The Transformers - The Movie (20th Anniversary Special Edition)

One for the old die-hard fans, those who watched it when they were young, and for those who are only just understanding the brilliance of 'robots in disguise' via Beast Wars it equals an entertaining history lesson. Don't watch it, however, if you're over 10 and have never experienced the thrill of the TransFormers, you may disappointed and if you do actually enjoy it that'll mean more harm than good.


Hey! No one calls this movie "uncrasimatic"!   December 5, 2000
Zagnorch (Terra, Sol System)
30 out of 38 found this review helpful

Even after my interest in the Transformers TV series fell by the wayside in my teens, I still hold the movie in fairly high esteem. The theme and story is a bit more mature than what the TV show offered, although it does have its many wacky and silly cartoon moments. For it's time it had some of the best Hired-for-American-release Japanese animation I've ever seen. Sadly, the level of detail & quality of the animation drops as the movie plays on. There's some big shakeups afoot as well- lotsa robot deaths, mostly Autobots! But at least Starscream, that conniving, raspy high-pitched annoyance, finally gets his. And Spike's uttering of a choice four-letter word has sent me searching for a more positive role model... scandalous!

I was fairly amazed that the movie producers were able to load up on a few well-known actors for the voice-overs. You got Robert Stack, Judd Nelson, Eric Idle, Leonard Nimoy... and Orson Welles doing his very last gig. I read somewhere that Welles actually passed before completing the voice work for Unicron, and Nimoy finished it. Thanks to this revelation, I've been jinxed with one of animation geekdom's most hideous purgatories: listening to Unicron's verbal taunts to see if he sounds more like Citizen Kane... or Spock.

One aspect of the TF:TM DVD I've found highly entertaining is the widescreen versus the full screen pan-&-scan debate over its release. I've read other reviews, message boards, and all sorts of other literature regarding this subject. One side says that the movie was originally filmed in TV screen format, and was actually cropped on top & bottom to give it a cinematic feel for the theatres. And I've heard the other side say that the flick WAS filmed in a wider-than TV-screen aspect ratio, and was panned & scanned for the video release. So far neither side has presented a completely compelling case, and I've neither read nor heard any info about it from Rhino on the subject. Since I never had the privilege of actually seeing the movie in theatres (my first viewing was on video a year after the theatrical release), and I'm not a widescreen absolutist, I don't feel I'm missing out too much one way or the other. Sorry all you cultists of the theatrical aspect ratio out there...

Then there's the soundtrack, chock-full of big-hair metal tunes & Summer Olympic-style inspirational pop. Yes, it kinda dates the film and increases the cheeseball factor. But think about it: what better way to push one 80's pop-culture icon- some of the coolest toys ever cast from metal and plastic- than with the kind of music that epitomized "cutting-edge" in the 80's? Then of course there's Vince DiCola's synthesizer tunes that makes up the rest of the music, which adds a proper touch, especially the death of Optimus scene. That mournful dirge that plays as the big guy slips away always gets me a bit misty every time I watch, although not as much nowadays as when I was a kid.

I was rather disappointed by the anemic special features, however; no trailers or teasers were included. All that was added was an interview with score composer Vince DiCola and a few storyboards. Ye gods...this was the only guy they could get to talk about his contribution to the flick? I mean, I like the soundtrack and all, but in my opinion it doesn't exactly make for a compelling discussion. I did find the storyboards interesting, however- they depicted a few scenes that they conceptualized for the movie that were either eventually altered or never produced.

As a final note, I'll now disclose my favorite moment in the flick. Megatron's just been given the heave-ho, and the Decepticons are fighting amongst themselves over who'll be the next leader. Soundwave (the Walkman robot) is making his bid, when a 'comrade' calls him "uncharismatic". One of Soundwave's cassette robot buddies tries to defend his honor by saying,

"Hey! No one calls Soundwave 'uncrasimatic'!"

Ehh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh...

Okay, so it's a lot funnier in a stupid way when seen and heard in the movie, rather than me describing it. What do you want from me, huh?


'Late!


UPDATE 7/12/2006: I made the recent discovery that the movie wasn't transferred to the DVD from the original film, but from video tape. I found this out when I noticed a very brief tracking line in one scene. Chalk it up to Rhino's habit of cutting costs at the expense of putting out a quality product...


`Later