Transformers: The Movie (1986) - 12 questions

Question: How can Rodimus Prime transform into a completely different vehicle when he looks exactly the same as Hot Rod?

Answer: As Hot Rod got hold of the Matrix it not only altered his physical form (visible in the enlargement of Hot Rod's body), this change also altered his transformation form. Besides - as seen with Astrotrain - a Transformer can even have more than one transformation form.

Question: In the cartoon, all the Dinobots have stunted speech patterns, but in the comics, it it only Grimlock that has the stunted speech patterns (I'm talking about the 80 issue mini-series). Can anyone tell me why?

Answer: In the cartoon series, the Dinobots were created by Wheeljack and Ratchet on Earth. Basically they were supposed to be 'dumb brutes' and nothing more and were there to help entertain smaller kids. However in the comic, all the dinobots came from Cybertron and they all had normal intelligence, but Grimlock had a malfunction that caused him to speak differently. The dinobots were actually very smart in the comics, and didn't have to be dumbed down to help attract small children. It is a difference of continuities, nothing else.

Question: There's a scene in which Blurr is firing at the Decepticons from three windows, he says something while doing that. What exactly does he say?

Answer: We've got Decepticons at the gate, Decepticons in the air, Decepticons inside the walls: Decepticons, Decepticons, Decepticons!If we beat them on the walls, they're still in the air, we shoot them out the air, they're still at the gate. So where does that leave us? Nowhere, that's where.

Question: Are Blaster and Soundwave in any way related like Sideswipe and Sunstreaker are? They transform into tape-playing devices, they both have cassette robots and so on, so does any one know the answer?

Answer: Alpha Trion seems to have created these two robots with special abilities concerning sound. As all Transformers received new Transformation Forms from the arc after their "sleep", it might have been intentionally from the arc to give them Transformation forms similar to their abilities. However it is not mentioned in the series.

Question: I know that two of Blaster's cassette robots are called Cubbie and Bolts, but what are the other two's names?

Answer: Actually, you are wrong about the first two. The cassettes are: Eject (robot), Grand Slam (tank), Raindance (jet), Ramhorn (rhino), Rewind (robot), and Steeljaw (lion).

Question: Is it me, or just before Hot Rod smashes through the barrier at the beginning of the movie, you see the Autobots who were building it run away to avoid being hit, isn't one of them Brawn?, but he died only minutes before the scene with Hot Rod.

Answer: A lot of people get confused by this, but the Transformer you see at the road block is actually Huffer, who is of a very similar design to Brawn.

Question: Soundwave has two non-animal cassette robots, Rumble and Frenzy, but I'm getting confused on who is who, because in the guide to Transformers, the red and black one is said to be Rumble, but in the episode 'Desertion of the Dinobots part 1', Megatron calls the purple one Rumble, (and if you are wondering, I only have the season two part one DVD, so I don't know much about the T.V series), Can someone please tell me which is which?

Answer: The guide to Transformers (which I believe is known as Transformers: The Ultimate Guide) is based on the comics in terms of character profiles for the most part. In the Transformer comics, Rumble was red and black and had Piledriver arms, whilst Frenzy was purple and could use sonic screams. However, in the cartoon the character colours were reversed for no known reason (so Rumble is now purple and Frenzy is red and black) and both used pile driver arms.

Question: I've read somewhere that Reflector appears in the movie, but I have yet to find him. Could anyone help me out?

Answer: One of the Reflector robots does indded appear in the movie, very briefly. As the Decepticons regroup after Blaster sends the communication to Moon Base 1, there is a shot from behind showing the Decepticons coming in, then a few more come in and transform to their robot modes. If you look when Dirge comes in, Reflector is in front of him. This is the only part of the film Reflector is in, so this character was either captured by the Autobots or destroyed, as he is not seen on Astrotrain when the Decepticons retreat.

Question: Maybe I'm misunderstanding something here but how can the transformers be deemed unique to Cybertron (according to the opening prologue) when every other planet seen in this movie has transformers on it?

Answer: I believe the story goes that after being created on Cybertron, ancient transformers migrated to other various planets, where they then "evolved" over time to different forms of transformers (just like ancient peoples of this planet migrating and "evolving").

Question: Who are the inhabitants of the planet we see at the beginning (the first to fall victim to Unicron)? Are they transformers or just normal robots?

Answer: The planet was called Lithone. According to a comic book adaptation, the race that dwelled there were an offshoot of the Transformers who were more emotional. The limited information given on the only two characters named in the movie, Arblus and Kranix, shows that they can transform even though this is never shown.

Question: One of the trivia entry's mentions something about Go-Bots, who are they?

Answer: Go-Bots were transforming-vehicle toys from around the same period, competition for (or rip-off of, depending on your opinion) the Transformers.

Question: How much truth is there to the claim that if the G.I. Joe movie had been released first then Optimus Prime would not have died in this one?

Answer: In the UK we don't have G.I Joe, only action force so thats your first problem, and secondly the UK comics built up to the Transformer movie without no mention of G.I Joe story lines which may have appeared in the US.