The Transformers: The Movie (1986)

I'm biased. I'm a 47 year old dad of 2 boys. This was THE movie of my childhood and during school holidays I would watch it at least once per day (from the time it Premiered on TWN 7 in Perth in probably 1987 or so). I'm not going to say that the lower star reviews are factually incorrect. There IS unnecessary swearing (once, twice if you count "dammit") and the movie is at times brutal (though less than was planned) in its depiction of the demises of characters you won't be able to distinguish from each other unless you are a fan. They are robots, no blood, no guts, but expressive faces! The violence is very central to the plot. I disagree however with reviews that say violence is the solution to conflict throughout. 2 out of 3 Autobot leaders in this film are pacifists, who prefer to find peaceful solutions, but who are forced to defend themselves and those they care about. The other leader is a career soldier who no-more wants to indulge in violence than the others but who has literally been built to fight and tries not to. He (infamously) runs away form a fight and is severely punished for it despite being the most skilled and feared warrior the Autobots have. Why? Because although he is a skilled combatant and professional fighting machine, the ones under his command, including a young human child aren't, and he has seen what has happened to their best soldiers. The enemy has levelled up, and Magnus' team are suddenly seriously outgunned and overmatched militarily. The positive messages in this movie are incredibly important; The smart guy can be brave. The brash, dumb guy can use his brain, save the day and be a hero. The "girl" can save the tough guy The little guy can save the big guy Strangers you meet, who judge you on your appearance an be spoken to kindly and calmly and hostility can be avoided when you try to understand each other. Being loyal to your friends is more important than you can possibly realise Sometimes help comes from places you would never expect "Metal" music can be uplifting Sometimes a hard rock cover of a kids TV show theme is somehow the best and most fitting version Respect and learn from your elders, even when the time they tried to teach, you their example failed miserably Mashed potatoes can be your friend "Weird Al" Yankovic songs can, and do belong in and instantly elevate any movie There is more to people than meets the eye Sometimes, despite their best efforts, your heroes will fail, will fall, will let you down, and may even die. Most movies have Frank Welker in them, but it should be law for him to be in literally every film. Peter Cullen should have gotten an Oscar for this (he can have Orson's, he don't need 'em now). Sometimes when kids try to help they get in the way, and cause problems but they are kids so nobody judges them or blames them. If you are not familiar with the G1 series, the numerous onscreen deaths won't affect you much in the first act, but you will still be able to enjoy the whole film. If you are a fan, it'll hurt every time when the thing happens and make your heart sing every time when the other thing happens and the soundtrack will be better than it has any right to be and will be on repeat in your brain til you die.

I watch this a lot with my brother. We had to get it on YouTube because we didn't want to pay for it, but it is still good. My little brother (4) loves the songs and so do I. There is one use of "sh*t", but some kids won't even understand it. It is a bit violent (i.e. Prowl's death scene, where you get a close up of his face with fire and smoke coming out of his eyes and mouth and Starscream crumbling into dust), but if your kids watch Star Wars or other shows like that, they should be able to handle it. The role models are okay, it is the usual good vs evil plot. It might be a bit scary for younger kids, with a planet-eating Transformer being the main antagonist. I highly recommend this to everyone.