Still to soon. RIP Prime I remember seeing this the day it came out. It was like seeing your dad die. Still listen to Instruments of Destruction at work to this day. Awesome Soundtrack.
@@wargod99921 Check out the rock band that cosplays at Transformers known as the Cybertronic Spree. They have a 1 or 2 soundtracks out and one is dedicated to the movie's soundtrack.
I had to be like 5 when this movie became a part of my consciousness and core memory but like 2 when it actually hit theaters. That fight between Optimus and Megatron was like the greatest thing i've ever known and Optimus dying really didn't hit me that hard (i think), cause i didn't see him as much as say - my older brother. Actually I think seeing Optimus die was cool too to me back then. I dunno - maybe the whole friggin' movie was the greatest thing ever to 5 year old me. I don't think i felt any kind of sadness for a cartoon character getting fatally hurt until the GI Joe movie where Duke got almost killed.... which was around the same time for me back then.
This was Welles final roll before his death and it's really sad he looked at it like a joke, in his own words "I was some big toy being killed by a bunch of small toys" considering how much fans still love his performance to this day.
The issue isn't that Optimus wasn't popular. The issue is that Hasbro didn't understand their audience. They thought they could kill off the characters with discontinued toys, replace them with new toys like Rodimus Prime, and no one would care. Even they hadn't grasped how popular their own characters were until they were gone. They tried giving Optimus a more fitting sendoff and a proper passing of the torch to Rodimus in season 3, but fans REALLY wanted Optimus back. So they brought him back for good in the season 3 finale. Sure, Optimus dies all the time now, but this was the longest he's ever stayed dead. Nearly a full year.
Yeah, I thought...Dark Awakening, was it?...was a wonderful send-off (I did see the original version of the episode when it first aired), and really hated when they retconned it *midseason* opening the door for The Return of Optimus Prime.
Optimus Prime dying was not recieved well at the time. Because of that they later brought him back in the show. Side note, that WAS the Micro Machines Man as Blurr.
ALL of the character deaths traumatized the child audiences. Optimus Prime, Ironhide, Prowl, Wheeljack, every Autobot death lead to crying kiddoes in the theaters. But Hasbro was more interested in promoting NEW toys than selling ones they weren't even making anymore, so they got the chopping block. I *love* this movie. It's incredibly quotable (me and my siblings still throw the "Universal Greeting" at each other. And only the Dinobots could turn a simple "Excuse me" into something ingrained in my brain. And, as always, I've got better things to do tonight than die!). It's got BEAUTIFUL animation in plenty of spots. The art direction and design is top-notch. Only in 70s and 80s anime do you get the look inside, the moving parts, as the giant robots move. I love it. It's great. As for the fates of the characters, that's what season 3 of the cartoon (and the sequel miniseries) were for.
Sigh, while what you say 8s imminently true, I'm so exhausted by the cynicism in comments online regarding anything associated with IPs from the 80s and early 90s. But I guess that is a simple reflection of reality. It is what it is.
None of the people behind this movie understood that kids were emotionally invested in the characters, so at the beginning they killed off all the toys that would not be returning in the next season's product line. To the best of my knowledge, not only did they kill Optimus Prime, they had a plan to bring him back as a decepticon zombie in the next season of Transformers and have the Autobots kill him again. After kids not leaving their room for a week because they were so distraught Optimus Prime died, they changed that plan and resurrected him in the next season of the TV show. I also distinctly remember a network television cut of this movie where at the end the narrator told us to stay tuned for many more adventures, including" the return of the greatest autobot Optimus Prime." But it's been at least 30 years since the last time I saw that version and I don't believe it's ever been available on DVD or even cassette.
Yeah, when Bay killed off Optimus, it was a cheap stunt that would be reversed by the end of the movie. When Hasbro killed Optimus, they effing meant it. They wanted to promote a new toy line, so they cleared the old toys from the story in the most efficient and permanent way possible. The decision was only reversed later after audience backlash got to the execs. They really underestimated how attached kids were to Optimus. And yeah, Hot Rod became Rodimus Prime, with Peter Cullen (the voice of Optimus) saying “Arise, Rodimus Prime” to indicate the passing of the torch to a new leader.
This was the first of an ongoing trend of killing off Optimus and bringing him back. Ultra Magnus' "death" was originally supposed to be worse. he was supposed to be drawn and quartered... which is why he falls apart.
this movie was a prelude to season 3 of the cartoon with Rodimus Prime as leader, they purposely killed off main characters to promote this new cast but due to backlash they did bring Optimus back for season 4 only to have the show get cancelled. A few years later I want to say 2007 or 2008, there was an animated series that made the transformers look more cartoony and in that there was one episode where they introduce Wreck-Gar, a garbage truck voiced by Weird Al and in one part he even says "I dare to be stupid!"
Hot Rod became Rodimus Prime. The reason you don't hear Hot Rod anymore is trademark issues. Future media featuring the character would refer to him as just Rodimus.
It's Optimus (who is now part of the matrix) who says, "Arise, Rodimus Prime." "One shall stand, one shall fall," was used again in the first Michael Bay film and a PS3 game. The voice actor that performs the voice of Optimus is the same as the Michael Bay films and the actor for Megatron and Soundwave would play Galvatron and Soundwave in the Bay films. Weird Al would play Wreck-Gar in an episode of Transformers: Animated.
Ultra Magnus was able to be put back together because he was quartered in the original script. Though they kept the end result like that, the actual scene was changed to laser blasts hitting his body
The big reason all the old characters were killed off in the movie was because their toys weren't selling. Back when this movie was in production, Sunbow/Marvel Productions were also working on a G.I. Joe animated movie. During that, Buzz Dixon noticed how Duke's toy was being discontinued while they had to introduce a name leader character, Hawk. This gave him an idea and he asked Hasbro for permission to kill Duke off. Hasbro loved this idea and demanded this idea be applied in mass to The Transformers Movie, thus we get the bloodbath of characters whose toys weren't selling anymore. Rodimus Prime sadly doesn't get treated well in Season 3 of the cartoon.
2 things. One, gray Optimus Prime wrecked the schoolyard worse than if it was Hulk Hogan. And two, "here's a hint" is the most gangsta ass thing you'll ever hear in 80's American cartoons.
I love that you actually know the characters from G1. Most of the others on UA-cam only know the Bayformers movies and they don't know the original cartoon at all so their reactions don't hit home.
YES this movie was indeed traumatizing, and exciting at the same time. Almost 40 YEARS LATER we're still talking about it, because we love it that much! But how this movie did not get a PG-13 rating, still bothers me (but not that much)? This movie clearly proved that cartoons are NOT just for kids.
The (Spaceballs) maids head and hand blow off and land on the Planet of the Apes mimicking the Statue of Liberty. Unicrons head stays in orbit of Cybertron as a moon.
I was 8 when my mom took me to see this in the theater. While I remember being somewhat shocked they actually killed each other and said a few curse words, I don’t remember being heartbroken over the death of Optimus Prime. I actually really liked the new generation toys and cartoons (an unpopular opinion I know). I liked the movie a lot. So much so I rented it regularly at our local 7-eleven.
Arise Rodimus Prime is what the spirit/voice of Optimus Prime says as Hot Rod claims the matrix and grows into a much more powerful version of himself and a little more wisdom and maturity.
I remember the day my friends and I discovered that old bell bottoms Megatron could be transformed into a 3rd form, along with several other xformers. And the fact that boombox and sound wave actually had transformable micro cassettes in them!
Optimus was the old toy, Hot Rod, Rodimus Prime, Ultra Magnus were the new toys. Looking back at the earliest version of the script, Optimus always died, but the matrix was originally Optimus's soul, which was released by Daniel inside Unicron to kill him. Also there was a note saying You can kill these characters: then listing the 1984/85 toys. For many years people thought this was Habsro saying they wanted them killed off. But it was actually because in the recently found earliest version of the script they killed off all the new toy characters instead, so it was more , no you can't kill the new toys we have to sell them, but you can kill these ones.
I remember the promos/commercials for this movie waay back then, you "had to see it twice" to catch everything. I did. It was in equal measure the best & worst thing Sunbow Studios did, they might have survived a few more years if they hadn't killed Optimus Prime off. It was fan backlash to his death why they didn't kill Duke off in the GI Joe animated flick. Yes, they even got death threats, the backlash was that bad. If you can find a certain DVD/Blu ray set of this film, it comes with an Easter-egg documentary that details those events, it's fascinating. Rodimus Prime was supposed to replace Optimus, but people simply could not get used to him, since he was blamed for Optimus' death (Optimus was/is THAT iconic). Orson Welles (1930s War of the Words broadcast) was Unicron. It was the last thing he did before he died. Need I say more as to why one should see this movie?
The emotional hits came to us 80s kids who watched our robot Dad for two seasons then DIE. I love that this movie finally showed consequences of war. Optimus came back in the third season but all the other transformers who died here stayed dead. Starscream actually become a ghost! No, really!
I'm surprised your cousin didn't have you with him to watch this in the theater back then. You were part of the generation it was meant for. The 65 episodes that kids feasted on 5 times a week for 2 years prior to film's release....or 6 times a week depending on part of the country you were in. There were also the toys, comics and other reading material that were available. The train kept going with other 33 episodes post-movie. Regardless of whatever generation reads this, objectively, it is the best "Transformers" movie to date. Reason being this movie was about Transformers being Transformers, and doing Transformers things. The characters and their personalities (and sometimes growth) mean a lot. All the live action films centers around humans with the Transformers as set pieces or background characters (for the most part).
- "Footloose"? I always thought that it sounded a lot more like "We're Not Gonna Take It". - This movie came out 08/86 and Spaceballs didn't come out until 06/87, so yeah, megamaid probably came from this movie. - As for the death of Optimus Prime....there's actually a zillion videos on this very subject here on UA-cam.
The death of Ultra Magnus was supposed to be worse than it appears to be, the sweeps all shot out lines that just go into Magnus in the final cut but they were supposed to draw him apart hence the metal twisting sounds
They explain in later transformers series, that Ultra Magnus is actually a really small robot, inside a large Mech Suit, explaining why that can get blown up, but he can survive.
Hello! I think it’s fun you watch reactions to TF content too. Love your channel. Was Ambus Minumus made canon to G1 retroactively? Or was that limited to IDW? I always thought Prime’s spark chamber, or core, was damaged and that’s why he died. Whereas U-Mags could be repaired because his torso remained intact.
@@michaelpapp5518 The original Magnus toy was essentially a white Optimus with a trailer that combined with the cab to form the Ultra Magnus usually seen. This was changed for some variations of the character later on in the Transformers Multiverse.
@@Geekology I know. I was wondering why Prospective End was providing an answer as though G1 Ultra Magnus was also Ambus Minimus. That’s a different robot than the white Prime version I understood G1 U-Mags to be. Take Combiner Wars Ultra Magnus for example. It came with a little robot meant to be Ambus Minimus. I haven’t read IDW enough to know if A-Mins piloted a white Prime body wearing U-Mags armor, or if it was just the U-Mags bot mode.
@@michaelpapp5518 oh seperate universes version of Ultra Magnus. In IDW it was a title passed down with the armour. To confuse things entirely, the Japanese Legend version of Combiner Wars Magnus had a little Aloha Trion instead of Ambus. In other continuities there's no core robot inside (like 2001 RID, Animated etc ). Mind you 2001 RID Magnus combines with Prime (Fire Convoy) into Ultra Prime so that's fun :) - Sven
@@svenof9 yes. I thought making a weensy Alpha Trion was silly. Why not just say Legends U-Mags was from another universe and stick with A-Mins? No one woulda cared. Ah well. I do find all the various iterations of the character fascinating. The constant changing of the Transformers is one of my favorite things. It’s so cool to see what new creative spins they come up with.
The original screenplay had Ultra Magnus being torn apart by the Sweeps with tractor beams, but they thought that would be too graphic for the kids watching so just blew him up instead.
You may want to check out the G1 Transformers episode, Dark Awakening, which is set after the movie. I won't spoil what happens in the ep, but the title is very fitting.
Hey I am a 80s kids and I didn't get to watch this movie until the late 90s but I grew up in Puerto Rico so that's my excuse for not watching the movie until the 90s I grew up watching the show though one thing I never understood until I saw the movie was the change of characters one day am watching transformers and you had the regular characters and literally the next day it was a whole different cast it wasn't until I saw the movie that I understood the change in characters and by the way in Puerto Rico we never got season 4 of the show so I never knew about the Headmaster concept either it wasn't until I got G1 Transformers DVD set that I got to see season 4 I always thought that the end of season 3 was the end of the G1 show
For me, this IS Transformers. Hot Rod was my favorite growing up. I even had the toy. I wanted one of Rodimus Prime too, but we couldn't afford it, because it was bigger and had the trailer and stuff. The original toys were so awsome.
Yeah, the studio regretted killing off Optimus Prime. The studio didn't think he was as popular as he is but the backlash was insane. They eventually brought him back in the following season of the cartoon. The whole point of Transformers: The Movie was essentially the same as the cartoon, to sell toys and three years in, the execs felt it was time to basically wipe the slate and introduce a whole new line of transformers, which is why they killed off so many in the first 25 minutes or repurposed them like Galvatron, Cyclonus and Scourge.
The ONLY reason Optimus dies is because his toy was discontunued. Which is actually the reason for the movie to begin with actually. Kill off the old line, make way for the new. Hasbro did not realize just how momumental Optimus's role had become. A toy to them, a hero to us. Yes, Space Balls is actually riddled with Transformers cameos. If you look closely at the "Merchendizing" scene, it's a Transformers lunchbox and coloring book. Also, Transformers was Orson Wells last performance. The last role of the great prankster was that of one of the largest villians.
They killed soany of my favorite characters off in the movie, because the toys were discontinued and they needed to make room for Rodimus Prime and all the other new bots. I was heart broken as a kid but remember being super happy Jazz survived...
Or more accurately, unleashing heaven. You see in the extended lore we find that the Matrix is actually a shard of the Spark (soul) of Primus. Primus and Unicron are twin brothers who have been around since the dawn of the universe, Primus wanted to explore and participate in the new existence, but Unicron awoke in existence and was appalled and disgusted by it and wanted to obliterate it. After eons of fighting each other Primus tricked Unicron into inhabiting an inanimate chunk of rock. Primus too ended up in the same predicament. They the used their divine powers to rework said shells. Unicron became as you see him here, devouring planets to feed himself and purge existence of anything but himself. Primus...became the planet Cybertron and gave birth to the Transformers to continue his work without drawing Unicron's attention. So, opening the Matrix inside Unicron is kind of like getting swallowed by the Devil and opening the Ark of the Covenant inside of him. In season 3 legendary episode "Starscream's Ghost" Starscream makes a deal and teams up with Unicron in order to try and have Unicron's head take over Cybertron's body. Starscream cons Unicron into restoring his body, then Starscream says screw you and dips out. Then Unicron's head gets blown off of Cybertron and placed back in orbit, this time his brain is destroyed and he's done.
No social media at that time. Coming attractions on movies talked about the Transformers movie. TV commercials showed bits and pieces. Watching 2 years of the tv cartoons leads up to the movie. Then the Optimus Prime moment. 😮
Hot Rod is voiced by the guy who played John Bender in the Breakfast Club. Blurr is indeed the Micro Machine Man. Jazz's actor is probably best known for The Shining
Growing on G1 I can tell you for sure that killing Optimus Prime was the biggest screw up by Hasbro to try to sell toys. Then again the reaction from it created more buzz at the time to see the Movie. Hasbro had planned to kill off much for G1 characters to make way for a new toy line. Only they never expected that fans of the animation were pissed that Optimus died. G2 was ok and personally I like the style of the new character designs but G1 still needed to be respected. Till this day and the new movies the hardcore fan of the G1 era want that nod to those animations. There maybe a few good arcs to watch from the 80’s cartoons. Maybe a good idea to see like an arc or two of Beast Wars as well.
Hasbro had several movies lined up. G.I. Joe, Jem and the Holograms. They idea was to get as many of the IPs they had into the theaters. They had plans to kill Duke in the G.I. Joe movie, but the reaction to Prime's death led to them releasing the G.I.Joe movie direct to video and having Duke "In a coma" instead of dying. The other movies they had planned were scrapped. Optimus was a father figure to many kids in the 80's. The 80's was the era of the Latch Key Kids whose parents we busy working and left them to their own devices.
Wait this released in 1986? Holy crap! That's unbelievable. I remember it like yesterday! I could swear it was mid to late 90s. I honestly remember being older than I was in 1986 but I guess not, lol. I remember friends of mine harr-hareing about Prime sticking his dongle into the lady former.
Optimus Prime was super popular, mainly in part due to Peter Cullen’s performance in the cartoon series. However the execs at Hasbro didn’t realise just how popular he was and killed him and many other characters from season 1&2 of the cartoon to just clear the decks for the next year’s toys. Then they got the backlash from angry parents who’s kids were inconsolable due to their hero being killed. Which is why when the movie was released on vhs there were some additional voice over at the end of the movie saying Optimus Prime would return. Also, the PG rating was nothing to do with the violence. It was to do with Spike saying “oh shit, what do we do now?” after failing to blow up Unicron. And that was on purpose because PG movies get more showings than U rated movies and the studio wanted to maximise profits by having as many showings as possible and word was edited out of the home release which had a reduced rating because of it
The G.I. Joe movie was being produced at the same time, and the rumor was going around that they were going to kill off the lead character, Duke, so they wrote the death of Optimus Prime to match. But Transformers came out first, and because of the backlash the G.I. Joe movie was changed, and Duke survived. Ultimately, they had to bring back Optimus Prime as well.
Yes.. yes Megamaid Was indeed taken from this move. They literally CALL it a "Transformer". And if you look closely at the "Merch" scene in Space Balls you will see Mostly 80's TF Merch..XD SpaceBalls was absolute comedic Perfection! Also I saw this movie in Theaters back in 1986 (4 times I might add) .. I grew up watching the G1 cartoon and the death of Optimus absolutely CRUSHED me as a child. They Do bring him back in later episodes of the cartoon series because they received So much Hate mail from parents of devastated children. .. but at the time of the movie.. He was Dead and gone.
@@DanielODea I was going to give a serious but still sarcastic answer until I realized... There really isn't one to be said, lol. One can give a sarcastic response, or a serious one, but packing them both together, no, not really, lol.
Robert Stack (U. Magnus) from Unsolved Mysteries fame. Leonard Nimoy (Galvatron) who else the biggest Star trek OG, and what about the OG G1 cast, legendary in their own right. Peter cullen, Prime and others, Frank Welker, Megatron, Soundwave and others Casey cassum, CliffJumper Top40 music icon Scatman Crothers, Jazz , Legendary Jazz Musician What a Legendary cast from all media.
The last arc stories in transformers g1 season 3 hint at the return of Optimus prime first as a reanimated zombie ish transformer by the Quintessons the g1 creators of the Autobots and Decepticons ancestors as a trap then Autobots captured a lone quintison to rebuild Optimus prime to life to fight a universal life plauge.
The cartoon series was good as well it had 4 seasons. This movie was showing the 2nd generation Transformers for the 3rd season the character blur was the voice John Moschitta Jr the same actor who did all the micro machines commercials he was known as The Micro Machines Man. He is also the fastest talker in the world. and the music "Dare to be Stupid" was a Weird Al song
The commercials for the movie asked if Optimus Prime would die and who would take his place if he did. I thought they were bluffing in the commercials so I was a little surprised when he did die, but only a little.
Imagine being a kid in the 80's and watching Optimus Prime - one of the most popular characters of the decade, never mind in the show - turning to ash before your eyes. Everybody hated it. And Rodimus Prime was a big loser, so they brought Optimus Prime back in the next season of the show. It got so much backlash in fact that Hasbro decided not to replicate the situation in the G.I. Joe movie that followed.
6:02 Except Megatron saw a gun where Prime couldn't see it and knowing Optimus he faked begged while moving towards the guy and when Hot Rod got their Megatron has the gun in hand. You could say Hot Rod gave Megatron a chance to strike but the result would have been the same without knowing the gun Megatron got Meg's would have shot to catch Optimus off and in the end Optimus fate would be the same
Hasbro really messed up killing OP. They killed off Megatron but repurposed him as Galvatron. What Hasbro should have done in the movie was repurpose OP into a new character. Of course that would have defeated the whole purpose of Hot Rod becoming Rodimus Prime, but growing up fans never really adopted Rodimus Prime. His character as the new Autobot Leader was always questioning himself. It was kind of annoying in that regard. I never liked RP from the beginning, that included his color scheme and character. RP just didn't come across as a strong leader.
Fan favorite characters getting murdered and die screaming in vats of acid in children's movies? Yeah, it was the 80s. That sounds about right. I saw that shit in the theater at 7 years old. To this day I remember the sound of a room full of children wailing in sorrow in the darkness. Good times. 👍😅
@@citizenkill7435 No, Galvatron was a cannon. The toy where Megatron was a Tank was his Generation 2 version in 1992. I think he became a Tank both for practical reasons and the fact that you couldn't have realistic toy guns anymore at that point.
As far as Optimus and his popularity, it had nothing to do with his death. This movie was Hasbro's way of getting rid of old stock in order to sell new toys, that's really all this was.
soooooooooooo many kids were crying in theatres when optimist prime died, movie producers had to change plot of GI Joe not to kill Duke.
And when the infuriated parents of the crying kids dropped the company tons of angry letters and calls, Hasbro brought back Optimus Prime.
@@fhb3 True but 4 to 6 episodes later, they cancelled the series... and by then, I had adapted to Rodimus Prime ;)
Why would you spoil that
@@reginaldkelly4269 sorry but it's 36yrs old man. come on man.
@@kermmettfrogger624 and yet a whole generation of people have not seen it. And most of them do reactions
Optimus Prime was super popular. Many of us who were kids when this came out cried at his death. It hit us very hard.
Still to soon. RIP Prime I remember seeing this the day it came out. It was like seeing your dad die. Still listen to Instruments of Destruction at work to this day. Awesome Soundtrack.
@@wargod99921 Check out the rock band that cosplays at Transformers known as the Cybertronic Spree. They have a 1 or 2 soundtracks out and one is dedicated to the movie's soundtrack.
I was 7 when they killed off Optimus Prime......hard to believe Peter Cullen is still doing an amazing job with his voice
Yeah. and then they realized they made a mistake. So Hasbro brought him back... as a zombie. Then killed him again immediately.
I had to be like 5 when this movie became a part of my consciousness and core memory but like 2 when it actually hit theaters. That fight between Optimus and Megatron was like the greatest thing i've ever known and Optimus dying really didn't hit me that hard (i think), cause i didn't see him as much as say - my older brother. Actually I think seeing Optimus die was cool too to me back then.
I dunno - maybe the whole friggin' movie was the greatest thing ever to 5 year old me. I don't think i felt any kind of sadness for a cartoon character getting fatally hurt until the GI Joe movie where Duke got almost killed.... which was around the same time for me back then.
This was Welles final roll before his death and it's really sad he looked at it like a joke, in his own words "I was some big toy being killed by a bunch of small toys" considering how much fans still love his performance to this day.
Was it him that also did it because one of his grand kids said he loved the series? Or am I thinking of a different actor?
The issue isn't that Optimus wasn't popular. The issue is that Hasbro didn't understand their audience. They thought they could kill off the characters with discontinued toys, replace them with new toys like Rodimus Prime, and no one would care. Even they hadn't grasped how popular their own characters were until they were gone. They tried giving Optimus a more fitting sendoff and a proper passing of the torch to Rodimus in season 3, but fans REALLY wanted Optimus back. So they brought him back for good in the season 3 finale. Sure, Optimus dies all the time now, but this was the longest he's ever stayed dead. Nearly a full year.
Yeah, I thought...Dark Awakening, was it?...was a wonderful send-off (I did see the original version of the episode when it first aired), and really hated when they retconned it *midseason* opening the door for The Return of Optimus Prime.
So actually the "Arise Rodimus Prime" was Optimus speaking through the Matrix
Primes death was so traumatic for the kids that saw it they added a couple of lines near the end of the Europe release saying that optimus will return
It also saved Duke's life in GI Joe the Movie.
Optimus Prime dying was not recieved well at the time.
Because of that they later brought him back in the show.
Side note, that WAS the Micro Machines Man as Blurr.
I don't care what anyone says the live action movies will never be this. These are the characters I know and love !
Optimus Prime is brought back at the end of season three in a 2 part episode of the original series.
Yes
ALL of the character deaths traumatized the child audiences. Optimus Prime, Ironhide, Prowl, Wheeljack, every Autobot death lead to crying kiddoes in the theaters. But Hasbro was more interested in promoting NEW toys than selling ones they weren't even making anymore, so they got the chopping block.
I *love* this movie. It's incredibly quotable (me and my siblings still throw the "Universal Greeting" at each other. And only the Dinobots could turn a simple "Excuse me" into something ingrained in my brain. And, as always, I've got better things to do tonight than die!). It's got BEAUTIFUL animation in plenty of spots. The art direction and design is top-notch. Only in 70s and 80s anime do you get the look inside, the moving parts, as the giant robots move. I love it. It's great.
As for the fates of the characters, that's what season 3 of the cartoon (and the sequel miniseries) were for.
Sigh, while what you say 8s imminently true, I'm so exhausted by the cynicism in comments online regarding anything associated with IPs from the 80s and early 90s. But I guess that is a simple reflection of reality. It is what it is.
None of the people behind this movie understood that kids were emotionally invested in the characters, so at the beginning they killed off all the toys that would not be returning in the next season's product line. To the best of my knowledge, not only did they kill Optimus Prime, they had a plan to bring him back as a decepticon zombie in the next season of Transformers and have the Autobots kill him again. After kids not leaving their room for a week because they were so distraught Optimus Prime died, they changed that plan and resurrected him in the next season of the TV show. I also distinctly remember a network television cut of this movie where at the end the narrator told us to stay tuned for many more adventures, including" the return of the greatest autobot Optimus Prime." But it's been at least 30 years since the last time I saw that version and I don't believe it's ever been available on DVD or even cassette.
Yeah, when Bay killed off Optimus, it was a cheap stunt that would be reversed by the end of the movie. When Hasbro killed Optimus, they effing meant it.
They wanted to promote a new toy line, so they cleared the old toys from the story in the most efficient and permanent way possible.
The decision was only reversed later after audience backlash got to the execs. They really underestimated how attached kids were to Optimus.
And yeah, Hot Rod became Rodimus Prime, with Peter Cullen (the voice of Optimus) saying “Arise, Rodimus Prime” to indicate the passing of the torch to a new leader.
This was the first of an ongoing trend of killing off Optimus and bringing him back. Ultra Magnus' "death" was originally supposed to be worse. he was supposed to be drawn and quartered... which is why he falls apart.
That version of Ultra Magnus being torn apart like that, is kept in some versions of the movie because I remember it that way.
@@dmonsef it's possible. I remember seeing at least a still of it somewhere.
A lot of people miss that that tank that shots the bug is a triple changer. His name is Blitzwing.
Casey Kasem is the voice of Cliffjumper which is why it's hilarious they have him doing the countdown to the ship taking off at the beginning
this movie was a prelude to season 3 of the cartoon with Rodimus Prime as leader, they purposely killed off main characters to promote this new cast but due to backlash they did bring Optimus back for season 4 only to have the show get cancelled. A few years later I want to say 2007 or 2008, there was an animated series that made the transformers look more cartoony and in that there was one episode where they introduce Wreck-Gar, a garbage truck voiced by Weird Al and in one part he even says "I dare to be stupid!"
Hot Rod became Rodimus Prime.
The reason you don't hear Hot Rod anymore is trademark issues. Future media featuring the character would refer to him as just Rodimus.
It's Optimus (who is now part of the matrix) who says, "Arise, Rodimus Prime."
"One shall stand, one shall fall," was used again in the first Michael Bay film and a PS3 game. The voice actor that performs the voice of Optimus is the same as the Michael Bay films and the actor for Megatron and Soundwave would play Galvatron and Soundwave in the Bay films.
Weird Al would play Wreck-Gar in an episode of Transformers: Animated.
The 1986 movie: better then every Transformers movie Michael Bay made
Ultra Magnus was able to be put back together because he was quartered in the original script. Though they kept the end result like that, the actual scene was changed to laser blasts hitting his body
Magnus went into extreme stasis lock according to Beast wars lore, similar to what the G1 transformers did when the Ark crashed on prehistoric earth.
The big reason all the old characters were killed off in the movie was because their toys weren't selling. Back when this movie was in production, Sunbow/Marvel Productions were also working on a G.I. Joe animated movie. During that, Buzz Dixon noticed how Duke's toy was being discontinued while they had to introduce a name leader character, Hawk. This gave him an idea and he asked Hasbro for permission to kill Duke off. Hasbro loved this idea and demanded this idea be applied in mass to The Transformers Movie, thus we get the bloodbath of characters whose toys weren't selling anymore.
Rodimus Prime sadly doesn't get treated well in Season 3 of the cartoon.
2 things. One, gray Optimus Prime wrecked the schoolyard worse than if it was Hulk Hogan. And two, "here's a hint" is the most gangsta ass thing you'll ever hear in 80's American cartoons.
I love that you actually know the characters from G1. Most of the others on UA-cam only know the Bayformers movies and they don't know the original cartoon at all so their reactions don't hit home.
YES this movie was indeed traumatizing, and exciting at the same time. Almost 40 YEARS LATER we're still talking about it, because we love it that much! But how this movie did not get a PG-13 rating, still bothers me (but not that much)? This movie clearly proved that cartoons are NOT just for kids.
The (Spaceballs) maids head and hand blow off and land on the Planet of the Apes mimicking the Statue of Liberty. Unicrons head stays in orbit of Cybertron as a moon.
I was 8 when my mom took me to see this in the theater. While I remember being somewhat shocked they actually killed each other and said a few curse words, I don’t remember being heartbroken over the death of Optimus Prime. I actually really liked the new generation toys and cartoons (an unpopular opinion I know).
I liked the movie a lot. So much so I rented it regularly at our local 7-eleven.
"We all united under Dare To Be Stupid, Weird Al saved the world." lmfao, true.
Arise Rodimus Prime is what the spirit/voice of Optimus Prime says as Hot Rod claims the matrix and grows into a much more powerful version of himself and a little more wisdom and maturity.
I remember the day my friends and I discovered that old bell bottoms Megatron could be transformed into a 3rd form, along with several other xformers. And the fact that boombox and sound wave actually had transformable micro cassettes in them!
This was the last movie Orson Wells did work for
Same for Scatman Crothers who voiced Jazz too I believe. They both passed away in 1986 ironically.
Optimus was the old toy, Hot Rod, Rodimus Prime, Ultra Magnus were the new toys. Looking back at the earliest version of the script, Optimus always died, but the matrix was originally Optimus's soul, which was released by Daniel inside Unicron to kill him.
Also there was a note saying You can kill these characters: then listing the 1984/85 toys. For many years people thought this was Habsro saying they wanted them killed off. But it was actually because in the recently found earliest version of the script they killed off all the new toy characters instead, so it was more , no you can't kill the new toys we have to sell them, but you can kill these ones.
Optimus came back in season 3 87
I remember the promos/commercials for this movie waay back then, you "had to see it twice" to catch everything. I did. It was in equal measure the best & worst thing Sunbow Studios did, they might have survived a few more years if they hadn't killed Optimus Prime off. It was fan backlash to his death why they didn't kill Duke off in the GI Joe animated flick. Yes, they even got death threats, the backlash was that bad. If you can find a certain DVD/Blu ray set of this film, it comes with an Easter-egg documentary that details those events, it's fascinating. Rodimus Prime was supposed to replace Optimus, but people simply could not get used to him, since he was blamed for Optimus' death (Optimus was/is THAT iconic).
Orson Welles (1930s War of the Words broadcast) was Unicron. It was the last thing he did before he died. Need I say more as to why one should see this movie?
The last roll of Orson Welles was Unicron. Such a great final roll, as a Transformers fan at least.
The emotional hits came to us 80s kids who watched our robot Dad for two seasons then DIE. I love that this movie finally showed consequences of war. Optimus came back in the third season but all the other transformers who died here stayed dead. Starscream actually become a ghost! No, really!
A fun fact: years later, in the Transformers Animated series, Weird Al played that series Wreck-Garr. So the circle is complete
I'm surprised your cousin didn't have you with him to watch this in the theater back then. You were part of the generation it was meant for. The 65 episodes that kids feasted on 5 times a week for 2 years prior to film's release....or 6 times a week depending on part of the country you were in. There were also the toys, comics and other reading material that were available. The train kept going with other 33 episodes post-movie. Regardless of whatever generation reads this, objectively, it is the best "Transformers" movie to date. Reason being this movie was about Transformers being Transformers, and doing Transformers things. The characters and their personalities (and sometimes growth) mean a lot. All the live action films centers around humans with the Transformers as set pieces or background characters (for the most part).
- "Footloose"? I always thought that it sounded a lot more like "We're Not Gonna Take It".
- This movie came out 08/86 and Spaceballs didn't come out until 06/87, so yeah, megamaid probably came from this movie.
- As for the death of Optimus Prime....there's actually a zillion videos on this very subject here on UA-cam.
The death of Ultra Magnus was supposed to be worse than it appears to be, the sweeps all shot out lines that just go into Magnus in the final cut but they were supposed to draw him apart hence the metal twisting sounds
They explain in later transformers series, that Ultra Magnus is actually a really small robot, inside a large Mech Suit, explaining why that can get blown up, but he can survive.
Hello! I think it’s fun you watch reactions to TF content too. Love your channel. Was Ambus Minumus made canon to G1 retroactively? Or was that limited to IDW? I always thought Prime’s spark chamber, or core, was damaged and that’s why he died. Whereas U-Mags could be repaired because his torso remained intact.
@@michaelpapp5518 The original Magnus toy was essentially a white Optimus with a trailer that combined with the cab to form the Ultra Magnus usually seen. This was changed for some variations of the character later on in the Transformers Multiverse.
@@Geekology I know. I was wondering why Prospective End was providing an answer as though G1 Ultra Magnus was also Ambus Minimus. That’s a different robot than the white Prime version I understood G1 U-Mags to be. Take Combiner Wars Ultra Magnus for example. It came with a little robot meant to be Ambus Minimus.
I haven’t read IDW enough to know if A-Mins piloted a white Prime body wearing U-Mags armor, or if it was just the U-Mags bot mode.
@@michaelpapp5518 oh seperate universes version of Ultra Magnus. In IDW it was a title passed down with the armour. To confuse things entirely, the Japanese Legend version of Combiner Wars Magnus had a little Aloha Trion instead of Ambus.
In other continuities there's no core robot inside (like 2001 RID, Animated etc ). Mind you 2001 RID Magnus combines with Prime (Fire Convoy) into Ultra Prime so that's fun :) - Sven
@@svenof9 yes. I thought making a weensy Alpha Trion was silly. Why not just say Legends U-Mags was from another universe and stick with A-Mins? No one woulda cared.
Ah well. I do find all the various iterations of the character fascinating. The constant changing of the Transformers is one of my favorite things. It’s so cool to see what new creative spins they come up with.
The original screenplay had Ultra Magnus being torn apart by the Sweeps with tractor beams, but they thought that would be too graphic for the kids watching so just blew him up instead.
You may want to check out the G1 Transformers episode, Dark Awakening, which is set after the movie. I won't spoil what happens in the ep, but the title is very fitting.
You have to remember, cartoons at the time were toy commercials..this was them ending one series to bring out the new stuff.
I still blame Hot Rod...
some of us were kids in that watched in the theatres when it first came out. Optimus death changed us that day.
Saw it as a kid. Dropped my popcorn lol. The first 20 minutes or so is still so epic.
They dared to be stupid and it worked. Lesson of the movie.
1st time watching the hell, I thought you grew up in the 80s how can you miss this 😔
Hey I am a 80s kids and I didn't get to watch this movie until the late 90s but I grew up in Puerto Rico so that's my excuse for not watching the movie until the 90s I grew up watching the show though one thing I never understood until I saw the movie was the change of characters one day am watching transformers and you had the regular characters and literally the next day it was a whole different cast it wasn't until I saw the movie that I understood the change in characters and by the way in Puerto Rico we never got season 4 of the show so I never knew about the Headmaster concept either it wasn't until I got G1 Transformers DVD set that I got to see season 4 I always thought that the end of season 3 was the end of the G1 show
I was a kid in the theaters when optimus died but didn't cry because I had already tasted *life* by that point... no safe space.
For me, this IS Transformers. Hot Rod was my favorite growing up. I even had the toy. I wanted one of Rodimus Prime too, but we couldn't afford it, because it was bigger and had the trailer and stuff. The original toys were so awsome.
When you said mega maid I instantly pictured it and cracked up! There isn't much that cracks me up so thank you, I needed it.
This is the first time I've heard the TF theme being compared to Footloose, and now I want this mashup.
This was my favorite of Transformers movies.
Yeah, the studio regretted killing off Optimus Prime. The studio didn't think he was as popular as he is but the backlash was insane. They eventually brought him back in the following season of the cartoon. The whole point of Transformers: The Movie was essentially the same as the cartoon, to sell toys and three years in, the execs felt it was time to basically wipe the slate and introduce a whole new line of transformers, which is why they killed off so many in the first 25 minutes or repurposed them like Galvatron, Cyclonus and Scourge.
The ONLY reason Optimus dies is because his toy was discontunued. Which is actually the reason for the movie to begin with actually. Kill off the old line, make way for the new. Hasbro did not realize just how momumental Optimus's role had become. A toy to them, a hero to us. Yes, Space Balls is actually riddled with Transformers cameos. If you look closely at the "Merchendizing" scene, it's a Transformers lunchbox and coloring book. Also, Transformers was Orson Wells last performance. The last role of the great prankster was that of one of the largest villians.
They killed soany of my favorite characters off in the movie, because the toys were discontinued and they needed to make room for Rodimus Prime and all the other new bots. I was heart broken as a kid but remember being super happy Jazz survived...
Or more accurately, unleashing heaven.
You see in the extended lore we find that the Matrix is actually a shard of the Spark (soul) of Primus. Primus and Unicron are twin brothers who have been around since the dawn of the universe, Primus wanted to explore and participate in the new existence, but Unicron awoke in existence and was appalled and disgusted by it and wanted to obliterate it. After eons of fighting each other Primus tricked Unicron into inhabiting an inanimate chunk of rock. Primus too ended up in the same predicament. They the used their divine powers to rework said shells. Unicron became as you see him here, devouring planets to feed himself and purge existence of anything but himself. Primus...became the planet Cybertron and gave birth to the Transformers to continue his work without drawing Unicron's attention.
So, opening the Matrix inside Unicron is kind of like getting swallowed by the Devil and opening the Ark of the Covenant inside of him.
In season 3 legendary episode "Starscream's Ghost" Starscream makes a deal and teams up with Unicron in order to try and have Unicron's head take over Cybertron's body. Starscream cons Unicron into restoring his body, then Starscream says screw you and dips out. Then Unicron's head gets blown off of Cybertron and placed back in orbit, this time his brain is destroyed and he's done.
No social media at that time. Coming attractions on movies talked about the Transformers movie. TV commercials showed bits and pieces.
Watching 2 years of the tv cartoons leads up to the movie.
Then the Optimus Prime moment. 😮
Hot Rod is voiced by the guy who played John Bender in the Breakfast Club.
Blurr is indeed the Micro Machine Man.
Jazz's actor is probably best known for The Shining
Optims Prime said "Arise, Rodimus Prime!"
Growing on G1 I can tell you for sure that killing Optimus Prime was the biggest screw up by Hasbro to try to sell toys. Then again the reaction from it created more buzz at the time to see the Movie.
Hasbro had planned to kill off much for G1 characters to make way for a new toy line. Only they never expected that fans of the animation were pissed that Optimus died. G2 was ok and personally I like the style of the new character designs but G1 still needed to be respected.
Till this day and the new movies the hardcore fan of the G1 era want that nod to those animations. There maybe a few good arcs to watch from the 80’s cartoons. Maybe a good idea to see like an arc or two of Beast Wars as well.
Hasbro had several movies lined up. G.I. Joe, Jem and the Holograms. They idea was to get as many of the IPs they had into the theaters. They had plans to kill Duke in the G.I. Joe movie, but the reaction to Prime's death led to them releasing the G.I.Joe movie direct to video and having Duke "In a coma" instead of dying. The other movies they had planned were scrapped.
Optimus was a father figure to many kids in the 80's. The 80's was the era of the Latch Key Kids whose parents we busy working and left them to their own devices.
Wait this released in 1986? Holy crap! That's unbelievable. I remember it like yesterday! I could swear it was mid to late 90s. I honestly remember being older than I was in 1986 but I guess not, lol. I remember friends of mine harr-hareing about Prime sticking his dongle into the lady former.
Optimus Prime was super popular, mainly in part due to Peter Cullen’s performance in the cartoon series. However the execs at Hasbro didn’t realise just how popular he was and killed him and many other characters from season 1&2 of the cartoon to just clear the decks for the next year’s toys. Then they got the backlash from angry parents who’s kids were inconsolable due to their hero being killed. Which is why when the movie was released on vhs there were some additional voice over at the end of the movie saying Optimus Prime would return.
Also, the PG rating was nothing to do with the violence. It was to do with Spike saying “oh shit, what do we do now?” after failing to blow up Unicron. And that was on purpose because PG movies get more showings than U rated movies and the studio wanted to maximise profits by having as many showings as possible and word was edited out of the home release which had a reduced rating because of it
The G.I. Joe movie was being produced at the same time, and the rumor was going around that they were going to kill off the lead character, Duke, so they wrote the death of Optimus Prime to match. But Transformers came out first, and because of the backlash the G.I. Joe movie was changed, and Duke survived. Ultimately, they had to bring back Optimus Prime as well.
I still have my VHS; it does not have anything about Optimus returning. It must have been added in later.
When I saw this in the movie theater, it went silent when Optimus Prime died. Followed by tears and shock.
Yes.. yes Megamaid Was indeed taken from this move. They literally CALL it a "Transformer". And if you look closely at the "Merch" scene in Space Balls you will see Mostly 80's TF Merch..XD SpaceBalls was absolute comedic Perfection!
Also I saw this movie in Theaters back in 1986 (4 times I might add) .. I grew up watching the G1 cartoon and the death of Optimus absolutely CRUSHED me as a child. They Do bring him back in later episodes of the cartoon series because they received So much Hate mail from parents of devastated children. .. but at the time of the movie.. He was Dead and gone.
5 days after Orson Welles finished his lines for Unicron, he passed away
It's a whole rock opera movie. Shocking there was so much death in this movie. But tier A cast. Wonderful job.
How else does Hasbro get kids to beg their parents to buy all new characters?
@@DanielODea I was going to give a serious but still sarcastic answer until I realized... There really isn't one to be said, lol. One can give a sarcastic response, or a serious one, but packing them both together, no, not really, lol.
Robert Stack (U. Magnus) from Unsolved Mysteries fame. Leonard Nimoy (Galvatron) who else the biggest Star trek OG, and what about the OG G1 cast, legendary in their own right. Peter cullen, Prime and others,
Frank Welker, Megatron, Soundwave and others
Casey cassum, CliffJumper Top40 music icon
Scatman Crothers, Jazz , Legendary Jazz Musician
What a Legendary cast from all media.
The last arc stories in transformers g1 season 3 hint at the return of Optimus prime first as a reanimated zombie ish transformer by the Quintessons the g1 creators of the Autobots and Decepticons ancestors as a trap then Autobots captured a lone quintison to rebuild Optimus prime to life to fight a universal life plauge.
The cartoon series was good as well it had 4 seasons. This movie was showing the 2nd generation Transformers for the 3rd season the character blur was the voice John Moschitta Jr the same actor who did all the micro machines commercials he was known as The Micro Machines Man. He is also the fastest talker in the world. and the music "Dare to be Stupid" was a Weird Al song
Megamaid was a parody of Unicron, This was Orsen welles last role
The commercials for the movie asked if Optimus Prime would die and who would take his place if he did. I thought they were bluffing in the commercials so I was a little surprised when he did die, but only a little.
Love that you are reacting to it…… honestly I found most of the reaction was you just telling us what we are seeing also.
You must watch the original series to truly understand the emotions that we felt as our favorite characters were being killed in the movie.
Fun trivia fact. Leonard Nimoy has voiced Transformers in both this as Galvatron and the Bay Movie series as Sentinel Prime.
Leonard Nimoy is also related to Michael Bay.
Imagine being a kid in the 80's and watching Optimus Prime - one of the most popular characters of the decade, never mind in the show - turning to ash before your eyes.
Everybody hated it. And Rodimus Prime was a big loser, so they brought Optimus Prime back in the next season of the show. It got so much backlash in fact that Hasbro decided not to replicate the situation in the G.I. Joe movie that followed.
4:51 it is in fact the micro machine man
Unless I am mistaken, Megatron is the only 1980's cartoon villain to actually kill his arch enemy.
I recommend watching the rest of the g1 series too. It's also on the official hasbro pulse youtube channel.
11 year old me still can't not laugh when Grimlock says "Me Grimlock kick butt" then literally flies to Unicron's ass and kicks him.
Starscream literally kicks Megatron while he’s down. 😂
Yes, it is the micro machine guy.
Blurr is indeed voiced by the Micro Machines Man, John Moschitta Jr. also known as the World's Fastest Talker.
Eh not the first time weird Al has saved the world, won't be the last.
6:02 Except Megatron saw a gun where Prime couldn't see it and knowing Optimus he faked begged while moving towards the guy and when Hot Rod got their Megatron has the gun in hand. You could say Hot Rod gave Megatron a chance to strike but the result would have been the same without knowing the gun Megatron got Meg's would have shot to catch Optimus off and in the end Optimus fate would be the same
Rodimus Prime is who Hotrod turned into. Quintesson Judge has 5 faces btw. I was 8 when this movie came out and definitely was shocking
Hasbro really messed up killing OP. They killed off Megatron but repurposed him as Galvatron. What Hasbro should have done in the movie was repurpose OP into a new character. Of course that would have defeated the whole purpose of Hot Rod becoming Rodimus Prime, but growing up fans never really adopted Rodimus Prime. His character as the new Autobot Leader was always questioning himself. It was kind of annoying in that regard. I never liked RP from the beginning, that included his color scheme and character. RP just didn't come across as a strong leader.
Optimus was super popular, his death was crushing
Fan favorite characters getting murdered and die screaming in vats of acid in children's movies? Yeah, it was the 80s. That sounds about right. I saw that shit in the theater at 7 years old. To this day I remember the sound of a room full of children wailing in sorrow in the darkness. Good times. 👍😅
They killed starscream Optimus prime and Megatron in this movie that's when the cartoon just went downhill
Loving this reaction, this is my favourite movie. There is so many questions but it's still ace
6:59 I cried so hard when I was a lil kid.
Galvatron transformed into a cannon actually. He was not a tank
That came in Generation 2.
@@3Rayfire incorrect it was G1 Transformers the Movie 86
@@citizenkill7435 No, Galvatron was a cannon. The toy where Megatron was a Tank was his Generation 2 version in 1992. I think he became a Tank both for practical reasons and the fact that you couldn't have realistic toy guns anymore at that point.
@@3Rayfire I said Galvatron was a cannon
I know that
Hotrod becomes Rodimus Prime
Eric Idle was in this?! How have I never noticed this?
You will have to watch the anima series they bring out after the movie to see Optimus return
Love this movie!🎬
This came before Spaceballs, so Mel Brooks must have liked the idea and borrowed it LOL
TF was a show made to sell toys. The movie was just introducing new toy lines. They weren't thinking about characters and fans. Just $$$
The four faced was a quintesson.
As far as Optimus and his popularity, it had nothing to do with his death. This movie was Hasbro's way of getting rid of old stock in order to sell new toys, that's really all this was.