Transformers - the live action film

[thebrownshow]

Yeah, I can agree with you there, Howard.  I've got the first season of the Transformers on dvd, plus the animated movie, and I can still sit and watch them on a lazy hangover sunday... I think Voltron might be filled with too much cheese.  But if you don't get pumped when you hear the Voltron theme song, well, you suck (...and another reason why Peter Cullen rocks).

Galactus would totally eat Unicron.

[Dartful Dodger]

It's my understanding that bumblebee is going to be in the flick but he is NOT going to be a VW bug.  Is this guy THAT dense?  That's how bumblebee got his name, he's a yellow VW "bug" with black trim.

There is a demolition derby type game called Flat Out and in the original screen shots of the game had a VW bug, but in the final version of the game the VW bug was removed.  The Germans didn't allow it.  It could be the same thing with this movie.  A Superbee or some other classic Mopar (like a Dart) with tail stripes would make a great Bumble Bee.

Hopefully the toys for the movie stink, because I have enough nonsense littering my house, I don't want to be adding to the pile.

[missioncontrol]

Heathcliff FTW  w00t

[AtomSmasher]

Heres some pictures of the new Bumblebee on this site.  I was going to just upload the pictures here, but apparently some sites are getting in legal trouble for putting them online so I figured it best to just link to another site.
http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?p=234

towards the end of the page you can see bumblebee in robot mode.  They also say “Starscream” is going to be an F-22 Raptor, and “Optimus Prime” is going to be a fire truck, but without pics to back it up, who knows.

[shardian]

Thanks for the pics atom smasher! Someone will probably get fired/prosecuted for the bumblebee robot shot...

Bumblee now gts to be an ass kickin v-8 now. Woo hoo!

The camaro looks great

[shmokes]

I don't really see why they would need VW's permission.  If I'm making an independant film I can have people driving Jettas eating Cheerios and playing a Gamecube, and if that movie is picked up by a studio after a successful run at the festivals VW, General Mills and Nintendo aren't owed anything.  I can understand that they might need VW's permission to make an action figure, but companies don't get paid for product placement in a film.  It's the other way around.

I'm not saying they DON'T need VW's permission, as I'm not a lawyer.  I'm just saying that my gut is telling me they don't need their permission.

[thebrownshow]

Then why do they always use fake cereal boxes and soda cans on TV?  Is that different?

[NightGod]

towards the end of the page you can see bumblebee in robot mode.  They also say

[AtomSmasher]

Like I said before, from the pics that have been leaked, it looks like he is a truck with flames painted on, not a fire truck.

You may have noticed that I'm the one that posted the link to the pics of Optimus Prime on the first page 

[Dartful Dodger]

I can understand that they might need VW's permission to make an action figure, but companies don't get paid for product placement in a film.  It's the other way around.

VW didn't want a mock bug in a game that involved it being smashed up, so they'd probably frown on a car created for the Nazis walking around with a gun.

[Kremmit]

I'm pretty sure Zod could eat Grimlock.

[shmokes]

Then why do they always use fake cereal boxes and soda cans on TV?  Is that different?

They don't always.  They often use real products, especially in independent films (probably because they don't have the budget to have new product packaging created) 

In marketing it is done, not because they cannot show another product's label, but because showing a competing product's label in your commercial is free advertising.  In fact, in one country (it seems like it's Austria) a company created an extremely successful laundry detergent called Ordinary Laundry Detergent because all the name brand laundry detergents have commercials that go, "Ordinary Laundry Detergent . . . blah blah blah, but with [Name Brand] detergent . . . blah blah blah"

In movies they do it because they like to sell product placement, and if a company doesn't pay them for something that they perceive to have value they aren't going to give it to them for free.  It is not illegal to depict someone using a product that would be used in real life.  They couldn't use the VW name to promote their movie (without paying VW), but just using their product is not enough to owe royalties or need permission for.

[NightGod]

It's enough to owe royalties when they want to make a line of toys based on the movie, however.

[Vigo]

Yeppers, I think loosely the laws says that you can show whatever you want, until the minute that you try making money off of what you have shown. SO, yeah they can put a VW, but they can't use it in toys, in advertisements, on any merchandise, etc. It's a big downer for a film that is so toy friendly.

[jbox]

Well, just for a bit of perspective here, this is *one* particular autobot out of the whole range of cybertronians. So long as they don't make them a main character then not having a toy of it to sell isn't really going to cost them anything. 

[NightGod]

As an offshoot of your perspective, if they don't make them a main character, who cares what it looks like?

And I really can't see them *not* putting in Bumblebee, at least it sounds like they're building a bit of a backstory (smashed up and then rebuilt, even if the car that gets destroyed wasn't a VW) to explain it.

Kinda makes me say "screw you VW", since in the end that's what it all comes down to.

[jbox]

As an offshoot of your perspective, if they don't make them a main character, who cares what it looks like?

Fans. Jabba is a great example of people complaining about how terrible he looked in the new movies even though he wasn't a main character. If you don't really care about how faithful the movie is to the cartoon that's fine, but as I said they can't expect the fanboys to spruke the film based on their love of the cartoon, if the film has little to do with the cartoon barring it's name.

For example, Asimov fans didn't line the streets for "I, Robot", and most HHGTTG fans I've talked to thought the TV series was funnier than the McMovie version. But, to each their own, so long as they don't try to sell it to me by pretending it's something else...

[NightGod]

I doubt hardcore fans of the Transformers are going to skip seeing the movie because they had to make Bumblebee into another car due to licensing issues. And if any of them did, they're obviously unstable enough to be better off hidden away from public interaction.

And, personally, I loved the HHGTTG movie, and I've been a fan of the books (and DNA in general) for nearly 20 years. But I know when to let go of niggling minutae and enjoy a movie adaptation for what it is.

[shmokes]

Some of you are missing the point.  The fear is't that, "Oh no!  Bumblebee isn't a VW."  The fear is that we only have little bits of info about the movie here and there and EVERY little bit we have received so far points to a major stray from the Transformers universe.  Optimus is unrecognizable.  Bumblee isn't a beetle.  No shrinking.  The fear is that famously hack director Michael Bay isn't just ruining Bumblebee, he's ruining the entire movie and Bumblebee is merely one example.

Obviously it could turn out brilliant.  When people first heard that Spidey's web slinging would be CG or when we first saw leaked pics of the Batmobile in Batman Begins we had similar concerns, but those films turned out great.  Of course, they were both being directed by great directors and Transformers is being directed by a moron.

We'll see, I suppose.

[shardian]

I personally love the idea of bumblebee being the new camaro. I also agree that if that is really Optimus, then he looks stupid. In this day & age, it wouldn't surprise me if they intentionally leaked the pic of Optimus to see what the internet community thought. If the reaction is harsh enough, they may redo his paint job.

[AtomSmasher]

New on set video:  http://video.accesshollywood.com/v/?linkId=25436

[Vigo]

who is the kid?

[AtomSmasher]

who is the kid?

Pretty good actor from the few movies I've seen him in.  The first time I saw him, he was the star of the movie being made in the show Project Greenlight

Shia LaBeouf
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0479471/

[thebrownshow]

Damnit, beat me to it.

who is the kid?

That's Shia LaBeouf.  Funny kid.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0479471/

[Vigo]

oh that kid...thanks

[JeepMonkey]

I sure hope these machines are emissions friendly.  No need to stir up the hippies.

[Dartful Dodger]

Is that the Camero that's playing Bumblebee?

[Vigo]

think so

[missioncontrol]

Super Go-Bots

[Howard_Casto]

I sure hope these machines are emissions friendly.  No need to stir up the hippies.

Actually somewhere around season 3 of the transformers one of the decepticons is hunting an autobot and makes a comment like "Autobots must be here I can detect their exhaust a mile, away... so clean."  so even back in the day autobots were emissions free and decepticons were intentionally polluters.  This might explain why the decepts were always looking for fuel, and the autobots weren't. 

[Howard_Casto]

Some of you are missing the point.  The fear is't that, "Oh no!  Bumblebee isn't a VW."  The fear is that we only have little bits of info about the movie here and there and EVERY little bit we have received so far points to a major stray from the Transformers universe.  Optimus is unrecognizable.  Bumblee isn't a beetle.  No shrinking.  The fear is that famously hack director Michael Bay isn't just ruining Bumblebee, he's ruining the entire movie and Bumblebee is merely one example.

Obviously it could turn out brilliant.  When people first heard that Spidey's web slinging would be CG or when we first saw leaked pics of the Batmobile in Batman Begins we had similar concerns, but those films turned out great.  Of course, they were both being directed by great directors and Transformers is being directed by a moron.

We'll see, I suppose.

Agreed.  The pic of bumblebees car mode(s) seem very acceptable to me considering the legal difficulties.  But I find the robot mode to be particularly disturbing.  It looks nothing like bumblebee!  Maybe somebody should give this hack a clue they are robots in disguise, not cars that can turn into robots.  Transformers are robots with a shell of a disguise.  They don't have real engines and pistons ect....  If they did, they would take up so much room that there wouldn't be any space for the robot part.  Which is very evident by that pic... poor old bumblebee looks very spindlely and fragile when he should be kinda beefy and stout.  Kinda reminds me of a gobot actually, they always looked kinda gay in robot mode as well, like a pre-school toy (which ironically they were later re-classified as).  Also the face looked very unhuman.  The thing that made the transformers relateable was their very human faces.  Looks like they get cold, 1960's robot faces in this flick. 


Also the vid somebody posted was kinda cheesy.  Not the robots mind you, the constructicon and bumblebee performed well, but the kids acting was upstaged by props!  Mind you spike was a major tool in the cartoon so maybe it'll work, but the way that scene was shot it seemed like that the movie is going to be human centered and not robot centered.  We don't need another yoshi from tmnt 2 fiasco.  If the movie is about turtles shoot the turtles, if the movie is about robots shoot the robots. 


Oh and the batman begins thing.  Hate to get off-topic but I don't care what people say, that movie wasn't great, it was just better than the last two (which is like saying food tastes better than a turd).  Batmobile ruined it, the fact that Ray AlGhoul wasn't immortal and all "lazarus pitty" ruined an opportunity to make him the sole feature villain rather than the scarecrow, who wasn't featured enough and wasn't scary, which excuse me is why they call him the scarecrow.  Plus ray is a real hi-tier villain, he's kind of like the apocolypse of the batman universe, to put him in the first film is kind of like... well putting apocolypse in the first xmen film.  Of course they put the joker in the first original batman film too and that essentially ruined the series at the beginning.  I mean how can you top the joker?

The original two batman films had teriffic directing and visuals but horrible casting (batman in particular).  Batman begins has teriffic casting but horrible visuals and directing.  We just forget this because of the schlock that was batman and robin and batman forever.  Batman and batman returns looked like a comic book come to life, while batman begins looks like a lame "scifi channel original" style rip-off of those two films.

In both cases the reason the flicks weren't perfect is because they both diverted from the batman universe too much.  Which is what worries me about this...... the transformers are very easy to screw up.  Giant robots is a cheesy cliche, the only thing that made it good was the intersting backstory (which judging by the mars trailer has been thrown out the window) with interesting characters we became familair with (again so far we haven't seen anything familair)  that looked really cool and made for cool looking toys (crap we are batting 0 for 3 here). 

[thebrownshow]

Howard, is there anything that would actually make you happy?  Talk about the glass being half empty.   

[AtomSmasher]

Howard, is there anything that would actually make you happy?  Talk about the glass being half empty.   

I think long rants make him happy, which is why he does them so often 

[SithMaster]

i like the long rants it gives me something to read.  but next time more pictures and less words.

[AtomSmasher]

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/news/comments/?entryid=355214

"Writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (who previously teamed to write "The Island," "Mission: Impossible III" and more) showed up on Yahoo to answer fan questions about the beloved 80s cartoon-turned-blockbuster, which will hit theaters on July 4, 2007.

Some of the characters they cited to appear in the movie:

Autobots:

Optimus Prime
Bumblebee -- scout
Jazz
Ratchet -- a medical officer; in the cartoon, he was an ambulance; in the movie, he'll be some kind of emergency vehicle
Ironhide -- a tough soldier; classic cowboy; Optimus' oldest friend


Autobot Human:

Spike


Decepticons:

Megatron
Starscream -- obeys Megatron, but wants to overthrow him
Brawl -- an extremely pissed off Decepticon
Bonecrusher -- closest thing to a constructicon; hates all other Decepticons except Megatron
Barricade -- hunter of the group, scouting for Autobots; transforms to cop car as an ironic symbol of authority
Scorponok
Frenzy -- a smaller form, able to infiltrate around you and not be seen -- a "stealth spy"; can hide under desks
Blackout -- takes out the ability to fight back; hits electronics (EMP); is the biggest vehicle, transports other Decepticons

Fear not, if these characters (or the entire "Transformers" world) are not familiar to you; Orci and Kurtzman promise that the story will be accessible to the uninitiated while staying loyal to the legions of fans. They also say the story will be told through the eyes of its human characters, who are witnessing the intergalactic Autobot-Decepticon war come abruptly to Earth.

For more of the Q&A, check out the webcast here."

[thebrownshow]

Megatron revealed:
http://www.tformers.com/article.php?sid=6418&mode=flat


I think I'll speak for everyone when I say BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

[shardian]

I've also seen the blackout model laid out the same way your megatron pic is. Its my opinion that the robots are too "busy". There are no definable details in them. This was my problem with the baddies in the 2nd pirates of the caribean. What is the deal with the face that's not really a face? It looks like some of the random doodles I do in the margins of paper when I'm bored. I've heard that they have got the transformation mode down to 4 seconds. WTF is so cool about that??? You won't even be able to see any detail in that time span. It'll just be a big jumble of ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- and then all the sudden a robot is standing there. I was not at all impressed with their transforming letters in the teaser trailer.

I would much rather have seen them do the robots pretty much just like the show, but in realistic 3d. Who gives a ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- about the "realistic" transformation effect. The story is already completely unrealistic...just make it look cool and it will be a much better product.

And that is my rant for the day...

[thebrownshow]

I would much rather have seen them do the robots pretty much just like the show, but in realistic 3d. Who gives a ---Cleveland steamer--- about the "realistic" transformation effect. The story is already completely unrealistic...just make it look cool and it will be a much better product.

I agree 100% 

The whole "scale" thing is such ---That which is odiferous and causeth plants to grow---.  These are giant robots from another effing planet, and the fact that a giant robot turns into a normal-sized gun is the unbelieveable part?  Give me a freakin' break.

[shardian]

I would have loved to have seen the decepticon with the cassette tape chest. Just to see all the kids in the audience say "what was that guy?".

[shmokes]

That's so retarded.  WTF?  They're supposed to be robots in disguise.  What is that thing Megatron is transforming into?  Yeah, nobody's going to think twice when they see that flying around.

Dumb.

Dumb.

Dumb.

Michael Bay is worse than Uwe Boll.