I don't know if we will ever get a movie like this one ever again, a movie that has the balls to kill off most of the cast from the first 2 seasons including big names like Optimus and Starscream. Closest i've seen to a modern equivalent is Avengers: Infinity War but even the Thanos snap doesn't have quite the same impact as this movie did back in it's day because most knew it would eventually get undone in Endgame.
>>145405313I have to admit, Optimus's death scene had me crying as a kid. And the Decepticon rebirth scene was so unnerving. Watched it again, 20 years later, and it's still fuckin great. Same with the soundtrack.
>>145405313It’s legitimately awesome that a cartoon created to sell toys could be so good and get fans emotionally invested in the characters.
>>145405313Ironically if they didn't do this, G1 Transformers would have lost a talking point that kept it relevant compared to other 80s cartoons and Optimus wouldn't have as much of a legendary status.
>>145406581Yeah and the best part was the same mindset has been applied to later incarnations of the Transformers. Just look at how beloved characters like Dinobot from Beast Wars, Strarscream from Armada, and Prowl from Animated are.
>>145405313>it would eventually get undoneSo did Prime's death, and the Transformers who stayed dead weren't selling anymore.
>>145406737Prime's death was undone because of the backlash it received.
>>145406581"toy shows are bad" is kinda bs anyway. The ratio to good to bad ones is about the same as it is for cartoons not based on a pre existing concept.Does Street Sharks suck? Yeah, so does Fanboy and Chumchum, but Mighty Max and Jam ruled. Like yeah, there is some level of cynicism in knowing what you're making is essentially an advertisement, but that doesn't mean the people writing and coming up with these stories and characters don't care as much as anyone else working on another show or comic, if not more in some cases. The whole argument is about as silly as when people who only watch Family Guy dismiss anything that isn't an "adult sitcom" as having no value because it's "for kids"
>>145406840Which is funny because the Backlash was almost entirely parents and Hasbro not understanding they'd gotten by accident something most artists would kill for, for people to love a character and be so invested that losing them actually hurt.I've never met or even heard of a single person who was a kid at the time who'd seen the death of Optimus Prime who didn't look back on it as a positive, often landmark experience with them and it's usually held up as the centerpiece of arguments for the film being a legitimate piece of artistry, however flawed, but retarded soccer moms only saw that it made little Timmy cry and stormed out of the theaters.
>>145406840Yes, and they still undid it.
>>145406581>>145407711It's pretty much because it was "to sell toys" that it ended up like that honestly. If you go back and see commentaries, interviews, etc. There's no personal stake in the concept and a huge workload on a tight timeframe, so the bulk of the people who worked on it seemingly just doubled down on putting as much soul and work into making it something quality for the audience as they could manage. They fucked up plenty and there was a lot of corporate mandates, but the essence of it not being "for them" and needing to stand on their own effort in their eyes IMHO makes a pretty strong contrast with how a lot of shows these days are almost always the creators jerking themselves off and being satisfied with whatever the result is.
>>145408548I've heard a lot of OG fans say they cried over Optimus. There is a section of G1 fans who still hate the 86 cast too for taking overI didn't really care, cause I was seeing the movie at the same time I was seeing pre movie episodes, so I didn't have any greater attachment to the old cast than the movies, but you do hear from those people in the fandom sometimes
>>145408595The difference between Optimus' death here vs the Infinity War ones was that at the time, no-one outside of production knew that Optimus would've been brought back in S3 which ironically they ended up "killing" him again only to retcon it again for the finale. I'm not saying all those Marvel heroes turning to dust don't have impact, it's just that there's no way anyone believed they were just gonna lkeep Spider-Man dead i mean come on now. Granted i think they made a good compromise in Endgame with who they killed off in the end.
>>145408723>at the time, no-one outside of production knew that Optimus would've been brought back in S3Yes, and rather than stick to their guns the studio caved in and undid it.
>>145406840No to mention the GI Joe movie came out soon after. And Duke was supposed to die, but the removed it and said he was only in a coma.
>>145408822Exactly, that was only done because of Optimus' death was received at the time. It does show how much people cared for him as a character, i mean outside of maybe Bumblebee, he is the face of Transformers.
>>145406581Not a cartoon, but in terms of shows made to sell toys, Kamen Rider has done it for 20 years in a row
>>145405313I don’t know if it should happen to other shows though. I wouldn’t want an X-Men 97 movie where all the main characters die and we spend the rest of it (and future seasons) with newcomers. Not to mention I know this place would call it “woke” if that new team had women and people of color
>>145408627Also technically they were still selling Optimus Prime toys even after wanting to kill him off, it's just they were white and bundled with a car carrier which they made up a new character: Ultra Magnus
>>145406581I wonder what /co/ thinks weather toy product cartoons have more soul than newer ones made by people with "passion". Shit like owl house, big city greens and all new junk seem so lifeless even compared to 90s cartoons that were walking comercials
>>145409118>90s cartoons>walking commercialsHoly shit, the anti-zoomer meme is true.
>>145409118The most popular cartoon of the 2010s was a Hasbro toy show, it just wasn't Transformers. The Adventure Time and SU people will always have to cope with that
>>145405313Optimus' death scene lost all meaning to me the moment the Junkions put Ultra Magnus back together.
>>145405313DARE
>>145406840Not exactly. People hated Rodimus and rightly so since he was portrayed as a loser.This sums it up nicely.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq1_6D9QS9Y
>>145408822The irony was that they copied the script of the GI Joe movie to kill off Optimus even though the GI Joe movie was released after it.
>>145410097Yeah, that's honestly the biggest flaw of the movie. It doesn't really make sense, like yeah it showed Galvatron being badass but we already saw him kill Screamer
>>145410302>portrayed as a loser.He was a kid drafted into being a chosen one who had worries and doubts. They tried to make a nuanced character and 80's kids weren't ready for it. No wonder America is so far behind Japan in animation writing.
>>145412476All he ever did was whine about how inferior he was to Optimus.
>>145406645Exactly; the film bombed at the box office because of that and forced changes to the GI Joe film but is a lot better remembered than a Care Bears movie that made like seven times as much at the box office.I think even the My Little Pony film did better than Transformers: The Movie did but, again, nowhere near as well remembered.
>>145405313>a movie that has the balls to kill off most of the cast from the first 2 seasonsit wasn't about having balls, it was about introducing new toys to sell, cartoons of that period were literally toy commercials with barely any thought put into the actual plot, the suits at Hasbro had no fucking idea of the connection kids had to Optimus
>>145406581So good?It was a fuck 1:1 ripoff of fucking Star wars with unfunny bullshit from whatever fucking stupid bullshit the hacks making it thought was cool at the time.It was ass and managed to permanently torpedo the entire fucking transformers IP as an evergreen property they could just print money with.Did they fucking think they could just use trains to bond the kids to this cheap ugly disaster?Was that it? Did some sociopathic asslicker at hasbro think this shit would just ensure sales? Cause they were going to do the same plan with gijoe!
>>145414440that was mainly because of parents demanding their money back, actually.
>>145414440It's not better remembered you ass clown. It's a fucking traumatic memory that ruined a generation of boys, gave a black eye to boy aimed action cartoons and ruined hasbro for years. It is remembered as the biggest fuck up in toy and cartoon history. Yes it's worse then when they advertised watership down as a kids cartoon. Even the commercial makers for transformers knew they fucked up and spent most of their time downplaying their cheap ugly as fuck movie designs and pushing ultramagnus as the enemy of Galvatron.They can sit back and pretend they didn't know what they were doing, but we all know now. They did it cause they thought they could traumabond the kids to the shitty trash toys they made on the cheap.We all read the superior movie they wrote for transformers. But this...god awful Star wars ripoff designed to just..I don't know is what they went with. Whatever they thought they were doing failed miserably. So miserable they took gijoe out of the theaters and walked back the death of duke. Hell, even I as a kid knew duke was going to get killed before it happened and just tuned out of gijoe as a brand and a toy. Just a bunch of new unlikeable hip young assholes doing shit some middle aged no talent loser thinks I'd cool in a "hey fellow kids!!" kind of way. Shit was fucking embarrassing man.
>>145415088Why are you 80's American kids such fucking pussies compared to Japanese kids?
