Transformers: The Movie (Limited Edition 30th Anniversary Steelbook) [Blu-ray/. Directors: John Walker; Format: Multiple Formats, Animated, Color, Dolby, Full.

Overview - A war has been waging on the planet Cybertron for millennia. The Autobots, led by the heroic Optimus Prime, prepare to make a daring attempt to retake their planet from the evil of Megatron and the Decepticons. Unknown to both sides, a menacing is heading their way - Unicron, a planet that devours everything in its path. The only hope of stopping Unicron lies within the Matrix of Leadership and the Autobot who can rise up and use its power to light their darkest hour. Will the Autobots be able to save their home world from destruction or will the Decepticons reign supreme? The all-star cast of voice talent includes Peter Cullen, Frank Welker, Eric Idle, Judd Nelson, Robert Stack, Orson Welles, Scatman Crothers, Casey Kasem and Leonard Nimoy.

'Transformers: The Movie' has had a long and troubled history on home video. From VHS to Laserdisc to DVD and now Blu-ray, the film's distribution rights have changed hands a number of times, both domestically and abroad. Every new label does a new video transfer for it, and no two have ever looked quite the same, with major variances in aspect ratio and color. A sticker on the slipcover for the new Shout! Factory Blu-ray claims that it comes 'from a new 4k transfer.' I wish I could say that this was, finally, a definitive restoration for the film.

Unfortunately, it's still plagued with issues. In 1986, 'Transformers: The Movie' was made for theatrical release at an intended projection ratio of 1.85:1. However, the producers fully realized that the film's primary life would be on video and television syndication, the standard for which at the time was 4:3 (1.33:1). The animation's original artwork was drawn at a ratio somewhere in the vicinity of 1.4:1. (The exact width varied slightly from shot to shot.) In theaters, the image was matted on the top and bottom down to 1.85:1, but given that the movie was a flop, most viewers first saw it later in 4:3. Through the years, many fans have argued that 4:3 is the purest version of the movie – the rationale being that if artists took the time to draw extra image at the top and bottom of the frame, it deserves to be seen, regardless of whether it was visible in theaters or not. Others favor a preservation of the theatrical experience, which also happens to fit nicely with the modern HDTV standard.

Early VHS, Laserdisc and DVD editions presented the movie exclusively in 4:3. The first DVD distributor, Rhino Home Video, made an attempt to prepare a widescreen video transfer, but gave up and claimed that no widescreen source elements could be found. Eventually, the 2006 20th Anniversary Special Edition DVD from Sony BMG provided two new video transfers on separate discs, one in widescreen and one in Full Frame 4:3. The new Shout! Factory release follows that model.

My preference is for the widescreen framing, so I started there. The 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 transfer is slightly letterboxed to 1.85:1.

Almost immediately, my hopes for the quality of the disc sank. Black levels are very elevated and washed-out, which is really problematic for a movie with a lot of scenes in outer space. The image is fairly soft, especially the opening credit text, and the source elements suffer from the appearance of dirt, dust and specks throughout. Social booth keygen crack serial generator software free.

Some of the physical defects may be embedded in the original photographic composites (certain specific pieces of dirt can be seen on multiple video editions), but that sort of thing could be digitally painted out these days if the studio wanted to make the effort and pay for it. The colors in this movie have always been difficult to get right for some reason (likely issues with the animation that were meant to be straightened out in the color timing of the release prints but never were). This is most evident in the character of Hot Rod, who's supposed to be a solid red sports car. Depending on which video copy of the film you watch, he may be orange or purple, or fluctuate wildly from shot-to-shot. In the Shout! Factory transfer, he's a dull pink. In this regard, the Blu-ray matches the Sony BMG DVD, but the color seems really odd and out-of-place for the character.