It’s hard to believe that it’s been 40 years since I sat down in a theater at Westgate Cinema in Racine, Wisconsin with my cousin Joe (1 year younger than me), I was 12 and he was 11 and watched The Transformers: The Movie. Released August 8, 1986, little did we know that our beloved cartoon that we had invested so much time and hours watched over the past 2 seasons of the show, would be flipped on its head and changed forever! We were both huge fans of the cartoon and toys. For myself, I think the only things on my Christmas lists for 1984 and 1985 were nothing but Transformers! As far as the cartoon goes, it was must see TV every weekday afternoon when I got home from school, and if I remember correctly, Saturday mornings in 1985.
MEMORIES OF THE MOVIE
Coming in at 86 minutes, this movie flies by for about the first 40 minutes, it leaves you in such a state that you are trying to register all that has taken place and realizing that you still have another 45 minutes to go! As we all know, many..MANY characters are either killed off, gravely injured or reformatted into different characters. Hasbro’s attempt to introduce new toys left many of our most precious characters gone forever. We are also introduced to new Autobot characters such as HOT ROD, ULTRA MAGNUS, ARCEE, KUP, BLURR AND SPRINGER. Decepticon characters that get reformatted such as MEGATRON-GALVATRON. STARESCREAM-DEAD. THUNDERCRACKER, SKYWARP and the INSECTICONS get re-formatted into CYCLONUS, and SCOURGE and THE SWEEPS. I remember that there are two different instances in which Spike Witwicky says, “Shit” and Ultra Magnus says “Damn It”! Totally unexpected and mind blowing in a kids movie for that time. But…as we all know, probably the biggest blow to 80s kids everywhere was the death of Optimus Prime. One of the most beloved and greatest heroes to come out of the 80s had been killed off. He would later return in Season 4, but it was just too late and wasn’t the same. The memories that I take away most from this movie are these:
- Unicron was pretty awesome.
- How could you kill off all of my favorite characters from the last 2 seasons of the cartoon???
- Some of the new characters were OK.
- Did they really just swear in a kid’s movie??
- The music and songs in this movie ROCK!!!
THE SOUNDTRACK
The original soundtrack for the movie was released 13 days ahead of the movie on July 26, 1986. In a way it was kind of spoiler-Ish, as there were rumblings of Optimus Prime dying. See track #3! The 1986 version comes in at just 37:45, but it certainly packs a punch! A mix of synth-pop instrumental tracks and hard rocking metal tunes! Plus, the one and only Weird Al Yankovic even gets in on the fun! The soundtrack was re-released in 2007 with an added 4 bonus tracks.
MY PERSONAL SONG RANKING
Here, I’ll rank the 10 songs of the original soundtrack from 1986. This is my personal opinion of how I like the songs from 10 to 1.
#10. ESCAPE-VINCE DICOLA
When it takes place in the movie: The track starts directly after the coronation sequence when we return to Earth and continues during the Decepticons’ attack on Autobot City and the Autobot evacuation aboard two shuttles.
Transformers G1 The Movie Boarding The Shuttles
#9. AUTOBOT/DECEPTICON BATTLE-VINCE DICOLA
When it takes place in the movie: It plays near the beginning of the feature during one of the most significant scenes; the beginning of the Battle of Autobot City. It begins as Perceptor informs Ultra Magnus of their “distinct tactical deficiency” and plays throughout, ending after the battle in the communications tower between Blaster and Soundwave‘s Mini-Cassettes. In the finished film, the song is edited in order to fit the length of the full scene, with some parts repeated and others shortened.
Transformers The Movie 1986 Autobot City Battle
#8. THE TRANSFORMERS THEME-LION
When it takes place in the movie: It is played over both the title sequence and closing credits of the movie, edited in both instances to fit the time allotted.
Transformers – Season Movie Theme Song
#7. NOTHIN’S GONNA STAND IN OUR WAY-SPECTRE GENERAL
When it takes place in the movie: The song is featured in the movie when Hot Rod finds himself stranded in an underwater portion of the planet Quintessa, where he defeats a robotic squid that has captured a damaged Kup, whom he offers to repair.
Transformers G1 The Movie Hot Rod Saves Kup
#6. HUNGER-SPECTRE GENERAL
When it takes place in the movie: The song starts just after the Quintessons drop Hot Rod and Kup into their Sharkticon pool, and continues throughout the ensuing battle, past the arrival of the Dinobots.
[HD] Hunger – Spectre Genera#l (G1)
#5. DARE TO BE STUPID-WEIRD AL YANKOVIC
When it takes place in the movie: It was used as the music for the “Junkions attack” and “Junkions become friends” scenes in the movie; the song’s rampant pop-culture referencing certainly fits with the pop-culture-talking Junkions.
Transformers The Movie Junkions Dare to be Stupid Scene
#4. DEATH OF OPTIMUS PRIME-VINCE DICOLA
When it takes place in the movie: It is featured in The Transformers: The Movie during, unsurprisingly, Optimus Prime‘s death scene, and it has the ability to make a tear run down the cheek of many a Transformers fan. I’m not crying, you’re crying…
Transformers: The Movie (1986) – The Death of Optimus Prime[HD]
#3. INSTRUMENTS OF DESTRUCTION-NRG
When it takes place in the movie: The song plays in The Transformers: The Movie during one of# the first scenes which sets the tone for the remainder of the movie; the scene where the Decepticons brutally massacre the crew of an Autobot shuttle.
N.R.G. – “Die Autobots!” – Shuttle Attack -TF:TM- “Instruments of Destruction” #music #anime #tftm
#2. THE TOUCH-STAN BUSH
When it takes place in the movie: “The Touch” is first featured in The Transformers: The Movie when Optimus Prime, having just arrived at Autobot City, takes on several of the Decepticon forces by himself. It plays again, near the end of the feature, as Hot Rod opens the Matrix.
Stan Bush – The Touch (From Transformers the Movie)
THE TRANSFORMERS MOVIE 1986 | Hot Rod becomes rodimus prime | full HD 4K
#1. DARE-STAN BUSH
When it takes place in the movie: It plays early in the movie; after Hot Rod and a moody Daniel have a brief conversation concerning Spike‘s prolonged absence, Daniel receives a signal indicating that an Autobot shuttle is about to land nearby. As his spirits are raised by these news, “Dare” begins to play, accompanying the duo’s race to “lookout mountain“, until Hot Rod notices a group of Decepticons using the shuttle as a means to ambush Autobot City. It reprises later when the Autobots storm Unicron, crashing through his eye.
Stan Bush – Dare (From Transformers the Movie)
So there’s my ranking of the 10 original songs from the soundtrack! Feel free to click on the links to see when these songs take place in the movie. I love this soundtrack and listen to it at least once a month!
SOURCE: Transformers Wiki – TFWiki.net
BOX OFFICE
Initially The Transformers: The Movie was considered a huge flop in the way of movie budget to box office earnings. It grossed a domestic box office of $5.85 million on a budget of $6 million. The movie finished 95th out of the Top 100 grossing movies for the year. To a 12-year-old in 1986, none of that mattered! My cousin and I loved it! It did have some stiff competition though, as movies like The Fly, Stand By Me, Aliens and Friday the 13th were already in theaters or soon to be in theaters. Some would say it never stood a chance. Over the past 40 years, it has gathered a big following with the releases of special editions on DVD and Blu-Ray.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Where to start…. Having 40 years of hindsight to look back on this time of my life, I’ve realized a few things. For one, this movie kind of signified the start to the end of my childhood. I was 12 and a half years old and was going to start 7th grade in a few short weeks. If you were a kid in the 80s, you know that once you hit middle school, it was almost kind of expected by your peers, that you no longer watch cartoons or play with toys or read comics anymore. You had to act older and be more “adult” like. I started to gradually drift from watching cartoons. I don’t think I ever tuned in to the following season of the Transformers cartoon after the movie. It’s funny and kind of sad at the same time, how some of the things you did were the last time you would do them and didn’t even realize it until many years later. The theater I saw this movie in no longer remains. It was shut down in 2006. I can still remember walking in and seeing that awesome and iconic movie poster right outside of our designated screen. But time goes by and what we call “nostalgia” starts to creep back into your mind as an adult, and you can look back on those days and smile. If I could go back and re-live a 5-year block of my childhood, I think it would be 82-86 for sure. The Transformers has stood the test of time for 42 years and is still going strong today! It was and will always be my favorite cartoon and toy franchise. Thanks for reading this article! I hope you enjoyed it!
TILL ALL ARE ONE! – KEN
Chad