MovieChat Forums > The Transformers: The Movie (1986) Discussion > why did so many of the actors complain a...

why did so many of the actors complain about being a part of this?


I just read this


"featuring the voice talents of Orson Welles, Leonard Nimoy and Eric Idle, among others, in what can best be described as an 80-minute toy commercial. They were all in it for the money. Welles told his biographer about the film, "I play a big toy who does horrible things to a bunch of smaller toys." Idle admitted in his book, The Greedy Bastard Diary, that he had hated every minute of production. "Why did I do it, again? Oh, right, they offered me oodles of cash." He also said that he never even watched the movie, and makes a habit out of it with such roles. It is rumored that Leonard Nimoy was so embarrassed about it that he refused to address it for years afterwards, whether in interviews or at science-fiction conventions. Only Michael Bay's interest in casting him as The Fallen in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen prompted him to talk about his role, and then only briefly (and he also said that Bay could call him up if he wanted to, but Bay ultimately went with Tony Todd because of his guest appearance in Batman The Brave And The Bold). Nimoy was however later cast as Sentinel Prime in Dark of the Moon."



for *beep*'s they were just reading lines off a paper in a sound booth. How "miserable" of an experience could it be? *beep* whiners

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Job satisfaction I guess. The rest of us complain about jobs we don't like even though we get paid, applies to actors too.

Back in the lead up to the release of Kung Fu Panda, the actors were doing the press gigs and interviews. Even though they were supposed to be promoting the movie, Dustin Hoffman flatout said he didn't enjoy making the movie because he didn't really get to act. Instead of having to put in a performance and react to other actors, he just stood in a booth by himself reading into a microphone for a few hours.

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Transformers wasn't their generation, they had nothing to do with the actual show, I'm not surprised they didn't really get it. Hasbro should have allowed the regular voice actors to play more of a role in the film.

"Starscream cookies are more than meets the icing!" --Nostalgia Critic

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Supposedly Robert Stack really enjoyed his role as Ultra Magnus and was said to have been very nervous about doing it because it was the first time that he ever did a voiceover for a cartoon. Orson Wells did say he was playing a big toy that does horrible things to other smaller toys, but he also was thrilled that he got to play en entire planet (which makes sense considering Wells huge ego).

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe...

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Galvatron > Spock
Unicron > Aliens who can be beat by a cold.

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^ Yeah, those are hard roles to follow.

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe...

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haha! right on, I totally agree


__________
"Angels to some, demons to others..... Now you must come with us!"

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As a fan, I would've defended these guys, but I can see what you mean ShriekoftheVulture. Their comments and attitudes do come off as rather petulant towards The TF: The Movie project.

And like you said, they're just reading off a sheet of paper in a sound booth. And who is Iric Idle to talk? Like Wreck-Gar is any worse than him doing Devon on Quest for Camelot or him as Dibs on Casper. And here I thought Bill Murray had a real bad attitude about doing a third Ghostbusters movie.

If only these guys were such great sports as Frank Langella was when he played Skeletor for the Masters of the Universe movie. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfiOOwJTgg8

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Wow what a great reply. AS terrible as The Masters movie was-I still enjoy it. As for Billy Murray and Ghostbusters III, I for one am glad he isn't doing it. Ghostbusters II (although funny in places) was terrible.

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe...

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Different times. I think it may have been one of the first major motion pictures based on a toy line (and hence seen by some as a big commercial rather than a work of art).

Also, cartoons with big name voices are ubiquitous today, but not so back then. Some of the actors may have felt being in a cartoon was beneath them or reflected badly on the state of their careers.

I don't take Welles's comments as negative though; he was just making a joke, and a pretty clever one, I thought :)

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Their attitudes may change if they knew about the immense cult following this movie has.

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Exactly.

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I always enjoyed Judd Nelson as Hot Rod, he brought such a beam of positive energy to the role.
Just got done watching the movie and I still love it 🙌

The War has only begun, will you defend your destiny?

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I only recall Welles commenting about how he's "playing a giant toy that fights smaller toys". But he obviously knew very little about the story and characters so his opinion doesn't matter.

Leonard Nimoy came back to voice Sentinel Prime, so unless he has a terrible memory, or for whatever reason thinks DARK OF THE MOON is the superior film, he must not have been that embarrassed.


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