Happy Anniversary to the original that started it all - Transformers The Movie is 30!

Discussion in 'Transformers News and Rumors' started by Sol Fury, Aug 8, 2016.

  1. 2003 Megatron

    2003 Megatron Banned

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    Yea I was into them as well. But Transformers was at the top by far! That's all I really cared about. I still live close to the theater when it was first released. The building is still there. It is a bingo hall now. And one side is a church. A few years back I went to play bingo there with my mom and aunt. The lay out and consession stand is pretty much there. Restrooms are the same. Takes me back in time and good memories as I seen so many movies there. Gives me that feeling which I can't explain. Predator, Master of the universe, Rocky 4, Nightmare on elm street and Creepshow 2 are just a few I seen there. The theatre closed In or around 1988.
     
  2. knoted

    knoted Resistor Transistor

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    Happy bday, you double edged TF movie !
    I didn't get to see this movie until late 1986 / early 1987.

    Pro's:
    - Dazzling at first viewing.
    - Inspiring hope for strong continuation of Transformers.
    - Respectable but quirky change of design aesthetics.

    Con's:
    - Disappointing after first impressions of first viewing have settled in.
    - Unfortunately resulting into a season 3 cartoon of mixed quality, despite of its effort to venture
    into more sophisticated themes.
    - Disappointing movie/season 3 toys ; with the movie aesthetic not translating well over into toy form compared to the refined nature of the old diaclone molds.
    - Missed opportunity to bring minor characters into the limelight : for example, it would have been the perfect timing to produce an actual Skyfire toy while phasing out the Jetfire toy. It would have been perfect timing for a proper Nightbird toy as well, which would have given a proper Arcee toy release more reason/foundation. Etc.


    So while I do respect the movie and its season 3 cast as TF cult icons, I do feel they are the
    weakest G1 link to me.
    It didn't help that due to timing, I was exposed to 1987's Headmaster toys around the same time, and those looked a whole lot better than the movie toys.

    Hence, finally with Titans Return we come full circle and the designs of 86-87 now enjoy design modernization of equal quality.
     
  3. chucksbikeorama

    chucksbikeorama Decepticreep

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    For me, the 'duck's eye' (David Lynch phrase) of the film is the 10-15 seconds of the Autobot City attack where Blaster spins round in his seat - the music at this point paired with the sequence is unparalleled!
     
  4. Spether

    Spether Well-Known Member

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    Thanks to everyone who posted about the video quality. I'm going to check it out.
     
  5. createtime

    createtime Well-Known Member

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    Some platinum sets :( . Why couldn't they have done a redeco of a bigger toy? Like Masterpiece Optimus Prime or Masterpiece Rodimus Prime?
     
  6. Boulder

    Boulder Rock Lord

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    Somewhere out there on the magical interwebs there exists audio from the recording session in which Orson Welles expresses his extreme displeasure over the wording of that line. It's a solid three minute rant on how the line should read as "dubious" and not "highly dubious."

    Films aren't animated in sequence. If anything, it was a better group of animators that worked on that portion of the film. Personally, I don't see a jarring change in animation quality in the film but rather pacing issues.

    Let me sparse your finely worded viewpoint into two portions. I agree that it was difficult to adjust to the almost total departure in characters, like it was a separate story in the Transformers universe (a la Rogue One). It would have been nice if they could have at least shoehorned in an episode at the end of S2 where we see a couple of the new characters (maybe Kup and HotRod), but it's not like new characters showing up out of the blue and getting their own episodes was some bizarre departure for the show.

    But if you're talking about the toys, then yeah, they were mostly crap.
     
  7. Autovolt 127

    Autovolt 127 Get In The Titan, Prime!

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    Watched it again yesterday for the first time in a while, still a fun movie.

    It really did change the franchise forever.
     
  8. Turakonin Prime

    Turakonin Prime Banned

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    Lol I felt sad watching Optimus die when I was 6 but I wouldn't go as far as tears lol. Oh man I remember watching this and shortly after my dad getting me Hot Rod and a kinder egg. Good times
     
  9. Booster Gold

    Booster Gold Superhero?

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    Not asking much are we? Take a look over the Beast Wars side of the fence, its the 20th Anniversary this year and what are Hasbro doing to commemorate it....zero. 5 sets, Unicron AND a Blu-Ray release? Not to mention the Titans Returns is jam packed full of '86 move characters. I'd say that's pretty good going.
     
  10. Robogeek28

    Robogeek28 Proud grandpa

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    Thanks to a friend that had already seen it once, I knew before going into the theatre that Prime and many others were going to die that day. But hey, I was almost 13, so it didn't bother me......much. :lol 


    Before going to the theatre we hit TRU and I bought the Superion box set, and then wondered why Devy was the only combiner in the movie.
     
  11. Nyarlahotep

    Nyarlahotep Radicon Scourge

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    There was one copy of the movie on VHS at my local video rental store...My parents rented it for me so often the copy eventually degraded and became unwatchable. It wasn't until I was a teenager that I found the Canadian VHS re-release and finally heard, "the word" haha
     
  12. flamepanther

    flamepanther Interested, but not really

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    I keep hoping for a 3D Blu-Ray release of the TV series...
     
  13. Booster Gold

    Booster Gold Superhero?

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    Heh yeah, I could do without the 3D but what I could do with a UK release of...well any of it in the correct order. I don't think we ever officially got more than a couple of volumes of random episodes on DVD.

    But this thread isn't about that. I watched the '86 Movie earlier today, and I sill love it warts and all. I'm looking forward to getting a Blu-Ray version now.
     
  14. Roadbuster25

    Roadbuster25 Well-Known Member

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    Hasbro - Let's see a new G1 animated movie with another legendary battle between Optimus Prime and Megatron. We'll be talking about for years. And it's okay if one of them dies in the battle. I can handle it now....(sort of....)
     
  15. Switch625

    Switch625 "Up, up, and away!"

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    One of the things that bugs me about the whole Prime dying thing - the tv spots for the movie all tease it - "Does Prime die???" Imagine being a kid - as most of us were back then - and thinking "oh my God, what happens? I have to see this movie!" And then Prime dies. It's like they were baiting kids with Prime's death and then they killed him. Anyway...

    A lot of times I'll have this on in the background while I'm doing other stuff and the one part of the movie I always stop what I'm doing and watch is when Prime arrives at Autobot City. He decimates the Decepticon forces rather handily - a testament to how powerful Optimus really is, and then barely gets by Megatron - a testament to how powerful Megatron really is. No Optimus Prime vs. Megatron rivalry has ever - or will ever - be bigger or better than with these two.
     
  16. Boulder

    Boulder Rock Lord

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    And like anything else concerning G1, "Correct order" is its own debate. The episodes aired in the US outside of production order which is separate again from continuity order.
     
  17. Booster Gold

    Booster Gold Superhero?

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    Well I was talking about Beast Wars in that statement. We did get all the G1 seasons on DVD here in the UK a few times over, in an order. I'm not sure which one, but to be honest I never found continuity to be G1's strong point so the order I have them on the DVD boxsets I own works fine for me.
     
  18. Boulder

    Boulder Rock Lord

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    Ahh, the 3D comment makes sense now. Yeah, Beast Wars really doesn't work outside of the correct sequence.
     
  19. StrangePlanet

    StrangePlanet G1

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    Took me a long time to warm up to this.
    All I knew is one day I'm watching the Transformers, and the next day the show is something I do not recognize at all. Different setting, characters, everything. I stopped watching.
    Then I finally saw the movie years later and at least it made sense, but I could not get past the terrible hair metal music in it. Ruined the whole movie for me. I longed for someone to make an edit with an actual soundtrack, perhaps in the symphonic range.
    Then I came to love it for what it is. Among other things, the stakes were high. Season 3 episode 1 it was back to no consequences, as Galvatron was awoken from his slumber by Cyclonus, who is immediately shot in the face for his concern. Not to worry, he's fine. But for a brief time there in the movie, if you got shot, you were dead.
    Now I watch it all the time.
     
  20. Liokaiser1989

    Liokaiser1989 Well-Known Member

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    interesting, I wasn't aware there is a different ending for UK. How did it end?