Is the Transformers 40th Anniversary Event Worth Your Hard-Earned Shanix?

Premiering in theaters around the world on Wednesday, May 15th, the Transformers 40th Anniversary Event is slated to have showings for just two more days in the near future: Saturday, May 18th, and Sunday, May 19th. Check your local listings, times and availability may vary.

Rather than a reshowing of the original 1986 feature film, Hasbro has instead elected to celebrate the 40th anniversary of their beloved franchise by going all the way back to the beginning. Back… further back… wait, are you grabbing a copy of Marvel’s The Transformers #1? Okay, while accurate to the time of year, that’s too far back. Push it up a bit. Yeah, there we go.

Ahem. Rather than reshowing the original movie, they’re reshowing the first four episodes of the original smash-hit syndicated cartoon television show.

Something about that ring a bell? Yep, those are the same four episodes they pulled from their YouTube channel back around March or so, but with some bells and whistles, or at least some variety of party favors and noisemakers added.

So, how is it? Here’s Internet Personality and fellow Torontonian Vangelus with his debriefing of the event he attended:

This pretty much corroborates what Allspark forum member Sabrblade had to say:

Overall, the atmosphere of the room was… formal. I had originally wanted to get there early so I could hang out and chat with other fans before it started, but IRL stuff kept me from getting there any sooner than about five-to-ten minutes before it started. When I got there, the room was real quiet as the typical pre-trailer ads were playing, with no one talking to each other and everyone keeping to themselves. The guy sitting to my right even moved over one seat during the first episode. The only people in the room who seemed to be having any fun enjoying themselves were a small group sitting toward the middle-right of the room (I was up in the back row), who could be heard chuckling at some of the zanier points in the episodes, and one of them made a “Ha! Superhuman Spike!” joke when Spike punched Rumble in the first ep. But other than them, the room was fill with dead silence from everyone else. And when it was over, we all got up from our seats to leave and nobody said a single word to anybody in the room. Only a few folks said they had fun to some of the ushers standing outside the theater room waiting to come in and clean up, but the total vibe of the room was really introverted and unfriendly, very much the opposite of how TF fans act when at conventions, in my experience. It felt less like a fan event and more like a formal opera experience where nearly everyone is on their best behavior and really stiff.

The redubbed first episode of “More Than Meets The Eye” sounds like it’s not to be missed, and yet, maybe not worth the price of admission, especially as the revitalized episode seems to leave the rest of the apparently Rhino-quality episode presentation feeling a little lackluster for the expected experience by comparison.
If you do decide to go, however, and you’re into this sort of thing, be sure to grab the Transformers 40th Anniversary Event popcorn bucket and cup combo (especially since they’re reportedly going for $50 on eBay right now)!

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I’d consider going for the cup alone, but it would seem that we don’t have those in Canada.

You can also get them, along with other neat Transformers merch, online at the Cinemark Shop for $12.99.

Also, that’s for the U.S. only, too. Bah.

Anyway, have you checked the Transformers 40th Anniversary Event out for yourself already? Were you even planning to? Are you still planning to, or planning to go again? Or have these testimonials warded you off, and you’re just going to hope they do an online showing of it or something? Tell us all about it and find out what your fellow fans think over in the “G1 Episodes in Select Theaters in May” thread in our forums.

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