The Transformers 2 Thread--A Michael Bay thread

[myk]

And the worse thing is, all the girls i know absolutely loved it.

Was it because of the "chick-flickness" earlier in the show? I don't know.

I don't get that at all. The only reason why women are even in this movie is to exploit and objectify them sexually. I dunno, I guess I can appreciate a girl who thinks she needs to be thought of as a plaything...

[wolfx]

after reading the topless robot review and confirming what i thought was strange in the film, i get the feeling that this movie is sorta like Michael Bay having initial ideas of how some scenes should pan out but he has no idea how to bring them together into the movie.

then when it comes to putting those scenes together, MB just did a "Robotech" job with it and wrote some lame continuity that might not make sense to bring these disjointed scenes together. My friend mentioned how silly it was that the airplane graveyard was just outside the smithsonian in the middle of D.C.

[Phyrox]

... i get the feeling that this movie is sorta like Michael Bay having initial ideas of how some scenes should pan out but he has no idea how to bring them together into the movie.

then when it comes to putting those scenes together, MB just did a "Robotech" job with it and wrote some lame continuity that might not make sense to bring these disjointed scenes together.

That is exactly the impression I got.

[VFTF1]

... i get the feeling that this movie is sorta like Michael Bay having initial ideas of how some scenes should pan out but he has no idea how to bring them together into the movie.

then when it comes to putting those scenes together, MB just did a "Robotech" job with it and wrote some lame continuity that might not make sense to bring these disjointed scenes together.

Wow. Transformers with continuity issues. Unheard of!

Pete (who will see the film in a week and a half...)

[Einherjar]

Just came back from watching the film. I'll talk about it later, but thank you Michael Bay for making me feel too old. Even Star Trek didn't make me feel that way. But the action sequences were good. If I was a bigger fan of the franchise I would have been embarrassed by chunks of the movie (the human parts).

[taksraven]

If I was a bigger fan of the franchise I would have been embarrassed by chunks of the movie (the human parts).

I was embarrassed by more than a few chunks of this film.

Taksraven

[Einherjar]

Fine, more embarrassed about the human parts and whoever the retard twins were.

[taksraven]

Fine, more embarrassed about the human parts and whoever the retard twins were.

Yeah, the twins sucked. One looked a bit like a rat so I thought "Rattrap" and then I thought, "No way".

The other thing that cracked me up was the fact that they bothered to get Welker to do the voice for Soundwave (wasted character), but they got him to do it as the Dr Claw voice without the treatment the voice then requires to sound like G1 Soundwave. Bloody stupid.

Taksraven

[Einherjar]

The Transformers had names?! Couldn't tell nor cared watching it except for the few mentioned.

[aerocombatpilot]

Just came back from watching the film. I'll talk about it later, but thank you Michael Bay for making me feel too old. Even Star Trek didn't make me feel that way. But the action sequences were good. If I was a bigger fan of the franchise I would have been embarrassed by chunks of the movie (the human parts).

So, is it worth seeing or should I wait for the DVD?

[kaiotheforsaken]

Yeah, the twins sucked. One looked a bit like a rat so I thought "Rattrap" and then I thought, "No way".

The other thing that cracked me up was the fact that they bothered to get Welker to do the voice for Soundwave (wasted character), but they got him to do it as the Dr Claw voice without the treatment the voice then requires to sound like G1 Soundwave. Bloody stupid.

Taksraven

Why exactly is it mandated that Soundwave has to have the voice treatment in the first place? Soundwave was pretty bad ass imo for just chilling in space and doing his covert thing. I swear to god, it's like the Federation font argument all over again.

If you didn't like the movie that's fine, obviously everyone is entitled to their opinion. But it really feels like some people just want to hate this movie so damn much they just blow minor things way out of proportion.

This is more just a general statement, than a response to the quote, but I find it funny that everyone blames Bay for everything they don't like. While it's true he has a good deal of pull, he didn't write the thing, or draw up all those concept sketches or w/e. It's like Bay is the only one who sexually assaulted your childhood or something, at least distribute the hate evenly.

But whatever, like I said, everyone is entitled to their opinions. Some of the hate just seems silly to me.

[Einherjar]

So, is it worth seeing or should I wait for the DVD?

If you're a big fan and well verse in the Transformer universe(s), you may not like it. As a casual fan, I went into it wanting to see action and crap blowing up and liked it. Though it didn't stop me from groaning from all the embarrassing jokes and pop culture references, especially for a long movie like this.

There were some improvements from the first one; not as many secondary humans taking up screen time.

Edited June 28, 2009 by Einherjar

[taksraven]

Why exactly is it mandated that Soundwave has to have the voice treatment in the first place? Soundwave was pretty bad ass imo for just chilling in space and doing his covert thing. I swear to god, it's like the Federation font argument all over again.

I'm not some hyper-obsessed TF fan. My point is that if they are going to go 90% of the way to get Soundwave's voice right, why not give it the full 100%, thats all.

If you didn't like the movie that's fine, obviously everyone is entitled to their opinion. But it really feels like some people just want to hate this movie so damn much they just blow minor things way out of proportion.

Read my original post about this movie. My major concerns are not about 'minor' things.

http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?...st&p=764557

This is more just a general statement, than a response to the quote, but I find it funny that everyone blames Bay for everything they don't like. While it's true he has a good deal of pull, he didn't write the thing, or draw up all those concept sketches or w/e. It's like Bay is the only one who sexually assaulted your childhood or something, at least distribute the hate evenly.

As director, Bay has to take final responsibility for the finished product. I know that a lot of the problems in this film are not just his doing, but if he has the inability to see that its crap, I'm gonna blame him.

I was sitting there during the film, thinking to myself, "All this money, all these great SFX and the final product sucks. What a waste".

I'm not saying that I could do better, but I am sure that there are plenty out there who could do better if given the same resources. And they could probably do better with more original material than TF or adapting something that has not been on the big screen before. Ever read John Christophers "Tripods" trilogy. Its brilliant. It would make a great film or series of films. And the budget for this film could easily have covered "The White Mountains". All it takes is for Hollywood to take a bit of a risk, and dare to shoot something a bit different. Films like TF are safe filmmaking at its worst.

But whatever, like I said, everyone is entitled to their opinions. Some of the hate just seems silly to me.

Hey, we are talking about SF and comic fanboys here, of course the criticisms are going to look silly to some.....

Taksraven

[promethuem5]

Just got back from the film... as one of the biggest and loudest nerdraging haters of the first film (I won't watch it, and my friends know better than to ask), I went into this one expecting worse than nothing and was pleasantly surprised. The plot is both minimal and secondary to the action, and that basically worked for me this time around. The robots were rendered WAY better than in the first film, and even if I still don't agree with the design choices of Bayformers, you could tell what was going on in most of the action scenes in this one. There are plenty of throwaway robots, which does seem odd, but I guess is an attempt to add more gravity to the action. At least some of the robots had semi-meaningful dialogue, and thankfully there seemed to be much less squishie-only screen time.

Micheal Bay's potty mouth humor is still present tho, which lead to all of my actual problems with the film... it was loads better written than the first IMO, but the potty humor is still jarringly uncalled for. ANY humping gags in a movie are too many, and there were way more than one in this. The testicles were also really shockingly tasteless, combined with the fact that Devy has no vehicle members with any wrecking balls, so you know they are one hundred percent a gag Bay thought was clever.

And I can still see the complaints with how the beginning went... I like the whole pro-active 'Con hunting strike force, and it seemed to work for the most part, but Prime executing the 'Con in the beginning was really out of place. Prime DIES in the animated film because he won't put down a fallen foe... WTF?

One more thing that did bug me... exactly how many Constructicons were there? They seemed to be everywhere all at once... having them be clones/army builder grunts would have been fine if they'd actually established that fact beforehand.

All in all, I have to see it again so my little brother can see it, and I may end up buying some toys, so it's already leaps and bounds above the first one for me. I voted for Grimlock in the poll way back when

[Zx31]

If you're a big fan and well verse in the Transformer universe(s), you may not like it.

I'm a huge fan and I loved it. It wasn't a "great" movie but it isn't supposed to be. It has its flaws, but I enjoyed it for what it is, a summer action flick.

[Einherjar]

I'm a huge fan and I loved it. It wasn't a "great" movie but it isn't supposed to be. It has its flaws, but I enjoyed it for what it is, a summer action flick.

May not as in might not like it, not won't, but good for you that you did.

Edited June 28, 2009 by Einherjar

[sidearmsalpha]

Yeah, the twins sucked. One looked a bit like a rat so I thought "Rattrap" and then I thought, "No way".

The other thing that cracked me up was the fact that they bothered to get Welker to do the voice for Soundwave (wasted character), but they got him to do it as the Dr Claw voice without the treatment the voice then requires to sound like G1 Soundwave. Bloody stupid.

Taksraven

Yeah, what was up with that?! You get Frank Welker to voice Soundwave, but they wanted him to sound like Dr. Claw instead?! Hell, they should have made him do his Scooby Doo voice to get some more laughs.

[Alex]

Yeah, what was up with that?! You get Frank Welker to voice Soundwave, but they wanted him to sound like Dr. Claw instead?! Hell, they should have made him do his Scooby Doo voice to get some more laughs.

I preferred the voice they used for SW in the movie. And what better way to show respect to Frank Welker as an actor than to NOT completely mix up his voice with a computer, but to let him show off his pure awesomeness at doing voices.

Either way, I felt a good wave of nostalgia hearing that voice. And damn was it cold and calculating. Just right for SW.

Edited June 28, 2009 by Alex

[wolfx]

One more thing that did bug me... exactly how many Constructicons were there? They seemed to be everywhere all at once... having them be clones/army builder grunts would have been fine if they'd actually established that fact beforehand.

I'm sure you noticed there were multiple clones of the decepticons in the movie. I.E, Bonecrusher and Blackout that died in the 1st movie reappeared in the 2nd movie, and there were constructicons in the desert hunting Sam while there was Devastator climbing the pyramids. It would seem there were multiple decepticons taking on the same form or something.

IMHO i think the continuity is abit screwed and they were meant to be unique robots but MB copy pasta-ed scenes all over that it didn't matter anymore.

And as for Soundwave, despite not following classic Soundwave voice, i thought his lines were pretty awesome.

He was directing the Decepticons while he orbits around earth

. How awesome is that?

Edited June 28, 2009 by wolfx

[Alex]

Something that was terribly rushed was the final fight between Prime and The Fallan. It felt like edited highlights.....without the highlights.

I was really expecting them to utilise the Fallen's teleporting/telekinesis and Prime's new Fastpacks to have some cool, aeriel battle. Missed opportunity.

[Einherjar]

Though they didn't need to do it, I thought it was cool that Starscream actually sounded like G1 Starscream this time around.

[Alex]

Though they didn't need to do it, I thought it was cool that Starscream actually sounded like G1 Starscream this time around.

I thought he sounded even MORE effeminate than G1 SS!

Speaking of which......Megatron's line

"Starscream!!!?? I'm HOME!!!"

just shows the special "relationship" that these two guys have.

Edited June 28, 2009 by Alex

[Einherjar]

About the dialogue, did Micheal Bay take pointers from My Way's Transformers?

[taksraven]

Though they didn't need to do it, I thought it was cool that Starscream actually sounded like G1 Starscream this time around.

Yeah, I noticed that and thought it was OK.

Taksraven

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

I thought he sounded even MORE effeminate than G1 SS!

Neat tidbit...Charles Adler voiced Starscream in ROTF and Cobra Commander in G.I. Joe Resolute...neat because Chris Latta had voiced Cobra Commander in the original G.I. Joe cartoon and Starscream in G1.

And as for Soundwave, despite not following classic Soundwave voice, i thought his lines were pretty awesome. He was directing the Decepticons while he orbits around earth. How awesome is that?

A satellite works great for Soundwave's alt mode, too bad the figure did not turn out that well.

Something that was terribly rushed was the final fight between Prime and The Fallan. It felt like edited highlights.....without the highlights.

I was really expecting them to utilise the Fallen's teleporting/telekinesis and Prime's new Fastpacks to have some cool, aeriel battle. Missed opportunity.

Agreed, it ended way too quick, I and my friend were like "That's it?".

[azrael]

At least talk of Dr. Manhattan's blue-shining wang has subsided thanks to Devastator's mechanical balls.

[Alex]

I really didn't like the whole set-up of the "Only a Prime can kill the Fallen!". plot device.

Yes......if he also happens to be wearing the dead corpse of some geriatric ex-Decepticon. Only THEN can a Prime kill the Fallen! Bleh.

Also, the lack of Energon. Jetfire is literally falling apart from a lack of it. What about the other bots?

[wolfx]

I really didn't like the whole set-up of the "Only a Prime can kill the Fallen!". plot device.

Yes......if he also happens to be wearing the dead corpse of some geriatric ex-Decepticon. Only THEN can a Prime kill the Fallen! Bleh.

Also, the lack of Energon. Jetfire is literally falling apart from a lack of it. What about the other bots?

I'm assuming he's old and he's been on earth a long time without a source of Energon he eventually died. The rest of the bots.....shrug....who knows. I'm assuming the transformers are more or less immortal as long as they have a steady supply of energon.

Edited June 28, 2009 by wolfx

[taksraven]

I'm assuming he's old and he's been on earth a long time without a source of Energon he eventually died. The rest of the bots.....shrug....who knows. I'm assuming the transformers are more or less immortal as long as they have a steady supply of energon.

The whole energon thing has been really weird with this film series.

And now to leave Alaska Base.

Taksraven

[VFTF1]

.....shrug....who knows. I'm assuming

Perfect summary of how the scriptwriters apparently went about their work applause.

Pete

Edited June 28, 2009 by VFTF1

[transfan52]

While some of the fights scenes seemed apparently rushed and I agree the last fight went way too quick. Micheal Bay is trying to make this a movie for everyone so that even ppl who are not die-hard fans will enjoy it.

Alot of extra footage featuring sam and his family were introduced in the movie to give it a more balanced appeal while mixing in some crude humor to make it more accessable to a public audience...

This is a double edged sword... on the one hand if the movie had too much homage to the g1 series for the die-hard fans, a lot of average viewers wouldn't be able to relate and would feel left out. Still it could have been handled better... The first movie seemed to have pulled that off perfectly, the comedy wasn't overbearing and there was a good balance of story focused on the transformers as well as the human characters of the first movie.

It seems like michael bay focused too much on the human element this time around to capture a larger audience. As a result the plot and focus of the movie suffered a bit. It's not the worst sci fi movie around though... IMO it still is better than a lot of the crap hollywood has been putting out this year but it could have been better if the movie wasn't so rushed.

Hopefully the third movie will redeem it self in the long run and get back to what made the first movie so great.

[Alex]

One problem is that Bay cut the fight scenes way too close to the camera.

In the forest fight, there were some beautiful, wide angle shots of Prime being, well, not Prime, but really showing off his fighting skills.

We need more of that for the next movie.

[Alex]

It seems like michael bay focused too much on the human element this time around to capture a larger audience. As a result the plot and focus of the movie suffered a bit. It's not the worst sci fi movie around though... IMO it still is better than a lot of the crap hollywood has been putting out this year but it could have been better if the movie wasn't so rushed.

Hopefully the third movie will redeem it self in the long run and get back to what made the first movie so great.

I actually felt that the Humans and Bots had far more even focus in the story telling than the first movie.

Edited June 28, 2009 by Alex

[taksraven]

While some of the fights scenes seemed apparently rushed and I agree the last fight went way too quick. Micheal Bay is trying to make this a movie for everyone so that even ppl who are not die-hard fans will enjoy it.

Alot of extra footage featuring sam and his family were introduced in the movie to give it a more balanced appeal while mixing in some crude humor to make it more accessable to a public audience...

This is a double edged sword... on the one hand if the movie had too much homage to the g1 series for the die-hard fans, a lot of average viewers wouldn't be able to relate and would feel left out. Still it could have been handled better... The first movie seemed to have pulled that off perfectly, the comedy wasn't overbearing and there was a good balance of story focused on the transformers as well as the human characters of the first movie.

It seems like michael bay focused too much on the human element this time around to capture a larger audience. As a result the plot and focus of the movie suffered a bit. It's not the worst sci fi movie around though... IMO it still is better than a lot of the crap hollywood has been putting out this year but it could have been better if the movie wasn't so rushed.

Hopefully the third movie will redeem it self in the long run and get back to what made the first movie so great.

Ummmmm no.........

I think that they had their chance to make their own "Empire Strikes Back" with this film, with a darker ending (Prime dead, Rodimus Prime taking over, maybe) and a good lead in to the next film, but they stuffed it up......

Taksraven

[myk]

Alot of extra footage featuring sam and his family were introduced in the movie to give it a more balanced appeal while mixing in some crude humor to make it more accessable to a public audience...

Wow. Is that really what the public wants to see and experience?