IMDb > The Transformers: The Movie (1986)
The Transformers: The Movie
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The Transformers: The Movie (1986) More at IMDbPro »

Videos (see all 3 NEW)
The Transformers: The Movie (1986) -- The Autobots must stop a colossal planet consuming robot who is after the Autobot Matrix of Leadership.
The Transformers: The Movie (1986) -- MyMovies.Net - Clip - Optimus Prime vs Megatron (WMV)
The Transformers: The Movie (1986) -- MyMovies.Net - Interview with story consultant Flint Dille (extract) (WMV)

Overview

User Rating:
7.2/10   17,967 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 5% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Nelson Shin
Writer:
Ron Friedman (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Transformers: The Movie on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
8 August 1986 (USA) more
Tagline:
Beyond good. Beyond evil. Beyond your wildest imagination.
Plot:
The Autobots must stop a colossal planet consuming robot who is after the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. full summary | full synopsis
Awards:
2 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(16 articles)
How To Go Bigger With Transformers 3: Unicron
 (From Screen Rant. 4 November 2009, 7:03 PM, PST)

retro trailer: ‘Transformers: The Movie’
 (From FlickFilosopher. 31 October 2009, 1:13 PM, PDT)

User Comments:
All cartoons should translate so well more (302 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
Norman Alden ... Kranix / Arblus (voice)
Jack Angel ... Astrotrain (voice)
Michael Bell ... Prowl / Scrapper / Swoop / Junkion (voice)
Gregg Berger ... Grimlock (voice)
Susan Blu ... Arcee (voice)
Arthur Burghardt ... Devastator (voice)

Corey Burton ... Spike / Brawn / Shockwave (voice)
Roger C. Carmel ... Cyclonus / Quintesson Leader (voice)
Victor Caroli ... Narrator (voice)
Regis Cordic ... Quintesson Judge (voice)
Scatman Crothers ... Jazz (voice)
Peter Cullen ... Optimus Prime / Ironhide (voice)
Bud Davis ... Dirge (voice)

Paul Eiding ... Perceptor (voice)
Walker Edmiston ... Inferno (voice) (scenes deleted)
more
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Toransufômaa: Za mûbii (Japan)
Transformers the Movie: Apocalypse! Matrix Forever (Japan: English title) (working title)
Transformers: Mokushiroku! Matrix yo eien ni (Japan) (working title)
Transformers: The Movie (USA) (DVD box title)
more
Runtime:
84 min | Argentina:85 min
Country:
USA | Japan
Language:
English | Japanese
Colour:
Colour
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Dolby
Certification:
UK:PG (Reconstructed Edition) | Singapore:PG | Argentina:Atp | Canada:G (Nova Scotia/Québec) | UK:U | USA:PG | West Germany:12 | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Australia:PG

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Two other characters were scripted to die in the film as well, but the scenes were not animated. During the attack on Autobot City by Devastator, Ultra Magnus attacks, accompanied by Sideswipe, Tracks and Red Alert, and Red Alert is killed by a cannon blast. Also, towards the end of the movie when Shockwave is frantically calling for the Decepticons to engage Unicron, Unicron's hand was supposed to have been seen crushing Shockwave's citadel. The way the movie was released, after Shockwave calls "Scramble!", Unicron's hand comes down and smashes a good part of the planet's surface, and Shockwave is never seen again. more
Goofs:
Factual errors: 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. more
Quotes:
[first lines]
Kranix: Arblus, look! It's Unicron!
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Boogie Nights (1997) more
Soundtrack:
Hunger more

FAQ

Was Spike's expletive in the original script?
Which characters first debuted in this movie?
A Note Regarding Spoilers
more
48 out of 61 people found the following comment useful.
All cartoons should translate so well, 5 March 1999
10/10
Author: Quicksand from Dallas, TX

The Transformers, the animated cartoon from the 1980's, was a typical cartoon: cheesy and childish, things we would not recognize until we were grown. But when Transformers: The Movie was released in 1986, when I was 11, the movie scared the hell out of me. But so did Superman and Star Wars, which was exactly its intention.

As when Batman came to the big screen in 1989, the filmmakers took something old and made it new again. In the case of the Transformers, the movie was dark, loud, and very adult considering the fact that it springs from what was another silly fad the children of the 80's latched onto.

I don't know how people older and younger than I will perceive it, but the film is Shakespearean in its beauty. The 1980's soundtrack works surprisingly well, even now, unlike other 80's attempts, like, say Heavy Metal.

The movie picks up in 2005, or about 20 years after the cartoon supposedly took place. Young Spike is now older and has a child of his own, and all the Autobots and Decepticons are back, with some new faces. In the opening moments, Unicron (Orson Welles), destroyer of worlds, eats a planet of peace-loving people (supposdely robots, but still eerily reminiscent of our Earth populi), killing millions. Decepticons don't just plot against the Autobots-- they murder them in cold blood (er, oil?)

This is the equivalent of the X-Files movie getting made, and Cigarette Smoking Man getting to use dirty words. It is a true expansion to the big screen, an intelligent version of the TV show, made not to pander to their audience, but to elevate it.

This movie is impossible to find in the States, but if you ever watched the TV show, it will bring you to a new level. If you've never heard of the TV show... it's still a great Anime-yarn, and a helluva lot better than that X-Files flick.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for The Transformers: The Movie (1986)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Why was Hot Rod the only one who could open the matrix? shortail
What the devil does he say??? MalkSmash
The Dino De Laurentiis curse petekrug17
Transformers: The Movie DVD famousmortimer-2
here's a list of autobots that survived or died in the movie mclancey21
Over saturated colors in HD god-66
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