 12th, 2016 @ 6:43pm CDT

It has been confirmed by multiple sources, including men who were in the recording booth with him, that Orson Wells finished all of his lines and Leonard Nimoy recorded nothing of Unicron. Any sound discrepancies, which if I'm honest I've never heard, is due to speeding up the tape, then dropping it an octave, because Wells read his lines too slow.

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1814829)
Posted by BattleConvoy on August 13th, 2016 @ 4:01am CDT

o.supreme wrote:he you guys got Scramble City, and the English Dub (as awful as it is), and subtitles without Hasbro's meddling with character names. I guess its true the grass is always greener...

Scramble City is only on the Ultimate edition version on the movie, I only have the Special edition which only has the film with 5.1 option and no bonus features.

The meddling with the names is not a big issue, because some people may not know who the heck "Convoy" is and they may be confused.
(Again I don't even own the takara set because it is like £200 on amazon and I can't find a good copy on eBay.)

Metrodome's 2014 G1 boxset (The one I own) had like all the discs stacked in piles (Like 4 discs in one pile) so it is kinda rubbish and it has the Rhino versions on the discs.
To solve the stacking problem I had to put EVERY disc in a separate case and it takes up more space on my shelf.
The G1 DVDs are better in the states and most people import them, but since multi region DVD players are hard to find and expensive, then you have to stick with the bad Metrodome sets.

Anyways I'll stop complaining and look forward to buying Titans Return figures xD

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1815120)
Posted by ZeroWolf on August 14th, 2016 @ 5:28am CDT

I was luckily enough to catch the takara boxset when it first came out for £60, I didn't realise it's resell had increased by that much mind. In the long run though we may still get this and I would be surprised if we didn't.

Edit: thanks o.Supreme :-)

I'm now going to be watching the tf movie just to see if I can spot the mobile suit parts :-P

Zeta is one of my favourite gundam series

Re: Dare To Be Great: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie (1815184)
Posted by BattleConvoy on August 14th, 2016 @ 11:54am CDT

BattleConvoy wrote: Metrodome's 2014 G1 boxset (The one I own) had like all the discs stacked in piles (Like 4 discs in one pile) so it is kinda rubbish and it has the Rhino versions on the discs.
To solve the stacking problem I had to put EVERY disc in a separate case and it takes up more space on my shelf.

Here is some pics.
Also I did a custom cover for the movie DVD using the upcoming shout factory's front cover.
The first disc of every set has a cover, to show what season it is on my shelf.

Snapshot_20160814_7.JPG

Snapshot_20160814_6.JPG

Snapshot_20160814_8.JPG

Snapshot_20160814_9.JPG

Snapshot_20160814_10.JPG

Click here to view additional comments about this topic at the Energon Pub Forums ...