Transformers the movie thread

[Raven 2.0]

I'm not as excited about this as most of you but I'm still looking to this intently. I don't see why any of you would worry about this possibly being awful in live action form. G savior was a canadian made movie based on a japanese franchise: Transformers is Being made by quality U.S movie makers and is based on an american franchise (yes transformers is american for those of you that didn't know). I am fairly confident that this movie will not suck.

[Nagi]

A confirmed list of Transformers appearing in the movie has been released.

AUTOBOTS
Optimus Prime
Bumblebee
Jazz
Ratchet
Ironhide

DECEPTICONS
Megatron
Starscream
Brawl
Bonecrusher
Barricade
Scorponok
Frenzy
Blackout

An odd list, really. The Autobot lineup seems to be a good, solid collection of mainstay members, but the Decepticon list is all over the freakin' place. American Transformers, Japanese Transformers, PART of Devastator...well, at least those rumors about Devastator being a tank can now be disproven (tank seems to be Brawl). And that police car that was going around seems as though it's actually Barricade.

Frenzy and Blackout, though...don't ring a bell.

EDIT: Did a bit of research, and apparently there may be no Devastator at all. I had thought introducing Bonecrusher here may have been a sign he was due in a sequel or something, but it seems Bonecrusher's no longer a Constructicon. He's a military mineclearing vehicle. Frenzy's a boom box or something; apparently that was going to be Soundwave, but G1 fans got pissed so they changed it. And Blackout's a military attack chopper.

[Emperor Mengde]

I'm definitely looking forward to this movie, even if it turns out very different from the old series. I mean, any chance to see very large robots fighting on the big screen is a good thing, and from everything I've read about the movie is should at least be an entertaining popcorn flick.

And that list of Decepticons is a bit odd, but it should work out alright as long as Megatron and Starscream are cool.

[Nagi]

I suspect the odd Decepticon lineup may be due to a need for some cannon fodder baddies for the Autobots to readily kill off in this movie. Then Megatron, Starscream, and maybe a couple others will carry over to a sequel and rally some new forces (which, rumor has it, will be where Soundwave will come in).

[Emperor Mengde]

You're probably right about them being cannon fodder. I mean, fans might get miffed if Shockwave and Astrotrain got ice, but are unlikely to care what happens to Brawl or his other new or obscure compatriots.

[solid snake]

Here's something interesting I found. This originally came from Science Fiction Weekly at scifi.com.

*Possible Spoilers*

Transformers Details Revealed

SCI FI Wire got a rare peek at the production of director Michael Bay's upcoming Transformers movie in downtown Los Angeles on Aug. 26, including the first up-close look at the disguised versions of four key Autobots: the chartreuse search-and-rescue vehicle Ratchet, the giant black GMC 4x4 Ironhide, the sleek silver Pontiac Solstice sports car that is Jazz and the muscle-y yellow-and-black Chevy Camaro that is the new Bumblebee—so new that the car in the movie is a prototype for a vehicle that hasn't even gone into production yet. Ironhide had an Autobot logo on his tailgate; Ratchet featured a fire department seal on its doors with the same logo in the design.

In interviews with cast and crew, SCI FI Wire also got a preview of the film and learned a few key spoilers:

•The film will offer background about the origin of the war between the Autobots and Decepticons. The plot will be set in motion when 18-year-old Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) discovers his grandfather's pair of century-old glasses, improbably laser-etched with a map and information about the location of a key artifact, the "Energon" cube, which he then tries to sell on eBay. The movie will follow five separate storylines, which will all converge with a final battle between the Autobots and Decepticons, starting at Hoover Dam and ending in an American city that looks a lot like Los Angeles.

•The film is seeking permission to be the first production to film the exterior of the Pentagon since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001; the movie will also shoot in various cities, including L.A., Chicago, Detroit and Washington.

•The film will feature a top-secret military unit called Sector 7.

•Voice casting of the Transformer robots is being left until later in the production, except for Peter Cullen, who was previously named to reprise his role as Optimus Prime. In particular, producers wouldn't say whether Frank Welker, who voiced Megatron in the 1986 animated Transformers film, would voice the character in the movie.

•The movie will use a mix of computer animation and large-scale puppetry to depict the giant robots. Megatron will appear as a plane, not a giant gun, as he did in early versions of the franchise.

•The film's first full trailer will appear sometime during the holiday season this year.

Overall, director Bay told SCI FI Wire that the movie strives for realism, despite its cartoony origins. "I only wanted to do Transformers if I could do it realistic," Bay said in an interview. "And from what I've seen and what we've done with our digital studies, putting it in real-world stuff, that is lots of effects around that are real effects, that's how we make it realistic." When Bay got the first call from producer Steven Spielberg, he said, "My first thought was, 'Nah, I'm not interested.' And just because I thought, 'OK, how am I going to do a toy movie?' And then I realized, when I went to Hasbro, 'OK, start over and go for [a] realistic alien-invasion-robot movie on Earth.' And so, with that thinking in mind, that's how I went about it."

On a hot Saturday, Bay and his crew shot a scene on a blocked-off street in the heart of downtown L.A. The scene featured the four Autobots, accompanied by military crews led by co-stars Tyrese Gibson and Josh Duhamel, and young stars LaBeouf and Megan Fox, who plays Mikaela, LaBeouf's love interest. In the scene, the commandoes see what they believe to be Air Force jets flying overhead, then realize that the coming flying machines are something else—Decepticons in disguise?—and throw smoke grenades to obscure their positions as dozens of civilians run screaming around them. Ironhide, the black truck in the lead of the column of Autobots, appears to collide with a delivery truck carrying Furbys (the talking furry animal toys that are also made by Transformers maker Hasbro). The truck is on a gimbal, which allows it to swing up and stand perpendicular to the street, as if knocked on its end

. The idea is that the Furbys will be knocked from the truck, in flames, then activate when the Energon cube flies overhead. "We just wanted to have burning Furbys on the ground, you know?" Bay said with a laugh. "We're going to be blowing up a lot of little Furbys." Transformers is currently in production, with an eye to a July 4, 2007, release. —Patrick Lee, News Editor

[wonton bob]

somehow i remember a transformer that looked like a VF-1J Valkyrie
it was an autobot and larger than the rest. i think they found him buried in the artic. i cant remember much it was about 20 years ago

[lastangel]

somehow i remember a transformer that looked like a VF-1J Valkyrie
it was an autobot and larger than the rest. i think they found him buried in the artic. i cant remember much it was about 20 years ago

Do you say Skyfire? I remember that Hasbro bought its figure from BANDAI but not its name. The original Skyfire was as same as VF-1J.

[Ascension]

Say it ain't so! Bumblebee is, according to SCI FI Wire, a CAMARO!?!?!?

He's a VW Bug! He's a Beetle! He ain't no Camaro!

I always loved Bumblebee... He was the only pre-Beast Wars Transformer I had a toy of as a kid... (I wanted the Dinobots, but they were kind of out of the price range... anyway...) Man... I mean, it should still be a fine movie as long as they keep Starscream's constant plotting against Megatron intact, but still... Bumblebee as a Camaro... *shudder*

[Volnixshin]

Starscream! YES! No there is no way I am missing this.

[Emperor Mengde]

Say it ain't so! Bumblebee is, according to SCI FI Wire, a CAMARO!?!?!?

He's a VW Bug! He's a Beetle! He ain't no Camaro!

I always loved Bumblebee... He was the only pre-Beast Wars Transformer I had a toy of as a kid... (I wanted the Dinobots, but they were kind of out of the price range... anyway...) Man... I mean, it should still be a fine movie as long as they keep Starscream's constant plotting against Megatron intact, but still... Bumblebee as a Camaro... *shudder*

Unfortunately, I doubt there would have even been much of a choice even if the movie crew would have wanted to use a Volkswagen for Bumblebee. I know that Volkswagen does not want their cars associated with war machines, and would not even approve a Volkswagen Alternator. Maybe it would have been different for the movie, but somehow I doubt it.

[lastangel]

Say it ain't so! Bumblebee is, according to SCI FI Wire, a CAMARO!?!?!?

He's a VW Bug! He's a Beetle! He ain't no Camaro!

I always loved Bumblebee... He was the only pre-Beast Wars Transformer I had a toy of as a kid... (I wanted the Dinobots, but they were kind of out of the price range... anyway...) Man... I mean, it should still be a fine movie as long as they keep Starscream's constant plotting against Megatron intact, but still... Bumblebee as a Camaro... *shudder*

Unfortunately, I doubt there would have even been much of a choice even if the movie crew would have wanted to use a Volkswagen for Bumblebee. I know that Volkswagen does not want their cars associated with war machines, and would not even approve a Volkswagen Alternator. Maybe it would have been different for the movie, but somehow I doubt it.

I doubt that Chevrolet has a deal with Paramont, thinking it will be good for car-producers that their productions appear in such eyes-fixing movie.

I've heard Starscream will transform to a F-117 or B-2 instead of F-15. I wished it would be F-22... Anyway, the movie goes in many ways departed from what we were expected. In other words, Transformers need a change for the new era?

[Revan Vrake]

Say it ain't so! Bumblebee is, according to SCI FI Wire, a CAMARO!?!?!?

He's a VW Bug! He's a Beetle! He ain't no Camaro!

I always loved Bumblebee... He was the only pre-Beast Wars Transformer I had a toy of as a kid... (I wanted the Dinobots, but they were kind of out of the price range... anyway...) Man... I mean, it should still be a fine movie as long as they keep Starscream's constant plotting against Megatron intact, but still... Bumblebee as a Camaro... *shudder*

Unfortunately, I doubt there would have even been much of a choice even if the movie crew would have wanted to use a Volkswagen for Bumblebee. I know that Volkswagen does not want their cars associated with war machines, and would not even approve a Volkswagen Alternator. Maybe it would have been different for the movie, but somehow I doubt it.

I doubt that Chevrolet has a deal with Paramont, thinking it will be good for car-producers that their productions appear in such eyes-fixing movie.

I've heard Starscream will transform to a F-117 or B-2 instead of F-15. I wished it would be F-22... Anyway, the movie goes in many ways departed from what we were expected. In other words, Transformers need a change for the new era?

I read somewhere that Starscream was going to be an F-22 Raptor...I know I read that somewhere...I just can't remember where...

[Emperor Mengde]

I doubt that Chevrolet has a deal with Paramont, thinking it will be good for car-producers that their productions appear in such eyes-fixing movie.

I've heard Starscream will transform to a F-117 or B-2 instead of F-15. I wished it would be F-22... Anyway, the movie goes in many ways departed from what we were expected. In other words, Transformers need a change for the new era?

The studio would still likely have to get a deal for any company's car to appear in the movie as a transformer, especially considering the licensed tie ins (i.e. toys).

[bluemax151]

Do you say Skyfire? I remember that Hasbro bought its figure from BANDAI but not its name. The original Skyfire was as same as VF-1J.

Wasn't the character from the show named Skyfire and the toy was actually named jetfire? I believe it was something like that. Just as an FYI the new classics line appears to have a close to series accurate figure for Skyfire being released.

[Loran Cehack]

somehow i remember a transformer that looked like a VF-1J Valkyrie
it was an autobot and larger than the rest. i think they found him buried in the artic. i cant remember much it was about 20 years ago

Do you say Skyfire? I remember that Hasbro bought its figure from BANDAI but not its name. The original Skyfire was as same as VF-1J.

He was a VF-1S, and yes, it was Jetfire. He was also licensed from Takatoku as well.

[Dr.G]

Well it gets really confusing because the original character in season one was called Skyfire but IIRC he dies (I think I cried when I watched it) in a two part episode when he crashes into an ice mountain after saving the autobots. But he was so popular they created Jetfire who looked the same for season two, he might have even came in before season 1 was over.

[codename:v]

I found some Transformers Movie materials regarding with the autobots and decepticons designs. I would say the designs are pretty brandnew and not of the binaltechs and traditional transformation we knew of, enjoy.
Optimus Prime
http://www.flickr.com/photos/suzanneand ... mersmovie/
Jazz(me think)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/roninkengo ... mersmovie/
Bumblebee
http://www.flickr.com/photos/roninkengo ... 240901234/
Megatron(not a handgun anymore)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/roninkengo ... 240901234/
Starscream(everybody loves this traitor)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/roninkengo ... 240901234/
Scorponok(typical)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/roninkengo ... 240901234/
Incinerator
http://www.flickr.com/photos/roninkengo ... 240901234/
Overall, I find it really refreshing and totally different than the traditional styles, I like it. What'd you say?

[solid snake]

Very cool. Those designs are definitely radically different from the original designs, but I think the more futuristic look goes well with the more modern setting of the movie.

[Draco Starcloud]

I don't like Megatron and Starscream, but the rest are great.