Synopsis

In the year 2005, the Autobots face a devastating Decepticon assault on Autobot City while an immense planet-sized machine called Unicron consumes worlds across the galaxy. As the old order of Cybertronian heroes collapses, Hot Rod and his allies must survive betrayal, loss, and a desperate race to obtain the power of the Matrix of Leadership before Unicron destroys Cybertron.

Factoids & Trivia

• The film was produced as a feature-length expansion of the animated television series, with animation handled by Japan's Toei Animation.

• The story takes place in 2005, which was presented as a distant future when the film was made in 1986.

• Orson Welles provided the voice of Unicron. It was his final completed film role, and he recorded his dialogue on October 5, 1985, five days before his death.

• The production had a reported budget of approximately $6 million, a large sum for an animated feature of its period. Its initial theatrical run earned slightly less than that amount in North America.

• The film's unusually dramatic tone and major character deaths were used to transition the television franchise toward a new generation of characters and toys.

• Vince DiCola composed the electronic and orchestral score. The soundtrack also featured prominent rock songs, including Stan Bush's "The Touch" and "Dare," NRG's "Instruments of Destruction," and "Dare to Be Stupid" by "Weird Al" Yankovic.

• "The Touch" had originally been written for the 1986 Sylvester Stallone film Cobra, but became closely associated with Transformers: The Movie after its use during Hot Rod's transformation sequence.

• The movie introduced Unicron, Galvatron, Cyclonus, Scourge, Hot Rod, Arcee, Ultra Magnus, Springer, Kup, and several other characters who became central to the third television season.

• A planet with an extra moon appears because of an animation and editing error. The anomalous moon later appeared again in Beast Machines: Transformers.

• The film initially performed poorly against the crowded 1986 summer movie schedule, but later developed a strong following through home video, television broadcasts, and anniversary theatrical screenings.