I think it’s definitely an improvement. Deeper contrast and blacks. Here’s a good comparison video -

 

I have the "Reconstructed" (as shown in my review in page 14 of this thread..). The "Reconstructed" version is a pain to watch due to the colors being way off. The only reason I keep it is because the image is pulled back as far as possible to show as much animation as possible.
IMO the ideal release nowadays is a mix of the widescreen and fullscreen not regulated to certain framing standards in 4K UHD with HDR. Not showing the rough edges of course.

Your picture is not showing natively in this thread, I did right click to open in a new tab and was able to see it..... To be fair the 4K image is rated for HDR and most screens won't see it correctly in comparison to the other 2 images which are in SDR....

 

To be clear. This is not a special case, it's common practice to draw a bit more. That's all I'm saying.

 

It's not "a bit more" though. The film was storyboarded in fullscreen, with lines indicating what would be matted. Not only was it animated for 4:3, the 4:3 then has the "bit extra" animated outside of that ratio for overscan.

 

I'm more than happy having the 16:9 version in 4K but I understand the frustration for those wanting the same quality from the 4:3 version. Regardless of directors intent this would all be resolved if Shout just included the 4:3 version in 4K HDR, thus pleasing both parties. Seeing as it's from the same master I'm not sure why they decided to put it on a 1080p disc. Maybe it's worth asking them?

 

So I got mine from Target.com today. Completely unsurprised, it did not have a digital copy as was originally advertised on Target.com. So I figured I would try to see if I could get a discount to use toward a digital copy (doesn’t look like a 4K one is even available yet) and much to my surprise I get this:


I was NOT trying to get a free movie. I just was hoping for a few bucks off to help pay for a digital copy. Well, I certainly can’t complain now. Also the listing definitely said “digital copy” when I preordered, as well.

 

Its the 35th anniversary of The Transformers: the Movie!! 35 years of this iconic film and the iconic concepts and characters it brought us!!

I know just how to celebrate :3!!

 

I always wished that with any new major release, they would have added the missing storyboard where Ultra Magnus, Sideswipe, Tracks and Red Alert fight Devastator as well as cleaning up some of the colouring errors but I know that would never happen.

 

Finally watched last night - not only did it look better than ever but sounded better than ever, too, selecting 5.1 on the disc’s menu (it’s on 2.0 as default). The blu ray was excellent, but this felt like a cool sheen had been removed and was warmer and sharper overall. I’ve seen this flick a bajillion times but I still felt like a 7yo sitting in the theater with my mom getting my brain melted by the metal soundtrack, synth score, the gruesome deaths, and the best animation I’d ever seen. Till all are one!

 

Yes that would be the ideal release! Maybe for the 40th Anniversary that's what we'll get.  

Your collection of copies is awesome. I have a few extra copies I never watch too, ha. Happy August 8th, the 35th Anniversary TF:TM!

 

My Target order just got delayed to 8/20. Oh well.

 

Watched this last night. Looks so good. So many glow effects I never noticed. I mean look at Hot Rod's color.


I've watched this movie over a hundred times and never realized that Skywarp was in this shot.

 

You just put me to shame.....

I LOVE your collection!! I see copies you have that I once owned and sold on ebay. I regret ever doing that.
Do you have the equipment to to actually watch all of them?

Now I'm being critical here... You are missing the original F.H.E. vhs in this picture...(you may or may not know the original F.H.E. was in SP speed and the AVID vhs is in SLP speed)
You need this for your collection....

 

I had zero intentions of buying this but my Best Buy randomly had this in a damaged goods bin for $9….

the best part?
It’s in pristine condition, only the silly collector cards are missing from it.

 

Picked it up from Target

 

Another comparison video with the 2016 edition (video can be set to 4K). The new transfer is just vastly better looking. The improved black levels alone are worth the upgrade imo.

 

Haha, good eye. Yes I do not own the original FHE version. AFAIK it was never actually sold at retail in stores, only released for rental purposes. I suppose it managed to get in some people's hands if a video store decided to sell pre-watched videos at a discount. I do have a VHS copy of it though. It was the only version I could watch for a while until I saw the AVID release in the store and was so excited to bring it home... only to pop it into my player and find it was in SLP speed, yuck. (I remember thinking, "wow, this tape is really light!" when I first picked it up. That's because it has ~1/3rd less tape than most.) IIRC it is in high-fi stereo audio, though, so the sound quality with a hifi VCR was actually better than my SP copy of the FHE.

I do have a VHS player that works and a laserdisc player if I do want to watch any of those, and the old DVDs will still play in modern equipment. But I never do.

Looking at your collection I think I'm missing the Madman Blu-ray too. Also don't have the regular edition (non-steelbook) of the 30th anniversary. Lots of old non-US VHS versions I'm missing too. I used to keep a list of these on my TFTM website (that I've left abandoned since I lost the domain name ~2007).

 

lol @ all you dudes arguing over the aspect ratio when this is the best quality of this film we have ever seen. typical to complain about what you are not getting first instead of checking it out. this is an amazing 4k remaster, do yourself a favor and enjoy it.

for any of you that have watched, did they remaster the effects as well? Im curious if the og effects did not translate well to 4k and they were recreated. they look almost too fresh to be the og effects imo.

honestly they look amazing and if modern tech was used to clean them up then good choice. much more vibrant than ever before and makes all the scenes with effects going on really pop!

 

The F.H.E. vhs was sold at retail. I was on my way home from a Boy Scout event in '89 and for some reason we stopped at Toys "R" Us. Right there it was in the movie section for either $20.00 or $25.00. I had $30.00 in my wallet and I made the purchase. I wore that tape out. I sold it on ebay years later when I acquired the then famous unedited Canadian VHS in the clamshell.

That's your website? I have referenced it several times in the past. Impressive. I hate to see you don't have it anymore.

 

We can't get this release over here in Australia yet but merely reading this thread saw me get out my Bluray 86 Movie for what must be my 100th viewing of this movie. Special memories. If there's any quality improvement with the new version, I will be adding it to my other 4 copies of the film.