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Sep 12, 2016 Web Exclusive By Austin Trunick

Aside from the large, devoted fanbase who already regard Transformers: The Movie as the crowning achievement of 1980s cinema, there are many out there who see it for what it was: a feature-length toy commercial. When production on the film began, no one had any real idea that the Transformers would accumulate one of the most dedicated fandoms in popular culture. Many of the children who grew up with the first TV show and this movie – myself included – have grown into thirty-somethings who are still delighted by the idea of robots from outer space who crash landed on Earth and chose to disguise themselves as mankind’s automobiles, war machines, and tape decks. More importantly, the idea still delights new child fans who latch onto its latest incarnations in movie, cartoon, comic book, and (of course) toy form. This deluxe Blu-ray revisiting of the 1986 Transformers movie will appeal most to that former category of thirty-somethings, who still remember Bumblebee as a Volkswagen and Optimus Prime before he got that awful, blue flame paint job. That’s because Transformers: The Movie touched a special nerve, probably more so than any other vintage storyline the characters appeared in. (And we also can’t tiptoe around the way it totally traumatized so many of us at a young age, either.)

Above all else, Transformers: The Movie was a toy commercial. The idea was that the film would introduce a whole new set of characters that kids would see and, upon leaving the theater, beg their parents to purchase for them in action figure form. How could they guarantee that children would need the new toys, as opposed to sticking with the ones they played with for the two years prior? The producers had a sickly brilliant idea: they’d straight up murder the entire cast from the beloved cartoon series, wholesale, and in cold blood.

The first quarter of the film depicts the Battle of Autobot City, which is basically the Stalingrad of Transformers canon. It’s brutal. Heavy losses are suffered on both the Autobot and Decepticon sides as well-known characters were gunned down in rapid succession. It wasn’t like they got hit with lasers and simply fell over, either – their chests exploded, and smoke and flames billowed forth from their mouths. Again: these weren’t no-name robots meeting their grisly demise, but heroes you watched save the world every Saturday morning on your favorite cartoon show. These were characters whose toy versions you were likely to have been clutching in your tiny hands at that very moment, shaking as your knuckles turned white. The opening sequences of TF:TM are like the wedding sequence at the end of The Godfather, and the Autobots are all of Michael Corleone’s enemies.

All of the initial deaths are quickly overshadowed because [spoiler alert] even Optimus Prime gets his ass killed. Yes, the brave leader of the Autobots — and far and away the cartoon’s most popular character — is fatally wounded in a knock-down, drag out battle to the death with his sworn enemy, the Decepticon leader Megatron (who also eventually bites it.) Prime’s death wasn’t a namby-pamby, kids’ gloves death scene, either, where Ultra Magnus nervously tells Hot Rod that he went to a race track in the countryside to play with all of the other robots who turn into cars. Oh, no no no no no. It’s so much more graphic than that: you actually watch Optimus’ pulse monitor flatline, the light in his eyes flicker out, his steel body go limp and turn a ghoulish grey (as those keeping watch at his deathbed gently weep.) You have to imagine the number of times the movie had to have spurred a parent’s premature explanation of mortality to their sons and daughters over the last thirty years. (“Mommy? Am I going to die like Optimus Prime one day?”)

Holy, moly. If you were part of the show’s five-to-ten-year-old target audience and tears weren’t streaming down your face within the movie’s first fifteen minutes, you had a heart of stone. When the bloodshed finally slows down, we were left with a roster that – outside of a few fan-favorites such as Bumblebee and the Dinobots – no kid had ever seen before. These included hotheaded young Hot Rod (voiced by Judd Nelson) and the nefarious new Decepticon leader, Galvatron (Leonard Nimoy.) Transformers: The Movie brought in a lot of celebrity talent to lend their voices to many of the new characters, presumably to give the film itself a bit more appeal to the parents in the audience. Others included Unsolved Mysteries’ Robert Stack, Monty Python’s Eric Idle, and none other than Orson Welles who, in one of his final performances, plays the movie’s planet-sized villain and Death Star equivalent, Unicron.

Trauma aside, the main reason that Transformers: The Movie has had a lasting appeal over three decades is that there was some kind of magic current running through it. In every single facet, the movie seemed hit above its weight class, from the high quality of animation to the memorable soundtrack. It’s clear throughout that few of the people doing the bulk of the work on the movie felt that the product was beneath them; even the celebrity voice cast, several of whom you’d never imagine taking on a part in a toy promotion, sound like they’re giving the film their all. The storyline, too, remains exciting and action-packed, even when the characters aren’t dying left and right.

Kids who watched the cartoon show at home likely never picked up on the series’ often shoddy animation quality. (These included a lot of recycled movements, and weird moments where characters’ colors would change or mouths would move with no dialogue to accompany it.) But you can’t imagine they’d be able to miss what a huge step up the movie’s animation took, with smoother movements, exponentially higher detail, and some legitimately fantastic-looking sequences. Never before has it been easier to appreciate, either, than in this newly-restored and remastered 4K scan of the original film elements which – in all likelihood – probably surpasses the original, release day theatrical prints of the movie. The first few minutes, where Unicron eats a planet, annihilating its indigenous population – yeah, that also happens right at the top of the movie – look absolutely stunning here, and should immediately excite any of the movie’s longtime fans. On a similar note, the sound quality is very good, from Vince DiCola’s cool synth score to the unforgettable rock anthems “The Touch” and “Dare,” from Stan Bush.

Shout! Factory’s Transformers: The Movie 30^th Anniversary Edition includes restored versions of the widescreen theatrical release as well as the differently-framed fullscreen version, which most of us grew up with on VHS. The restorations alone would make this the version of TF: TM to own, but several new special features sweeten the pot. The most exciting is ‘Til All Are One, a new 45-plus minute retrospective with cast and crew member, which is far more candid and enlightening than anything we’ve seen on previous editions. Also on hand are a commentary, many featurettes, storyboards, trailers and TV commercials (including those for several of the tie-in toys, which is a welcome bonus.) For Transformers fans, a definitive edition of the franchise’s best feature has finally arrived.

www.shoutfactory.com/film/action-adventure/the-transformers-the-movie-30th-anniversary-edition