Michael Bay's once again posted on his official message boards HERE:

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yup

Well, I feel sheepish.

I like the fact that the robots will completely fit into the human world. It will make it more believable in the long run to people who are not TransFans already. I still think the characters personalitys will resemble their G1 personalities and that's all that really matters to me.

 

Before I saw beast wars  I only liked G1 and RID, since beast wars came to dvd after they were over. Beast Wars really opened me up to the awesomeness of the beast eara. I think the BW G1 connection was probably intended from the beginning since megatron did steal the golden disks. the disks story wasnt really brought back into play until the beginning of season 2 when dinobot realized that they were on the right planet.  So I tend to think that the connection was thought of from the beginnnng.

 

As for why Prime is such a beloved character? It probably had something to do with his death and how suckie Rodimus Prime was. I remember as a kid wanting him and megatron back. Megs has a little of the legacy, but starscream is probably the most remembered G1 decepticon. Personally I am sick of all the suckie Optimus Primes lately! 

I like the fact that the robots will completely fit into the human world. It will make it more believable in the long run to people who are not TransFans already. I still think the characters personalitys will resemble their G1 personalities and that's all that really matters to me.

 

Before I saw beast wars  I only liked G1 and RID, since beast wars came to dvd after they were over. Beast Wars really opened me up to the awesomeness of the beast eara. I think the BW G1 connection was probably intended from the beginning since megatron did steal the golden disks. the disks story wasnt really brought back into play until the beginning of season 2 when dinobot realized that they were on the right planet.  So I tend to think that the connection was thought of from the beginnnng.

 

As for why Prime is such a beloved character? It probably had something to do with his death and how suckie Rodimus Prime was. I remember as a kid wanting him and megatron back. Megs has a little of the legacy, but starscream is probably the most remembered G1 decepticon. Personally I am sick of all the suckie Optimus Primes lately!    

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The G1 connection wasn't there at first, but it very quickly entered the show after the writers saw the insane fan reaction to "the great war" which Primal referenced in the first episode.

 

The only problem of course is that by retconning themselves like that, they left very little actual time (300 years) between the G1 era and the Beast era. Which didn't exactly fit in so well with later references to "ancient" Autobot technology etc., since the Ark wasn't considered "ancient" by the Transformers during G1. This 300 year gap is especially problematic in Beast Machines, since that show was written from the perspective that G1 happened *eons* before BM.

 

but anyway

I have to say - this news from Bay is the most promising stuff i have heard in a long time.

It shows that he is invested and that he is listening to the fans but also knows what HE needs to do to make this film.

 

I am curious though on two minor points - who are these religious zealots he is sharing the animatics with?!?!?!

 

and is that an offer to hear our ideas on third act action?

or just a teaser?

 

I am guessing teaser - either way - i am still excited and optimistic about this film.

 

As for G1- I think people underestimate the power and popularity some of the early 80's brands had.  I think it was the early 80s that started the idea of "Commercial Branding" - face it kids -all of us Geewunners have a big ol hot iron scar that says "Hasbro" right on our asses.

despite what people (LMH) say - i dont think that Best Wars was AS popular or influential as G1 was.  Was it better written? yes.

VERY popular? yes.

did it SAVE the Transformers? Yes.

WAS IT AS GROUND BREAKING? um, no.

I think there is a great deal here that is irrational and thus cant be argued intelligently.  I wish i could explain what i am feeling more but i dont have the sociology/psychology research and dont have the time to invest in it right now. But this gut response vs. the BW much more cerebral approach has been at the core of nearly every G1 Vs. B-Era battles i have witnessed.

 

Optimus is just as much a part of that.  And he was Bigger than GOD before he died!  But again his persona and everything about him (right down to the red white and blue color scheme) is pure Regan era coldwar iconogasm. Again - i wonder if people actually remember living in the coldwar era.  I am not saying you dont -just that the cultural sheparding was so prevalent. Again this was reflected and reinforced in the children's programing -

We have been branded. Resistance is futile and all that other junk...

sorry my brain just shorted out....

 

I hope that made some sense

 

Hunter

and is that an offer to hear our ideas on third act action?

or just a teaser?

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I'm guessing they're REALLY stuck on the script :tflaugh

 

 

BTW there was nothing groundbreaking about Transformers that I'm aware of, unless you mean that from a marketing perspective.

I don't think LMH was argueing that BW had the same pop-cultural relevance as G1.

 

I think his take, which I share, is more that what we today consider "G1" is 22 years of revisionist history/retocon, that has made it much more than it ever was originally.  And this sort of amalgamation of ideas has occured differently for each one of us, as we each keep the concepts we like whilst discounting those we don't - a process that renders it almost impossible for the filmmakers (even if they were trying) to make a movie that will perfectly represent what G1 means for every fanboy.

 

Really the best they can do is hope to capture the "essesence" of what was G1, an idea that we've shaped in our minds to be something much better than the reality of what it was in 1984.

and is that an offer to hear our ideas on third act action?

or just a teaser?

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I'm guessing they're REALLY stuck on the script :tflaugh

 

 

BTW there was nothing groundbreaking about Transformers that I'm aware of, unless you mean that from a marketing perspective.

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Its been said before though - and perhaps it is just marketing. but seriously we (american kids) were presented with an idea every bit as original as Star Wars or the Matrix (and both of those films were highly diriviative)

 

By the way - i agree with what Trench is saying. Completely.

and is that an offer to hear our ideas on third act action?

or just a teaser?

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I'm guessing they're REALLY stuck on the script :tflaugh

 

 

BTW there was nothing groundbreaking about Transformers that I'm aware of, unless you mean that from a marketing perspective.

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Its been said before though - and perhaps it is just marketing. but seriously we (american kids) were presented with an idea every bit as original as Star Wars or the Matrix (and both of those films were highly diriviative)

 

By the way - i agree with what Trench is saying. Completely.

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Oh come on now... you call Star Wars and the Matrix derivative (no more or less so than LotR was BTW) but you call Transformers original? What was the original part? I must have missed that.

Its been said before though - and perhaps it is just marketing. but seriously we (american kids) were presented with an idea every bit as original as Star Wars or the Matrix (and both of those films were highly diriviative)

 

By the way - i agree with what Trench is saying. Completely.

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Oh come on now... you call Star Wars and the Matrix derivative (no more or less so than LotR was BTW) but you call Transformers original? What was the original part? I must have missed that.

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I thought HR was saying that Transformers was as derivative as Star Wars and The Matrix, yet was presented in a way that made it seem original, just like the other two.