As we know, the critics overall have panned the live action TF movies, but it seems they also panned the original animated movie (and unlike the live action movies, it did not do very well at the box office either).
TFwiki critical reception of Transformers: the Movie (1986)

The critical reception of the live actions movies is hotly debated here, but I was wondering what you all think of the critics' reviews of the cartoon movie? Do you generally agree or disagree?

Just to give it some context, the poll splits the answers into whether you also generally agree or disagree with the critical reception of the live action movies.

Feel free to explain your answer! (this is a discussion forum afterall).

 

I like the 86 movie, TF07, and AOE, but I can't say any of them are that great movies. They're OK at best, and I'm certainly not going to say critics are wrong about any of them.

 

The '86 movie is really, really bad. It's souless, unoriginal, lazy, and has the simplest plot ever. The Bay movies aren't good, but at least they have production values.

 

The 1986 movie is the greatest movie of all times.

The Bayformers movies have some good to them but piles and piles of bad. So I half agree with the critics of the bayformers movies.

 

As a film, the 86 doesn't stack up to other actual films. But compared to the live-action Bay films, there's a big difference.

But for a person who grew up on episodes 5 times (or more) a week, and had watched each ep probably 3 times, the 86 film is a gem.

Most of the perceived favorites got their screen time prior to their demise, but of course the main focus was to push kids to like the new heroes and buy their toys.

If they had the foresight to include upcoming characters that were introduced in the tv series, even if they had minor roles, it would have been a slightly shinier gem.

If it was written like Batman Mask of the Phantasm, certain characters would have had more emotions which would have had more weight. Hot Rod only had 1 line where he showed remorse for his actions.

As it is, it's still a Transformers movie. Animation was several steps ahead of the regular series. Personalities, voices, plot, and moments were Transformers-character driven.

 

While it holds a nostalgic place in my heart, when I re-watched the 86 movie for the first time since childhood some years back, it literally gave me a headache--it was just jarring--and I like re-watching the cartoons (although some seasons 3 episodes have the same effect on me).

From a critical standpoint, I tend to agree more with the critics of the 86 movie than those of the live action movies (I disagree with the latter not in that I think the live action films are great, I just don't see them as so completely wretched and worthless).

As a TF fan, I like the live action movies more. Looking at what came before the animated movie, it was a complete departure from the source material. It was set in the future, they killed all the beloved characters on earth right at the beginning, and then had new guys go have a rock'n'roll space adventure. Compared to season 1 and 2 of the cartoon, the toy line up until then, and the comics, it was completely different, and led to major changes for the worse (IMO) in the cartoon and toys. The idea of robots in disguise on earth, as inconsistently as that theme was executed in the cartoon, was pretty much abandoned for galaxy-spanning battles on alien worlds where the alt-modes were generic and incidental. The Bayformers movies at least try to generally stick to the robots in disguise theme where transforming means something.

That being said, the animated movie did have some awesome scenes (in that way, it's like the bayformers movies--they tend to be awesome scenes mixed with annoying or even cringeworthy stuff). I can watch the Touch and Instruments of Destruction scenes over and over, haha).

 

Not at all. I feel it was a movie with heart, soul, and respect for the source material. It also demonstrated the grim reality of war by killing off so many of the original cast, and taught that, even though heroes die, there will always be new heroes to take their place. Optimus vs Megatron in that movie is arguably the best moment in the franchise's history, not to mention it introduced UNICRON.

As for the Bay movies, I half do, and half don't. The first movie was okay, but suffered from a number of problems. The second movie was absolutely terrible, with few redeeming aspects. The third movie was surprisingly enjoyable, and I'd say it was pretty good, for a Michael Bay Transformers movie. (Though I don't think anyone who prefers the Decepticons to the Autobots will want to watch it) Age of Extinction has some good, but entirely too much bad, and the heroes all have their jerk@$$ moments (the villains were awesome, though).

 

While I enjoy the '86 movie for the nostalgia factor I also admit that it's a seriously flawed film with some massive problems. It also had the same bad idea the Simpsons Movie had of hey lets do an animated movies exactly like the TV series that is running right now. Hard to convince people to pay for something at the theater that's almost exactly like what they are watching at home for free.

 

Well yes it was, how I see it is a forced toy commercial.

Get rid of your season 1-2 toys and take these spontaneously appearing characters that we though we'd put in. Hell, this guy killed Prime but his toy IS THERE.

But I still love it.

 

86 is best, Bay's robo-ants can't tess

Obviously Transformers the Movie is absolutely head and shoulders better than "taking the Michael" Bay's 4 abysmal, chronic, feeble, pathetic cinematic disasters largely because it actually had the Transformers in it, unlike Bay's puerile pale imitation. Gaping holes in the plot of a children's cartoon were quite common in the 80's and are for me, far more excusable than a live action movie with an enormous budget that has absolutely no plot to find a hole in.

 

you are so right

 

The '86 movie is AMAZING! Yeah sure it was a feature length toy commercial, but a well written one.
It's got great characters, action, comedy, a little tragedy, a great score, an AWESOME soundtrack, and Grimlock at his best  . All that together makes one unforgettable film.

And now the Bay films. I haven't seen AOE so the following opinions are for the first 3.
The Bay films are HIGHLY flawed. They try to hard to be cool with the fighting and explosions. That's fine and all but there is not much more to them. The comedy is pretty bad, Most of the Decepticons just snarl and look scary, any character with a personality is not that likable (with a few exceptions). Even Optimus is unlikable. He is just way too psychopathic, which honestly I didn't mind that much until he killed Sentinel. That was going too far. Now I'm no GEEWUNER but G1 Optimus would have let him live. Hell, any other Optimus would have let him live.
Recently though I have warmed up to these films a bit just as one of those movies to watch when I want some mindless entertainment, but a so bad it's good movie is nothing compared to an actual good movie.

 

Meh.... The big reason it's the best Transformers movie is because the robots are the main characters.

Depends on what character they are. I'm not saying Hot Rod, Springer etc shouldn't exisit. They seem to be carbon copies of previous characters. Like how Springer and Arcee are Han Solo and Leia.

Also the plot is pretty much Hot Rod becoming Rodimus Prime and kill Unicron with the Matrix because plot says so.

 

The 86 Movie is a very good film for the time it was made, Disney and the Don Luth stuff was the only other big budget western animated Movies out there at the time, and although they are good for what they are I personally think that the TF Movie succeeds at making a comparitivley adult film for a younger audience. The story although rather basic is very well written and has some very dramatic scences. The bots are well rounded and beliveable in thier personalities. And it has a kick ass soundtrack.

The Bay films on the other hand, have one dimentional characters (both human and bot) and although it trys to be adult and dramatic it come across too forced. Dont get me wrong I enjoyed the first film, but the subsiquent films just have too much what I call "cool for cools sake" BS written into it.

 

I still find the box office numbers mildly amusing on the 86 movie  

 

Sounds a tad more interesting than following a high school kid's show and tell, and pining over a girl, the US military saving the Autobots' skidplates, and said high school kid killing the most feared Decepticon who had kicked just Optimus tushie.

 

 

Well at least to me it sounds interesting in how someone can get involved with an alien robot conflict.

 

I think that all of the Transformers movies have their good moments, but also a lot of bad ones. I think the '86 movie is okay, certainly better than age of extinction, or pretty much all of the other movies.

 

I would have taken G1, or Armada, or Animated, or Prime's versions on how to get humans involved in an alien robot conflict.

 

The first 20 mins of the 86 movie are cool (ignoring the pathetic toy related insta-deaths), the rest is utterly awful, I haven't been able to sit through it for years.

As for the Bay movies well they have their multitude of problems also.