Transformers: The Movie (US)

The Transformers were one of the biggest merchandising deals of the 80s and the line of transforming robots spawned a whole series of spin-offs. Along with the comics and the television show came this, the animated movie version of the war between the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons (for some inexplicable reason I feel the urge to say TM immediately after those names).

I loved this film as a kid, and so just had to have it on DVD for nostalgia`s sake. At the time I was heavily into the comics, and these were cleverly written to crossover with the film. I remember the main reason I loved this film was the fact that it was like no Transformers cartoon that had appeared before. In the episodic adventures of the Transformers, the good guys always won, nobody ever died, and the reset button would always be hit at the end of every 20 minute episode. This movie was different; the opening twenty minutes saw them kill of just about every major character from the original transformers line and replace them with an exciting new range of heroes and villains. The way the characters died was different too, the violence was quite graphic (for it`s time) in places. Megatron`s cold blooded (yes I know he wouldn`t have blood) murder of Ironhide near the beginning of the film shows that. Another great thing about this film was Megatron`s transformation into Galvatron, a seemingly invincible machine of incredible power, and it led to some of the best stories in the history of the transformers comic. The main reson though, was Unicron. A planet-sized Transformer for god`s sake! The transformation sequence is amazing, as is his eventual robot form.

On to the DVD itself. Video is presented in 1.33:1, or 4:3 if you prefer. I have done some research into the original aspect ratio of the film and this is what I`ve found - The film was originally theatrically released in matted 1.85:1. The DVD is open matte, so you are in effect getting to see more of the picture than you would have at the cinema, even though it`s not a widescreen presentation. Video quality is fair for a 15 year old cartoon, but obviously not up there with the likes of Fight Club.

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital and claims to be 5.1. It`s not. It`s some kind of bodged surround mix, where all channels emit the same sounds, and the mix is biased heavily towards the left hand channel, which means you`ll have to adjust your amp (or sit closer to the right hand side of the room). The sound quality is ok though, just a pity that it`s not a true 5.1 mix as there are loads of cool explosions and Transformer-y effects.

Extras are almost non existent. You get some unfinished storyboards to look at (although not many), and an interview with the composer of the film`s score, Vince DiCola. There are some nice animated menu bits too, but I`m stretching now.

However much I loved this as a kid, it`s fairly evident now that it was just a gimmick to introduce the consumer to a new range of toys. Cynical maybe, but I`m not ten years old any more (although you`d never tell from this review!). That said, it is by no means the terrible film that the licence would suggest. Granted, it did flop at the box office, but I would attribute that to the very adult way in which the film handled the subject matter. Your average Transformers fan would have been too young to understand a lot of the themes and dialogue in the film, not to mention distressed that most of their favourite characters bought the farm very early on. The voice acting is pretty good, with Eric Idle putting in an eccentric performance as a TV-talking Junkion named Wreck-Gar, and Leonard Nimoy managing to make Galvatron sound genuinely menacing (unlike the bloke they got to do his voice in the subsequent cartoons. Richard Simmons sounds more threatening). The animation is good, for it`s time, and the sound effects are all suitably Transformer-y. The music on the other hand is something else, and consists mostly of cheesy 80s rock. I hated it when I was a kid, I couldn`t see the need for songs in the film, but they do fit the action pretty well. The incidental music is good, especially during the Autobot and Decepticon battle at the start. This is the unedited version of the film, so it`s worth getting if you feel the urge to hear a character in a children`s cartoon use the word "s***."

Overall, this isn`t going to make a fan out of anyone who didn`t live through the whole Transformers phenomenon in the 80s, but for those of us that did, this DVD provides a nice little trip down memory lane. Maybe it`s time to get that comic collection valued :0)

Note - The are two region 1 versions of this film, the American and the Canadian editions. The American disc is the one with the 5.1 sound and extras, the Canadian is mono only, has no extras and supposedly has a vastly inferior picture quality.

Note: This review is based on the R1 US Collectors edition, not the R1 (very inferior) Canadian edition, or the (Vastly superior - much more extras including a translated Japanese episode) inpending release of the R2 UK edition...


THE MOVIE:

First of all, I LOVE this movie!!! Admittedly, It`s not a great film, but does a movie have to be great for one to love it? Look at all the fans of the Phantom Menace.... Anyway, if your`e reading this review, then you probably know all there is to know about this movie, so I won`t bore you with the details of the plot etc. If you havnt seen this movie, dont expect Gladiator or Citizen Kane on painted cel, instead expect a animated adventure, which is a bit too grown up to be classed as a pure childrens flick. There is a substantial amount of violence for this type of movie, more grown up themes than would be expected, mild language problems, some complex dialogue, and a great 80`s heavy - metal soundtrack....

(
Great if you like that type of music... Well, the tune played out in the credits has one of the best guitar solo`s I have EVER heard, and very complex if you try and play it (:0)
)

Basically, its a good movie (more than just a long toy advert), which is`nt really suitable for very young children, or people who have no idea about the transformers universe.

PICTURE QUALITY:

This film was released back in 1986, and as far as I am aware of, no digital copy was made. So all things considered, the picture quality is fantastic. A real good effort was made at restoring the picture. "Most" of the film is completely remastered, one scene on the Planet of junk seems to have been missed out completely. Sue to this, the colours seem somewhat dull comparatively, and the is a slight image glitch, nothing too drastic. This movie is not presented in widescreen, but the original movie was filmed in PAN&SCAN anyway!

AUDIO:

The audio soundtrack is not great, but a good effort was made. It is`nt 5.1 as stated, but a kind of surround sound ( I`m not quite sure how to classify it), either way, its a heck of alot better than mono. The quality is very good compared to the VHS edition!

FEATURES:

Slightly dissapointing! There is a short series of story boards which are interesting), and an interview with Vince Dicola (The composer) - which is genuinely interesting! Apart from that, there`s nothing more!

All togeather, I think this is a good disc that any trans fan, young or old, should purchase (Unless you live in the UK, where there is a version with much more extras being realesed - but no swearing is present ^_^ )