Till All Are One: Transformers 40th Anniversary Event

[mwynn]

https://transformers40thcinemaevent.com/gallery/

[L.J.]

This is cool, only movie remember my Dad taking me to the theater to see when was a kid.

[Batman1980]

[Telemachus]

Someone needs to reissue the movie soundtrack CD

[mwynn]

Hasbro Pulse | 'TIL ALL ARE ONE: TRANSFORMERS 40th ANNIVERSARY EVENT - YouTube

[Dragon78]

Such a classic, wish it did much better in theaters. We could have had a Jem and Holograms animated movie.....and who knows what else.

[mwynn]

Originally Posted by Dragon78

Such a classic, wish it did much better in theaters. We could have had a Jem and Holograms animated movie.....and who knows what else.

This is not the movie, this is the series.

[Dragon78]

I wonder if those episodes being shown in theaters will be in HD.

Didn't they have the movie play again in theaters not that long ago as well?

Well the first half of the show was good, but those post movie seasons......

[Guy87]

I'm not sure if I'd prefer to watch the first episode without the table read.

I think I would.

[Zivouhr]

I have the DVD set of Generation 1 series season 1 and 2, where it will play the linked episodes without the opening title theme song each time, but just blend into the next one.

I'll rewatch that on my 100" projector screen and save some money, but it's cool for fans who really want to see this on the big screen in theaters too.

Awesome series and well-written.

I'll be honest, I did lose interest when Optimus and the crew were replaced by Rodimus Prime and the new generation of Autobots in season 3 back then as a kid. That's when more of the robots started having robot beards and stranger vehicle shapes. The movie definitely prepared kids, for those who went to see the movie before the 3rd season on weekdays after school.

I'll try to rewatch season 3 and 4 of The Transformers on Tubi.

I never saw the film in theaters, as it was only playing for 2 weeks or less, and hardly any advertising. I had no idea it was playing back then. Have it on DVD. Interesting story for the new characters, but very jarring for fans of G1. Suddenly lasers can kill autobots? Not fair.

[Poya]

Why didn't they do this for Batman's 30th?

When Kevin was still alive?

[Zivouhr]

I remember that fast talking blue Autobot and Wheelie with the high pitched voice in season 3. It took awhile to really get going after many episodes IMO. Galvatron not as cool as Megatron IMO.

Challenge of the Gobots is a very much underrated series, especially with Cy-Kill as the main villain. Great villain that rivals Megatron in terms of how evil he is. Gobots Battle of the Rock Lords the movie tanked in theaters too, and hasn't seen anything past a VHS release since then apparently. Unfortunate lack of interest it seems to not be reissued in all those years.

EDIT: I was able to watch more of season 3. The writing takes a drop in quality compared to the first two seasons. There are more goofy characters, like Blur, speaking very quickly. And Wheelie, very high pitched voice. And Blaster, talking in rhymes. Some aliens whining a lot. Then the giant Decepticon Dinosaur Robot, with clunky animation.

Animation takes a drop too. Choppier looking drawings and art. Not great compared to seasons 1 and 2.
This is no longer on earth most times in season 3, but outerspace and other planets. The aliens are interesting.
Optimus makes a cameo by the 8th episode. He's all worn and busted up.

The Quintissan -spelling?- Face robots are the main villains, but they don't even transform into anything. They were in the movie too. They have mustaches and beards and several faces. Not a fan, as they should be in a horror movie more than this series IMO.
The transformations are okay, transforming into futuristic vehicles but very rarely, mostly in robot form.

I do like the story of the defector Decepticon, Octane. He even meets Starscream's hologram.
Episode 9 has some bearded robot Decepticons after Octane. Why do they have beards? Are they trying to look like people of earth? Were the Transformers around millions of years before humans?

I remember why I tuned out for seasons 3 and 4. I do know there are fans who love that series though.

[scroeffie]

any news there are going to do a new dvd or bluray release of the series ?

[Eidolon]

This will look terrible on the big screen. There doesn't seem to be any decent elements available for this, based on the numerous dvd releases we've had over the years. Are they going to crop it to wide-screen as well?

Originally Posted by scroeffie

any news there are going to do a new dvd or bluray release of the series ?

I'd be amazed if there was, very little 80's TV animation has been looked after. Only Filmation and Hanna Barbera's stuff seems to have been retained well. If this did get a HD release, it would just be an upscale.
Personally, I'd still like to see the two Japanese exclusive Beast Wars series getting dvd releases here, they seemed to have been forgotten by Metrodome. The new Magmatron figure being so good is helping to revitalise my interest in these missing shows.

[LexInHD]

Originally Posted by scroeffie

any news there are going to do a new dvd or bluray release of the series ?

Not happening. There are 1000 bazillion megazullion copies of the two Shout Factory Complete Series DVD releases in retail channels and one of those can be found at pretty much every Walmart right now.

[whiteberry]

I saw this tonight. There was about 7 minutes of advertisements for Transformers merchandise, TV shows, movies, etc, at the beginning. The split screen for the first episode with the voice actors was annoying and a few people in my audience were vocal about their displeasure over it and there was at least one walkout in my theater over it. Thankfully it was only for the first episode and the next three episodes played normally. Image quality was decent and watchable considering this is SD being shown on a big screen. After the first episode, the closing credits were sped up for the remaining episodes. The "in memoriam" screen at the end for the voice actors who have passed away (Casey Kasem, Scatman Crothers, etc) was a nice touch.

My theater was packed and they had to add another showing in a second theater. I don't know if it was because of the popularity of Transformers or because Fandango was offering a "Buy 1 Ticket, Get 1 Free" promotion. Probably a combination of both.

Here is what was shown, in the order that it appeared:

• Advertisements
  • Transformers Toys
  • Transformers: The Ride
  • Amazon Transformers store (https://www.amazon.com/transformers)
  • Transformers One trailer
  • Exclusive look at the new season of Transformers: EarthSpark
• Introduction to the voice actors
• Episode 1 (split screen with video of the voice actors)
• Outtakes of the voice actors recording their dialogue
• Episode 2 (closing credits sped up)
• Episode 3 (closing credits sped up)
• Episode 4 (closing credits sped up)
• "Don't Run Away From Home" PSA featuring Bumblebee
• "In Memoriam" screen for the voice actors who have passed away

Running time was around 1 hour, 34 minutes.

[whiteberry]

Originally Posted by whiteberry

The split screen for the first episode with the voice actors was annoying

This image from Twitter shows what I am talking about:



The first episode was shown in the square on the left and the video of the voice actors was shown in the blue area on the right. This is only for the first episode. Episodes 2-4 are shown normally in the center of the screen.

[Guy87]

Transformers: 40th Anniversary Event (2024)

So this 'event' was a couple of minutes of preview of an upcoming Transformers show. Then a quick round of interviews with the surviving cast of G1 Transformers. Then the pilot aired on one side of the screen whilst voice actors redeliver the dialogue in a video on the other. This meant the first episode was squashed into a box (Teletraan-1 view screen) on one side whilst performers were squashed into another, like a glorified DVD extra. Then they played the next three back to back episodes of the show (confusingly keeping the Teletraan-1 frame around the entire episode despite them now being full screen). A couple of outtakes of the cast later and we're done.

I'm surprised that anyone expected anything more than this, it did exactly what was advertised on the posters for the event.

I thought I'd rather just watch the first four episodes without the cast re-recording the original but I was wrong. Despite the screen being split and looking its least cinematic, it was enjoyable watching the voice artists screw their faces up to deliver lines. It was also enjoyable watching them direct lines at one another, and it was fun watching some of them having to bounce from one character and back again.

It was difficult to follow the plot of the first episode because of this, but then most people here had seen Transformers anyway.

Other than my wife.

It was her first time with the G1 cartoon and we had a laugh with it. The episodes weren't cleaned up in anyway, original animation errors occurred etc. But I smiled at watching a piece of childhood nostalgia on the big screen, and my wife smiled at trying to figure out as an adult how Soundwave, Megatron or the three Decepticons that make up Reflector could change their mass into smaller objects;

"How can they get that small? I mean Soundwave has TWO other Transformers IN HIM?"

"Why do they need to send Bumblebee into the cave as the 'smallest' Autobot when the entire Decepticon army can fit in there?"

Questions I got in the car back from the cinema. Funnily enough she never clocked Prime's trailer appearing and disappearing mid Transformation, neither did she notice them using lifts, planes, parachutes and a ship full of Decepticons panicking as they came 'crashing' down into the ocean, despite all of the Transformers clearly being able to fly at will.

Still fun was had as, just like I have with 'The Real Ghostbusters' it's another 80's childhood memory I've managed to see projected on a cinema screen, and despite a plot that moves at a single consistant speed (This is not 'Batman: The Animated Series', there's no time for reflection here) I was still more engaged with silliness than I have been for some movies in this same theatre this year. So much so that when I got home I stuck my G1 DVD in to remind myself how Megatron got out of the cliffhanger left at the end of episode 4 (being sucked into a space bridge and shot up to Cybertron. It turns out he just...walks back into the space bridge and gets shot back to Earth).

Good times.

..."Megatron looks like he's wearing a diaper"