Press release from Hasbro:
<span style="font-size: 20px;">Legendary TRANSFORMERS Property from Hasbro Will Come to Life with Live Action Film from DreamWorks and Paramount; Steven Spielberg to Executive Produce</span>
LOS ANGELES & PAWTUCKET, R.I., Jul 23, 2004 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures, in association with Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE:HAS), will develop a live-action, motion picture based on the globally popular TRANSFORMERS franchise. Steven Spielberg will executive produce. The film is slated for release in the summer of 2006. Lorenzo di Bonaventura ("Constantine"), Don Murphy ("The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen") and Tom DeSanto ("X-Men" and "X2: X-Men United") are attached to produce.
DreamWorks Head of Production Adam Goodman stated, "Steven and everyone at DreamWorks are very excited about the prospect of expanding the world of TRANSFORMERS into the live-action feature film arena. The possibilities for a thrilling action adventure are virtually endless, and a film holds the definite promise of expanding an already worldwide fan base to new audiences."
"This is a tremendous franchise that offers us the opportunity to create an inventive and thrilling action-adventure film," said Donald De Line, Vice Chairman, Motion Picture Group and President of Paramount Pictures. "We're happy to work with our colleagues at DreamWorks to develop this project with Hasbro. There couldn't be a better team to bring the TRANSFORMERS to the big screen."
"We are truly fortunate to have the best talent in the entertainment industry on board for the TRANSFORMERS movie and are excited at the opportunities this powerful collaboration will bring to the property," said Brian Goldner, President of Hasbro's toys segment. "The TRANSFORMERS franchise has been successful in many entertainment arenas and we are thrilled to give millions of fans an extraordinary experience that's never been done in the history of the brand."
Hasbro will work with the production team, DreamWorks and Paramount on all aspects of the film's creative development, marketing, promotions and will manage merchandising in conjunction with the release of the film. Hasbro will also team up with Takara, who has been the co-developer of the TRANSFORMERS brand since its beginning in the early 1980s.
"The TRANSFORMERS brand has always struck a chord with fans around the world and remains one of our strongest franchises since it was introduced 20 years ago," said Keita Satoh, President and Chief Executive Officer of Takara. "Together with Hasbro, DreamWorks and Paramount, we will bring the property to a new level for fans in the Japanese market, as well as around the world."
DreamWorks will distribute the film domestically, while Paramount will distribute internationally.
In 1984, the TRANSFORMERS brand took the world by storm with its compelling saga of the ROBOTS IN DISGUISE, and quickly became a childhood rite of passage with a tremendously successful toy line from Hasbro and Takara, comic book series, television program and animated feature film. Twenty years later, a new generation of kids has discovered the excitement of the TRANSFORMERS brand and the legendary characters, such as OPTIMUS PRIME and MEGATRON, that truly are "more than meets the eye." Today, the franchise features a popular toy line, an animated series on Cartoon Network and a chart-topping comic book series from Dreamwave Productions, which sold two million TRANSFORMERS comic books last year.
Hasbro (NYSE:HAS) is a worldwide leader in children's and family leisure time entertainment products and services, including the design, manufacture and marketing of games and toys, such as MONOPOLY and G.I. JOE, ranging from traditional to high-tech. Both internationally and in the U.S., its PLAYSKOOL, TONKA, MILTON BRADLEY, PARKER BROTHERS, TIGER, and WIZARDS OF THE COAST brands and products provide the highest quality and most recognizable play experiences in the world.
DreamWorks SKG was formed in October, 1994, by its three principal partners--Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen--to produce live-action motion pictures; animated feature films; network and cable television programming; home video entertainment; books; toys; and consumer products.
Paramount Pictures is part of the entertainment operations of Viacom, Inc., one of the world's largest entertainment and media companies and a leader in the production, promotion and distribution of entertainment, news, sports and music.
Creative Artists Agency represents Hasbro and Steven Spielberg.
Creative Artists Agency is a talent and literary agency with offices in Beverly Hills, Nashville and New York City. CAA represents the most creative and successful artists working in film, television, music, theatre, and video games, and provides a range of strategic marketing services to corporate clients. The agency serves as the access point through which artists, consumers and global brands intersect to create, acquire and sell entertainment properties, and to enrich entertainment and brand experiences. CAA has an equity relationship with Shepardson, Stern and Kaminsky, a strategic communications consulting firm. Youth Intelligence, a youth market research and trend forecasting company, is a division of CAA.
SOURCE: Hasbro, Inc.
I guess we'll get to look forward to Sum41 or Sugar Ray redoing the tv theme song.
i'll tell you right know, if they do use Megatron it wont be the Gen-1 version. the last thing they'll want is a robot that transforms into a gun the parents groups will go Ape$#it over it.
I dunno -- Megatron's the bad guy after all. It could actually be the opposite message if they were concerned about glorifying guns.
Maybe the movie will make kids want to grow up to drive big-rigs!
http://www.donmurphy.net/board/showthread.php?threadid=468 Megatron is NOT gonna be a gun
That was lame anyway
[...]
we are gonna try to treat this as realistically as possible
one giant robot doesn't turn into the gun for another
nor does a giant robot turn into a tape deck
We MAY have Soundwave- but we'd keep him proportional and make him a cd player or something.
Think REALITY
If Megatron is a tank, then when he transforms it is to scale.
Does anyone think we should keep the Transforming SOUND- squugeee or however you'd spell it
I read the thread on the Don Murphy MB, and I think at this point, I have to take all rumors with a grain of salt. They probably haven't even begun working on the character models yet.
Here's another quote, from Tom DeSanto, which seems to refute the previous one.
"There's no better mythology to bring to the big screen than Transformers. Transformers has got great characters and created an iconic world, and the mythology still resonates with people 20 years after it was launched. Even though they're robots the characters have a lot of personality and a lot of heart and people still care about them. That's a great thing. The the film will combine live-action with CGI. I think it's going to be something the audience has never seen before. In all the years of movie-making, I don't think the image of a truck transforming into a 20-foot tall robot has ever been captured on screen. I also want to make a film that's a homage to 1980s movies and gets back to the sense of wonder that Hollywood has lost over the years. It will have those Spielberg-ian moments where you have the push-in on the wide-eyed kid and you feel like you're 10 years old even if you're 35. That's the energy I want to go for. We want to get to the core of what makes Transformers great. We're going to get back to the heart of what Transformers is and distill that into a movie. The live-action version will be based on Generation One and set on Earth. I am rewatching all the cartoons and reading all the comics."
Doesn't sound like the words of someone who wants to radically changs things just for the sake of change. I can handle Megatron as a tank, but the Decepticons are not the Decepticons without Soundwave, and Soundwave isn't Soundwave without the cassettes. I have to believe Spielburg, DeSanto, Murphy, and co. will figure out a way to keep in what makes the Decepticons special, while adapting it for the year 2005.
i think that Murphy guy is full of it. Gen-1 Megatron was a cool idea and it was interesting that as their leader when in gun mode he needed someone to hold him to fire. or if they wanted to stretch it they could make Megatron into a Galvatron/Megatron hybrid were he tranforms into a giant cannon like Galvatron but they call him Megatron.
Got to ask - how often did Megatron actually transform? I've read through many of the TPBs of the original comics, and seen a couple of cartoon eps, and I'm really, really struggling to remember more than two instances where he turned into gun mode.
Plus the slightly major fact, considering TF's origins, that they can't make a toy of a gun these days.
True, I don't think it happened too often. His arm cannon seemed more impressive anyway and unlike the other Transformers, transforming for Megatron wasn't his mode of transportation unlike cars and jets. It just wasn't as practical.
Didn't he ride around in the cockpit of the jets while in gun mode?
If memory serves, I know he probably popped inside the seeker jets on one or two occasions (presumably as a gun) to get around. It was more practical for him to fly, of course, which is what he did mostly in the comics and cartoon.
(Transformer Fan Mode: ON) After looking through an episode guide of the 65 episodes of Transformers before his death/reformatting, I can think of 12 episodes where Megatron turned into a gun. (Transformer Fan Mode: OFF) So yeah, not as everyday as Optimus shouting, "Roll out!" and turning into a semi.
As for the movie news itself, I'm glad they have some respectable people as producers, directors, etc....but my real excitement for this movie isn't going to start until the next year or so, when we start getting a few hints as to the plot and the general look of the film they're going for. I'm a bit skeptical about mixing real life footage with CGI until I see it.
As I remember, generally Soundwave fired Megatron when he transformed, though Starscream had his fair share as well.
It didn't happen very often. If Prime transformed 10x an episode, Megatron transformed something like once every 10 episodes.
Honestly, I think the best way for them to deal with this is to have Megatron transform only once in the movie, at the climactic Act 3 moment, and use his awesome firepower to blast the living hell out of the Autobots. Cause, basically, unless you were Prime or Ironhide (or maybe Brawn,) when Megatron transformed, you pretty much ran like hell.
I agree with KP. Megatron will transform, assuredly, in the movie, but probably only once or twice for some purely evil moment...like the final shot at attacking a city or at the presumed death of an Autobot or something.
The funny thing about Brawn is, the last time he didn't run like hell, he ended up dead with a bad shoulder.
Fun fact about Megatron in gun mode: The only people who I think have ever held him were Soundwave, Starscream, Skywarp, and...Optimus Prime (twice, no less)!
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Future:
[QB]
The funny thing about Brawn is, the last time he didn't run like hell, he ended up dead with a bad shoulder.
Poor Brawn. I hated that moment in the movie.
You're right! Skywarp held Megatron in the antimatter episode, and Prime shot Megs in the epilogue to The Ultimate Doom to get rid of Dr. Archeville's bomb. When was the other time Prime shot Megatron?
Prime also shot Megatron in the episode "Insecticon Syndrome", where some kind of antidote tubes had to be shot at the super-charged Insecticons before they exploded! Of course, they were all shot and saved (except Shrapnel, who later pulled himself back together) with something like five seconds to spare. 80s drama!
Hmm, and the Skywarp holding Megs episode I was thinking of was the third and last part of 'More than Meets the Eye' (commonly reshown in the first season credits), though I think you're right that either Sky (or Thundercracker) held him in the anti-matter mission.
Yeah, it was Skywarp, because Wheeljack had Spike and Chip stick that remote-control device to his leg, which then made him shoot several times at Rumble, which was priceless.
I wonder if they'll have Carly in the movie as a love interest for Spike?
And dang, but you're good, Future! Are you my new best friend?
Good memory, KP! As for the movie, I'm sure they'll try to capture every angle...romance, action, drama, comedy...surely Carly (and maybe a female Autobot or two?) can't be far behind, at least in a cameo for the film.
Thanks for the compliment! I'll be your new best friend if you'll have me, Kippers!
Originally posted by Kid Prime:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Future:
[QB]
The funny thing about Brawn is, the last time he didn't run like hell, he ended up dead with a bad shoulder.
Poor Brawn. I hated that moment in the movie.
yeah but i still feel bad about the way Ironhide went out, that scene still gets to me even more than Prime's death.
Originally posted by l.e.g.i.o.n.JOHN:
yeah but i still feel bad about the way Ironhide went out, that scene still gets to me even more than Prime's death.
Aw, John, I love Ironhide's death scene! Touching moment. I'm glad he went out as the dependable tough-as-nails type that, even crippled, would grab at Megatron's leg in a last attempt to slow him down.
Hey, it beats having him just shot up and getting killed with poor Ratchet like it was nothing. At least he got a bit of closure as a character.
Yeah, I wasn't too happy with the way Prowl bit it in that scene
Nor I, Drake! He, Ratchet, and Brawn all got shafted in their own way. Brawn got a line in and a heroic charge, but got killed by something he's only blinked at before. Prowl got a nice 'I'll face death' moment, but even years later after hearing from the writer that Prowl's means of death was actually 'a grenade that melts your insides', I didn't find the concept of one of my favorite, noble guys going down that way. Ratchet, true to a medic without much combat prowress I suppose, went down without much of a fight and just...went down.
Despite that, I'm more at peace with their deaths (and don't mind them these days after loving and watching the movie for about two decades) than I am with Wheeljack and Windcharger! Two of my favorites (yes, obscure Windy was a favorite) just had their bodies 'found' by Arcee, with no explanation as to their deaths.
Apologies to anyone coming to this thread interested in the NEW Transformers move. We've hi-jacked it to relive the old.
You've got the touch... you've got the POWER!!!
Ironhide's death was very noble and sad. Prowl, on the other hand, just fell right over. Hated that.
Er, Windcharger was one of your favorites? Really?
(Of course, I have a soft spot for Brawn. I guess we all have our favorite minicar.)
And don't forget Huffer, who didn't even get to BE in the movie, but later, in the episode "Dark Awakening," we found out also had been killed. (Of course, it IS Mr. "But we're not fighters like they are, Prime" Huffer we're talking about.)
Aww, even still, I loved Huffer, Kippers! Not everyone can be a team player. And yes, I liked Windcharger! I'm a sucker for underused second-stringers (and Brawn I'd actually rate first-class; he had many a good one-liners and stole the show in my opinion whenever he showed up; love that guy). I dig him and Trailbreaker both, and I love Skids so much I once played him on a MUSH years and years ago in the late 90s. Now HE's obscure.
I always thought Huffer's name in that episode was sort of a slip, as all of the dead Autobots listed were killed in that shuttle crash (save for Huffer, whose name I think replaced Brawn's).
Granted, it didn't matter if they were both dead or not, because a little animation atrocity known as the episode "Carnage in C-Minor" featured both Brawn and Huffer (as well as one of the Constructions, even though Devestator had already formed) fighting the Autobots in one of the shots. It probably didn't help that this was the most error-filled cartoon ever made.
You know, the ONLY thing Skids EVER did in the cartoon was to be part of that throne chair for Blitzwing in the episode when the Triplechangers took over the Decepticons.
I hear you on the error-filled! I remember one time Sideswipe was just hanging around the Decepticon undersea headquarters...
Incidentally, how cool would it be in the upcoming movie if Mirage were to save the day at the very end again? I LOVED that!
Originally posted by Kid Prime:
I hear you on the error-filled! I remember one time Sideswipe was just hanging around the Decepticon undersea headquarters...
What?!? That's just bizarre. Funny enough, I was just about to post that my other fav aside from Prowl was Sideswipe and I was gonna ask if he appeared either in the movie or afterwards.
I actually don't think he did.
I remember Sunstreaker was piloting the shuttle that carried Prime and the Dinobots to Earth, though.
A Mirage save would be incredible! In retrospect, since they DO have to make this film accessible to new audiences, I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of elements weren't taken from the three-part pilot.
Believe it or not, Skids had TWO appearances (see? I told you I loved him!). He was also in "Quest for Survival", where he showed up with Tracks and the others in the beginning, ran tail with them, and then appeared in the medical bay being repaired. His one line from the episode was: "Robotic insecticide?" Not what he wanted to remembered for, probably!
Of course, it was from a different voice actor and he was colored differently from his "Triple Takeover" episode. Sad that they didn't care about him enough to draw up a model sheet!
I remember Sideswipe in the Decepticon base! I can recall a few times where he or someone else in the Autobots would be colored like Soundwave, but for the most part I think we've mentioned the only two big errors where someone was drawn in with the wrong faction.
...though, I do remember plenty of times Shockwave was just standing around in the background on Earth for no reason.
Maybe he was just lonely and decided to ride the Space Bridge to Earth now and again.
Bah! He was fine on his own for four million years! Now they can't even leave him alone for four weeks?
Maybe it was a Decepticon mid-life crisis.
Much more likely!
Megatron took the easy way out and just swapped identities! I notice whenever he gets bored (I.E. mid-season) in these new-fangled, not-so-good Transformers shows they have on now that Megatron just ups and turns into his Galvatron colors.
It's like they're trying to sell a repainted toy to kids or something.
From
http://www.iesb.net/movies2/movie100404.htm :
A few months ago, it was announced that Dreamworks would be distributing the live-action Transformers movie. It was even said that Steven Spielberg made an unexpected flight to Rhode Island to secure the deal with Hasbro. Immediately following amongst the Transformers fans, questions arose regarding who would direct and/or star in the film.
Tom Hanks' name was brought up for several reasons. One, he is a HUGE Transformers fan/collector. A few years ago on a late night talk show he did his rendition of the Transformers theme song for all to hear. Second, Hanks and Spielberg go way back with several different projects.
The IESB caught up with Tom Hanks during the premiere of Raise Your Voice starring Hilary Duff. Of course we had to see if there were any truth to these rumors and speculations.
To our delight, Tom Hanks treated us to a little song and a great interview...check it out for yourself.
http://www.iesb.net/video/hanks.wmv In the interview, Hanks says this is the first time he has heard of these rumors but would find a part in the movie interesting, and jokingly added, as long as he gets to be Optimus Prime.
Yoo hoo fellas!
Just to let you know I'm selling my collection of Marvel UK Transformers comics on ebay sooon.
I have issues 1 to 53 and then some others after that.
I've heard they're highly sought after! Some of the issues are cool, coz they used UK artists and writers to originate some material. John Ridgway's art in particular is beautiful, even though he's better at drawing people than giant robots.
I'll let you get back to it now...
Dreamworks announced today that November 17th, 2006 will be the day the Robots in Disguise make their big screen debut.
Better get in line Kippers.
Someone once sent me a video clip of a modern
VW Bug turning into a Transformer ... that was
very cool. 8-)
And I own the annviersay edition Optimus! (just
can't seem to keep him on his feet ...)
Don't know if this is good news or not.
Michael Bay has been announced as the director.
More than meets the eye . It might take some time to load. I think Kippers is the cause.
<Taking a quick break from downloading it incessantly, over and over and over>
Did someone say something?
Nifty. A lot more menacing than I would've expected.
AND they've just announced the voice of
Optimus Prime. I think I'm going to cry.
And in the very best, most awesomest way possible. This movie just became the greatest thing for me since Lord of the Rings.
I'm serious, y'all. I'm actually getting a little choked up here.
How can Bumblebee be a Camaro? NOOOOOOO
Shush!
Don't ruin the glorious Prime news!
Have you seen "Clerks II"? One of the characters is a huge Transformers fan. There're some cute jokes in it (and yes, the Gobots are referred to as the "K-Mart" of Transformers).
Here is the list of the Transformers confirmed as appearing in the movie:
AUTOBOTS:
Optimus Prime
Bumblebee
Jazz
Ratchet (not an ambulance)
Ironhide
DECEPTICONS:
Megatron
Starscream
Brawl
Bonecrusher
Barricade
Skorpinok
Frenzy
Blackout
There must be more Autobots yet to be announced unless they are always outnumbered.
Well, this movie is totally gonna rock -- 'cause I'm in it!
I just got back from a day of being an extra for some exteriors shot in downtown Detroit. Michael Bay had such a good time filming "The Island" here, he decided to give us a little love on this one.
There were no actors present (at least not in the parts I filmed). And, of course, we didn't actually get to see the Transformers, but we had to pretend we did -- and run like hell as they began fighting on the street! That's all we did today (between sitting and standing): cower, run and scream. It was a lot of fun. And now that I've had a few minutes to sit and relax, I can barely move my legs. I haven't done that kind of sprinting since junior high.
Unfortunately, I wasn't one of the select few Bay pulled aside for special close-up screaming, but there are a few shots I think I'll be able to pick myself out in.
So everyone go see it and look for the guy in khakis and a pastel green (with thin blue stripes) polo.
a friend of mine gave me a link to soem of the behind the scenes stuff on the Transformers movie. it's some of the same thing Rebbot posted. but some more stuff.
http://www.flickr.com/groups/transformersmovie/pool/
Cool! those pics currently on page 1 from MH.2 and Withnail1 are from my shoot. Cool to see the truck go up. We were screaming and running away from it so actually didn't get to see it go up except through some terrified glances backwards. As much as that thing was rigged, it was louder than I was expecting, so it wasn't hard to be in character.
I'm still holding out hope that it'll be a good movie, but a lot of my fanboy hopes are dashed. The redesigns remind me of that American made "Godzilla" movie -- that it's just totally wrong-headed. They look like walking scrap heaps - there's just no elegance to the designs and I imagine that when these guys run around the details will be completely lost anyway.
The redesigns on the latest Transformers cartoon were bad enough, overloading on details so that the humanoid form is lost, but this looks worse.
Dug up this thread because Ain't It Cool News just got their hands on a screenshot of
Scorponok attacking some troops in a very big, very ANGRY way.
There's no telling how long this will be online, however, so hopefully it'll be online long enough for a few people to check out. As for me? I'm as excited as I ever was about this, if not more so. I'm one of those people who will probably try to take opening day off from work. D:
D'oh! You just beat me to it, Scott.
I'm not in this trailer, either, but it still looks like it could be awesome.
I got very little sleep yesterday.
I was too busy watching and rewatching that trailer over and over again like the rabid fan that I am. If I'd HAD any decent amounts of sugar or caffeine in my system then, my fiancé's step-mother would have had to pry me off the ceiling with a crowbar. XD
gotta admit i like the new look for Bumble bee
There's an even newer trailer that's just been released here:
http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/transformers.html;_ylt=ArVeQR4mvB1GJYO94lAYZtlfVXcA
I have to admit it looks a quite a bit better than the previous ones.
I dunno -- still reminds me of how they screwed up Godzilla...
The latest trailer was amazing! It's going to be eye candy and I'm ready for my popcorn! IMAX for this one.
So the Burger King toys should be out now. Darn the fact there isn't one up here.
And here's the site for them:
http://www.bk.com/transformers/index.html Due to the release date of Transformers being moved up I get to watch the preview showing of it on Monday afternoon. Which has made me in a breakdancing mood.
OK, I just got back from a screening, and the robots are awesome!
They were absolutely amazing. It's just too bad they (and the humans) were sometimes saddled with some of the worst dialog I've heard in a very long time.
But dang, they kicked butt.
I didn't see myself, but the scenes where I'd appear sped by really fast (fight scene at the end), so I still have hope. I'm going again Monday with a bunch of the other extras, so maybe we can spot each other.
For Kippers.
![[Linked Image]](http://www.legionworld.net/images/scott/masthead.gif)
I am going tonight to go watch the movie at the Alamo. Something else else called Robosaurs is going to be there.
Check it out here, with video.
I saw that on AICN!
From the things I've been reading, I'm getting extremely excited about it. I'm going tomorrow, and I can't wait!!!
A few quick non-spoilery notes on the film:
Voiceless Bumblebee didn't bug me as much as I thought he would. The process of reformatting seems way too simple. Cullen did a good job while most of the time I didn't really find Movie-Megatron's voice very imposing. Sadly most of the Autobots and Decepticons characterization is boiled down to stereotypical traits. Not that the humans are written that well either. It's a good summer blockbuster but fans of the series in general should try to disconnect with their memories of the other versions and accept it as a fairly unique take on the concept.
Well, it is a Michael Bay film. He couldn't do a Gilligan's Island movie without changing at least two of the main characters, killing off three of them (senselessly) and blowing up the island.
So, I went to see this today.
It was okay. There were a few pretty good moments, but, overall, it didn't do a whole lot for me. I guess it was a bit too much "generic summer blockbuster" and not enough "here's the cool stuff I remember about the Transformers from my childhood". And even some the moments that do invoke memories of classic Transformers seem just randomly inserted in the movie, such as Megatron and Starscream's brief interaction.
Just got back. It was alright. It didn't kick my ass. But it didn't do a "Batman And Robin" either.
Much more later (probably Thursday.)
I just saw it as well.
Naturally Prime was pretty much spot-on, but the others-- Autobots AND Decepticons-- were kind of lacking in personality if you ask me.
But I did enjoy the movie for what it was. 8-)
I love the Transformers, but I wasn't expecting much.
I think the only thing that delivered was Peter Cullen's voice for Optimus Prime. Good idea to have Optimus narrate, too.
I hated the mute Bumblebee "talking" in pop songs and other pop culture tidbits -- he's Bumblebee, not Wreck-Gar!
It's rather telling that the Jazz from the 80s cartoon didn't sound like a racial stereotype, but the 2007 Jazz did.
<span class="spoiler_containter"><span class="spoiler_wording">Click Here For A Spoiler</span><span class="spoiler_text">And he's the only Autobot that dies, just like a lot of token minority characters in action/adventure movies.</span></span>
For that matter, many of the human characters were a disgusting assortment of racial stereotypes.
The Decepticons sucked. They don't even appear til the movie's almost over, and they have no personalities. Megatron and Starscream both have generic bad-guy voices, but I think even if Frank Welker hadn't been passed over for the role of Megatron, he wouldn't have been able to do much, if anything, with this sorry version of a classic villain. (Btw, I think the versatile Welker could have done a reasonable approximation of the late Chris Latta's Starscream voice -- Welker's Galvatron sometimes sounded like Starscream.)
And dear god, does this movie take forever to get from Point A to Point B! And even when the Autobots finally appear, the movie gets sidetracked with that excruciating scene where they're trying to hide from the kid's parents. The "comedy" scenes are always the worst thing in a Michael Bay movie, even worse than the incoherent action sequences.
Shia La Beouf is, like many movie stars these days, uncharismatic and sexless.
Megan Fox, on the other hand, IS charismatic and sexy, as well as the only one other than Cullen who "gets" the right way to perform in this kind of thing.
Earlier in this thread, Drake described the flaws in the robots' designs far better than I could:
Originally posted by DrakeB3004:
The redesigns remind me of that American made "Godzilla" movie -- that it's just totally wrong-headed. They look like walking scrap heaps - there's just no elegance to the designs and I imagine that when these guys run around the details will be completely lost anyway.
The redesigns on the latest Transformers cartoon were bad enough, overloading on details so that the humanoid form is lost, but this looks worse.
In the end, this isn't really a movie for the hardcore, highly knowledgeable fans. Just like with the animated movie 21 years ago, they over-simplified it for newcomers and casual fans. I can accept that, BUT I don't even think it works on those terms.
Oh, and how can they have Optimus Prime say "Transform and roll out" and then cut away to something else BEFORE we can see them transform and roll out??
One of the big problems for me is that Transformers, as far as I'm concerned, should feel mythological in scope. I always thought one of the coolest parts of the cartoon was that it was about this ancient war between the forces of good and the forces of evil, and these robots had crashed on Earth millions of years ago, and suddenly wake up and resume their war. You got a little bit of that in Prime's narration at the beginning, but very little of it.
EDE, I agree with you on that.
Originally posted by Stealth:
Shia La Beouf is, like many movie stars these days, uncharismatic and sexless.
Agree 100% and he's about to ruin what is probably Harrison Ford's last appearance as Indiana Jones.
its a bay movie. You have to have the love story-Shia and Smantha, the dickead character-Turtoro, and somehow get the military involved.
I agree with EDE and Stealth in their thoughts. The Decepticons don't show until the end and its pretty lame. The exchange between Megs and Starscream -the only time he speaks - is more funny because how bad it is. The Autobots don't really appear until the middle. It has too many human characters that sorta got lost. The military team and the geek squad could all have been jettisoned. Focus on fewer characters and the movie would have been ten times better.
And why did the Autobots all look nice, shinny and new as cars but when they transformed where all dented, scratched and nicked?
Originally posted by Lightning Lad:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by Stealth:
Shia La Beouf is, like many movie stars these days, uncharismatic and sexless.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Agree 100% and he's about to ruin what is probably Harrison Ford's last appearance as Indiana Jones.
How typically Hollywood.
I almost forgot to mention that Jon Voight, who appears in this movie, has had so much plastic surgery done on his face that he doesn't even look human anymore.
And his accent comes and goes.
Bad enough he gave the world that evil monstress named Angelina Jolie, he had to add insult to injury by turning into a bad ham actor who takes any role in anything. :rolleyes:
The more I think about this movie, the more things that annoy me about it.
One such thing is that, at least as I recall their motivations, the cartoon Decepticons were primarily out to steal Earth's resources, and really could care less about humanity. The movie Decepticons are apparentally all about turning all our machines against us and wiping us out (or, at least, that's what I got out of the plot). It just seems much more interesting in the original version.
Well i went to see it last night and i didn't walk into it expecting to see the much of the 80's tv show continuity, so i wasn't that dissapointed by the story. the action scenes were over the top, (loved the scene where Ironhide was dodging the missiles.)would've loved to have seen more of the Auotbots and the Decepticons interacting with each other. but all in all i liked it.
I saw this over the weekend...
The movie was short on plot, long on pretty, and very demanding of attention. If I had to compare it to a woman... this movie was Jenny McCarthy. I wouldn't have been able to take my eyes off of her... until she said something.
Probably Bay's best film so far though; which is not saying much.
Blasphemer! Jenny McCarthy is a godess, and I'm her high priestess!
Myself and Kappa were just making jokes in Spaceopoly about how bad this movie was, so I thought I'd bump this thread. Enjoy.
Re-reading my own posts, I found that I really overpraised Megan Fox at the time! Good grief!
Megan Fox, on the other hand, IS charismatic and sexy, as well as the only one other than Cullen who "gets" the right way to perform in this kind of thing.
That's quite the overstatement in hindsight.
Yeah, well, Kappa, beggars can't be choosers!
Have you seen "Clerks II"? One of the characters is a huge Transformers fan. There're some cute jokes in it (and yes, the Gobots are referred to as the "K-Mart" of Transformers).
Oh, Gods. Now that the entire Gobots cartoon series is on DVD*, I can no longer abide blind, uninformed Gobot-hate! I generally like Kevin Smith, but I think some of his opinions are either loony (don't get me started on his literal worship of Alanis Morrisette) or ignorant (the Gobots put-down quoted above.) I never took sides in the Transformers vs Gobots fan-feuds back in the day, because the TV station that gave both shows would show them back to back every weekday afternoon, and I loved them both almost equally! Yes, Transformers did have better voice acting, dialogue, animation, designs, and publicity, but Gobots had more than one token female robot, and all of the female Gobots ran rings around Arcee! To name the two most obvious examples, Crasher is one of the best female villains in 20th Century pop culture, and Small Foot and Path Finder were total badasses! And having Crasher appear in more episode than most of the male Gobots on either side of the war was way, WAY ahead of its time!
Moreover, for all of Transformers advantages, it was Gobots that more often than not had actual plots that were reasonably well-thought-out, and Gobots didn't rely on great character bits and/or good animation to carry far too many story-deficient episodes.
Gobots is the Battlestar Galactica of animated kids adventure shows. The old series was better than most people remember, and the potential has always been there for a great re-imagining. Unfortunately, we're never going to see that dream become a reality, due to a legal fustercluck of toybiz and showbiz politics that makes the legal fustercluck that delayed the DVD release of the 60s live-action Batman show look uncomplicated by comparison! A real pity, in my humble opinion.
But, hey, at least they were finally able to get the Gobots series on DVD. Count your blessings, et cetera...
*Available from either Warner Archives or Amazon, and, no, they didn't pay me to make this post.
Ha ... I humbly stand corrected in my ignorance of Gobot goodness! I had no idea it had any redeeming values. I just couldn't get past the super simple transformation design* or the comparatively bad animation. Now I want to see a "Transformer/Gobots" crossover!
*I had a bunch of designs in my old notebook when I was a kid of Transformers that I would make up - it was like trying to figure out a 3D jigsaw puzzle to figure out how something could turn into a robot.
Fair enough, Drake. And just to be clear, I wasn't accusing you of anything, I was accusing Kevin Smith.
The Transformers/Gobots crossover might come from my own computer. But first, there's something related coming soon to Ao3. Keep watching the Non-Legion/Non-DCU thread in Bits.
And, Drake, here's a thread I think you might enjoy:
http://www.legionworld.net/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=832858#Post832858
Fick--You've got the TOUCH!
But does she have the power?
Lardy, Kappa, DOUBLE LOL
Funny thing about Stan Bush's song "The Touch" -- since I didn't see the animated movie (which was never released in theatres nor on home video in South America, at least not during the 80s) until after I moved to the States in 1990 and was able to rent it on VHS, the first time I heard "The Touch" was at the climax and the closing scene of the last Transformers Season 3 episode, "The Return of Optimus Prime Part 2," and when I heard it playing over the scenes of the resurrected Optimus...uh...emptying the Matrix of its vast wisdom to cure the...um...Hate Spore Plague which had infected all the galaxy's humans and aliens and robots*, I was all like, "Catchy tune, but what in the name of Alpha Trion is it doing there??"
*I know, it's utterly lame and even I can't bring myself to try to defend it. To put in a nutshell what I previously said in the thread where I reviewed all of the Transformers post-movie episodes, "The Return of Optimus Prime" was plotted at the very last minute (by Marv Wolfman of all people, yet another nail in the coffin of his credibility) and it shows. Painfully so. Even having Wolfman's dog's breakfast of a script rewritten by one of the show's best staff writers, Michael Charles Hill, made it merely tolerable. A very depressing way to end what I feel was otherwise the show's most underrated season.
Fun fact: Wolfman's talented but erratic friend Len Wein co-wrote (with SF author Diane Duane) one of Season 3's very best episodes, "Webworld," the one where Galvatron destroys the planet of the incompetent psychotherapists, and viewers are actually rooting for him (or at least I am every time I watch it. I actually do believe in the benefits of therapy, but not every doctor with a degree is necessarily qualified, as I've learned the hard way over the years. But be assured that my current therapist is perfect for me.)
Hearing Marky Mark fail miserably at singing "The Touch" in "Boogie Nights" was one of the best laughs I've had in my movie-watching experience ever!
(his character was a bad singer though, not Marky Mark himself of course...)
I wasn't able to watch the "Transformers" movie in theaters, but I remember how excited I was when it finally aired on tv (in multiple parts)- I must have rewound my video tape and watched the "The Touch" video like a dozen times in a row...
(I also did that with the theme for "The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers," but that's neither her nor there...)
To reiterate: IMHO, "The Touch" is a catchy tune with a great melody and arrangement and vocal, but it just ain't Transformers music to me.
I wasn't that impressed with Vince DiCola's score for the movie, either. I did, however, like the way that Robert J. Walsh rearranged and re-recorded some of DiCola's themes for use as cues in Season 3.
But, to me, the definitive TF music is the set of Robert J. Walsh/Johnny Douglas cues from Seasons 1 and 2 (and used in the early episodes of Season 3, then sparingly for the rest of the show's run.) I think it's just such a brilliant mash-up of classical, jazz, rock, and even avant-garde!!
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