There have been several early scripts made available to the public for Transformers: The Movie. This page has a look at some of the known ones.

Very early script

In 2010, there was an auction for a script by Ron Friedman, which fans managed to buy. But at the same time, there was another auction for an even earlier script, which the fans unfortunately didn't manage to get. Very little is known about this script other than there was a battle scene between the Autobots and Decepticons at some kind of power plant. There was also a character called "Tankor" -fans were speculating that this may have been an early name for Ultra Magnus.

The Ron Friedman script

Some fans managed to get this one in 2010. The script is dated the 27th of April, 1985. This script would be heavily rewritten by other writers (most notably Buzz Dixon) as to make it more coherent and change many aspects that Ron had in mind. Some of the differences in this script include:

-It is only set 5 years after the first episode "More than Meets the Eye, Part 1", meaning the film would take place in the 1980s.

-Spike is not present, although Daniel is.

-The concept of "life sparks". In this script, the battered Megatron managed to get back to Cybertron with the other Decepticons, who start to fight over who will be the next leader. Megatron pleads for them to place his life spark into an urn, but nobody helps as they are all too busy fighting. A statue of a previous Decepticon leader falls over and crushes Megatron, shattering him. His life spark then leaves his body, and is found by Unicron. Unicron places Megatron's life spark into a new body, creating Galvatron. This entire life spark concept was dropped from the final film, although there is a small nod to it in Starscream's coronation scene -there are several statues around the place, each one having an urn with a flame in it, which is what this script mentions.

-There are a few different takes on the shuttle attack scene, all of which feature the same Autobots getting killed (Ironhide, Prowl, Ratchet and Brawn). Most of the deaths are far more violent than in the final film, such as Brawn being blasted in half, whilst Ironhide and Ratchet get fused together and then blown apart.

-This script has characters who do not appear in the final film (such as Warpath and Powerglide) or larger roles for ones who only cameo (such as Sunstreaker, Bluestreak and Wheeljack).

-A scene with the "Roboto-zoo lab", which is part of Autobot City, and contains the "Ani-bots" -a team consisting of Pardo (leapord), Shriek (eagle), Thump (buffalo) and Clump (rhino). These Ani-bots get into a fight with the Constructicons. Later on, when the Constructicons unite into Devastator, Wheeljack gets the Ani-bots to unite into "Dragon Beast"! The two super robots start fighting, and Dragon Beast eventually wins thanks to help from the arriving Dinobots. Dragon Beast then starts smashing down some Decepticons jets. The Ani-bots are never seen in the final film, but it is possible that they eventually became the Predacons, a Decepticon team introduced in the third season of the cartoon.

-Blaster has different cassettes in this script. He has Cubbie (lion), Stripes (tiger), Stinger (scorpion) and Bolts (robot).

-There are even more deaths in this script, such as Gears been blown to pieces and Windcharger being ripped apart.

-Even the Autobots are violent in this script -there is a scene where Bluestreak uses a "laser saber" to cut Thundercracker in half! In this same scene Hound fires his weapon to blow off the legs of a few Decepticons.

-There is a scene where Optimus Prime's shuttle, which is heading to Autobot City, is attacked by Astrotrain.

-Unicron is handled differently in this script, as his planet mode is referred to as "Planet Unicron" whilst his robot mode is called "Ingestor".

These are just a few of the differences -I'd recommend any fan reading the entire script to see everything else which is different.

Whilst this script was heavily rewritten, Ron Friedman still gets the sole writer's credit in the final film due to a deal he made.

"The Secret of Cybertron" script

Flint Dille and Jay Bacal wrote this script after reading Ron Friedman's script. Flint has said in interviews that he may still have this script somewhere, but he's yet to find it. Not much is known about "The Secret of Cybertron", apart from some snippets of information from Flint, who has talked about it in some interviews. The idea for this script would involve Optimus Prime going on a great journey into Cybertron itself, and finding out the true origins of the Transformers. The actual secret of Cybertron was that the planet itself was a Transformer. Using the Matrix of Leadership, Cybertron transforms to fight Unicron, who in this script is a Quintesson weapon.

Whilst this script was rejected, Flint managed to use the idea of the Quintessons being the creators of the Transformers in "Five Faces of Darkness".

1986 earlier script

This script is a lot like the final film's script, but still contains many differences. Many of these differences would reach the dialogue script and storyboard stage, but would later be changed. Differences include:

-Unicron destroys planets and their inhabitants by using a pink mist which dissolves everything. Arblus dies near the start of this script, being dissolved by the mist.

-Kranix transforms into a spaceship to escape his doomed world.

-Ironhide tells Optimus Prime to "let me make another run to Autobot City on Earth. I'll bring you back more cubes than you'll know what to do with." This reveals that Autobot City is also a energon storage/production facility, and explains why Megatron wants to destroy it so badly. Sadly Ironhide's line was removed from the final script, and Optimus never reveals what the "special mission" is.

-The shuttle attack scene is a bit longer in this script, as Ironhide has to pilot the shuttle through an asteroid field. The Decepticons then attack.

-Starscream is the one who brings Megatron into Astrotrain, rather than Soundwave.

-Unicron wants Galvatron to bring him the Matrix, rather than destroy it.

-A scene where Astrotrain and some Decepticon jets attack the two Autobot shuttles in space, just after they've taken off and left the Earth. The Autobots manage to escape by destroying a massive asteroid, creating lots of smaller rocks which the Decepticons get distracted by and have to avoid.

-When Cyclonus says "the Autobots have been terminated", Galvatron says "Excellent. And soon we shall say the same of that infernal Unicron.". This was changed for the final script, so Galvatron instead says "Excellent. And the Matrix with them".

-Kranix has different dialogue when he talks to Hot Rod and Kup. He mentions that the Quintessons "hunt down those who try to escape the wrath of Unicron, and put them on trial". He also says "Guilty or innocent, the sentence is always the same - death!". This dialogue was removed from the final script, and the roles of the Quintessons would be changed greatly for the third season of Transformers.

-There is a short scene where a Quintesson tricks the Dinobots into going down a path filled with traps, promising that Hot Rod and Kup are nearby. This is not in the final film.

-Moonbase 2 is destroyed several scenes after Moonbase 1's destruction in this script, whilst in the final film, it happens immediately. There is a hint that this change came very late into the final film, as when Galvatron says about how the moons belong to him, Moonbase 2 can still be seen, despite being destroyed just a few seconds a go.

-Ultra Magnus is quartered by the Sweeps. There is an urban legend that the final film had him die this way also, but it was changed to him exploding into pieces after test audiences found his original death sequence to be too violent.

-Wreck-Gar and the other Junkions transform their entire planet into a ship.

-Shockwave dies, as Unicron crushes the tower he is in, crushing him in the process. Some fans think that this death scene may have been animated, but cut from the final film itself -if you watch when Shockwave tells the Decepticons to scramble, everything is shaking, parts of the ceiling are crumbling and he looks at the left and then right walls, as if something is happening to them. Shockwave never properly appears in the third season of Transformers either.

There are some other differences in this script, which can be read here.

Marvel Comics released a three issue adaption of Transformers: The Movie, quite clearly basing things on this script. For more information, visit the TF Wiki 's pages about it: