Transformers the Movie 20th Anniversary [Text View]

Josh Z

11-07-06, 12:49 PM

Is there any reason for those of us who already own the original issue on DVD to pick this up?

There's only so far you can go with picture quality when you're talking about a 20 year old Animated movie.

The original DVD was full-frame and had a screwed up 5.1 mix that directed all the dialogue to the back speakers. The new disc offers both full-frame and 16:9 transfers and corrects the sound mix.

HeadRusch

11-07-06, 02:09 PM

Uh, I dont recall the sound issue...nor do I recall seeing the movie in full frame...Hmmmm.....that first release wasn't anamorphic? Now I gotta go check
the disc at home :D

Stryker412

11-07-06, 02:56 PM

From IGN:

The original Transformers: The Movie DVD was released November 7, 2000 and features the following content:

* Full screen (1.33:1) presentation
* Audio option: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
* Interview with composer Vince DeCola
* Storyboards

Transformers: The Movie (20th Anniversary Special Edition) DVD will be released November 7, 2006, and features the following content:

* Remastered anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) and full screen (1.33:1) presentation
* Audio options: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, English 2.0 stereo
* Trivia Track: "Autobot Matrix of Knowledge"
* Commentary by director Nelson Shin, story consultant Flint Dille and Sue Blu, the voice of Arcee
* Fan commentary
* Original theatrical trailer and TV spots
* Cinex and credit tests
* Photo gallery
* "Scramble City" episode with fan commentary
* Remastering side-by-side comparison
* Trailer: Transformers live action film
* Sneak peek: Transformers live action film
* DVD-ROM: "Activate Autobot City" trivia game
* Featurette: "Death of Optimus Prime"
* Featurette: "Cast and Characters"
* Featurette: "Transformers Q & A"
* Promotional trailer with commentary
* Test, deleted/alternate footage with commentary
* Animated storyboards
* US and Japanese toy commercials
* "Scramble City" commercials
* DVD-ROM link to exclusive content

Josh Z

11-07-06, 04:20 PM

Uh, I dont recall the sound issue...nor do I recall seeing the movie in full frame...Hmmmm.....that first release wasn't anamorphic? Now I gotta go check
the disc at home :D

The current DVD is the first widescreen home video release.

The old DVD definitely had a screwy 5.1 mix. The picture was also too dark.

plain fan

11-07-06, 05:08 PM

tutelary

11-08-06, 02:10 AM

I got this today and love it. Well worth the sub $12 price at my local walmart.

Josh Z

11-08-06, 10:14 AM

Funny I don't remember those problems. Was the movie filmed in 1.33 or a cine ratio? I know the people at Don Bluth studios just informed me that Secret of Nimh was filmed in 1.33 and cropped at the theaters for the movie screens.

The animation cels were drawn at about 1.40:1, but it was always intended to play in theaters at 1.85:1, similar to how "open-matte" live action movies are shot and composed. The new DVD contains both transfers so you can pick your preference.

The widescreen framing on the DVD looks a little tight to my eyes. I think 1.66:1 would have been a better compromise.

Stryker412

11-08-06, 02:32 PM

I'm so pumped about this:

http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/703/transformers20thannivd1ek6.jpg

http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/5597/transformers20thannivd1ce3.jpg

Colmino

11-09-06, 05:28 AM

khyron

11-09-06, 06:35 AM

I seem to recall that the original DVD release had one flaw which caused me to instantly drop the idea of purchasing it. (And maybe my memory is flawed.) The opening credits had a narrated scrolling text which brought the viewers up to date. This was not originally part of the movie.

Is this once again part of the new DVD?

I own the DVD that was "current" until this release and there is no such scrolling text. The only non-theatrical thing about it is that Spike says "$H1T what are we gonna do now?" when being pulled back towards the moon base, a line which was censored in theaters.

I wish people were better aware of the actual OAR of this movie. I'm glad someone on this thread has pointed it out, it gets mistaken all the time and drives the hardcore fans insane...

Stryker412

11-09-06, 09:56 AM

I found this on HTF if anyone is interested:

I wanted to summarize the eggs found thus far.
The last 2 eggs found by "Heat Guy" seem to be accessible only by a DVD-ROM, and using a mouse??? I couldn't find the right-combination of up/down/left/right etc. on a regular DVD player with a remote control to access those eggs.

Three Japanese Diaclone Toy Commercials
---------------------------------------
- Disc 1
- At the title screen, highlight "Bonus Features"
- Press 'Left' twice to highlight the faction symbol
(it switches from Autobot to Decepticon)
- Press 'Enter' on your remote
Comic-Con 2006 Promo
--------------------
- Disc 1
- Go to "Set Up"
- Highlight "English 2.0 Stereo"
- Press 'Right' to highlight the play button on Soundwave
- Press 'Enter' to watch a promo by Flint Dille, Nelson Shin,
and Susan Blu that was done for Comic-Con 2006
Reflective Patches Commercial
-----------------------------
- Disk 2
- Highlight "Bonus Features"
- Press 'Up' to highlight the faction symbol
(it switches from Autobot to Decepticon)
- Press 'Enter' to watch a reflective patches commercial
Lite Brite Commercial
---------------------
- Accessible by DVD-ROM
- Disk 2
- Enter the "Bonus Features" menu
- Use the mouse to highlight the Decepticon logo hidden under the 'F'
for a Lite Brite Commercial
Bumblebee Public Service Announcement
-------------------------------------
- Accessible by DVD-ROM
- Disk 2
- Enter the "Bonus Features" menu
- Use the mouse to highlight the Autobot logo hidden on the same level as the Decepticon logo,
to the right of the last 'S' for a Bumblebee Public Service Announcement

Speakender

11-09-06, 10:28 AM

The only non-theatrical thing about it is that Spike says "$H1T what are we gonna do now?" when being pulled back towards the moon base, a line which was censored in theaters.
Are you sure about that? I distinctly remember Spike cursing during the movie's theatrical release. I believe this line was subsequently censored for home video.

At the time, it made a huge impression on me. It made the movie edgier and more adult. It's weird something so small could have such an effect, but for a 10 year old, it was a big deal.

HeadRusch

11-09-06, 10:44 AM

I heard the swear in the theatres when I saw it on opening day....maybe it was subsequently edited out for certain markets/regions, or perhaps a new edit of the film was mailed out to theatres after the first few days after complaints (tho it was rated PG I believe).....

And I agree, much like the tooth-and-nail battle to the death for Prime/Megatron it made the movie MUCH edgier than the weekly show. With Autobots and Decepticons actually getting killed or destroyed.

Josh Z

11-09-06, 11:04 AM

The movie as it played in theaters had "Superman" style opening credits that flew onto the screen. It also had the "Oh $hit! What are we gonna do?" line of dialogue.

When the movie was initially released to home video and TV syndication, the opening credits were replaced with a "Star Wars" style prologue scroll that spelled out the plot for the slow kids watching. It also removed the "Oh $hit" and added a brief voiceover before the end credits reassuring the kiddies that Optimus Prime would return. All VHS and laserdisc editions of the movie contain this version.

All DVD editions of the movie have returned to the original theatrical cut, however.

plain fan

11-09-06, 02:50 PM

That line alone kept my parents from taking me to see it, but I was 6 when the movie came out.
Didn't Optimus return in the cartoon series as a more sinister (evil) version of himself?

Colmino

11-09-06, 07:59 PM

I own the DVD that was "current" until this release and there is no such scrolling text. The only non-theatrical thing about it is that Spike says "$H1T what are we gonna do now?" when being pulled back towards the moon base, a line which was censored in theaters.
Hmm. Well here's one I do know about, because I saw this movie in the theaters. Said expletive was most definitely part of the showing I saw. I remember suspecting at the time that it must have been the reason for the PG rating. The word was famously missing from the first VHS release.

getme

11-09-06, 10:20 PM

I own the DVD that was "current" until this release and there is no such scrolling text. The only non-theatrical thing about it is that Spike says "$H1T ...

The $hit line is accurate because I remember shooting soda out my nose in the theater when I heard that...good times :)

getme

11-09-06, 10:25 PM

That line alone kept my parents from taking me to see it, but I was 6 when the movie came out.
Didn't Optimus return in the cartoon series as a more sinister (evil) version of himself?

No he came back and saved everyone from a red plague "using up" the matrix in the process. One of my favorite episodes from generation 2. My absolute favorite has to be a cameo by Cobra Commander (he leads an anti-transformer terrorist group) and yes it WAS him, same voice and screams COBRAAA! at the end sweetness :D

spyder696969

11-10-06, 01:21 AM

Even as a die-hard fan, I won't be getting this release, as I already have the original DVD. I figure I spent enough on this movie, having gone through 4 copies on VHS already. My son never ceases to be amazed that I can recite the entire movie, in every voice, line for line. :)

Josh Z

11-10-06, 10:57 AM

Said expletive was most definitely part of the showing I saw. I remember suspecting at the time that it must have been the reason for the PG rating.

Indeed, the line was specifically added so that the movie would have to be bumped up to a PG rating. At the time, the marketing geniuses thought that kids would perceive the movie as "cooler" if it had a harder rating. Yeah, well, we know how that worked out for them...

HeadRusch

11-10-06, 12:56 PM

I dunno, a G-rating wouldn't have saved that movie. Animated films never had any real legs at the boxoffice like that. It was already being marketed towards a fairly small group of viewers to begin with. On opening day it played at the B-theatres, none of the metroplexes in my area carried it, and even then it was like 20 or 30 people in the theatre....alot of kdis but alot of teenagers, too.....the early wave of anime kids.

Transformers had already peaked at that point......IMHO of course.

oldschool4life

11-11-06, 09:21 AM

"You got the touch..."

"...you got the power."

Josh Z

11-11-06, 01:06 PM

Well, I finally had a chance to watch a good chunk of the disc on my big screen last night. Unfortunately, the DVD has really poor compression quality. The picture breaks up into pixelated blocks and motion artifacts whenever there's too much action on screen. It looks like an overcompressed satellite broadcast.

Colors on the widescreen transfer are also oversaturated. The most disturbing problem is that Hot Rod is now very pink. Colors on the Disc 2 full-frame transfer are more natural and Hot Rod is red like he should be.

The audio quality also sucks, but the movie's soundtrack has always had bad sound quality. It's something endemic to the original mix.

All things considered, this is probably the best home video edition of the movie so far, but it's still very disappointing.

The lenticular cover is cool, though. I like that.

bunger3_16

12-03-06, 01:34 PM

Wow. I ordered my copy from deepdiscountdvddotcom (On sale for like $10.50 shipped) , but it hasn't arrived yet, but I was REALLY excited until I was looking at the updates page on whydoesmyhometheatersuckdotcom, when it showed screen shots of the widescreen version vs. shots of the full-frame edition, and now I feel like I want to return the DVD.

All they did to make the widescreen version widescreen was chop the top and bottom off of the full-frame edition! I couldn't believe it when I saw it, but it's definitely there.

I feel cheated, and wonder if there is an actual widescreen version out there, and if so, why were the creators of the DVD so lazy?

HeadRusch

12-03-06, 01:45 PM

bunger3_16

12-03-06, 02:29 PM

I think someone explained already that it was originally made open-matte..so it could be shown 4:3 or compressed down to a 16:9 widescreen ratio.

I'm pretty sure when I saw it in the theatres it was shown in a 4:3 configuration.....(I know, I posted above I thought it was widescreen..now..not so sure).

Sorry for my ignorance on this subject, but I assume you mean by "open matte" that it was originally filmed in 4:3 (Or something really close), so there is no original widescreen print that contains information on the edges of the picture that we haven't seen before on DVD?

bob ross

12-03-06, 03:08 PM

Just wanted to chime in here... I'm disappointed with this DVD too. First off I actually believe that the original 35mm print of TF:TM was 1.33. I remember it not being widescreen as a kid and have seeing it several more times in on 35mm, not once has any of the prints ever been wide screen. I think this explains why the "widescreen" version of the DVD is actually less widescreen then the correct disc 2 version.

The Color isn't accurate in the new disc 1 version either.

Josh Z

12-04-06, 01:06 PM

Sorry for my ignorance on this subject, but I assume you mean by "open matte" that it was originally filmed in 4:3 (Or something really close), so there is no original widescreen print that contains information on the edges of the picture that we haven't seen before on DVD?

See this:

http://www.widescreen.org/widescreen_matted.shtml

Josh Z

12-04-06, 01:09 PM

First off I actually believe that the original 35mm print of TF:TM was 1.33. I remember it not being widescreen as a kid and have seeing it several more times in on 35mm, not once has any of the prints ever been wide screen.

The theatrical projection standards for 35mm are 1.85:1 and 2.35:1. A typical theater would have no way of projecting a 1.33:1 film without matting the top and bottom of the frame.

In special circumstances such as The Blair Witch Project or re-releases of old Academy Ratio films (Gone With the Wind, Wizard of Oz, etc.), the movie actually has to be printed in pillarbox format in the center of a 1.85:1 frame.

bunger3_16

12-04-06, 01:20 PM

See this:

http://www.widescreen.org/widescreen_matted.shtml

Huh. You learn something new every day! Thanks for the link!

bob ross

01-05-07, 02:05 PM

The theatrical projection standards for 35mm are 1.85:1 and 2.35:1. A typical theater would have no way of projecting a 1.33:1 film without matting the top and bottom of the frame.

In special circumstances such as The Blair Witch Project or re-releases of old Academy Ratio films (Gone With the Wind, Wizard of Oz, etc.), the movie actually has to be printed in pillarbox format in the center of a 1.85:1 frame.

Is it possible they drew the film in 1.33 on 1.85 frame?

Josh Z

01-05-07, 02:25 PM

Is it possible they drew the film in 1.33 on 1.85 frame?

The animation cells were drawn at approximately 1.4:1, but the theatrical release prints were 1.85:1. Highly doubtful they would go to the trouble of pillarboxing it. That was pretty much unheard of at the time, especially for a new movie. Even Gone With the Wind was cropped to 1.85:1 for all of its theatrical re-releases prior to the late-90s (first time they started pillarboxing it).

I admit that I was only 12 when I first saw the movie theatrically in 1986, but I'm pretty sure that even at that young age it would have struck me as odd if the movie didn't fill the theater screen.

HeadRusch

01-05-07, 02:29 PM

All theatres have adjustable curtains or masking devices that change depending on the AR of the film being shown. They dont have seperate screens for 4:3, 1.78:1, or 2.35:1 aspect ratios.....so when you were 12 and went into the theatre the screen was probably set up for a 4:3 configuration but you never noticed the difference since it was dark, the screen was huge, etc ;)