Your thoughts on the 86 Movie

[Omegatron]

The Transformers universe is constantly being re-imagined and re-created. In a way its like a mosaic of related but separate stories. That being said if there is a center to the Transformers universe it is the 1986 movie.

The movie gave us Unicron, Rodimus Prime, Galvatron, Ultra Magnus, the matrix, Quintisons, Junkions and whole host of other things which are still very much around in the fiction. It made the Transformers cosmic. It established the depths to which prime was willing to sacrifice to ensure the good guys won the day. Without the movie the brand today would be very different.

[JLvatron]

Originally Posted by Echotransformer

But lastly,on a positive note: to this day there are some scenes that I still think are really well done, they give me chills...like Hotrod first shooting at the shuttle and the choreography of how the deceptions jump out and fight, or the way the two ships take off from the Jukion planet (with accompanying haunting score) to the scene in the belly of Unicron where HotRod first find Galvatron, his surroundings aglow in the light of the Matrix.

Yep...still cool after all these years.

Matrix, I got goosebumps just reading that!

Originally Posted by Omegatron

The Transformers universe is constantly being re-imagined and re-created. In a way its like a mosaic of related but separate stories. That being said if there is a center to the Transformers universe it is the 1986 movie.

The movie gave us Unicron, Rodimus Prime, Galvatron, Ultra Magnus, the matrix, Quintisons, Junkions and whole host of other things which are still very much around in the fiction. It made the Transformers cosmic. It established the depths to which prime was willing to sacrifice to ensure the good guys won the day. Without the movie the brand today would be very different.

Rawther true!

[Janitor]

Originally Posted by Metroplex79

Dare I say Prime's first 5 episodes was a better "Transformers" movie than the live action.

DARE!! Dare to keep all of your dreams alive!

From its onset, the movie really doesn't waste any time. After a (somewhat puzzling) opening featuring the demise of the planet Lithone, we get to our favorite Transformers and are brought up to speed on the current status of the Cybertronian war. The Autobot ship is attacked and we watch some of our beloved heroes get mowed down one-by-one like never before! Definitely a shock to the system (especially to 6-year-old me sitting in the theatre).

Serenely cuts to Hot Rod and Daniel fishing (whodafuq are these guys?), then once da Stan Bush kicks in things are cranked up to 11! So much energy from here through the entire Battle of Autobot City. HOWEVER after **spoiler alert!** the death of Optimus Prime, the pace just comes to a grinding hault. Are there still a ton of great scenes afterwards? For sure, iconic even:
-Megatron + castoffs meet Unicron and get their upgrades
-Starscream's toasty
-Quintessa/Quintessons/Sharkticonado/Dinobots [conveniently forgets the Jar Jar of TF lore]
-"Open dammit, open! Blurrrgh!!" *kablooey*
-cue Weird Al (ok, so not all of these are exactly "iconic" for the right reasons)
-Unicron's transformation + reveal
-The Touch (Reprise)
-"Til all are one!"
From here on out, the entire tone of TFs was forever changed, for better or for worse. Gone were the common earthbound adventures and we were treated to more of a space opera.

Do I still love TF:T86M? You bet your sweet ass I do! With or without my nostalgia-tinted glasses, despite all the flaws, there's no denying the absolutely gorgeous animation and kickass action featuring my favorite toy/cartoon franchise.

[Shepp]

The movie is awesome. The story itself stands very well on it's own, even without any Transformers franchise associated with it.

Replace the Cybertronians with knights, Unicron with an ancient demon, and the Matrix with a religious artifact, and you have yourself a compelling epic medieval story about feuding kingdoms, the death of a king, and a warlord making deals with a demon.

Pretty good for a movie who's intent was to sell toys.

But I do have a major critique: the opening credits. Compared to G.I.Joe's opening, the Transformers movie doesn't stand a chance. Where G.I.Joe got an amazing battle of Michael Bay proportions, Transformers got a psychedelic tunnel.

From a marketing standpoint, the movie was genius. Killing off major characters in a children's franchise wasn't really done before. It got the message across. If everyone realized what kind of fallout and aftermath would result, I'm sure they would have done it a bit differently, but it contributed to the longevity of the movie. People are STILL talking about how it affected them during childhood. It also made the characters that died even more endearing in the long run.

The movie added depth to the mythos by retconing things in that didn't fully negate the previous two seasons.

It gave us a battle between the Dinobots and Devastator. Between Decepticon tapes and some new Autobot equivalents. It gave us an epic battle between Optimus Prime and Megatron. We got to see Starscream at his highest moment, and then his lowest. We got to see a frickin planet become a truly giant robot. We got to see how much Optimus Prime made a difference in the world around him. We got to see what would happen if there were real consequences from battle.

[Ironwave]

I was thinking about this, say Optimus never died, you think the movie would have went in another direction? Would he still have gave the Matrix to Ultra Magnus? still have kept it and use it to defeat Unicron like Rodimus did?

[jjwankenobi]

Originally Posted by Ironwave

I was thinking about this, say Optimus never died, you think the movie would have went in another direction? Would he still have gave the Matrix to Ultra Magnus? still have kept it and use it to defeat Unicron like Rodimus did?

TFTM '86 in the jjwan-verse plays out like this:

• Optimus survives his fight with Megatron but goes into a coma-like stasis lock
• At Optimus' request Magnus installs the Matrix in himself as a safekeeping move
• Hot Rod goes AWOL and crazy, intent on hunting down Megatron and finishing him off once and for all
• Starscream discards of Megatron in deep space but the leader is intercepted by Shockwave which thwarts Unicron's plans
• Shockwave (unknowingly guided by Unicron) transplants Megatron's consciousness into a clone of Optimus Prime with intent on replacing Prime with the reborn Decepticon Leader who now calls himself "Galvatron"
• Unbeknownst to Shockwave and Galvatron the imposter Matrix in the clone body contains a shard of Unicron's heart which will act as a massive WMD when combined with the Autobot Matrix of Leadership
• During Starscream's coronation Unicron attacks Cybertron and its moons. Autobots on Earth respond, fighting alongside Decepticons though many perish.
• "Galvatron" appears claiming to be Optimus, heralding all Cybertronians to fight together. Unicron directs Galvatron to take the Matrix from Ultra Magnus which would wipe out all life in the galaxy leaving only planet husks for the planet eater to feast on for a millenia
• A seemingly deranged Hot Rod reappears, revealing his knowledge of "Galvatron's" origins and Shockwave's unwitting at doing Unicron's biddings. Hot Rod fights past Ultra Magnus (who accepted Galvatron as Optimus, having lost all communication with Earth where Prime lies in state) to get to Galvatron, ripping the imposter Matrix from his chest. Hot Rod also takes the true Matrix from the incapacitated Magnus
• The imposter Optimus turns black (i.e. MP-10B) as Hot Rod ascends into Unicron's maw, then detonates both true and imposter Matrix within Unicron, destroying him.
• A weakened Optimus Prime arrives from Earth in the aftermath while Galvatron/Nemesis Prime flees with a small group of Decepticon hold outs (i.e., Starscream, Soundwave, Shockwave and the surviving Seekers) who refuse to unite with the Autobots
• Ultra Magnus finds the true Matrix amongst the rubble, faintly glowing with the spark provided by Hot Rod through his bravery and sacrifice, and hands it to Optimus
• End scene as Optimus recites the 'Till All Are One speech as the burnt out shell of Unicron's planet mode orbits Cybertron as its new moon

I like to think the outcome of TFTM '86 is immutable and that changing certain key moments may still result in a similar ending, like the wacky guilty-pleasure Infinites series of STAR WARS comics.

[JLvatron]

Originally Posted by jjwankenobi

TFTM '86 in the jjwan-verse plays out like this:

• Optimus survives his fight with Megatron but goes into a coma-like stasis lock
• Magnus installs the Matrix in himself as a safekeeping move
• Hot Rod goes AWOL and crazy, intent on hunting down Megatron and finishing him off once and for all
• Starscream discards of Megatron in deep space but the leader is intercepted by Shockwave which thwarts Unicron's plans
• Shockwave (unknowingly guided by Unicron) transplants Megatron's consciousness into a clone of Optimus Prime with intent on replacing Prime with the reborn Decepticon Leader who now calls himself "Galvatron"
• Unbeknownst to Shockwave and Galvatron the imposter Matrix in the clone body contains a shard of Unicron's heart which will act as a massive WMD when combined with the Autobot Matrix of Leadership
• During Starscream's coronation Unicron attacks Cybertron and its moons. Autobots on Earth respond, fighting alongside Decepticons though many perish.
• "Galvatron" appears claiming to be Optimus, heralding all Cybertronians to fight together. Unicron directs Galvatron to take the Matrix from Ultra Magnus which would wipe out all life in the galaxy leaving only planet husks for the planet eater to feast on for a millenia
• A seemingly deranged Hot Rod reappears, revealing his knowledge of "Galvatron's" origins and Shockwave's unwitting at doing Unicron's biddings. Hot Rod fights past Ultra Magnus (who accepted Galvatron as Optimus, having lost all communication with Earth where Prime lies in state) to get to Galvatron, ripping the imposter Matrix from his chest. Hot Rod also takes the true Matrix from the incapacitated Magnus
• The imposter Optimus turns black (i.e. MP-10B) as Hot Rod ascends into Unicron's maw, then detonates both true and imposter Matrix within Unicron, destroying him.
• A weakened Optimus Prime arrives from Earth in the aftermath while Galvatron/Nemesis Prime flees with a small group of Decepticon hold outs (i.e., Starscream, Soundwave, Shockwave and the surviving Seekers) who refuse to unite with the Autobots
• Ultra Magnus finds the true Matrix amongst the rubble, faintly glowing with the spark provided by Hot Rod through his bravery and sacrifice, and hands it to Optimus
• End scene as Optimus recites the 'Till All Are One speech

I like it, except HotRod fighting UltraMagnus.
Both are good guys so this really distances it from the G1 feel of Autobots being united.

HotRod could disobey Magnus's order and run off to hunt Galvatron. He fights through Wreck-Gar, as The Junkions were the most easily fooled by Galvatron (as they were easily brainwashed in S3 Broadcast of 2006).

He falls to the sheer number of Junkions, but then Magnus appears and holds them off; as he is now convinced of the truth.

HotRod moves on, while Magnus sacrifices himself against the Junkions.
Just as they're about to rip him apart, Wheelie & Kup appear and say the universal greeting, and they all become Weird Al'd friends.

I hope you don't mind constructive re-editing, O.J. !

[jjwankenobi]

Originally Posted by JLvatron

I like it, except HotRod fighting UltraMagnus.
Both are good guys so this really distances it from the G1 feel of Autobots being united.

HotRod could disobey Magnus's order and run off to hunt Galvatron. He fights through Wreck-Gar, as The Junkions were the most easily fooled by Galvatron (as they were easily brainwashed in S3 Broadcast of 2006).

He falls to the sheer number of Junkions, but then Magnus appears and holds them off; as he is now convinced of the truth.

HotRod moves on, while Magnus sacrifices himself against the Junkions.
Just as they're about to rip him apart, Wheelie & Kup appear and say the universal greeting, and they all become Weird Al'd friends.

I hope you don't mind constructive re-editing, O.J. !

Nice! I really wanted to wedge The Junkions in there somewhere and you've just provided the lube!

Who needs Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman when they've got JLvatron and jjwankenobi !!!

[joshimus]

Nostalgic.

[elburrito]

That was...cathartic