NoFace for Film

Title: The Transformers: The Movie 20th Anniversary Special Edition
Year: 2006 (original release in 1986)
Director: Nelson Shin
Starring Voices: Orson Welles, Leonard Nimoy, Robert Stack, Eric Idle, Judd Nelson
Rated: PG

NoFace for Film rating: 4 out of 7

As I mentioned in a previous post, I was contacted by a marketing agency and asked to post the press release for this DVD. I happily obliged and offered to review the movie.

I saw The Transformers: The Movie when it first came out and I was but a wee lass (I was 10 years old). About 5 years ago it was released on DVD and I bought it as a Christmas present for my brother, who is a die-hard Transformers fanboy (he was 23 years old at the time). He watched it every single damn day and still watches it often. I was living with my parents at the time as he was and almost went insane hearing Stan Bush’s “The Touch” over and over again. But hey, whatever floats his boat. And now it’s 5 years later and I have a copy of the 20th Anniversary Special Edition, which I once again plan to give to him. I don’t live there anymore, so he can play this movie over and over again if he wants.

But once again I digress.

In The Transformers: The Movie, it is the year 2005, which looks NOTHING like last year. Last time I checked, kids still use plain old skateboards instead of hoverboards, and we haven’t invented space suits that allow humans to transform like Transformers. Man, that would be cool. Anyway, the neverending conflict between the goody-two-shoes Autobots and the eeeevil Decepticons rages on, with the bad guys on the advantage. The Decepticons have taken control of the Autobots’ beloved planet Cybertron, while the Autobots are forced to fight on Earth, with low energy and supplies. Things are made even more complicated between the warring parties when they run into Unicron (Welles), a giant, planet-eating planet. He’s hungry, and Cybertron sure looks like a tasty meal.

The old Autobots are joined by new allies: young and foolish Hot Rod (Nelson), the wise Ultra Magnus (Stack), war veteran Kup (Lionel Stander), and spunky Arcee (Susan Blu), who is a pink car because she’s female! Wow, what a concept. Meanwhile, the Decepticons receive a new leader in Galvatron (Nimoy), who comes with his own mini armada of flying Swoops.

Basically, the movie feels like one long episode, especially in the first 1/4 of the movie, when the Autobots and Decepticons are fighting on Earth. The voice acting is no better than usual, in spite of the use of real actors such as Nelson, Nimoy, Stack, and Welles. Even the animation itself isn’t really much of an improvement over the series. The characters aren’t drawn with better detail, nor is there an increase of shadows. But of course, if you’re a die-hard fan of the series, then the quality of the film means nothing to you. My brother has watched it millions of times and even has the soundtrack on CD (and has listened to the CD millions of times). Therefore, I think that this movie appeals most to fans of the TV show. I just don’t see Transformers virgins expressing an interest in this movie and going out in throngs to buy/rent it.

I think that the best part in the movie though, was when one of the characters exclaims “Oh shit! What are we going to do now!” thus earning the movie a PG rating. The first time I watched this as a kid I was like, “Did someone just cuss? But it’s a cartoon!” Apparently, the little swear word (along with a mild, “Dammit!” uttered by another character) was thrown in on purpose to guarantee that the movie would be shown in more screens. Hell, I just thought that it was awesome for cartoons to curse

Like I said, it’s basically one long episode with one exception- the Autobots and Decepticons now can die. Now, when I first watched this movie as a 10-year old, I just thought that it was awfully shocking and sad that most of the original Autobots died, but only when I recently watched this Special Edition DVD did I find out the true reason for the movie and for killing off so many beloved characters: money. In the DVD interview by the producers, it was mentioned that toy company Hasbro wanted to get rid of the original characters to make room for the new toyline. Upon hearing this, I felt insulted. What a stupid reason to make a movie! Let’s kill off these old characters that children love so we can introduce new characters and sell these new toys based on them. I don’t know- it just feels so cold and heartless. Yes, I know that every animated film out there is basically a 90-minute ad for the eventual merchandising machine that follows it, but this is the first time that I’ve heard of making a movie to phase out the old toyline and introduce a new one.

Needless to say, I didn’t care much for this interview, especially was when it was revealed that when a certain main character was killed off, the Powers That Be had no idea of the impact that would make on children. They had no idea that this character was well-loved by children, and when the movie came out, kids all across the country were devastated and cried upon seeing him die. Yes, I was one of those kids. I was stunned into shock. I had never seen a good guy killed before. Knowing that these idiots didn’t do their homework before offing him makes me even more offended. Now, call me crazy, but if you’re a major toy company with tie-ins to a popular TV series, wouldn’t you want to do a bit of market research on your target audience? Because if they had, then perhaps they wouldn’t have been so stupid as to kill off at least this guy.

Ending rant and continuing with the review…

Seeing as this is the Special Edition DVD, you may ask: how different is it from the 2001 release? A great many things.

- Widescreen and Fullscreen format.

- Remastered and color-corrected. There’s a small feature in the menu that shows you a side-by-side comparison of the old and remastered print.

- Original ads for the toys and the movie.

- The trailer for the upcoming 2007 live-action Transformers movie.

-A supercoolio lenticular cover art similar to the poster image you see at the beginning of this review. So very 80s man!

For a complete list, read the press release.

The Transformers: The Movie 20th Anniversary Special Edition DVD would make a terrific Christmas gift for your favorite 30-year old fanboy of the old series, but its nostalgia element will be lost on anyone who isn’t a Transformers fan, or was born after 1980.

Transformers, Autobots, Decepticons, Hasbro, The Transformers: The Movie, Stan Bush, The Touch, toyline, Orson Welles, Leonard Nimoy, Robert Stack, Judd Nelson, Eric Idle, robots in disguise