

The Decepticons are making their escape aboard Astrotrain, but are too heavy for him to get them all home under his own power.

This sequence of events is observed remotely by Unicron, the monstrous planet, who appears unusually concerned by the survival of the Matrix. (Though Hot Rod actually touches the Matrix before Magnus does.) Prime relates a prophecy: "One day, an Autobot shall rise from our ranks, and use the power of the Matrix to light our darkest hour." He then gives the oath, " 'Til all are one", and dies. He passes the reins of leadership to Ultra Magnus and gives him the Matrix of Leadership. Shortly after the battle, Prime lies on his deathbed. If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine. Of particular note, Optimus Prime and Starscream are both destroyed during the course of the film. The film opens with characters who had been featured in the first two years of the toyline and associated media (cartoons, comic books, etc.), but quickly introduces new characters and kills many of the old ones to make room. For these reasons, the film remains very popular with children of the 1980s. Often referred to by fans simply as "the movie" or "TFTM", the movie was a step up in almost every area from the television series, with a more sophisticated plot, more serious treatment of war and violence, a hugely ambitious scope and a greatly increased animation budget with well-known celebrities providing voice work. Travelling inside Unicron, Hot Rod recovers the Matrix, transforms into Rodimus Prime, and uses the Matrix to destroy Unicron. The Autobots find their way back to each other, and follow Galvatron to Cybertron just as Unicron transforms into robot mode and begins to eat their world. Galvatron then chases the surviving Autobots on Earth across space, splitting them up and taking the Matrix. Starscream (briefly) assumes leadership of the Decepticons, but is killed when Galvatron arrives at Cybertron. Prime passes the Matrix of Leadership to Ultra Magnus and dies, and Megatron is transformed by Unicron into Galvatron.

As part of their continuing wars, the Autobots and Decepticons have a fierce battle on Earth which sees both Optimus Prime and Megatron mortally wounded. It introduces a planet-sized Transformer called Unicron who eats other planets, and is approaching Cybertron. The film's storyline follows the same continuity as the Transformers cartoon. It was released in the United States on Friday, August 8, 1986. The Transformers: The Movie is an animated feature film based on the original Transformers toyline. Victor Caroli ain't just whistling Dixie, The Transformers: The Movie promo Conceived in the epic tradition of Star Wars.
