Scanned the TRANSFORMERS THE MOVIE SPECIAL EDITION DVD that I bought a day ago. Saw this when I was a kid and loved it! For me this was the start of the revisionist era of the superheroes. I remember the TV show as kid’s stuff. No one really got killed. But in the movie, OPTIMUS PRIME gets creamed ten minutes after the opening credits went up. And the list of robot casualties growing by the minute! Even the loveable STAR SCREAM gets iced!!! Watched it with a badly dubbed copy (maybe seventh generation tape to tape transfer) for years. This was the first time I ‘m watching it again. BUT THIS TIME, I’ve got a 5.1 surround track. DAMN WHAT AN INCREDIBLE MOVIE!
Of course the animation is dated since this was done with the traditional handmade cell But I’d take this movie anytime compared to the visually glossy but character dead animated films that grow by clusters, each year like FINAL FANTASY& TITAN AE.And what an awesome voice cast the movie boasts. You got ERIC IDLE (MONTY PYTHON) JUDD NELSON (JOHN HUGHES ALUMNUS) SCATMAN COTHERS(THE SHINING) LEONARDO NIMOY >(STAR TREK) and the legendary ORSON WELLES (CITIZEN KANE, THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS, MACBETH,) I don’t know whether to feel pity for the great man who is responsible for turning an entire generation into WANABE FILMMAKERS, ending his career, dubbing voices for a cartoon or be exhilarated by the sheer scope of his talents. Finally I gave up and just decided to be amazed at the wide diversity of his work. From his first film, the groundbreaking KANE to the TRANSFORMERS MOVIE, which I heard, was his last film work, Orson Welles never fails to surprise.
Seeing HOT ROD and CUP and SPIKE and ULTRA MAGNUS going after MEGATRON brings back memories of the 80s. How I miss it. There was the new wave music blaring from the radio. The smell of Industrial strength styling gels like DEP permeating the air while a herd of AQUA NET drenched heads bobbing in unison in school auditoriums. Men and boys preen around with LACOSTE long backs, their shirttails trailing behind them. The women strut their stuff with football Armour like pads and crotch hugging leggings. ESPADRILLES in pastel colors walk the earth while there upscale cousin, THE PENNY LOAFERS are worn without any socks. Exposing the ugly veins of those, vain enough to try! The disenchanted however opted for more totalitarian footwear, THE DMS (DOC MARTENS) or SHELLY’S of LONDON.These booths are not made for walking. THEY’RE MADE FOR MAIMING!HOW WONDERFUL!
The 80’s also saw the emergence of the first DUNKIN DONUT shop and I discovered the wonderful taste of BAVARIAN CRÈME. Then there was THE LECHON MANOKthat shocked my sensibilities as I cried,’ ONLY PIGS DESERVED TO BE CALLED LECHON! THIS IS FALSE ADVERTISING!” Goes to show how little I knew at the time.
I remember how lean the pickings on SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY FLICKS were. From time to time they would come but in increments of one. Out of a sea of BURT REYNOLDS vehicles like SHARKEY’S MACHINE, a DRAGONSLAYER would rise and then would be engulfed by another wave of tasteless films. Then 1983 came whizzing by and in one amazing week, the movie houses opened, STAR TREK THE WRATH OF KHAN, ROAD WARRIOR: MAD MAX2, BLADE RUNNER and CONAN THE BARBARIAN!
I was so enthusiastic that I didn’t really listened to my teacher while he talked about VAN GOUGH and his pathetic obsession with earwax. I was counting the minutes when I can jump into the bus that will take me to the REMAR CINERAMA theater and be teleported to space, hauled into a runaway truck, or be hunted by runners, anything just not here in this mundane world!
There was even a moment where I had to choose which way to go. REMAR THEATER and THE WRATH OF KHAN or QUEZON 2 and BLADE RUNNER. Eventually The RICHARDO MONTALBAN FAN in me won out and I paid my ticket, telling myself that there would be plenty of time to watch HARRISON FORD track synthetic humans.
That was one hell of a week. I satiated my lust for the fantastique in three days. Then I went back for repeated viewings! It never did happen again. The simultaneous releases. And it never will. I should have checked the planetary alignments to see what cosmic force caused this to happen. But I was too excited to check the schedules for the next day screenings to even bother. Ahh well.
Now SCI-FI and FANTASY are legit genres in Hollywood. They release tons and tons of the stuff. But sadly it doesn’t have the KICK IN THE FACE RAUNCHINESS of the movies done years ago. How sad.
And anyone who tells me EVENT HORIZON IS A GOOD MOVIE should be WEARING A HELMET!
My conceptual drawing of TRENCHCOAT,the hero in my first story.
Did it on the paint pogram that comes with any microsoft drive, just to give me an idea of how the character would look like.I already talked to someone who would do the role.He's perfect for the part.Now its only a matter of getting my weapons and ammo!!!!!
