Due to the destruction and power outages caused by Hurricane Helene hitting the United States, Square Enix has temporarily paused a feature in its popular MMORPG Final Fantasy 14 that demolished player homes if they didn’t log in frequently enough.
Once upon a time, Jonathan Majors was on the fast track to becoming one of the biggest new talents in Hollywood. With projects like Creed III and Ant-Man and the WASP: Quantumania, Majors established himself as a blockbuster draw, but a film called Magazine Dreams was set to establish Majors as a heavyweight in the drama genre as well. Majors and his image would go through many trials and tribulations after facing assault and harassment charges and Magazine Dreams would be dropped by its original studio, Searchlight Pictures.
Deadline is now reporting that Briarcliff Entertainment has given Magazine Dreams a second chance at distribution. Briarcliff Entertainment purchased the rights to distribute the Jonathan Majors film with plans to release in the first quarter of 2025. Tom Ortenberg’s company seems to not shy away from movies that are plagued with controversy as they are also famously putting out a film depicting Donald Trump’s rise in the real estate business with The Apprentice and releasing it right in the middle of election season. Briarcliff will also be making an awards push for that film as they did with another hot-button topic film — Spotlight.
Magazine Dreams stars Majors as an amateur bodybuilder who struggles with severe psychological issues while dreaming of stardom. The buzz was very positive and looked to be a possible awards contender for Majors. “Magazine Dreams is the kind of film that will likely inspire a lot of discourse,” said our own Chris Bumbray in his review, “with the buzz out of Sundance being overwhelmingly positive, although the nihilism did rub some the wrong way. It’s a tough watch, but sometimes films like this are essential.” You can check out the rest of Bumbray’s review of Magazine Dreams right here.
Majors is bouncing back with a new role in the upcoming film Merciless. The project was developed by producer Christopher Tuffin, who is working on a new global media venture that’s meant to have a disruptive nature and “refuses to let the court of public opinion and selective prosecution undermine great art and artists.” Tuffin said, “In graduate school, I had the good fortune to study screenwriting under Blacklist scribe Millard Lampell and learned from him the dangers of letting politics undermine due process and deprive artists of their careers. I consider it an honor and a privilege to be working with Jonathan who is such a great talent now that this matter has been adjudicated.“
Martin Villeneuve added, “Merciless intertwines themes of possession, revenge, and personal justice within a haunting narrative. It explores the psychological descent of John, played by Majors, and the supernatural forces challenging his sanity.“
The post Magazine Dreams starring Jonathan Majors will be getting a theatrical release after Briarcliff Entertainment picks up the weight appeared first on JoBlo.
PLOT: Follows the crew of an unloved franchise movie fighting for their place in a savage and unruly cinematic universe. The comedy series shines a light on the secret chaos inside the world of superhero moviemaking, to ask the question — how exactly does the cinematic sausage get made?
REVIEW: HBO has certainly struck gold with The Penguin, once again cementing the cable network as a powerhouse of original series in the age of streaming saturation. But for every great HBO drama, there are iconic comedies that the network has needed since the end of Veep. Blending the insider knowledge of acclaimed filmmaker Sam Mendes and the biting satirical wit of Armando Iannucci, HBO has their next hit series in The Franchise. Mocking the world of Marvel and other studio intellectual property, The Franchise looks at the behind-the-scenes tension while filming a comic book adaptation. Teasing the conflicting personalities, actor foibles and quirks, and the insane influence of producers and executives, The Franchise is the funniest series of the year and one that is bound to appeal to those getting tired of superhero movies as much as those who still enjoy them.
Over eight episodes, The Franchise chronicles the production of Tecto: Eye of the Storm, starring rising actor Adam Randolph (Billy Magnussen) as the earthquake glove-wielding Tecto opposite acclaimed actor Peter Fairchild (Richard E. Grant) as the villainous Eye. Directed by auteur Eric Bouchard (Daniel Bruhl), Tecto does not have a lot of support from the studio, namely the Kevin Feige-esque studio exec Pat (Darren Goldstein). When new producer Anita (Aya Cash) is brought in to reset the production, the crew responds by scrambling to salvage the movie and their careers. This includes First Assistant Director Daniel Kumar (Himesh Patel) and his new Third Assistant Director, Dag (Lolly Adefope). The crew encounters conflict with a rival production, temperamental cast, special guest stars, re-writes, Comic-Con announcements, continuity, product placement, cancel culture, and more. You know, all in a day’s work on a big-budget blockbuster.
Each episode is set on a specific production day and lampoons the overuse of CGI and the toll it takes on the VFX staff. Aside from Adam and Peter, the only other actors we meet are played by Katherine Waterston and Nick Kroll, as well as one guy in a mo-cap suit who serves as a placeholder for virtually every other role in the film. However, as each challenge is overcome, bigger ones are put in their way, forcing the crew to band together. Eric deals with hiccups and an obsession with Christopher Nolan. Daniel’s aspirations to become a director were at odds with his shared history with Anita when they both started in the business. There is also Eric’s script supervisor, Steph (Jessica Hynes), who harbors a crush on an actor on set, and assistant Bryson (Isaac Powell), who must run point as a yes-man for everyone else. The ensemble is all solid and very funny, especially when you take into context the franchise experience many of them have, including Aya Cash in The Boys, Richard E. Grant in Loki and Star Wars, Billy Magnussen in Aladdin and James Bond, Himesh Patel in Nolan’s Tenet, and especially Daniel Bruhl from multiple projects in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The Franchise will not be for everyone. The lingo and parlance of film sets may go over many viewers’ heads, but it was hilariously on point for someone like me who follows the daily details of Hollywood productions. Like Veep‘s skewering of politics, The Franchise does not pull any punches in giving the movie business a swift kick in the nuts. It also helps that the entire cast is having fun mocking projects that many of them have personally been involved with. In this era of set leaks, internet forum lambasting, and paparazzi photos taken out of context, this new series resonates more than it would have twenty years ago and benefits from the first-hand experience of Sam Mendes, who developed the series and directs the first episode. Mendes’ own experience with the James Bond franchise, Skyfall and Spectre, certainly inspired elements of this series. Still, The Franchise feels squarely aimed at the MCU, which is even funnier because HBO is part of Warner Bros, which controls the DC Universe.
While Veep‘s Armando Iannucci does not boast writing or directing credits on The Franchise, his signature style is clearly in play, having developed the story alongside Mendes. Iannucci’s last HBO series, Avenue 5, never found the audience it needed to stay on the air, but this series feels destined for greater success. Sam Mendes and Armando Iannucci’s story was developed by Jon Brown, who is credited as the series creator, showrunner, and writer on the pilot episode. Brown’s resume includes work on Iannucci’s Veep and Avenue 5 and on HBO’s Succession, giving him major credibility on this project. Subsequent episodes of The Franchise are directed by Liza Johnson, Tom George, and others with writers including Tony Rich, Rachel Axler, and Dillon Mapletoft. Everyone here seems to be having a lot of fun lambasting studio projects with very few punches pulled in, mocking faceless studio honchos all the way down to the day players and crew who never get the credit they are due.
The Franchise is a very specific and targeted send-up of the very industry and projects that the producers and crew of this series are a part of. There is a lot of potential for The Franchise to continue making fun of Hollywood blockbusters for seasons to come with this eight-episode season, never overstaying its welcome while still cramming in copious jokes at the expense of Hollywood studios. With great performances from everyone, led by a hilariously deadpan Himesh Patel, The Franchise should be HBO’s next big hit. I laughed out loud multiple times throughout the series, especially during the back half of the season, with the cameos (both real and fictional) making this a long-awaited satire of superhero fatigue.
The Franchise premieres on October 6th on HBO.
The post The Franchise TV Review: Sam Mendes’ Hollywood satire mocks superhero fatigue appeared first on JoBlo.
PLOT: Follows the crew of an unloved franchise movie fighting for their place in a savage and unruly cinematic universe. The comedy series shines a light on the secret chaos inside the world of superhero moviemaking, to ask the question — how exactly does the cinematic sausage get made?
REVIEW: HBO has certainly struck gold with The Penguin, once again cementing the cable network as a powerhouse of original series in the age of streaming saturation. But for every great HBO drama, there are iconic comedies that the network has needed since the end of Veep. Blending the insider knowledge of acclaimed filmmaker Sam Mendes and the biting satirical wit of Armando Iannucci, HBO has their next hit series in The Franchise. Mocking the world of Marvel and other studio intellectual property, The Franchise looks at the behind-the-scenes tension while filming a comic book adaptation. Teasing the conflicting personalities, actor foibles and quirks, and the insane influence of producers and executives, The Franchise is the funniest series of the year and one that is bound to appeal to those getting tired of superhero movies as much as those who still enjoy them.
Over eight episodes, The Franchise chronicles the production of Tecto: Eye of the Storm, starring rising actor Adam Randolph (Billy Magnussen) as the earthquake glove-wielding Tecto opposite acclaimed actor Peter Fairchild (Richard E. Grant) as the villainous Eye. Directed by auteur Eric Bouchard (Daniel Bruhl), Tecto does not have a lot of support from the studio, namely the Kevin Feige-esque studio exec Pat (Darren Goldstein). When new producer Anita (Aya Cash) is brought in to reset the production, the crew responds by scrambling to salvage the movie and their careers. This includes First Assistant Director Daniel Kumar (Himesh Patel) and his new Third Assistant Director, Dag (Lolly Adefope). The crew encounters conflict with a rival production, temperamental cast, special guest stars, re-writes, Comic-Con announcements, continuity, product placement, cancel culture, and more. You know, all in a day’s work on a big-budget blockbuster.
Each episode is set on a specific production day and lampoons the overuse of CGI and the toll it takes on the VFX staff. Aside from Adam and Peter, the only other actors we meet are played by Katherine Waterston and Nick Kroll, as well as one guy in a mo-cap suit who serves as a placeholder for virtually every other role in the film. However, as each challenge is overcome, bigger ones are put in their way, forcing the crew to band together. Eric deals with hiccups and an obsession with Christopher Nolan. Daniel’s aspirations to become a director were at odds with his shared history with Anita when they both started in the business. There is also Eric’s script supervisor, Steph (Jessica Hynes), who harbors a crush on an actor on set, and assistant Bryson (Isaac Powell), who must run point as a yes-man for everyone else. The ensemble is all solid and very funny, especially when you take into context the franchise experience many of them have, including Aya Cash in The Boys, Richard E. Grant in Loki and Star Wars, Billy Magnussen in Aladdin and James Bond, Himesh Patel in Nolan’s Tenet, and especially Daniel Bruhl from multiple projects in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The Franchise will not be for everyone. The lingo and parlance of film sets may go over many viewers’ heads, but it was hilariously on point for someone like me who follows the daily details of Hollywood productions. Like Veep‘s skewering of politics, The Franchise does not pull any punches in giving the movie business a swift kick in the nuts. It also helps that the entire cast is having fun mocking projects that many of them have personally been involved with. In this era of set leaks, internet forum lambasting, and paparazzi photos taken out of context, this new series resonates more than it would have twenty years ago and benefits from the first-hand experience of Sam Mendes, who developed the series and directs the first episode. Mendes’ own experience with the James Bond franchise, Skyfall and Spectre, certainly inspired elements of this series. Still, The Franchise feels squarely aimed at the MCU, which is even funnier because HBO is part of Warner Bros, which controls the DC Universe.
While Veep‘s Armando Iannucci does not boast writing or directing credits on The Franchise, his signature style is clearly in play, having developed the story alongside Mendes. Iannucci’s last HBO series, Avenue 5, never found the audience it needed to stay on the air, but this series feels destined for greater success. Sam Mendes and Armando Iannucci’s story was developed by Jon Brown, who is credited as the series creator, showrunner, and writer on the pilot episode. Brown’s resume includes work on Iannucci’s Veep and Avenue 5 and on HBO’s Succession, giving him major credibility on this project. Subsequent episodes of The Franchise are directed by Liza Johnson, Tom George, and others with writers including Tony Rich, Rachel Axler, and Dillon Mapletoft. Everyone here seems to be having a lot of fun lambasting studio projects with very few punches pulled in, mocking faceless studio honchos all the way down to the day players and crew who never get the credit they are due.
The Franchise is a very specific and targeted send-up of the very industry and projects that the producers and crew of this series are a part of. There is a lot of potential for The Franchise to continue making fun of Hollywood blockbusters for seasons to come with this eight-episode season, never overstaying its welcome while still cramming in copious jokes at the expense of Hollywood studios. With great performances from everyone, led by a hilariously deadpan Himesh Patel, The Franchise should be HBO’s next big hit. I laughed out loud multiple times throughout the series, especially during the back half of the season, with the cameos (both real and fictional) making this a long-awaited satire of superhero fatigue.
The Franchise premieres on October 6th on HBO.
The post The Franchise TV Review: Sam Mendes’ Hollywood satire mocks superhero fatigue appeared first on JoBlo.
American Horror Stories, a streaming series spin-off from FX’s long-running horror anthology series American Horror Story, began with a seven episode first season in 2021, continued with an eight episode second season in 2022, and gave us a four episode third season in 2023. American Horror Stories season 4 is set to premiere on Hulu (and Hulu on Disney+ for bundle subscribers) on Tuesday, October 15th. The new season consists of five episodes, and all five will be available to watch on that date. A trailer has arrived online to promote this new batch of episodes, and you can check that out in the embed above. It looks like the five episodes are called Backrooms, The Thing Under the Bed, Clone, Leprechaun, and X, which seems like a cool line-up.
Created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuck, the same duo that’s responsible for American Horror Story, this series is a weekly hourlong anthology that features a different horror story, some of which call back to the original series, in each contained episode. Obviously the “weekly” part of that description has been set aside for season 4, as it was for season 3, which was also given a binge watch release.
Murphy and Falchuk serve as executive producers on American Horror Stories alongside Alexis Martin Woodall, Max Winkler, Jon Robin Baitz, and Dr. Giggles director Manny Coto, who sadly passed away last year at the age of 62. The show is produced by 20th Television.
The cast of American Horror Stories season 4 includes Henry Winkler (Happy Days), Debby Ryan (Jessie), Michael Imperioli (The Sopranos), Dyllón Burnside (Pose), Jeff Hiller (American Horror Story: NYC), Jessica Barden (American Horror Stories), Angel Bismark Curiel (Pose), Guy Burnet (3 Body Problem), Victor Garber (DC’s Legends of Tomorrow), and June Squibb (Glee). You can see some of them in action in the trailer.
What did you think of the American Horror Stories season 4 trailer? Are you a fan of this show, and will you be watching this new batch of episodes when they reach Hulu? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
The post American Horror Stories season 4 trailer: anthology series returns to Hulu this month appeared first on JoBlo.
After taking a look back at House II: The Second Story (a favorite of mine since childhood), House of 1000 Corpses (which celebrated its 20th anniversary last year), the awesomeness of Tales from the Crypt Presents: Demon Knight, the leg smashing in the Stephen King adaptation Misery, three separate moments from John Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China, the “Jason vs. Tina” battle in Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood, the “all hell breaks loose” sequence from the start of Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead remake, the opening sequence of Pitch Black, a cool moment from The Crow, a memorable shark attack from Jaws 2, and a creepy moment from Lost Highway, JoBlo’s own Lance Vlcek is continuing his The Best Scene video series with a look at a scene from the 1990 slasher sequel Child’s Play 2 (watch it HERE) – and if you’re familiar with that movie, it will probably come as no surprise that the “best scene” pick comes from the climactic chase that takes place inside a doll factory.
Directed by John Lafia from a screenplay by Don Mancini, Child’s Play 2 has the following synopsis: Two years after serial killer Charles Lee Ray inserted his soul into a Chucky doll, a toy company attempts to re-create the doll, bringing Ray back in the process. The possessed doll, intent on claiming a human body, kills his way toward former owner Andy, who now lives in a foster home. Andy’s foster sister, Kyle, tries to protect him, but his foster parents believe Andy is just a troubled kid — and Chucky’s murderous path continues.
The film stars Alex Vincent, Christine Elise, Jenny Agutter, Gerrit Graham, Grace Zabriskie, Peter Haskell, Beth Grant, and Greg Germann, with Brad Dourif providing the voice of Chucky.
Are you a fan of Child’s Play 2? What did you think of this best scene video? Let us know by leaving a comment below… and if this isn’t what you would have picked as the best scene, let us know which scene you think is the best one in the movie.
Two of the previous episodes of The Best Scene can be seen below. To see more of our shows, click over to the JoBlo Horror Originals channel – and subscribe while you’re at it!
The post Child’s Play 2 (1990) – The Best Scene appeared first on JoBlo.
PLOT: Rico fears that werewolves lurk in the nearby forest, but the danger could all be in his head.
REVIEW: After being absent from the screen for over twenty years, Shelley Duvall made her return to acting with director Scott Goldberg’s horror film The Forest Hills – and the movie has gotten a good amount of attention for having Duvall in the cast. She was a Texas college student when she basically just fell into an acting career. She happened to meet director Robert Altman at a party while he was in Texas shooting his 1970 movie Brewster McCloud. Intrigued by her “upbeat presence and unique physical appearance,” the director and crew members talked Duvall into taking a role in the film. Suddenly she was an actress who started racking up credits: Nashville, Annie Hall, The Shining, Popeye, Time Bandits, Roxanne, The Portrait of a Lady, and fifty more, including hosting her own TV show, Faerie Tale Theatre. Then she stepped away from acting, as she felt that people in the industry had turned against her. In recent years she was in the news for her struggles with mental illness, including an appearance on the Dr. Phil show in 2016. So it’s nice to see that Duvall overcame the troubles she had been facing to make a return to the screen. As someone who grew up watching Popeye and Faerie Tale Theatre and tends to watch The Shining at least once a year, I find it heartwarming to know that Duvall had the chance to act one more time. Sadly, she passed away before The Forest Hills could make its way out into the world, but at least we have one more performance of hers to see.
That said, she does not play a pleasant character in her return to acting. In this film, she plays Mama, a character who’s introduced with a flashback to the day she decided to lock her young children Rico and Emily inside her car and attempted to gas them with the exhaust fumes. Now Mama has been diagnosed with stage four lung cancer, and reaches out to her estranged son Rico (played as an adult by Chiko Mendez) so he can take care of her in her final days. While there are moments of Duvall scattered throughout the movie, most of her screen time is front-loaded, as the focus soon shifts away from the time Mama and Rico spend together. Rico has other things to deal with, as he’s extremely concerned that there are werewolves lurking in the nearby woods.
The Forest Hills has been marketed as a werewolf movie, and the creatures are a presence in the story. We get glimpses of the things stalking through the woods. But don’t go into this one expecting a straightforward creature feature. This may be the most bizarre head-trip werewolf movie ever made. The official synopsis for the story crafted by Goldberg is “a man is tormented by nightmarish visions after enduring head trauma while camping in the Catskill woods.” That’s the description to keep in mind, because the movie is all about Rico experiencing terrifying hallucinations, losing touch with reality, losing control of himself. The movie trips right along with him, showing us scattered fragments of messed-up moments, so we can never be sure what is actually happening and what is only going on in Rico’s mind. Which is the same problem Rico is having.
Are there werewolves? Is Rico a werewolf? Is he a serial killer? We can’t be sure – but one thing is for sure, and it’s the fact that Chiko Mendez put his all into this performance. We have Shelley Duvall up front and a supporting cast that includes appearances by Sleepaway Camp’s Felissa Rose, The Howling’s Dee Wallace, Halloween III: Season of the Witch’s Stacey Nelkin, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers’ Marianne Hagan, and Terminator 2’s Edward Furlong, but Mendez carries the majority of the film on his shoulders. He has a lot of very intense scenes to play, and he handles it all well, making Rico’s descent into madness completely convincing. His work in this film is quite impressive.
But even though I was impressed by Mendez, had fun spotting familiar faces in the supporting case, and loved seeing Duvall again, I can’t say I found The Forest Hills to be an ideal viewing experience. Trippy, scattered, “is this real or not?” movies just aren’t for me, so this isn’t the sort of movie I would turn to for entertainment. I’m glad I saw it once, but it’s not something I could watch multiple times. Goldberg did a good job of capturing and assembling the images that go with Rico’s mental health crisis, but I would have enjoyed it more if there were a more straightforward approach taken to the storytelling, with a more satisfactory ending. That’s just personal preference, and I’m sure there are plenty of horror fans out there who will be enthralled by the wild ride this movie takes the viewer on.
The Forest Hills is dedicated to the memory of George A. Romero, which was nice to see, since Romero is one of my cinematic heroes. His fellow genre filmmaker John Carpenter also gets a special thanks – and the score Goldberg composed with Mark Nadolski has strong Carpenter vibes at times, even bringing to mind the music Carpenter recently composed (alongside Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies) for Blumhouse’s Halloween sequel trilogy.
This movie is definitely worth checking out to see the actors at work, but if you were expecting a straightforward horror movie about werewolves lurking in the forest, set aside those expectations and prepare for a descent into madness.
The post The Forest Hills Review: Shelley Duvall’s Final Film appeared first on JoBlo.
Blu-ray.com has just announced that an all-new Collector’s Edition 4K Blu-ray of this summer’s hit film Twisters will be spinning into retailers on October 22.
The description reads: This summer, the epic studio disaster movie returns with an adrenaline-pumping, seat-gripping, big-screen thrill ride that puts you in direct contact with one of nature’s most wondrous—and destructive—forces.
From the producers of the Jurassic, Bourne and Indiana Jones series comes Twisters, a current-day chapter of the 1996 blockbuster, Twister. Directed by Lee Isaac Chung, the Oscar® nominated writer-director of Minari, Twisters stars Golden Globe nominee Daisy Edgar-Jones (Where the Crawdads Sing, Normal People) and Glen Powell (Anyone But You, Top Gun: Maverick) as opposing forces who come together to try to predict, and possibly tame, the immense power of tornadoes.
Edgar-Jones stars as Kate Cooper, a former storm chaser haunted by a devastating encounter with a tornado during her college years who now studies storm patterns on screens safely in New York City. She is lured back to the open plains by her friend, Javi (Golden Globe nominee Anthony Ramos, In the Heights) to test a groundbreaking new tracking system. There, she crosses paths with Tyler Owens (Powell), the charming and reckless social-media superstar who thrives on posting his storm-chasing adventures with his raucous crew, the more dangerous the better.
As storm season intensifies, terrifying phenomena never seen before are unleashed, and Kate, Tyler and their competing teams find themselves squarely in the paths of multiple storm systems converging over central Oklahoma in the fight of their lives.
Twisters features an exciting new cast, including Nope’s Brandon Perea, Sasha Lane (American Honey), Daryl McCormack (Peaky Blinders), Kiernan Shipka (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), Nik Dodani (Atypical) and Golden Globe winner Maura Tierney (Beautiful Boy).
From Amblin Entertainment, Twisters is directed by Lee Isaac Chung and is produced by Oscar® nominee Frank Marshall (Jurassic and Indiana Jones franchises) and by Patrick Crowley (Jurassic and Bourne franchises). The screenplay is by Mark L. Smith, writer of the Best Picture nominee The Revenant. Twisters will be distributed by Universal Pictures domestically and by Warner Bros. Pictures internationally.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
The post Twisters chases down a 4K Collector’s Edition to be released later this month appeared first on JoBlo.
This year’s Transformers One takes the lore and explores how both Optimus Prime and Megatron went from practically brothers to becoming bitter enemies. But back in 1987, an epic movie version of the popular animated television show would bring their battle to the big screen for the first time. It’s Transformers: The Movie on this episode of Revisited.
The Background and the plot
The Transformers cartoon from 1984 was one of several children’s shows that was made explicitly to sell toys. It joined the likes of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, G.I. Joe and Voltron. However, this is a good example of “if you can make a product that’s cool enough, we won’t dwell on the shallow corporate reason for its existence.” Kids everywhere in the 80s loved the varied vehicles and characters and the creativity of unfolding and switching parts to turn it into a fighting soldier robot. It was action in the greatest way imaginable.
Like I said, the cartoon was cool enough that kids didn’t care that it was driven by consumerism. The only time they seemingly started to push their luck was probably with the 1986 movie. Hasbro wanted to push a new toyline and since they wanted to make space for new characters, that meant getting rid of the old ones. You know, the ones kids grew to love. Fans of the show expected to see a grander version of the Cybertron war on the big screen. What they weren’t expecting, is seeing two of the most important and popular characters getting a premature conclusion in the first act of the movie.
You can’t fault this movie for taking risks. However, one thing that Transformers: The Movie is notoriously remembered for is killing off Autobot leader and fan favorite, Optimus Prime, early on in the film. The way it plays out makes it even more devastating and tragic. Optimus doesn’t go out with a badass or heroic exit. Not immediately anyway. In an early battle with the rivals, both Optimus and Megatron get mortally wounded. Both factions retreat with their wounded and we are treated to a lengthy scene where our protagonists are gathered around Optimus on his death bed as his life functions start ceasing. There is even a monitor where you see his vital signs flatlining. Kids were obviously not prepared to see what became their version of Terms of Endearment. And to add to the visual that this was for real and not some manipulative plot device, the color drains from him, rendering him cold and lifeless.
Optimus does get to do one last heroic deed though. So, let’s rewind quickly to the start of the plot. It’s the far distant future of 2005. The film starts off with a bang as we see a giant-sized transformer traveling through space and it eats up an entire planet in the prologue of the movie. This is an epic new baddie, Unicron. And it feeds on planets by the whole. His next meal will be Cybertron, and it’s coming at a time when the Decepticons have finally seized control of the Autobot home world. The last gasp of resistance from Optimus has him setting a course for Earth to replenish their power. Megatron intercepts the plan and the two meet on Earth where they engage in a life or death battle. As mentioned earlier, they would be be mortally wounded and before Optimus dies, in his last heroic act, he takes his Matrix and passes it on to Ultra Magnus as he chooses him as the new leader. He also says, when the time comes, his Matrix will become a mighty weapon for the Autobots that will turn the tide in the Cybertron War.
Meanwhile, the Decepticons would respond very differently to the severely injured Megatron and Starscream would leave him for dead in space. Hilariously, the Decepticons decide to pick their new leader by having an internal battle royal for the last one standing. So, as Megatron nearly dies himself, he would get an upgrade when he ends up encountering Unicron. Unicron recruits Megatron to destroy Optimus’ Matrix and in doing so, he would give Megatron a full upgrade to become Galvatron.
The movie seems to take heavy influence from space epics like your Star Wars and Star Treks. The war sees our characters hop from planet to planet as they have life or death encounters with these alien environments and its inhabitants. A fun twist on the trope would see the final battle between Autobots and Decepticons take place in the planet-like Unicron. Only it would happen after he, himself, transforms into a giant Transformer.
The Voices and the Animation
Transformers: The Movie knew it had the capacity to be higher class than the TV show with it being a feature adaptation. While we get the cartoon’s cast of voices returning, including the iconic pipes of Peter Cullen and Frank Welker, we see some notable names displayed in the very Superman movie-esque credits sequence in the beginning. We get names like Robert Stack from Unsolved Mysteries and TV’s The Untouchables, Monty Python’s Eric Idle, Brat Pack star Judd Nelson, Lionel Stander, who starred in a number of spaghetti westerns. And finally, we get heavy hitters like Leonard Nimoy and Orson Welles.
Judd Nelson was coming off the one-two punch of hit films The Breakfast Club and St. Elmos Fire, so his appeal would play to hip audiences as he voicedthe younger hero of the movie — Hot Rod. Robert Stack brings his gravitas and his Elliot Ness sensibilities to the role of Ultra Magnus as he becomes the new Autobot leader. Lionel Stander gets to be the older gun that sticks by Hot Rod’s side as Kup, and he definitely showcases the wisdom and experience of an aging cowboy-type character that’s gung-ho for one last fight. Eric Idle naturally became a comic relief as Wreck-Gar, one of the native inhabitants of a trash planet named…well, Junk. Another comic relief character in the film was the aptly named Blurr, who was voiced by John Moschitta Jr. Children of the 80s and 90s will recognize his signature fast-talking style from the Micro Machines toy commercials.
As Megatron gets his complete upgrade, Frank Welker is overtaken by iconic Star Trek star Leonard Nimoy as he now voices Galvatron. This wouldn’t even be Nimoy’s last foray into the Transformers world as Michael Bay brought him in to voice Sentinel Prime in Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Finally, for a character like Unicron, the filmmakers would surprisingly get cinema’s most groundbreaking director and actor, Orson Welles, of Citizen Kane fame, to lend his voice to the film. Tragically, Welles was very ill during his recordings for this movie and would pass away mere days after working this film. The filmmakers had to strand together a number of different takes for his performance while adding some sound adjustments. However, the end product is impressive as Welles’ Unicron sounds both theatrical and intimidating. Welles would amusingly not know anything about what he was working on. And he referred to his role as a “big toy that attacks a bunch of smaller toys.” This would be even more impressive if the raw audio were as bad as his drunken outtakes from a Paul Masson Wine commercial.
Megatron wouldn’t be the only one getting an upgrade. The movie ups the quality of animation from the series to look incredibly cinematic. The details of shadows and highlights are enough to make the picture pop, but the team at Toei Animation went above and beyond to give kids the feeling that they’re seeing something special. There are many sequences in the film that look unbelievably complicated to animate. We get an amazing feast for the eyes with nearly every scene with Unicron, including sequences where he devours planets and when he turns Megatron into Galvatron.
Music and Reception
Other than Optimus’ demise, another thing that this movie is known for is its rockin’ soundtrack. While we get a new rock version of the Transformers theme, one song that has become synonymous with this film is Stan Bush’s inspirational anthem “The Touch.” That song could arguably be more famous than the movie, especially with Mark Wahlberg bringing it back into the spotlight. “The Touch” is just one of many needle drops in this movie that pumps you up for the scene that’s about to happen. There’s even a comedic scene that’s punctuated by Weird Al’s “Dare to Be Stupid.”
Additionally, the score of the film was composed by Vince DiCola, who is known for his awesomely synthesized soundtrack to Rocky IV. DiCola got to create the score in a dream studio filled to the brim with synthesizers and it’s a project that he has always been proud of. His theme for Unicron would even sound very reminiscent of Ivan Drago’s from Rocky IV.
Transformers: The Movie would sport an impressive budget of $6 million. Unfortunately, it would never crack the top 10 movies at the box office and it finished its run with a gross that’s just below $6 million. The film’s audience never reached outside of pre-existing fans who are caught up on the cartoon. The movie is very much an extension of the series and it would do very little to bring in a new audience and make it accessible for viewers who knew nothing about this property, which would alienate the casual movie goer.
However, the film would be long from forgotten as it still stands as a cult classic and has a comfortable spot in the hearts of Transformers fans who grew up in this era. It’s no secret that the property is still going strong, thanks to the live action movies made by Michael Bay and the additional films that followed. People have already said many times that this franchise is more than meets the eye. But it wouldn’t be that way if it didn’t have…the touch.
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