The Transformers: The Movie

The name or term "Transformers: The Movie" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Transformers: The Movie (disambiguation).

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Featuring the deaths of all your favorite Transformers characters.
The Transformers: The Movie
Production company	Sunbow Productions
Release date	August 8, 1986
Writer	Ron Friedman
Directed by	Nelson Shin
Animation studio	Toei
Continuity	Generation 1 cartoon continuity

The Transformers: The Movie is an animated feature film based on the original Transformers toyline. It was released in the United States on August 8, 1986.

Often referred to by fans simply as "the movie" or "TFTM", this film opens with characters who had been featured in the first two years of the toyline and associated media (cartoons, comic books, etc.), but quickly introduces new characters and kills many of the old ones to make room. In particular, Optimus Prime, Megatron, and Starscream are all destroyed during the course of the film.

The movie was a step up in almost every area from the television series, with a more sophisticated plot, more serious treatment of war and violence, a hugely ambitious scope and a greatly increased animation budget with well-known celebrities providing voice work. For these reasons the film remains very popular with children of the 1980s.

Primary characters and cast

• Optimus Prime...Peter Cullen
• Ultra Magnus...Robert Stack
• Perceptor...Paul Eiding
• Hot Rod...Judd Nelson
• Kup...Lionel Stander
• Blurr...John Moschitta
• Springer...Neil Ross
• Arcee...Susan Blu
• Wreck-Gar...Eric Idle
• Daniel Witwicky...David Mendenhall
• Megatron...Frank Welker
• Starscream...Chris Latta
• Galvatron...Leonard Nimoy
• Unicron...Orson Welles

Brief synopsis

That's no moon. It's a space station.

A planet-sized Transformer called Unicron who eats other planets is approaching Cybertron. As part of their continuing wars, the Autobots and Decepticons have a fierce battle on Earth which sees both Optimus Prime and Megatron mortally wounded. Prime passes the Matrix of Leadership to Ultra Magnus and dies, and Megatron is transformed by Unicron into Galvatron. Starscream (briefly) assumes leadership of the Decepticons, but is killed when Galvatron arrives at Cybertron. Galvatron then chases the surviving Autobots on Earth across space, splitting them up and taking the Matrix. The Autobots find their way back to each other, and follow Galvatron to Cybertron just as Unicron transforms into robot mode and begins to eat their world. Travelling inside Unicron, Hot Rod recovers the Matrix, transforms into Rodimus Prime, and uses the Matrix to destroy Unicron.

Full synopsis

I have a bad feeling about this.

A mechanical planet travels through the depths of space, attacking a metal planet which has robotic inhabitants. Robots, vehicles, buildings, and even large chunks of rock are sucked off the surface and devoured by the monstrous planet.

It is the year 2005, and the Decepticons are now in control of Cybertron. The Autobots are preparing to launch an assault to retake the planet from hidden bases on two of Cybertron's moons. The Autobots launch a shuttle to pick up a final shipment of energon from Earth before they strike.

Plans for the attack are overheard by Laserbeak, who reports back to Megatron. The Decepticons attack the Autobot shuttle en route to Earth, wiping out its crew (including Ironhide, Prowl, Ratchet and the guy in the picture over there). Using the Autobots' own shuttle, the Decepticons are able to get very close to the Autobots' base on Earth, Autobot City, before they are detected, and begin a devastating surprise attack on the unprepared city.

If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.

During the battle at Autobot City, both Optimus Prime and Megatron suffer mortal injuries, and a number of other characters are also killed. Eventually the Decepticons retreat, but the damage suffered by the Autobots has been severe.

For an extensive synopsis of the battle, see Battle of Autobot City.

Shortly after the battle, Prime lies on his deathbed. He passes the reins of leadership to Ultra Magnus and gives him the Matrix of Leadership. (Though Hot Rod actually touches the Matrix before Magnus does.) Prime relates a prophecy: "One day, an Autobot shall rise from our ranks, and use the power of the Matrix to light our darkest hour." He then gives the oath, "'Til all are one", and dies. This sequence of events is observed remotely by Unicron, who appears unusually concerned by the survival of the Matrix.

The Decepticons are making their escape aboard Astrotrain, but are too heavy for him to get them all home under his own power. After putting the matter to a fair vote, the Decepticons decide to throw their injured members off the ship to better the chance of survival for the rest. One of the most severely injured Decepticons is Megatron. Starscream tosses him out and claims leadership of the Decepticon army.

Megatron and the other adrift Decepticons then encounter Unicron in interstellar space. Unicron offers to rebuild Megatron and his minions in exchange for their service. Megatron agrees, and is reformatted into Galvatron. The other Decepticons are turned into Cyclonus, Scourge, and the Sweeps. Unicron provides them with a ship, and sends them to kill Ultra Magnus and destroy the Matrix, stating that the Matrix is the only thing which can stand in his way.

Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed.

Galvatron first stops at Cybertron to take his revenge by killing Starscream and reclaiming leadership of the Decepticons. Almost immediately afterwards, Unicron arrives in Cybertron's vicinity and devours at least two moons—both of the Autobots' moon bases are destroyed. Under coercion by Unicron, Galvatron finally heads to Earth to kill Ultra Magnus, but Magnus and the other surviving Autobots flee in a pair of shuttles. Eventually Galvatron manages to cause one shuttle to crash on yet another metal planet (Quintessa), and detonates the other with a volley of missiles. However, the Autobots in the second shuttle escape unnoticed by separating the front portion of their shuttle just before impact.

The Autobots in the crashed shuttle, Hot Rod, Kup, and the Dinobots, find themselves separated and in a hostile environment. Hot Rod and Kup are captured by a squad of Allicons and taken before a Quintesson judge and his court. While being held there, they learn the name and nature of Unicron from Kranix, a survivor of the planet destroyed in the opening of the film, which he calls Lithone. Meanwhile, the Dinobots encounter and befriend a young, wild Autobot named Wheelie who has been living alone on Quintessa. Together, they crash the trial just as Hot Rod and Kup are fighting losing odds against the Quintessons' Sharkticons. The tide is turned, and the Autobots commandeer a Quintesson Cruiser.

What an incredible smell you've discovered!

The other group of Autobots has landed on the planet Junkion to make repairs, but are attacked yet again by Galvatron, who was tipped off to their survival by Unicron. During the battle, Ultra Magnus tries to open the Matrix to use its power, but is unable to do so, and instead is killed. Galvatron absconds with the Matrix, taking it away to Unicron. The remaining Autobots—Perceptor, Springer, Arcee, and Spike's son Daniel—are then ambushed by Junkions, the eponymous natives of Junkion, who are also giant transforming robots. This battle is cut short, however, by the arrival of Hot Rod's group in their Quintesson ship. After exchanging the universal greeting they all make friends, and the Junkions restore Ultra Magnus to life. Together, the whole group travels to Cybertron to try to recover the Matrix.

Galvatron attempts to open the Matrix to use its power against Unicron, but is also unable to get it open. Unicron, not pleased with this attempted treachery, shocks Galvatron by transforming from a planet into a planet-sized robot. Unicron plucks Galvatron off his chest and swallows him, Matrix and all, and then begins attacking Cybertron itself. Shockwave scrambles the Decepticon forces to defend the planet, but they are ineffective against so large an enemy. Shortly the Autobots arrive from Junkion, and fly the Quintesson ship straight through Unicron's eye. This impact destroys the ship, and the Autobots fall out inside Unicron. Hot Rod, separated from the others, eventually runs into Galvatron. During their fight, Hot Rod gets his hands on the Matrix and hears Optimus's voice speak the words, "Arise, Rodimus Prime." Hot Rod grows in stature, adopts a much sterner demeanor, and quickly dispatches Galvatron by tossing him through Unicron's hull out into space. He then opens the Matrix, which fills Unicron with light and begins destroying him.

Use the Force, Luke.

In the meantime, the other Autobots inside Unicron have located some of their comrades from the moon bases who had been presumed dead, including Bumblebee and Daniel's father, Spike. The Autobots, including Rodimus, escape through Unicron's remaining eye just as he begins to fall apart and explode. The scene then immediately shifts to the surface of Cybertron, where—for unclear reasons—the Autobots seem to be in charge again. Rodimus predicts an era of peace and prosperity, and the film closes with a shot of Unicron's severed head still floating in orbit around Cybertron.

'Til all are one.

Quotes

"Such heroic nonsense."

—Megatron. The 'Cons always get the best lines.

"That was almost too easy!"

—Megatron, commenting on how quickly the original Autobots fell... the fandom agrees Megatron.

"I've got better things to do tonight than die!"

—Springer, telling it like it is.

"One shall stand. One shall fall."

—Optimus Prime uttering the most quoted line of the Movie. An ass kicker cometh.

"Until the day...'til all are one..."

—Optimus Prime's final words. And the fandom complained (And rej-...actually, they just complained).

"Oh, how it pains me to do this."

—Starscream, fighting back the tears as he prepares to throw Megatron out of Astrotrain.

"I have summoned you here for a purpose."
"Nobody summons Megatron!"
"Then it pleases me to be the first."

—Unicron shows Megatron who's the boss.

"Who disrupts my coronation?"
"Coronation, Starscream? This is bad comedy."
"Megatron? Is that you?"
"Here's a hint!"

—Galvatron drops "hints" for Starscream like others drop anvils.

"Did we have to let them detonate three quarters of the ship?"
"Seeing as how they would have detonated four quarters, I think it was a good choice."

—Arcee and Springer

"Me Grimlock kick butt!"

—Grimlock utters his most quoted line, while doing just that.

"For a time… I considered sparing your wretched little planet of Cybertron. But now... you shall witness... its dismemberment!"

—Unicron really needs to work on his anger management skills…

"Let this mark the end of the Cybertronian Wars as we march forward into a new era of peace and happiness! 'Til all are one!"

—Rodimus Prime announces the end of the Great War... yeah, right.

Significance in Transfandom

The Transformers: The Movie remains one of the most important elements of the entire Transformers brand, both within the fiction and from the perspective of the brand's popularity and "mindshare".

Fictionally, it established several story concepts that have been used repeatedly in the years since 1986, some of which—such as Unicron and the Matrix—are now central to the entire Transformers mythos. The movie is also the centerpiece of the most well-known Transformers continuity: the Generation 1 animated universe. The Transformers cartoon is split into "pre-movie" and "post-movie" sections which feature different characters and settings, and even somewhat different visual styles. (Most pre-movie episodes were animated by the studio Toei, while most post-movie episodes were animated by AKOM.)

On a practical note, it was widely available on videotape, and remained so long after the The Transformers cartoon had gone off the air. Only a handful of series episodes were available on video, making The Transformers: The Movie the logical choice for someone looking to pick up a Transformers cartoon; this made it far more well-known among fans than any particular cartoon episode.

To an entire generation of young fans, the movie was the most visually spectacular and narratively epic Transformers experience of their entire youth. Events such as the death of Optimus Prime are widely reported to have reduced many kids to tears. It is hardly a surprise that these emotional experiences embedded themselves deeply in many fans' memories.

Criticisms

All this is not all to say that the movie is a "masterpiece", exactly. The film met with extremely harsh critical reviews on its release, and some of those criticisms still ring true today.

The film displays an arguably cynical attitude towards itself as a vehicle for advertising toys, especially in the way beloved characters are killed—sometimes gratuitously—for sake of justifying the story's focus on a new group of toys. (Note that the poster at the top of this article features only new characters.)

Further, the two primary plot devices—Unicron and the Matrix—have no prior establishment in the fiction. Unicron is given no backstory or justification; he simply exists, is very dangerous, and is afraid of the Matrix, all for no adequately explained reason. The introduction of the Matrix itself is a heavy retcon. The story asks the audience to accept that this cosmically powerful artifact has been in Prime's possession all along (even though an X-ray of Optimus Prime's innards in the second season episode "A Prime Problem" show absolutely no signs of said Matrix), but has somehow never been relevant before. In fact, this lack of prior establishment is what led Simon Furman to develop the divinity backstory of Unicron and Primus in the UK comics run.

Your powers are weak, old man!

The movie bears many similarities to Star Wars: There are several character-parallels (Springer is a Han Solo-type and Arcee even has Princess Leia's hairdo!), the primary threat is similar (it's the Death Star... but it transforms!), and both feature a climactic battle where the young hero hears the voice of his wise mentor one last time before saving the day.

To be a bit more fair to The Transformers: The Movie, however, most of these similarities are either superficial (Arcee's Leia-hair; Megatron's "lightsaber" he briefly uses in his duel against Optimus Prime) or can be seen as elements common to thousands of years worth of epic storytelling through human history, not just common to Star Wars. As a simple example, the phenomenon of two charismatic leaders dealing each other mortal injuries in battle hearkens back to some versions of the "King Arthur" myth; in their final battle, Arthur and his arch-enemy Sir Mordred deal one another lethal injuries and both apparently expire—though Arthur according to the legend will return when England's need is greatest.

Though most likely coincidental, the movie also bears many similarities to the Marvel Comics Fantastic Four story "The Galactus Trilogy":

• The presence of an enormous world-devouring cosmic entity that threatens to destroy the heroes' home planet (Galactus/Unicron).
• The presence of a single item that is the only thing that can stop said cosmic entity (Ultimate Nullifier/Matrix of Leadership).
• The presence of a herald of said cosmic entity, who ultimately betrays the entity (Silver Surfer/Galvatron).

–12:34, 6 July 2009 (EDT)Astrotrain85==Animation Errors==

• When the Decepticons are killing the Autobots inside the Autobot shuttle, there is one of the common Starscream/Skywarp/Thundercracker miscolors. Megatron transforms into gun mode and Starscream catches him and kills Brawn. When they cut back to the Decepticons, Starscream is in front of the Constructicons without Megatron and is firing one of his arm rifles (this probably should have been Skywarp or Thundercracker). When they cut back to the Decepticons for the third time, Starscream has Megatron again and is finishing off the rest of the Autobots.
• When Kup and several Autobots at the roadblock react to Hot Rod's attack on the hijacked Autobot shuttle, Bluestreak is represented by Prowl's animation model, in Bluestreak's grey and black colours.
• During the Battle of Autobot City, Starscream gets his leg caught. He shoots downward and gets away while screaming "My foot!", but it's his shin that's smoking while his foot looks fine. Later he kicks Megatron with the same foot. Shouldn't that hurt, according to him? Note there is a time lapse between the "foot shooting" and the kicking, leaving the option of a battlefield repair.
• When Ultra Magnus accepts the Matrix, he's seen inserting it into his chest twice, or at best readjusting its "fit".
• Swoop's lower leg appears for a brief second during the Autobot City battle, long before the rest of him gets there.
• When Devastator forms in Autobot City, his chest plate is the same green as the rest of him. In the next shot, it's the usual purple. However, it promptly turns green again in the next shot.
• Not so much an error, but if you watch Sludge when he's haymaker'ed by Devastator, his eyes pop out of their sockets in Looney Tunes fashion.
• When Soundwave sends out his casette troops, Rumble is the same color as Frenzy.
• Sunstreaker appears with Huffer, Bluestreak and Kup when they observe Hot Rod firing on Ironhide's shuttle. Sunstreaker later appears as Optimus Prime's co-pilot when they arrive with the Dinobots, and is seen disembarking the shuttle along with Optimus Prime and Hound.
• Hot Rod has at least two totally different transformation schemes during the course of the film.
• When Hot Rod tells the Junkions the universal greeting, the Autobot insignia on his chest is coloured black.
• When Cyclonus is strafing the Autobot shuttle in space, he briefly flies offscreen, and during that time his laser blasts come from a point that in no way matches his flight path.
• Even after the Battle of Autobot City, characters who are supposedly dead continue to appear in crowd shots and battles. Shrapnel's role in the fight on Junk is the most noticeable, but Thundercracker and Skywarp can be seen at both Starscream's coronation and later flying into Unicron's mouth.
• When the inside of Unicron is shown after he devours Lithone, the "blinking energy" effect of Unicron's innards was apparently achieved by recycling backgrounds from other animated TV shows or movies. If you go through the scene frame by frame, you will see what appear to be several images of post-apocalyptic buildings inside Unicron.
• There are a couple frames where you can see the inside of one of the Lithonian ships being devoured by Unicron. The pilot of the ship appears to be Kranix, even though he apparently screams out Kranix's name, and Kranix appears later in the Quintesson prison.
• When Optimus Prime takes the Matrix out of his chest to give to Ultra Magnus, there is another Matrix beneath it in his chest. (On which note, see also Matrix of Leadership, Universe comic.)
• Not technically an error, but definitely an animator's easter egg; in the Quintesson jail cell, robot debris strongly resembling the RX-178 MK II and the MSZ-006 mobile suits from 1985's Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, can be seen.
• In the battle for Autobot City, when Prime drives up behind the Decepticons, Blitzwing turns his head and its color changes to purple for a split second. However, when he turns it back it's tan again.
• In the scene where Blaster ejects his tapes, he first ejects what looks like Eject. He stays blue up until he gets to the edge of the screen. He then turns black like Rewind. Then Blaster ejects another blue cassette, which after about a second turns black. This one gets through half his transformation colored black, then turns blue for a split second then turns black again. Then, when the cassettes are fighting each other, Eject runs in from the left and jumps over Perceptor. And then he runs in from the left again to shoot Ravage. Suddenly Brawl/Devastator doesn't look so bad, does he?

–== Continuity errors ==

• The Dinobot Snarl is mysteriously absent from almost the entire movie (maybe he was scared of getting killed off), even though the Dinobots as a group are featured prominently. It is unclear why this is the case, but one possible explanation is that copies of the script which have come into fans' hands repeatedly list the Dinobots but never make mention of Snarl by name. In fact, at one point the script refers to "the four Dinobots". Despite this, Snarl does appear in three very brief shots, although he has no lines and no action. Another theory claims that the animation model for Snarl had gone missing, hence he is only seen in static form.
• Also curiously absent are the 1985 Autobot cars and Mini-Vehicles, such as Inferno, Smokescreen, Cosmos, Warpath, etc. It would seem that these characters were available at the time of the movie:
  • Perceptor and Blaster both debuted at the same time in the cartoon as the 1985 cars, and both play prominent roles in the movie.
  • Grapple is seen very briefly during the battle for Autobot City.
  • The 1985 Decepticons (Astrotrain, Dirge, etc.) appear in the film.
  • Tracks, Red Alert and Smokescreen all appeared in storyboards but not the finished film.
• In story terms, the absence of Bruticus, Superion, Omega Supreme, et. al is inexplicable. In real-life terms, those characters didn't exist when the film commenced production. (The Transformers: The Animated Movie adaptation shows Omega Supreme, Superion and Defensor guarding the Ark against an attack by Bruticus and Menasor, rectifying this.)
• So Ultra Magnus just happens to have a ready-made Matrix chamber installed in his chest cavity? Is this standard issue for all Autobots?
• Astrotrain tells his fellow Decepticons to "jettison some weight" while flying through space, where there is no gravity, but since it takes less force to move less mass, Astrotrain may have just been trying to improve his gas mileage.
• The Constructicons manage to become Devastator while inside Astrotrain.
• Galvatron is capable of reducing Starscream to ashes with a single shot from his cannon mode. Though in later episodes Galvatron is shown blowing up even small planets with his cannon, his extraordinary killing power seems to be gone--like when he scores a direct hit in cannon mode on Ultra Magnus in "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 5" and Magnus isn't especially hurt at all, or how a similar blast against Scourge in "The Burden Hardest to Bear" only leaves the latter temporarily incapacitated. Marvel Comics bios explain this by suggesting that Galvatron had nearly limitless power through Unicron... but then again, Galvatron himself claims to be "more powerful than ever" after Unicron is deadFive Faces of Darkness, Part 2. Who knows.
• Why didn't anyone notice Unicron until he was within devouring distance of Cybertron's moons?
• Before Unicron's arrival, what were the Autobots on Moonbase 2 planning on doing with a bomb powerful enough to destroy the entire moon?
• Despite running out of energon goodies on Quintessa, Hot Rod has at least one to offer to the Junkions. Maybe he got some on the ship. It's also possible that, when he told the Allicons "No more," he meant that he wasn't going to feed them any more energon goodies, not that he didn't have anymore.
• Daniel, who was just learning how to use his exo-suit, had to knock down the acid cover inside Unicron to save his loved ones. Why couldn't the more experienced Spike do the same with his suit from above? He had both of his arms free and a clear shot at the cover.
• It's not clear how Rodimus Prime (carrying two humans) and the other Autobots survived their jump out of Unicron's eye and their plunge towards the surface of Cybertron. Perhaps Ultra Magnus, who was absent from their "darkest hour", stayed on the ground to catch them?