Official Synopsis:
A war has been waging on the planet Cybertron for millennia. The Autobots, led by the heroic Optimus Prime, prepare to make a daring attempt to retake their planet from the evil forces of Megatron and the Decepticons. Unknown to both sides, a menacing force is heading their way - Unicron, a planet that devours everything in its path. The only hope of stopping Unicron lies within the Matrix of Leadership and the Autobot who can rise up and use its power to light their darkest hour. Will the Autobots be able to save their homeworld from destruction or will the Decepticons reign supreme? The all-star cast of voice talent includes Peter Cullen, Frank Welker, Eric Idle, Judd Nelson, Robert Stack, Orson Welles, Scatman Crothers, Casey Kasem and Leonard Nimoy. Relive the adventure that brought the Transformers to the big screen or see it now for the first time with this brilliantly remastered and color-corrected special edition 2-disc set!
Our Take:
It's funny, because even though Transformers: The Movie basically ushered in the ruin of the Transformers as a franchise, it remains one of my favorite animated movies of all time. Let's face it; after the movie, the animated series was never the same. The Quintessons were around way too much, Optimus Prime and all the Transformers we knew and loved were gone, and everything was in the future and in space all the time. It was never the same as it was with our classic robots in disguise on Earth.
But even though Transformers: The Movie brought about all these changes, damn if I don't love it anyway. I can't even remember how many times I've seen it at this point, but I never get tired of watching it. Unicron was the coolest Transformer villain ever (come on… Orson Welles? How can you beat that?), and we finally got to see Optimus Prime and Megatron have the kick-ass fight to end all fights we had been waiting so many years for.
After years with nothing more than a plain vanilla DVD release, we finally get the film the way it should be with Transformers: The Movie - 20th Anniversary Edition. This two-disc set includes widescreen and full frame (why?) versions of the film as well as a ton of extra features.
* Autobot Matrix of Knowledge - A trivia track that you can watch with the film.
* Commentaries - One commentary features input from director Nelson Shin, story consultant Flint Dille, and voice actor Susan Blu. The other track is a fan commentary, that actually includes semi-pros like the guys behind the Botcons and fan club..
* Video Gallery - Trailers, animation tests, a photo gallery, and a "lost" Transformers episode that only aired in Japan, with fan commentary.
* Featurettes - Three interview features with crew members, plus a few producers. They focus on the Death of Optimus Prime (5 minutes), The Cast and Characters (10 minutes), and a Transformers Q&A (13 minutes).
* Video Gallery 2 - Five minutes worth of test, deleted, and alternate footage, as well as cartoon and toy commercials.
* Animated Storyboards (11 minutes) - Storyboards for four sequences from the film.
* Sneak Peeks - Trailers (and a featurette) for the upcoming Transformers movie, the DVD, a game, and more.
If you're a Transformers fan, I don't know how you can pass this one up. From the lenticular cover to the movie itself to all the great extra features, this one is definitely...
RECOMMENDED!
Overall Picture:
Movie: A-
DVD:
- Mike Spring
Editor
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