This is topic Transformers (2007) in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.


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Posted by Michael Hossen (Member # 4274) on 06-28-2007, 09:14 AM:
 
Just saw this tonight. Vaguely remember this from when I was younger. I really enjoyed it, and it was a hit with pretty much everyone I talked to after. It has some great effects, and is really well made. Much better than I expected.

I will give it 4/5.

[ 06-28-2007, 07:21 PM: Message edited by: Michael Hossen ]
 

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Posted by Jarryd Beard (Member # 2543) on 06-28-2007, 02:02 PM:
 
I'm not familiar with the Transformers series, so maybe the spoiler you added in your review was fairly predictable. Nonetheless, is it really necessary to post such an eye catching bit of text days before the majority in these forums even have the opportunity to watch the film?
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 06-28-2007, 05:08 PM:
 
I agree. Spoilers are one thing, but basically revealing the ending with no more than a glance required is something else. You probably would have reviewed "The Empire Strikes Back" by posting, "Luke is Darth Vader's son!"

(By the way -- it's "vaguely.")
 

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Posted by Michael Hossen (Member # 4274) on 06-28-2007, 07:18 PM:
 
Sorry guys. I thought the spoiler was pretty obvious. Ill take it off. It was released yesterday in Australia, when is it released in the US?
 

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Posted by Michael Hossen (Member # 4274) on 06-28-2007, 07:18 PM:
 
Sorry, double post.
 

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Posted by Allison Parsons (Member # 2728) on 06-28-2007, 07:52 PM:
 
Oh, like that spoiler is a big shocker to everyone anyway... Gee, couldn't have guessed that would happen...
 

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Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 06-28-2007, 10:54 PM:
 
It didn't happen in the original Transformers movie, that's for sure.
 

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Posted by Michael Hossen (Member # 4274) on 07-01-2007, 03:15 AM:
 
I didn't realise that it isn't released until the 3rd in the US. I am loving the movie though. It gets better every time I watch it!!
 

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Posted by Jeff Lacey (Member # 3217) on 07-02-2007, 11:40 PM:
 
What a good movie! For sure a solid 4.75/5.

So what did I see wrong with it? For one, I live in Detroit, so some of the scenes in Detroit, did not match up well with the surrounding areas. Yeah, I realize that no one other than Detroiters would catch it, but anyhow...

The other issue I saw was that you needed to suspend your belief of how the government actually works. The sec of defense is going to plan everything on his own? I guess I could be being a bit harsh, but I was thinking that it would be like an Independance Day movie with the hero President.

Overall, the movie is very well made, and if it doesn't open HUGE, it should have long legs.

Perfect action, great sound mix, some comedy and overall a classic summer action release and the best one so far this year. It has something for everyone, and I'd be surpised if there is many people that don't like it!
 

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Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 07-03-2007, 02:17 AM:
 
Finally, the summer has arrived! A little long and drawn out in spots, but overall a very well done alien invasion, go USA, blow everything up, special effects spectacular summer pop corn flick.

However, given recent evidence, I'm sure that this was a completely accidental success of a movie. I've all but lost hope that Hollywood can make these kinds of fun movies on purpose. Solid 4.5 out of 5 from me.
 

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Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 07-03-2007, 02:18 AM:
 
I agree it was a good flick, but being a Michael Bay film, it had to remind me of what he did with his 2001 film "Pearl Harbor" - he carried some scenes out way too much at times that could have easily been trimmed down some and still got the msg across.

4/5 for me .... yet, it will be a good summer hit.
 

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Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 07-03-2007, 03:23 AM:
 
You people have lost your minds. I walked in tonight on a screen that looked like a scene from Top Gun (and just as lame) with one of those "pep talk" scenes about how important the mission and some such bullshit is.

I also walked into a scene where there were 3 transformers standing around having a chat with each other. All that was missing was the tea!

0 out of 5 starts. No way will I even give this piece of retardedness a chance. A bad movie is one thing, but this is just stupid.
 

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Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 07-03-2007, 03:45 AM:
 
That's how I felt about The Matrix after wandering in to a few random scenes during the screening.

I hear this movie has "shaky-cam". That could be the deal-breaker.
 

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Posted by Keith Peticolas (Member # 971) on 07-03-2007, 07:17 AM:
 
I just finished watching this...this...thing. My God what a piece of poo. Michael Bay needs to go away. Somebody buy him a Steadi-Cam and beat him to death with it. All I could say is why didn't James Cameron make this. Neck and neck with Eragon for stinkiness.
 

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Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 07-03-2007, 08:52 AM:
 

quote: Joe Redifer

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I hear this movie has "shaky-cam".

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quote: Brad Miller

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I walked in tonight on a screen that looked like a scene from Top Gun

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good action sequences...lame ass story. Is this what I can expect from Transformers? I haven't seen it yet, I will, but I'm not looking forward to it as much as I was.

Live Free or Die Hard was a mild surprise for me, I actually liked it, so I still have hope that this movie will be at least as enjoyable as Top Gun was.
 

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Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 07-03-2007, 06:39 PM:
 
This is one of those movies that will filter out the movie goers: Those who are still a kid at heart and enjoy it, or those who have grown up and kicked the kid out.
 

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Posted by Jonathan M. Crist (Member # 413) on 07-03-2007, 11:13 PM:
 
Guess I am a grown-up.

I found it essentially to be a 2 hour and 20 minute commercial for GM and Ebay.... frentic, stupid ....with all the subtlety and charm of a brick through a plate glass window.
 

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Posted by Josh Rosen (Member # 4291) on 07-04-2007, 12:41 AM:
 
Yes it was a little corny at points, however overall the I thought the movie was lots of fun and had some incredible visuals as well as great action sequences. The theater I was in was packed and the audience loved every second of the movie, there where many rounds of applause throughout the film and everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves.

Oh and IMDB confirms that a Transformers 2 has already been announced...
 

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Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 07-04-2007, 02:26 AM:
 

quote: Jonathan M. Crist

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commercial for GM and Ebay

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quote: Damien Taylor

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The attached trailer "Stardust" was just beyond confusing

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Are you sure that was the attached trailer? Cloverfield was the attached trailer. BTW, this is a fake working title. On IMDb, it's listed as "Untitled J.J. Abrams Project." Nonetheless, I think the trailer was very effective. Unfortunately, there was no title evident whatsoever to the audience. Here is a link to the IMDb page.
 

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Posted by Damien Taylor (Member # 4255) on 07-06-2007, 10:22 PM:
 
Could have been spliced in, but it was definitely bumped right up to the feature and in scope.

Australian releases probably have different trailers. Trailer runs for grindhouse haven't even started yet.
 

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Posted by Michael Hossen (Member # 4274) on 07-07-2007, 12:48 AM:
 
Stardust was definitely the attached tailer for our print too.
 

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Posted by Damien Taylor (Member # 4255) on 07-07-2007, 01:28 AM:
 
Are you projectionist at the Busselton Drive-in Michael?
 

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Posted by Jarryd Beard (Member # 2543) on 07-07-2007, 10:19 AM:
 
I guess I should have paid more attention to your location. I agree; I'm not sure what to think of Stardust. I can tell you right now, it doesn't look nearly as bad as Across the Universe.
 

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Posted by Michael Hossen (Member # 4274) on 07-07-2007, 11:29 AM:
 
Damien,

Nope, that would be Ron Jones. I'm one of the the projectionists at the cinema.
 

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Posted by Damien Taylor (Member # 4255) on 07-07-2007, 11:42 AM:
 
No problem Jarryd, all I can say so far is it looks like some kind of mash up of pan's labyrinth meets Narnia meets harry potter meets lord of the rings, crazy!

And Mike, your cinema is that beautiful 50's hard top they gutted recently? last time I was down there it was merely a facade. Next time I'm down that way I'll have to drop in.
 

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Posted by Richard Greco (Member # 2032) on 07-07-2007, 12:30 PM:
 
I didn't even realize this was directed by Michael Bay going in to this. I walked in past the opening credits. I figured it out after the first action scene. All his action scenes are the same.

I thought it was really fun. It was no masterpiece, but I liked it.

I started drooling at 2 parts.

First, I was drooling at the 2009 Camaro in it. I so want that car.

Also, I am now in love. Megan Fox is now my new Hollywood crush.
 

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Posted by Jason Black (Member # 684) on 07-07-2007, 11:38 PM:
 
Wow. It's been a LONG time since I've been able to make a review post on something that is still first run..

Saw Transformers last night..

Real simple review.

HATED IT. Fell asleep at least three or four times.

Michael Bay *really* needs to do his special effects, explosions, especially, a bit less 'over the top'. We get it. Trust us.

The Camaro is nice. I have pics of one that I took while at the NY Int'l Auto show a few moths ago. Sick looking ride, but it still ain't a 69 Z-28!

It's painful to see that the theatre industry is in such pitiful shape these days.. I truly enjoy sitting at home more than going to the theatre anymore. I never, EVER, thought I would say that...

And in case you missed it, or may have forgotten by now, Transformers sucked!
 

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Posted by Richard Greco (Member # 2032) on 07-08-2007, 01:48 AM:
 



 

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Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 07-08-2007, 03:00 AM:
 
(DOWN Rover, Down Boy! You're slobbering all over yourself again.... )
 

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Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 07-08-2007, 07:07 PM:
 
Today 9:40AM (!) at the still-newish Regal 15 in Shelbyville, House #8 which is the largest there with 440-some seats and a 50-foot screen, mildly curved. This actually feels like a theatre and not just a big box room. The image and sound quality were first-rate except for way too much dirt on the print (black specks). Very crisp and steady image. The Klipsch speakers that Regal uses on all their new builds which nobody here seems to like sound pretty good to me on a big loud movie like this but hey what do I know. If anyone from Regal is taking notes there's a constantly-rattling HVAC vent in the ceiling on the right side of the auditorium that's really annoying when things are quiet (not a major issue in this noisefest though).

I didn't much like the first 45 mins. or so. It seemed largely pointless and boring, to the point where I was considering leaving. Then things improved greatly and the story and effects started holding my interest. Megan Fox and Shia Lebeouf (sp?) carry the lead roles very well, not always easy when you're being overshadowed by millions of dollars worth of special effects and loud music. I ended up liking the movie overall and my advice would be try to get through the first 45 minutes or so because you might find like I did that it gets much better.

It gets 3.25 out of 5 stars from me which is pretty generous considering how dumb the first part of the movie seemed.
 

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Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 07-08-2007, 08:39 PM:
 

quote: Richard Greco

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She looks like she's getting ready to stick out her tongue. I wonder what she looks like without all of those chemicals on her face.
 

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Posted by Mike Heenan (Member # 392) on 07-08-2007, 09:58 PM:
 
Here is a before pic I found:


 

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Posted by Michael Hossen (Member # 4274) on 07-08-2007, 11:28 PM:
 
Damien,

Thats what it used to be. Now its a three cinema complex with all the mod cons. We even have an elevator!!! . Cinema one, is the same size as the old cinema (220 seats) with stadium seating, new screen and DTS. Cinemas 2 and 3 are upstairs and hold 110 people each, also stadium seating.
 

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Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 07-09-2007, 05:06 AM:
 
(Here's "Bumblebee" for Richard to drool at... )


 

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Posted by Pravin Ratnam (Member # 1417) on 07-10-2007, 02:01 PM:
 
I saw the DLP presentation at Regal Atlantic Station , Atlanta.

Let me say this. The picture looked damn good on a midsize screen and I was sitting 20 rows or so from the front. I was close enough where I had to move my head back as much as I could to digest some of the action scenes. I walked into a film version for a few minutes later and the pic wasn't as good. I think it reflects more on the quality of film prints than the superiority of one format over the other.

I assume the DLP projector in this theater is one of the recent ones. I saw part of Revenge of the Sith in digital and it seemed kind of pixelated from the front rows. The credits lettering was crisp and steady. Something lacking in most presentations in Atlanta.

Overall, I liked the movie more than I expected to. I had low expectations because it was Michael Bay. But it was very watchable even if it veers into lameass comedy territory one too many times(like the dragged out tooth fairy joke). Bay also sticks in his favorite Americana visuals at weird moments. But compared to the travesties that were Bad BOys 2 or Armageddon, this was a big improvement. Even the effects looked pretty decent.
 

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Posted by Jason Winn (Member # 3568) on 07-11-2007, 11:40 PM:
 
I never ecen watched the cartoon when I was a kid. I don't know anything about Transformers, but I fuckin' loved it! This was a badass movie from beginning to end. I'll admit, I'm not a big fan of Michael Bay. I still haven't forgave him for The Island. That movie was horrible! But, this movie was awesome! Great summer popcorn movie.

Oh, and as for Megan Fox. . .
 

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Posted by Tristan Lane (Member # 1169) on 07-12-2007, 12:51 AM:
 
Watched it for the second time tonight... And although the cinematography detracts from the action, watching the transformers in action made it worthwhile. The weak acting and piss poor drama scenes were made bearable by the action sequences. As other's have stated, the Autobots seemed more convincing in their roles than most of the human characters. In that area, Bay proves his inability to direct non-action scenes.

Micheal Bay can't be blamed fully for the seizure-cam style that seems to be present in most of his films. The credit should be blamed mostly on Mitchell Amundsen. The two directors seem to go hand in hand, and Amundsen's crappy hand-held style is so distracting that it is sometimes hard to focus on the action. This was evident in "The Bourne Supremacy" where I found myself asking "What just happened in that scene?" Amundsen's style of photography makes me incredibly angry. His "work" was present in the films "The Island", "Mission Impossible III", "Pearl Harbor" and "Armageddon" and all of these films suffered because of him.

How Amundsen was able to produce great movies like "Seabiscuit" and "P.O.T.C 1" are beyond me. Oh wait..... He was Secondary Director of Photography. I guess he wasn't able to put his full "artistic" touch into those films and fuck them up too.

Overall, a good action flick. Just view it with the intellectual portion of your brain turned off, and you will enjoy it(that is if you don't barf from the shaking camera).
 

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Posted by Richard Montano (Member # 4388) on 07-13-2007, 05:57 AM:
 
As a long-time Transformer fan, I have a few complaints about the "artistic license" Bay used in his designs for the Autobots and Decepticons that made an appearance in the movie. He could have stuck a little closer to the original designs.

But with that aside, I feel that the movie flowed fairly well, bad jokes and poorly placed catch phrases aside (having Shia LeBeouf say that "there's more to you than meets the eye" twice in as many minutes was rather irritating), the CGI looked quite wonderful and the addition of the original audio of a Transformer changing forms made for a wonderful taste of nostalgia.

If I were a critic, I'd have to give it at the very least, 3 of five stars.
 

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Posted by Shane Cooper (Member # 2510) on 07-13-2007, 11:04 AM:
 
For some reason, whenever Michael Bay's name is mentioned in conversation I go ballistic. The best way I can describe my feelings for Michael Bay is to compare them with my feelings for cotton candy:

You go to the county fair each summer and you see the cotton candy stand. You say to yourself, "man I could really use some cotton candy!" With all of the excitement and anticipation reaching a boiling point, you pay for the confectionery treat and dive right in. about half way through you realize that the cotton candy isn't as good as you imagined it would be. Towards the end of it, you actually feel sick to your stomach and declare, "I will never eat cotton candy ever again."

However, the next summer rolls around, you go to the county fair and cotton candy sounds pretty good...

Bottom line: Michael Bay is like cotton candy. Each summer he teases you into buying something that isn't nearly as good as you would have hoped. Ultimately it will leave you feeling sick. Somehow, he is able to get you excited again the next summer.

That being said, as far as the features of Michael "boom boom " Bay go, Transformers is probably towards the top. I thought it moved along pretty well and action was enjoyable. As always, the dialogue was torture. I actually let out an involuntary but very audible groan at the line, "whatever happens, I am really glad I got in%
 

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Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 07-14-2007, 04:51 PM:
 
CINEMA: Megaplex 12 at the Gateway, Salt Lake City, UT
AUDITORIUM: 2
PRESENTATION: Dolby Digital Cinema in a THX certified auditorium
PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: Wall sconce light leakage on the left side of the screen during previews (a combination of poor sconce design and poor auditorium design), picture slightly out of focus
RATING: Three stars (out of four)

Well whoda thunk. Michael Bay finally found his element.

This was a blast. The soundtrack was off the chart good. Heavy use of surrounds and subwoofer, but well placed. A campy teenage love story with killer action and cool cars.

I understand some Transformers fans are annoyed with Bay changing the car brands from the original series/books/whatever this used to be (the cars are all American muscle...there's even a tease scene at a Porsche dealership, as well as a direct attack of a yellow Beetle, that I'm assuming Bay used to pfffft the faithful). I wonder how much GM ponied up to showcase the Camero and Solstice. And why they didn't care about them trashing so many GMC's. Poor GMC.
 

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Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 07-15-2007, 06:21 PM:
 
Location: Carmike 8
Auditorium: #6, 8:30pm show 7/14/7
Format: Christie 2K DLP/LPCM 5.1
Rating: 3 stars out of 4

After hearing some of my co-workers go on about how good Transformers was, I decided to check it out for myself. Being that it was a Michael Bay movie I didn't go in with high expectations. But I was surprised that I actually liked it enough to give it a positive review. I think this is Bay's best work since The Rock.

Basically this movie works as amusement park ride spectacle with lots of action scenes and showing off really cool hardware. I thought the early sequences in the Qatar desert gave the film enough momentum to keep from being derailed by some of the dumber moments where everyday human drama is attempted.

Pretty good audio mix on this one. Thump de la bang.

The movie isn't without its flaws. The dialog is pretty stupid. But then the dialog in the original 1980s cartoons was badly stilted and stupid as well. I really groaned at the narration in the last scene by Optimus Prime, but remembered that's how the character from the cartoon was. I surprised when the audience applauded when the credits rolled. It's not often I see that take place in a Lawton theater. The DVD and HD discs should sell well.

Random thoughts:

I liked that most of the movie was shot in 'scope. But Michael Bay just loves those gradient filters and other artificial stuff to pretty-ize everything so it looks like a Japanese car commercial.

The robots could have been designed better. There was so much complicated crap on those characters and they moved so fast that it was difficult to tell just what the hell was going on in some fight scenes.

It seems like the designers were trying to copy some of the design cues of other types of very complicated Japanese "Gundam" warrior robots. Starscream (the robot who morphed into a CH-53 Super Stallion helicopter) made me think of those huge spiny bad guys from the Halo games.

The Camaro concept car was very cool. But then I might be biased being a former Camaro owner. I think GM just needs to sell the new Camaro in that design. They will screw it up if they smooth out the angles and water it down to please boring people that would never buy a Camaro anyway.

The Saleen Cobra police car was also pretty cool. Loved the counterpoint play off, "to protect and serve." Instead, the script on the car said, "to punish and enslave."

Megan Fox did look very nice.

Some have mentioned Bay's tight relationship with GM. The director must have a really tight friendship with the Department of Defense. Normally, the DOD will show off some decent hardware when it agrees to participate in a film production. They displayed almost everything in the arsenal with this feature.

The last name of Shia LaBeouf's character is "Witwicky." That has to be the most stupid sounding last name in film history. It deserves to be on a most stupid sounding names list at the very least.

There's a shot of "Sam Witwicky" running on a L.A. rooftop getting ready to light a flare to signal some good guys. He runs through some clothes lines with laundry hanging from them. Why would someone hang out their laundry on a skyscraper rooftop? Who even hangs their laundry on clothes lines anymore?

I'd like one of those Mountain Dew vending machines that transforms into a robot and fires cans of soda at people. It would be great if you could run it via remote control, "DO THE DEW, BITCH!!!"

Sabot ammunition is mentioned in the movie, without offering any kind of explanation of how it works. Sabot (pronounced say-bo) rounds are made for tank cannons all the way down to rifles and shotguns. Sabot ammo for handguns is a new development. The Sabot travels down the barrel when the round is fired, but unlike standard ammo, the Sabot expands and traps gases behind the projectile more effectively. When it leaves the barrel it spreads apart and falls away from a secondary projectile contained inside. That smaller secondary projectile travels at much higher speeds, flatter trajectories and hits the target with a lot more kinetic energy. Armor piercing saboted tank rounds contain fin stabilized darts made of depleted uranium. Experimental sabot handgun ammo (.45 cartridges containing .40 slugs) have penetrated more than 20 layers of Kevlar. Nasty.

But the funny thing is A-10 Warthogs don't use Sabot ammo in their 30mm Vulcan cannons. The standard depleted uranium bullets fired from those things have huge shell casings and are very devastating in their own right. Same goes for the ammo fired from "Puff the Magic Dragon" (the KC-130 Hercules gunship featured in the same scene).
 

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Posted by Kurt Zupin (Member # 2751) on 07-15-2007, 08:52 PM:
 
"Starscream (the robot who morphed into a CH-53 Super Stallion helicopter) made me think of those huge spiny bad guys from the Halo games."

Starscream was the F-22 Raptor, the Helicopter was Blackout.
 

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Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 07-16-2007, 01:14 AM:
 
Okay, this is kind of a pre-requisite of a movie being ready for commercial release:

I should not have to had to watched all the stupid Transformer cartoons before as a pre-requisite to watching the freaking movie.

THE MOVIE SHOULD BE ABLE TO WORK ON ITS OWN. PERIOD.

No excuse. No remorse. No quarter. That is absolutely it. There is no way any viewer including myself will be held wrong at all for not getting it. Get the movie right for all the "unwashed" or jump off a cliff!

[ 07-16-2007, 09:21 AM: Message edited by: Bobby Henderson ]
 

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Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 07-16-2007, 08:34 AM:
 
Saw this yesterday at the Cambridge Premiere cinema in Cambridge, Maryland.

It wasn't that bad, or not as bad as I thought it would be. Yeah - the special effects were great. I found myself laughing at some of the lines and my 8 year old looking at me funny when I did. There was just a slight nostalgic aspect to it as "Transformers" were all the rage when I was growing up. But I will forget this movie by next week. I cannot even remember the lines that had me laughing.

That's all that Hollywood is making now - forgettable movies.
 

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Posted by Kurt Zupin (Member # 2751) on 07-16-2007, 01:34 PM:
 
Wow Bobby no need to go all ape shit, I was just saying. Its not a big deal, the world isn't going to cave in on itself.

The movie only says who the decepticons like once for each, except for Megatron. Its ok, was just pointing it out before someone else did.
 

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Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 07-16-2007, 06:08 PM:
 
I'm sorry Kurt, I didn't mean to make it sound like I was attacking you. I was venting in general about all the Transformers trivia it seems like people need to know in order to make sense out of the movie.

There's a number of movies that seem to do that and I find it irritating. When someone doesn't like the movie because it makes no sense to them they'll sometimes get regarded as being stupid or something by all the hardcore fans. I think any movie should be able to stand on its own without requiring people to have watched other TV shows, read certain books, play certain games or whatever to make sense out of the show.

Tron even seems to have had that problem to a certain degree. I really liked the movie a lot, but then I was already familiar with computer terminology while many others in the early 1980s were not. That movie is certainly one that people either seem to love or hate with very little middle ground. If someone doesn't like that movie that's just how they feel about it.
 

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Posted by Matt Barth (Member # 3429) on 07-17-2007, 12:45 PM:
 
I don't understand most of the critics here. The movie is released July 4th week, it's Michael Bay and the lead character is a semi cab that's really a robot. If you're expecting anything more than one big explosion I think you may be the one with the problems.

Granted, a bit of it went too slow (I always hated the humans in the cartoon) but I don't see how you needed to know any backstory. Granted I grew up on the toons but there's no need to know Starscream is Megatron's 2nd who's always looking for a way to take control. You can go without knowing that Frenzy the ADD reconbot is attached to Soundwavem a large boombox.

I dunno, I can handle if it's not everyone's cup of tea but calling it anything along the lines of stupid really makes me wonder what people expected.

---Matt
 

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Posted by Pravin Ratnam (Member # 1417) on 07-18-2007, 09:22 PM:
 
Bobby, how was your DLP presentation?
 

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Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 07-19-2007, 09:23 PM:
 
I thought the DLP looked pretty good.

But anamorphic 35mm without the 2K digital intermediate bottleneck would probably look sharper (also providing the CGI effects were rendered at something better than mere 2K resolution).
 

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Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 07-19-2007, 09:44 PM:
 

quote: Bobby Henderson

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Tron even seems to have had that problem to a certain degree.

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Bobby,

You're right about that! The only people that understood TRON at all back when it was released were IBM computer geeks. Today even the old farts understand at least some of it because of "digital exposure" over the years.

Mark
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-28-2007, 09:05 PM:
 
Impressive special effects. The movie has a sense of humor, so that's good. It reminds me of "Armageddon" that way.

What's with all the computers beeping and squeaking and squawking all the time. That sounds so dumb...."Yahoo" appears on the screen with a bunch of beeps and squeals. Uh, you'd think that would be very annoying for the user.

I haven't seen the whole movie yet so I won't comment further until I do, but those two are my first impressions.
 

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Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 10-27-2007, 04:46 AM:
 
I finally saw this movie about 10 minutes ago or so. First off I must admit that I was a huge Transformers fan as a child. I loved the cartoon as well as the cartoon movie. You never saw good guy characters die in cartoon movies until Transformers came along. This Michael Bay movie is like a series reboot, only the reboot aspect is not done very well. You basically need to be a Transformers fan to fully grasp what is going on. The Decepticon symbol is never shown and some character names are given only once and we're expected to remember them. Anyone who isn't a Transformers fan would probably think "WTF?" or just like it for the action. This movie kicked ass and sucked ass at the same time. There's no denying that the story was pure crap, especially the human side of the story. But there is lots of fairly cool action, but due to the way the Transformers look, it can get confusing. The CGI was awesome, but that's because everything was metal.

I am displeased with the way the robots themselves looked. They looked waaay fucked up. You could see all of their gears and all of that and as a result it was sometimes hard to make out what was their arms and legs, etc. They looked more like insects than anything. Often it was hard to tell the difference between any two Transformers. They almost all looked the same. Shitty design. The cartoons looked much more practical and logistical from a design standpoint. Fucking Michael Bay and his "I must ruin everything I survey" policy. Not only that, but some of the names were screwed up. Devastator was a tank and Bonecrusher was some sort of roving vehicle thingy. In the cartoon (and toy) Bonecrusher is a bulldozer who transforms into a robot and along with 5 other construction vehicles that also transform into their own individual robots merge together into a giant super robot called Devastator. There is no way Devastator could be running around on his own independently of Bonecrusher (who is actually Devastator's left arm). The voices were also mastered poorly with too much filtering. They also lowered the pitch on Peter Cullen's (Optimus Prime) voice slightly for some unknown reason. And why the fuck does Optimus Prime have a mouth? He looks like a retard flapping that thing. It's on the bottom of his fucking chin for Christ's sake!

Check out this Optimus Prime comparison I cooked up JUST FOR YOU:

As you can see, the one on the left looks he was designed by someone who has a double dose of Down Syndrome™, Bird Flu and Hepatitis A and C.

Anyway I enjoyed the movie due to nostalgic value even though the cartoon has a far better premise/storyline. The sound was really good... for a Michael Bay movie. Music was still a little too bombastic for my tastes, though. I hope Woody Allen directs the sequel.
 

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Posted by Patrick de Groot (Member # 858) on 10-27-2007, 04:55 AM:
 
Completely agree about the design. Way too complicated just to make it look like high tech or something... Also the cube thing was just stupid. The attack on the military base was impressive.
For the sequel you are stuck with how things are done now. A pitty.
 

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Posted by Joseph L. Kleiman (Member # 3097) on 11-07-2007, 04:40 PM:
 
Viewed at AMC LOEWS METREON IMAX
15/70 DMR Version
Monday, 11/05 7:05 pm
10 people in auditorium

Film: 3 out of 5
DMR Conversion: 4 out of 5
Sound: 5 out of 5
Annoying teenagers: NONE!

My thoughts on the film:

1. That annoying boombox thing was just annoying. Was it supposed to be a Decepticon version of a Gremlin?

2. Why did all things the cube bring to life become evil?

3. How come the Decepticons were all jagged and pointy and the Autobots looked like they came straight of a General Motors assembly line in Canada?

4. Bumblebee is a Volkswagon bug not a Camero! Thank you Michael Bay for slapping my childhood on its ass. The Camero slapping the Bug only put the icing on your cake, didn’t it?

5. JAZZ!!!!!! You killed off Jazz and he didn’t get a chance to be cool!!!!!

6. I kept thinking to myself “that girl’s got to be over 16.”

7. Hugo Weaving was the voice of Megatron, Queen of the Decepticons?

8. To reiterate Joe Redifer: "In the cartoon (and toy) Bonecrusher is a bulldozer who transforms into a robot and along with 5 other construction vehicles that also transform into their own individual robots and merge together into a giant super robot called Devastator. There is no way Devastator could be running around on his own independently of Bonecrusher (who is actually Devastator's left arm)."

9. Barton Fink did not need to act like a retard. He’s better than that. He could have and should have just played pure evil.

10. Why did the Autobots always look like they were making love to buildings?

11. The cool thing about the size and resolution of the IMAX image is that you can see things like the buggers up Shia LaBouf’s nose.

12. Where the fuck was Bruce Willis? The music kept telling me that Bruce and Ben were on their way to save the planet.

13. Tyrese got second billing? All he did was yell at the guy who got fifth billing and more screen time.

14. John Turturo vs. Brent Spiner - Who’s the better whackjob fooling with alien technology?

15. I want to buy a GM car now.

16. Why was the President quarantined to his bed on Air Force One?

17. Why wasn’t Air Force One a Transformer? That would have been cool!

18. She’s got to be over 16.

19. Michael Bay destroyed a bunch of BMW’s. I was appalled.

20. One word – A N T H O N Y !!!! Redeemed the whole film single handedly.

21. Yet more proof that Bernie Mac is not funny in the movies.

22. The film was made in Detroit. Go figure.

23. I liked it alot and had Transformer dreams all night.
 

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Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 11-07-2007, 10:20 PM:
 

quote: Joseph L. Kleiman

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4. Bumblebee is a Volkswagon bug not a Camero! Thank you Michael Bay for slapping my childhood on its ass. The Camero slapping the Bug only put the icing on your cake, didn’t it?

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quote: Joe Redifer

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why the fuck does Optimus Prime have a mouth?

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quote: Chris Slycord

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My guess is he had little, if any, control over the deals that went into what products would be placed in the movie.

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quote: Joseph L. Kleiman

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...She’s got to be over 16.

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No dude, she's 18... that first day was her birthday... that's what I choose to believe, cause she was way too hot not to be legal!



Mike
 

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Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 11-08-2007, 09:36 PM:
 
Both of the "teens" are at least in their early twenties. They don't look like teenagers at all, just assholes.
 

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Posted by Matt Barth (Member # 3429) on 11-18-2007, 10:17 AM:
 
I'd also heard Volkswagen didn't want to be associated with such a violent movie, go figure.

I was upset watching the DVD with commentary because I expected Bay to make some mention that he'd changed Brawl's name (he's the tank that was incorrectly named Devastator as noted before). The story that went around was the name was going to be changed back to Brawl but the subtitle group didn't get the memo and Bay liked it better anyway. That pissed off the nerd inside me, it didn't help that Bay openly admits he knows jack-crap about Transformers.

The fact the AllSpark only made evil bots was weird to me too.

---Matt
 

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Posted by Marc Jensen (Member # 3561) on 11-27-2007, 07:40 PM:
 
Those All Spark creations late in the film have been explained by one of the writers. Their idea was that those robots would be primal and soulless creations, without any sense of right or wrong. They just came to 'life' and did what they were equipped to do: Attack.
 

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Posted by Jake Lafree (Member # 3656) on 11-28-2007, 10:07 PM:
 
made in Detroit eh? wow go figure indeed
 

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Posted by Kurt Zupin (Member # 2751) on 11-29-2007, 02:55 AM:
 
Only one thing was shot in Detroit. Bay used the old Detroit Rail Station. Its the building Sam is running to with the cube at the end.
 

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