Movie Review – The Transformers: The Movie (1986)
In the mid 1980s, the Transformers were some of the coolest toys in the market.
Here you had robots from outer space living on planet Earth and disguised as everyday vehicles, weapons, and electronic items. One moment the Transformer is a humanoid-like fighting robot, and the next it’s “hiding” in its alternate form. You had the Autobots on one side, the Decepticons on the other, and everybody else caught in their crossfire.
Released in 1986, The Transformers: The Movie was an animated film that took place directly between the second and third seasons of The Transformers animated television show.
Directed by Nelson Shin, The Transformers: The Movie features a number of voice actors including Peter Cullen, Judd Nelson, Robert Stack, Scatman Crothers and Leonard Nimoy.
The Transformers: The Movie (1986) – (c) De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
The Transformers: The Movie begins out in space in the year 2005 (about twenty years after the second season of The Transformers television show). Unicron (voiced by Orson Wells), a roaming artificial planet, approaches and then destroys robot planet Lithone. As the planet is destroyed, only two of its inhabitants are able to flee.
On the Transformers’ home planet of Cybertron, the evil Decepticons have control of the world. Meanwhile, the heroic Autobots are using two of Cybertron’s moons as staging areas to strike back against the Decepticons. They just need more energon cubes before they’ll be ready to attack. Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen) orders that a shuttle be sent back to Autobot City on planet Earth, and retrieve the energon.
The Transformers: The Movie (1986) – (c) De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
The Decepticons have been spying on the Autobots and quickly learn of their plan to strike back. Megatron (voiced by Frank Welker), the Decepticons’ leader, insists on attacking the shuttle and destroying Autobot City, cutting off the vital supplies to the Autobots. It’ll significantly weaken the Autobots and make them unable to attack Cybertron. The Decepticons storm into the shuttle and attack, killing the Autobots Brawn, Prowl, Ratchet and Ironhide.
The Transformers: The Movie (1986) – (c) De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
Back on Earth, Daniel Witwicky (voiced by David Mendenhall) and Hot Rod (voiced by Judd Nelson) are fishing at a pond when Daniel discusses his loneliness. His father, Spike, is busy on one of Cybertron’s moons and helping the Autobots and their cause. Just then they pick up the shuttle’s signal and then race up Lookout Mountain to see it arrive. Daniel spots a hole in the shuttle, and Hot Rod sees the Decepticons. He quickly starts fighting the shuttle and soon all the Autobots in Autobot City join the battle.
The Transformers: The Movie (1986) – (c) De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
During the battle, Autobot City physically transforms into a fortress. The Autobots radio for assistance, but Soundwave (voiced by Frank Welker) attacks and stops the transmissions. The Autobots can only dig in and try to wait for help. Outside the fortress, the Decepticon construction bots merge together to form Devastator (voiced by Arthur Burghardt), and it slowly destroys the fortress.
The Transformers: The Movie (1986) – (c) De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
The next morning the Autobot’s reinforcements arrive. A team of Dinobots land outside the fortress and attack Devastator. Optimus Prime also arrives and soon the Decepticons’ attack is repealed. Optimus Prime and Megatron have their fight and Megatron is ultimately defeated. He begs Optimus for mercy, but then he grabs a gun and fatally shoots the leader of the Autobots. Megatron is also badly damaged, but he’s still able to escape with the fleeing Decepticons. Starscream (voiced by Chris Latta) takes command of the Decepticons, and they escape on board Astrotrain.
The Transformers: The Movie (1986) – (c) De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
Optimus Prime’s wounds are fatal. Before dying, Optimus passes command of the Autobots to Ultra Magnus (voiced by Robert Stack). He also gives him the Autobot Matrix of Leadership, a powerful weapon that will aid the Autobots in their darkest hour. Optimus Prime then turns gray and dies.
The Transformers: The Movie (1986) – (c) De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
Out in space, Astrotrain doesn’t have enough fuel to make it back to Cybertron. They’re going to have to jettison some weight in order to survive. Starscream has the Decepticons toss out the Insecticons as well as Thundercracker and Skywarp. Starscream himself throws Megatron out of the shuttle. Once the weight has been jettisoned, the Decepticons fight with each other for control of their organization.
The Transformers: The Movie (1986) – (c) De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
Further out into space, Megatron and the jettisoned Decepticons encounter Unicron. It turns out that Unicron has a need for Megatron. He wants the Decepticon to destroy the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. It’s the one weapon that can destroy Unicron. To help him destroy the Matrix, Unicron repairs Megatron’s damaged body, transforming him into a more powerful robot named Galvatron (voiced by Leonard Nimoy). Unicron also transforms the other wounded Decepticons into new robots named Cyclonus, Scourge and the Sweeps. They’re then given a spaceship to carry out their mission.
On Cybertron, Starscream is in the process of becoming the crowned leader of the Decepticons when a spaceship crashes the party. Galvatron steps out and quickly kills Starscream, taking back control of the Decepticons’ organization.
The Transformers: The Movie (1986) – (c) De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
Unicron then attacks and destroys the two moons of Cybertron. On Moon Base Two, Spike Witwicky (voiced by Corey Burton) and Bumblebee (voiced by Dan Gilvezan) are able to send a distress message back to the Autobots in Autobot City. The two of them set a bomb and then fly away in a spaceship. The bomb detonates as Unicron destroys the moon, but the blast doesn’t cause any damage to Unicron.
The Transformers: The Movie (1986) – (c) De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
Back on Earth, Galvatron and the Decepticons launch a surprise attack on Autobot City. The Autobots separate onto two shuttles and flee from the Decepticons. Just when they think that they’re safe, the Decepticons strike again in space. The shuttle carrying Hot Rod, Kup and the Dinobots is shot down over the planet Quintessa.
The Transformers: The Movie (1986) – (c) De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
Ultra Magnus’s ship is still being pursued by the Decepticons and unable to help the crashed ship on Quintessa. Unable to fight back, Ultra Magnus decides to separate his ship into two pieces. He and the Autobots detach in the front section of the ship while the Decepticons destroy the remaining part of the ship, thinking that they’ve killed the Autobots. Galvatron thinks that the Matrix is now destroyed. Ultra Magnus’s ship then flies away and makes a landing on planet Junk for repairs.
The Transformers: The Movie (1986) – (c) De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
On Quintessa, Hot Rod and Kup were separated from the Dinobots during their crash landing. Hot Rod and Kup are quickly captured by Quintessa guardsmen and taken to a prison. There they witness the mock trial and then execution of Arbulus, a native of Lithone. They then meet Kranix, the other survivor from Lithone, and briefly learn about Unicron before guards haul away Kranix. Kranix is then tried and executed by the Sharkticons.
The Transformers: The Movie (1986) – (c) De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
When it’s time for Hot Rod and Kup to face the judge, they’re also found guilty. Hot Rod and Kup are able to transform into their alternate modes and hold the Sharkticons at bay until they’re rescued by the Dinobots. Grimlock (voiced by Gregg Berger) convinces the Sharkticons to turn on the Quintessa rulers. Wheelie (voiced by Frank Welker) joins the Autobots and shows them where to find a spaceship.
Galvatron returns to Unicron and learns that the Matrix has not been destroyed and that Ultra Magnus still lives on planet Junk. He orders Galvatron to Junk to stop Ultra Magnus and destroy the Matrix.
The Transformers: The Movie (1986) – (c) De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
On planet Junk, the Autobots are busy making repairs to their shuttle when Galvatron and the Decepticons arrive and launch yet another attack. The Autobots’ shuttle is quickly destroyed. Ultra Magnus orders the other Autobots to seek cover while he uses the Matrix against the Decepticons. But the Matrix will not open. The Sweeps heavily damage Ultra Magnus and Galvatron takes the Matrix, thinking that he can use it to make Unicron his slave.
The Transformers: The Movie (1986) – (c) De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
The remaining Autobots on Junk are then attacked by Junkion natives, led by Wreck-Gar (voiced by Eric Idle). The attack continues until the other Autobots arrive on their spaceship, and Hot Rod befriends Wreck-Gar. The Junkions and Autobots then celebrate and dance to the music of Weird Al Yankovic‘s song, “Dare to Be Stupid“. Ultra Magnus is then repaired and the Junkions provide the Autobots with a spaceship they can use to fight against Unicron.
The Transformers: The Movie (1986) – (c) De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
Meanwhile, Galvatron has returned to Unicron and tried to make him his slave. Galvatron tries to open the Matrix but also fails. This only angers Unicron and he transforms into a planet-sized humanoid robot, and then attacks Cybertron. The Decepticons on Cybertron try to fight back, but their efforts are useless. Galvatron also tries to fight against the massive robot, but Unicron swallows him.
Hot Rod’s spaceship arrives at Cybertron and crashes through Unicron’s eye, entering the robots body. Inside of Unicron, the Autobots become separated from Hot Rod. They’re forced to run when the forces inside of Unicron try to attack.
The Transformers: The Movie (1986) – (c) De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
Hot Rod wanders around and eventually finds Galvatron and the Matrix. Galvatron tries to convince Hot Rod that they are allies now against a common foe until Unicron uses his mind powers to make Galvatron fight the Autobots. Hot Rod and Galvatron have a fierce battle inside of Unicron until Hot Rod grabs the Matrix and successfully opens it.
The Transformers: The Movie (1986) – (c) De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
The power of the Matrix transforms Hot Rod into Rodimus Prime, the new leader of the Autobots. Rodimus easily defeats Galvatron and throws him into space. He then unlocks the full power of the Matrix and uses it to destroy Unicron. During the chaos, Rodimus helps lead the surviving Autobots out of Unicron before it finally explodes.
The Transformers: The Movie (1986) – (c) De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
The Transformers: The Movie ends with the Autobots reclaiming Cybertron. Unicron’s now defunct head orbits the planet as a new moon. The narration assures us that Optimus Prime will return.
So is The Transformers: The Movie a good film?
Even though it’s been eons since I’ve seen an episode of the classic animated television show The Transformers, I like this film today. It brings back many memories of watching the show while playing along with the action figures. This film is also a darker and more sinister story, something that’s more appealing to me at an older age.
The Transformers: The Movie has a somewhat decent story filled with plenty of action and science-fiction moments, whether it’s on Earth or out in space. Unicron is a fascinating villain, and Megatron / Galvatron has plenty of screen time. I would have liked it better if Starscream, Soundwave and Optimus Prime had more screen time, but what’s there is good.
Pretty much the only part of this film that bothered me was the animation itself. While the Transformers themselves look good, this is an anime-style of film and the results heavily reflect it. Almost all of the action scenes are choppy to go along with that style of animation, especially with it being from the early 1980s.
Otherwise, the music was surprisingly good though Weird Al Yankovic’s “Dare to Be Stupid” song felt strangely out of place in this film. Why that of all songs is there, I have no idea. But the rest of the music is great and takes you straight back to the 80s, one of the greatest eras of music.
The Transformers: The Movie (1986) – movie trailer
Fans of the original Transformers television show will feel right at home with The Transformers: The Movie. Those who have never seen the show (or the live-action films released in the 2000s) will most likely be completely lost and probably bored with this animated film. This film is really geared towards fans of the show.
Decepticons rock!
Optimus Prime – “Megatron must be stopped… no matter the cost.”
——————–
Megatron – “Die, Autobots!”
——————–
Unicron – “I have summoned you here for a purpose.”
Megatron – “Nobody summons Megatron.”
Unicron – “Then it pleases me to be the first.”