No, this isn't a ploy to ay that I hate G1 or anything. It seems that for all the discussion about the 2 live actions movies get, the animated movie hardly gets any mention. So for the fans of the 86' movie, were there any things you think could have been done differently?
its gets little mention as it was done so much better than the live action movies, the only major gripes about are the time jump from G1 season 2 to the movie, The wiping out a sizable chuck of the season 1 and season 2 autobot cast and to a lesser extent Decepticon cast and the Killing off of Optimus Prime and leaving us with Mr. Angst aka Rodimus Prime. It is said time heals all wounds and even the death of Optimus prime isn't looked at with the hatred it once did of course if they had left Prime dead in ROTF it would have all come charging back but fortunately Hasbro has learned from its past and got Prime back and functioning by movie's end
The G1-esque mistakes. I get it's the 80's and that's one of the cartoon's many charms but......atleast TRY to watch out for any when doing a movie. Where's the rest of the armada? Why are Magnus' legs being put on backwards? Why is Shockwave attacking autobot city? I thought those guys were changed by Unicron, why are they at Starscream's coronation? That's about it for me.
I dislike it because of all the whys. Why are so many characters dying off for no reason? Why is the Matrix suddenly in Optimus' chest? Why is this movie so Star-Wars like? Why did the Dinobots have to change so drastically? Why are they dancing for no reason? Why did the movie just end like that? WHY WHEELIE? There's a whole list of this crap somewhere, but those are my highlights.
First I have to say TFTM is my all time favorite movie. now, that being said, I think the entire underwater scene with Kup and Hot Rod could be removed completely. I just feel that entire sequence seems out of place.
I loved it. One of my favorite movies of all time. only thing that bothered me was when UM was putting the matrix into his chest there was a little double jump in the editing...it was in his chest, then he put it in his chest. Minor thing but still bugged me. everything else was fine...it was a G1 movie. "I can't deal with that right now."
I always felt that he was adjusting it as it did not fit quite right and was intended as a nod that he wasn't meant to truly be the next Autobot leader, am I the only one that thought that? and why Wheelie? Wheelie is there to make you pull out your hair!
I think it has held up pretty well, all things considered... as long as you don't try to make more of it than what it is - a movie pimping toys. My only dislike is the "changing of the guard" to the new cast, characters I felt no real affinity for. In all fairness, I was growing out of TFs at the time, so it's hard to be objective, and that change was necessary to sell new toys, so it's hard to complain from that perspective.
The ruthless killing off and disapperance of all our beloved characters. Also, I agree with Sage. WHY THE HELL WERE THEY DANCING ALL OF A SUDDEN!?
Everything? Well apart from Prime's Decepticon ass kicking, thats the only good part of the 86 movie.
The only thing I hated was that too many characters got killed for no reason. Two, three, come on, five, that's ok, but nearly ALL of them? Jeez...
Why are people saying they were killed for no reason? The their toys were no longer on shleves we had new toys to sell I would rather see a character die then just never be used again
I understand now that it was a toy commercial, but I hated that so many of the guys that made Transformers so popular died (especially Optimus), and all these character who we had no idea who they were were thrown in there without an explanation.
In spite of my bias ('86 movie is still my favorite movie of all time with '07 coming in a close second), here I go. 1. More time should have been spent getting animators on the same page with the writers, editors, and character development team. As a result, FIVE Dinobots (incl. Snarl) would have dove from Optimus Prime's shuttle to assail Devastator, kick Unicron's butt (literally). Characters wouldn't seem to be in or come from more than one place at a time (Sunstreaker is both in Kup's security detail outside of Autobot City prior to the battle and aboard Optimus's reinforcement shuttle with Hound and the Dinobots). Any characters with clones (and their exact numbers) would be determined and accounted for throughout the story. (Cyclonus has 1 clone early on, then none. Scourge starts with 2, then 3 -- I guess 'Cyclonus's Armada' said to Unicron, "I wanna be a Sweep. Can you make me look like those 3?" Then, there are enough of either to serve as destructible cannon/Dinobot fodder during Galvatron's raid on Autobot City. Then there's the whole post-Unicron Insecticon mess....) Any and all character deaths (and their subsequent edits) would have been maintained (in something like a "book of the dead"), and thus been consistent with future TV episodes. (Some dead characters are shown during the 3rd and 4th seasons, and Japanese spinoffs, while others are never seen again (due to off-screen deaths, or deaths edited out of the final project and never unwritten during the rest of the show's run). 2.Characters still on store shelves (1985s, for example) should have had character shields (protecting them from "permanent" death, but still making them available for serious injuries). 3. Neither Smokescreen nor Wheeljack should have died (off-screen). Serious, but repairable injury should have remained an option though. 4. Characters not part of the reduxed Japanese line should have been open to possible injury/death (Ironhide and Ratchet were never released in Japan in 1985, nor were Gears, Sunstreaker, Skids, Dirge, or Buzzsaw.) 5. If Laserbeak was to be replaced, Buzzsaw (still on store shelves) should have taken his place in the shuttle fight. 6. Diaclone robots not made into TFs should have been considered for extras or cannon fodder, sparing some TF characters still admired by fans. (Ironhide was my first TF. Prowl and Wheeljack had large fanbases.) "Police Sunstreaker" could have been helping Kup with his barricade. "Clampdown" could have spared Red Alert from his (now off-screen) death prior to "one shall stand, one shall fall." Arcee could have dragged Bumblejumper next to "Marlboor Wheeljack". 7. Since Ratchet was the only Autobot medic/doctor shown in the movie, provide a suitable replacement for him upon his departure. (Like Hoist, the only other full-fledged mechanic, or Wheeljack, who was frequently Ratchet's assistant.) 8. Decepticon extras. As of 1985, there were roughly 29 individual Decepticons (not including Reflector). Unlike the Autobots, all of them were present at the battle of Autobot City, minus Reflector, Shockwave, and the Bandai-made deluxe Insecticons, plus Ratbat. I'm one of about 200+ people who have hand-created "additional" Decepticon Planes/seekers and Sunbow/Marvel themselves threw in others to fill out a battle in the first and second season. Call me crazy, 24 Decepticons does not an invasion make vs. a whole city of Autobots (and possibly human assistance), regardless of how much a surprise the attack was. (The attack shouldn't have been too big a surprise, given Hot Rod shot down their shuttle, making them fly the extra 10 or so miles to the city. The laser fire and fiery wreck alone should have shocked citizens into action.) Seriously, use extras, such as the periwinkle and dark blue colored "Seeker extras" or the color-swapped Ramjet and Dirge that frequently appear. 9. Mirage's death should have appeared on camera. In the storyboard, he snipes Bombshell as the Decepticons are flying into the city's interior. Megatron responds by blowing up the overhead walkway he's hiding in. This is important as Bombshell's pre-Cyclonus injuries are otherwise unexplained. 10a. Skywarp should have been placed in the foreground to become Cyclonus. (no armada necessary.) 10b. Bombshell should have become the 3rd Sweep. 11. Wheeljack and Windcharger should have survived (serious injury, but not death) and been extensively repaired. (Explaining Wheeljack's Headmasters and Victory appearances.) 12. Autobot response to Devastator. In the storyboards, he is defeated (forced to separate) off-screen by a combined assault led by Ultra Magnus (immediately after "Their defenses are broken! Let the slaughter begin!"). If the Scramble City combiners were available during the movie's plotting, I'd have countered Devastator with Superion (his post 1986 comic rival) or Defensor (a more obvious choice given their battlefield). Plus the movie did such great things with blue flame effects. Notice I didn't mention the deaths/replacements of Optimus Prime, Megatron, and Starscream. These deaths permitted the story to progress. The changing of the guard element was inevitable, and frequently repeated in nearly all of the Japanese spin-offs. (in Headmasters, Optimus dies again, Rodimus goes off-planet, Magnus is assassinated, Galvatron is plotted against; Masterforce, Fort Max goes off-planet; Victory, God Jinrai -- the closest thing to Optimus Prime & his powerlinx partner -- is/are destroyed, then rebuilt as a feral body armor/greaves combiner, and so on.) I imagine an alternate writing would have had Starscream as emperor/leader with Galvatron plotting behind his back, but even without Galvatron's back story, it was already being done with Serpentor and Cobra Commander.
-Why jump 20 years into the future? -Why kill off a lot of show's main casts just to sell toys? -Who and where did Ultra Magnus come from? -Who and where did Kup (apparently an old-timer) come from? -How did Decepticons take over Cybertron? -Why didn't anyone oppose kicking Megatron out? -Who was made into Cyclonus? -What happened to Shockwave? -If Hot Rod didn't catch the Matrix before passing it onto Ultra Magnus, would Ultra Magnus indeed be their leader? -Unicron, who created him?
If you go by season 3, Primacron built him, but I like to ignore that. I don't know if it was scripted, but the IDW comic adaption has Shockwave being killed during Unicron's assault.
There were only a few things I didn't like about the movie... First and foremost- the soundtrack... I HATE 80's power ballads Also, the dancing scene- Prime is dead, the matrix is taken by Galatron, a giant planet is about to attack cybertron....Let's have a party!... Even as a kid, that made no sense to me at all
