• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Really That Good: Transformers the Movie

JCHandsom

Member
https://youtu.be/_9iab0z6Kyg
Video is 48:47 long
iu


New video by Bob "Moviebob" Chipman in his series of positive breakdowns of films he feels are "really that good". Previous episodes have covered The Avengers, Independence Day, Titanic, and now Transformers the movie.

Here is his description where he outlines the premise of his particular argument

TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE debuted in 1986 to scathing reviews and a less-than-transformative box office performance - after all, it was essentially a 90 minute toy commercial whose target audience was already getting its fix on TV for free. But home-video and regular TV play, combined with the enduring popularity of the TRANSFORMERS brand and the shocking (however marketing-driven) decision to kill off many of the most popular original characters made it a pop-culture staple for a whole generation of fans; many of whom today regard it as a cult classic... but is it?

Where some merely see a cynical feature-length commercial highlighted by oddball voice-casting, inconsistent animation and some of the cheesiest 80s heavy metal ever recorded; many devout fans insist it all (somehow) adds up to something more - and its enduring popularity suggests they might have a point: There's a thousand things "wrong" with TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE; but if a whole generation still claims to be sincerely captivated by its strangely-hypnotic bizarre visual aesthetic, caught up in its surreally-serious sci-fi melodramatics and moved to tears by the death of Optimus Prime... are they wrong? Where does authorial intent (in this case: to make a toy commercial) give way to audience-perception in determining which creative works get to "matter?"

Is TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE... Really That Good?

I've really enjoyed RTG, even if I don't always end up agreeing with Moviebob's opinion. As I never grew up with Transformers or Transformers: The Movie, I don't have a horse in this particular race, so I'm interested to hear the opinions of people who do have experience with this.
 

Temp_User

Member
I thought Optimus Prime going ham on Megatron and the Decepticons on Autobot city was going to be the payback for the Decepticons massacring Ironhide, Ratchet and especially Brawn on the way in. I was wrong. My sobbing little old self back then could not take that so much L's.
 

caliph95

Member
Duke's
in a coma. He's going to be okay.

*cough* copout *cough*
Good thing it was Sunday otherwise his lungs will be filled with blood
I see his parachute, he's okay, he landed in the next dimension 2C he landed in the next dimension
 
This movie is not "really that good." It's a fuckin toy commercial that rips off Star Wars.

Soundtrack is good though. Vince DiCola is pretty awesome.
 
The soundtrack ruins the movie for me.

The soundtrack is the best thing about it.

I'll just copy and paste what I wrote on YouTube:

I'm a '90s kid, and didn't watch Transformers. It was Power Rangers that got me into transforming robots. I did own a couple of Transformers toys though (notably Skywarp), but I didn't get into the franchise until the first Bayformers movie. I backtracked and started buying the G1 DVD sets, and eventually came across the movie only a few years ago. It's as epic as an animated toy commercial can get. The soundtrack is amazing. I don't care much for the Quintesson and Junkion sections. I know Orson Wells hated playing Unicron, but I think no one else could have done what he did. It's not perfect by any stretch, but it's Really That Good.
 

Rookhelm

Member
how many times can "toy commercial" be used in one review (in one paragraph, no less), good lord.

Yes, we know.
 

JCHandsom

Member
how many times can "toy commercial" be used in one review (in one paragraph, no less), good lord.

Once. Twice. Three times, if you count both paragraphs from the description.

Haven't finished the review yet, but nonetheless it's a big part of his review. It'd be like reviewing The Avengers and constantly bringing up superhero films...which is appropriate, because that's what it is.
 

Rookhelm

Member
Once. Twice. Three times, if you count both paragraphs from the description.

Haven't finished the review yet, but nonetheless it's a big part of his review. It'd be like reviewing The Avengers and constantly bringing up superhero films...which is appropriate, because that's what it is.


I understand mentioning it, but it doesn't need hammered so much. The brand is owned by Hasbro. The point is so self evident, it's hardly worth mentioning.
 
Fantastic movie, and the soundtrack is unreal good. Stan Bush, Lion, Weird Al, Vince DiCola...

a trillion times better then any of the bayformers crap, which I know is not difficult.
 

JCHandsom

Member
Well I can't ever trust Bob Chipman anymore.

I've been taking all his videos with grains of salt ever since he tried to push the idea that Mario deserved another shot at a live-action movie.

Still, the video so far is interesting, to say the least, to an outside fan like me. I think this is the first time he's tried to spin something he himself admits is obviously not good as something worthy of the love and attention people give it to this day.
 
Still, the video so far is interesting, to say the least, to an outside fan like me. I think this is the first time he's tried to spin something he himself admits is obviously not good as something worthy of the love and attention people give it to this day.

I guess, but it's weird as so many of the things he seems to not like about fandom and fan culture and bad, lazy criticism can be sourced/traced back to this film sort of IMPRINTING on people like a fetish.

An entire generation of boys (between this, Dark Knight Returns & the general misunderstanding of Watchmen) grew up thinking unloading a shotgun into your toybox was the shortcut to depth and resonance, and as such, the 90s/00s followed that trend to its natural (ugly) terminus, the effects of which we're only JUST NOW in 2017 starting to move past.

To argue that its somehow a good thing because of that is weird to me.
 

F34R

Member
Transformers was my thing in the 80's!!! I loved my original Transformers. I had them ALL lol. Lost them all when we moved from England to the USA in transit. :(
 
BW1hKb7.jpg


Dunno whether it ever got a cinema release, but we got it on video in the UK. It was an origin story for how bravestarr arrived on New Texas, where he gets his powers, and a big fight with Stampede.

It's awesome.

The anti-drugs episode had such a dark and depressing ending.
 

score01

Member
My dad took the family to see this when it first released in the cinema. Never got over what they did to Optimus.

Still are far superior movie than any of the shit Michael Bae has subjected us to.

Fans of the movie, it's a must to check out the rude awakening if Optimus Prime 😂

https://youtu.be/bq1_6D9QS9Y
 

Tizoc

Member
BW1hKb7.jpg


Dunno whether it ever got a cinema release, but we got it on video in the UK. It was an origin story for how bravestarr arrived on New Texas, where he gets his powers, and a big fight with Stampede.

It's awesome.

IIRC Jack Kirby worked on Bravestarr no?
I ought to watch it.
 

emag

Member
Where else can you hear Orson Welles playing a planet-devouring robot? Rosebud ain't got anything on TFTM.

Megatron killed Optimus Prime.

What did Darth Vader do? Made Obi Wan vanish mid frame, force chocked a pleb and cut Luke's hand off.

Megs also resurrected as Galvatron, disintegrated his "successor" at his coronation, tore apart Ultra Magnus (Optimus's chosen successor), took on a planet solo, and almost decapitated Hot Rod with his bare hands. Not to mention all his kills on the Autobot shuttle in the opening. Megs > Vader
 

Monocle

Member
This movie is an endlessly rewatchable and eminently quotable classic. And it features one of the best soundtracks of all time.
 
I've never seen it, but to me it looks like a glorified toy commercial that got away with using "shit" once.

Then again, I was born in 1992, so...
 

G-Fex

Member
I guess, but it's weird as so many of the things he seems to not like about fandom and fan culture and bad, lazy criticism can be sourced/traced back to this film sort of IMPRINTING on people like a fetish.

An entire generation of boys (between this, Dark Knight Returns & the general misunderstanding of Watchmen) grew up thinking unloading a shotgun into your toybox was the shortcut to depth and resonance, and as such, the 90s/00s followed that trend to its natural (ugly) terminus, the effects of which we're only JUST NOW in 2017 starting to move past.

To argue that its somehow a good thing because of that is weird to me.

Fucking preach Bobby preach. Tell em.
 
BW1hKb7.jpg


Dunno whether it ever got a cinema release, but we got it on video in the UK. It was an origin story for how bravestarr arrived on New Texas, where he gets his powers, and a big fight with Stampede.

It's awesome.

It always bothered me that his horse would go from being ridden to walking on 2 legs. Its just not natural!
 

JCHandsom

Member
I guess, but it's weird as so many of the things he seems to not like about fandom and fan culture and bad, lazy criticism can be sourced/traced back to this film sort of IMPRINTING on people like a fetish.

An entire generation of boys (between this, Dark Knight Returns & the general misunderstanding of Watchmen) grew up thinking unloading a shotgun into your toybox was the shortcut to depth and resonance, and as such, the 90s/00s followed that trend to its natural (ugly) terminus, the effects of which we're only JUST NOW in 2017 starting to move past.

To argue that its somehow a good thing because of that is weird to me.

That's a point that, unfortunately, Moviebob doesn't really touch on in this review: he ultimately concludes that Transformers was emotionally affecting due to the marketers doing their jobs too well, and that the movie creates a narrative about dealing with loss, growing up, and learning to transform (sorry) and adapt to whatever life throws at you, wrapped up in a memorable synth-rock soundtrack and visuals straight out of Jodorowsky. Whether or not you agree with that (I'm still a little wary myself), he seems to think that makes it "good", regardless of the very real concerns you bring up concerning the "blow up your toybox" mentality and all the toxicity that comes from it.

He does, however, address that same core concern in his RTG episode on The Matrix and how the "smash the system" ideology of that film could just as easily fit with

-adolescents struggling to come to terms with a world that doesn't care for them and wanting to find an identity and make a difference

-LGBTQ people with legitimate grievances establishing solidarity, community, peace of mind, etc. and finding strength within it, AND

-persecution complex bullies who view themselves as arbiters of rationality and truth who get to do whatever they want to whomever they want because they're just "sheeple" that don't really matter anyway

Ultimately coming to the conclusion that although such discrepancies bespeak flaws in narrative execution, it's still a good enough movie to rise above those flaws. I would imagine Moviebob would say something along those lines with regards to similar concerns about Transformers: The Movie.
 

Mathieran

Banned
I don't care what anyone says about this movie, it's one of my favorites. And when I'm having a rough week or just feeling down, The Touch and Dare never fail to pick me up. They're my favorite cheesy anthems of all time. I always say they would make great songs for a political campaign.
 

cirrhosis

Member
I don't care what anyone says about this movie, it's one of my favorites. And when I'm having a rough week or just feeling down, The Touch and Dare never fail to pick me up. They're my favorite cheesy anthems of all time. I always say they would make great songs for a political campaign.

Kamala should use The Touch
 
Top Bottom