I'm confident that the story will be good as well as the tone. It's obvious that Bay wants the movie to be taken seriously, so he's not going to make it stupid or anything like that. There will likely be some scenes that are just fun, but nothing dumb. From what I can gather, the story sounds similar to the early Marvel comics. I also like the alt-modes that the Transformers have. I can't believe that people are actually complaining about the flames on Prime's truck mode.

 

So, that leaves only the robot modes to worry about. I've said from the beginning that the robot designs were the only thing to be legitimately concerned about.

Apparently there is a big Tf brawl involving lamp posts being used a s weapons. Thats enough for me! :D

Apparently there is a big Tf brawl involving lamp posts being used a s weapons. Thats enough for me! :D

 

Soundwave?? :eek

Apparently there is a big Tf brawl involving lamp posts being used a s weapons. Thats enough for me! :D

 

Soundwave?? :eek

 

:lol

Yep. Name calling from both sides isn't solving anthing fast. Murphy may have not instigated this, we have the fanboys to thank for that but pulling time out of his busy schedule to insult them isn't much better. Though I can see why he's pissed off at some of these people he's better off sticking to whatever he does opposed to addressing each one of these outcries personally. At this point both sides are going to have to grow up or this year on any given board is going to be utter hell.

 

I know it's a repeat skip in a record but all opinions be them for or against should be given maturely and with cause. I know the freedom of speech thing has merit but if all a person is going to is crap all over everything and petition/boycott this film and expect most fans to jump on board they deserve to have Murphy/anybody involved to jump down their throat. I'll never understand why fandoms feel the need to spread hate from one end of the WWW to the other. Sure the fanboys "may" be right but dammit, it's not their money going into this project niether. I hate reading responses like "If we're going to save this movie we need to do it now." bullsit. Ah well it's a long year and until both parties agree on a ceasefire until Summer next year. (which I doubt.) this is going to be one hella miserable year for a lot of people

 

Hey Don. If you bother reading anything here stop being an Afterburner. I'm rooting for you as best I can and the best thing anybody involved can do is turn a blind eye/deaf ear to the fandom. This won't stop and it'll just escalate from here on out. Just go out there and make the best damn movie possible and prove the fanboys wrong.

 

JMO.

 

I don't think this has to to with G1 anymore. Except for the few immature, and idiotic posters who feel that their insult ridden tirades are going to make a difference and still want Megs to be a gun and BB to be a VW Bug, G1 has nothing to do with this.

 

The majority of the gripes has to do with the way these designs, ESPECIALLY Megs just doesn't seem like Transformers. I don't think anyone can see how in the world the robot form turns into that alien jet without some sort of morphing involved.

 

How any of the desgins turn into their alt modes with out extensive morphing. The only one that I think looks more like a TF is SS. It may not be a good SS, but at least it has recognizable alt parts. The others? Not so much.

 

One thing that also confuses me about the designs is, fine, they have pistons and gears showing. I may not like it, but it's what they came up with. Then you look at Megs. You don't have any thing showing underneath. He's covered up most of the internals. Same thing with SS. So when they take on an Earth form, their insides get all exposed? Uhhh.....what?

 

These designs are so all over the place, it screams of committee decisions. Everyone wanted a pat on the back, so they just put one of everything in there, and none of it looks cohesive. Are they bad designs for a movie? No. Except for Megs who looks like evil alien invader 1,289. Just not good designs for a TF movie. To hell with G1. A lot of us accepted that's not what we're getting, but these things look less and less like TF's and more like standard shape shifting robots.

 

The script that has been out there, unless heavily re-written, has little characterization of anyone other than the humans, and gives no reason to why they look like this. Couple that with these off the wall, all over the spectrum designs, I think that's what setting the fandom on fire, and causing this silly "fandom civil war".

 

I think this movie will satisfy few, alienate a majority of the fanbase, and leave the general public who the producers I'm guessing are banking on a small glimmer of nostalgia confused as to what they had seen.

 

Then again, f they prove us wrong, then we're all a bunch of whiney babies.

 

:tftongue

 

This is true. I think that everyone who is annoyed by us who don't like the designs should read this. Why is it so hard for them to separate the idea of "Dumb Geewuun fans" from people who just think some of the designs are ugly?

 

i've been saying this since the first designs leeked, save your typing because nobody will listen

 

What about those of us who "don't" see the designs as ugly but fresh and new and completely seperate from anything ever done in the past. I know I'm in the vast minority here but this is the Transtech many have wanted before the original concept was scrapped because of the over the top fan response.

 

A lot of people it seems are already banking on the designs to make/brek this film where as I'm hoping for the script/tone of it to make it good/bad. Yano JMO.

 

 

I'm not saying if you like them, you're wrong.

 

I don't think that people should be saying the designs are going to make or break the movie. However, these designs, especially Megs seems like another mistep in this production. Have you guys read the script? They're (Hasbro, Orci, etc.) are telling us that there will be reasons for the designs. That these aren't final. that the characters will be given personalities.

 

These designs are final. So that "prelim stage" line is BS.

 

The script, unless heavily re-written has characterization...for the humans. You know, because this film is call "Humans". Several people have already confirmed the script hasn't changed much.

 

If you know the ending, and Megs involvement, you know that they're just BSing the fandom to shut us up. Sorry, not cool.

 

Funny thing is, I like the SS design. that to me seems more TF than any of them. The one alot of people have issues with, I like. So obviosly G1 is not the issue here.

 

I liked Transtech. It was different. It was a step forward. It's more robot than anything. You can honestly say ANY of these designs are as good as Transtech? Better than Transtech? Even LOOK like Transtech?

 

They're all over the place. They look like Johnny 5 with plating. Megs? You can honestly say he looks like ANY Transtech design? What about the transformation? Where is all that go when it turns into that jet? Yay. Morphformers.

 

Look, I'm not trying to convince you to agree with me. You're more than welcome to like the movie, designs, script, whatever. I'm just trying to give people a better understanding of why people are up in arms about this film. That this has gone beyond wanting G1. Beyond wanting a re-hash of a 20 year old movie. That's why the DVD is coming out in November.

 

I want something that looks like Transformers. I want something that isn't as childish and idtiotic as the majority of G1. Right now, it LOOKS like we're getting the exact opposite, and even worse than G1.

http://www.TFans.com/talk/index.php?showtopic=52221

 

Aside from the alt mode and canon Megs looks pretty transtechy to me.

 

As for transformation. I'm sure the design never would have been green lit unless it had a concievable transformation. Oh wait.

 

http://www.TFans.com/talk/index.php?showtopic=52116

 

Not saying the transformation Analysis is 100% right I just feel we won't really know a thing until actually seeing the movie next year.

Okay, I'm just going to go ahead a repost what I said at TAAU.com (major Australian forum).

 

 

Behold, ladies (are there any out there in this fandom?) and gentlemen! Archangel (aka Oggtimus Prime) enters the movie discussion!

 

Succinct summary of what I think.

 

Movie Plot:

I don't know much, and I don't want to, as I want to discover it as the other members of the audience do. But, from what I've heard, and under assumptions I am making based on the history of the people working on this movie, it's going to be an awesome experience.

 

Designs:

I'm sort of in two minds about these. I won't deny that I will probably need a bit of time to adjust to the designs that we are seeing. There is a certain sense that they are missing something that the orginals had. I don't think it would be beyond anybody's suspension of disbelief to say that these robots could both be humanoid and turn into vehicles, in their own way. We did as kids - why not now?

 

Regarding Megs, as we see these images, we need to remember that this is a work in progress. It quite clearly says this on Meg's design sheet! It reminds me of a doco I saw of the creative procress behind RotS, and the design of General Grievous. There were a number of designs put forward as potential ideas, with some being rejected outright, and some sent back for redevelopment, and even then, the final result was a combination of a number of designs that had been presented. I think it's going to be the same way with Megs.

 

As for the designs that already prototypes created - I think these look awesome, not quite what we're expecting, but awesome - and part of it's because they are different to what we;ve had before.

 

It reminds me of something that was said in the official press release for the Classics line. IIRC, they said that they wanted to return to the original passion/creativeness found within the original line. Seriously, think about it. You can look at the evolution of TFs over the last 22 years either as attempts to revitalise the audience's interest or as methods of keeping the designers interested. Doing the same thing for the last 22 years would probably be quite boring, so we had neat additions - Beast modes, Mini-Cons, Powerlinxing, Cyber-Keys. These are all worthy additions and, without trying to sound like I hate them - I infact love them, the main engineering scheme has remained the same. But, with this movie, the designers have the possibility to go back to the beginning and reengineer the transformation scheme. It probably has the designers absolutely stoked, and as I write this, it's getting me stoked too.

 

Issues With Translation

As I'm sure many of you have seen, the reactions to the images, mainly on other boards, have been extremely negative, and pretty much vary along Burn's scale (which I'm dubbing The Burn Scale of Disgruntle).

 

It is quite common for any adaption of any franchise, with followings that are so passionate about them, to face oppositon to some of the decisions they make.

 

With comics however, the changes will not have such a large impact on the general narrative, as the source material has remained unchanged for many, many years. IE: In X-Men, Wolverine is always the ill-tempered solo fighter with the adamantium skeleton, and those famous claws. Spiderman, has remained the same wall-crawler he has been for the last 50 years.

 

With Transformers, this is harder. As mentioned by some of the more level-headed members of online forums, the 22 year history of Transformers is not a constant. Their history, their forms, and their narrative, are all different, depending on which version you're looking at. Transformers: Cybertron is quite different from Transformers: Beast Wars, which is quite different from Transformers: Robots in Disguise, which is different from what is known as G1, whose two representations differed quite greatly from each other. (The great Cartoon VS Comic debate.) If anything, Seibertron's disgust with the early stage designs of Megatron, further emphasises this point!

 

How is the production team supposed create a movie that honours the various representations of TFs over the last 22 years, without dishonouring others? It's like saying that all religions are true, when they quite clearly contradict each other.

 

What we are going to get is a movie that is a new continuity, but goes back to the basics of all Transformer stories - two conflicting tribes/races of beings that can change shape at will for the purpose of concealment or tactical advantage. That is the only thing that has remained constant over the last 22 years.

 

Final Thoughts:

Transformers is Hasbro's (and Takara's, debatably) property, and one of their strongest at that. This is why they are so closely involved with the production of this movie. We can rest assured that they will prevent anything that they disagree with from happening. And they are definately not going to anything to happen that would destroy the brand or its reputation.

 

I'm Archangel (aka Oggtimus Prime). And this is Prime Ponderings.

 

 

 

PS: Just a couple of new bits of information you guys might like to know.

 

Details on Jazz:

IGN Filmforce has a set visit report up, with this piece of information:

» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «

Jazz is a curvy silver coupe, the latest Pontiac Solstice.

 

Also, Latinoreview.com has another set visit article up, and reveals another little detail on Jazz.

» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «

So exactly how big are these robots? Michael Bay gave us the rundown on some of the robots:

Jazz : 13 feet tall

Bumblebee: 17 feet tall

Ratchet: 24 feet tall

Iron Hide: 26 feet tall

Optimus Prime: 28 feet tall

Megatron: 34 feet tall

 

Credit: Crank of TAAU.com

 

 

PPS: You may also like to know that almost all of us are quite taken aback by some of the reactions we've been seeing over all the international forums.

PPPS: We're also wondering how people would react if they announced Kaye as Megs instead of Welker. :eplus

Jazz smaller than Bumblebee? :wtf

So there's still a year of topics like these left? I'd better start preparing.

Hey Oggtimus Prime. Awsome post.

 

Also thanks for the links. I did already know about Jazz, but the set reports are informative, and welcome. Wide spread mass chaos, "Giant F***ing Robots Are Coming" are coming indeed. :tflaugh

 

Also reviewed the now 35 page movie thread from the forum you linked to. A real breath of fresh air compaired to a lot of the fandom threads surfacing. :clap