Transformers: The Movie

Author: Nelson Shin

When many folks think of Transformers: The Movie (the 1986 film, not the 2007 abomination and the even-worse follow-ons) it's because it was the last film made by the legendary Orson Welles. That's a shame, because the animated film is an absolute pleasure to watch. The story of the 2005 war between the Autobots and Decepticons and the immergence of Unicrom a planet that eats planets. The battle against Unicrom is so exciting, and the pacing of the story is breath-taking. No Michael Bay film can approach the breathless attack of this pointedly intelligent animation. The non-Disney animation of the mid-1980s was nothing like you'd find even a decade later, but the storytelling here is incredibly layered and intelligent, and the voice acting top-notch, with big name stars like Eric Idle (of Monty Python), Judd Nelson (of The Breakfast Club), Robert Stack (of Unsolved Mysteries) and Welles. The way the film works is part-western, part-samurai drama, and part good ol' fashioned Buck Rogers stuff! Why it's on the list The animation is clean, the voice-acting is great, and the story a lot of fun. If there's a non-Disney American animated science fiction film that you need to see, this is the one!