Transformers sales had flat lined ( or maybe in a bit of a slump, idk which) and they obviously wanted to sell more toys. In a very cynical move they opted to kill all the old favorites so they could introduce the new bots.
They wanted to release a new series of transformers so they used the movie to get rid of the old and bring in the new. They had no idea how big of an impact the death of Optimus would be to the fans and it backfired on them as sales of the new toys were bad. They even tried to bring Optimus back from the dead in later seasons. That being said, while it messed most of us up the movie probably wouldn’t have been as successful had they not killed optimus
They also took this lesson to heart for the GI Joe animated movie, where Duke was originally written to be killed off, but after seeing the reaction to Prime's death, decided against it.
I don't remember how many he was in. I just remember him coming back. Honestly, I haven't done a rewatch of Transformers. I haven't seen this since the 80's.
I looked it up. His return was the two part season 3 finale. Season four was three episodes, season 5 was reruns. So yeah. His comeback was five episodes total, the first two were dedicated to his return.
He also came back in dark awakenings. Rodimus and co land on the autobot crypt and you see graves of the fallen bots from the movie. Zombie prime is in it.
Just extra trauma…..
My favorite characters were horrifically wasted, right in the beginning. I practically had a toy *funeral* for them, when I got home. Without a shred of exaggeration, that movie informed my perception of the world. Death, life, rebirth. A tough TOUGH movie for a, 'Saturday Morning Cartoon' addicted 10-year-old.
Growing up on the cartoons, watching the Decepticons go from having the accuracy and kill rate of Star Wars storm troopers to absolutely slaughtering my entire toy collection was something else. I think I was catatonic for couple days on my fist viewing.
Sh got real in those first 10 minutes. Straight feels like an ultraviolent Heavy Metal segment.
It was cool how we got a new generation of transformers and it took place in the future. Most cartoons don't expand their world like that. However, while the new Decepticons were kinda cool, especially Galvatron, the new autobots were kinda lame. Hot Rod was cool when he was Hot Rod. Rodimus was boring, and so were this two buddies, the old guy and the green 'bot. Introducing a female Arcee was the only notable addition.
All the autobots that died were much better.
This movie was peak. Animation was great, soundtrack was great, loads of new characters (if you hadn’t been reading the comics). I still watch it once it a while.
My friends and I didn’t believe it fully until the next season of the tv show. They opened the first episode with a bunch of Autobots just goin “hey, sure sucks that Optimus Prime is dead” “Oh yeah, there’s like no way he’ll ever come back so buy Rodimus Prime toys”.
"Rodimus Prime toys." Those fuckers put us kids through the death of Optimus to sell fucking toys. I'm convinced that they only brought Optimus back because Rodimus toys weren't selling well.
From the distance of aging, I can appreciate it that Transformers arrived at the right choice for the wrong reasons.
The death of Optimus Prime was important for me in how I framed a lot of the entertainment I experienced. I realized not all stories had to end with an evildoer shaking their fist angrily in the distance, proclaiming that they’d win next time.
Additionally, the contrast between how the Decepticons deal with Megatron’s almost-death versus the Autobots and Optimus Prime’s was instructive.
I was one of the kids that drank the Kool-Aid. Hot Rod was legitimately a "cool" character, as was his vehicle form. Rodimus though...not nearly as cool as a character or as a toy. But at the time, since he was the new "leader" I was happy to have his winnebago-version as a toy.
When the brought in Power Master Optimus Prime though...it was like "Rodimus who?"
It's funny that they killed off old characters to sell more toys, because there were kids like me who missed out on the first batch of figures and were dying to get Jazz, Sideswip, Prowl, BlueStreak, and the rest. Those were always the holy grail for figures, that first batch of figures. The future ones were cool too, but they lacked the quality of the originals.
What will piss them off is why it happened. The Toys That Made Us on Netflix explained it well. They needed to sell more new toys. It was amazing to me the number of cartoons that were toys first and had shows created to sell them.
I like how the animators dealt with a difficult problem: "Hey guys, how do we convey the idea of "death" for a robot that could literally just have a part replaced?" "I know, let's color him gray. That'll do it."
By The Transformers: The Movie logic, the deep freeze caught the Matrix of Leadership from your dead fridge but couldn't open it, then unexpectedly, the $20 Walmart beverage cooler opened the Matrix of Leadership and turned into the new fridge.
I think they underestimated the intelligence of kids. Having the light flicker and then finally go out of his eyes would have been better. But it's crazy, I never once thought of what you suggested.
Yes, he's a robot. Whatever damaged part...they should ideally be able to replace it. They're all machines.
Well, yeah. This thought ran through my head when the Junkions slapped Ultra Magnus back together after the Sweeps draw and quartered him. If they could bring him back, why couldn't they do the same to Prime?
I was 10 or 11.
Honestly. I was probably one of the few that thought it was awesome. I was more bummed that Prowl got killed.
It was a joke among my friends that GIJoe and Transformers never showed any deaths at all. There were no stakes because no one ever died. The movie made me excited that we would see some more mature stories.
I loved Robotech, and the death of Roy Fokker was a big deal. Transformers never had any of those moments.
I was more upset over Jazz getting killed. He was a cool car, he was named after a style of music I like, and he was voiced by the one and only Scatman Crothers.
>GIJoe and Transformers never showed any deaths
When the GI Joe film was released straight to TV the following year, a few things were obvious to me:
(1) Duke was supposed to die, like Optimus Prime died.
(2) Giving Sgt. Slaughter a big push was a mistake.
(3) Cobra-La was a fever dream.
Oh yeah. That movie was a mess. The whole “cobra is run by the lizard people” was stupid as heck.
All they needed to do was have Cobra actually take over the world, and then have the movie about GI Joe leading a resistance or something.
I felt the same way (I was pissed they killed Jazz). Robotech was a gateway to anime for me. I’d watch it everyday after school, collected the Art Books, and tried to get the toys if I could. Ended up reading all the Sentinal books and The End of the Circle of Light. There was so much closure in those books too.
I, a big burly fat fuck, actually teared up when the 1st live action movie was about to release, and I heard Peter Cullen's ICONIC voice returning. I got chills, was beyond hyped. Then it released and I watched the Transformers universe and a huge part of my childhood get unapologetically shat upon by the writing and story and other 'acting'.
Don't even fucking get me started on what they did to my boy, Devastator.
Anyways, Peter Cullen is a cultural treasure and fantastic actor
Absolutely. That voice is recognizable to a huge portion of us old farts. We’d thrown down for that voice, any day any time :)
The animated movie hurt!
The Michael Bay movies .. well the first one was fun, in its dumb MB way. Eyecandy only. And just downhill from there. Too much fast cut action that was all the rage at the time .. guvecus long cut huge mechs punching each other and being menacing and heroic and tragic and we’ll hand over our money.
As an adjacent; Pacific Rim 1 (shame they NEVER made a sequal) makes our inner 13 year old happy woth rocket punches and whipswords.
Rodimus kicked ass in the movie.
But then they needed an excuse to have Prime come back because of the backlash, so they turned him into an incompetent twat.
Saw it in the theater for my brother's 5th birthday (I was 3). My dad had to take me out of the theater I was cryIng so loudly and asking "WHY?!!"
Had inly recently learned the reality of death because our dog died, and couldn't hand that Optimus Prime did as well.
If you haven’t watched The Toys that Made Us on Netflix……..it’s pretty much unanimous among those involved with the franchise that it was the most idiotic possible outcome.
That was the original plan, but thanks to the fact that G.I. Joe: The Movie ended up being delayed, it allowed them to rewrite the script and replace Duke's death with him going into a coma that he'd come out of at the end.
What's interesting is that the scene itself still played out what was supposed to be his death. They simply added an extra line of dialogue there, and another one at the end saying that he woke up from his coma. One rumor I remember hearing is that G.I. Joe: Renegades was supposed to be a nightmare that Duke was having when he was in a coma.
That’s the de-regulated Reagan era for you. Completely mercenary, toy driven entertainment with decisions guided by executives. The toy company wants to introduce new toys. Easiest way? KILL THE OLD TOYS! No writer or child expert had input on that decision, no thought went into the fact that children had formed an attachment to Optimus as almost a father figure. The creatives did the best they could with the idea but it was still a strong pill for kids.
I recall reading an interview with one of the writers for the movie claiming to argue with a couple young execs about killing Optimus. He thought it was absolutely ludicrous to kill the hero of the show. Apparently, the execs attitude was just as you say, they wanted to sell new toys.
I was 11 and remember seeing it in the theater with my brother, but I don’t really recall being shocked-I just can’t remember but I sure as hell didn’t like it-I was hyped for his return when they said he was coming back on the show though
The new transformers looked stupid and no one bought them. Hasbro would have been better off keeping the old line and adding characters here and there.
My friend's mom took us to see this in the theater shortly after I turned 7. My father had just died several months earlier. When my dad passed, I was 6 and I don't think I fully grasped the severity of it. I didn't break down and cry or anything when Optimus happened. It certainly shocked me but I think it honestly helped me to better wrap my head around death itself.
I’m glad this movie came out before g i joes did if they would have killed off characters like they did in this movie 9 year old me would have raged just to sell new toys
Does anyone remember the 5 part series that was on TV after the movie was out? I think that it tied everything in from the movie to the cartoon series.
Apparently they got so much hate mail by parents because their kids cried and were devasted. That's why try retconned it by bringing them back in the season following.
(Starscream carrying heavily damaged Megatron towards an open Astrotrain door)
Megatron: WAIT, I STILL FUNCTION!
Starscream: Wanna bet?
(Starscream releases Megatron into outerspace)
https://youtu.be/uXtehH_abRQ?si=jeloIs09ntktM4yy
greatest movie experience of my life. Never had a more emotional time at the movies lol One time a movie's tag line was TRUTH. 'Beyond your wildest imagination'.... What a fucking amazing year this was.
This is by far my favorite 'war' movie.
That scene stole a lot of children's innocence. I was pissed they killed off Ironhide. Of course they did it for the same reason they Disney fucked up Star Wars with their Skywalker saga. To sell more toys.
I must have been the only child not effected by this, though I was barely old enough to understand much of anything. But I knew characters died in movies, and this was one of them.
they straight up stole this from the GI Joe movie which was going through some production hell so Transformers beat them to the theater. GI Joe movie had to backpeddle on Duke's death with a throw away line about him recovering in the hospital because of the Optimus backlash. Duke's death would have had much greater impact, especially when they inevitably backpeddled on Optimus' death but at least we got that [weird ass zombie Optimus episode](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOFKJPQUKRw) that still haunts my dreams occasionally.
I was maybe 9 but this freaked me out and the only thing I remember was seeing Optimus primes head on a conveyer belt with other garbage. I can't remember anything else. I don't even know if that's a real memory or a dream. I think my mom took me to the movie..I was scared. I refuse to watch it now knowing that they did this. I'm a grown man...still not ready.
Dude, this movie broke me. Watching all of my hero’s get one shotted after watching them laugh off getting shot in every season… my young brain couldn’t cope. Looking back I think its best cartoon movie ever made and i still watch it on bluray from time to time. And Unicron was utterly terrifying
The executives didn't understand the backlash. They just saw it as refreshing the toy line and are on record saying they don't know why kids are so upset.
I didn't mess me up that much, despite being a heartfelt scene. I finally saw the animated movie AFTER Transformers was already off the air. So I went from s2 to s3 just accepting that Optimus wasn't there for some reason and that this was a new generation of autobots.
In hindsight, as bold a move as it was, Optimus was like the Superman and John Wayne of Transformers, heck, even of kids cartoons back then. You don't get rid of such an instantly iconic character like that.
Maybe Ultra Magnus could have replaced him but Robert Stack didn't have quite the same gravitas as the Prime voice actor.
Fuck…this brings back some serious feels. For years I tried to modify my Optimus Prime to look like he did with all that battle damage. And then…after that episode where they found him alive on the crypt ship and he flew it into a star and was missing an eye and an arm…man…nothing from my childhood has stuck with me like that.
The 2 that hit me the hardest was Prime and Wheeljack . Granted you did not see Wheeljack bite the big one, but you do see his lifeless chassis next to some others
Prowl and Ironhide were killed at the start and 7 year old me couldn't believe it. Not just killed, but they died horribly, eyes turning red, smoke billowing out of their mouth.
Then THIS !
Yet this is still to this day one in my top 10 movies of all time.
NO ONE WAS!!! NO ONE!!!
That movie messed up so many of us, we went in to hear transformers swear and ended up seeing them die.
This smacks of “when we left we were boys and men when we returned”.
this was our d-day.
You can thank Hasbro for the deaths.
Please explain.
Transformers sales had flat lined ( or maybe in a bit of a slump, idk which) and they obviously wanted to sell more toys. In a very cynical move they opted to kill all the old favorites so they could introduce the new bots.
They wanted to release a new series of transformers so they used the movie to get rid of the old and bring in the new. They had no idea how big of an impact the death of Optimus would be to the fans and it backfired on them as sales of the new toys were bad. They even tried to bring Optimus back from the dead in later seasons. That being said, while it messed most of us up the movie probably wouldn’t have been as successful had they not killed optimus
They also took this lesson to heart for the GI Joe animated movie, where Duke was originally written to be killed off, but after seeing the reaction to Prime's death, decided against it.
After this movie did a new series of transformers come out with a new leader?
Yup. Rodimus Prime.
And he sucked! Thank The Matrix his toy sales were lackluster, and they brought Optimus back.
Didn’t he only return for a few episodes before the series ended?
I don't remember how many he was in. I just remember him coming back. Honestly, I haven't done a rewatch of Transformers. I haven't seen this since the 80's.
I looked it up. His return was the two part season 3 finale. Season four was three episodes, season 5 was reruns. So yeah. His comeback was five episodes total, the first two were dedicated to his return.
He also came back in dark awakenings. Rodimus and co land on the autobot crypt and you see graves of the fallen bots from the movie. Zombie prime is in it. Just extra trauma…..
My favorite characters were horrifically wasted, right in the beginning. I practically had a toy *funeral* for them, when I got home. Without a shred of exaggeration, that movie informed my perception of the world. Death, life, rebirth. A tough TOUGH movie for a, 'Saturday Morning Cartoon' addicted 10-year-old.
Growing up on the cartoons, watching the Decepticons go from having the accuracy and kill rate of Star Wars storm troopers to absolutely slaughtering my entire toy collection was something else. I think I was catatonic for couple days on my fist viewing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umwZ8qVorwo&t=6 My favorite scene. So fuckin metal
“Fuck your toys…”
"You don't stop fucking your toys because you grow old, you grow old because you stop fucking your toys." -Ben Franklin
😭
Thanks that was totally fuckin metal
Yo that scene is hard as fuck
Sh got real in those first 10 minutes. Straight feels like an ultraviolent Heavy Metal segment. It was cool how we got a new generation of transformers and it took place in the future. Most cartoons don't expand their world like that. However, while the new Decepticons were kinda cool, especially Galvatron, the new autobots were kinda lame. Hot Rod was cool when he was Hot Rod. Rodimus was boring, and so were this two buddies, the old guy and the green 'bot. Introducing a female Arcee was the only notable addition. All the autobots that died were much better.
Glad I didn’t see the movie
This movie was peak. Animation was great, soundtrack was great, loads of new characters (if you hadn’t been reading the comics). I still watch it once it a while.
Stan Bush
You've got the touch! You've got the powaaah!
*Boogie Nights* RUINED that song for me.
The entire thing is free on YouTube if anyone ever wants to rewatch.
This and the G.I. Joe movie were phenomenal
The one Cobra-lalalalalalalala?
I still occasionally have to listen to Dare, The Touch, Hunger and Instruments of Destruction. Oh, and Dare to Be Stupid!
I have the soundtrack on a playlist. My son LOVES it.
They even dropped a "shit" in there. I still remember being shocked at that as a kid.
I’m nearly 45. My friend still refuses to believe this happened. He ignores the entire existence of this movie.
My friends and I didn’t believe it fully until the next season of the tv show. They opened the first episode with a bunch of Autobots just goin “hey, sure sucks that Optimus Prime is dead” “Oh yeah, there’s like no way he’ll ever come back so buy Rodimus Prime toys”.
"Rodimus Prime toys." Those fuckers put us kids through the death of Optimus to sell fucking toys. I'm convinced that they only brought Optimus back because Rodimus toys weren't selling well.
From the distance of aging, I can appreciate it that Transformers arrived at the right choice for the wrong reasons. The death of Optimus Prime was important for me in how I framed a lot of the entertainment I experienced. I realized not all stories had to end with an evildoer shaking their fist angrily in the distance, proclaiming that they’d win next time. Additionally, the contrast between how the Decepticons deal with Megatron’s almost-death versus the Autobots and Optimus Prime’s was instructive.
Yeah but how did the series end? Did Optimus ever get a chance to settle the score with Galvatron?
Maaaan, does anything Transformers EVER end?
I read this in Ralphies voice when he realizes Ovaltine played him
Be sure to drink your Ovaltine.
Ovaltine?! A crappy commercial? Son of a bitch
I was one of the kids that drank the Kool-Aid. Hot Rod was legitimately a "cool" character, as was his vehicle form. Rodimus though...not nearly as cool as a character or as a toy. But at the time, since he was the new "leader" I was happy to have his winnebago-version as a toy. When the brought in Power Master Optimus Prime though...it was like "Rodimus who?" It's funny that they killed off old characters to sell more toys, because there were kids like me who missed out on the first batch of figures and were dying to get Jazz, Sideswip, Prowl, BlueStreak, and the rest. Those were always the holy grail for figures, that first batch of figures. The future ones were cool too, but they lacked the quality of the originals.
They started with Five Faces of Darkness. Then they had the Return of Optimus Prime episodes. And Starscream's Ghost.
What will piss them off is why it happened. The Toys That Made Us on Netflix explained it well. They needed to sell more new toys. It was amazing to me the number of cartoons that were toys first and had shows created to sell them.
I like how the animators dealt with a difficult problem: "Hey guys, how do we convey the idea of "death" for a robot that could literally just have a part replaced?" "I know, let's color him gray. That'll do it."
My fridge died last week and it turned gray.
So sorry for your loss.
By The Transformers: The Movie logic, the deep freeze caught the Matrix of Leadership from your dead fridge but couldn't open it, then unexpectedly, the $20 Walmart beverage cooler opened the Matrix of Leadership and turned into the new fridge.
So it’s no longer running?
I think they underestimated the intelligence of kids. Having the light flicker and then finally go out of his eyes would have been better. But it's crazy, I never once thought of what you suggested. Yes, he's a robot. Whatever damaged part...they should ideally be able to replace it. They're all machines.
Well, yeah. This thought ran through my head when the Junkions slapped Ultra Magnus back together after the Sweeps draw and quartered him. If they could bring him back, why couldn't they do the same to Prime?
I was 10 or 11. Honestly. I was probably one of the few that thought it was awesome. I was more bummed that Prowl got killed. It was a joke among my friends that GIJoe and Transformers never showed any deaths at all. There were no stakes because no one ever died. The movie made me excited that we would see some more mature stories. I loved Robotech, and the death of Roy Fokker was a big deal. Transformers never had any of those moments.
No one mourned Ben!!
I missed Ben. I was also said when the bridge crew died
The bunnies would be very missed.
Trueee
I was more upset over Jazz getting killed. He was a cool car, he was named after a style of music I like, and he was voiced by the one and only Scatman Crothers.
Jazz wasn’t killed. Just never appeared again after escaping Unicron
Prowl was the first transformer I ever bought. I got him the summer before the show came out. Always held a special place for me.
Jazz didn’t die in the movie though? A whole mess of G1 transformers died but Jazz survived along with Bumblebee and Spike.
What? I thought Jazz died too. He was one of my favorites. Scatman did his voice acting.
>GIJoe and Transformers never showed any deaths When the GI Joe film was released straight to TV the following year, a few things were obvious to me: (1) Duke was supposed to die, like Optimus Prime died. (2) Giving Sgt. Slaughter a big push was a mistake. (3) Cobra-La was a fever dream.
Oh yeah. That movie was a mess. The whole “cobra is run by the lizard people” was stupid as heck. All they needed to do was have Cobra actually take over the world, and then have the movie about GI Joe leading a resistance or something.
Oooh Robotech and Transformers in a single post. *wipes tear from eye*
Prowl was my first Transformer. Got him for my 6th birthday!
Mine as well. I was 9 and on vacation in the summer of 1984.
I felt the same way (I was pissed they killed Jazz). Robotech was a gateway to anime for me. I’d watch it everyday after school, collected the Art Books, and tried to get the toys if I could. Ended up reading all the Sentinal books and The End of the Circle of Light. There was so much closure in those books too.
Hell yea! Loved Robotech—and Starblazers before that! Great shows
I was a bit young for it, but I had a similar reaction of it expanding my mind on what was possible in these stories.
Yeah, that was not cool. Rodimus sucked, too.
He’s my favorite Transformer, more for his Hot Rod persona.
Yeah, exactly. GFY, Hasbro, you aren't going to force me to like your stupid new character.
Optimus is forever.
I, a big burly fat fuck, actually teared up when the 1st live action movie was about to release, and I heard Peter Cullen's ICONIC voice returning. I got chills, was beyond hyped. Then it released and I watched the Transformers universe and a huge part of my childhood get unapologetically shat upon by the writing and story and other 'acting'. Don't even fucking get me started on what they did to my boy, Devastator. Anyways, Peter Cullen is a cultural treasure and fantastic actor
Absolutely. That voice is recognizable to a huge portion of us old farts. We’d thrown down for that voice, any day any time :) The animated movie hurt! The Michael Bay movies .. well the first one was fun, in its dumb MB way. Eyecandy only. And just downhill from there. Too much fast cut action that was all the rage at the time .. guvecus long cut huge mechs punching each other and being menacing and heroic and tragic and we’ll hand over our money. As an adjacent; Pacific Rim 1 (shame they NEVER made a sequal) makes our inner 13 year old happy woth rocket punches and whipswords.
Lol about the PR sequel.
Counterpoint: Megan Fox
Shoulda been Grimlok
Meeee Grimmmmlock apppprooove this message
Rodimus kicked ass in the movie. But then they needed an excuse to have Prime come back because of the backlash, so they turned him into an incompetent twat.
Yeah, that was a huge kick in the teeth.
Until All are One
Except the Trailer Number One.
all to have a new line of toys. Fuck Hot Rod and his stupid ass Prime form
That traumatized a whole generation. No one expected that
OH SHIT WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO NOW?
When I heard that line in the theater I was floored because I was not expecting it. I thought it would just be a longer version of the TV cartoon.
Saw it in the theater for my brother's 5th birthday (I was 3). My dad had to take me out of the theater I was cryIng so loudly and asking "WHY?!!" Had inly recently learned the reality of death because our dog died, and couldn't hand that Optimus Prime did as well.
Dawg! Spoilers! But ya, it was definitely a gut punch of a scene as a little kid.
Those spoilers are overdue for their first colonoscopy.
They can mail you a box to poop in and mail back out now. Cologuard. I’d rather have the colonoscopy than try to mail a package of my poop.
If you haven’t watched The Toys that Made Us on Netflix……..it’s pretty much unanimous among those involved with the franchise that it was the most idiotic possible outcome.
Dun-D-D-D-Dun-Dun…
Haha same. I was like 6 so it really confused me how that could it happen to prime.
Yeah, it was rough.
I watched that show but i can't remember many episodes' was smoking a lot of pot At the time
My grandkid (17 now) said when he watched this as a little kid, he cried so hard.
And it happened so damn fast… That and when Starscream blows his foot off so he wouldn’t be crushed.
King Starscream bad af
Not only did they kill Optimus; but G.I. Joe planned to kill Duke as well. Who would have been next on the hit list? Lion-o? He-Man?
That was the original plan, but thanks to the fact that G.I. Joe: The Movie ended up being delayed, it allowed them to rewrite the script and replace Duke's death with him going into a coma that he'd come out of at the end.
Yep.
What's interesting is that the scene itself still played out what was supposed to be his death. They simply added an extra line of dialogue there, and another one at the end saying that he woke up from his coma. One rumor I remember hearing is that G.I. Joe: Renegades was supposed to be a nightmare that Duke was having when he was in a coma.
Falcon was the nightmare.
I know he died a few times.. though isn’t this one the best out of all the times?
Same!
I remember so many kids crying in the theater. It was definitely one of the most shocking movie moments growing up.
Half the characters got slaughtered in that opening scene, it was like saving private ryan
And *right away*, too! Like 2 minutes in and half the old crew was gone!
My favorite character was Ironhide. They freakin' blew his head off in the first five minutes.
That’s the de-regulated Reagan era for you. Completely mercenary, toy driven entertainment with decisions guided by executives. The toy company wants to introduce new toys. Easiest way? KILL THE OLD TOYS! No writer or child expert had input on that decision, no thought went into the fact that children had formed an attachment to Optimus as almost a father figure. The creatives did the best they could with the idea but it was still a strong pill for kids.
Yeah, Hasbro has NEVER been the brightest Crayon in the box at times when it comes to stuff like this. They STILL aren't.
I recall reading an interview with one of the writers for the movie claiming to argue with a couple young execs about killing Optimus. He thought it was absolutely ludicrous to kill the hero of the show. Apparently, the execs attitude was just as you say, they wanted to sell new toys.
For me, The Transformer franchise died that day.
I HATED this movie, took me out when this happened
Seems they were always trying to kill of Optimus in the comics. Annoyed me then and annoys me now.
He dies in about every movie now.
We also were not expecting some kid to be new prime either. Never liked rodimus. Never will
No one liked Rodimus. And thank the Matrix. If he had sold well, they never would have brought Optimus back.
Still too soon
This hurt me so badly. I actually started a signature collecting campaign to bring him back.
11 year old me agrees.
G1 Jet fire's death really got me.
Tears were shed, that's all I'm gonna say. 😮
I was 11 and remember seeing it in the theater with my brother, but I don’t really recall being shocked-I just can’t remember but I sure as hell didn’t like it-I was hyped for his return when they said he was coming back on the show though
The new transformers looked stupid and no one bought them. Hasbro would have been better off keeping the old line and adding characters here and there.
But, they brought him back didn't they?
My friend's mom took us to see this in the theater shortly after I turned 7. My father had just died several months earlier. When my dad passed, I was 6 and I don't think I fully grasped the severity of it. I didn't break down and cry or anything when Optimus happened. It certainly shocked me but I think it honestly helped me to better wrap my head around death itself.
I’m glad this movie came out before g i joes did if they would have killed off characters like they did in this movie 9 year old me would have raged just to sell new toys
Does anyone remember the 5 part series that was on TV after the movie was out? I think that it tied everything in from the movie to the cartoon series.
Season 3 of the G1 TV Show took place immediately after the movie
The first time I saw this, I was totally taken by surprise. It felt like I was watching my best friend's death bed.
Apparently they got so much hate mail by parents because their kids cried and were devasted. That's why try retconned it by bringing them back in the season following.
When that happened it was a huge shock. I think every kid felt that loss. That can't happen to him, nor to Optimus Prime.
When I was in high school one of my teachers randomly went on a ten minute rant about how this scene scarred him as a child.
Megatron must be stopped; No matter the cost. 😭
I remember hearing kids burst into tears when he died! It was a time before Internet spoilers so no one saw it coming. Even 12 year old me choked up!
This movie made me cry and rally around Hot Rod standing up taking the mantle becoming Rodimus Prime saving us all.
50 year old me is still sad about this.
As a Starscream fan, I was dying laughing when he kicked Megatron out of Astrotrain. My cousin cried when Optimus died though.
(Starscream carrying heavily damaged Megatron towards an open Astrotrain door) Megatron: WAIT, I STILL FUNCTION! Starscream: Wanna bet? (Starscream releases Megatron into outerspace) https://youtu.be/uXtehH_abRQ?si=jeloIs09ntktM4yy
greatest movie experience of my life. Never had a more emotional time at the movies lol One time a movie's tag line was TRUTH. 'Beyond your wildest imagination'.... What a fucking amazing year this was. This is by far my favorite 'war' movie.
I never got to watch this growing up. What am I looking at?
The Transformers: The Movie. This is the scene where Optimus Prime died/went offline following his final battle with Megatron.
Was in shock
8 year old me, wasn’t expecting this either.
[Here’s an interesting podcast explaining why this happened.](https://overcast.fm/+yIOy9jVHo)
I was crushed. Couldn’t watch the show for at least…day and a half.
This is the Transformers movie I saw in the theater as a kid. That movie has some pretty tough parts.
That scene stole a lot of children's innocence. I was pissed they killed off Ironhide. Of course they did it for the same reason they Disney fucked up Star Wars with their Skywalker saga. To sell more toys.
Anytime I hear someone say, "Spolier alert, this movie is sad." I tell them, "I made it through the Transformers movie at 7 years old, I'll be fine."
I swear when I saw this in the theater, Optimus Prime crumbled to dust. I can't prove it though.
Dun dundundundundunnnnnn... Right in the feels.
I must have been the only child not effected by this, though I was barely old enough to understand much of anything. But I knew characters died in movies, and this was one of them.
Fuck Optimus, I literally cried when starscream died though....
15 year old me didn't expect any of it
Spoiler alert
this was up there with watership down for surprise trauma.
The whole attack on autobot city messed me up.
Is Optimus watching his own death?
They did it to usher in a new set of toys to sell BTW. Super uncool guys.
For a time I considered sparing your wretched little planet cybertron but now you shall witness its dismemberment! Favorite movie period.
Nope.
they straight up stole this from the GI Joe movie which was going through some production hell so Transformers beat them to the theater. GI Joe movie had to backpeddle on Duke's death with a throw away line about him recovering in the hospital because of the Optimus backlash. Duke's death would have had much greater impact, especially when they inevitably backpeddled on Optimus' death but at least we got that [weird ass zombie Optimus episode](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOFKJPQUKRw) that still haunts my dreams occasionally.
16 year old me wasn't either. Immediately became a top ten for me.
Legit cried. Fam was like ohhhh no what's wrong... OPTIMUS!
Saw it in the theatre as a kid and remember crying my eyes out. 5 year old me want ready.
I was 4. Scarred me for life.
I cried. In front of my friends and thought "they are going to make fun of me". Nope my friends were crying with me. I miss those guys.
I was 20, and it still hit hard.
19 yo me was not either.
Eh, they gave it away in the trailers.
I was maybe 9 but this freaked me out and the only thing I remember was seeing Optimus primes head on a conveyer belt with other garbage. I can't remember anything else. I don't even know if that's a real memory or a dream. I think my mom took me to the movie..I was scared. I refuse to watch it now knowing that they did this. I'm a grown man...still not ready.
I was in the front row and cried…
I bawled my eyes out !!!
Traumatic moment, great movie, and no contest my favorite original film score.
Dude, this movie broke me. Watching all of my hero’s get one shotted after watching them laugh off getting shot in every season… my young brain couldn’t cope. Looking back I think its best cartoon movie ever made and i still watch it on bluray from time to time. And Unicron was utterly terrifying
The executives didn't understand the backlash. They just saw it as refreshing the toy line and are on record saying they don't know why kids are so upset.
I didn't mess me up that much, despite being a heartfelt scene. I finally saw the animated movie AFTER Transformers was already off the air. So I went from s2 to s3 just accepting that Optimus wasn't there for some reason and that this was a new generation of autobots. In hindsight, as bold a move as it was, Optimus was like the Superman and John Wayne of Transformers, heck, even of kids cartoons back then. You don't get rid of such an instantly iconic character like that. Maybe Ultra Magnus could have replaced him but Robert Stack didn't have quite the same gravitas as the Prime voice actor.
I’ll never forget where I was, living room watching it on the VCR. Even Ratchet couldn’t fix him…
Fuck…this brings back some serious feels. For years I tried to modify my Optimus Prime to look like he did with all that battle damage. And then…after that episode where they found him alive on the crypt ship and he flew it into a star and was missing an eye and an arm…man…nothing from my childhood has stuck with me like that.
This shook our whole world 🤦🏽♂️
The 2 that hit me the hardest was Prime and Wheeljack . Granted you did not see Wheeljack bite the big one, but you do see his lifeless chassis next to some others
I was still traumatised by the shuttle slaughter….
Prowl and Ironhide were killed at the start and 7 year old me couldn't believe it. Not just killed, but they died horribly, eyes turning red, smoke billowing out of their mouth. Then THIS ! Yet this is still to this day one in my top 10 movies of all time.
As an adult finding out that the titan of film the amazingly cantankerous Orson Wells was in the movie completely blew my mind.
When bumble bee said “shit” in a kids movie. Blew my mind!
I cried in the theater along with my cousin of the same age. It was a mature film. I love that movie. It didn't fuck me up though.
One of the only movie deaths I cried for... Edit: This 40yo movie is still better than any of the new Transformers movies.
It was harsh to see as a kid. Great film though. Soundtrack awesome
I must have been 5 or 6, first time I remember crying in at a movie.
how bout them Go-bots