The Transformers franchise began in 1984 with a toy line and expanded exponentially to include animation, comic books, video games and films. As an adult, I was an outsider looking in at the time, but my boys, aged five and seven, became total Transformers toy fans. They were ubiquitous on store shelves and every birthday and Christmas for a couple of years had to include at least some configuration of Transformer toys for presents. I come by way of this picture only because it was an IMDb Top 250 selection in 1996, otherwise I wouldn't have any interest in it. Following the story line well enough, I was baffled by how the Autobot heroes were so easily and arbitrarily disposed of, like Optimus Prime (there's one I remember in my kids' collection), and Ultra Magnus, with the character Hot Rod finishing out the picture as Rodimus Prime. Another reviewer here makes sense of all this by stating that the merchandising for successive toy lines required new characters, so that kind of makes sense, but gee, what would have happened to Superman and Spider-Man if the comic book folks dispatched them that quickly. It took half a century for Superman to die and then he was brought back again!What really floored me about the picture was some of the big name talent that signed on to voice the characters here - Orson Welles, Leonard Nimoy, Robert Stack. Even Scatman Crothers! Holy cow, I wonder what these guys were thinking when they signed on for the gig. It couldn't be for lack of money. I'd really like to have been a fly on the wall when they brought Orson Welles in to pitch the idea. That must have been some show.As for the picture, I guess it's OK for a kids' product. The story moves along at a blistering pace, with colorful backgrounds and an almost anime-like quality. Keeping track of the characters can be an exercise in futility, with names like Megatron, Unicron, Galvatron, the Decepticons and Constructicons. Sounds like they'd need a panel discussion at the San Diego Comic-Con to put it all in perspective. If it all sounds like a lot of beryllium baloney, well I guess you just had to be there back in the day watching the TV show and movies. For my part, I'd be interested in a story about the Shrikebots on Dometron.

This film is overall an 8 - great.The soundtrack is great, the voice acting is good, the plot is mostly engaging and the animation is very well done. The only issues I can think of is that the action isn't very entertaining, but this couldn't be helped. It was the best they could do for the 80s. And there is one annoying character, but mercifully he's not in the film often. Overall, this is a great flick worth a viewing because it's genuinely well done. For a first attempt at a full length Transformers film, it's not bad at all.

The Transformers The Movie is a loud attempt to reboot the series, but destroyed the originality and spirit of the original show. SPOILERS: The Transformers Movie manages to kill off almost every notable character from the show in the first 30 minutes. Actually, the Death count in this children's movie is so enormously high, it's insane. To top things off, Optimus Prime (The Flagship Character of the Franchise)is killed before the plot really gets going, a choice that haunted the franchise for years to come. It's completely obvious that the filmmakers and studio execs wanted to eliminate as many characters as possible so that they could sell new ones for new toys. In this way the film is defining, as it shaped the series for better or worse, but at the same time completely destroyed it.

This movie was made for the purpose of selling toys. Epic 80's hit the Autobots aided by the Dinobots duel it out with the Decepticons in their final battle. For all familiar with the series this is a dark film with major death of leading characters from beginning to end. Cyberton is the enemy of the Transformers, a planet eater seeking to destroy the Matrix of the Autobots by enlisting Megatron.This is another fine example of 80's film. Without knowing the series this film would be confusing and hard to understand. Could not remember any of the personalities from the series as it is so long ago. Transformers is but a memory. This film still stands as one of my all-time favourites. I my opinion this film did justice to the series.