 When it comes to the cartoons of the 80s, where basically every animated TV show was invented to sell a bunch of toys (and it worked!), the same era has become a real home base for nostalgia. The fun thing to do now is go back and watch some of these classics we remember so fondly from our childhoods. But while some of them might end up in the guilty pleasure pile for being recognizably bad, some actually hold up surprisingly well. 'Transformers: The Movie' is something I would argue is part of the latter group.
Now don't get me wrong, this movie is loaded with cheesy, laughable moments. A good load of the dialogue, and some visuals just plain don't look as good nowadays, so they provide a fun, accidental giggle. But then there are things like the trash planet robots, lead by Wreck-Gar (Eric Idle) who dance to Weird Al's "Dare to be Stupid". It's sincerely one of the funniest and most random things one can pull from an 80s animated feature. But the way the war between the Autobots and Decepticons is portrayed is pretty much one, long 80s hair metal music video, full of incredible voice acting, and plenty of surprises for the fans! The year is 2005 (bearing in mind this was released in '86), and the Autobots' home planet, Cybertron has been taken by the evil Decepticons. The Autobots, now operating from Cybertron's moons, need more Energon (essentially Transformers fuel), so Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) sends a shuttle to Autobot City, which has been established on Earth for supplies. However, the Decepticons learn of this plan, head down to intercept the shuttle, and an all-out battle takes place when the Decepticons are spotted by Hot Rod (Judd Nelson) and Daniel Witwicky (David Mendenhall), and Hot Rod attacks. This is where Optimus comes in with reinforcements, and has his final showdown with Megatron (Frank Welker), ultimately resulting in Optimus passing the "Matrix of Leadership" to his companion, Ultra Magnus (Robert Stack), and Megatron being turned into Galvatron (Leonard Nimoy) by Unicron (Orson Welles); a massive Transformer who can eat planets, and wishes for the destruction of the Autobots as well as the Matrix, which has the power to potentially destroy him. That's pretty much the gist of the plot, but if you're confused, to simplify things, it's an all-out, balls-to-the-wall war movie; just one side vs the other. I only actually saw this movie for the first time about a decade ago (if not more), and I have to admit there is something I love about it. I think it's just that it's about as hardcore 80s as we could possibly get with an animated movie meant for kids. It pushes the envelope a bit with some swearing, action and even some very memorable death sequences. The soundtrack is that of a bunch of 80s rarities, and Lion's version of the 'Transformers' theme is just plain badass. On top of everything, it really is one gigantic (and successful) toy commercial - but it does deliver exactly what we want to see from the 'Transformers'. Personally speaking, I wasn't so heavy into 'Transformers' growing up, so this movie and the series in general kinda went over my head at the time. But looking at it now, its simplicity is what makes it stand above anything that Michael Bay or anyone else has cranked out with live-action. It's no real wonder to me why so many fans of the animated material from their childhoods didn't like the live action movies. What we have here is basic; robot wars, so when the human element enters into it, it may seem better on paper for a general audience, but the fans know what they want. I would not put this movie at the top of any of my lists of quality movies, but it is a hell of a lot of fun to look back on a product of the late 80s that just screams the decade. I also have tremendous respect for this movie in a weird way, as it managed to make itself the pinnacle (at least seemingly) of 'Transformers' stories for the fan base. I may be a bit more of an outsider, but it's plain to see why (despite some minor defences I'll put up for them) fans of the franchise aren't huge fans of the live action titles. Make no mistake though. At the end of the day, I do still see this as the definitive 'Transformers' movie! 4/5
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