It’s a typical Austin summer. It’s 105 degrees. The idea of stepping outside doesn’t exactly make you jump up and down with excitement. It would certainly take something special to get you out of doors. Something…unique. Unusual. Right?

Well, how’s this--Transformers: The Movie outside Central Market on North Lamar Wednesday at dusk. We’re not talking about that Michael Bay seizure-inducing debacle (though we did enjoy watching Robosaurus chewing up cars at the Alamo). We’re talking about the 1986 animated adventure that only a kid that loves robots-disguised-as-a-cars/planes/tape decks/dinosaurs/etc could love. You’re sure to get your fix of one-night-only weirdness—we’re talking dinobots, insecticons, sharkticons…there’s a robot the size of a planet voiced by Orson Welles. In his final performance ever. And we’ve barely even touched the tip of incredibly strange futuristic iceberg!

Set in the “future” of 2005, (stop us if you’ve heard it) the Autobots try to stop the Decepticons from taking over the earth. Who wins? You already know, and it doesn’t matter. This movie isn't about who wins--it's about the bizarre plot twists that only a "robots from space" movie could come up with. True, it has a pretty dark tone—some of your favorite Autobots don’t actually make it to the end—but the cheesy 80’s metal soundtrack (featuring Weird Al!) is sure to make you smile again, and if you start to lose track of the plot (and believe us, you will lose track of the plot), you can play “guess the voice:” buried amongst all those robots are the golden pipes of Eric Idle, Judd Nelson, Leonard Nimoy, Casey Kasem, Robert Stack, and Scatman Crothers. What could be more fun than that?

So show up early, grab something cold to drink, and let the kids trip out on one of the most bizarre cartoons not made in Japan. If nothing else, you’ll walk away remembering how much fun you had as a kid, playing with your expensive toys. And next time you hear somebody raving about the new Batman movie, you can mention this one and say, “they just don’t make ‘em like they used to.” We promise no one would argue.