Transformers: The Movie Home Releases

More Than Just A Really Long Toy Commercial

The Transformers: The Movie is one of my favorite films of all time.  This wasn't always so. I loved Transformers as a kid (the toys and the cartoon), and after growing out of it for a few years, thanks to The Transformers: The Movie, I eventually grew right back into it.  Why? On the surface it looks like an 86 minute toy commercial and that is definitely what it was to the people who bankrolled it, but this film has layers.  The people who made it were talented and passionate and infused it with a great deal of depth that makes it more appealing to me as an adult than it did as a kid.

Its story delved some truly dark themes like self sacrifice, fear, false hope, failed expectations, death and dealing with loss.  It's also a story filled with hope, faith and perseverance; of light shining in the darkness.  It balances peril and humor without ever coming across as disingenuous or condescending. The dialog is filled with quotable one-liners and retorts that feel organic and effortless - the kind of thing that many huge-budget 80's films tried and abjectly failed to achieve.

It melded the established chemistry of the existing voice cast - the unparalleled talents of Peter Cullen, Frank Welker, Michael Bell, Scatman Corothers, Casey Kasem, and Dan Gilvezan with a slate of A-listers like Robert Stack, Eric Idle, Leonard Nimoy and Orson Welles.  It represents the last or next to last performances given by Corothers and Welles before they passed away.

The musical score is a non-stop sonic master work, filled with energetic infectious synth that not only complements the on-screen action but helps to define it.  The score seamlessly integrates a soundtrack that exemplifies 80's arena rock, power ballads and even features Weird Al Yankovic's Devo tribute "Dare to be Stupid".  The soundtrack is a snapshot of 80's rock music, diverse and iconic enough to hold its own beside better known albums of the period. It has inspired the cover band "The Cybertronic Spree" to create a full-length homage. 

Once relegated to "kid stuff" and released to the home market with minimum effort, the generation that grew up with Transformers has gradually made its case that this is a film worth celebrating and enjoying in the best possible quality.  Over the years I have watched as the quality of home video releases have steadily increased (and occasionally taken a step back). As of 2021 it has now been released on 4K Blu-ray in HDR which is the best that home video has to offer (as of this writing).  The film has also been re-released to theaters at least twice in the last decade, allowing me the golden opportunity to take my young sons with me for my first time seeing it in an actual cinema.  

This post is a way for me to document my own collection, which I know is not exhaustive. It includes all of the US releases as well as some noteworthy international ones. I don't have any intention of collecting all of the  International releases and I believe there are already good sources of information about those elsewhere on the Internet. 

All images and scans were created directly by me (or my wife) for this article.  All the good pictures were taken by her.  If any of the images looks amateurish, I assure you they were taken by me.  If you like them enough to want to use them for your own purposes, please feel free, but I would ask that you give me credit and link back to this post if you choose to do that.

Version Differences

There are two main versions of this film:

• US theatrical version
• UK version 

Both films have the same running time and are mostly the same content.

US Theatrical Version

This is the original version of the film released to US theaters in 1986. When this was first distributed on home video, the theatrical version was censored to remove a "swear word" Spike Witwicky uses about 40 minutes into the film.  It's a two-word phrase but enough to distinguish "censored" from "uncensored" versions of the films.

UK Version

The initial response to the US theatrical version prompted some changes before this film was released to the UK and other territories. I'm not an expert, but as far as I understand it, all UK versions omit Spike's swear word.

Opening Sequence

The opening sequence was altered so that where formerly major cast credits were shown as the theme song plays in the background now a Star Wars-style "text crawl" scrolls up the screen as series narrator Victor Caroli reads it aloud.  The content of the text crawl is identical to the synopsis on the back of the original f.h.e. VHS box.  It sets up the plot of the film as well as gives some explanation of the main conflict between Autobots and Decepticons.

Closing Sequence

The closing sequence adds another narration by Victor Caroli which explains that the Transformers' story has not ended and assuring possibly nervous children that Optimus Prime will return.

1986 Family Home Entertainment (f.h.e.)

Source Version: US Theatrical

Censored: Yes

Aspect Ratio: 4:3

This release was distributed on both VHS and Betamax. 

The home video version famously censored Spike's "expletive".  Other than the censoring of one word and formatting in 4:3 aspect ratio, this is faithful to the original theatrical presentation.  Most copies of this release in circulation seem to be former rental cassettes.  

VHS

Quick History Lesson: In the mid to late 1980's movie studios and distributors were in a sort of cold war involving videocassettes and rental shops. The studios hated the fact that they weren't getting direct revenue from rental so they charged ridiculous prices per tape (sometimes as much as $100 or more in 1980's dollars!) knowing that only the rental outfits would pay it. Studios couldn't release the same movie at retail prices at the same time because the rental shops would just buy the retail copies instead of the expensive ones.  What this meant was that although the rental shops were getting gouged by the distributors, they could make all of their money back because they had a window of exclusivity where the only way to see a movie at home was to rent it. I think most, if not all, of this specific videocassette of The Transformers: The Movie still in circulation today were originally sold exclusively to rental shops. (If you know anyone who actually bought a retail copy of this back then, I'd love to hear about it.)  There was a popular urban myth at the time that the cassettes sold to rental shops at steep markup were somehow built to a higher quality standard in order to put up with the heavy use rental titles are subjected to, but it was not true - they were the same quality as the eventual retail releases.  

The front of the box features the theatrical poster artwork with the f.h.e. logo superimposed at the top, and a banner at the bottom in black-on-red proudly proclaiming "FULL-LENGTH ANIMATED FEATURE ON VIDEOCASSETTE".

The cassette label is a distinctive green-on-silver which was a trademark of f.h.e. in the 1980's.  The spine of the cassette features a stamp showing what appears to be the manufacturing date and lot number.

Most of the VHS copies I've encountered have a damaged Hi-Fi audio track and problems with sync jitter.  It's so prevalent that until I lucked into a copy with neither of these issues, I just assumed it was poorly mastered.

Technical Sidebar: In the VHS format, both the HiFi audio and the sync/control signals exist on the top and bottom edges of the tape. It's my theory that most of these tapes have passed through dozens if not hundreds of poorly maintained players. When the edge of the tape becomes worn or damaged by an improperly aligned tape track inside the VCR it starts causing problems with sync and the HiFi audio.  The HiFi audio track may cut out, and or your VCR may never even attempt to play it. The sync issues aren't so noticeable when playback is through a standard VCR on a CRT, but they play havoc with my D-VHS player when it tries to stabilize the image.

After the credits end, the f.h.e. jingle logo plays again followed by advertisements for other f.h.e. Transformers releases.  These ads are the same as the ones they included in the TV show VHS releases at the end of the episode.

Betamax

Given its extreme rarity, about a year after the start of my search, I became convinced that this movie wasn't actually released on Betamax because there is so little evidence of it.  Before finding one, the only evidence I could find that it even existed was a scan of some old distributor catalog showing that it was a planned release (which I can no longer seem to locate) and people on the Internet sharing vague recollections of having seen it in the late 80's.

The Betamax release was packaged in the VHS box with only a sticker over the barcode area to distinguish it as a Beta cassette.  If you look closely you can see the "VHS Hi-Fi" and blue dot through the BETA sticker.  I bet this was really annoying to Beta collectors as this would not fit on a shelf next to other beta tapes.  In fact, I think that's why only the top portion of this box has sun fading on it - that part must have been sticking up higher than the other tapes on the shelf.

The distributor didn't even bother to make a Beta-sized label - they just stuck the VHS label on the beta cassette. If you look you can see a portion of the outline of the Betamax label area uncovered, and the label crossing all the way over to cover part of the spool window.  Oddly enough f.h.e. did have  Beta-sized versions of their labels on the TV series releases. Just like the VHS, there's a date and lot number stamped on the spine of the cassette.

This is a shot of the spacer inside the VHS box that allows the Beta cassette to fit without sliding around.

As a commercial release format, Betamax was well on its way out by late 1986, so that might explain the distributor's lack of effort to make format-appropriate labels and boxes, as well as this release's apparent rarity.

Technical Sidebar: The Beta release (the one copy I have ever watched) didn't suffer from the same problems as the VHS in terms of HiFi audio and sync jitter.  This may be, in part, due to the fact that the HiFi audio track is written in the diagonals along with the video and not vulnerable to tape edge wear. It's also entirely possible that the unpopularity of the Beta format meant that the tape I have hasn't been played as much as some of the VHS copies.  

Sound-wise the Beta HiFi track seems to have much better clarity and dynamic range than the VHS, which is to be expected as it was touted as a strength of the format.  The first time I watched it there were sounds audible that I did not hear on the VHS.  Particularly in the beginning of the scene where Kup and Hot Rod have crashed into the water on Quintessa - one of the robot fish makes a chomping sound in the left channel that really jumps out.  Also the sounds of revving motorcycles just before the Junkions attack Springer, Arcee and Daniel can be heard very distinctly. These just didn't stand out on the VHS.

1988 Family Home Entertainment MCA Distribution VHS

Source Version: US Theatrical

Censored: Yes

Aspect Ratio: 4:3

In 1988 the parent company IVE did some internal reorganization, and while I can't find evidence that links that to the release of this version, significant changes were made to distribution plans at that time.  The packaging changes here could very well be because distribution duties were outsourced to MCA.  

The only changes are cosmetic packaging updates - the content on the tape is identical to the original release. The bar across the bottom of the front cover was changed and now simply reads "VIDEOCASSETTE". The right panel barcode area was revised to include a MCA distribution notice, and the barcode is blue rather than black.  The label on the cassette itself was changed from f.h.e.'s distinctive green-print-on-silver to a plain black on white. Though the actual typeset of the label is identical, right down to the catalog number.  There is no longer a stamp on the spine of the cassette to indicate when it was manufactured.

The MCA Distribution cassette label has identical printing, but in black-on-white rather than green-on-silver.  There is no manufacturing date or lot number to research when exactly this was made.

All of the copies of this release I've viewed have the same HiFi and sync jitter problems as the original release.

1989 Hillcrane Laserdisc (Japan)

Source Version: Hybrid

Censored: Yes

Aspect Ratio: 4:3

Although it offered a vastly superior viewing experience to VHS, Laserdisc never achieved the commercial success in the US that VHS had.  Like many films of this era, Japan was the only territory to receive a Laserdisc release of The Transformers: The Movie.  

The Hillcrane Laserdisc is one of the most highly sought-after releases.  If you disregard the recent interest by speculators (people who's passion for collectibles is purely financial) that have artificially inflated the prices of VHS copies to ridiculous levels, this Laserdisc is probably the most expensive version of the film and maybe second only to the Betamax release in terms of rarity. 

The yellow strip of paper on the left is called an "obi strip". Japanese media products often include these.  Copies which still have their obi strip are generally considered to be more complete.

The shape of the artwork suggests it was originally created for a different format - probably a movie poster or VHS release.

The attributes on the rear cover list the audio as "Dolby Surround".

Possibly owing more to the region where it was released than anything else, the cover features some fresh artwork done in a sort of oil painting style.  Given the shape of the illustration - a narrow box surrounded by filler, the art was probably made for a VHS release and re-used for the Laserdisc.  This was a fairly common practice with Laserdisc covers.

The theatrical trailer for the film plays before the film itself.

This version of the film is distinct from either US or UK theatrical versions.

• The opening scene is a sort of hybrid between the US and UK theatrical versions.  The opening sequence has the UK text crawl, however like the US version the theme song plays in the background rather than narration.
• When certain characters appear onscreen for the first time, there is a subtitle of the character's name (and sometimes title) written phonetically in Japanese. The Japanese names are used so Optimus Prime is called "Convoy/コンボイ" for example. 

Instead of cast credits, this text crawl of the blurb from the back of the f.h.e. VHS box scrolls while the theme song is rockin' in the background.

Optimus Prime and Megatron are introduced with subtitles showing their title/function and name.

As is characteristic of the medium, the Hillcrane Laserdisc release has a much more stable image, better color reproduction and a fantastic digital audio track. The dynamic range of this 2-channel version of the audio is among the best I've heard including the modern Blu-ray releases.

1990's AVID VHS

Source Version: US Theatrical

Censored: Yes

Aspect Ratio: 4:3

This is essentially a low-budget "third print" of the original f.h.e. VHS release.  The f.h.e. parent company, IVE, formed Avid Entertainment for the purposes of distributing low-cost, low-quality copies of titles in IVE's back catalog.  The f.h.e. logo and jingle was replaced by the silent Avid logo, and the trailers for other f.h.e. Transformers releases has been removed from the end of the tape.  

While the box art was being re-set someone decided to flip the logo on the right side 180 degrees ensuring that the logo always faces the same direction which ever side is facing outward.

Notice how much less tape is present on the spool on the left compared to the other VHS releases. Recording this in Extended Play (EP) mode saves a few pennies on tape, but makes for terrible video and audio quality.  But kids shove grilled cheese into their VCRs so they probably can't tell the difference between an abused VCR and a crappy tape, right?

The AVID release is, quality wise, probably the worst version of this film to be officially distributed.  The video and audio are absolutely terrible.  I can't say that it's the worst without qualification because I haven't witnessed the VideoCD version personally, but I can't imagine anything being as bad as this. When this version was produced the tape was recorded in Extended Play (EP) mode which takes up about 1/3 as much tape as the Standard Play (SP) and comes with a huge loss of fidelity.

If you're thinking about buying a VHS copy of this film to actually watch, do not get this one or you will be very disappointed.

1995 Malofilm VHS

Source Version: US Theatrical

Censored: No

Aspect Ratio: 4:3

In 1995 when even the Avid release was out of print in the US a company called Malofilm took the opportunity to publish the film on VHS in Canada.  I mail-ordered this from Canada around 1997, and it is the first copy of the film I ever personally owned.

Notice how the copyright notice only shows 1995.  Also notice how the blurb has nothing to do with the plot of the film. When I originally bought this in 1997, I thought for a second it might actually be a second Transformers movie!

While there is some printing on the spine of the cassette, it's hard to say what it actually means.

Malofilm seems to have created this from a different master recording than either the IVE (f.h.e. & Avid) or the Hillcrane Laserdisc. There are a number of things that set it apart from every prior release:  

• It is the first North American release which did not use the US theatrical poster for its cover - instead replacing it with an original drawing of Optimus Prime against a backdrop of flames and Cybertron.
• A jingle plays over the Sunbow/Marvel Productions logo that runs before the movie.  In every prior release the logo sequence is silent.
• Spike's swear word is not censored

This VHS release came in a soft black clamshell that resembled Disney VHS packaging.

When I originally ordered it I remember there being some doubt about whether or not this was "The" Transformers movie or something else.  If you read the synopsis on the back of the package, it describes the plot of the first two seasons of the TV show, but explains pretty much nothing about this film. Aside from having different cover art, the running time was listed as "Approx. 90 mins" rather than the 86 minutes actual running time, and the year is listed as 1995 making it appear like the film was made in 1995. In fact, the original release year 1986 doesn't appear anywhere on the packaging!  

Perhaps The Transformers: The Movie wasn't copyrighted in Canada until 1995?  By 1999 Malofilm had gone through two name changes and was then called Seville.  As Seville, some time after 1999, they released a DVD version of the film which utilized the same cover art as this VHS.  That DVD release also has the copyright year listed as 1995. (It's not pictured here because I don't own a copy of it.)

The video and audio quality on this one is outstanding for VHS.  If you're looking to buy a VHS copy of this film to actually watch, this is the best one to get in my opinion.

1998 Pioneer Laserdisc (Japan)

Source Version: UK Version

Censored: Yes

Aspect Ratio: 4:3

Of all of the covers, this one is the most visually interesting in my opinion. If you look closely what appear to be faint horizontal lines are actually the names of the Transformers.

Even with the looming threat of DVD, Laserdisc was still very much a mainstay of Japanese video releases in the late 1990's, and Pioneer was the standard-bearer of the format.  That deepens the mystery for me of why the Pioneer release was such a downgrade from the then out-of-print Hillcrane Laserdisc.  Rather than the Dolby Stereo or Dolby Surround that nearly every prior of the version of the film was released with, both the digital and analog tracks on this Laserdisc are in monaural.  

Full disclosure: I have to rely on second-hand accounts of what this release looks and sounds like because I've never watched it.  When I pre-ordered this from Japan in 1998 I didn't own a Laserdisc player so I didn't have a reason to open it.  Before I had a chance to buy a Laserdisc player, the movie was released on DVD.  By the time I did get a LD player, this was already somewhat of a collector's item and more valuable if I didn't open it.  If it was known for having some superior quality I might have opened it anyway, but by all accounts it was a somewhat inferior release. 

The cover is my favorite part.  It features a very stylized black and white image of Rodimus Prime superimposed over the face of Unicron. The names of the Transformers are written in very faint lettering across the black parts.

1999 Kid Rhino VHS

Source Version: UK Version

Censored: Yes

Aspect Ratio: 4:3

This release brought back the US theatrical poster for its cover, though the artwork was not over-saturated and brightened the way it was for the f.h.e. and Avid releases.  There were two retail packages one with a standard VHS slipcover, the other with a hard black clamshell case.  The artwork on the back cover was taken from the UK theatrical poster.

The front cover features the US theatrical artwork, the reverse features the UK cover art. Notice how Kid Rhino incorrectly lists the original copyright year as "1987".  Also, what the heck are "the Unicrons"?

The "clamshell" version features basically the same cover art as the slipcover version, however the higher product number on the slipcover leads me to believe the clamshell version was released first.

This is the only US release to contain the UK version of the film as far as I know.

Before the film starts there are a couple of Kid Rhino advertisements, one of which features mini trailers for The Transformers: The Movie, G.I. Joe: The Movie and Jem and the Holograms - all in letterboxed widescreen.  This must have driven people looking for a widescreen release nuts at the time.

Another minor difference (which is common to ALL the Kid Rhino releases) is that the "DEG" logo which appears at the very beginning in every other release has been replaced by a different company logo which consists mostly of a man striking a gong.  Oddly enough the gong that plays during this new logo is identical to the sound that plays over the DEG logo in later versions where it has been restored.

The synopsis on the back of the box reads like it was written by someone who has never seen the film.  Not only does it get a lot wrong in a very small space, it also drops spoilers and invents new new terms like "the Unicrons" and "The Chosen One".  Funny stuff. 

While I prefer the US version of the film, this release is a great way for collectors to have a reference for the UK release.

2000 Kid Rhino Special Collector's Edition

Source Version: US Theatrical

Censored: No

Aspect Ratio: 4:3

The Kid Rhino Special Edition was released simultaneously on VHS and DVD.  Unlike their previous release this is the US theatrical version. What's "special" about this version is that it's no longer censored to remove Spike's expletive. 

DVD

Once upon a time the year 2000 was the future.  It was the year almost everyone took turns asking where our flying cars, jet packs and hoverboards were.  One of my fondest memories of that year was getting the Transformers The Movie on DVD just in time to watch it on my birthday.  I literally marveled at the image stability, color separation and clarity.  The new 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack left a little to be desired (in places it felt "hollow") but this was definitely the best viewing experience I had ever had.

Like all of the Kid Rhino releases the original copyright is incorrectly listed as 1987.

They were so proud of the "uncensored" nature of this release that they named Chapter 11 "Swear Word".

History Lesson: Arguing on forums in the pre-social media days was how we connected with people over the Internet and boy was there a lot of nerd talk in the lead-up to this release.  One of the biggest arguments was over aspect ratio.  The DVD era had introduced a lot of new people to the concept of "original aspect ratio" and the widescreen format in general.  Most newly-minted DVD "videophiles" were self-professed haters of 4:3 and "Pan & Scan" for material that was originally shot for wider screens in cinemas.  The logic usually went "If a film was released in the theater after theaters converted to widescreen, then it was meant for widescreen" and it followed that if it wasn't in widescreen that meant we were missing part of the picture.  And we wanted our whole picture, damnit!  Noteable exceptions were Pixar films which the studio actually re-rendered with the picture elements arranged differently for each aspect ratio.  Since The Transformers: The Movie was released theatrically and shown on 16:9 screens, it was widely assumed that there was some elusive widescreen version of the film that a small distributor like Kid Rhino just wasn't able to source. When this DVD was released with the 4:3 version of the film, there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth.  The official response (which I cannot find anywhere) was that the film's original aspect ratio was 4:3 and the theatrical release was cropped from that. Also known as "open matte", it had been animated for both theater and home video purposes so it wasn't exactly "Pan & Scan" and no important picture information was present in the top and bottom areas where it would be cropped for theatrical viewing.  There was much disagreement on this point, most of which I thought at the time would always just be hearsay or conjecture.  Little did I know, the original aspect ratio argument actually had a right answer.  Well, sort of...

Although this is very different from the 1999 Kid Rhino VHS, it features nearly identical cover art. 

The image quality on this release was quite good and still holds up today in my opinion.  The film grain, specs and scratches present on the HD releases aren't visible at all here.  Some people were critical of it for the lack of color correction, but honestly I never even noticed it.  This is still a great option to watch this film even today.

VHS

The VHS version contains the same version of the film without the DVD features (multi-channel audio, menus storyboards etc...)

Aside from the "Special Collector's Edition" banner across the top and the different product code on the spine and barcode, it would be extremely easy to confuse this with the 1999 Kid Rhino release.

With the right secret decoder ring you might be able to use this information to tell when this cassette was manufactured.

An advertisement for Kid Rhino and its other releases including G.I. Joe and Jem and the Holograms plays before the film.

Aside from the obvious geometry differences the artwork used is identical to the DVD release. This is the film's final voyage on the VHS format (in North America, at least).

 

2005 Metrodome "Transformers The Movie Reconstructed" (UK)

Source Version: US Theatrical

Censored: No

Aspect Ratio: Unique

Released to coincide with the same year that the film is set, this version endeavored to become an archival restoration similar in theme to a Criterion release.  When I discovered this version of the film, I had to wonder if it came about as a direct result of those forum arguments from half a decade earlier around the Kid Rhino release's aspect ratio.  The central theme of this release is to show the audience literally every part of the picture that was originally animated by going back to the  "film negative" (their term).  That way there could be no accusation that we were being deprived of part of the picture.

The back-of-the-box synopsis borrows some lines from the derpy Kid Rhino synopsis, and while it's mostly been corrected it still invokes "the Chosen One" which is not a proper noun used in the film.

Despite being a UK release, this is the original North American theatrical version of the film.  It even uses the North American theatrical poster for its cover. While I don't think I would recommend this if you just wanted to watch the film, it does work well as a an unbiased historical reference for those who want to form their own interpretation.  For that alone, I consider this an essential part of my collection.

Just going by raw frame captures and counting pixels, the original animation frames, as captured for this release were in an aspect ratio of 1.41:1 (4.25:3) which is about 4.5% wider than the 1:33:1 (4:3) aspect ratio.  I'm not sure this qualifies as the "original aspect ratio" considering that the margins of the material are clearly rough and unfinished.  

 The yellow lines are positioned exactly where a 4:3 image would end and the green lines show the width of the image captured from the original animation frames. This is an oversimplification because the top and bottom also have areas were obviously meant to be cropped before final mastering.

The animation frames were clearly not "finished" in the edges as evidenced by the obviously rounded corners and uneven margins.

I'm not conversant in film lingo, but I believe the blue line on the right is visible because this is a "composite" scene with multiple layers - it seems that one of the layers was not lined up just right and some light crept through the edge creating the blue stripe.

Notice how the Transformers logo overlaps and extends slightly beyond the blue stripe.

The disc is coded to Region 0 which means that it will play in any region player, however it is encoded in the PAL video format so unless you live in a PAL region you will either need to play this on a PC, or a standalone player which supports PAL and/or converts it to something your TV can use.  I have an international Sony Blu-ray player that plays this just fine on my US TV, but a DVD-ROM drive and VLC are probably a more accessible option.

Some of the extras on this release are pretty cool.  My favorites are on the "compare and contrast" menu where you can watch both the US and UK opening scene and end credits scene. 

It would have been nice if Metrodome had utilized DVD's "seamless branching" feature to allow viewers to watch either version.

This release comes with a 14 page booklet detailing the restoration process as well as some general history of the Transformers.

2006 Sony/BMG 20th Anniversary Special Edition DVD

Source Version: US Theatrical

Censored: No

Aspect Ratio: 4:3 & 16:9

Leave it to Sony to release the most definitive version of the film possible on DVD. In a very successful attempt to please both sides of the original aspect ratio debate, they included both the 4:3 and the anamorphic widescreen editions of the film on separate discs, making this the first ever home release of this film in widescreen.  The film had been color corrected - which was something I had to look up at the time because I had never heard of it before. The multi-channel audio track was much improved over the Kid Rhino release.  

As an early adopter of Blu-ray which was a current format at the time, I could not help but be disappointed that such a wonderful and professional treatment of this movie was still consigned to the low-definition realm (I refused to refer to DVD as 'standard definition'.) Hindsight has made me a little wiser. The HD releases that eventually followed this DVD introduced considerable film grain specks and scratches.  While that might be a more "authentic" cinema experience nothing else provides as smooth and clean a viewing experience as this DVD.

The package for this release was very well done.  All new original artwork was commissioned for the cover, the booklet, the discs, the liner etc... The artwork is done in the same style as the Dreamwave/IDW comics. The main cover features Optimus Prime holding up the Matrix of Leadership beneath a planet-mode Unicron, with a reverse showing Rodimus Prime opening the matrix under a robot-mode Unicron.

The original retail package had a lenticular cover sheet that switched between 3D versions of the main and alternate covers inside the shrinkwrap.

The original cover.  This is the first time since the original f.h.e. release that the synopsis reads like it was written by someone who actually watched the film.

The reverse cover

Just like the Kid Rhino release, Chapter 11 of this DVD is called "Swear Word".  This release has the best image and sound of any of the DVD releases I've seen and still holds its own even today.  

This is definitely the best DVD release in terms of quality and presentation.  With its clean de-noised animation it might just be the best release period, depending on what you're looking for.

2007 Metrodome Blu-ray (UK)

Source Version: US Theatrical

Censored: No

Aspect Ratio: 16:9

Cloudy planetscape backdrop? CG Optimus Prime? Reflections? Lens flare? Transformers logo written in gray letters?  Is it possible this release was trying to capitalize on interest in the 2007 Michael Bay Transformers film?  Nah...

Unbeknownst to me, but knownst to some, while I was grousing about Sony's otherwise amazing 20th Anniversary release being DVD-only, Metrodome was cashing in on both the 2007 Michael Bay movie hype and the desperation of early Blu-ray adopters with a very basic release of Transformers: The Movie in high definition.  

I didn't get wind of this release until 2011 by when it was already out of print and selling for ridiculous prices in the US.  I bought the the Australian Madman Blu-ray instead of this one and had no intention of ever buying it.  However years later a copy turned up in the kids' section of Half Price Bookstores for $5 so here we are.

Despite being a UK release this is the US theatrical version of the film.  Unlike Metrodome's prior "Reconstructed" release, and Unlike the Sony/BMG DVD released the year before, only the 16:9 presentation of the film is included.  

The disc is not region coded, and thanks to the fact that the cinematic frame rate of 24-frames-per-second is built in to the Blu-ray specification you don't need to worry about all that PAL/NTSC nonsense - this should play just fine in any Blu-ray player.

This first jump to HD came with a bit of "be careful what you wish for".  If you've seen previous versions of the film, the first thing you're likely to notice here is the preponderance of specs and scratches on the film that were never visible before.  The digital noise is very pronounced and obvious throughout - almost to the point of being distracting.  In fairness film grain can play havoc on the encoding process. 

The image isn't very stable. It tends to jump up and down and back and forth slightly from one frame to the next.  This is a common result of the telecine process that scans film in one frame at a time.  It's correctable, but it doesn't look like any effort was put into doing that here.  This ticks the box for being high definition, but I think calling it "remastered" may be using the term only in the barest possible sense. It was good for an HD fix in it's day, I'm sure, but not something I would recommend nowadays.

One thing I intensely dislike about UK/EU video releases is the gaudy ratings labels they're forced to place on every surface.  The fact that they apparently have to use large labels written in high contrast colors makes them very distracting - which I'm sure was the point.

2008 Madman Blu-ray (Australia)

Source Version: US Theatrical

Censored: No

Aspect Ratio: 16:9

In 2011 I randomly happened across the existence of this and the UK Metrodome Blu-ray and instantly slapped myself for not being tuned in enough to what was happening outside the US to know that I could have been watching one of my favorite films in HD for years.  Since this was the only release still in print at the time, I ordered it immediately.  

There's no solid information I could find on when this version was officially released, but all of the reviews and "news" I was able to find about it seemed to have been in 2008, so that's when I conclude it was released.  If you know better, let me know.

The gaudy yellow "PG" notice completely disrupts the artwork. This might have been one of my favorite covers if not for that.

The reverse of the cover has an ad showing the other madman Transformers releases.  Personally I would much rather they had included this as an insert and instead used the reverse to provide a cover without the extremely irritating PG warning. Knowing Australia, that would probably be illegal...

This release is almost interchangeable with the Metrodome Blu-ray. Some of the specs and scratches on the film are so prominent that they are recognizable in both releases which leads me to conclude that they were both taken from the same master. Both packages only include the widescreen presentation.  Both have the same visual problems (noise, specs, scratches), and will deliver pretty much the same viewing experience. I still can't recommend either of them though as there are much better options available now.  

This release uses the same oil-painting style artwork as the Hillcrane Laserdisc, which would make it one of my favorite covers if it wasn't for the the garish and visually offensive ratings label that covers up a good portion of the artwork.  I mean, just look at it, it's hideous.  What parent, who cares about film ratings, is going to be so thick as to pick this up and not be able to find the bright yellow rating printed on the spine and the back cover so they need to search the front cover for the loudest most obnoxious part to find out whether this is safe for their child?

2016 Shout Factory 30th Anniversary

The Shout Factory 30th Anniversary edition was available as both a Blu-ray and a DVD

Source Version: US Theatrical

Censored: No

Aspect Ratio: Blu-Ray 4:3 & 16:9 / DVD 16:9

Blu-ray

The case is shown here with the alternate cover - using the same art as the Hillcrane Laserdisc, but without the gaudy ratings label of the Madman release. This is definitely my favorite cover. The matrix casing illustration on the discs was definitely cool, but I would have preferred if the two discs hadn't been nearly identical.

The Blu-ray version was available both in a standard edition and a steelbook.

A full 10 years after Sony/BMG gave us our first taste of a color-corrected, remastered and multi-aspect ratio release on DVD, The Transformers the Movie finally came to high definition in North America.  

This is an all-in-all fantastic release with a ton of new extras.  The new master is considerably cleaner than the one used by Metrodome and Madman so most of the specks and scratches have been cleaned up. The image is much more stable and has considerably less digital noise and blocking.  Both widescreen and 4:3 versions of the film were included on separate discs.  

The DEG logo that plays before the film now has a "gong" jingle that plays in the background (this logo is silent on prior versions of the film).

Since this was "from a brand new 4K master" there was a lot of criticism of Shout Factory for not releasing this in 4K - which was a current format at the time.

The primary cover features new artwork commissioned especially for this release. The reverse cover printed opposite utilizes the oil-painting cover used by the Hillcrane Laserdisc and the Madman Blu-ray. Unlike the Madman Blu-ray there's no gaudy yellow rating label marring the artwork.  This is definitely my favorite cover.

Pre-ordering the steelbook on Shout Factory's store would cost you a few dollars more than Amazon, but the first certain number of pre-orders shipped with a "limited edition" poster featuring new original artwork Shout Factory commissioned specifically for this release.  The Blu-ray also came with a download code to download a "digital" copy of the movie (which is a ridiculous term because the Blu-ray is also digital).  Since the download copy was "VHX" which wasn't tied to some DRM-encrusted turd that I would have to log in to some service when I wanted to play it, this marks the first and so far only time I've ever redeemed a download code from a Blu-ray package.

DVD

Unlike its Blu-ray counterpart, the DVD release only includes the 16:9 anamorphic widescreen edition of the film.  It has the same reversible cover, however which is a nice bonus.

The fact that this only contains the 16:9 version of the film feels like a missed opportunity to supplant the Sony/BMG 20th anniversary DVD.  The 20th Anniversary DVD still beats this one in my opinion.

2021 Shout Factory 35th Anniversary

Source Version: US Theatrical

Censored: No

Aspect Ratio: 4:3 & 16:9

Similarly to the 30th anniversary, this release was available in both current and last-gen formats - both standard and 4K Blu-ray.

 UltraHD Blu-ray

As predicted by many in the fan community, Shout Factory marked the 35th Anniversary of the film by releasing it on 4K/UHD Blu-ray.  While this technically makes it the current definitive home video release of the film, unfortunately only the widescreen presentation of the film is provided in 4K resolution.  The 4:3 version, which many fans now hold as the "correct" aspect ratio, is still a standard Blu-ray rather than a significant upgrade to the one in the 30th Anniversary release.  

Like the 30th anniversary release, this one was available in both a standard and steelbook version.  However this time, Shout Factory commissioned different artwork for each version.

This time each disc gets different artwork. I especially like the "Full Frame" disc which has the kaleidoscope image taken from the "O" in "Movie" in the title sequence. 

The new cover illustration is great, however the 4K version does not have a reversible cover.

Technical Sidebar: The significance of the 4:3 version not being 4K is that the 4:3 release stood to benefit most from the increased resolution.  The 4:3 version of the film is effectively "zoomed out" from the widescreen which means that individual picture elements will have the benefit of less screen area and thus lower relative resolution.

 

The 4K widescreen version is encoded with HDR and has been cleaned up considerably from the previous release (which was already very clean). Very little speckles and scratches remain.  There is almost no digital noise remaining, and none that you can see if you're sitting a reasonable distance from the screen. While the HDR gives the presentation a lot more contrast, it also seems to amplify the graininess.  However I'm content with this being the best "authentic" theater experience, while the 20th anniversary DVD delivers a mostly (pardon the pun) "grain-free" experience.

More criticism was leveled at Shout Factory for the way that they chose to sell this release.  The more expensive "Limited Edition Steelbook" version was first up for pre-order during the summer with the less expensive "standard" edition not being available to pre-order until late September after the steelbook version shipped.  This staggered release along with using different artwork for each version was seen as a disingenuous way to compel fans to buy this release twice rather than selling one all-inclusive version.

The first so-many pre-orders on the Shout Factory website shipped with a limited edition lithograph of the new cover art.

Whatever nit picks may exist, this is the definitive release of The Transformers: The Movie. (At least as of 2022). The level of detail captured in 4K seems to exceed the detail of the original source material. Aside from possibly offering the "Full Frame" presentation in 4K, it's difficult to imagine any room for improvement that didn't involve altering the film itself in opinionated ways such as AI driven digital noise reduction.

Blu-ray

This comes across as a pretty half-hearted effort on the part of Shout Factory and a step back from the previous release.  While it does include both the 4:3 and 16:9 versions of the film, the 16:9 version is DVD only, and it is the exact same disc from the 30th Anniversary DVD package - same disc art and everything.  If you don't want 4K, you are better off finding a copy of the 30th anniversary Blu-ray release than getting this one, because the 30th anniversary edition has both formats in high definition.  

The one highlight of this version is that unlike the 4K version it features a reversible cover designed to resemble the original f.h.e. VHS package.  

The "BLU-RAY + DVD" banner across the top is very misleading. Normally this means the package contains the same film in both formats, which is technically true, but the Blu-ray is of the 4:3 version and the DVD is the 16:9 version.

This reversible cover is made to resemble a worn out original f.h.e. VHS cover.  The attention to detail is great, including the original back-of-the-box synopsis, and mimicking the little half-circle cutout for pulling the tape out. It's also interesting to note that two of the four screen grabs match the original VHS layout and two are different.

Conclusion

Whether you're nostalgic for The Transformers: The Movie, or looking to experience it for the first time, there are certainly a lot of options available to you.  I'd like to end this article with my personal "best version for..." list.

Best Version For VHS Enthusiasts: 1995 Malofilm VHS - with it's high-quality mastering and uncensored version of the film it's the best version for getting your VHS fix.

Best Way To See The UK Release in the US: 1999 Kid Rhino VHS (non-Special Edition) - this is the only US release to feature the UK version of the film.

Best Version For Clean Animation: 2006 Sony/BMG 20th Anniversary Special Edition DVD - before HD convinced the market that seeing all of the original film grain was a more "pure" experience than a clean presentation, Sony painstakingly de-noised, color-corrected and normalized this version. 

Best Version for Authentic Cinematic Experience: 2021 Shout Factory 35th Anniversary Ultra HD Blu-ray - all the detail with all the film grain you can eat with an absolute minimum of scratches and speckles compared with other HD releases.

Best Standard Blu-ray Release: 2016 Shout Factory 30th Anniversary Blu-ray. This is the only standard Blu-ray release to include both the 16:9 and 4:3 presentations in high definition.  The earlier Blu-ray releases were all dirtier, scratchier and only included the 16:9 presentation, and the 35th anniversary standard Blu-ray version only included the 4:3 presentation in high definition.

Best Aspect Ratio: 4:3 - while you won't miss any of the action watching the 16:9 version, you're going to see more of the original animation if you make like you're watching on a TV from 1986.  I go back and forth on this.

Nerdiest Version: Metrodome's Transformers The Movie Reconstructed DVD - from the edges-of-the-map open mat presentation, to the technical extras, to the fact that it was released "In the year 2005", this version has almost everything a pop-culture purist could want.

Worst Version Overall: Avid VHS - it was bad enough that this was recorded in the lowest VHS quality possible, but they also replaced the cheerful f.h.e. logo and jingle with the bland and almost depressingly silent AVID logos and took away the episode previews from the very end.  Just no.

Version I most wish I had: Catco VCD

Runner-up most-wished-for: Zavvi 35th Anniversary Limited Collector's Edition

Best Cover Art: Hillcrane Laserdisc/Shout Factory 30th Anniversary Alternate Cover

Runner-Up Best Cover: 1998 Pioneer Laserdisc

Most Obscure: f.h.e. Betamax Release

Runner-Up Most Obscure: 1989 Hillcrane Laserdisc