Now, sadly, overshadowed by the massive, big box office, live action film the 80's movie is still better. Not just because it had wall to wall Transformers, or the fact that it went as afar as to introduce Unicron (The god of darkness). It's not the fact that within the first twenty minutes we basically have the Transformers version of the Somme, with the Decepticons raiding the Autobot City with shock tactics and really heavy explosives.
It's because Optimus Prime dies. He doesn't die of old age or from some epic sacrifice to save others. It's just a bloody great battle in which both he and Megatron both lose. In the battle the two of them throw their guns away and start hammering each other with fists and pieces of the shattered landscape. Finishing with an epic final blow and the heroic leader dying later of his wounds.
Megatron, as I said , has also lost. Or more accurately has been beaten to an inch of his life. Megatron is jettisoned by the ever traitorous Starscream and floats his way into Unicron's orbit. Now Unicron is a giant living planet that eats other worlds and is headed for the transformers home world. Voiced by Orson Wells Unicron is both awesome and menacing. He is concerned with the Autobot Matrix of leadership (a plot macguffin, deal with it) and rebuilds Megatron as the super-powerful Galvatron. The new Decepticon leader takes his new army of Cyclonus and the Sweeps to Cybertron ahead of Unicron. Where he kills Starscream and takes command of the surviving Decepticons.
The upshot of this is all our favourite characters are dead. Ostensibly to sell new toys but in the end its' killing off our childhood heroes and villains. We've lost just about everyone we have come to know over the last two years. Still that's not the end of the movie. It's just the first half hour! After the Decepticons chase the Autobots across the galaxy and back they finally get back to Cybertron where we find Unicron can transform into a giant robot. Following his instincts Hot Rod tracks down the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. Which Galvatron has stolen from Prime's successor, Ultra Magnus. Unfortunately Galvatron is inside Unicron, so the big showdown ends inside the Titan. The story ends with Rot Rod taking the Matrix back form the Decepticon and opening it. Unleashing the one force that can kill Unicron and becoming the new Autobot's true leader; Rodimus Prime.
There's a lot more to it but you get the gist. As the story develops so do the new characters:- Galvatron becomes more and more powerful and mentally unstable, Ultra "I cant deal with that now" Magnus proves that no matter how good a soldier you can be a good leader needs more and Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime changes from a cocksure young man to a responsible leader of men. They grow up and learn something along the way.
So that's why I think this is a better movie. It's got the Autobots in it, opposed to cameo roles. They grow and change with the story. Become people we can relate to, even though they are robot aliens fighting planet sized robots with glowing balls of crystal.
My big problem with the new film is that we spend far too much time following the human kid around. You don't like him, I can't find a single thing about LaBeouf's character that is endearing. The point of the human character is to give us a window into the Autobot's world, they explain things to him and we all learn what's happening. Instead of being this useful little plot device he's selling his family heirlooms for a chance to attract some bubble headed young woman he knows nothing about. That's his motivation, fantastic.
In this film we have exactly what we wanted. Giant robots beating the bolts out of each other and then we have a twist where the good guys can die. The result is exciting, fun, terrifying, soul destroying and a lot more fulfilling than the 2007 film. It's also a lot more adult in content, it deals with death on a serious level as well as sacrifice and why war is both horrible and, at times, necessary.
Considering it's an 80's cartoon film made to sell toys that's saying something.
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