The Transformers: The Movie

The Transformers: The Movie is a 1986 Japanese-American animated science fiction action film based on the Transformers television series. It was released in North America on August 8, 1986, and in the United Kingdom on December 12, 1986. It was co-produced and directed by Nelson Shin, who also produced the television series. The screenplay was written by Ron Friedman, who created Bionic Six a year later.

The film features the voices of Eric Idle, Judd Nelson, Leonard Nimoy, Casey Kasem, Robert Stack, Lionel Stander, John Moschitta Jr., Scatman Crothers, Peter Cullen, Frank Welker, and Orson Welles, who died 10 months before the film's release, in his final film role. The soundtrack comprises electronic music composed by Vince DiCola and songs from rock and heavy metal acts including Stan Bush and "Weird Al" Yankovic.

The story is set in 2005, 20 years after the TV series' second season. After a Decepticon assault devastates Autobot City, Optimus Prime wins a deadly one-on-one duel with Megatron, but ultimately sustains fatal injuries in the encounter. With Megatron gravely injured, the Decepticons are forced to retreat, saving the Autobots. The Autobots are hunted across the galaxy by Unicron, a planet-sized Transformer intending to consume Cybertron and who transfigures Megatron to become the enslaved Galvatron.

Hasbro's exclusively toy-focused agenda demanded a product refresh, to be contrived by the on-screen death of many prominent starring characters, at the protest of some creators of the film and TV series. The deaths of many established characters, especially Optimus Prime, inadvertently upset the young audience, prompting a letter-writing campaign from upset viewers of the film.

At the time of its release, the film underperformed at the box-office and received generally negative reviews for its plot and violent deaths, while praising the animation, voice acting and score.

Why Optimus Prime Shouldn't Have Died In The Movie

 * 1) The deaths of several iconic Transformers, most notably Optimus Prime and Starscream, were forced and very controversial.
 * 2) Several dark and intense scenes, like the destruction of the planet at the beginning of the movie, the above mentioned deaths and Kranix's execution.
 * 3) A small amount of strong language, which some believe may have been from Hasbro initially attempting to make this a PG-13 movie.
 * 4) The movie feels a bit rushed as the pacing can be a little inconsistent.
 * 5) The ending is very abrupt.
 * 6) Although the trailer describes the film as "spectacular widescreen action", the film was animated in 4:3 "fullscreen" format, then cropped to widescreen for theatrical showings.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) It is the first Transformers film to be released on the big screen and is respectful to the source material.
 * 2) The animation is a huge step-up from the tv show and the animation was made from a company known to make only tv shows.
 * 3) Amazing soundtrack composed by Vince DiCola. It features the song "The Touch" (That is Sung by Stan Bush) which became a trademark.
 * 4) It introduced the film’s main antagonist and the earth-sized robot, Unicron (played by late film director and actor Orson Welles) to the Transformers franchise.
 * 5) The fight scene was a huge step-up from any of the any fights from the tv show one example is the amazing & iconic fight of Optimus Prime vs Megatron.
 * 6) The movie has a darker theme than in the original TV series, though it also has plenty of lighthearted moments.
 * 7) The voice acting is good especially from the late Orson Welles who mad Unicorn sound like a actual devil.
 * 8) Likable and memorable characters such as Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime, Spike’s son Daniel, and more.
 * 9) Good dialogue and quotes, like the memorable line: “Light our darkest hour.”