The Transformers: The Movie

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This article is about the 1986 animated movie. For the live action film, see Transformers (2007 film).

The Transformers: The Movie
Directed by	Nelson Shin
Produced by	Joe Bacal
Written by	Ron Friedman
Starring	Judd Nelson Orson Welles Leonard Nimoy Robert Stack
Distributed by	Various worldwide
Release date(s)	August 8, 1986
Running time	84 min.
Country	United States  Japan
Language	English Japanese
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

The Transformers: The Movie is an animated feature film based on the popular animated television series The Transformers. It was released in North America on August 8, 1986, and in Japan on August 9, 1989 (although early promotional materials titled Transformers the Movie: Apocalypse! Matrix Forever [1] had promised a Summer 1987 Japanese release).

The film was directed by Nelson Shin, who produced the original Transformers television series, and features the voices of Eric Idle, Judd Nelson, Orson Welles (in his final role), Leonard Nimoy, Casey Kasem, Robert Stack, John Moschitta, Peter Cullen, and Frank Welker. It was also movie and TV legend Scatman Crothers' final role.

The story takes place 20 years subsequent to events of the TV series' second season and serves to bridge into the third season. Set to a hard-driving rock music soundtrack, the movie has a decidedly darker tone than the television series, with detailed visuals in Toei's typical animated feature film styling, and Decepticon villains are more menacing, killing without hesitation. The film features several grand battles in which a handful of major characters meet their end. The film’s tagline was: "Beyond Good. Beyond Evil. Beyond Your Wildest Imagination."

Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Cast 3 New Characters 4 Confirmed Movie Casualties 5 Continuity Problems 5.1 Autobot Deaths 5.2 Questions regarding modified Decepticons 6 Critical response 7 Notes 8 Commercial releases 8.1 The 20th Anniversary DVD 8.1.1 Disc 1 8.1.2 Disc 2 8.2 Comic book adaptations 8.3 Soundtracks 9 See also 10 External links 11 References

[edit] Synopsis

Somewhere in the cosmic night, metal facets gleam darkly by roiling starfire as a space-roaming artificial planet called Unicron emerges from parts unknown, unstoppable in its path, grinding an entire doomed world to shrapnel within its terrifying maw to feed an unrelenting appetite for energy...

The year is 2005. The evil Decepticons control the Transformers' homeworld of Cybertron. At a secret refuge on one of the planet's moons, the heroic Autobots ready themselves for an offensive strike against their Decepticon foes, preparing a supply shuttle for launch to Earth while keeping close correspondence with Bumblebee and their human friend, Spike, stationed on a second moon base. Their transmission is intercepted by the Decepticons, who soon move to brutally ambush the shuttle en route to Earth, killing its crew, intending to use the ship to infiltrate Autobot City undetected.

On Earth, Spike's son, Daniel, and a spirited young Autobot named Hot Rod race to greet the homecoming craft, noticing its damaged exterior from afar and spotting Decepticons aboard prior to its landing. The Decepticon raiders descend for the attack as Autobot City transforms itself to defensive mode, but the outnumbered Autobots fare poorly against the swarming enemy, radioing for assistance from Optimus Prime back at Cybertron's moon base even while the Constructicon giant, Devastator, effects his namesake by laying siege to much of the Autobot stronghold amid mounting casualties.

As dawn breaks over the ravaged city, Optimus Prime and the Dinobot cavalry arrive at last to successfully repel the Decepticon invaders. Optimus faces down Megatron in a final battle that leaves both combatants mortally wounded. The expelled Decepticons retreat with Megatron and their other war-wounded loaded aboard Astrotrain for transport back to Cybertron.

Later, laying in critical condition in the company of saddened friends and sensing his imminent end, Optimus Prime calls on a trusted compatriot, Ultra Magnus, to assume the mantle of command as bestowed with the Autobot Matrix of Leadership, a metal-shelled radiating orb that Optimus extracts from the heart of his chassis before slipping coldly into death.

Elsewhere, shortage of fuel in the spacefaring Astrotrain prompts the Decepticons to eject the dead weight of their injured — including the protesting Megatron — leaving the remaining Decepticons to bicker among themselves for group supremacy.

Drifting aimlessly in the abyss of space, the battered Decepticon castoffs are met by the bellowing voice of Unicron, who makes Megatron an offer to repair their broken bodies on condition that they find Ultra Magnus and destroy the threat of the Matrix of Leadership. Forced into accepting, Megatron is remade as Galvatron, with his damaged underlings fashioned anew into Cyclonus, Scourge and a host of Sweeps. Unicron also provides them a craft with which they shortly return to Cybertron to rally the other Decepticons, and Galvatron puts a conclusive end to Starscream's untenable disloyalty.

The Autobots on Earth are alerted as Unicron consumes Cybertron's two moons — and Jazz, Cliffjumper, Bumblebee and Spike along with them. Galvatron is ordered to Earth, leading the Decepticons in another assault on the decimated Autobot City, where the beleaguered Autobots are split into two parties, fleeing for Cybertron aboard twin shuttles. Hot Rod, Kup and the Dinobots are shot down over the planet Quintessa, while Ultra Magnus and company use a decoy manoeuvre to evade their Decepticon pursuers, setting down on the planet of Junk for repairs.

Captured by Quintessa guardsmen, Hot Rod and Kup are subjected to a twisted trial by Quintesson executioners, rescued only by the arrival of the Dinobots, who shortly convince the Sharkticon guards to rebel against their Quintesson oppressors. With help from the Dinobots' new ally, Wheelie, the group locate a ship and depart for the planet of Junk.

Meanwhile, the Autobots sidelined on Junk are found out and hunted by Galvatron, who blasts Ultra Magnus to pieces before stealing away with the Matrix. The remaining Autobots are harassed by hostile Junkion natives, led by Wreck-Gar, until Hot Rod's party touches down to befriend them. The new Junkion allies are able to restore Ultra Magnus to working order and volunteer a vessel to join the fight against Unicron.

With renewed defiance, Galvatron attempts to subjugate Unicron using the Matrix but discovers he is unable to activate its power. Unicron transforms into a planet-sized robot and swallows Galvatron whole before turning his attention violently to Cybertron. Decepticon defenders scramble to counter his wrath even as the Autobot team reaches the scene, crashing their ship through the giant's eye, soon finding themselves separated within the bowels of the world-devouring monster.

Inside, Daniel locates his father and other Autobot captives, narrowly saving them from an acid digestion vat. Elsewhere, Hot Rod meets Galvatron in single combat: locked in Galvatron's stranglehold, Hot Rod manages to secure his grip on the Matrix, awakening its power to be reborn as Rodimus Prime, casting Galvatron into the cold reaches of space with ease and unleashing an energy tempest from within the Matrix that tears away at Unicron's mechanized innards. The Autobots race to escape as Unicron is destroyed in a climactic explosion.

Regrouping on Cybertron, the victorious Autobots declare the beginning of a new age of peace. Above, the decapitated head of Unicron swings into orbit to become the planet's ominous new satellite.

[edit] Cast

Actor	Role
Norman Alden	Kranix
Jack Angel	Astrotrain
Michael Bell	Swoop | Scrapper | Junkion | Bombshell
Gregg Berger	Grimlock
Susan Blu	Arcee
Corey Burton	Spike | Brawn | Shockwave
Roger C. Carmel	Cyclonus | Quintesson Leader
Victor Caroli	Narrator
Regis Cordic	Quintesson Judge
Scatman Crothers	Jazz
Peter Cullen	Optimus Prime | Ironhide
Paul Eiding	Perceptor
Ed Gilbert	Blitzwing
Dan Gilvezan	Bumblebee
Eric Idle	Wreck-Gar
Buster Jones	Blaster
Stan Jones	Scourge
Casey Kasem	Cliffjumper
Chris Latta	Starscream
David Mendenhall	Daniel
Don Messick	Scavenger
John Moschitta	Blurr
Judd Nelson	Hot Rod
Leonard Nimoy	Galvatron
Hal Rayle	Shrapnel
Clive Revill	Kickback
Neil Ross	Bonecrusher | Hook | Springer | Slag
Robert Stack	Ultra Magnus
Lionel Stander	Kup
Frank Welker	Megatron | Soundwave | Rumble | Frenzy | Wheelie | Junkion
Orson Welles	Unicron

In addition to the credits above, Bell is also credited as Prowl, and Messick is mistakenly credited for the non-speaking Gears instead of Scavenger. The credits also included Walker Eminston as Inferno and Bud Davis as Dirge (both of whom appeared, but did not speak).

[edit] New Characters

Autobots Arcee Blurr Eject Hot Rod / Rodimus Prime Kup Ramhorn Rewind Springer Steeljaw Ultra Magnus Wheelie

Decepticons Cyclonus Galvatron Ratbat Scourge

Other The Quintessons The Sharkticons Unicron Daniel Witwicky Wreck-Gar and the Junkions

[edit] Confirmed Movie Casualties

Autobots Brawn Prowl Ratchet Ironhide Optimus Prime Wheeljack Windcharger Huffer

Decepticons Megatron Thundercracker Skywarp Bombshell Kickback Shrapnel Starscream Shockwave

[edit] Continuity Problems

[edit] Autobot Deaths

In the season three episode "Dark Awakening," Huffer is listed among the war fatalities, yet his death was not depicted in the movie itself. Huffer was last seen helping to reposition a road barricade which Hot Rod plows through while racing to Autobot City. From within the city, as Arcee watches Hot Rod approach, she expresses concern that if he doesn’t arrive before the city transforms to defensive mode, he’ll be trapped outside to face the attacking Decepticons; by Hot Rod's hurried arrival, it may be assumed that Huffer, left vulnerable outside, became a casualty of Decepticon fire.

The characters Prowl and Wheeljack, who died in the movie, later made appearances in the Japanese series Transformers: Headmasters and Transformers: Victory, respectively. Prowl’s appearance, at least, can be considered an animation error — even in the Japanese dub of "Dark Awakening," he is listed among the dead. Wheeljack's posthumous presence is harder to explain since he plays an important role in his brief Victory appearance, assisting Perceptor in rebuilding God Ginrai into Victory Leo, although it is worth noting that his personality is different and he is voiced by a different actor. The movie's late arrival in Japan is often blamed for these glitches since the Japanese animators and writers may consequently not have had full knowledge of still-active characters; in Wheeljack's case, this may have been compounded by the fact that the movie's original storyboards featured Smokescreen's dead body in place of Wheeljack's, while Wheeljack was portrayed alive and well in other scenes. These instances have contributed to the popular rumor that the movie is not part of Japanese continuity, but this is entirely untrue.

Beachcomber is briefly seen at one point in the movie, preceding Spike on a conveyor line of robots that are about to be dropped into Unicron's stomach acid. Daniel just barely manages to knock down the acid cover to save his father along with Jazz, Cliffjumper and Bumblebee, but in sequence, Beachcomber would have already fallen into the acid and died. Yet he appears alive and well in season three during Trypticon's attack in "Five Faces Of Darkness - Part 5"; either this appearance or his movie cameo were likely an animation error.

The movie's storyboards included dropped sequences depicting the death of Red Alert, shot in the back by Scavenger (in a scene that also features Tracks and Sideswipe, who also do not appear in the finished movie), Trailbreaker's corpse, and a potentially fatal attack by Megatron on Mirage. Red Alert, Inferno, Hound, and Sideswipe would all appear onscreen later (Hound spoke at one point, the others had no dialogue) in the first episodes of the Japanese series Transformers: Headmasters.

Brawn’s death is disputed among fans: although one of the strongest Autobots, in the movie he is rapidly dispensed by a single piercing shot to the shoulder. An appearance in the post-movie episode "Carnage in C-Minor" has inspired ongoing debate as to whether the character is truly dead: the episode shows Brawn, a miscoloured Huffer (or Pipes, a similar character) and Bonecrusher fighting together against a weapon built by Galvatron. This appearance is generally considered an error, due to the episode being riddled with animation mistakes.

The movie's depiction of characters falling so readily to laser blasts is inconsistent with the resilience they exhibit in the television series, where Transformers are often shown to sustain multiple shots without consequence. (In fact, Prowl suffers the exact same injury in the Season 1 episode "Roll For It" as in the movie, yet he recovers in the TV series.) Moreover, while Prime and Brawn are felled by only a scattering of shots, Ultra Magnus is literally blown to pieces and then repaired to mint condition in short order. The deadly force visited upon characters here could be construed as the writers enjoying the freedom of not being restricted by TV guidelines.

Even though fans continue to debate certain character fates, a clear intention of the movie was to rid the Transformers cartoon universe of the majority of characters from Season 1 and 2.

Transformers: The Movie Story Consultant, Flint Dille elaborated:

“In the next season (3), we were going to have all these new characters, and people are going to be wondering what happened to the old characters that they liked so much. What we knew, in a business sense, is that they had been discontinued, because they were the 1984/1985 (toy)line – but, we needed to tie them off. So, we had this one scene where the Autobots basically had to run through a gauntlet of Decepticons. Which basically wiped out the entire ’84 product line in one massive “charge of the light brigade”. So, whoever wasn’t discontinued, stumbled to the end. That scene didn’t make it into the finished movie. But if you think kids were locking themselves in the bedroom over Optimus Prime, basically in that scene they would’ve seen their entire toy collection wiped out.”^[1]

Storyboards and Dille’s comments explain why the majority of Autobots from the previous seasons were not seen again after the film. Even though their individual fates were not explicitly shown onscreen, one can assume these “missing” characters perished during the “battle for Autobot City”, during the destruction of the two moonbases, or during Unicron's attack on Cybertron.

[edit] Questions regarding modified Decepticons

It is unclear exactly which Decepticons become which characters when Unicron rebuilds them. The script does not specify by name and the animation is open to some interpretation: Thundercracker is shown becoming Scourge (the only uncontested transformation), with Kickback and Shrapnel remade as Sweeps, while Bombshell and Skywarp simultaneously become Cyclonus-style robots. (The two jets and the Insecticons later appear in a crowd scene at Starscream's coronation, but this is disregarded as an animation error.)

While Bombshell stands dominant in foreground frame of the scene, Unicron refers to the pair as "Cyclonus... and his armada" — a dialogue carry-over from the original script in which Cyclonus was to have multiples (much as Scourge has his Sweeps), an idea that was abandoned after this one shot, as the second Cyclonus vanishes to be replaced by a third Sweep. (The only instances of multiple Cyclonus figures appearing afterwards were in the episodes Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5 and The Quintesson Journal.) When Bombshell (Cyclonus # 1) then transforms to jet mode, the other new Decepticons — Scourge and five Sweeps, as opposed to the two created on-screen immediately prior — are seen entering the shot: the last two Decepticons to transform to vehicle mode are Scourge (the only Sweep whose robot-mode head is visible in vehicle mode) and Skywarp (Cyclonus # 2). At the conclusion of the scene, Cyclonus and Scourge remain with only three Sweeps (the extras having disappeared), returning the Decepticon group to their original number from the beginning of the scene. Whether or not Cyclonus is Bombshell or Skywarp remains unknown. Profiles included in the R2 and R4 DVD releases of the movie claim that Cyclonus is Skywarp, but said material was written by fans and cannot be taken as canon.

Further confusion arises regarding the role of the Insecticons: despite their apparent alteration by Unicron, the characters continue to make appearances in a small number of post-movie episodes, and Shrapnel even appears later in the movie itself as designated by the script. The Insecticons are also seen in varying states of health at different points during the battle for Autobot City early in the film. This has led to speculation that the "Shrapnel" transformed by Unicron may have been a duplicate, given that the Insecticons are known to possess a cloning ability (...although more likely, this was a simple production oversight). Throughout the third season, the number of Sweeps increases without explanation, perhaps suggesting that the altered Insecticon characters retained their cloning talent.

Another debate concerns how much of Megatron's original personality is retained by Galvatron. Before his insanity sets in, Galvatron is not especially dissimilar to Megatron and has memory of Starscream's betrayal as well as offering a reference to his duel with Optimus; yet Galvatron habitually refers to Megatron in the third person: "I shall crush you just as Megatron crushed Prime!" In the Five Faces of Darkness story arc, Cyclonus is adamant in making a distinction between Galvatron and Megatron, whereas Astrotrain more plainly regards them as one and the same: "Well, they were the same guy..." Likewise, Optimus Prime does not differentiate when returning at the close of the third season, claiming to "know [Galvatron] too well" despite having had only one past encounter with him (under Quintesson control in a zombified state, no less, during the episode Dark Awakening).

Screenwriters Ron Friedman and Flint Dille have both said that Galvatron was intended to simply be a more powerful version of Megatron in a new body, and in the film itself, Unicron says, "I will provide you with a new body, and new troops to command", which strongly indicates that Galvatron is simply Megatron in a new physical form.

In the Marvel Comics series, meanwhile, Galvatron is shown to possess memories of his time as Megatron but behaves markedly different in all other respects. Galvatron's insanity in the comics is declared to be not of his own making, instead created as a result of Megatron's irrepressible madness boiling up from the tiny remaining kernel of his being. In an attempt to purge himself of this internal conflict, Galvatron initially seeks to destroy Megatron but later comes to realize that their coexisting personalities are inextricably connected.

Though not a modified character, it is worth mentioning that Shockwave was killed in the original script and in storyboard, but the scene was cut from the finished film.

[edit] Critical response

The film brought in only $5,849,647 (USD) in ticket sales, including domestic box office numbers. The film was one of the worst marketed films of 1986 and most children had never heard of it until it was no longer in theatres (very few theatres carried the film to begin with). It was not considered a success, leading Hasbro to withhold the theatrical release of its anticipated G.I. Joe: The Movie (instead released directly to video) while other projects in planning, like the Jem and the Holograms feature, were discontinued.

The film was received poorly by critics, garnering the lowest possible rating in popular reference catalogues (such as Mick Martin & Marsha Porter’s Video Movie Guide, and Leonard Maltin’s guide), and was criticized for espoused grief it caused younger viewers with its dark tone and the death of favorite characters like Optimus Prime. Mainstream American critics simply did not embrace the Japanese manga-style animation and story, which seemed too unusual and intense for the toddlers presumed to be the films target audience. However, it has since accumulated something of a cult following both within and outside Transformers fandom, and in 2005, was named one of the top 25 best animated movies in a list provided by IGN. Several animation critics now applaud the gritty realism of the war concept in the movie.^{[citation needed]}

David Mendenhall, who played Daniel, was nominated for a Young Artist Award for Exceptional Young Actors in Animation — Series, Specials or Feature Film.

[edit] Notes

• This was Orson Welles’ last film. Rumours have claimed that he died on set before all his dialogue could be recorded, leaving Leonard Nimoy as a replacement for the final few lines, but voice director Wally Burr refutes the claim, later confirmed by Susan Blu, who voiced Arcee in the movie. (This was not, however, Welles’ last film in order of release; Henry Jaglom’s Someone to Love was released a year later.)
• Welles hated the film. Shortly before he died, he told his biographer, Barbara Leaming, that he had spent the day "playing a toy" in a movie about toys who "do horrible things to each other." He could not remember the name of the film and referred to it as a movie about a line of toys from Japan.
• Nimoy's role as Galvatron was reprised by Frank Welker in the television series, who had also voiced Megatron in earlier seasons of the cartoon. This was not the first time Welker and Nimoy "shared" a character; in Star Trek III: The Search For Spock, Welker voiced the screams of the regenerated Spock.
• During the scene where Unicron engulfs Moonbase One, Spike worriedly exclaims, "Oh, shit! What are we gonna do now?" This line has been removed on most subsequent releases, and was sometimes considered an urban legend. It was restored on the 2001 DVD release by Maverick Entertainment, the 2002 release by Rhino Entertainment and the 2005 UK release by Metrodome. This was also restored in the "Transformers the Movie 20th Anniversary" DVD release by Sony BMG, as one of the DVD chapters is titled "Swear Word", like in the Rhino release.
• The UK version of the film features Star Wars-esque scrolling text and narration at the beginning of the film replacing the cast credits, and an additional closing narration assuring viewers that "Optimus Prime will return." The Japanese version of the movie also includes these additions, as well as featuring each character's name briefly at the bottom of the screen when they first appear, a typical practice in children's Japanese cinema.
• The credits list several characters that either did not appear, or did not speak, in the finished film — namely Prowl, Gears, Inferno and Dirge. Most of these lines can be seen in the original script (save Inferno’s), but it is unknown if they survived to the animation stage.
• Many second-season characters do not appear in the movie. It has often been claimed that they did not exist, or that their animation models had not been completed, at the time the movie was scripted. While this may be true for the Aerialbots, Stunticons, and other combiners, it is certainly not true for the majority of Autobots absent from the film, since all of the second-season Decepticons are present (with the exception of Buzzsaw, the Stunticons and the Combaticons) and the film's storyboards indicate deleted appearances of some missing Autobots, such as Tracks, Red Alert and Smokescreen. Perceptor and Blaster are two of the few season two autobots to appear in the movie. Both make it to season three. Inferno was intended to be in the movie since his name is listed in the end credits, but Grapple, who shares the same body design, made the appearance instead; though this switch may have been an animation error. Other absent characters include: Hoist, Skids, Skyfire, Omega Supreme, Seaspray, Warpath, Powerglide and Cosmos.
• Originally co-produced by Dino De Laurentiis’s company, the film's opening logos featured the insignia for De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG). This logo does not appear in the Rhino DVD version, which instead begins with the Sunbow and Marvel logos that had originally followed the De Laurentiis logo. This was also restored in the "Transformers the Movie 20th Anniversary" DVD release by Sony BMG.
• The movie was being produced by Sunbow/Marvel simultaneous to G.I. Joe: The Movie. The writers of the G.I. Joe film asked for permission from Hasbro to kill a character, Duke. To their surprise, Hasbro not only approved the request but "insisted" that the writers of Transformers: The Movie adopt the same fate for Optimus Prime. ^[2] However, Optimus Prime's death sparked some controversy which later caused the writers to make changes so that Duke simply ended up in a coma. ^[3]
• A Unicron toy was designed, but the prototype was poorly received by test audiences. A Unicron toy would not be released to the general public until 2004, under the Transformers: Armada toyline.
• Despite the fact the trailer hails the film as "spectacular widescreen action," Transformers: The Movie was actually animated in 4:3 "fullscreen" format (as proven by animation cels acquired by fans and Metrodome's Reconstructed DVD). The feature was vertically cropped to widescreen dimensions for theatrical showings — a practice which was common with animated films during the 70s and 80s, including those from Disney — and released in fullscreen on home video and DVD. The 20th anniversary release of the movie by Sony, however, will again feature the cropped widescreen presentation. ^[4]
• The song "The Touch" was later covered in the 1997 Paul Thomas Anderson film Boogie Nights by the character Dirk Diggler played by Mark Wahlberg.
• The design of the Matrix was inspired by a thermonuclear bomb.^[5]
• Near the beginning of the movie, Hot Rod makes reference to an observation post by the name "Lookout Mountain". This line had some fans wondering whether Autobot City was based in Tennessee, where the real Lookout Mountain exists.
• Carly was storyboarded to appear in the final scene on Cybertron for the celebration, but she does not appear in the final movie.
• Chip Case also does not appear in the movie and is not seen after the 1980s animated series.

[edit] Commercial releases

The film was originally released on VHS in North America by Family Home Entertainment (FHE) in February, 1987. This version removed Spike's "Oh, shit!" line. The video transfer suffered from a slight clockwise tilt (but no more than a couple of degrees), which was most noticable in the opening credits, and had a subdued sound mix.

The film was released on DVD by Rhino Entertainment in North America and Maverick in the UK, both in 2001. Metrodome had previously licensed the movie to Prism Leisure to release a budget version in June 2003.

On September 5, 2005, Metrodome Distribution released a remastered DVD entitled Transformers: The Movie Reconstructed. Returning to the original negative of the film, Metrodome reconstructed the picture image, adjusting and shrinking it to reveal additional footage perpetually hidden by overscan, as well as remastering the video quality. Some complaint arose from the fact that this exposed areas of unfinished animation (as these parts of the frame were not truly intended to be seen). This negative publicity was worsened by Magno Sound’s 5.1 audio remix, which, like those done for the Transformers season boxsets, contained many new sounds not in the original version, and Magno’s subsequent claims that they had always been present. Notably, the DVD also included the first subtitled episode of the Japanese-exclusive series, Transformers: Headmasters, which was released in a DVD boxset in its entirety for the first time anywhere in the west (UK) on September 26 2005.

[edit] The 20th Anniversary DVD

Sony BMG released "Transformers: The Movie 20th Anniversary Special Edition DVD" in North America (Region 1) on November 7, 2006. It features both the 16 x 9 widescreen version seen in cinemas and the full-frame version of the film. The two-disc set contains the following features:

[edit] Disc 1

• 16x9 theatrical widescreen version.
• "Autobot Matrix of Knowledge" (full-length movie featuring fun facts and trivia)
• Commentary with Nelson Shin (director), Flint Dille (story consultant) and Sue Blu (voice of Arcee).
• Fan commentary.
• Original theatrical trailers and TV spots.
• Cinex and credit test.
• Photo gallery.
• "Scramble City" episode with commentary.
• Remastering side-by-side comparison.
• Transformers (2007) live-action movie trailer and special sneak peek.

[edit] Disc 2

• Full-screen version.
• "Activate Autobot City" trivia game (DVD-rom).
• All new featurettes: "Death of Optimus Prime," "Cast and Characters" and "Transformers Q&A," with Nelson Shin, Tom Griffin, Joe Bacal, Flint Dille and Sue Blu.
• Promotional trailer with commentary.
• Test, deleted/alternative footage with commentary.
• Animated storyboards.
• U.S. and Japanese toy commercials.
• "Scramble City" commercials.
• DVD-Rom link to exclusive content.

The DVD sold out in a matter of minutes nationwide in most retail stores on the day of its commercial release, and an estimated 450,000+ copies have been placed on reorder for shipment to retailers on the West Coast alone (U.S.).

Transformers: The Movie when sold at Costco's came with an exclusive Bonus Disc that had the original 1984 pilot on it.

Metrodome Distribution is releasing a Special Edition of Transformers: The Movie on DVD in May 2007 in the UK (Region 2).^[6] The only extra features announced so far are that the Japanese exclusive episodes "Scramble City" and "Transformers Zone" will be included.^[7]

The film was also released on Universal Media Disc for the PlayStation Portable by Pink Entertainment and Metrodome in the UK (Region 2). The UK cinema version of the film was used and the disc contained no extra features.

[edit] Comic book adaptations

A three-issue mini-series adaptation of the feature film was published by Marvel to market the film, with no continuity ties to the regular comic series. Differences to the animated feature include the original designs for the Autobot Matrix of Leadership and Ultra Magnus' original death at the hand of Scourge and his Sweeps.

Although the cartoon and comic book stories by Marvel Comics were normally kept unrelated, the movie linked the two in the UK comic series, where it was portrayed as the eventual future of the comic's timeline. The direction the comic took afterwards pertaining to the origin of Unicron once again diverged from events depicted in the cartoon: a disruption to the fabric of spacetime caused by actions of Galvatron was explained to have altered the timeline, with the "movie future" becoming an alternate potential chronology for the comics, while a story in the U.S. title saw Unicron attacking Cybertron and being destroyed in the present day.

IDW Publishing, the current Transformers publishers, have begun to release an adaptation of the animated movie entitled Transformers: The animated Movie. It is written by Bob Budiansky and drawn by Don Figueroa.

[edit] Soundtracks

Transformers: The Movie
Soundtrack by Various artists
Released	1987
Length	mm:ss

In 1987, the official soundtrack was released in the USA.

Track listing:

1. "The Touch" (Performed by Stan Bush) (Produced by Richie Wise)
2. "Instruments of Destruction" (Performed by N.R.G.) ^[8] (Produced by Ernie Burns)
3. "The Death of Optimus Prime" (Performed by Vince DiCola) (Produced by Vince DiCola and Ed Fruge)
4. "Dare" (Performed by Stan Bush)
5. "Nothin’s Gonna Stand in Our Way" (Performed by Spectre General) ^[9]
6. "The Transformers (Theme)" (Performed by Lion) (Produced by Richie Wise) ^[10]
7. "Escape" (Performed by Vince DiCola) (Produced by Vince DiCola and Ed Fruge)^[11]
8. "Hunger" (Performed By Spectre General) ^[9]
9. "Autobot/Decepticon Battle" (Performed by Vince DiCola) (Produced by Vince DiCola and Ed Fruge)
10. "Dare to Be Stupid" (Performed by "Weird Al" Yankovic)

In 1997, 3H Enterprises released an album titled ’Til All Are One, which features the score of the film. It was released on two CDs. In 2001, 3H also released Lighting Their Darkest Hour, which featured the instrumental score; The Protoform Sessions, featuring early demos, outtakes, and alternate themes linked with narration by original composer Vince Dicola; and Artistic Transformations, featuring ten instrumental themes from the movie interpretted for solo piano.

[edit] See also

• The Transformers (TV series)
• Transformers (comics)
• Transformers (2007 film)

[edit] External links

• Transformers The Movie 20th Anniversary Edition DVD by Sony BMG - Region 1
• Peter Cullen Interview on AboutHeroes
• Transformers The Movie DVD by Metrodome - Region 2
• Transformers The Movie Fan Site
• Transformers: The Movie at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• Transformers: The Movie at the Internet Movie Database
• Transformers Movie Mistakes Database
• Hundreds of Transformers Movie screen captures
• Storyboards from Transformers The Movie not included on the DVD
• The Transformers: The Movie Unofficial Fansite
• ToyBin gallery of all the toys featured in the movie
• Transformers @ The Moon - Largest Transformers toy gallery on the web and a huge Transformers resource, founded in 1999

[edit] References