In the Transformers fan commentary (which is one the anniversary disc), they read from several pages of the script to fill in some of the gaps, explain some of the glitches, and whatnot. For example, Prime was supposed to be attacked by one of the conehead planes during his dialogue with Megatron, which is why he appears to be standing back up.

Yeah, the shuttle sequence was supposed to be significantly more gruesome, particularly with the deaths of Ratchet and Ironhide, being fused together.

And yes, Magnus was to be drawn and quartered in the script. The reason it's in the comic book adaptation is because they were working from the first draft of the script. (This is also why the comic book version refers to Autobot City as Fortress Maximus.) There's at least some evidence that part of the draw-and-quarter scene went into production, and they talk about it on the commentary. It's particularly evident in Robert Stack's performance and the way the Sweeps were animated.

The only "extra" content you get from the Japanese version of Transformers of the movie is all of the hammed-up adlibbing on the part of the actors. Scenes with no dialogue at all are now filled with chatter. For example, as Prime barrels through the city, every Decepticon he hits makes some sort of outburst. But the most annoying scene in which this occurs is Prime's death. There's a reason that there's no sound in the latter half of the scene, but this was totally lost on the Japanese. There are gasps as Prime's body goes dark, and they make sure to have Daniel bawl like a baby, even though kids his age don't really do that.

Although, that isn't quite as annoying as having every single character shout "TRANSFORRRRM!" every time they change. Seriously, why are they doing that? Goddamn, I hate the Japanese version of the movie. Anyone who tells me that it's superior to the American version needs to be pushed down a flight of stairs. You can die in a fire.

Heck, I have serious problems with the Japanese version of the Transformers franchise as a whole. The only one that was actually done somewhat well was Masterforce, although they couldn't resist having whiny kids in the show, either.

~Neil

http://www.dasiencomic.com/

I think Andrew cut out some of my complaining about the music. :)

I wouldn't have mind listening to your take on the film. I hate to admit I haven't seen the film besides a few clips in my lifetime, at the time the film came out, I might've been burned out of the whole Transformers thing and moved on to something else. I can watch it now or later on home video and probably would think it was a pretty good film besides not having the same childhood memories you guys would have of it yourselves.

Actually, Jeremy, what I've pointed out numerous times is that Transformers The Movie has more or less the same plot as The Lion King.

And you're kind of wrong on the music. It wasn't just the main theme. Dare was also written specifically for the movie by Vince DiCola. In fact, Stan Bush wasn't even supposed to be the original singer of that song. True, all of the other songs were written for other movies, but that's not THAT unusual.

By the way, The Touch was originally written for Cobra, not Rocky. The connection with Rocky actually comes from the score composer, Vince DiCola, having previously worked on Rocky IV.

~Neil

http://www.dasiencomic.com/

Wait--you're both right!

(regarding the plot, that is)

Tale of puberty...Lion King...hell, even Star Wars (A New Hope)...these are all permutations of monomyth, as explained by Joseph Campbell and others. Anthropologists, mythologists, and other cross-cultural historians have noted the existence of this type of story being told throughout history by numerous different cultures. And not via cultural diffusion--these instances were completely separate from one another. Fascinating stuff.

Now back to robots bashing each other's brains in!

--
Sanjeev

There's a Japanese version of the soundtrack that pretty much gives you ALL of the music from the movie. It's two-disc and the cover has the black-and-white picture of Hot Rod and Unicron that you see at the top of the page.

~Neil

http://www.dasiencomic.com/