Ihave heard that VW does have a problem. Apparently they don't want to be associated in any way with something that could be deemed violent especially since the Bug is back on the market. I think because it had been out of production for so long when the Transformers originally came out is how they were able to get away with it.

Nazi-Era Suit at Car Maker
Print Save

Published: May 6, 1999
Lawyers who say they are representing Russian and Polish slave laborers during World War II filed a class-action lawsuit today against Volkswagen, seeking reparation for the deaths of up to 400 children.

The lawsuit, filed in Federal court here, said the children, who were put in a nursery while their parents were forced to work at a Volkswagen plant, died from maltreatment.

Volkswagen A.G. has reversed itself and agreed to set up a fund to compensate workers forced into slave labor in World War II.

It said that its decision was ''in recognition of the historical and moral obligations'' to those who were forced to work in its factories under the Third Reich. The company has been threatened with a lawsuit over the issue. Company executives had insisted that compensating victims was a Government responsibility.

Volkswagen employed 15,000 slave laborers in the war, a history financed by the company showed.

During 1998-AUG, a number of other U.S. lawsuits were launched by survivors against a variety of German companies, including Audi, BMW, Daimler-Benz, Siemens, Leica Camera and Volkswagen. The matter came to a head in 1998 when the largest bank in Germany, Deutsche Bank, made a bid of $15 billion U.S. to take over Banker's Trust in New York. New York state authorities threatened to block the takeover unless the slavery compensation issue was satisfactorily resolved.

For years, Chancellor Helmut Kohl had maintained that Germany companies which used slave labor should not have to compensate their victims. This was because the companies were merely following Nazi government orders that they employ slave labor. That argument is similar to one raised at the Nuremberg trials shortly after Word War II: that an officer was is not responsible for mass murder because he was simply following the orders of his superior officers. The court rejected that line of reasoning.

He was a major force behind the legal efforts forcing German industry to pay a $6-billion settlement for profiting from Nazi-era slave labor.

People thought Fagan was crazy when he filed against Volkswagen and Deutsche Bank, argues Anthony J. Sebok, a law professor at Brooklyn Law School. But Fagan's strategy worked
......The Nazi case was brought on behalf of all living survivors of German slave labor. ....The Nazi-Holocaust cases, lawyers note, were legally weak but very damaging to the reputations of German corporations. The result? The companies settled without going to court for more than $8-billion, at the urging of the U.S. government, which helped mediate.

Sony BMG Music Entertainment has announced the release of the Transformers: The Movie – 20th Anniversary Special Edition for the 7th of November. The two-disc release is set to be the ultimate Transformers DVD, featuring three versions of the feature film, commentary tracks and interviews, a sneak peak at the live-action movie and more. Further details can be found below, along with an early look at the artwork. You can read more over at Transformersthemoviedvd.com

* Brilliantly remastered and color-corrected
* 16x9 widescreen presentation, which has not been seen anywhere since the movie was in theatres twenty years ago
* Full screen edition
* Commentary tracks
* Interviews with director Nelson Shin, story consultant Flint Dille and voice actress Susan Blu
* Autobot Matrix of Knowledge Presentation: Truly showcasing the pop culture phenomenon that is The Transformers, Sony BMG has created a special version of the film for the DVD release. The ‘Autobot Matrix of Knowledge’ will feature trivia and fun facts about the movie itself, the Transformers brand, and the pop culture references in which Transformers has been spoofed/tributed. Approximately one hundred fun facts will show up on screen throughout the movie. Many of the factoids were provided by fans through a special DVD site created by Sony BMG to solicit input—marking the first time that the huge Transformers fan base has ever been asked to participate in the creation of a Transformers home entertainment release.
* Original commercials for the toy line and movie
* Behind-the-scenes sneak peak at next summer's highly anticipated Transformers live action movie event. The special feature segment on the DVD will include comments from Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg who share their vision and passion for Transformers
* Collectible ‘transforming’ cover

I wonder if it has the "oh shit" in it...

Doesn't Prime say something like "Damn you, Megatron" as well?

The "oh shit" is in the DVD from Rhino. As is Ultra Magnus' muttering "Open, Dammit, open" to the Matrix.