Having seen the film a second time (only twice I know, compared to some of you that's crap, but I've been busy! ) I've come to the conculssion that some of the fights scenes between robots, as awesome as they were, were kinda cheated on. Some scenes were filmed "close-up" as opposed to a wider view. I found this made it harder to keep track of who was doing what to whome and made to action just a visual mess. I don't doubt wider fight shots are harder to do, but I found too often the fight scenes were too close-up where a wider shot, although more complex, would have done the movie a better service.

If you've seen any of Michael Bay's other movies, you'll see that's just his particular style when shooting action scenes. Specifically here I think he meant for it to look real, as if you were right under a bunch of giant robots fighting- you wouldn't know what was going on either. I felt like I was right there.

The action scenes were very realistic, indeed. It's just in some of the scene I found it difficult to see what was what 'cos it was just too in-close to the action. I see what you mean about Bay's other films.

I think Bay was trying to show how big and powerful they were, having them s large they don't fit on camera.

Having seen the film a second time (only twice I know, compared to some of you that's crap, but I've been busy! ) I've come to the conculssion that some of the fights scenes between robots, as awesome as they were, were kinda cheated on. Some scenes were filmed "close-up" as opposed to a wider view. I found this made it harder to keep track of who was doing what to whome and made to action just a visual mess. I don't doubt wider fight shots are harder to do, but I found too often the fight scenes were too close-up where a wider shot, although more complex, would have done the movie a better service.

 

I agree. I was actually watching just the fight scenes tonight (um, yeah, the movie theater had a ff button where I live :tflaugh ) and they are all a blur. Prime and Megs get pretty good coverage tho, but the street scenes with Ratchet and Ironhide are so fast and so tight, u can barely tell what's going on.

 

Perhaps a DVD or HD experience will help... maybe if things were sharper, things would register better... the opposite could happen as well... too much sharpness might be sensory overload! :tfpuke

Yes, thats just how I felt, just too much going on too close. The Op/Bonecrusher fight was the same. I think we got the scale of the robots when they were fighting from the building and other surroundings around them. I don't think Bay needed to get close in order to acheive the feeling the robots are huge. We know that! I still think close-up fighting is cheating 'cos it's easer to do.

I whole heartedly agree that its a sense of scale competing with the ferocious nature of the bots of this generation. Combined with Bay's perseption from a bystander's point of view. You see this for most of the major scenes in the movie:

 

from dialogue moments:

"Easy Ironhide..." (where you see Sam swallowing air instead)

"One shall stand..." (where Prime tries to buy Sam time to get around the battle but you see only Sam)

 

then to action sequences that are shown from an indirect POV:

 

Sam watching BB send his signal.

Barricade's interogation from Inside the car he's blocking Sam on

Prime fighting Bonecrusher from Inside the minivan

Prime fighting Megatron from the office building

Sam Running from Blackout and Ironhide blocking him, then getting trapped under Starscream

 

it gives the sense that Humans are literally stuck in the middle of this collosal war. Still, I want to see the "BOT Edition" on DVD.

Yes, thats just how I felt, just too much going on too close. The Op/Bonecrusher fight was the same. I think we got the scale of the robots when they were fighting from the building and other surroundings around them. I don't think Bay needed to get close in order to acheive the feeling the robots are huge. We know that! I still think close-up fighting is cheating 'cos it's easer to do.

 

I don't think it was so close and shaky to convey the scale of the bots. I agree with DN, that it was shot "Private Ryan" style, to make you feel like you were right there in the middle of it, and I think that came off really well. Plus, there were still plenty of wider shots that allowed you to see what was going on in the mix of the closer stuff.

I agree. Less is more, especially for this movie, methinks.

 

I hope Bhey sorts this out in the next movie, or they get someone else to do it. either way...

I knew this 'too close/can't see what's happening' concept that Michael Bay tends to enjoy doing before seeing the film. Still, it was rather annoying to watch Blackout chop up a parked vehicle from the viewpoint of inside a building on the ground floor through a window so that the ceiling cuts him off at the knees.

 

The concept of being right in the middle of it is a cool idea. I just think Michael Bay uses that concept WAY too much, and the visuals get drowned out.

 

Another thing to keep in mind is the budget. I keep hearing how much it cost just to MAKE these guys, that this was just a way of not having to work so hard to show them, I suppose. But while I agree that sometimes less can be more, this was just not enough. I didn't leave wanting more in an excited manner, I left wanting more rather disappointed.

 

I think we all know we'll be getting more battle scenes and 'bot-shots in the sequel, now that most of the 'bot-cast is built. It's just a matter of whether Bay is going to do the majority of the shots in the shakey-cam POV format he likes.