La Guerre des robots: Transformers

The Transformers, the animated cartoon from the 1980's, was a typical cartoon: cheesy and childish, things we would not recognize until we were grown. But when Transformers: The Movie was released in 1986, when I was 11, the movie scared the hell out of me. But so did Superman and Star Wars, which was exactly its intention.

As when Batman came to the big screen in 1989, the filmmakers took something old and made it new again. In the case of the Transformers, the movie was dark, loud, and very adult considering the fact that it springs from what was another silly fad the children of the 80's latched onto.

I don't know how people older and younger than I will perceive it, but the film is Shakespearean in its beauty. The 1980's soundtrack works surprisingly well, even now, unlike other 80's attempts, like, say Heavy Metal.

The movie picks up in 2005, or about 20 years after the cartoon supposedly took place. Young Spike is now older and has a child of his own, and all the Autobots and Decepticons are back, with some new faces. In the opening moments, Unicron (Orson Welles), destroyer of worlds, eats a planet of peace-loving people (supposdely robots, but still eerily reminiscent of our Earth populi), killing millions. Decepticons don't just plot against the Autobots-- they murder them in cold blood (er, oil?)

This is the equivalent of the X-Files movie getting made, and Cigarette Smoking Man getting to use dirty words. It is a true expansion to the big screen, an intelligent version of the TV show, made not to pander to their audience, but to elevate it.

This movie is impossible to find in the States, but if you ever watched the TV show, it will bring you to a new level. If you've never heard of the TV show... it's still a great Anime-yarn, and a helluva lot better than that X-Files flick.

Well, I agree that the appeal of this movie is mostly to fans, but I was never a big fan of the series, and I loved it. It's definitely not mainstream, but for anyone who can appreciate robots voiced by some big names (even Orson Welles!) thrashing each other with a very cool, hugely 80s soundtrack, this is where it's at. The main plot, although not exactly inspired, is at least compelling. Any of the scenes with Unicron (Welles) or Galvatron (Leonard Nimoy) easily make the movie worth watching, and there are a few scenes that actually have heart. If you don't like 80s cartoon action, stay away. But if you'll always be a Megaman-playing, Ninja-Turtle-watching kid at heart, check it out.

The Transformers: The Movie is a surprisingly cruel film that hides its desire to get rid of the old toys and market a new wave of Transformers toys in a briskly paced adventure that's one of the most 80s movies ever made and a lot of fun. A film that definitely doesn't play it safe and properly moves the story forward.

Peter Cullen will always be perfect as Optimus Prime, a stern but gentle presence who always feel like the ideal leader because of his kindness rather than his stoicism. Judd Nelson as Hot Rod is a worthy successor, he has the ideals and heart of Prime but the maturity isn't there yet, a perfect contrast.

The biggest downside to the film is the few comic relief characters who mostly consist of talking nonsense at a very fast pace, usually in a high pitched voice to make them even more grating. Eric Idle is probably the best and definitely the least annoying but still a real waste of talent on what could've been a genuine scene stealer.

Nelson Shin's direction is really good, it peaks early on with a first 30 mins that's one extended battle sequence with genuine stakes and the transformations are so satisfying and comprehensible. The animation looks good overall, maintaining the look of the show with a bigger budget but struggles in a few places.

The soundtrack is amazing, the most 80s songs ever created will just randomly play whenever action happens and it enhances rather than detracts. The Touch and Dare appear twice simply because they're the best and the Transformers theme itself is just beautiful.

Transformers the movie is a retro 80's cult classic that not only took the original series forward in the animation department but also took the story forward in to the future with the next generation of Transformers. The plot is a recreation of the King Arthur legend of a young man trying to find his way with out knowing that he is destine to rule his tribe one day. All the fan favorites are here with new ones to be cherishing, and the soundtrack to this movie is probably one of the best sounding albums to come out of the 80's. This movie still holds up as one of the best TV to Movie translations of all time, and it still kicks major league butt as well. The only drawback that it has that they did not make a sequel to this classic in animation.

a must own for all animation fans.

It was 1984. I was a young lad of 8. Transformers had long been my favorite afternoon cartoon, then I went and seen the movie. Itwas friggan great. It was actually the first movie I can recall that I got to experience an on screen death of a character that I cared about. I remember almost shedding a tear at the death scene of Optimist prime, then the nail in the coffin. I heard one of the characters (brain fart, cant remember name.) say "Dammit". A tame word by todays standard, but enough back then to get a PG rating, and for a character in a cartoon that I had only known as squeaky clean to swear, made them seem more human to me than ever. great movie, the animation is dated, and the plot is alittle shaky by todays standard, but for its time, it was the most amazing thing American kids had ever seen.