Now that the 3rd entry of Michael Bay’s epic live-action films of the beloved TV show is upon us, let’s take a quick look back at the first Transformers film (excuse me, 2nd film actually) and remember some of the spoken lines that resonated with audiences from the TV series as well.  As any fan knows, Optimus Prime has all the good one-liners and Bay’s adaptation film delivered quite a few zingers that we have all heard before.

Of course, original Prime voice actor Peter Cullen was called back into duty to voice the character once again much to the delight of fans worldwide.  Very distinguishable, Cullen’s voice speaks to many generations as THE voice of Optimus Prime and there is no acceptable substitute.  Sadly, original Megatron voice actor Frank Welker was replaced by ‘The Matrix‘ actor Hugo Weaving for Bay’s films, but has subsequently been cast as Soundwave, Devastator and Shockwave for the sequels.  Welker continues to voice Megatron for the video games adaptations of the films, as well as multiple incarnations of the animated series.

As far as the film itself is concerned, Bay primarily focused on the basic elements of the initial television series (Generation 1, as it is known) and kept the vehicle-changing robotic characters to a minimum and introducing the two human leads (Shia LaBeouf & Megan Fox) as the focus of the story, rather than on the Transformers themselves.  Sam (LaBeouf) purchases a car with his father that ends up taking on a life of its own (Bumblebee, who can’t speak except through radio transmission) and leads him and his soon-to-be girlfriend Mikaela (Fox) on a race to protect a source of power from the evil forces of the Decepticons, namely that of leader Megatron.  Optimus Prime, leader of the good-guy Autobots, ensures that humans are protected from the destructive Decepticons.  Massive explosions, crumbling buildings, and lots and lots of shaky-cam ensue.  The film ends with the setup for future sequels, and every two years since we have had one delivered to theaters.

With mixed reception from fans over the changing of much loved designs to characters (namely that of flames added to the chassis of Optimus Prime), Transformers was a bonafide blockbuster in every sense of the word and lived up to the hype that it had been holding onto since 1984 when the TV series debuted.  Visit our Transformers Sound Quotes collection page to hear more lines from this film, or other entries in the Transformers universe.

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