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Transformers:
The Movie
(1986)
In case you aren't aware, The Transformers were toy robots which could be
changed into something else (usually cars or planes
but sometimes weapons or animals). The toys were
extremely popular when they were launched in the early
1980s and spawned a comic book and an animated
television series. In 1986 they hit the big screen
with this full-length theatrical film.
Basically, the
Transformers are a race of giant robots which can
think for themselves and even feel, and they
originally come form the planet Cybertron. For
millions of years a war has been fought between two
rival factions of Transformers—The good Autobots led
by Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen) and the evil
Decpticons led by Megatron (voiced by Frank Welker).
The war has also spread to the planet Earth.
The film
is set in 2005, by which time the Decpticons have more
or less taken Cybertron, with the Autobots stationed
on Cybertron's two moons and in the Autobot City on
Earth. While on it's way to Earth for badly needed
supplies, an Autobot shuttle is taken by the
Decepticons, which leads to a pitched battle in the
Autobot City on Earth. However it soon turns out that
there are bigger problems in store courtesy of a
giant, planet-sized robot called Unicron (voiced by
Orson Welles) which devours other planets and is
headed for Cybertron.
Part of the reason behind making the film was to phase
out the original line of Transformers toys and
introduce a new toy line, which probably accounts
for the rapid speed at which characters are introduced
and disappear (some of whom are killed off and others
just seem to vanish). Transformers: The Movie is very fast-paced and
filled with action and is actually pretty violent
with a very high body-count (granted, the violence is
amongst giant robots) but in the sterile Eighties, it really stands out. The animation is inevitably
very dated compared to current styles and technologies, although it does manage a couple of
fairly impressive visual scenes. It also features an almost
continuous soundtrack of highly 1980s-styled rock music.
As if this weren't enough for an animated film about toys, Transformers: The Movie features an impressive cast lending their
voices: In addition to Orson Welles, one can hear the vocal stylings of Leonard
Nimoy, Eric Idle, Scatman Crothers and Judd Nelson.
For better or for worse, this was Orson Welles' final film and not one that he
was particularly proud of, describing it merely as
"that toy movie" and his character as "a big toy that
eats a lot of smaller toys". Welles was very ill when
he worked on the film and his voice was so weak that
the film-makers deemed the recordings unusable and so
heavily synthesised his voice, making it almost
unrecognisable.
The film's main problem is that it is
too fast-paced, lurching from one set-piece to another
with barely time for pause, with the large number of
characters in the film there is barely time for any
kind of characterisation. Also it is very hard to get
away from the fact that this film is little more than
an hour and a half advert for toys. Obviously
Transformers fans will love it, but it's unlikely to
convert the uninitiated.
-Robert
Foster
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All contents ©
2004-2009 Thoughtsonfilm.com |
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Director:
Nelson
Shin
Writer: Ron
Friedman
Starring: Scatman
Crothers, Peter Cullen, Eric Idle, Casey Kasem, Judd Nelson, Leonard Nimoy, Robert Stack, Frank Welker, Orson Welles
Distributor: De
Laurentiis Entertainment Group
Runtime: 87
min
Rating: PG
Release Date: August
8, 1986
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