than an obnoxious, feature-length toy commercial...That deafening rock score certainly doesn't help." In the late 2010s, Den of Geek published several retrospective reviews focusing on the film's gruesome but quirky tone, and on the traumatic cultural impact of its violence which is heavier than most preceding animated films. In 2018, it said "the shadow of death hung like a black curtain" over the film and called the psychedelic scenes of Unicron's world-eating guts "a futuristic rendering of Dante's Inferno" in "apocalyptic detail". In 2019, the film was called "The Great Toy Massacre of 1986" which "traumatized a generation of kids with a string of startling deaths". It is remembered as "a story about death, transfiguration, guilt, and redemption", and as "a milestone in animation history". Comic book adaptations See also GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords References External links Storyboards from The Transformers: The Movie not included on the DVD 1980s American animated films 1980s children's animated films 1980s science fiction action films 1980s war films 1986 animated films 1986 films 1986 independent films American children's animated space adventure films Animated films based on animated series Animated coming-of-age films American children's animated science fiction films American independent films Animated science fiction films American science fiction action films American science fiction war films De Laurentiis Entertainment Group films 1980s English-language films Films based on television series Films directed by Nelson Shin Films scored by Vince DiCola Films set in the United States Films set in 2005 Films set in the future Films set on fictional planets Films with screenplays by Ron Friedman Films about Japanese Americans Japanese animated science fiction films Marvel Productions films Sunbow Entertainment films Toei Animation films Transformers (franchise) animated films