"Transformers One" looks back into the distant past of the franchise, but there's plenty for fans of these characters' later years to catch. Here's what may have slid by you in all the action.
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00:00Transformers 1 looks back into the distant past of the franchise, but there's plenty for fans
00:05of these characters' later years to catch. Here's what may have slid by you in all the action.
00:11There's still a ton of nostalgic goodwill toward 1986's Transformers the Movie.
00:16Since Transformers 1 is also a fully animated project, it's only natural to include some
00:21Transformers the Movie Easter eggs. Fans of the classic flick will recall that the song
00:25The Touch by Stan Bush features prominently. Early in Transformers 1, when Orion Pax and
00:31D-16 work in the mines, Orion boasts to Alita-1 that he could touch Sentinel Prime with all his
00:37power. She responds,
00:39You don't have the touch or the power.
00:41It was actually very important for director Josh Cooley to get some kind of reference to
00:45Transformers the Movie into Transformers 1. He told Gizmodo,
00:49We had this one version where D-16 and Orion were playing a video game.
00:53They're playing that together like friends in the song, like the 8-bit song that's playing
00:57is The Touch. That part had to be cut, but Cooley still managed to reference the song
01:01in a more subtle way with Alita-1's cheeky put-down.
01:04It does have a nice ring to it.
01:05There's a ton of lore to keep track of when it comes to Transformers, but fortunately,
01:09given that it's a prequel, Transformers 1 is easy to watch, even if you're completely unfamiliar
01:14with all the minutia. The movie hones in on a select few characters, mostly Orion Pax,
01:19D-16, Alita-1, and B-127. But if you do know all the details,
01:24there are nods to plenty of other Transformers, if you know where to look.
01:28It's time to show them. We are more than meets the eye.
01:32Jazz, Optimus Prime's right-hand bot, has been a fan-favorite Transformer since the beginning.
01:36He's not a major character in Transformers 1, but when the mine's collapsing in the first act,
01:41he's the one who gets stuck. Orion insists on staying behind to get him out of there,
01:45and he does. Jazz also supports Orion later, as he rallies the miners to stand up against
01:50Sentinel Prime. It's a much more respectful interpretation of the character than the first
01:54live-action Transformers movie, in which Megatron kills Jazz in a shock moment that barely impacts
01:59the plot. The Icon 5000, Cybertron's most prestigious racing event, is also a feast for
02:05fans. The leaderboard has numerous names that will sound familiar, from Motormouth to Double Clutch.
02:10The stands are also filled with cheering bots, and if you look hard enough,
02:13you'll no doubt recognize some designs.
02:16A name most people will likely recognize on the Icon 5000 leaderboard is Mirage,
02:21who's actually in first place for the brief glimpses we get of the rankings.
02:24Mirage was voiced by Pete Davidson in 2023's Transformers Rise of the Beasts,
02:29which is an appropriate casting considering he's a jokester throughout the franchise.
02:33Hmm. Tough guy. I like that. I like it a lot.
02:38But he's also incredibly fast, with some illusion-creating abilities.
02:42It makes sense that he'd be in first place, then. It's also understandable that Mirage
02:46would have been born with a transformation cog, as he's part of the elite class throughout much
02:50of Transformers lore. He comes from wealth, but joins the Autobots when he realizes the fight
02:54against the Decepticons will impact him, too. We learn in Transformers 1 that many of Cybertron's
02:59citizens should have transformation cogs, but Sentinel Prime saw to it that they were removed,
03:04creating a lower social rung of minors.
03:08Orion Pax and D-16 get banged up pretty bad during the Iacon 5000. After the race,
03:13they're waiting in a medical wing, likely expecting to be chewed out for jumping in
03:17the race when they weren't supposed to. While they wait, someone over the intercom
03:21mentions a Dr. Ratchet. Ratchet is a medical officer in the Transformers franchise.
03:26Audiences don't get the chance to see him in Transformers 1, but he is clearly around. He
03:30had a sizable presence in the live-action Transformers movies before getting killed
03:34by Lockdown in Transformers Age of Extinction. Optimus Prime came out of hiding to avenge his
03:39death and killed Lockdown in kind.
03:41They slaughtered Ratchet! I'm gonna tear them apart!
03:47It's pretty amusing to hear him referred to as Dr. Ratchet as opposed to just Ratchet,
03:51which is what he typically goes by. The medical signifier almost calls to mind
03:55Nurse Ratchet from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, played by Louise Fletcher.
03:59But it's safe to say that this Ratchet is a medically trained Transformer
04:03and not a sadistic authoritarian.
04:06Orion Pax and E-16 get banished to Sub-Level 50, where they meet the incredibly talkative B-127.
04:13Fantastic!
04:14He's been down there for who knows how long, and he reveals that to keep his sanity,
04:18he made some friends out of the junk he received from the higher levels.
04:21He introduces his new friends to his old friends, including one entity named A-A-Tron.
04:26Keegan-Michael Key voices B-127, which is appropriate, as he's an immensely talented
04:31comedic actor, and B-127 offers much of the comedic relief throughout the movie.
04:35The name A-A-Tron is a clear nod to the famous Key & Peele sketch Substitute Teacher.
04:40A-A-Ron! Where are you? Where is A-A-Ron right now?
04:46There's another deep-cut reference among B-127's friends,
04:49as the last one is simply named Steve.
04:52Steve?
04:53But a Steve actually exists in Transformers canon. He's a Vehicon who forgot his real name
04:58and started going by Steve after reading it on a billboard.
05:02When Orion Pax and his friends go to the surface to find the Matrix of Leadership,
05:07the only Prime left alive is Alpha Trion.
05:10You have the power to make your world better.
05:13His is the voice Orion Pax listens to at the very beginning of the film,
05:16when he breaks into the archives and finds a recording about the creation of the original
05:2013 Primes. You could argue that Alpha Trion is only there to explain the plot and keep viewers
05:26in the loop. However, it makes sense that Alpha Trion is the one used to deliver exposition,
05:31as he's canonically Cybertron's records keeper. He's even been referred to as the Archivist of
05:36Iacon. Alpha Trion narrating the records at Iacon City and then providing the footage of how Sentinel
05:41Prime betrayed the Primes is in line with what we know of his character from other Transformers
05:46media. Sadly, he's killed, so he likely won't get to further mentor Optimus Prime in the coming war
05:52with the Decepticons, but having Lawrence Fishburne deliver much of the backstory certainly helps it
05:56go down smoother. In the 1980s, the world was introduced to transforming robot toys in the
06:02form of GoBots. Some may think GoBots exist among the many Ridiculous Transformers ripoffs,
06:07but they actually predate the robots in disguise. GoBots, made by Tonka, came out in 1983,
06:13while Hasbro's Transformers debuted in the U.S. in 1984. One could argue they were both predated by
06:19the Japanese Diaclone and Machine Robo lines of transforming robot toys, but that's beside the
06:24point. The Transformers became the clear leading brand after release, both at toy stores and in
06:30the overall zeitgeist. After all, there's no movie coming out this year called GoBots 1.
06:34What you may not know is that the two actually exist under the same banner now, as Hasbro
06:39acquired Tonka in 1991. In Transformers 1, GoBot is some kind of in-universe reference because at
06:45one point, Alita 1 refers to D-16 and B-127 as two idiot GoBots. Given the insulting context,
06:53it doesn't sound like the term GoBot is held in such high regard on Cybertron at this point in
06:58time. Whether GoBots exist in this universe or the term is just used to put down other vehicons,
07:03it's a funny little reminder of Transformers' beginnings that no doubt got a lot of chuckles
07:07from longtime fans in the audience. While some references in Transformers 1 are right in your
07:13face, others fade into the background, only noticed by the most extreme of fans who pay
07:18attention to every last detail. That's the case when Orion Pax and his squad meet Starscream and
07:23the rest of the Cybertronian high guard. Starscream is definitely one of the most popular and evil
07:28Decepticons, having been involved in some of the most terrible things any Transformer has ever done.
07:33Okay, so he's a little intense.
07:35Yeah, just a little.
07:37Special attention was given to Starscream's throne, which is in the shape of the crown
07:41he wore in the 1986 movie. In certain lighting within the scene, it even comes across as golden,
07:46just like the crown. Josh Cooley explained to Gizmodo how he didn't even know about this
07:51particular Easter egg until he spoke with the film's production designer, Jason Shire. Many
07:55Transformers fans worked on this movie, and Cooley was totally cool with them adding whatever details
08:00they wanted. A giant battle breaks out at the climax of Transformers 1, with Alita tussling
08:06with Arachnid, who works for Sentinel Prime. Arachnid proves pivotal to the plot, as Orion Pax
08:11and his cohorts need to get video footage from her memory banks. The fight itself has multiple
08:16intriguing layers to dig through. First, Arachnid has the shape of a spider, and not just any spider
08:21— a Black Widow. Alita is voiced by Scarlett Johansson, who famously played Black Widow in
08:26the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So you could say that two Black Widows are going at it.
08:30Interestingly, Alita becomes a character called Blackarachnia in Transformers Animated.
08:35My friends call me Blackarachnia.
08:41As Alita, she fought alongside Optimus Prime and the Autobots, but after getting abandoned on an
08:46alien world, she develops a spider-centric mutation and becomes Blackarachnia, joining
08:52the Decepticons after becoming disillusioned with the Autobots' cause. Transformers 1 already shows
08:57D-16's fall as he goes from Orion Pax's friend to his sworn enemy as Megatron. Could a potential
09:02Transformers 1 sequel see a similar fate befall Alita, with her ultimately joining Megatron's
09:07side? It's far too early to say, but it's still fun to consider the future.
09:12D-16 is a total fanboy for Megatronus, his favorite of the Primes. Fans know him by another
09:18name — the Fallen. He's typically portrayed as a god of chaos, and he's the antagonist of
09:23Transformers Revenge of the Fallen. We don't really see much of Megatronus — we only hear
09:27how much D-16 looks up to him, with Megatronus serving as the basis for D-16's new name,
09:32Megatron. Throughout the film, the antagonists each sport Megatronus'
09:36transformation cog. Sentinel Prime took Megatronus' cog as his own,
09:40and after D-16 rips Sentinel apart, he inserts Megatronus' cog into himself.
09:45It's possible the cog could have some kind of corrupting power,
09:48though both Sentinel and D-16 displayed evil tendencies before getting it.
09:52At the very least, it seems that Transformers with darkness in their sparks are drawn to
09:57Megatronus. Given that Sentinel had his cog, it could be that Megatronus is dead,
10:01but his spirit lives on in Megatron, the new threat to Cybertronian peace.