Transformers

[OceansAndrew]

I just got back from seeing it, and it was good.

*Not enough robot fighting

*CG was pretty seamless

*The girl was pretty gross for her first few scenes. Tons of makeup + a gallon of fake tanner = no thanks. As the movie went on, even though she started getting caked with dirt, she started to have a normal human complexion where light would actually reflect off her skin.

*The masterbation talk was funny I thought.

*overall worth my moniez

[Kiyosuki]

I liked this movie quite a bit. I wasn't going in expecting the classiest and most thought provoking cinema imaginable, I was expecting Transformers and its what we pretty much got.

Now I was never a die-hard fan of the cartoon. I've never bought a Transformer toy before in my life and I could never get to quite the same level of passion some fans had over building melodrama over this movie's pre-hype, but at the same time I do remember the show casually and the old movie and know about a lot of the traditions and catch phrases, the Transformer names etc so all the little things in this movie registered as well so I guess I was in a good position with this film.

This movie is one great big nostalgia fest. They got all the old Autobots and Decepticons mentioned by name, a lot of signature moments like Optimus' roll out line, and Megatron bitching out Starscream were snuck in there, the old Volkswagon Beetle next to the old Camero, it was great stuff for old time fans and those who could catch that stuff. I mean, the whole movie was basically leading up to that one last big climactic battle but I have to admit, when all the military+Autobots and the Decepticons are all rushing towards the big final battle, in a live action movie...I got that distinct "oh shit this is so awesome!" feeling you mostly only got when you were between the ages of 8 and 15. That pretty much sums up what I think they did great about this film, its a movie you go to watch and get pumped up.

Yes it is true that there's a lot of corny dialogue, but even the original show was like that. Its kind of unavoidable and I'm glad instead of trying to serious-itself out rather it just concentrated on making itself a fun movie. There were a couple of maybe unecessarilly silly scenes like the dramatic slow motion hand-holding in the middle of the last battle with everything flying around. But its almost self-referentially silly and I thought was hardly worth holding against the movie.

So while some will either love or hate it because its just not the type of movie for them in general, I thought it admirably did a great job of being exactly what it was meant to be, one big homage to the Transformers. Great for fans, and for everyone else its got that same cheesy but awesome cheesy something that made those fans fall in love with it in the first place. I still don't consider myself a huge Transformers fan but I can acknowledge that its a well put together "just for fun" movie. I have a feeling Spielberg's contributions to the movie may have made a big difference in getting this done. It has that almost "timeless silly fun" thing a lot of his adventure films have.

There is obviously a lot of room for a sequel. I mean...the remains of the Decepticons are just dumped in the water and its assumed they'll be crushed by the pressure? That sounds like ample "oh shi- we were wrong" moment right there. I also knew they wouldn't kill Starscream. I just had this feeling since he's such a fan favorite. I really liked how the Decepticons spoke their own language, and how the Transformers all adapted to our machinery when they got here as opposed to always looking that way. Great minor but notable details in making this transfer to a live action film more seamlessly. Also, I have to note that while there was a lot of CG the good use of animatronics as well as more traditional elements really made this look even better. Its just proof that CG alone is inferior to CG being used along with all the tricks of the trade that film making has picked up in the last century.

I liked how Megatron never adapted and just transformed into an alien aircraft, its very like him to be so proud that he wouldn't be able to "lower himself" to Earth technology even in look.

[BlueMage]

I got to see it for free, with complimentary popcorn, drinks and icecream. That said, I didn't go in expecting a cartoon-faithful rendition - I went in expecting pretty CG with big robots belting the shit out of each other. And Hugo Weaving's voice. I found myself not disappointed in the slightest.

I also found it reassuring that our planet's special forces are capable of holding their own against giant alien robots. Even more reassuring is that it only takes a squad of US special forces to take out any given robot.

[Smoke]

Yeah, sorry about that. I didn't specify. I meant to say Most of the decpticons died, not all, As I didn't see starscream die at all.

Ah, you didn't stay after the credits started rolling.

Serious spoilerage here:

There are 3 clips when the credits start. Two feature Sam's parents being interviewed about the incident and pretty much covering it up, the third one shows a certain F22 leaving the atmosphere and transforming to escape.

Starscream lives and sets up the sequel, which is already announced.

[Kiyosuki]

I got to see it for free, with complimentary popcorn, drinks and icecream. That said, I didn't go in expecting a cartoon-faithful rendition - I went in expecting pretty CG with big robots belting the shit out of each other. And Hugo Weaving's voice. I found myself not disappointed in the slightest.

I also found it reassuring that our planet's special forces are capable of holding their own against giant alien robots. Even more reassuring is that it only takes a squad of US special forces to take out any given robot.

Yeah that is something I liked too and was actually a bit surprised with, how they didn't make humanity completely helpless in a battle against these things. I know people mostly want to see the giant robots and the whole story leading up to the Transformers was a bit long (although I think it was necessary to set things up really, I would have liked some more robot fighting though too.) but while there were plenty of "silly humanslol" moments at least many of the protagonists -tried-, and actually did some noteworthy things despite being so far less advanced.

[The Womb]

I was never a really big transformer follower so forgive my ignorance

But wasn't Ratchet supposed to be called Red Alert?

And what about Hot Shot?

[Smoke]

I was never a really big transformer follower so forgive my ignorance

But wasn't Ratchet supposed to be called Red Alert?

And what about Hot Shot?

Ah, you never watched Generation 1, just Armada and beyond.

Short summary: In G1, Ratchet was the medic/mechanic, with Wheeljack as the crazy inventor type who also did mechanics. Post-movie, both roles were filled by Perceptor(Mainly because Wheeljack and Ratchet die)

G1's Red Alert was a fire chief Lamborghini, filling the role of paranoid security chief. He had a fairly small presence because he's basically a repaint of Sideswipe with added roof lights. He was also supposed to die in the movie, but this was written out later on.

Armada/Energon/Cybertron's Red Alert fills the Ratchet/Wheeljack role in this series, which was a bit odd to existing fans. His Cybertron form was repainted into the pretty awesome Decepticon Cannonball(Awesome because he's a space pirate SUV)

As for Hot Shot, he's pretty much a Hot Rod reincarnation as far as archetype goes. The hotheaded young and new recruit who wants to prove his worth as a leader, eventually gaining this position, but still showing his youth a bit. Note that Hot Shot was called Hot Rod in Japan. Hot Shot's also got a bit of Bumblebee in him, and a fun bit of stupid trivia is that a Hot Shot toy was eventually recolored and released as a Classics Legends Bumblebee.

For the movie, they've gone back to a more G1-ish character setup with matching names and archetypes.

[Moseph]

Sounds like it might be a stretch, but there's room for a sequel. But then again, if Megatron is truly dead and some fanatic doesn't revive him, sequel will be watered down heavily!

Eh, maybe that's why when he died he just sort of fell down instead of exploding into high-velocity bite-size Megatron bits.

[lazygecko]

I saw it today. And picked out a mechanized Willhelm Scream in the process.

[Maco70]

http://cgi.ebay.com/TRANSFORMERS-MOVIE-SOUNDWAVE-REAL-WORKING-MP3-PLAYER_W0QQitemZ160137897545QQihZ006QQcategoryZ753QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

Is this legit?

[BigBoss]

http://cgi.ebay.com/TRANSFORMERS-MOVIE-SOUNDWAVE-REAL-WORKING-MP3-PLAYER_W0QQitemZ160137897545QQihZ006QQcategoryZ753QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

Is this legit?

I'M BIDDING.

[Yasuhiko]

Would now be a good time to mention I have a first edition Optimus Prime?

Sadly, I opened it, foolish me.

Edit: conspiracy theory Monday!

Eh, maybe that's why when he died he just sort of fell down instead of exploding into high-velocity bite-size Megatron bits.

Serious obscure speculation:

Unicron appears and revives megatron, turning him into Galvatron, who kills Optimus Prime, who passes leadership to Ultra Magnus, who hates command.

Later, Unicron moves again and is stopped upon attacking Cybertron by Hot Rod who becomes Rodimus Prime.

(My guess is [in terms of Michael Bay's storyline] Hot Rod is still in space gathering others. He IS a competent autobot, if only young)

That or we'll see some more classics, like Astrotrain (I still have a 1st ed him, too, woot), who will take all the bodies under Starscrem's command. Then the whole 80s movie crap, yadda yadda. Either way, I think he's going to expand on that for the sequel

My other guess on Rodimus is that Bumblebee will cover that function, since he is a Camaro, which shared a chassis and almost everything else with the Firebird (Hot Rod's chassis)

Idiot rambling off.

[The Author]

Bumblebimus Prime.

[Beatdown]

I was impressed with the movie the more I watched it. Aside from a few otherwise useless characters (lol football jock) and scenes (lol masturbation), it was fun to see Bumblebee help Sam with his game and really fun to watch the Autobots act like complete retards while hiding from Sam's parents in his back yard. The bots caught on more and more as the human storyline progressed into the full scale brawl we all wanted to see, but Megatron's first spoken line to Starscream is what sold me. It really was the simple things that made me enjoy this movie.

That and I won $10 because I fucking KNEW the "black" autobot wouldn't live to the end of the movie. It's not right but whatever pays the bills.

[OptimusShr]

http://cgi.ebay.com/TRANSFORMERS-MOVIE-SOUNDWAVE-REAL-WORKING-MP3-PLAYER_W0QQitemZ160137897545QQihZ006QQcategoryZ753QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

Is this legit?

It is. It's called Music Label Soundwave and he can be bought at a number of online retailers. He's pricey though, he's in Japan only and you have to import him.

[Smoke]

My other guess on Rodimus is that Bumblebee will cover that function, since he is a Camaro, which shared a chassis and almost everything else with the Firebird (Hot Rod's chassis)

Hot Rod's not a Firebird. He's a fictional future car from the year 2005 taking some inspiration from the Dome Zero concept car, which was also used as a design base for Classics Rodimus.

I do hope future installments don't follow the G1 storyline too much though.

[Atomic Dog]

Anyways, the movie leaves plenty of room for a sequal.

I hope not. It was a great flick, but it's one of those movies that doesn't NEED a sequel. They said everything that needs to be said. Autobots win, Decepticons lose, Autobots now call Earth home, boy gets girl - what fucking more do we need? Starscream flies off into the distance leaving everyone behind because... that's Starscream in a nutshell for you. Frankly, I was surprised that he didn't get more airtime, talking shit and trying to usurp Megatron (which he never manages to do because he's so freakin' inept). Anyway, any more would just be dragging it out for the sake of dragging it out (eg. Matrix), and I hate it when films do that.

And for those of you calling him the "black autobot" - stop it. His name is Jazz, and that's exactly how he was in the cartoon and the original movie. They did Jazz JUST right.

[Moseph]

I hope not. It was a great flick, but it's one of those movies that doesn't NEED a sequel. They said everything that needs to be said. Autobots win, Decepticons lose, Autobots now call Earth home, boy gets girl - what fucking more do we need? Starscream flies off into the distance leaving everyone behind because... that's Starscream in a nutshell for you. Frankly, I was surprised that he didn't get more airtime, talking shit and trying to usurp Megatron (which he never manages to do because he's so freakin' inept). Anyway, any more would just be dragging it out for the sake of dragging it out (eg. Matrix), and I hate it when films do that.

I agree with you. But they're gonna make a sequel anyway, because money is more important than story arc.

Still, whatever they do, it can't possibly be as bad as the sequels Disney has been churning out for its animated movies for the past several years. Come on . . . Pocahontas II?

[Blake]

If the sequel has as much robot fighting as the first one, I don't have a reason to not want a sequel.

[Yasuhiko]

Hot Rod's not a Firebird. He's a fictional future car from the year 2005 taking some inspiration from the Dome Zero concept car, which was also used as a design base for Classics Rodimus.

I do hope future installments don't follow the G1 storyline too much though.

Upon lookback, you're right, there are a lot of variances from the F-body.

[eternal Zero]

The only sequel I would like to see is one that tries to follow the original movie's plot. Matrix of Leadership, Unicron, and the whole damn thing. It'd be outrageous and definitely couldn't be done without a movie (or two) in between, but that'd be freaking amazing to see the Autobots vs. OMFGPLANET fight with those animations.

[Kiyosuki]

I hope not. It was a great flick, but it's one of those movies that doesn't NEED a sequel. They said everything that needs to be said. Autobots win, Decepticons lose, Autobots now call Earth home, boy gets girl - what fucking more do we need? Starscream flies off into the distance leaving everyone behind because... that's Starscream in a nutshell for you. Frankly, I was surprised that he didn't get more airtime, talking shit and trying to usurp Megatron (which he never manages to do because he's so freakin' inept). Anyway, any more would just be dragging it out for the sake of dragging it out (eg. Matrix), and I hate it when films do that.

And for those of you calling him the "black autobot" - stop it. His name is Jazz, and that's exactly how he was in the cartoon and the original movie. They did Jazz JUST right.

Yeah I think so too. Its like with Spiderman, I don't know if anyone else agrees but I always thought it would have been cool if they just left it at the first movie. Even if there were open ends thats part of the charm, comic books never end so its almost like giving you a cinematic taste of it and just leaving it at that.

Sorta the same with this movie. Its one big homage to the original Transformers so just leaving it at that would be cool. But yeah...like said unfortunatly that won't be the case, since big time box office film follows a largely mass production based mentality.

[Toadofsky]

I wouldn't mind a sequel, but I just wonder what Transformers they would use on the sequel, but considering the amount of them out there, the possibilities are endless.

I'm just hoping they do better than Spiderman 3 (story wise), that film is probably my least favorite this year.

[BigBoss]

but I just wonder what Transformers they would use on the sequel

SOUNDWAVE.

[Yasuhiko]

Wheeljack, imo.