The Transformers: The Movie promo

2026-05-03T02:09:21Z

Groovygoth666: Added additional tracks to the soundtrack portion

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[[File:TFTM promo title card.jpg|thumb|upright=1.66|I'm getting all nipply...]]
Early in the production of ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'', a '''promotional trailer''' was made to sell the project to potential investors.

{{bigquote|A new motion picture will transform the summer of 1986 into an incredible adventure.|The promo's opening blurb.}}

This trailer features a fair bit of test footage that was either changed or cut before the movie's release, together with a few lines of unique narration by [[Victor Caroli]].

==Notable differences==
[[File:TFTMpromo-SnarlWithSwoop.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|"Hey man. How long have you been there for?"]]
*There are close-up shots of both of [[Unicron]]'s pincers piercing [[Lithone (planet)|Lithone]]'s surface.
**Unicron's inner workings have a much more organic appearance to them.
*The [[Autobot shuttle]] is a slightly different design and colour scheme.
*When [[Kup (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Kup]] tells his story about the [[Ick-Yak]] to the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]], they are sitting around in robot mode.
**Kup's dialogue is from a different take to that which was used in the movie.
**[[Snarl (G1)|Snarl]] is also prominently featured in this scene, despite being relegated to cameo status within the actual movie. However, this comes at the cost of [[Slag (G1)|Slag]], who doesn't appear at all in this scene, as per the original script's description of "the four Dinobots".
**[[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]] and [[Daniel Witwicky (G1)|Daniel]] are shown travelling in the same shuttlecraft as [[Hot Rod (G1)|Hot Rod]].
*What is shown of the [[Battle of Autobot City]] is a bit more energetic and violent than the final version.
**[[Ultra Magnus (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Ultra Magnus]] is drawn in his [[Diaclone]] colours.[[File:DiacloneMagnusAnime1.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|Y'all know me. Still the same O.G.]]
**[[Autobot City (G1)|Autobot City]] is mostly white.
*Rather than the [[Matrix of Leadership]], [[Galvatron (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity|Galvatron]] wears a glowing-pink wireframe around his neck, which may be the jar holding the [[Life Spark]] of Optimus Prime, which was in early versions of the script before being replaced by the Matrix in the final film.
*Galvatron falls inside Unicron as he transforms, only to suddenly reappear outside of him.
*Unicron in robot mode has an orange mohawk and is missing his [[facial hair]].

In addition to the above points, there are a few lighting and sound effects featured that were changed for the movie's release.

Musically, the trailer is soundtracked with - Vangelis Invisible Connections, using "Thermo Vision" for the opening narration and a drum beat from the track "Invisible Connections", {{w|James Horner}}'s score to ''{{w|Star Trek III: The Search for Spock}}'' (specifically, the "Mind Meld" for the appearance of Unicron, "Return to [[Vulcan]]" for Kup's war story and "Bird of Prey Decloaks" for Unicrons transformation). During the destruction of Lithone "Io" by Wendy Carlos is used, whilst "Losfer Words" and "Powerslave" by Iron Maiden are used during the Autobot city battle.

==Japanese version==
A slightly re-edited version of the trailer exists that features Japanese captions on screen. Apart from these captions, there is little difference between the two versions; the opening blurb has been removed (probably due to it being pointless in front of an audience that can't read English), and some of the blank footage between cuts has been trimmed down. An excerpt from an instrumental track by the legendary British metal band [[Iron Maiden]], "Losfer Words (Big 'Orra)" (from their 1984 album ''Powerslave'') is heard in this promo as well.

This version was available in Japan on the [[Transformers Hero]] Laserdisc. The laserdisc was widely bootlegged on VHS tape in the US.

==Theatrical version==
The promo was later cut down to around 90 seconds in length (from its original 4¼ minutes), re-cropped to fit a widescreen aspect ratio, and sent out to cinemas as the movie's first [[commercial|theatrical trailer]].

[[File:TFTM promo theatrical.jpg|thumb|left|225px|''The Transformers: The Migraine™'']]
This version is composed of the original opening blurb, a new flashy title card (which is so awesome that it is shown 2½ times by the time the trailer ends), a shorter version of the scene aboard the Autobot shuttle including the captions that introduce the new characters and their voice actors but omitting Kup's monologue, and the Battle of Autobot City sequence.

The theatrical version also differs from the original promo in that it is scored with a preliminary version of [[Vince DiCola]]'s "[[Escape (song)|Escape]]" (as later featured on [[Vince DiCola Presents: The Protoform Sessions]]), together with some brand new Victor Caroli narration.

Being a trailer, it is preceded by the perennial {{w|MPAA}} green screen and the [[Dino De Laurentiis|De Laurentiis Entertainment Group]] logo, and ends with a promise that the movie will be "coming this summer to a theatre near you".

{{--}}

==Home video releases==
The different versions of the promotional trailer have been made available to the general public as a bonus feature on a few DVDs:

[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2002 — ''Transformers'' — Complete Original Series: Deluxe Edition ([[Maverick Entertainment|Sony Wonder]]) — The Japanese version. 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2005 — ''Transformers: The Movie'' — Reconstructed ([[Metrodome]]) — The Japanese version. 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2006 — ''Transformers: The Movie'' — 20th Anniversary Special Edition ([[Sony|Sony BMG]]) — The theatrical version. 
[[File:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2006 — ''Transformers: The Movie'' — 20th Anniversary Special Edition (Sony BMG) — The original version, but with commentary by [[Paul Hitchens]] in lieu of the audio track. 
[[File:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2007 — ''Transformers: The Movie'' — Ultimate Edition (Metrodome) — The Japanese version.

==External links==
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTg95728_-8 The Japanese version of the promo on YouTube]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpSdMb_NkBI The theatrical version of the promo on YouTube]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAKMjhJXSV0 Four-minute version of the promo on YouTube]
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[[Category:Generation 1 media]]

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The Transformers: The Movie promo