Thirty years ago today, we were graced with one of my favorite movies. I remember seeing the ads for them leading up to their release, begging my parents to take me to it. I had the movie poster hanging on my wall. I waited for the day it would finally show up in theaters... and I finally got to watch it three years later. As odd as it is, once the movie came out and it was apparent I wasn't going to see it in theaters, I forgot about it, until a few years later, I saw the cassette in a video rental store. My dad rented it for me and I remember finally got to watch the movie!

It wasn't until a while later that I rented the movie and made sure to make a copy of it for myself. I watched it with my parents this time, totally afraid I'd get in trouble when Ultra Magnus said "Damnit!", though my parents didn't say anything. I had heard rumors of a worse word in it, but dismissed them since my copy didn't have it. No way would they say shit in a cartoon, and I was glad because I might have gotten in trouble for that one. I must have watched that copy once a week for months before I lent it to my brother's friend, who stole it. I bought the video a few months later and continued watching it over and over again.


I suppose I should talk of the quality of the movie, since it's such a major step up from the series. There are of course the animation and continuity errors - some character show up immediately or long after they'd already been killed. However, the animation quality is incredible, with glowing screens and flashing shadow in every scene. The music is likewise leagues above the cartoon, with a full-length score and some kick-ass metal songs throughout. I'd dare say that this movie is some of the very best animated work from the 80s. Sure, it doesn't stack up completely with Disney's work, but it far surpasses any other theatrical runs from other cartoons, like Bravestarr: The Movie and Go-Bots: Battle of the Rock Lords. Even compared to the GI Joe movie, it's incredible (maybe minus that opening scene, but I still hold any scene in Transformers above it).
Even to this day, I sight Transformers: The Movie as an important milestone in my life. It showed me how big the scale of stories could be. It gave me an interest in more adult sci-fi. It taught me about death, something I hadn't experienced in my life up to that point. I still watch the movie every so often, even though I'm on the doorstep of my 40th birthday. I'll continue watching it far beyond today as well. I'll laugh at the mistakes in it. I'll groan at some of the dialogue. I'll smirk at Spike's and Ultra Magnus's potty mouths even. But most of all, Ill appreciate it as the holy grail of my childhood, a cartoon that reached beyond Saturday mornings to the big screen.

Didn't realize the Transformers movie was that old. Thanks for submitting to The Classic Movie Marathon link party. Hope to see you again next week.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for adding the party badge to your website. I appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for this wonderful review Brian, can tell this is a passion through such a personal review. Thanks for joining our blogathonwith such a lovely post.
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