7and8

Reflections on 'Transformers: The Movie" (circa 1986). BTW I won't call this a spoiler.

7 picked up the video at the store the other day. He doesn't remember having watched with me a few years ago. We were lucky enough to get a reissue that has been remastered, has special features, etc.
I remember when we watched it a few years ago thinking how violent the movie was. Good guys dieing right and left. More shooting than 'The Matrix' by a huge margin. Then there was the language. For those of you to don't remember or have the edited VHS; Spike says "Shit" and Ultra Magnus says "Damn it". This time around it seemed more tame. I'm not as uptight of a parent as I used to be but still on the conservative end of the spectrum compared to others (that is foreshadowing for a coming post). After our viewing I visited the iTunes store to look for Stan Bush's 'The Touch'. One lyric is "...when all hell's breaking loose..." maybe nostalgia got the better of me when I bought it for them (don't get me wrong, I'll rock out to it too). My kids might say 'hell' soon but it's better than say a little girl picking up ANY habits from the Ho' inspired Bratz dolls.
I remember being awe-struck with Prime died. I remember loosing interest in the whole thing. I was old enough at the time to realize the movie (while a neat thing) was a commercial for all of the toys. Nothing underscored this more than the Galvatron toy looking so damn stupid. This was nothing new but call it the end of an innocence. I will always remember the birthday I got Optimus Prime for a present and how it was one of the coolest things ever!

I wonder what 7&8 will remember about their toys. They won't remember where they were when they saw this movie. Optimus is still very much alive for them in the toy isle, another upcoming cartoon series and the 2007 movie (which I won't let them see for some time). They will remember something else. Here's to that memory being of a hero (real or imagined) that they respect now and in 20+ years.