The 86 movie is not bad if viewed as another episode of the cartoon, but as a movie it's not very good at all.

On the positive side, the first half hour is great when not looking at how the way many deaths were handled. Also, I love the animation, and the soundtrack is a lot of fun.

At the same time, it does a poor job of making me emphasize with the new Autobots. I just don't like a lot of the new Autobot cast; they're either dull or annoying. I like Leonard Nimoy as Galvatron, and Cyclonus is cool, too, but they aren't enough to really save it.

I think the '86 movie would have been better if it was primarily focused on the Season 1 and 2 Autobots for most of its length, but maybe at the end there is a "passing of the torch" so to speak between Optimus and Hot Rod.

 

I love every second of the 1986 movie

 

I think the 86 movie is a classic example of a cult phenomenon. It's popularity doesn't stem from it's airing with either audiences or critics but with those who come back to it later, be they older fans or kids. The movie has enumerous issues which would cause it to be a critical flop but objectively also balances that with a number of quality elements e.g. the absolutely top-notch voice acting, decent action, leanings towards the dramatic etc. It can never be claimed to be an objectively great movie but it's one that's aged surprisingly well and stands up better today than it did when it was released.

On the other hand the LA movies are objectively terrible. Performances are flat, voice acting is sketchy, action poorly filmed, progressively worse plotting and a general "money" attitude. Now that doesn't mean you can't enjoy them, far from it, but while the 86 movie has aged well, the original 2007 movie has aged extremely badly. It's essentially the best movie of the 4 because it's not the other three. Perhaps if it had remained the only movie the cult effect might have kicked in but with the following three undermining it's positives (The increasing move towards parody for instance) it has probably been ousted from being a true life long favourite.

Honestly I don't disagree with either critics, I just think the 86 movie will continue to gather a cult following, while the LA movies will fall into obscurity with the wider public much faster.

 

The '86 movie stops being watchable after Starscream dies.

At least the Live action films sprinkles the good stuff throughout the film as a whole and doesn't blow its load early.

 

Agreed with both.
86 isn't a really good film, and neither are the live-action ones (with the exception of 07).
I prefer the live-action films over it, as I can actually enjoy them.
The only good part of '86 is the Battle of Autobot City.

 

I disagree with the critics of '86 and disagree with the live action critics

 

I feel they are a bit harsher in some sense like the in ability to enjoy some robot action but in reality they aren't well crafted stories.

If James Roberts did write the script for a Transformers movie....would that get panned or critical praise?

 

The animated movie had a *lot* of good moments. The showdown between Optimus and Megatron. Optimus's death scene. Starscream's coronation. The genuine menace of Unicron. Weak bits too to be sure, but it's got a good legacy for good reason.

It was reasonably cliche, but it was colorful, fun, had good moments, was fast-paced, and I'd watch it twice over the live-action films.

 

I find it incredibly difficult to view the '86 movie with any kind of objectivity. The video was practically glued into the VCR from the age of four, and is ingrained into my very being. I love it dearly like a warm hug, and always will.

That's not to say the critics musings aren't legitimate, but then they weren't the target audience and hadn't been part of a narrative that encompassed a TV show and merchandise. If you stuck me down in front of a (*insert modern, popular kids franchise here*) movie and I'd probably be just as baffled. A similar thing happened to the first TMNT movie, and I still think that movie holds up.

As for the Bay movies, well, I admit that the critics words aren't exactly unfounded either. I'm aware that Bay is a bit of a whipping boy in Hollywood circles, and do feel that some critics have been a little over-harsh at times but there's no smoke without fire. Or indeed, explosions.

I enjoyed the first three movies at the cinema. Even RotF. The first in particular is a favourite, as it was the culmination of a lot of excitement and despite it's flaws retains a lot of that Spielbergian Hollywood summer blockbuster magic.

RotF was silly but fun, DotM was better but bloated, but AoE, in my opinion, fully deserves the kicking it got from critics. I just couldn't believe how obnoxious that film was, from the universally horrible characters (Autobots included) to the utterly shameless product placement ("The Pill?"). The plot was so contrived that it felt like Bay was sticking two fingers up, saying "I can put any bollocks up on the screen and you shcmucks will still elevate this piece of shit to the highest grossing film of the year".

Oh, and a whole scene justifying stat rape in a movie designed to push a family friendly brand? Disgraceful.

I did like the Ratchet scene though, so I got that going for me, which is nice.

 

The 86 movie was fun as far as an animated cartoon movie goes.

The Bay Movies, or at least the first one was fun. AOE was kind of fun in it's own way too, but was clearly and blatantly as bad as, if not worse than, the other two.

So yeah, I pretty much agree with all the critics.

 

IMO

The 2007 movie was good. The rest including the 86' movie are decent, but all 5 movies have their flaws.

 

As someone who is passionate about films and other forms of fiction I actually don't think there is such a thing as an objectively good or bad film. Not even The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly is objectively good, and that's my favorite of all time. That's all I'm saying on the matter, as I like things to stay on topic.

And I don't care what anyone says about the 86 movie or the live action films, one of the things I can't complain about in either TF:TM or AOE is the voice acting. The AOE voice acting is excellent in my opinion; Cullen, Welker, Ryan, Goodman, Watanabe, Dimaggio, Foxworth, and Wilson all do an outstanding job in their roles and really sell their characters. The 1986 voice acting is really good, too. Orson Welles, Welker, Nimoy, Latta, and the many others do a great job with the many characters in the film. Heck, even though I don't like Wheelie or Wreck-Gar or Blurr and a few other Autobots, their voice actors do a great job with them.

I will agree that the first live action movie hasn't aged well (I actually think the live action film universe has improved a lot since ROTF. Perfect? No, but it's much better than it was in the first two films), and that not every actor in them does a good job, but even that's subjective.

I actually think the 86 film is a lot of fun in parts. I just would have enjoyed it a lot more if it was more focused on the 1984 and 1985 characters and didn't kill off most of the characters that died in such unceremonious ways to make way for new toys.

 

I hated it cause Optimus died in that movie

 

The first Michael Bay Transformers film came out when I was 8, and as you could probably already guess, I saw it more than once in the theater. That film is to me what the 86' film is for a lot of you guys who grew up on G1. So I can't really fault anyone who likes that film, and I kinda hope nobody faults me for liking the 2007 one. However, I will state the fact that the 2007 one got much better critical reception compared to not only the 86' movie, but the rest of the live-action TF films as well.

 

Comparing the 86 movie to the live action movies is like comparing a lion to four blind mice. The 86 movie could be considered timeless. Whereas the live action movies are nothing more than soulless pieces of garbage that are produced without an ounce of originality.

 

:\
Not trying to break your opinion but....
They may not be great movies but the LA movies still have their own ideas on stuff even if they're not the best.

E.g. They gave us new characters that can be used in future series such as Barricade, Blackout and Crosshairs.

And speaking of the lion and the mice. The lion may be proud but in the end the mice rescue the lion.

 

I've probably seen the '86 movie in excess of 100 times and I still love it. I cant claim that it's a good film by any means, but I've always liked the gritty feel of the animation. While I'm also sure that the screen writers, and editors, suffered from some kind of mania, it doesn't seem that much more erratic than a lot of today's action flicks.

Can't say that nostalgia doesn't impart a bit of a rose tint either. So there's that as well.

The Bay films, I feel, betray the spirit of the characters. I didn't get any real sense of tension between Starscream and Megatron in the first. I actually walked out of the theater during the second or third, I forget which, when Optimus chases down a 'Con, brutalizes, ant executes him as he begs for mercy.

Because, "Freedom is the right of all sentient beings. Unless you're a Decepticon. In which case I refuse to acknowledge your right to exist."

I dunno. I wasn't a Prime fan when I was a kid, but that just completely took me out of it.

 

I won't give AOE zero but I would give a 5/100 why?
Darker theme about CIA slaughtering cybertrions: 2
Optimus have more emotion: 2
Stanley Tucci performance: 1
Plot 0. Character development 0. Performance from other actor 0.
Very little good thing in bayformers but Much much more bad thing

 

I was asking if critics would do the same.

 

There never was a Decepticon who begged for mercy.
You're thinking of RoTF. Where a Decepticon RAMPAGED through a city, killing maybe twenty at least. Optimus stopped him.
Decepticons don't beg for mercy.
Unless they're Starscream.