The Transformers 2 Thread--A Michael Bay thread

[Agent ONE]

Loved everything except the racist comic relief. The twins were "jar-jar-ific"

Edited June 29, 2009 by Agent ONE

[kaiotheforsaken]

I'd vote if it'd let me. Better than the first, 2-3 times so far.

[Graham]

Well after seeing the trailier that was running in the local Toys R Us, my wife decided not to let me take my son to the cinema to watch ROTF.

She has agreed, to let him watch it when it comes out on DVD though. I can never figure out women's logic!

I let my son choose one of the smaller Transformers ROTF toys as a consolation. He chose an Autobot that transforms into a warship. IIRC, it's called Depth Charge. Does this actually appear in the movie?

Graham

[kaiotheforsaken]

He does not sadly.

[anime52k8]

so any reason why the poll results were reset?

[David Hingtgen]

New question. However, it's not allowing people who voted for the previous question to vote for the new one.

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

I let my son choose one of the smaller Transformers ROTF toys as a consolation. He chose an Autobot that transforms into a warship. IIRC, it's called Depth Charge. Does this actually appear in the movie?

No, none of the scout figures aside from Scapel and Ejector appear in the movie.

[Renato]

Well Lennox and the govt. guy(forgot this guy's name) went over it when they were arguing. The Decepticons want Sam and Lennox doesn't want to budge while the other guy doesn't care and wants the Autobots to leave and let the Decepticons have Sam he even suggests having negotiations with the Decepticons. Lennox and NEST know that the Decepticons won't really negotiate or do anything peaceful, so NEST and the Autobots are hunting them down. After what happened in TF1, I think they are trying to prevent anything like it from happening again.

Yeah, so it was a great plan to sneak up on quiet Decepticons, ambush them, and destroy Shanghai in the process.

I must say I feel sorry for that unicycle dude in the beginning. He's just chillin' out, digging holes or whatever in his constructicon mode, then suddenly these gung-ho army types are like "yee-haw, fan out and catch the bastid!! It's good ol' Salem-style, witch-huntin', weasel-stompin' time, boy!" and naturally "Uni-tron" runs amok. It's like... bullying. I think I even remember that robot screaming as he was being chased. Reminded me of Slimer.

Anyway, it felt real bizarre watching Prime etc. be like Professor Xavier and his X-Men, if they agreed with the humans in that mutants were a menace to society and must be stopped, so yeah, hunt them all down and murder them, without trial or verdict. Oh, as long as we get shelter though, ok thanks. I wonder what Magneto and his brotherhood of mutants would have to say about that.

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

I must say I feel sorry for that unicycle dude in the beginning. He's just chillin' out, digging holes or whatever in his constructicon mode, then suddenly these gung-ho army types are like "yee-haw, fan out and catch the bastid!! It's good ol' Salem-style, witch-huntin', weasel-stompin' time, boy!" and naturally "Uni-tron" runs amok. It's like... bullying. I think I even remember that robot screaming as he was being chased. Reminded me of Slimer.

I could be wrong on this, but the Decepticon's presence on Earth and why they are being hunted down in ROTF might be explained in the 3 movie prequels that IDW has made; Defiance, Alliance, and Reign of Starscream. Even then, the Decepticons aside from Jetfire and Wheelie, have shown that all they will do is destroy whatever they want to get what, or who they want. Had Demolishor and Sideways not been taken out in the beginning, chances are other Decepticons would join them and destroy all of Shanghai, not just collateral damage. The Decepticons don't care for lives other than their own, in this movie, they are only on Earth to aid the Fallen. Edited June 29, 2009 by Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0

[eugimon]

Well, it's obvious now why Optimus is the only Prime left... all the other Primes run off and turn themselves into caves when pressed.

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

Well, it's obvious now why Optimus is the only Prime left... all the other Primes run off and turn themselves into caves when pressed.

There was something left out in the movie, basically he is the only one left because he is orphaned; the Fallen succeeded in destroying every descendant of the Primes except for Optimus; after the 7-8 brothers of the Fallen died, the Fallen hunted down their descendants, trying to eradicate any chance that he would be opposed.

[eugimon]

There was something left out in the movie, basically he is the only one left because he is orphaned; the Fallen succeeded in destroying every descendant of the Primes except for Optimus; after the 7-8 brothers of the Fallen died, the Fallen hunted down their descendants, trying to eradicate any chance that he would be opposed.

Okay... so what makes a Prime a Prime in the Bayformers universe then?

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

Okay... so what makes a Prime a Prime in the Bayformers universe then?

The original 8-9 Transformers(The Fallen is one), and their descendants. In the comic adaptation, the Fallen offers to turn Megatron into a Prime but this doesn't play out. In the movieverse, I'm not sure who the ancestors of the other Transformers(other than Optimus) are. The writers did mention that the Fallen and his brothers were influenced by Judas and other disciples of Jesus, where the Fallen would be like Judas, a traitor. Edited June 29, 2009 by Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0

[eugimon]

The original 8-9 Transformers(The Fallen is one), and their descendants. In the comic adaptation, the Fallen offers to turn Megatron into a Prime but this doesn't play out. In the movieverse, I'm not sure who the ancestors of the other Transformers(other than Optimus) are. The writers did mention that the Fallen and his brothers were influenced by Judas and other disciples of Jesus, where the Fallen would be like Judas, a traitor.

okay, I'm not getting the descendant part... how does that work? In the first movie it made it seem like new transformers were sparked by the all spark but in 2 they showed that hive thing going on. So if the original Transformers were the Primes, why only a certain lineage?

[Twoducks]

saw it.

It was HORRIBLE. The action sucked, the story sucked (even for a MB film) there was stupid amounts of 8 year old humor (what the hell is it with MB and animal sex?), the CG was bad (some parts looked like stop motion it was so choppy), stupid amounts of racist sh!t.

The three or so constant shots with the chihuahua porking things few minutes into the movie were like a foreboding thought for me that said “crap, I’m not going to enjoy this like I did the first movie”.

I also thought at first, like Save and Renato, that Prime seemed like a bloodthirsty killer. I guess that you can justify his action by how the unicycle-con killed bystanders recklessly on his escape and when pinned down didn’t ask for mercy (like the G1 Megatron did in the cartoon movie), just talked about the fallen kicking ass.

okay, I'm not getting the descendant part... how does that work? In the first movie it made it seem like new transformers were sparked by the all spark but in 2 they showed that hive thing going on. So if the original Transformers were the Primes, why only a certain lineage?

In the comics the Primes were the first beings the all spark created. Then, since the cube needed to recharge, it gave the Primes the first Transformers. The Primes used them to seek new suns since they could transform into space ships and construction machines.

[eugimon]

Huh... okay, so the Primes aren't exactly the same thing as the other transformers then? Ah, slag it, it's too confusing.

The dirty harry prime didn't bother me, I actually thought it was consistent with the first movie, he slaughters bonecrusher without much thought and was prepared to do the same thing to Megs.

[Agent ONE]

Poll = ruined

[areaseven]

Poll = ruined

+1 on that.

[milty66]

This movie was horrible. I like bad movies generally, but this was just an awful movie. No redeeming qualities for the artist in me who began drawing because of a love of TF ( especially the 1986 movie). The concept designs are some of the worst I've seen for the robots, and they have no personality to distinguish themselves from each other. The Japanese would be able to do a magnitude better designing them. They should've asked Kawamori to redesign them for the movie, as he did for some of the toys( in Japan).

The movie was bad and the robots sucked( aesthetically). Bay please doen't make another TF movie.

[wolfx]

p.s. the "I stand, you fall" part is probably another reference to the animated movie line (one of us stands, the other falls), which was also quoted in the first movie. although i have to admit, i felt that particular line was forced in this movie. "hey prime, can't you think of another one??"

I believe its "One shall stand, One shall fall."

I let my son choose one of the smaller Transformers ROTF toys as a consolation. He chose an Autobot that transforms into a warship. IIRC, it's called Depth Charge. Does this actually appear in the movie?

Graham

Depthcharge actually looks pretty awesome....i'm thinking of getting it too. Btw where is Barricade? I thought it was the car that got split by half by Sideswipe but apparent it isn't.

And is Arcee dead

Edited June 29, 2009 by wolfx

[kaiotheforsaken]

That's Sideways (the very dead Audi), Barricade...I dunno. When I first saw shots of the movie I thought it might be Barricade re-hidden so to speak.

From what I heard, they filmed or at least planned to film Prime offing Barricade in the first flick which accounted for his delayed entrance to the city fight. However since I never saw it added to the move I don't know if they ever plan on doing anything with it.

Edit: Just a quick tidbit here, Seibertron has images of the Takara ROTF line, looks like (at least from what's shown now) there aren't even paint app differences (at least on the leaders). Check it out here

I would also wager that Bay will definitely do the 3rd film and even if for some reason he didn't I don't think many of the complaints would go away. The writers have some pretty successful stories under their belts (including the new Trek) so they'd probably stay. The odds of them changing robot designs for the 3rd go around is well...highly unlikely at the least as well. Some things would change but I'd say that more would stay the same.

Edited June 29, 2009 by kaiotheforsaken

[Black Valkyrie]

Well if anyone is interested, here is the jap seiyuu cast for the movie.

[protostar8]

That's Sideways (the very dead Audi), Barricade...I dunno. When I first saw shots of the movie I thought it might be Barricade re-hidden so to speak.

From what I heard, they filmed or at least planned to film Prime offing Barricade in the first flick which accounted for his delayed entrance to the city fight. However since I never saw it added to the move I don't know if they ever plan on doing anything with it.

Edit: Just a quick tidbit here, Seibertron has images of the Takara ROTF line, looks like (at least from what's shown now) there aren't even paint app differences (at least on the leaders). Check it out here

I would also wager that Bay will definitely do the 3rd film and even if for some reason he didn't I don't think many of the complaints would go away. The writers have some pretty successful stories under their belts (including the new Trek) so they'd probably stay. The odds of them changing robot designs for the 3rd go around is well...highly unlikely at the least as well. Some things would change but I'd say that more would stay the same.

I saw the movie. It was mediocre at best. It was better than the first IMO, but that's not saying much. The designs are still abominations to the TF name (other than Optimus who's actually pretty decent but considering who designed him, I can see why he is decent). Seriously, the Fallen and the generic "drones" in the movie looked like s***. The plot made zero sense at times and ruined the concept of the Matrix of Leadership( and wtf is up with the "hatchlings" thing). Hasbro thinks that making money = good, but there are too many people that don't know what good is (thus we have a season 2 of Paris Hilton's quest for find a best friend... just as an example). Sadly, I think that overall the voicework was spotty and the movie had times when it looked bad. Then there were the constructicons that fought in robot mode while somehow mysteriously being a part of devastator who was romping along somewhere else.

About stuff changing for movie 3, we might actually see some changes IMO. Hasbro is looking to push toys with the movie. We now have decent toy versions (as good as they will likely get for the cost), so I'd expect Hasbro to change up some of the main cast a little to get some new toys out. Also, I hope that Bay gets all bitchy and Hasbro tells him to f*** off and hires somebody who might actually know how to make a movie and not just a series of explosions and fights linked by cheesy dialogue and sex jokes.

Either way, if Hasbro is willing to use money earned from the movie (which there has to be poo loads with the kind of return the movie is getting) to fund stuff like Classics, then it's somehow slightly more tolerable, though not much....

Edited June 29, 2009 by protostar8

[Chewie]

Well, seems to me rivaling only Dark Knight seems to say one of a couple things: It was either good, or people are just TOO damn dumb for words.

I vote the first but hey, we all can't be writers, directors, producers and actors who can do better who frequent a forum like Macrossworld.

Oh, wait...

Never mind.

Edited June 29, 2009 by Chewie

[AcroRay]

It was either good, bad or people are just TOO damn dumb for words.

I'll take the third choice.

Honestly, I can't think of a thing to say about the movie that isn't negative, and isn't prefaced by the word "F|_|cking". Andrew nailed it in his Destroy All Podcasts ST review the other day.

Actually, I think Ravage WAS the only thing I liked in the movie at this point, but mostly because I love cats, robot cats, and enjoyed seeing the same d4mn design in an auto commercial a couple of seasons ago. But even that was spoiled when

he had his spine ripped out by his tail

, which utterly horrified my daughter who - after several years of decent quality Transformers storytelling does regard the characters as thinking, feeling, intelligent living machines, rather than disposable robots.

Edited June 29, 2009 by AcroRay

[eriku]

So....do Transformers reproduce like most Earth creatures then? The movie seems to suggest it, what with Wall-E humping the leg of that transgendered Thai boy and Devastator with his big clanging balls that were apparently not obvious enough since they made Turturro say, more or less, "I'm about to be teabagged by a giant set of robot testicles."

I feel really bad for the parents that will assume this is a kid-friendly movie. And what parent wouldn't assume that when there is a multitude of ROTF-related toys in every store that are aimed at the kids? Especially coming right on the tail of Animated. "Daddy, what's a scrotum?" "Mommy, where is Bulkhead? Is he getting his cherry popped?"

Edited June 29, 2009 by eriku

[AcroRay]

I didn't exactly expect 'kid friendly', but I didn't expect 'kid harmful', 'kid insulting' or 'kid offending', all of which this developmentally stunted exercise in exploitation cinema managed to do.

[UN Spacy]

This movie was HORRIBLE....and Michael Bay will continue to suck this franchise dry.

[grss1982]

snip.....

+ Seeing alot of military hardware.

snip.....

Could you be more particular?

Aside from the UH-60, AC-130, F-22, V-22, C-17, CH-53, F-16 & A-10 from the first movie. What other "military hardware" appeared this time around?

Thanks.

Just watched the cam....hope there's no T3.

Didn't the dude playing Sam say in an interview last year that he was signed for three sequels?

[David Hingtgen]

B-1B, F/A-18F, Burke-class, Nimitz-class. (active roles, not just in the background).

[eugimon]

This movie made 200 million + it's first week, you can be damn sure there will be a part 3.

[miles316]

B-1B, F/A-18F, Burke-class, Nimitz-class. (active roles, not just in the background).

Will we get to see a B-1B Chopped in half by starscreem?

[peter]

This movie made 200 million + it's first week, you can be damn sure there will be a part 3.

Crap. With those kind of figures, Bay will probably get to do Robotech.....and even though I hate Robotech, I'd hate to see a Valkrie/Veritech look like a bunch of metal shards in robot mode. Isn't Toby going to play Rick Hunter? Awesome.

What's with the poll? Do I need to sign in as a new member to vote????

[protostar8]

Well, seems to me rivaling only Dark Knight seems to say one of a couple things: It was either good, or people are just TOO damn dumb for words.

I vote the first but hey, we all can't be writers, directors, producers and actors who can do better who frequent a forum like Macrossworld.

Oh, wait...

Never mind.

People often say that when they go to an action flick, they want mind numbing action and violence. That's pretty much all there is to it. TF2 doesn't do much else. And most people don't really care how the things look as long as it dazzles their eyes, which this does too. And trust me, if a show like Paris Hilton's Best Friend can get a second season, then I think the answer is #2 in your choices...

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

I feel really bad for the parents that will assume this is a kid-friendly movie. And what parent wouldn't assume that when there is a multitude of ROTF-related toys in every store that are aimed at the kids? Especially coming right on the tail of Animated. "Daddy, what's a scrotum?" "Mommy, where is Bulkhead? Is he getting his cherry popped?"

It's like Dark Knight, the toys were made because Mattel knew that kids would buy toys even if the movie wasn't meant for them. It's the parent's responsibility to look at the ratings before letting their kid(s) set foot into the theater. I do see your point, but ultimately, if the kid sees stuff that he isn't supposed to, it's his or her parent's fault, the movie lives up to the PG-13 rating, and I honestly think that if it was dumbed down, it would be getting way more worse reviews than it already is.