I always remembered this movie took place in 2005, so now that it is 2005, I had to buy it and watch it again. The story and characters hold up well, and the animation is very well done. This was before computer animation took hold, so the fact that everything looks so good is saying a lot. What really struck me watching it today is the colors, the very bright 1980's colors that are stunning to look at, and the mechanical world of the backgrounds is stunning as well.
Watching it now I can really pick out Judd Nelson's voice. Lionel Stander, the voice of Kup, has a very familiar voice, but I have not seen any other movies he's done. I suppose I recognize him from childhood as the voice of Kup. I can kind of pick out Orson Welles as Unicron, although it is not as clean as his voice usually is. Maybe the technology changed it or his age affected it. But who else could voice the larger-than-life figure of a monster planet. (insert your own Orson Welles weight joke here) I used to worship the soundtrack. Today the songs are cheesy even by 80's standards, but I still like them. The sound effects of the movie stand out as well. Mechanical robots, lasers, explosions, almost as detailed as sound for animation today. This is all more than a nostalgia trip, this movie is really good. Now suddenly I'm hungering for the DVD's of the TV show.
Watching it now I can really pick out Judd Nelson's voice. Lionel Stander, the voice of Kup, has a very familiar voice, but I have not seen any other movies he's done. I suppose I recognize him from childhood as the voice of Kup. I can kind of pick out Orson Welles as Unicron, although it is not as clean as his voice usually is. Maybe the technology changed it or his age affected it. But who else could voice the larger-than-life figure of a monster planet. (insert your own Orson Welles weight joke here) I used to worship the soundtrack. Today the songs are cheesy even by 80's standards, but I still like them. The sound effects of the movie stand out as well. Mechanical robots, lasers, explosions, almost as detailed as sound for animation today. This is all more than a nostalgia trip, this movie is really good. Now suddenly I'm hungering for the DVD's of the TV show.