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Rating:  -
Without reviewing the 500+ other reviews, I will focus ONLY on the quality of the remastering:
The video was sharp for the most part - I found only a few scenes in which focus appeared to be slightly off.
The video was vibrant - As other reviewers mentioned, color is sometimes inconsistant. For the most part, however, the film is pleasing to look at.
The video is widescreen - This is a major upgrade from previous releases.
The audio was clean - The remastered version has much wider dynamics, that is, it was clearer and crisper. The highs were exceptionaly sharp, particularly when music played. However, this version STILL misses the mark with the LFE channel. There is hardly any bass effects in this film: I counted two. You would think they would have used the LFE channed during the millions of explosions that occurr in this movie, but no dice. Oh well, maybe in the HD DVD / Blu-Ray version.
I reccomend this version of the film for two types of customers:
1) Die-Hard TF fans
2) Casual TF fans with a higher-end theatre center
Rating:  -
This movie is my favorite movie. Ever. I feel terrible giving it two stars. But it gets 2 stars because I am comparing it to the Rhino version, which I also own. I also own the original VHS. I have watched this movie at least once a year since I was 8 except for about 6 years in middle school/HS. I can sit in class and watch it from memory in my head.
BUY THE RHINO VERSION.
If you can't find the Rhino version, this isn't half bad. Its just that that version is much better, and since I have been growing up with older copies, the new one's flaws, minor to the newcomer, are blinding to me. I also am physically unable to watch any of the "Special Edition" Star Wars because of those changes, if that gives a clue to my movie anality.
BUY THE RHINO VERSION IF YOU CAN FIND IT.
One complaint is that the VHS had this cool "glitter" effect in a couple of scenes involving energon and Unicron internals. It is present in the VHS, It came out wrong in the Rhino version, and was totally gone in the 20th. Thanks for deleting part of my childhood.
In comparison to the Rhino version:
The remaster is terrible. Mine seems to flicker and have strange artifacts. The colors are totally off. Hot Rod is basically magenta/pink instead of red and his orange is not orange like an orange, it is orange like a cheaply made basketball.
Widescreen is fake. It is a cut fullscreen. I wish you weren't such a liar, Sony.
Cover art: D-. No detail. Looks like whoever does the new show drew it in an afternoon or two. The matrix looks like a honeydew. It would have got an F but Prime is on there.
Very few of the extras were worth it. I bought this for the remaster, hoping for some clean up and a restoration of the glitter effect, and they weren't there.
Rating:  -
This movie brought back such memories.
Great heroes, evil villans and if I do say so, a great soundtrack made it an experience worth re-living. Like many, I can hardly wait to see the live-action treatment, but this will always have a great place in my heart. Buy this before it disappears again; it's worth the money ten times over.
Rating: -
Transformers.
Need I say more? One of the greatest things mankind has ever created is put on a 2-disc(thank God) 20th Anniversary Special Edition that hardcore geeks like me love. I bought this edition of the movie the day it came out. Best $15.96 I ever spent in my life. The first time I watched this movie I was around 6. My dad showed it to me while we were at Blockbuster. I figured, hey, I like Beast Wars, maybe this will be better. I was flippin' blown away. It showed me a lot of my firsts.
1. Someone Died
2. The voice of the guy on Unsolved Mysteries
3. The "S" word
4. Some people talk really fast
5. I like violence
I had no idea who these transformers were. All I new was Optimus Primal, Ratrap, Cheetor, etc. I remember I thought Galvatron's name was "Gravytron" and Unicron was "Unicorn". I would go around school in first grade saying the "S" word. I had no idea what it meant. I didn't care. I just wanted to be affiliated with transformers. It shaped me to be what I am today. A semi-geeky-preppy-sporty with a big mouth. In the 5th grade I wanted to be a rapper called Optimus Rhyme(which some Nerdcore rapper stole frome me). My life wouldn't be complete if I didn't get this DVD. If you don't have this: BUY IT RIGHT NOW!!!! I'm serious you have to get this DVD or else you will end up like the homeless guy sittin' on the corner with a Chiba and some Yoohoo. Please don't end up like that.
Rating: -
I remember the '80s. In fact, I was a high school/college geek during that time (before "geekdom" was actually cool) who still watched afternoon/Saturday morning cartoons. Apart from the exceptions (all Japanese imports), most of them were basically extended commercials for what was being offered as toylines to kids. There were two series that were different - both were selling toylines, true, but both had excellent storytelling, interesting graphics, and excellent overseas production houses that kept the quality of animation just a little bit ahead of its competitors. They were also properties owned by Hasbro and licensed by Marvel Entertainment. These were "Transformers" and "G.I. Joe; A Real American Hero."
When The "Transformers" series (both TV and toyline) needed a reboot, they took an unusual approach. Rather than doing another "miniseries"/extended pilot to introduce new characters, Hasbro/Marvel/Sunbow Productions (the animation house responsible for most of the Marvel Entertainment series during that time) took the unusual step in spending a vast amount of money on a theatrical release. Not just another theatrical release either - a bold, mature, sensible retelling of the Autobot saga that, rather than sticking with the tried and true simple adventure story, made the decision to massacre a lot of characters in order to make room for the new. The even killed off the most popular character of the franchise, Optimus Prime, thus adding an emotional punch that couldn't be avoided.
Yes, there were commercial reasons for doing all this, but the characters were so well established, and the script dealing with them so well-constructed as to make you care for a bunch of, let's face it, machines, the effect was to cause mass hysteria in the theaters by the younger audience members. Parents who were expecting merely another, longer, Saturday morning diversion, were horrified. All hands responsible got more publicity, good and bad, than they ever anticipated. Finally, and more importantly, the Transformers were cemented in popular cuture lore fully and finally, even with their non-target audience (older guys like me who were the rarity in the cinema).
What can there be said for this movie that hasn't already been? As I mentioned, the producers spent a great deal of money to make it a quality film. They brought in a real film scorer, the excellent Vince DeCoia (sp?) of "Rocky IV" fame, to do the incidental music. They built an iconic '80s soundtrack to go with it (Stan Bush? a guilty pleasure form the big-haired decade). They even gathered an eclectic selection of top-line stars to do voicework (yeah, they exploited the dying Orsen Welles, even ditching most of the work when it didn't cut the mustard, but they got Leonard Nimoy - Spock, the ultimate scifi good guy - to play the revived villain Galvatron). The result? Something that had an epic feel all over it, what with all the death, wandering around from mission to mission and such, a unique achievement in a bloated field.
An epic with a decidedly mature feel as well. I've read some of the previous reviews, and understand that, as like then, some parents ignored the justified PG rating and got this for their young kids, expecting a merely "kids" cartoon. Therefore I must add this to what I wrote - THIS IS NOT FOR YOUNG OR EASY UPSET CHILDREN! As mentioned earlier, characters die - shockingly, brutally, and in rather large numbers. There is also once (and just the one) moderate curseword used in the dialogue.
The specials of the DVD are good, if not earthshaking, and they do add to what's been in the fan community for some time, but the deal here is the movie. Adventure lovers - get it. Watch it. Love it!
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