Transformers: The Movie

On a distant planet, sometime in the near future, live two warring factions of robots.

The peaceful Autobots, led by the heroic Optimus Prime, are fighting a losing battle against the evil Decepticons, led by the maniacal and power-hungry Megatron. If the Autobots fail to protect their city, then all is lost and their doom is sealed. Even the courageous humans that fight alongside them will surely perish.

Sensing the onslaught, Optimus Prime faces Megatron alone. A fierce battle ensues between the two leaders and, ultimately, Optimus Prime wins and the Decepticons retreat. But Optimus is mortally wounded, and (in his dying moments) hands over the mantle of leadership to his oldest and most trusted companion, in the form of a glowing jewel, which holds the spirits of all previous leaders.

Legend has it that when the Autobots face their darkest hour, a warrior shall rise up and use the power of this 'Matrix' to dispense with the evil for good. The Decepticons, however, have their own problems. Their leader is also mortally wounded, along with a good few more. There is a vote of survival of the fittest and the injured party are thrown into space and abandoned, Megatron included.

Meanwhile, deep in space, there is another menace approaching the Autobot home planet in the form of the almighty Unicron, a huge transforming space station that consumes entire planets, and leaves little but debris in it's wake. The previously jettisoned Megatron and his badly injured cronies are met by Unicron and given an ultimatum: destroy the Autobots and their Matrix of leadership, or carry on into oblivion. In return, they are given new bodies, weapons and names with which to carry out their task.

On Cybertron, the self-appointed new leader of the Decepticons has a rather short coronation when Megatron (in his new guise of Galvatron) and his new warriors arrive, turning the usurper into nothing but dust.

The Autobots are the next target of Galvatron and after a one-sided battle, manage to crash land their escape ship on Junkticon, a planet made of (you guessed it) scrap metal. Here, Ultra Magnus, the new leader of the Autobots (appointed by Optimus) is blown to pieces and loses the Matrix to Galvatron. The hopes of the Autobots reaches an all-time low, but all is not lost when the inhabitants of the planet befriend and repair the fallen Ultra Magnus and his injured comrades.

Unicron summons Galvatron before him and obtains the Matrix, but a treacherous Galvatron comes unstuck and is swallowed along with the Autobots' only salvation. Now begins a race against time if the Autobots are to succeed in defeating the monstrous planet-cruncher once and for all.