In your opinion, maybe, but it appears a lot of people disagree with you. Once again though, it is still purely subjective. What one person thinks is great, another may hate.

 

Uh, yeah. Duh.

 

Regardless, a robotic T-Rex mode for Grimlock is definately my preference because it is his most iconic form. Would Prime really work as anything else than a big rig of some form? (a fire truck is technically still a big rig, though the semi cab is certainly more iconic). Would Jazz work as anything but a sports car? Would Starscream work as anything but a fighter jet? No to all three. Even if there are variations in design, the basic form is still there—the bid truck, the sports car, the jet fighter. The same is true for Grimlock and the Dinobots. They really aren't Dinobots if they lack their dinosaur alternate modes, which is why on Cybertron, they were called Dynabots, which really doesn't work quite as well, IMO.

 

I happen to feel that doing things just because they were done that way before, without examining the relevance and effectiveness of what you're doing in the here and now, is a very undesirable way to live. Whether you're talking about something as simple and ultimately disposable as how you'll tell a story or deciding the moral code by which you'll live your life, "this is how it was done ten, twenty, a hundred years ago" just isn't a good reason to do anything, ever.

 

Therefore, "iconic" means diddly-squat to me. An idea that works in a cartoon aimed at kids twenty years ago does not always translate well to a movie aimed at adults today. Some ideas do hold up.

 

But an alien robot who chooses to look like a dinosaur over all the other options of things he could look like on this planet in today's modern world...not so much.

 

You could counter that by having him arrive when dinosaurs are abundant, and a wise alt. form to choose, but I already covered why I feel that robots getting dug up in the sequel feels like a redundant story beat earlier in the thread.

 

All in my opinion, of course.

 

The expression of such seemed to be the point of the thread.

While Iconic appearances may mean squat to you, It is very important to a lot of fans, proboalby the most important thing to them. Yes, coming up with a plausible reason for the Dinobots having their dinosaur modes is important, but that does not mean that thye should not have their iconic alternate modes, especially Grimlock. As for reasons why they might choose a dinosaur mode in modern times? Simple, they land in a museum to natural history near the dinosaur exhibit. Dinosaurs are the first thing they see, and take those modes before even stepping outside. A big part of the choice of an alternate mode is the personal preference of the bot in question. According to his Robovision bio, Prime took on the flamed Freightliner mode because he liked the look of it. Why can't Grimlock use the same reasoning? He liked the look of the T-Rex, and chose it for his alternate mode. I would say that is reason enough.

But it's boring though. They might as well come up with a different character altogether, like they did with Blackout and Barricade.

The flaw with that logic is that Blackout looks like a Soundwave, acts like a Soundwave, and releases minions like a Soundwave, but fanboys whine and whine and whine at the idea of him being not a tape player, so Soundwave can't be Blackout.

 

I hope that whatever they do, they make the dinobots work WITH the established movie universe, and not work around it. The last thing I want is an opinion like someone's "The entire universe must bend over backwards to the the ICONS of twenty years ago".

 

So yeah, real vehicles for me. If the movie team can pull off dinos (mecha or otherwise), more power to them.

Look at my avatar... Now look at my sig...

 

Surely if I can admit that putting robot dinosaurs in the sequel might not be the best idea anyone can?

...They really aren't Dinobots if they lack their dinosaur alternate modes, which is why on Cybertron, they were called Dynabots, which really doesn't work quite as well, IMO.

But don't forget, in War Within, the alternate modes were supposed to look visually similar to their future Earth modes with the exceptions of the following, sort of.

Wheeljack, Bumblebee, and the Seekers. The reason was we'd seen their alternate modes on Cybertron in the cartoon.

 

I mean, War Within Swoop looked very much like a psuedo robotic pteranodon.

 

 

Now, I had another idea at work yesterday and meant to post it here.

 

I think they should do the Dinobots in the style of the Dinozaurs.

 

For those that don't remember, here's a pic from ebay of the Dino Tyranno toy.

 

Now they also had a Brachiosaurus, Triceratops, Stegosaurus, and a Pteranodon.

...They really aren't Dinobots if they lack their dinosaur alternate modes, which is why on Cybertron, they were called Dynabots, which really doesn't work quite as well, IMO.

But don't forget, in War Within, the alternate modes were supposed to look visually similar to their future Earth modes with the exceptions of the following, sort of.

Wheeljack, Bumblebee, and the Seekers. The reason was we'd seen their alternate modes on Cybertron in the cartoon.

 

I mean, War Within Swoop looked very much like a psuedo robotic pteranodon.

 

 

Now, I had another idea at work yesterday and meant to post it here.

 

I think they should do the Dinobots in the style of the Dinozaurs.

 

For those that don't remember, here's a pic from ebay of the Dino Tyranno toy.

 

Now they also had a Brachiosaurus, Triceratops, Stegosaurus, and a Pteranodon.

 

That's one of the reasons I thought skeletal Dino modes would be a good idea however the more I think of it the more I think you were right about the skeletal forms earlier when you said they'd be creepy. I'm still working on Grim and the others up dated designs once I get the sketches done I'll post them in this thread to see what you guys think of them.

While Iconic appearances may mean squat to you, It is very important to a lot of fans, proboalby the most important thing to them. Yes, coming up with a plausible reason for the Dinobots having their dinosaur modes is important, but that does not mean that thye should not have their iconic alternate modes, especially Grimlock. As for reasons why they might choose a dinosaur mode in modern times? Simple, they land in a museum to natural history near the dinosaur exhibit. Dinosaurs are the first thing they see, and take those modes before even stepping outside. A big part of the choice of an alternate mode is the personal preference of the bot in question. According to his Robovision bio, Prime took on the flamed Freightliner mode because he liked the look of it. Why can't Grimlock use the same reasoning? He liked the look of the T-Rex, and chose it for his alternate mode. I would say that is reason enough.

 

Prime liked the looked of the flamed Freightliner when compared to other things that would disguise him.

 

When you're up against tanks and jets that turn into your enemies, dino modes don't offer any tactical advantage, be it stealth, fire power, speed...in the real world, a Dinobot would be the first one dead.

While Iconic appearances may mean squat to you, It is very important to a lot of fans, proboalby the most important thing to them. Yes, coming up with a plausible reason for the Dinobots having their dinosaur modes is important, but that does not mean that thye should not have their iconic alternate modes, especially Grimlock. As for reasons why they might choose a dinosaur mode in modern times? Simple, they land in a museum to natural history near the dinosaur exhibit. Dinosaurs are the first thing they see, and take those modes before even stepping outside. A big part of the choice of an alternate mode is the personal preference of the bot in question. According to his Robovision bio, Prime took on the flamed Freightliner mode because he liked the look of it. Why can't Grimlock use the same reasoning? He liked the look of the T-Rex, and chose it for his alternate mode. I would say that is reason enough.

 

Prime liked the looked of the flamed Freightliner when compared to other things that would disguise him.

 

When you're up against tanks and jets that turn into your enemies, dino modes don't offer any tactical advantage, be it stealth, fire power, speed...in the real world, a Dinobot would be the first one dead.

 

I don't think so. Robotic dino forms would stomp all over the tanks and chomp on the jets. Their tactical advantage is just plain strength. I mean look at Scorponok he didn't have fire power or speed but he is still one tough fighter.

While Iconic appearances may mean squat to you, It is very important to a lot of fans, proboalby the most important thing to them. Yes, coming up with a plausible reason for the Dinobots having their dinosaur modes is important, but that does not mean that thye should not have their iconic alternate modes, especially Grimlock. As for reasons why they might choose a dinosaur mode in modern times? Simple, they land in a museum to natural history near the dinosaur exhibit. Dinosaurs are the first thing they see, and take those modes before even stepping outside. A big part of the choice of an alternate mode is the personal preference of the bot in question. According to his Robovision bio, Prime took on the flamed Freightliner mode because he liked the look of it. Why can't Grimlock use the same reasoning? He liked the look of the T-Rex, and chose it for his alternate mode. I would say that is reason enough.

 

Prime liked the looked of the flamed Freightliner when compared to other things that would disguise him.

 

When you're up against tanks and jets that turn into your enemies, dino modes don't offer any tactical advantage, be it stealth, fire power, speed...in the real world, a Dinobot would be the first one dead.

 

I don't think so. Robotic dino forms would stomp all over the tanks and chomp on the jets. Their tactical advantage is just plain strength. I mean look at Scorponok he didn't have fire power or speed but he is still one tough fighter.

 

Put a real dinosaur against a real tank or a real jet, and I guarantee we'll be having T-Rex t-bones for dinner. You can argue that they're not real dinosaurs, but rather Cybertronian robots in dino-skin, but then it's the Cybertronian robot bits that are making short work of the tanks and jets. Which means I have to ask again: What is the dino-skin bringing to the party, other than a slavish devotion to a 20 year old cartoon concept and no concern for the movie being made now?

 

Grimlock's character deserves an alt. mode that's more than fanwank.

 

Also, Scorpy moves lightning quick in the commercials. I think his scorpion mode was probably chosen by the character with the desert terrain in mind. So a dino mode makes total sense if we can somehow shoehorn a prehistoric Earth environment into the sequel. Maybe Movie Wheeljack can turn into a DeLorean? FLUX CAPACITOR'D!

 

Besides from everything we've seen, Scorponok's fighting humans only. I'd imagine he'd be made short work of by Optimus Prime.

 

Also, despite what the toy would have you believe, I'm pretty sure

Scorpy's just a Ravage-style minion, and the scorpion is his robot mode. His alt. mode is a piece of the copter, or cargo on board it.

. <-- Goki, can I get a ruling on that?

Hobbes - I dub thee "The Bearer of Wisdom"!