The Guardian GoBots are continuing their work on rebuilding their home planet of Gobotron when a mysterious ship crashes on the planet. Leader-1, Turbo, and Scooter investigate, and find it to be occupied by a pair of transforming robotic rocks with protosaur essences - Solitaire and her valet Nuggit. They have come seeking the Guardians' help to save their planet, Quartex, from the evil Rock Lord Magmar, who is killing the other Rock Lords in order to take their power sceptres. He places these in a machine designed to channel all their power into his own sceptre.
The Guardians agree to help, but the conversation is spied upon by the Renegade Fitor. Gobotron is soon attacked by the Renegade fleet, and Cy-Kill and a team of Renegades capture Solitaire, Small Foot and the GoBots' human allies Nick and A.J. With Nuggit as their guide, Leader-1, Turbo, Scooter, and Matt set off on a rescue mission.
On Quartex, after relieving a vanquished Rock Lord of his sceptre, Magmar now only requires three more to complete his own. One is held by the Lord of Fossils, another by Solitaire, and the last by Boulder and his forces; the only opposition left. His troops vote to attack Boulder and be done with him, but Boulder learns of the upcoming attack, and is able to launch an effective counter defence that sees Magmar on the verge of defeat.
Meanwhile, Cy-Kill attempts to get information out of Solitaire, and despite her best efforts manages to link up with Magmar and strike an alliance, turning the battle against Boulder. The good Rock Lords flee, and after their defeat at the hands of the Renegades are initially very skeptical about the Guardians' intentions when they land on Quartex. However, Nuggit is able to convince Boulder and the rest of the Guardians true intentions and the two sides form an alliance.
The Renegades and Magmar soon attack in Thruster, and Leader-1 and Turbo engage in aerial combat, but receive damage that impairs their ability to fly or convert to vehicle mode. Thruster eventually withdraws on the belief that the Guardians and their allies have been wiped-out, but they survive and proceed towards the kingdom of Fossils before it is attacked. Cy-Kill and Magmar, however, strike first and seize the Fossil Lord's sceptre, leaving our heroes at a loss on what to do next.
Meanwhile on Rogue Star, after Nick and A.J. escape from their cell, they free Small Foot, and the three carry out various acts of sabotage before escaping in a Renegade Spacehawk fighter. They land on Quartex and hook up with Leader-1 and the rest. Cannibalizing the fighter for all its parts, Scooter is able to construct energy projectile weapons for Boulder and his troops, and fully repairs Leader-1 and Turbo.
Now ready and with the element of surprise, the allies march on Stonehead, Magmar's fort. Meanwhile, Cy-Kill finally hands Solitaire's Sceptre to Magmar to fully power his own (Boulder's sceptre, which they believed lost and was described as necessary to Magmar's goals, is all but forgotten). Once the sceptre is powered, Cy-Kill and his Renegades make their move to seize it for themselves.
Solitaire, who is present to be executed, escapes in the shoot-out, and rejoins Boulder and the rest as they finally crash the party. The Renegades flee with the stolen sceptre, but the Guardians pursue. Discovering that Thruster has been wrecked by the Guardians prior to their attack, Cy-Kill attempts to use Magmar's sceptre against them. But the energy discharges are too much and he is unable to control or even release his hold.
A well-placed shot by Leader-1 separates the two, and the Renegades finally retreat while the sceptre's power disperses. Magmar and his minions remain at-large, but are no longer unopposed. With their mission complete, the Guardians bid farewell to the Rock Lords and return to Gobotron.
The film performed poorly, pulling in about $US1.3 million domestically. When released in Australia (as Machine Men: Battle of the Rock Lords, to tie in with the line's name in that territory), the only major chain to carry the film was Hoyts, with most other cinemas carrying the film locally tending to be independently owned.[4] Several critics (Leonard Maltin amongst them) have incorrectly suggested that The Transformers: The Movie was made to "cash in" on the release of the film.[citation needed] While Battle of the Rock Lords was released five months before The Transformers, the latter film had been in production for the better part of two years, well before the GoBots movie began production.
Stephen Holden of The New York Times remarked that "true to Saturday-morning cartoon tradition, GoBots is a jerky, semi coherent series of chases, laser-gun battles and explosions, with an allegorical plot about how no one can handle too much power"; he noted that "the good guys have squeaky cartoon voices and the bad guys deep, insinuating drawls."[5]
Animation critic Charles Solomon of the Los Angeles Times wrote about the film:
The GoBots are a popular group of robot toys by Tonka that can be transformed: When their limbs are bent or twisted correctly, the figures turn into something else--airplane, car, scooter or tank, etc. They’re already the subject of a syndicated television series; “GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords” represents their first appearance in a theatrical film.
Unfortunately, the story, script, voice actors and animation all prove less flexible than the toys, and the film never turns into entertainment. GoBots are more fun to play with than they are to watch.
Jeff Segal's script sounds like something written in Screen Writing 1A by a student who barely passed--the dialogue is crammed with cliches and unintended laughs. As the voices of various characters, Telly Savalas, Margot Kidder, Roddy McDowall and Michael Nouri overact shamelessly, proving that it’s possible to mug even when you’re not on camera.
Nor can the action carry the story. The characters manage to bluster, threaten, fight and trek through alien terrain without generating a shred of suspense or excitement. The good-guy GoBots are defeated so easily by the bad-guy Renegades in every confrontation except the final one that there’s no reason to root for them.
Eight-year-old boys who collect toy GoBots and watch the television show may enjoy “Rock Lords,” but anyone who hasn’t made that kind of investment in the characters quickly will lose interest in this leaden exercise in ennui.[6]
Colin Greenland reviewed GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords for White Dwarf #85, and stated, "That gormless Hanna-Barbera style of drawing has a certain primitivist charm, I suppose. But 93 minutes? Gobots were last year's thing, anyway. All mine are broken."[7]
On the website Rotten Tomatoes, GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords was given an approval rating of 20%, based on reviews from 5 critics.[8]Metacritic gives the film a score of 30 out of 100, based on reviews from 4 critics, indicating "Generally Unfavorable" reviews.[9]
Continuation
It would be almost four decades before a continuation of the Challenge of the GoBots story would be made in the form of Transformers Collector Club online stories "Renegade Rhetoric". These were told from Cy-Kill's perceptive on a fictional second season, with some episodes taking place before and then after the movie. The Rock Lords returned in some stories and new characters were introduced.[citation needed]
The Transformers: The Movie is a 1986 animated science fiction action film based on the Transformers television series. It was released in North America on August 8, 1986, and in the United Kingdom on December 12, 1986. It was co-produced and directed by Nelson Shin, who also produced the television series. The screenplay was written by Ron Friedman, who created Bionic Six a year later.
Megatron is the main antagonist of the Transformers media franchise produced by the American toy company Hasbro and the Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. He is the tyrannical leader of the Decepticons, a villainous faction of alien robots that seeks to conquer their home planet of Cybertron and the rest of the known universe, and serves as the archenemy of Optimus Prime, the leader of the rival Autobot faction. As with all Cybertronians, Megatron can disguise himself by transforming into vehicles or weapons. His alternate modes have included a Walther P38 handgun, a particle-beam weapon, a telescopic laser cannon, a Cybertronian jet, and various tanks, depending on which continuity he is depicted in.
Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude McDowall was a British and American actor, whose career spanned over 270 screen and stage roles across over 60 years. Born in London, he began his acting career as a child in his native England, before moving to the United States at the outbreak of World War II. He achieved prominence for his starring roles in How Green Was My Valley (1941), My Friend Flicka (1943), and Lassie Come Home (1943). Unlike many of his contemporaries, McDowall managed to transition his child stardom into adulthood, and began to appear on Broadway as well as in films, winning a Tony Award for his performance in Jean Anouilh's The Fighting Cock. For portraying Octavian in the historical epic Cleopatra (1963), he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award.
Unicron is a fictional villain from the Transformers media franchise. Designed by Floro Dery, he was introduced in the 1986 animated film The Transformers: The Movie and has since reappeared in Transformers: Armada, Transformers: Energon, Transformers: Cybertron, Transformers: Prime, Transformers Prime Beast Hunters: Predacons Rising, Transformers: The Last Knight, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, and Atari's 2004 Transformers video game. Unicron is a prodigiously large robot whose scale reaches planetary proportions, and he is also able to transform into a giant planet. Unicron's origin has expanded over the years from simply being a large robot to being a god of chaos who devours realities. He often employs the help of Decepticons in his work, and in some stories is considered part of the origin of the Decepticon forces.
The Autobots are a fictional faction of sentient robots in the Transformers multimedia franchise. The Autobots are living robots from the planet Cybertron who, like most Transformers, are each imbued with a unique "life force" known as a "spark." Led by Optimus Prime in most stories, the Autobots believe "freedom is the right of all sentient life" and are often engaged in a civil war with the Decepticons, a faction of transformers dedicated to military conquest and usually headed by Megatron. In a mirror universe portrayed in Transformers: Shattered Glass, the Autobots are villains opposed by the heroic Decepticons.
Arcee is a fictional robot character in the Transformers franchise. She has been depicted as a female Autobot, usually pink or blue in color. She has made more appearances and has had several more incarnations than any other female Transformer. Arcee's design, alternate mode, and personality vary depending on continuity.
Jazz is a fictional robot character from the Transformers franchise. He is usually portrayed as a music-loving robot who speaks Black Vernacular English. In certain continuities he is shown as Optimus Prime's good friend and right-hand man.
Jetfire is the name of several fictional characters from the Transformers franchise. He is almost always depicted as an Autobot with flight capabilities and a jet or space shuttle as an alternate mode. In some continuities, he is a former Decepticon.
GoBots is a line of transforming robot toys produced by Tonka from 1983 to 1987, similar to Hasbro's Transformers.
Machine Robo: Revenge of Cronos, known in France as La Revanche des GoBots, is a Japanese anime television series produced by Ashi Productions. It ran on TV Tokyo from July 3, 1986, through May 28, 1987.
Sideswipe is a fictional robot character in the Transformers series.
Machine Robo: Battle Hackers is a Japanese animated television series produced by Ashi Productions. It ran on TV Tokyo from June 3, 1987 through December 30, 1987.
Robo Machine was a European transforming robot toyline released by Bandai from 1982 to 1988. Robo Machines was a short-lived revival from late 1992 to 1993. The line was initially a European release of the Machine Robo line, before gradually becoming the counterpart to Tonka’s Gobots line. The line appeared in the UK, France and Germany, amongst others.
Challenge of the GoBots is an American animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera, based on the GoBots toyline released from Tonka. The show was first broadcast in syndication on September 8, 1984, then the show joined the weekday/weekend programming block The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera on September 15, 1985. It was later rerun on the USA Cartoon Express.
Transformers: Generation 1 is a toy line from 1984 to 1990, produced by Hasbro and Takara Tomy. It was a line of toy robots that could change into an alternate form by moving parts into other places, and it was the first line of toys produced for the successful Transformers toy and entertainment franchise. The line was originally called The Transformers, with "Generation 1" originating as a term coined by fans of the toys when the Transformers: Generation 2 toy line was released in 1992. Hasbro eventually adopted the term "Generation 1" to refer to any toy produced in that era.
"The Robo Machines" is a British comic strip, appearing in titles published by IPC Magazines. The story was published in the anthology Eagle from 10 November 1984 to 29 July 1985, written by Tom Tully, with art by Mario Capaldi and later Kim Raymond. Based on Bandai's Robo Machine toys, the story depicts an attack on Earth by evil scientist Stron-Domez and his evil Robo Machines.
Transformers: Prime is an American animated television series based on the Transformers toy franchise by Hasbro that aired on the Hub Network from November 29, 2010, to July 26, 2013. The series focuses on the Autobots of "Team Prime", consisting of Optimus Prime, Ratchet, Arcee, Bumblebee and Bulkhead, and their human allies as they attempt to protect the Earth from the villainous Decepticons and their leader Megatron.
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