Sorry if this has been asked a million times as I am new here.

In the special features of the Movie DVD there is this Japanese trailer that has all this different footage and the characters are all differently coloured..

I can't really find any info about it on the net and all you TF gurus will probably know exactly what that is all about.

If a different version does exist how does one get their hands on it?

Thanks for your help team.

 

Search TF movie original trailer on youtube. It's not a different version of the movie, the original trailer Hasbro used to shop it around just used different footage. Here, I found it for you:

YouTube - Transformers The Movie (1986) - Original Theatrical Trailer

 

Why was different animation created?

 

That is the original test footage, from back when the movie was being made. The original trailer. Things like Ultra Magnus were undecided at that point so he's still in his Diaclone Battle Convoy colours.

There's no version of the movie with those colours - the final version changed up to the design we all remember.

The only different versions of the movie out there, IIRC, are various subsequent versions that clean up the footage and restore bits of the image lost at the sides of the frames from the original negatives. There's no missing footage or alternate sequences, or anything on those lines. The closest you get to that are some unused bits of musical score like Attack on the Shuttle.

 

Thanks guys, it's actually been bugging me for years haha! Really appreciate your help.

Some of that test stuff looks badass and I didn't want to miss out on something.

 

If you haven't seen it, you may also want to look at the original draft for the movie.

 

I've never seen that trailer before. Thanks for posting it.

 

If you want to get technical, there are numerous versions, but the differences are minor, like a title crawl with text for the tv version, swearing vs. no swearing, etc. etc.

 

Awesome! Where would I find this!?! Is it just a matter of google??

 

This topic can get ugly on TFW2005. I happen to be one of the ones that believes there were different final versions that played at the theaters in 1986. I saw the movie at the theaters in August of 86. I have spent years collecting rare Transformers The Movie items and have to admit that I have never found any proof that can back up what I believe I saw. Many people on these boards feel the same way. If I ever do come across any proof... I will post it instantly.

 

I guess you guys haven't heard of the super special version where Optimus Prime crumbles into dust after he dies =)

 

oh please dont go geting that old rumor starting again

 

I am one of the few people who remember seeing some extra scenes back in 86. Its a fact that the film we have access to now is the VHS formatted one, since the original film was destroyed in a fire.
The scene that stands out in my mind is simply seeing more dead Autobots in the battle Autobot city. I wasnt surprised to find out that those scenes existed when storyboards for the film surfaced. It wasnt the same shots, but it coincides with the notion that more Autobots had died.

 

Wrong! He can't die, because he merges with Cybertron and transforms it into a giant robot to fight off Unicron!

 

I find it fun that Snarl gets more screen time in that pre-trailer than in the whole final movie - more or less.

 

I lold at FUCK YOU IN THE DICKHOLE MICHAEL BAY  

 

On my first watch of the movie at the theatres I also thought I saw extra footage. I'm not sure what you are referring to, but the fight scene between Optimus and Megatron was longer in my childhood memory... And to this day I still think that Megatron hits Prime by rotating his torso which I have never seen again.

Is this what you saw and have no proof of??

 

The different opening credits are for US and European versions. The US got a Superman-style 'swooshing' credits at the beginning of the movie whereas here in the UK, we always had the Star Wars-style text crawl.

I believe the version with Spike saying "shit" is the US version as well as I REALLY don't recall that from my childhood!  

Also, wasn't the Victor Carolli speech at the end about Prime returning added for the VHS release as kids in the cinema were getting too upset about him dying?

 

lol uh oh. i consider myself a huuuge fan of the movie and have never heard about any of this. hopefully nobody is pulling our legs here.

 

If I may volunteer a suggestion, perhaps your memory of the scene has become intertwined with the fight between the two in this clip from "Fire in the Sky"? Check it out from about 2:57 on, and you'll see Megatron does spin his torso 180 degrees to belt Prime with an unconventional weapon.