I saw the cd ablum atm HMV and I immediately and when I copy the tracks over to my bro, he used Dare and You got the Touch as his ringtone (no suprised there)!
I have a real hunger for this soundtrack's touch and power, which occasionally dared to be stupid, albeit in a good way. There's absolutely nothing-- not even instruments of destruction-- that's gonna stand in my way of enjoying it.
That scene where Optimus mows down Decepticons and then transforms while leaping into the air is still one of the most awesome things I've ever seen. And I'm still waiting for anybody else to do a better version of Unicron. It wasn't until years later that I was watching Rocky IV, noticed the music sounded familiar, and suddenly realized the same guy did the score for both films
I actually saw the movie in the theater upon initial release. I remember being extremely traumatized by seeing characters I loved get killed. While I ended up liking some of the new characters eventually, I hated the movie itself for a very, very long time. The way that most of the characters died I think was what bothered me the most. Other than Optimus Prime their deaths were treated as if they were nothing, as if they were disposable. Which to the executives they were. I think the best thing to come out of the movie was it made Hasbro (and other toy companies) realize that they could not build a story-based universe and treat their characters as if they didn't matter.
Your reaction is pretty close to how most kids I knew had to the movie at the time. People started appreciating the movie long after the fact, but in the moment a lot of kids hated it. Most people I knew didn't have too much problem with Prime dying. That was pretty much given away in the TV trailers, and he got an operatic final scene. What kids didn't like were the matter of fact deaths of Prowl, Windcharger, Starscream, and others.
Loved this movie as a kid....saw it in the Theater...I was shocked hearing cursing...and cing autobots get killed and then Prime.....talk about the whole Theater crying...damn that was the essence
I'm a G1 girl through and through. I wrote all their names in my notebook, drewmade-up gadgets for the human friends to use, even tried drawing Optimus Prime. Heck, when I finally could earn money for myself, I bought a third-hard diecast model of Prime. That's how much I adored him and the show. So imagine my shock when the Decepticons massacred the Autobots in the ship and Optimus died. Me and my siblings were crying. I really need to revisit this movie again.I didn't give Hotrod much credit then.
Transformers the Movie is a paradox, because it is simultaneously one of the most cynical and shameless advertisements ever- the entire movie literally exists for no other reason than to kill off all the 'old toys' and shill the 'new toys'- but it is also a staple of many people's childhoods and extremely fondly remembered due to its music, animation, voice acting, and for being the basis of decades' worth of Transformers lore. I can't for the life of me think of any other movie like it.
It also shows that people can be attached to media properties. Nostalgia aside, this wasn't just a toy commercial; it transformed into something else that Hasbro hadn't anticipated and transcended the idea of media only existing for passive consumption.
The really sad thing that came about from this were the new toys... which were some of the most terrible-looking monstrosities I ever laid my eyes on. They only kinda sorta vaguely resembled their much-more-cool-looking movie and season 3 & 4 animated counterparts... if you were suffering from advanced glaucoma. Talk about false advertising, amirite? Thank goodness they made 'em look a heckuva lot better in the recent Kingdom and '86 Movie Studio Series releases. Only took 'em 35 years... better late than never, I guess. Can't wait for Wreck-Gar to finally come in...
I remember my mom paying my teenage uncle at the time to take my brother and I to see this. As sad as the movie was, my favorite memory of seeing this movie is my uncle screaming WTF in the middle of a theater with a bunch of kids when Prime died. I still mess with him about it to this day.
My cousin had to ask me to sit back down and shut the f up, when Blaster sent out his cassettes. I was just glad that he took me to the movie so I did. I must admit that I did not know much about Orson Welles or Leonard Nimoy at the time, but I did know Wierd Al, Eric Idle and Robert Stack.
Memories bro. That's a headstone quote if I've ever heard one. Nana sure the entire family knows the story so if you decide to headstone it they get it
its a tale as old as time. Corporate suits thinking kids are stupid. They wont mind that a beloved animated character is brutally murdered on screen, kids are dumb, they just come to drool and stare at the pretty light show. Then beg their parents to buy the new shiny toys on sale. This wont backfire in the slightest.
2:41 LOL I teared up when Prowl died. They way his eyes went from Blue to orange and them faded out as the smoke came out of his mouth. I hadn't realized as a kid that Brawn was dead since he just fell on the ground. But when Prowl died. I knew that was it. And then Ratchet and Ironhide had their chest blown open. Probably the most impactful scene of the movie for me at the time. Even more so than Prime's death. I still remember that today. What 35 or so years later?
@@alanlinnell6817 Glorifying the evil side? I think it was done more to emphasize the steaks than anything. Especially, considering no one ever died in the actual cartoon series. We were introduced to the mortality of some of our favorite characters. That definitely raised the steaks for us as kids. The only other cartoon I can remember doing that was Robotech when they killed off Roy Fokker. Though in truth, the decision was probably based on giving characters that would be phased out of the Gen 1 toy line a heroic end. The raising of the steaks was probably an afterthought.
@@MorphicStates Yeah, in terms of good vs. evil, I didn't like it that all of a sudden Megatron can just mow down Autobots that had been in the series for years. It was mean spirited to kids, it really affected me
I still remember watching the interviews on the special features of the DVD in a room with some college classmates and when they heard the quote “we had no idea he was an icon” everyone else in the room stopped what they were doing and said “wait what? How? No, seriously how? How stupid are these guys?”
They had no idea? Commercials for the movie literally ended with the announcer asking the audience the question: "Does Prime die?" You don't do that unless you know you have a very popular character and want to get butts in seats by teasing the fate of such a character. They knew what they were doing... it just blew up spectacularly in their faces.
They maybe knew enough to play that angle in the marketing come 1986, but back when they started actually writing the film and locked the idea in, the cartoon hadn't even started *airing* yet. They genuinely couldn't have known!
it was completely heart breaking seeing optimus die on the big screen, but i still love that movie to this day. so much that i just got the bluray steelbook
This may sound weird, but my little brother reacted to primes death. He felt less sad and more annoyed. He said that prime should have just ignored hotrod and shoot megatron before he could grab the gun.
287k is underrated? Really? Are you one of those people who says on every comment section of every ok movie saying that movie or that actor is criminally underrated also? P.S. I’m just teasing you. Or am I ?
Bit of a detour; who here would like to see Toy Galaxy collaborate with one, or more, of the other similar RUclips channels? Say, the likes of RetroBlasting or Michael Mercer?
pre pandemic me and my dorm friends would watch Transformers the Movie on repeat in the basement lounge, any time we where together it was playing. As a group of young adults who could appreciate its strange mystique and odd decisions, its fascinating universe and alien concepts. It was the best 5 dollars I ever spent.
My mom took me to see this when I was a kid. To her credit, with the violence, death, profanity and my crying about Optimus, she let me sit through it. This movie taught me the concept of death, the most impact a movie has had on my entire life.
That's very surprising, that your mom didn't take you out the theater. That was the one thing I heard about on the news. Many kids couldn't handle this movie without ballin away!
"We didn't realise he was an icon" These people are entrusted with millions, nae billions, of dollars from the companies that employ them. Mindblowing stupidity.
After all they never created Optimus Prime. Takara a Japanese toy company invented the toy truck called Convoy. They didn't even realize that Megatron was an icon let alone Prime. Stupendous stupidity.
@@Scott.Sandifer Unicron told him I have summoned you here for a purpose Megatron. Megatron said nobody summons Megatron. Then Unicron said well it pleases me to be the first.
My dad is 50 now. He said he was crying like crazy when he saw this live when he was younger. I saw the film a few years ago in the movie theatre with him. When Rodimus opened up the matrix he had a tear streak down his eye. Love my dad!
I always tell people that this film had the single larges impact on me as a child, and they look at me as if I'm mad. It's hard to appreciate what it was like as a six year old watching your favorite characters die, not just get injured then get better, have actual holes blown in them and die. Also all this was wrapped in an aesthetic designed to greatly appeal to children. This film was the greatest Trojan horse for lessons in bereavement and loss I have ever encountered.
This is one of the best Transformers: The Movie documentaries ever. Kudos to Toy Galaxy for doing a better job than many of the professional versions. Wonderfully written. Great editing. I couldn't recommend this more. Great job!!!
@@fei-tzefu8527 He's not putting the movie down. He is putting down the decision makers behind the scenes, like Hasbro for treating the characters as too expendable.
I've seen a number of documentaries about this movie and I don't view this one as anything special. It retreads everything I've heard before, in a compressed time frame. Average at best.
The odd thing is despite the disaster of the decision, I think the Death of Optimus might have actually turned out to be one of the most important decisions in Childrens TV you can still see the effects today.
Just as one example, it has worked its way into other Transformers media since (albeit usually under different circumstances, and with a "Get Out Of Death Free" card). The Bay movies, Transformers Animated and even the original G1 Marvel comics all aped the idea.
NGL, I never saw the G1 Movie until the early 2000s, so I was under the impression that Optimus would come back to life near the end of the movie. Aaand he never did.
@Coolio_Wolfus Oh I'm well aware of that. Beast Wars was my generations Transformers series, and Optimus got killed off in the 2nd season, then came back to life later on as a Transmetal. Then later series like the Unicron Trilogy did the same thing. Hense why I was under the impression that Optimus would come back to life, near the end of the G1 Movie(Which he didn't)
@@nine_tails137 G1 Optimus came back in Season 3 of the G1 cartoon (TWICE) when Rodimus was clearly not working out as Autobot leader. The funny thing is, the Movie invented what's now know as reformatting when Megatron got turned into Galvatron. Hasbro couldn't contrive a reason for the same to happen to Optimus and the other Autobots? According to one G1 episode (War Dawn), Optimus actually underwent a reformatting to become the Optimus we know today.
@@noppornwongrassamee8941 Yeah, I watched Transformers the basics, and it mentions how Optimus Prime was originally called Orion Pax. However, keep in mind that Beast Wars was my generation's Transformers series. Not G1(Even though the G1 characters appear in seasons 2 and 3).
I'm 40 and I still remember seeing this in the Canon Cinema, London Road, Croydon. UK. November 1986. I have pretty much bought every release since 2001/2 when it was released on DVD. Animation was awesome and the soundtrack 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Aw man, imagine if they went with the original story and cybertron transforms into primus to have a final desperate showdown with unicron, damn that would've been a real story worth watching.
As many remakes and reboots TF has had(cyberverse being one of my favourites), not one as far as I know has allowed Primus to transform and shine. It could definitely be a great new angle to take for a new series. Provided they don't reduce Primus and Unicron to normal sized transformers like what TF Prime did with Unicron
Failed?? Regardless of Hasbro's motives, this is still the greatest piece of media that franchise has ever produced. I live for this movie (and that frickin soundtrack)!!!
Well the movie absolutely bombed and got more negative feedback than any other film of it's time. That definitely is a failure. I hated the movie as a kid, and it deserves the scorn it gets. Big Wigs mercilessly murdered tons of our favorite characters, and expected us kids to just embrace whomever showed up next.....we didn't. Seriously screw the worst named Transformers ever...Rodimus Prime. His alt mode was lame, and his name was stupid, and he got a far cooler chaarcter killed. He was doomed to be hated.
This is literally how one of my best friends from childhood introduced himself to me outside of school. I had moved to a new town, and in 3rd grade he just walked up to me on the first day of school and introduced himself with a handshake. A short time later I went to his house for an afternoon of hanging out and the first thing he did was break out Transformers: The Movie. He didn’t ask if I wanted to watch it. He just popped in the VHS and told me it was what we were doing. We’re still good friends so I guess his bold move paid off.
This was one of the first movies I ever saw at the cinema when I was a youngling and it was frikkin awesome!! So originally The Matrix (of Leadership) was meant to awaken Cybertron to fight against Unicron, yeah that makes better sense than giving Unicron heartburn.
One thing I've noticed is that the transformers are depicted as people in a way. For example, they are easily killed by one or a couple gun shots. Usually being aimed at the chest or face area. Some died whilst smoke comes out of their mouths, symbolising blood. The reason why I make this comparison is because in the tv shows, they get shot and blown up dozens of times and yet their's always someone of their team to repair them or they repair themselves.
My personal head canon for that is the lack of energon. Running on a lower power mode may make their life support or self-repair systems much weaker, and they might go down much easier.
@@DanTheManCalter I agree. That's the point the opening is keen on establishing: the Autobots are very low on their supply of both firepower and 'life force', thus the Decepticons could actually strike the final blow after all these eons. I never stopped to think about it, but after Optimus' death scene when the survivors are cleaning up, there's no effort to revive and repair any of the fallen Autobots, which is something you'd think they'd at least attempt given what we saw in the series. Perhaps we're to assume they tried on the other casualties, too, but had the same outcome as Optimus; which wouldn't have been worth the trouble of animating?
@@dw2art yes, taking down Ratchet and Wheeljack left the Autobots without their best medics. Perceptor had that expertise, too; and the others had limited repair skills. The thing is: they thought they were in the clear after the Decepticon retreat. If they had time to clean up, they had time to try fixing their comrades. I just realized something, though! The whole reason Optimus sent the shuttle was to get Energon, because Earth was energy-rich. Wheeljack and the other Earth-based Autobots were not Energon deficient! Even if knocked offline, they should have had enough backup power to reactivate if someone else repaired them. Well, bottom line is the powers that be wanted to kill off the old toy line! No repair bay miracles, this time!
@@DanTheManCalter i like your theory and would also like to add that the autobots medic ratchet was killed perceptor was a scientist too but he specialized in alien biology, so thats also how i rationalize it
@@DanTheManCalter Some friends and I discussed this years ago, and our theory was that it was because everyone was running at full power, i.e. filled with energon. That's why the battle of Autobot City took so long and resulted in so much damage. Just like at the start of the war, the Autobots and Decepticons were at full power, and their weapons were capable of mass destruction. However, for most of the series, the Autobots and Decepticons were operating under tight power constraints, preventing them from doing grave damage to each other.
Up until I got the internet, I had *no idea* people took Optimus Prime's death that badly or blamed Hot Rod for anything. I guess the movie just hits differently for us 90s kids who could just pop The Return of Optimus Prime into the VCR immediately afterward.
@@jeremylopez4156 1980 for me. I didn’t even know about it until I saw the tape at the video store. Yeah, Optimus Prime dies, but it wasn’t world shattering for me. When Littlefoot’s mom dies in The Land Before Time, now THAT’S sad.
I rather liked the unsure leader story arc surrounding Rodimus in the season following the movie. Optimus was too perfect. They had some good storytelling with Rodimus.
I watched this show completely out of order in the 90s. Started with the old FHE video rentals from season 1, then when we got cable, I saw a few episodes from season 3 via Scifi's Cartoon Quest and wasn't sure what the heck happened to Prime until stumbling across the movie at a grocery store. Luckily for me, it was the version where the narrator promised Prime would return, so I wasn't worried. The universe is funny sometimes, because I want to say the Return 2 parter was shown a few weeks later. The Internetless text to speechless early 90s sure were a weird time to live in if you were a blind kid and attempting to fit the pieces of this show together.
@@peterclarke7240 No, I remember my classmates HATED Rodimus Prime. They came to the schoolyard everyday and analyzed what a terrible leader he was and how Optimus Prime would have done things differently.
I remember that contest! The grand prize was the ENTIRE Transformers collection. It happened during the USA Network's Kids Club segment on Cartoon Express.
"we didn't know we killed an icon" Yeah, I was so shaken I couldn't talk. I didn't notice It wasn't just me. Even when they brought him back it was too late. Next to matrix revolutions it was the great mistake in cinema history
The real failure of Hasbro was not realizing that the Transformers was so much more than a glorified kids toy commercial, these characters and their mythology and struggle were what we loved, the toys were the bonus on top. But they were focused on toys and kids liking the story was a bonus so they could sell more toys.
"Ba weep granna weep ninny bong" I saw this movie in the theaters when I was 5yrs old and balled my eyes out within like 5min into it starting. But I do remember enjoying the movie overall. Also I remember having the bedroom sheet set of the Transformers back then too.
I had the UK VHS release as a Christmas present that year, absolutely loved it. But for some reason the tape was ever so slightly too large for VHS players, so I'd need to pull it out the machine with a table knife each time I wanted to watch it.
Yeah, I cried when I first seen the movie(either 1999 or really early 2000s) by renting it from Block Buster... and I continued to rent and cry many times after. I really loved the movie, and regardless how traumatized I was over many parts in the film, it wasn't as traumatizing as some of the cartoons that aired when I was growing up.
I still remember seeing the film. I was eight-ish, and mom picked me up from school early for a dentist appointment. Afterwards she surprised me with ‘Transformers: The Movie’. She took me to see it in the theater in the Campus Hill Shopping Center here in Harford County, Maryland. There wasn’t many people in there, but there were four or five other kids around my age. I was a HUGE fan of Transformers, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, G.I.Joe, Robotech, and Thundercats - all of the best cartoons with the best toys! I loved the film. Looking back now I can recall the boredom on my mom’s face, God bless that sweet woman. But even though I was a big fan of Optimus and I had not only his but every Autobot who died in the film in my bedroom back home his death didn’t bother me at all, and it didn’t bother any of the other children there either as I recall. Even at eight I knew that 1.) it was a cartoon, and 2.) he was a robot and you could always rebuild a robot. Imagine my surprise so many years later when I discovered via the interwebz that there were children who were absolutely devastated by Prime’s demise. I had no idea! My parents have been married for over 50 years now and my father, an imperfect but great dad, has always been in my life, so perhaps that’s why I wasn’t bothered by Prime’s demise - he was never a ‘Daddy’ in my mind because I had a daddy. I can imagine that there were little boys who had only their mothers and that Optimus probably did become a father-figure to them and that’s why they were so hurt by it all. I still enjoy the movie and I have it on my phone along with the original soundtrack. I do kinda regret watching this video though - I thought that Stan Bush was a talented vocalist, but hearing him kinda-sorta sing in the clip you put in your video has made me realize that he was another mediocre singer who was autotuned. Appropriate perhaps, since he was singing about Autobots.
The fact that we never got a joke or reference to "The Touch" during either of Mark Wahlberg's Transformers movies is a crime. I mean the fact that those movies were made is the bigger crime so maybe it's for the best.
Michael Bay made it pretty clear that he didn't care in the slightest about the original cartoon. It took a massive online fan petition for him to even agree to bring Peter Cullen back as Prime, even though most people would think that was a no-brainer. So it's little wonder that it lacks much in the way of throwbacks and easter eggs.
Yes Optimus was an icon, but at 7 years old when I watched it on the big screen, I was old enough to understand that in wars soldiers die, even generals sometimes. Which was why I enjoyed the story's message; even if you lose the leader, the values and the fight continue, hence the Matrix being passed on.
Same. I showed it to my kids a year ago, 4 and 6 at the time, and they loved it as much as I did at that age. We've rewatched it many times since. However, my wife and some friends questioned my decision to show them to it so young. So, I pointed out that the Incredibles 2 movie (and in many other childrens media) are full of violence and shooting, but no one dies or even get hurts, setting unrealistic and possibly dangerous belief of gun safety and how to process it. Personally, i rather my kids see and understand the reality of gun violence and what true heroism looks like.
As strong 8 year old that absolutely lived and breathed Transformers, I convinced my dad to take me to see it. And I cried when Prime died. I felt so crushed. And while they brought him back, it was a striking blow to young me. While I didn't love Rodimus Prime, I did get on with Hot Rod eventually.
So what about the entire rest of the cast, though? If Optimus survived but the rest of the cast died would that change anything? Or if Optimus died later in the movie, heroically in battle, then passing the matrix on to someone else, would that have changed anything?
@@VorpalDerringer Admittedly I was a kid and my understanding of storytelling and themes was limited. Yes, most the the deaths sucked. I, like many other kids, had grown attached to them. I was just speaking as to the backlash and gravity of the "father figure" character dying. I did grow to like the other new characters as well. But at the end of the day, Optimus is Optimus. There is a reason why he has always been the leader in every version since, except Beast Wars. But definitely a spiritual successor.
Hot Rod/Rodimus is one of my favourite characters. However, now Hasbro have a fear of a backlash from using him prominently (after the lessons learnt of Transformers the movie) and I feel that he suffers from that, allowing Bumblebee to become something that he never was…
They did take the lesson of making newer versions of Opimus Prime less experienced in following series rather than be the well experienced paragon he was in G1. Probably best version showing him transform over the series is Transformers Animated where Ultra Magus is the leader of the Autobots, and prime a captain of a small team, but eventually becomes a credible enough threat to Megatron than he calls him by his actual name. I agree Bumblebee gets be what Hotrod tried be without all the baggage. They really shouldn't have had Hotrod be the one who directly screwed up and got Prime killed. Between his goofy Altmode and terrible name Rodimus Prime(Can you sound less like a crappy knock off?) was destined to fail. He knew he sucked, and wallowed in that fact for the rest of the series. I get following a legend is a tough act to follow and could been an interesting angle to take, but Hotrod never had a chance. As an adult I kinda pity him as I can relate to inheriting big shoes to fill as a leader, but the execution of his character was terrible. (No wonder he gets immediately owned in Transformers Animated when he reappears played by Judd Nelson heh. Fans do not forgive easily.)
There is an episode of Transformers Cyberverse where Bumblebee introduces Hot Rod to Blurr. I cracked up in the live action movie when the French accent guy said "I am Hot Rod" in that accent. In the first Robots in Disguise there is a car called Sideburn. Then in Armada there is Hot Shot. These guys are similar to Bumblebee and Hot Rod. In the Michael Bay movies there are some cars, Jazz, Sideswipe, Mirage and Bumblebee is now a medium size warrior, fair enough. Did you notice the flames on Optimus Prime? To me this was a shout out to Rodimus Prime. Like this Optimus Prime had some of Hot Rod's DNA. I had the Hot Rod toy before the movie came out so I knew that he was powerful. For the sake of drama the movie made him weak at the start.
I saw this twice in the theater in 1986. The first time I saw it we arrived late and the first thing I saw was Prowl getting shot and smoke pouring out of his mouth. Heck of a time to arrive! Spike and his swear word, Unicron, Prime’s death , etc. Mind blown. Incredible!!
I was DEFINITELY one of those kids that cried when Optimus died, but I didn't remember Spike's cursing until I bought the movie on DVD years later. This is a classic example of what happens when you make decisions about a product without knowing anything but the dollars and cents. I do remember giving Transformers a chance in Season 2, and being hyped for Optimus's return in Season 3, but it just wasn't the same. I was a teenager then, and the love for toys was fading.
What was your reaction to all the deaths? The movie was long before I was born and I always heard stories of kids being upset when they saw it in theaters
@@FoxHoundUnit90 I was 12 at the time and to me it was like he said during the video a bit overwhelming... I grew up on He-Man, GI Joe and transformers cartoons and always thought it odd that no one ever died during the battles. I was glad that there was a bit of realism in that war has consequences and people do die. But at the same time I was shocked they would kill off the main character. But throughout the entire move Optimus was guiding Hot Rod, and so it reminded me of Mickey guiding Rocky on Rocky III for some reason... But yeah man this movie reminds me so much of the 80s and like I said... Real good memories...
Me and my brother both cried when Optimus died in the theater. Thankfully my Dad kept us watching the movie but made me hate Hotrod after that still hate him to this day. My brother had him and the next morning we went out with fireworks put a end to that bastard just stay out the fight.
Saw this in theaters when I was a lil kid. Very, very traumatizing to say the least to see all the characters get killed or straight up executed in this movie.
Excellent segment, right on. 20 years ago, in college, I had to hunt down the Canadian VHS release to re-watch the film, & next week, I'm going to see it again in theaters for the third time - 1986, 2018, 2021.
I had rented the VHS tape. Went to return it and the store had closed. So I watched it religiously as a kid. "You belong to me now." "I belong to nobody!" Still a killer line.
Yet again, you knock it right our of the park. Great vid! True Story: when my wife bought Armada Unicron for me back in 2003, the Walmart receipt had him listed as "ARMADA UNICORN", a fact which has amused her ever since.
"Coronation, Starscream? This is bad comedy." "Dan, is that you?" "Here's a hint!" *wields Producer Greg in BattleDirector™ mode and proceeds to beat Screamer to dust*
That list of the movies from 1986 really shows how far the industry has declined in the last 35 years. How can one year have so many classics!? I'll always be thankful that I got to grow up in the greatest decade!
This and “My Little Pony: The Movie” were both guilty pleasures at the Box Office at the time, but Disney did fine with the “Great Mouse Detective”, another animated film and another Disney movie “Flight of the Navigator” was good.
If Unicron's backstory had existed when the film was made, Orson Welles might have taken his role more seriously if he was voicing Satan seducing the villain into helping him kill God.
His health and sanity was in such decline at that point it wouldn't have made a difference. The whole reason they used a mod on his voice was because the takes he did sounded terrible.
I think he did a good god. yeah, he may not have known what it was all about, and may he just been a pay check, but I feel had he lived, he would look backnonnit fondly.
@@lashisrad The funny thing is, I think Welles' relatively weak performance actually works. Unicron sounds *tired.* There's an element of genuine world-weariness that was probably just Welles' own self-loathing coming through, but it gives an otherwise one-dimensional character just a hint of depth. Unicorn is ancient, and he sounds like it.
I never knew about it til my friends said something and I didn't really believe it. I put it out of my mind til I heard it with the first DVD. I had to rewind it 4 or 5 times to hear it. I called my friends and said I was sorry for doubting them.
I've said this before over the years (and thank you for making this) -- the writers of the show worked hard to write TV episodes every week. The writers of this movie worked hard to create A SHAKESPEAREAN SCI-FI WAR MOVIE. Replacing stock characters has been done a hundred times with a wave of the hand, the filmmakers decided to give this as much emotional weight as was possible with giant animated robots that turned into vehicles. This movie wanted to be American anime before any American knew what anime was. It remains the best Transformers movie of all time. Guilty or Innocent? INNOCENT.
I remember the day I watched it still, rented it. Ran outside as soon as the end credits scrawled wanting to jump and turn into a car so bad. :( then I grew up, realized that was stupid, and wanted to jump and turn into a jet instead. then I grew up even more and realized that I really wanted to be a helicopter.
Great video - very spot on! I was one of those kids that cried in the theater when Optimus Prime died, and held a level of animosity towards Hot Rod for the longest time growing up. Now as an adult I think this, to me, is the best Transformers movie I've ever watched.
I was a kid in that theatre and I was blown away at the changing of the guard. It meant something because it happened BEFORE we wanted a "reboot", and that was what made it brilliant. Ca you imagine if they did a time-jump reboot well after the point we didn't care about anymore? This is why it worked - it forced the audience to accept change. I was all on board.
So many memories. Saw this when I was 8 years old with my dad. Everyone cheered when Blaster said, "Sick em!" I was one of the few kids who was merely DISAPPOINTED when Optimus died, hating the fact that the writers chose to do that. But I loved the movie, loved the experience and was my favorite movie for over 20 years.
right and then wanting to laugh at Grimlock when Blur was trying to get him and the Dinobots into the ship but still waaaaaaaaaaay way, way way way (did I say way?) too overwhelmed and still trying to process wtf just happened to Optimus!?! oh the good 'ole simple times of yesteryear - lol
I love that someone else loved that bit with Blaster’s cassettes. I was 4/5 when this came out and saw it in the cinema. I can still remember that moment. Looking back it was a bit like Cap lifting Thor’s hammer in Endgame. 5 year old me was just like ‘I knew he had cassette bots too!’
I remember the movie "Flight of Dragons" was being aired on ABC the week before Transformers released in the theater, which I video taped to watch later. They happened to run a commercial for Transformers The Movie during the boradcast, and I watched that commercial so many times, I left a mark on the tape from rewinding it so often.
Best. Film. Ever I remember seeing this as a kid in the cinema when it came out. I cried when Prime died. I still love it as an adult and watch it at least once a year.
I always assumed Hasbro at the time was really out of touch, I’m not saying they couldn’t add more characters for the newest toys but it’s just baffling that they thought killing off most of the established and popular characters like Prime and think the fans wouldn’t care and just be ok with that.
There is a cohort of people between the ages of, say, 35-45 for whom this is a goddamn childhood touchstone. I remember where I was when Optimus Prime died. How can something so important, memorable, and relevant to so many be a failure?
Because while it was important in retrospect, it was a terribly short sided decision from the business end. They assumed way too much about kids relationship to the characters, in that they assumed that kids saw the shows characters as 'disposable' as the toys they represent.
@@nine_tails137 it really is but I'm prejudiced. I still think the thing that made that movie was killing off the "main characters". That's why GOT was so good. Holy shit... Anybody can die.
@@TILLEYJS And that's the thing about this movie. Killing off characters shows there's "stakes". Which adds tension to the viewer. Since you don't know who's gonna die? Cause when you have an overpowered character, that is pretty much immortal, and can one-shot almost everything, the show/movie becomes boring.
Oh it failed and bad and Hollywood has learned nothing from there mistakes lets keep making thing ppl dont want to see and then act confused when they fail
@@bloodeagle6458 It failed in the box office but I consider it the only transformers movie worth watching. If I didn't watch anime during that time I would have been shocked with character deaths but thankfully I was watching anime before getting into transformers.
"Open! Dammit, open!" "Magnus! I want the Matrix!" "Never!" "SWEEPS! Terminate Him!" I need this scene with the planned Draw & Quartering of Ultra Magnus on a4K DVD.
i was sick and laying on the couch when i first watched this movie back then. i sat right up with wide opened eyes when i realized i was about to watch Optimus die. i got up off the couch and sat in front of the tv on my knees just drawn in to that moment. my mom says "don't sit so close to the TV, please" and all i said to her was "Optimus just died" lol
I remember crying at the movie theater when Optimus died and I was 17 at the time. Ended up hating the new toys especially since the charm of the first gen was that they actually looked like cars when transformed. New stuff stunk.
Every time I went grocery shopping with my mom I asked her to rent it for me. She only did twice.. Now I'm older and stoked I can cast it on dailymotion any time I want!
I got Galvatron for my birthday in 1986 and still felt like I had missed out on the glory that was Megatron. Sure, this toy could make sounds and light up, etc etc but it didn't capture my attention like the first wave of Transformers did years earlier.
Luckily for me I’d been given the Hasbro toy catalogue from that year’s toy show, so I knew all about the new toys coming. Even luckier, my parents bought me the soundtrack to the film before I saw it, and right there in the track listing was “The Death of Optimus Prime”. So I was somewhat mentally prepared for Optimus to die. Not that I was any happier seeing it happen. I didn’t realise it at the time, but Optimus dying was when my love for the toys died. I still bought new ones, but the spark was gone- it just took me a while to realise it.
One of my favorite movies and one of your most comprehensive reviews to date, so glad to see all those commercials i found recently are being put to good use.
Damm,me two.I was around 10 and ah yes,the 80s... before child abduction was a thing and well, I take that back.Thats when child abduction became a thing.
My mother held my hand in the movie theater when Optimus Prime died and I cried.
RIP mom.
This movie had an underrated soundtrack, in my opinion it is a classic.
My 6yo says his favorite song is The Touch. It has a huge legacy.
I saw the cd ablum atm HMV and I immediately and when I copy the tracks over to my bro, he used Dare and You got the Touch as his ringtone (no suprised there)!
Yup! I always have a CD of that soundtrack in my truck!
I still have it and listen to it. Good times.
I have a real hunger for this soundtrack's touch and power, which occasionally dared to be stupid, albeit in a good way. There's absolutely nothing-- not even instruments of destruction-- that's gonna stand in my way of enjoying it.
That scene where Optimus mows down Decepticons and then transforms while leaping into the air is still one of the most awesome things I've ever seen. And I'm still waiting for anybody else to do a better version of Unicron. It wasn't until years later that I was watching Rocky IV, noticed the music sounded familiar, and suddenly realized the same guy did the score for both films
Most epic animated scene EVER!
"And I'm still waiting for anybody else to do a better version of Unicron."
Have you seen Studio 01 Cell?
His name is Vince DiCola.
Thats literally my desktop wallpaper. lol
A new version on Unicron is coming, and it's called.... Omicron!
I actually saw the movie in the theater upon initial release. I remember being extremely traumatized by seeing characters I loved get killed. While I ended up liking some of the new characters eventually, I hated the movie itself for a very, very long time. The way that most of the characters died I think was what bothered me the most. Other than Optimus Prime their deaths were treated as if they were nothing, as if they were disposable. Which to the executives they were.
I think the best thing to come out of the movie was it made Hasbro (and other toy companies) realize that they could not build a story-based universe and treat their characters as if they didn't matter.
Your reaction is pretty close to how most kids I knew had to the movie at the time. People started appreciating the movie long after the fact, but in the moment a lot of kids hated it. Most people I knew didn't have too much problem with Prime dying. That was pretty much given away in the TV trailers, and he got an operatic final scene. What kids didn't like were the matter of fact deaths of Prowl, Windcharger, Starscream, and others.
I like it now, how they died so easily. That's war, you die in seconds, for seemingly nothing. Just gives the movie a very brutal, dangerous feeling.
Loved this movie as a kid....saw it in the Theater...I was shocked hearing cursing...and cing autobots get killed and then Prime.....talk about the whole Theater crying...damn that was the essence
Ratchet, Iron Hide, and Starscream got it worse
I remember watching it as a kid back in 1989 (on public television). It's a million times better than the garbage with shia labeouf.
I'm a G1 girl through and through. I wrote all their names in my notebook, drewmade-up gadgets for the human friends to use, even tried drawing Optimus Prime. Heck, when I finally could earn money for myself, I bought a third-hard diecast model of Prime. That's how much I adored him and the show.
So imagine my shock when the Decepticons massacred the Autobots in the ship and Optimus died. Me and my siblings were crying.
I really need to revisit this movie again.I didn't give Hotrod much credit then.
Transformers the Movie is a paradox, because it is simultaneously one of the most cynical and shameless advertisements ever- the entire movie literally exists for no other reason than to kill off all the 'old toys' and shill the 'new toys'- but it is also a staple of many people's childhoods and extremely fondly remembered due to its music, animation, voice acting, and for being the basis of decades' worth of Transformers lore.
I can't for the life of me think of any other movie like it.
It also shows that people can be attached to media properties. Nostalgia aside, this wasn't just a toy commercial; it transformed into something else that Hasbro hadn't anticipated and transcended the idea of media only existing for passive consumption.
It was crap and still is. I didn’t know a single kid growing up that liked this movie.
The really sad thing that came about from this were the new toys... which were some of the most terrible-looking monstrosities I ever laid my eyes on. They only kinda sorta vaguely resembled their much-more-cool-looking movie and season 3 & 4 animated counterparts... if you were suffering from advanced glaucoma. Talk about false advertising, amirite?
Thank goodness they made 'em look a heckuva lot better in the recent Kingdom and '86 Movie Studio Series releases. Only took 'em 35 years... better late than never, I guess. Can't wait for Wreck-Gar to finally come in...
@@kevinwebster7868 still better than that Michael Bay crap!!!!
@@kevinwebster7868 I love this movie. A Weird Al song in a movie? Kid me flipped the fuck out
I remember my mom paying my teenage uncle at the time to take my brother and I to see this. As sad as the movie was, my favorite memory of seeing this movie is my uncle screaming WTF in the middle of a theater with a bunch of kids when Prime died. I still mess with him about it to this day.
My cousin had to ask me to sit back down and shut the f up, when Blaster sent out his cassettes. I was just glad that he took me to the movie so I did. I must admit that I did not know much about Orson Welles or Leonard Nimoy at the time, but I did know Wierd Al, Eric Idle and Robert Stack.
Dam !😂
Memories bro. That's a headstone quote if I've ever heard one. Nana sure the entire family knows the story so if you decide to headstone it they get it
😂😂😂
LMAO, LEGEND!
The opening was fantastic. Seeing Unicron devour a planet with such detail really set the stakes for the movie.
Marvelous look, its Unicron!
the 1984 test footage was even more Detailed and Unicron was to be more Organic.
We were too young to understand that genocide was happening before our eyes. It deserves to be a cult classic
its a tale as old as time. Corporate suits thinking kids are stupid. They wont mind that a beloved animated character is brutally murdered on screen, kids are dumb, they just come to drool and stare at the pretty light show. Then beg their parents to buy the new shiny toys on sale. This wont backfire in the slightest.
2:41 LOL I teared up when Prowl died. They way his eyes went from Blue to orange and them faded out as the smoke came out of his mouth. I hadn't realized as a kid that Brawn was dead since he just fell on the ground. But when Prowl died. I knew that was it. And then Ratchet and Ironhide had their chest blown open. Probably the most impactful scene of the movie for me at the time. Even more so than Prime's death. I still remember that today. What 35 or so years later?
Yeah me too, but at the same time that music was awesome.
"Such heroic nonsense... BOOM" music screams.
That scene made me nauseous. It also glorified the evil side, which I hated similar to the Wicker Man.
@@alanlinnell6817 Glorifying the evil side? I think it was done more to emphasize the steaks than anything. Especially, considering no one ever died in the actual cartoon series. We were introduced to the mortality of some of our favorite characters. That definitely raised the steaks for us as kids. The only other cartoon I can remember doing that was Robotech when they killed off Roy Fokker. Though in truth, the decision was probably based on giving characters that would be phased out of the Gen 1 toy line a heroic end. The raising of the steaks was probably an afterthought.
@@MorphicStates Yeah, in terms of good vs. evil, I didn't like it that all of a sudden Megatron can just mow down Autobots that had been in the series for years. It was mean spirited to kids, it really affected me
@@alanlinnell6817 Really? THAT was your takeaway? You completely missed the point. Kids need to understand death.
I still remember watching the interviews on the special features of the DVD in a room with some college classmates and when they heard the quote “we had no idea he was an icon” everyone else in the room stopped what they were doing and said “wait what? How? No, seriously how? How stupid are these guys?”
SAME HERE
They had no idea? Commercials for the movie literally ended with the announcer asking the audience the question: "Does Prime die?" You don't do that unless you know you have a very popular character and want to get butts in seats by teasing the fate of such a character. They knew what they were doing... it just blew up spectacularly in their faces.
They maybe knew enough to play that angle in the marketing come 1986, but back when they started actually writing the film and locked the idea in, the cartoon hadn't even started *airing* yet. They genuinely couldn't have known!
That is corporate for you! They had a goldmine and they killed it. All those people should be fired back then.
I've always loved how in the director commentary they also discuss how they should have licensed the term ''Matrix'' ;p
it was completely heart breaking seeing optimus die on the big screen, but i still love that movie to this day. so much that i just got the bluray steelbook
Little did you kids realize at the time that dying and coming back to life would later become Optimus Prime's whole deal.
This may sound weird, but my little brother reacted to primes death. He felt less sad and more annoyed. He said that prime should have just ignored hotrod and shoot megatron before he could grab the gun.
@@jordon8658 Your brother is hardcore! Keep one eye open when you go to sleep... hahaha... if you get in his way, you won't be for long... hahaha...
@@brianng8350 now that i see it, you may have a point!
This is such a criminally underrated channel
so like, subscribe, share, and comment (good start with the comment)
287k is underrated? Really? Are you one of those people who says on every comment section of every ok movie saying that movie or that actor is criminally underrated also?
P.S. I’m just teasing you.
Or am I ?
Bit of a detour; who here would like to see Toy Galaxy collaborate with one, or more, of the other similar RUclips channels? Say, the likes of RetroBlasting or Michael Mercer?
pre pandemic me and my dorm friends would watch Transformers the Movie on repeat in the basement lounge, any time we where together it was playing. As a group of young adults who could appreciate its strange mystique and odd decisions, its fascinating universe and alien concepts. It was the best 5 dollars I ever spent.
30 years ago my dorm-mates and I used to do the same thing. It’s a timeless classic.
My mom took me to see this when I was a kid. To her credit, with the violence, death, profanity and my crying about Optimus, she let me sit through it. This movie taught me the concept of death, the most impact a movie has had on my entire life.
That's very surprising, that your mom didn't take you out the theater. That was the one thing I heard about on the news. Many kids couldn't handle this movie without ballin away!
"We didn't realise he was an icon"
These people are entrusted with millions, nae billions, of dollars from the companies that employ them.
Mindblowing stupidity.
It was 85. Possibly a lot of cocaine involved.
After all they never created Optimus Prime. Takara a Japanese toy company invented the toy truck called Convoy. They didn't even realize that Megatron was an icon let alone Prime. Stupendous stupidity.
@@berranari1no we marvel gave each character a name a soul a universe were you born 1997? lol
i have a 1972 takara henshin cyborg so go ahead and try
@@edotsuki1979 in Feb 1975
This movie had such a major impact in my life as a young child. It’s still one of my favorite animated films till this day.
Agreed I never known people to refer to it as a failed movie.
same here!!
I still love that transformation scene when Megatron transforms to Galvatron.
Same here. And the music in that sequence is awesome
That scene was the business.
The conversation between Unicron and Megatron is what got me.
@@Scott.Sandifer Unicron told him I have summoned you here for a purpose Megatron. Megatron said nobody summons Megatron. Then Unicron said well it pleases me to be the first.
Unicron: (with languid menace) "Your bargaining position is dubious..."
Only Orson Welles could sell that shit.
My dad is 50
now. He said he was crying like crazy when he saw this live when he was younger.
I saw the film a few years ago in the movie theatre with him.
When Rodimus opened up the matrix he had a tear streak down his eye.
Love my dad!
I always tell people that this film had the single larges impact on me as a child, and they look at me as if I'm mad. It's hard to appreciate what it was like as a six year old watching your favorite characters die, not just get injured then get better, have actual holes blown in them and die. Also all this was wrapped in an aesthetic designed to greatly appeal to children. This film was the greatest Trojan horse for lessons in bereavement and loss I have ever encountered.
This is one of the best Transformers: The Movie documentaries ever. Kudos to Toy Galaxy for doing a better job than many of the professional versions. Wonderfully written. Great editing. I couldn't recommend this more. Great job!!!
As a Transformer, I concur. You did a great job, Dan!
Indeed! Same goes for me as well!
@@fei-tzefu8527 He's not putting the movie down. He is putting down the decision makers behind the scenes, like Hasbro for treating the characters as too expendable.
I've seen a number of documentaries about this movie and I don't view this one as anything special. It retreads everything I've heard before, in a compressed time frame. Average at best.
Agreed. I actually learned something. Most documentaries rehash content. Dan is the man.
The Cybertronic Spree are awesome, I'm glad that they got a shout out!
I still love their "Cybertronic Warrior" music video, I'd love to see them do more like this.
The odd thing is despite the disaster of the decision, I think the Death of Optimus might have actually turned out to be one of the most important decisions in Childrens TV you can still see the effects today.
Just as one example, it has worked its way into other Transformers media since (albeit usually under different circumstances, and with a "Get Out Of Death Free" card). The Bay movies, Transformers Animated and even the original G1 Marvel comics all aped the idea.
NGL, I never saw the G1 Movie until the early 2000s, so I was under the impression that
Optimus would come back to life near the end of the movie. Aaand he never did.
@Coolio_Wolfus Oh I'm well aware of that. Beast Wars was my generations Transformers series, and Optimus got killed off in the 2nd season, then came back to life later on as a Transmetal.
Then later series like the Unicron Trilogy did the same thing. Hense why I was under the impression that Optimus would come back to life, near the end of the G1 Movie(Which he didn't)
@@nine_tails137 G1 Optimus came back in Season 3 of the G1 cartoon (TWICE) when Rodimus was clearly not working out as Autobot leader.
The funny thing is, the Movie invented what's now know as reformatting when Megatron got turned into Galvatron. Hasbro couldn't contrive a reason for the same to happen to Optimus and the other Autobots? According to one G1 episode (War Dawn), Optimus actually underwent a reformatting to become the Optimus we know today.
@@noppornwongrassamee8941 Yeah, I watched Transformers the basics, and it mentions how Optimus Prime was originally called Orion Pax. However, keep in mind that Beast Wars was my generation's Transformers series. Not G1(Even though the G1 characters appear in seasons 2 and 3).
I'm 40 and I still remember seeing this in the Canon Cinema, London Road, Croydon. UK. November 1986. I have pretty much bought every release since 2001/2 when it was released on DVD.
Animation was awesome and the soundtrack 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Aw man, imagine if they went with the original story and cybertron transforms into primus to have a final desperate showdown with unicron, damn that would've been a real story worth watching.
Was that the original story track? Damn, that would have been cool!
As many remakes and reboots TF has had(cyberverse being one of my favourites), not one as far as I know has allowed Primus to transform and shine. It could definitely be a great new angle to take for a new series. Provided they don't reduce Primus and Unicron to normal sized transformers like what TF Prime did with Unicron
@@dreamsalamanderyou’re clearly a younger fan. Go find Transformers Cybertron. That will fulfill your wish
Failed?? Regardless of Hasbro's motives, this is still the greatest piece of media that franchise has ever produced. I live for this movie (and that frickin soundtrack)!!!
Same here! This will ALWAYS be the best Transformers movie in my eyes. Unlike Bayformers.
@@nine_tails137 facts
He's either a troll or a friggin moron. This is the best Transformers movie in existence.
Not you talking about the GREATEST movie of all time ... 😁🤙
Well the movie absolutely bombed and got more negative feedback than any other film of it's time. That definitely is a failure. I hated the movie as a kid, and it deserves the scorn it gets. Big Wigs mercilessly murdered tons of our favorite characters, and expected us kids to just embrace whomever showed up next.....we didn't. Seriously screw the worst named Transformers ever...Rodimus Prime. His alt mode was lame, and his name was stupid, and he got a far cooler chaarcter killed. He was doomed to be hated.
This is literally how one of my best friends from childhood introduced himself to me outside of school. I had moved to a new town, and in 3rd grade he just walked up to me on the first day of school and introduced himself with a handshake. A short time later I went to his house for an afternoon of hanging out and the first thing he did was break out Transformers: The Movie. He didn’t ask if I wanted to watch it. He just popped in the VHS and told me it was what we were doing.
We’re still good friends so I guess his bold move paid off.
Still one of the favorite movies of all time, I can almost quote it line for line.
Heh...Not bad for an Old Timer😉 ~Hot Rod
@@LesCharles Old timer? that's something you'll never be if you don't get back to the City!
@@parasite159 Save it Kup!
Same. I could watch it everyday and still enjoy it.
Let's burn rubber!
This was one of the first movies I ever saw at the cinema when I was a youngling and it was frikkin awesome!!
So originally The Matrix (of Leadership) was meant to awaken Cybertron to fight against Unicron, yeah that makes better sense than giving Unicron heartburn.
That would've been so epic!
One of my favourite scenes is the dialogue between Megatron and Unicron when they first meet.
One thing I've noticed is that the transformers are depicted as people in a way. For example, they are easily killed by one or a couple gun shots. Usually being aimed at the chest or face area. Some died whilst smoke comes out of their mouths, symbolising blood. The reason why I make this comparison is because in the tv shows, they get shot and blown up dozens of times and yet their's always someone of their team to repair them or they repair themselves.
My personal head canon for that is the lack of energon. Running on a lower power mode may make their life support or self-repair systems much weaker, and they might go down much easier.
@@DanTheManCalter I agree. That's the point the opening is keen on establishing: the Autobots are very low on their supply of both firepower and 'life force', thus the Decepticons could actually strike the final blow after all these eons.
I never stopped to think about it, but after Optimus' death scene when the survivors are cleaning up, there's no effort to revive and repair any of the fallen Autobots, which is something you'd think they'd at least attempt given what we saw in the series. Perhaps we're to assume they tried on the other casualties, too, but had the same outcome as Optimus; which wouldn't have been worth the trouble of animating?
@@dw2art yes, taking down Ratchet and Wheeljack left the Autobots without their best medics. Perceptor had that expertise, too; and the others had limited repair skills. The thing is: they thought they were in the clear after the Decepticon retreat. If they had time to clean up, they had time to try fixing their comrades.
I just realized something, though! The whole reason Optimus sent the shuttle was to get Energon, because Earth was energy-rich. Wheeljack and the other Earth-based Autobots were not Energon deficient! Even if knocked offline, they should have had enough backup power to reactivate if someone else repaired them.
Well, bottom line is the powers that be wanted to kill off the old toy line! No repair bay miracles, this time!
@@DanTheManCalter i like your theory and would also like to add that the autobots medic ratchet was killed
perceptor was a scientist too but he specialized in alien biology, so thats also how i rationalize it
@@DanTheManCalter Some friends and I discussed this years ago, and our theory was that it was because everyone was running at full power, i.e. filled with energon. That's why the battle of Autobot City took so long and resulted in so much damage. Just like at the start of the war, the Autobots and Decepticons were at full power, and their weapons were capable of mass destruction. However, for most of the series, the Autobots and Decepticons were operating under tight power constraints, preventing them from doing grave damage to each other.
Up until I got the internet, I had *no idea* people took Optimus Prime's death that badly or blamed Hot Rod for anything. I guess the movie just hits differently for us 90s kids who could just pop The Return of Optimus Prime into the VCR immediately afterward.
@@jeremylopez4156 1980 for me. I didn’t even know about it until I saw the tape at the video store. Yeah, Optimus Prime dies, but it wasn’t world shattering for me. When Littlefoot’s mom dies in The Land Before Time, now THAT’S sad.
I rather liked the unsure leader story arc surrounding Rodimus in the season following the movie. Optimus was too perfect. They had some good storytelling with Rodimus.
I watched this show completely out of order in the 90s. Started with the old FHE video rentals from season 1, then when we got cable, I saw a few episodes from season 3 via Scifi's Cartoon Quest and wasn't sure what the heck happened to Prime until stumbling across the movie at a grocery store. Luckily for me, it was the version where the narrator promised Prime would return, so I wasn't worried. The universe is funny sometimes, because I want to say the Return 2 parter was shown a few weeks later. The Internetless text to speechless early 90s sure were a weird time to live in if you were a blind kid and attempting to fit the pieces of this show together.
I was born in 78, and nobody I knew blamed or disliked hotrod.
I've a feeling the hatred was more of a latter-day internet thing.
@@peterclarke7240 No, I remember my classmates HATED Rodimus Prime. They came to the schoolyard everyday and analyzed what a terrible leader he was and how Optimus Prime would have done things differently.
I remember that contest! The grand prize was the ENTIRE Transformers collection. It happened during the USA Network's Kids Club segment on Cartoon Express.
"we didn't know we killed an icon"
Yeah, I was so shaken I couldn't talk. I didn't notice It wasn't just me. Even when they brought him back it was too late. Next to matrix revolutions it was the great mistake in cinema history
The real failure of Hasbro was not realizing that the Transformers was so much more than a glorified kids toy commercial, these characters and their mythology and struggle were what we loved, the toys were the bonus on top. But they were focused on toys and kids liking the story was a bonus so they could sell more toys.
"Ba weep granna weep ninny bong"
I saw this movie in the theaters when I was 5yrs old and balled my eyes out within like 5min into it starting. But I do remember enjoying the movie overall. Also I remember having the bedroom sheet set of the Transformers back then too.
The Universal greeting !! (Gives energon
Sounds like some shit you say after hitting the bong
Snaks?
I had the UK VHS release as a Christmas present that year, absolutely loved it. But for some reason the tape was ever so slightly too large for VHS players, so I'd need to pull it out the machine with a table knife each time I wanted to watch it.
My VHS ate my tape for the movie. Completely destroyed it. I was so pissed off when that happened.
ahhh, the charm of British technology!
@@Webbman76 Mine got chewed by the vcr but has survived to this day, long outliving vcr's! A little fuzziness in one scene but still playable!
I have a 007 tape like that!
Hello You!
The scene where Star Scream meets Galvatron is one of my favorites.
I guess I missed something when I was a kid till now because to me this was one of the greatest animated movies of all time. and I own the soundtrack.
I feel exactly the same. All of my friends absolutely loved and still love the movie.
Bro I feel the same
Yeah, I cried when I first seen the movie(either 1999 or really early 2000s) by renting it from Block Buster... and I continued to rent and cry many times after. I really loved the movie, and regardless how traumatized I was over many parts in the film, it wasn't as traumatizing as some of the cartoons that aired when I was growing up.
I still remember seeing the film. I was eight-ish, and mom picked me up from school early for a dentist appointment. Afterwards she surprised me with ‘Transformers: The Movie’. She took me to see it in the theater in the Campus Hill Shopping Center here in Harford County, Maryland. There wasn’t many people in there, but there were four or five other kids around my age.
I was a HUGE fan of Transformers, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, G.I.Joe, Robotech, and Thundercats - all of the best cartoons with the best toys!
I loved the film. Looking back now I can recall the boredom on my mom’s face, God bless that sweet woman. But even though I was a big fan of Optimus and I had not only his but every Autobot who died in the film in my bedroom back home his death didn’t bother me at all, and it didn’t bother any of the other children there either as I recall. Even at eight I knew that 1.) it was a cartoon, and 2.) he was a robot and you could always rebuild a robot.
Imagine my surprise so many years later when I discovered via the interwebz that there were children who were absolutely devastated by Prime’s demise. I had no idea! My parents have been married for over 50 years now and my father, an imperfect but great dad, has always been in my life, so perhaps that’s why I wasn’t bothered by Prime’s demise - he was never a ‘Daddy’ in my mind because I had a daddy. I can imagine that there were little boys who had only their mothers and that Optimus probably did become a father-figure to them and that’s why they were so hurt by it all.
I still enjoy the movie and I have it on my phone along with the original soundtrack. I do kinda regret watching this video though - I thought that Stan Bush was a talented vocalist, but hearing him kinda-sorta sing in the clip you put in your video has made me realize that he was another mediocre singer who was autotuned. Appropriate perhaps, since he was singing about Autobots.
The insertion of the Boogie Nights scene featuring "The Touch" is just special. 😆
"Wearing helmets and eating crayons" type of special
Finally! Someone giving Kick Axe the credit they deserve.
Not too long ago, Chris Jericho had them as guest performers on a cruise he organized.
Nothing's gonna stand in their way.
The fact that we never got a joke or reference to "The Touch" during either of Mark Wahlberg's Transformers movies is a crime. I mean the fact that those movies were made is the bigger crime so maybe it's for the best.
Michael Bay made it pretty clear that he didn't care in the slightest about the original cartoon. It took a massive online fan petition for him to even agree to bring Peter Cullen back as Prime, even though most people would think that was a no-brainer. So it's little wonder that it lacks much in the way of throwbacks and easter eggs.
Yes Optimus was an icon, but at 7 years old when I watched it on the big screen, I was old enough to understand that in wars soldiers die, even generals sometimes. Which was why I enjoyed the story's message; even if you lose the leader, the values and the fight continue, hence the Matrix being passed on.
Same. I showed it to my kids a year ago, 4 and 6 at the time, and they loved it as much as I did at that age. We've rewatched it many times since. However, my wife and some friends questioned my decision to show them to it so young. So, I pointed out that the Incredibles 2 movie (and in many other childrens media) are full of violence and shooting, but no one dies or even get hurts, setting unrealistic and possibly dangerous belief of gun safety and how to process it. Personally, i rather my kids see and understand the reality of gun violence and what true heroism looks like.
Ironically, the voice actor for Starscream also voiced Cobra Commander, both characters were written off in the animated movies.
I still have the soundtrack on my phone. Classic songs that still hold up to this day.
There's also an album for the entire DiCola score. I combined it with the songs in chrono order, it's great.
@@km_9 have that also on a hard drive somewhere.
Dare! 🎼Dare to believe youuu can survive 🎶
the touch is a great song for the gym, right up there with music from the rocky movies
@@vinsanity40k most definitely
Yes!! That ending was epic. Dare!!
As strong 8 year old that absolutely lived and breathed Transformers, I convinced my dad to take me to see it. And I cried when Prime died. I felt so crushed. And while they brought him back, it was a striking blow to young me. While I didn't love Rodimus Prime, I did get on with Hot Rod eventually.
So what about the entire rest of the cast, though? If Optimus survived but the rest of the cast died would that change anything? Or if Optimus died later in the movie, heroically in battle, then passing the matrix on to someone else, would that have changed anything?
@@VorpalDerringer Admittedly I was a kid and my understanding of storytelling and themes was limited. Yes, most the the deaths sucked. I, like many other kids, had grown attached to them. I was just speaking as to the backlash and gravity of the "father figure" character dying. I did grow to like the other new characters as well. But at the end of the day, Optimus is Optimus. There is a reason why he has always been the leader in every version since, except Beast Wars. But definitely a spiritual successor.
@@thrillshaveabeard the leader in every version except Beast Wars and Japanese Transformers.
Hot Rod/Rodimus is one of my favourite characters. However, now Hasbro have a fear of a backlash from using him prominently (after the lessons learnt of Transformers the movie) and I feel that he suffers from that, allowing Bumblebee to become something that he never was…
They did take the lesson of making newer versions of Opimus Prime less experienced in following series rather than be the well experienced paragon he was in G1. Probably best version showing him transform over the series is Transformers Animated where Ultra Magus is the leader of the Autobots, and prime a captain of a small team, but eventually becomes a credible enough threat to Megatron than he calls him by his actual name.
I agree Bumblebee gets be what Hotrod tried be without all the baggage. They really shouldn't have had Hotrod be the one who directly screwed up and got Prime killed. Between his goofy Altmode and terrible name Rodimus Prime(Can you sound less like a crappy knock off?) was destined to fail. He knew he sucked, and wallowed in that fact for the rest of the series. I get following a legend is a tough act to follow and could been an interesting angle to take, but Hotrod never had a chance. As an adult I kinda pity him as I can relate to inheriting big shoes to fill as a leader, but the execution of his character was terrible. (No wonder he gets immediately owned in Transformers Animated when he reappears played by Judd Nelson heh. Fans do not forgive easily.)
There is an episode of Transformers Cyberverse where Bumblebee introduces Hot Rod to Blurr.
I cracked up in the live action movie when the French accent guy said "I am Hot Rod" in that accent.
In the first Robots in Disguise there is a car called Sideburn. Then in Armada there is Hot Shot. These guys are similar to Bumblebee and Hot Rod.
In the Michael Bay movies there are some cars, Jazz, Sideswipe, Mirage and Bumblebee is now a medium size warrior, fair enough. Did you notice the flames on Optimus Prime? To me this was a shout out to Rodimus Prime. Like this Optimus Prime had some of Hot Rod's DNA.
I had the Hot Rod toy before the movie came out so I knew that he was powerful.
For the sake of drama the movie made him weak at the start.
I checked out when I saw Rodimus primes alt version. If he didn't look like a vehicle from this era I wanted no part of it.
I saw this twice in the theater in 1986. The first time I saw it we arrived late and the first thing I saw was Prowl getting shot and smoke pouring out of his mouth. Heck of a time to arrive! Spike and his swear word, Unicron, Prime’s death , etc. Mind blown. Incredible!!
A big screen cartoon movie based on a TV show, with no one from the TV show on the movie poster. That was my BIG RED FLAG as a kid.
“You got the touch… You got the power”!!!!
"YEAH!!!!"
I watch this movie at least once a year. The soundtrack has always been a banger.
This is the only movie I ever cried at as a kid. Interestingly, I love the movie now. Those Studio Series figures are among my favorites.
Great job guys - brought back so many memories!
I was DEFINITELY one of those kids that cried when Optimus died, but I didn't remember Spike's cursing until I bought the movie on DVD years later. This is a classic example of what happens when you make decisions about a product without knowing anything but the dollars and cents. I do remember giving Transformers a chance in Season 2, and being hyped for Optimus's return in Season 3, but it just wasn't the same. I was a teenager then, and the love for toys was fading.
I remember watching this movie in the theaters and being do damn excited... Memories man, memories
What was your reaction to all the deaths? The movie was long before I was born and I always heard stories of kids being upset when they saw it in theaters
@@FoxHoundUnit90 I was 12 at the time and to me it was like he said during the video a bit overwhelming... I grew up on He-Man, GI Joe and transformers cartoons and always thought it odd that no one ever died during the battles. I was glad that there was a bit of realism in that war has consequences and people do die. But at the same time I was shocked they would kill off the main character. But throughout the entire move Optimus was guiding Hot Rod, and so it reminded me of Mickey guiding Rocky on Rocky III for some reason... But yeah man this movie reminds me so much of the 80s and like I said... Real good memories...
@@FoxHoundUnit90 I remember 80% of the kids in the theater just losing their shit, parents trying to calm their kids down
Me and my brother both cried when Optimus died in the theater. Thankfully my Dad kept us watching the movie but made me hate Hotrod after that still hate him to this day. My brother had him and the next morning we went out with fireworks put a end to that bastard just stay out the fight.
@@xonox_868 a bad move from Hasbro, especially the part when they made Zombie Optimus, I had never seen so many angry kids in the same place
So glad you mentioned Cybertronic Spree! Their album is fantastic, their live show is even better, and Rumble is a cool 'con.
Saw this in theaters when I was a lil kid. Very, very traumatizing to say the least to see all the characters get killed or straight up executed in this movie.
Excellent segment, right on. 20 years ago, in college, I had to hunt down the Canadian VHS release to re-watch the film, & next week, I'm going to see it again in theaters for the third time - 1986, 2018, 2021.
I had rented the VHS tape. Went to return it and the store had closed. So I watched it religiously as a kid. "You belong to me now." "I belong to nobody!" Still a killer line.
Proceed...On your way to oblivion. ~Unicron
@@LesCharles I accept the terms. I accept!!!!
"...Excellent"
“Nobody summons Megatron!”
“THEN IT PLEASES ME TO BE THE FIRST.” 👾💀
@@lashisrad Behold... GALVATRON.
Yet again, you knock it right our of the park. Great vid!
True Story: when my wife bought Armada Unicron for me back in 2003, the Walmart receipt had him listed as "ARMADA UNICORN", a fact which has amused her ever since.
an armada of unicorns sounds pretty bad a**
"Coronation, Starscream? This is bad comedy."
"Dan, is that you?"
"Here's a hint!"
*wields Producer Greg in BattleDirector™ mode and proceeds to beat Screamer to dust*
Anyone else would like to fill his shoes?
Underrated comment!
That list of the movies from 1986 really shows how far the industry has declined in the last 35 years. How can one year have so many classics!? I'll always be thankful that I got to grow up in the greatest decade!
This and “My Little Pony: The Movie” were both guilty pleasures at the Box Office at the time, but Disney did fine with the “Great Mouse Detective”, another animated film and another Disney movie “Flight of the Navigator” was good.
Dude, Citizen Kane himself played a bloody planet in this. This film was not a failure, but a victory for mankind.
If Unicron's backstory had existed when the film was made, Orson Welles might have taken his role more seriously if he was voicing Satan seducing the villain into helping him kill God.
His health and sanity was in such decline at that point it wouldn't have made a difference. The whole reason they used a mod on his voice was because the takes he did sounded terrible.
@@lashisrad It was a paycheck for Welles and that's it.
@@alucard624 he wouldn't have needed any paycheques by that point in his career, I think.
I think he did a good god. yeah, he may not have known what it was all about, and may he just been a pay check, but I feel had he lived, he would look backnonnit fondly.
@@lashisrad The funny thing is, I think Welles' relatively weak performance actually works. Unicron sounds *tired.* There's an element of genuine world-weariness that was probably just Welles' own self-loathing coming through, but it gives an otherwise one-dimensional character just a hint of depth. Unicorn is ancient, and he sounds like it.
It should be called Transformers: The Red Wedding.
You knew something was coming when the melody for “The Rains of Iacon” started playing.
No. It came first, so that other red wedding thingo should be renamed.
This is bad comedy lol
@@JoRoq1 The Decepticons send their regards.
I remember seeing the movie and telling all my friends about the "Oh shit" moment. When it came out on VHS my friends called me a liar.
I never knew about it til my friends said something and I didn't really believe it. I put it out of my mind til I heard it with the first DVD. I had to rewind it 4 or 5 times to hear it. I called my friends and said I was sorry for doubting them.
Believe me, that story happened with many of us..my cousin told me and my brother and we didn't really believe him
I remember that scene. Also i remember porky pig swearing on tv and ppl didn't believe me either.
I remember one of the Dinobots crushing the Quintesson wrangler under the door and telling him he should have moved his ass out of the way.
@@dw2art UltraMagnus’ curse was kept in a VHS version that I watched as well as when the movie was broadcast at least once on TV.
I've said this before over the years (and thank you for making this) -- the writers of the show worked hard to write TV episodes every week. The writers of this movie worked hard to create A SHAKESPEAREAN SCI-FI WAR MOVIE. Replacing stock characters has been done a hundred times with a wave of the hand, the filmmakers decided to give this as much emotional weight as was possible with giant animated robots that turned into vehicles. This movie wanted to be American anime before any American knew what anime was.
It remains the best Transformers movie of all time. Guilty or Innocent? INNOCENT.
I can proudly say that I was one of those kids who saw it in the theaters originally and thought it was amazing.
I remember the day I watched it still, rented it. Ran outside as soon as the end credits scrawled wanting to jump and turn into a car so bad. :(
then I grew up, realized that was stupid, and wanted to jump and turn into a jet instead.
then I grew up even more and realized that I really wanted to be a helicopter.
Helicopter? Aim higher, friend. Airwolf. That's the stuff.
(...there are a lot of people who won't know what I'm talking about. So old.)
Hahaha. Love how you quoted "Dare" at the end... pure gold Dan!
Saw it in theatres, scarred me for life
So say we all
I am an adult and saw it on RUclips, cried like a baby.
Meh, I was already battle-hardened from watching Watership Down. After that horror, nothing was touching the sides 😬
Great video - very spot on! I was one of those kids that cried in the theater when Optimus Prime died, and held a level of animosity towards Hot Rod for the longest time growing up. Now as an adult I think this, to me, is the best Transformers movie I've ever watched.
I was a kid in that theatre and I was blown away at the changing of the guard. It meant something because it happened BEFORE we wanted a "reboot", and that was what made it brilliant. Ca you imagine if they did a time-jump reboot well after the point we didn't care about anymore? This is why it worked - it forced the audience to accept change. I was all on board.
The repeating "Optimus getting shot" clip playing while you read the quote was traumatic!
So many memories. Saw this when I was 8 years old with my dad. Everyone cheered when Blaster said, "Sick em!" I was one of the few kids who was merely DISAPPOINTED when Optimus died, hating the fact that the writers chose to do that. But I loved the movie, loved the experience and was my favorite movie for over 20 years.
That’s awesome!
right and then wanting to laugh at Grimlock when Blur was trying to get him and the Dinobots into the ship but still waaaaaaaaaaay way, way way way (did I say way?) too overwhelmed and still trying to process wtf just happened to Optimus!?! oh the good 'ole simple times of yesteryear - lol
Yes to all that
I love that someone else loved that bit with Blaster’s cassettes. I was 4/5 when this came out and saw it in the cinema. I can still remember that moment. Looking back it was a bit like Cap lifting Thor’s hammer in Endgame. 5 year old me was just like ‘I knew he had cassette bots too!’
@@TheCosmicFool Yes. All of this.
I remember the movie "Flight of Dragons" was being aired on ABC the week before Transformers released in the theater, which I video taped to watch later. They happened to run a commercial for Transformers The Movie during the boradcast, and I watched that commercial so many times, I left a mark on the tape from rewinding it so often.
I LOVE THAT MOVIE! Why have I not bought it yet?
Flight of dragons is one of my favourite movies of all time they need to bring it out in HD
Flight! Of! Dragoooooooons!
The flute arpeggio still lives in my head alive and well.
@@FoxConvoy Flight of Dragons is on Blu-ray.
One ages failure can equal one ages colt classic, this movie is a 9.9/10 for me
Saw it once, Optimus died, never saw it again.
It's an absolute masterpiece
😄
Best. Film. Ever
I remember seeing this as a kid in the cinema when it came out. I cried when Prime died. I still love it as an adult and watch it at least once a year.
I always assumed Hasbro at the time was really out of touch, I’m not saying they couldn’t add more characters for the newest toys but it’s just baffling that they thought killing off most of the established and popular characters like Prime and think the fans wouldn’t care and just be ok with that.
There is a cohort of people between the ages of, say, 35-45 for whom this is a goddamn childhood touchstone. I remember where I was when Optimus Prime died. How can something so important, memorable, and relevant to so many be a failure?
Because while it was important in retrospect, it was a terribly short sided decision from the business end. They assumed way too much about kids relationship to the characters, in that they assumed that kids saw the shows characters as 'disposable' as the toys they represent.
This is still the most impactful movie going experience I’ve ever had. Every trip to the theater since 1986 has been chasing this high.
Still have it mostly memorized.
Hear hear. Shit got REAL.
Exactly! Plus every line is quotable as hell!
@@nine_tails137 it really is but I'm prejudiced.
I still think the thing that made that movie was killing off the "main characters".
That's why GOT was so good. Holy shit... Anybody can die.
@@TILLEYJS And that's the thing about this movie. Killing off characters shows there's "stakes". Which adds tension to the viewer. Since you don't know who's gonna die?
Cause when you have an overpowered character, that is pretty much immortal, and can one-shot almost everything, the show/movie becomes boring.
Not a failure at all and still the best Transformers movie ever made
Oh it failed and bad and Hollywood has learned nothing from there mistakes lets keep making thing ppl dont want to see and then act confused when they fail
@@bloodeagle6458 It failed in the box office but I consider it the only transformers movie worth watching. If I didn't watch anime during that time I would have been shocked with character deaths but thankfully I was watching anime before getting into transformers.
Really didn’t fail if people are still talking about how good it is.
Michael Bay: So I took that personally.
The first 3 part episode is the best
I saw this in the cinema aged 7 - it's been indelibly branded on my memory, I can't see it as anything other than awesome.
This movie rocked!! Even though Optimus died I still loved and love it to this day
"Open! Dammit, open!"
"Magnus! I want the Matrix!"
"Never!"
"SWEEPS! Terminate Him!"
I need this scene with the planned Draw & Quartering of Ultra Magnus on a4K DVD.
i was sick and laying on the couch when i first watched this movie back then. i sat right up with wide opened eyes when i realized i was about to watch Optimus die. i got up off the couch and sat in front of the tv on my knees just drawn in to that moment. my mom says "don't sit so close to the TV, please" and all i said to her was "Optimus just died" lol
I remember crying at the movie theater when Optimus died and I was 17 at the time. Ended up hating the new toys especially since the charm of the first gen was that they actually looked like cars when transformed. New stuff stunk.
Optimus Prime - "I must die so other toys can be sold"
Every time I went grocery shopping with my mom I asked her to rent it for me. She only did twice.. Now I'm older and stoked I can cast it on dailymotion any time I want!
Holy CRAP, I never noticed how stacked 1986 was, film-wise.
I got Galvatron for my birthday in 1986 and still felt like I had missed out on the glory that was Megatron. Sure, this toy could make sounds and light up, etc etc but it didn't capture my attention like the first wave of Transformers did years earlier.
Luckily for me I’d been given the Hasbro toy catalogue from that year’s toy show, so I knew all about the new toys coming. Even luckier, my parents bought me the soundtrack to the film before I saw it, and right there in the track listing was “The Death of Optimus Prime”. So I was somewhat mentally prepared for Optimus to die. Not that I was any happier seeing it happen.
I didn’t realise it at the time, but Optimus dying was when my love for the toys died. I still bought new ones, but the spark was gone- it just took me a while to realise it.
That and the part of the commercial that screamed "DOES PRIME DIE?!?!" Like...great marketing tool, Hasbro...😂😂😂
Voltron and MASK filled the void…
One of my favorite movies and one of your most comprehensive reviews to date, so glad to see all those commercials i found recently are being put to good use.
Another home run in retro toy history...you guys are on it!
My parents dropped me and my friends off at the theater to watch it on our own and walk home after (in the dark). I was 9. Ah the ‘80’s.
Damm,me two.I was around 10 and ah yes,the 80s... before child abduction was a thing and well, I take that back.Thats when child abduction became a thing.
I still have PTSD from watching this movie in theater as a kid. That said, this remains the BEST Transformers movie to date! 💯
I became obsessed with death - Joe from game sack 😆 yup
@@rustymixer2886 True. The TV series did NOT prepare kids for what we experienced in this movie.
@@FinalDriveshow indeed...
@@wrestlingwarlord maybe death witness trauma but not literally ptsd
@@wrestlingwarlord maybe death witness trauma but not literally ptsd