Product: The Transformers - The Movie (1986)
Rating: 3.0
An interesting look at the 80's
Let me preface my review by stating that The Transformers were more or less my religion while growing up. I had the toys, I watched the cartoon. Heck, I even had Transformers underwear. And to this day I can still tell the difference between Sideswipe and Sunstreaker.As others have said, Transformers: The Movie takes place between the second and third season of the cartoon show. It takes place, ironically, in 2005, twenty years after the show originally aired. The Autobots are winning the war, having secured Earth and Cybertron's two moons. The Decepticons decide to launch one final all-out attack on Metroplex, the Autobot city. In the course of battle, many Autobot favorites, including Windcharger, Wheeljack, Prowl, and Ironhide are killed. Both Megatron and Optimus Prime are mortally wounded.In the aftermath of the attack, the Decepticons flee to Cybertron, having been defeated. Starscream abandons Megatron and the other wounded Decepticons in space. They are found by Unicron, a robotic planet which, uh, eats other planets. He transforms the Decepticons into more powerful beings, most notably turning Megatron into Galvatron. On Earth, Optimus Prime dies, and entrusts his magical Matrix to Ultra Magnus. The Autobots learn that Unicron is devouring Cybertron's moons and will shortly devour the entire galaxy.The rest of the movie more or less plods along with the Autobots successfully defeating Unicron. Galvatron, of course, survives to terrorize the Autobots in the future. The Autobots' Hot Rod, a new character introduced in the movie, is transformed and becomes Rodimus Prime, their new leader. Everything else remains rather status quo as the war between Autobots and Decepticons rages on, only with new faces in the forefront. That being said, the movie is decidedly uneven in terms of mood.On the one hand, the movie has a lot of violence and death in it. Many of the more popular characters are slain within the first 15-20 minutes of the film, and all die in rather violent ways. Galvatron, played with viscious zeal by Leonard Nimoy, is a ruthless villain. During the climactic battle, he even says something along the lines of (I'm paraphrasing): "It's a shame you Autobots die so easily. I'll kill you slowly so I can have some satisfaction." He's out for blood (or motor oil).On the other hand, there are several 'kids only' facets to the film. Daniel, the new human character, is a child around the same age as The Transformers' target audience. In the course of the movie, he gets to wear a mechanical suit which allows him to transform. Blur (an Autobot who talks very fast and seems to suffer from ADD), Wheelie (a literal child Autobot who speaks in rhyme), and the Junkions (Transformers from a junk planet who speak in television cliches) are utterly useless except for appealing to kids. Finally, Hot Rod, the movie's hero, is the prototypical 1980's sixteen year old. As a result of these character choices, the rather adult-oriented plot suffers from these attempts to lighten the mood because they are incredibly obvious and distract from the movie's flow.The animation is very good, and still holds up today, even if it's a bit dated (the mecha designs and human fashion style scream 1980's). Everything is fluid and the action sequences are a joy to watch.Aurally, the movie is a mixed bag. It features some stomach-turning music by the band Kick Axe (no, I'm not kidding about their name). They perform the worst cliche 80's hair metal ("You've got the touch! You've got the power!") imaginable. Thankfully, the voice acting is very strong, with the exception of Wheelie. I just can't stand him, and his high-pitched voice doesn't help.Overall, the movie is solid, but has some glaring flaws that both show its age and detract from the overall experience. If you or a family member loves The Transformers or 1980's action cartoons in general, then you should get it.