Transformers: Age of Extinction - in theaters June 27, 2014

[DuelGundam2099]

Why did Grimlock sound like Muruchi from Ultraman Jack?

[JB0]

And here's Optimus playing soccer.

That reminds me of another Prime, from another time. Edited July 2, 2014 by JB0

[reddsun1]

FU*K you, Bay.

Hack.

[DuelGundam2099]

It only got 20 million after Saturday so it has slowed down tremendously.

[areaseven]

"Calling all Autobots! Calling all Autobots!"

[areaseven]

Probably the most honest review of this film.

Also check out The Nostalgia Critic's review.

Edited July 5, 2014 by areaseven

[areaseven]

Here's the Japanese dub trailer:

[Golden Arms]

Saw the film last night. I thought the humans were the best to date in transformers Bayverse. The film felt much like DOTM, so if you liked that one, then you'll probably enjoy this one. The robot characters are finally distinguishable from each other, and finally get some shred of personality.

[mikeszekely]

Finally saw the film myself. I thought it was pretty terrible, but in kind of a weird way.

See, my expectations are were already lowered, as it is a Bay film. That's why, even though I've always hated the Bayverse Transformers designs, the lack of personality in Transformers not named "Optimus Prime" or "Bumblebee," the ability of humans to hurt and kill Transformers, the plot holes and inconsistencies, the ridiculous focus on human characters, the stupid need to include a hot girl just because she's hot, etc, I really liked the first one. And I liked Dark of the Moon. Revenge of the Fallen was pretty bad, and I do think that Age of Extinction was better than it, but RotF didn't have me feeling so disappointed. Maybe it's just because AoE was way too long... it was more time for me to feel that disappointment.

The worst part is, knowing that I'm going to hate it, I'll probably see Transformers 5 in the theater within a week of its release, too.

[Thom]

See, my expectations are were already lowered...

See, that's why I didn't give him (Bay) a dime!

At some point it'll be on TV and then I'll watch it, and probably pat myself on the back for spending the money on watching Maleficent again...

Until then, I'll forget it even existed except for the odd moments when I see something Transformers related.

Yay me! Hail me!

Edited July 6, 2014 by Thom

[Archer]

I too saw it, and I also reverberate Mike's sentiments. Bay gave the (at least) the autobots more personality this time, each one got a bit more screen time, etc. But it still felt odd, almost incoherent. I'm actually a fan of the Bayverse (to some extent), but this movie seemed to be somewhat of a let down.

First of all, I get the reasons *why*, but

Optimus just seemed really, REALLY mean/cruel in this movie. I suppose Bay was going for a "real" version of Optimus as opposed to the idealized, can-do-no-wrong Prime we get in the anime, but it still felt out of place.

I also thought the dinobots felt a bit out of place too. Maybe it's because of my lack of TF universe knowledge, but why exactly where they on that ship? Can anyone fill me in on that?

Regardless, I went, and I suppose the 3 hour movie gave me my money's worth. Objectively, it seemed like a better movie than RotF, but I seemed to enjoy RotF a LOT more than this one. Maybe it's because

humans

don't make for a great primary antagonist against the Autobots.

Edited July 7, 2014 by Archer

[areaseven]

Actual recording from the Transformers Are Dangerous hotline (1-855-363-8392).

Edited July 7, 2014 by areaseven

[areaseven]

"Recognize one of your Knights!"

[GU-11]

Watched AOE last week, and it's about as near perfect of a TF movie as I dare to expect from Bay.

No Shia, no military worship, no patented Michael Bay slapstick humor, better bot characterizations, and a somewhat more coherent plot than any of the previous sequels. Wahlberg delivered a decent performance, as did Grammer. Peltz wasn't annoying or obnoxious, although the boyfriend was. And that's the positive points.

Negative points:

Rubik's cube "transmorphing" sucks. Just looks lazy. The more traditional transformations looked cool (to me at least) and were the only reasons I still make myself watch the crapfest that was ROTF (while fast-forwarding over the Shia and Leo scenes).

The knights thing should have been elaborated on further, and explained in more detail. What exactly are knights in the context of the movie? OP used to be a Prime, and now he's a knight but somehow doesn't remember being one?!

Drift was a caricature of a samurai, for no other reason than because Bay probably felt it was funny. And what with the whole helicopter/car triple changer thing, he should have been Springer, much like Hound should have been Bulkhead.

The whole thing with the Dinobots felt pointless. It would have been better if they'd explained more about the knights, since the Dinobots' origins and characterizations are tied closely to the whole knights thing. Well, at least Grimlock didn't take an energon dump in some guy's convertible like I expected him to.

All in all, it was refreshing and awesome the first time around, and less and less so the more you think about it.

[anime52k8]

Drift was a caricature of a samurai, for no other reason than because Bay probably felt it was funny. And what with the whole helicopter/car triple changer thing, he should have been Springer, much like Hound should have been Bulkhead.

To be fair, the original IDW drift was a slightly less overt racist samurai caricature too.

[RD Blade]

Rubik's cube "transmorphing" sucks. Just looks lazy.

Looks like incomplete CGI. The off-screen transformations were also insultingly obvious cheats. And the new organic look for many of their faces was distracting.

Drift was a caricature of a samurai, for no other reason than because Bay probably felt it was funny. And what with the whole helicopter/car triple changer thing, he should have been Springer, much like Hound should have been Bulkhead.

True, the Autobots finally got personalities, but did they all have to be testosterone-fueled buffoons? Good call on which characters would have fit better. Springer (G1's poster boy for rampaging heterosexuality) as the "macho one" would have sufficed, rather than have them all behave like "badass" manly caricatures.

All in all, it was refreshing and awesome the first time around, and less and less so the more you think about it.

I gave myself a few days before deciding whether I liked it or not. A few years ago, I walked out of ROTF thinking it was OK. But the more I thought about it, the worse my opinion of it became.This time around, I let AoE marinate for awhile.

Bottom line: Too long, too loud, too dumb.

[GU-11]

To be fair, the original IDW drift was a slightly less overt racist samurai caricature too.

Quite true. While I haven't read the comics, I do have the Generations fig and read his tfwiki bio. IDW Drift was pretty much either a lover letter to Japan (as his creator states) or a stereotypical depiction of bushido, depending on how you look at it. Personally, the IDW version at least felt less offensive without the obnoxious samurai getup and yellowish bronze tint on his faceplate. I won't even start with the "Asian" facial features.

The only good thing about AOE Drift was Ken Watanabe voicing him, although the unnaturally thick accent was distracting. I have a feeling Bay had a hand in this. Watanabe spoke much more fluent English in Inception.

Looks like incomplete CGI. The off-screen transformations were also insultingly obvious cheats. And the new organic look for many of their faces was distracting.

True, the Autobots finally got personalities, but did they all have to be testosterone-fueled buffoons? Good call on which characters would have fit better. Springer (G1's poster boy for rampaging heterosexuality) as the "macho one" would have sufficed, rather than have them all behave like "badass" manly caricatures.

I gave myself a few days before deciding whether I liked it or not. A few years ago, I walked out of ROTF thinking it was OK. But the more I thought about it, the worse my opinion of it became.This time around, I let AoE marinate for awhile.

Bottom line: Too long, too loud, too dumb.

The off-screen cheats, you can partially blame on Spielberg. He taught Bay how to use visual trickery to save on CGI money, using Jurassic Park as an example, Bay proudly admits to it in the TF1 commentary. In fact, he was particularly proud of how he saved on CGI money in the Air Force One scene with Frenzy, by panning the camera away to the stewardess and only letting the viewer hear the transformation.

As for characterization, I think Bay is unable to relate to non-macho characters. Spielberg pretty much forced him to set TF1 in an urban setting using the "boy and his car" thing as the premise, and look what happened to Sam as a character--he was borderline neurotic in TF1, and became a complete ass-clown in ROTF and DOTM. In the first "trilogy", the only people who acted sane were Voight as the Sec Def, Epps and Lennox, all of them characters with military backgrounds. Turturro doesn't count because...well, Turturro just doesn't do sane.

First time viewings are always misleading, particularly with Michael Bay movies. His movies are made to dazzle you with flashy cars, big explosions and up-skirt shots of hot chicks. Once the eye candy gets old, the plot can't hold itself up. Which amazes me how everyone at the TF fansites can create 30-page threads discussing "plot-points" from all 4 movies, as if the inconsistencies and logic snafus were anything but. The "fanon" can be quite entertaining, though.

Truth is, there is no concrete mythology in TF movies. Bay and the writers just pick out whatever ideas they fancy from completely unrelated continuities, and mash them up with concepts they developed by themselves.

TF1: Allspark created TF's. Sparks are supposed to be their "souls."

ROTF: Hatchlings. Don't ask me who laid the eggs or "gave birth" to them. No mention of sparks.

DOTM: Hatchlings; at least this one remained consistent for 2 movies. Again the question of sparks and how little TF's are made is dodged.

AOE: Organic beings called Creators manufactured the TF's, and the material is harvested by bombing planets using "seeds." Now sparks are supposed to be just like human souls, which creates a lot of debating among fans, and is probably something Kruger came up with but couldn't follow up on.

[Kanedas Bike]

Looks like incomplete CGI. The off-screen transformations were also insultingly obvious cheats. And the new organic look for many of their faces was distracting.

True, the Autobots finally got personalities, but did they all have to be testosterone-fueled buffoons? Good call on which characters would have fit better. Springer (G1's poster boy for rampaging heterosexuality) as the "macho one" would have sufficed, rather than have them all behave like "badass" manly caricatures.

I gave myself a few days before deciding whether I liked it or not. A few years ago, I walked out of ROTF thinking it was OK. But the more I thought about it, the worse my opinion of it became.This time around, I let AoE marinate for awhile.

Bottom line: Too long, too loud, too dumb.

Should be the included tagline in front of all of Bay's movie trailers. Seriously.

-b.

[Archer]

Anyone not really like the "new" designs. While Bayformers have always been metal in a blender, I felt that the old designs at minimum held some reference to their vehicle alternate form. In AOE, I felt like a lot of the bots (Optimus and Bumblebee in particular) just eschewed this idea, and transformed from car into robot 'with somewhat relevant color scheme reminiscent of the vehicle form'.

I suppose Drift and Lockdown held more apparent hints of their alternate vehicle forms.

[GU-11]

Anyone not really like the "new" designs. While Bayformers have always been metal in a blender, I felt that the old designs at minimum held some reference to their vehicle alternate form. In AOE, I felt like a lot of the bots (Optimus and Bumblebee in particular) just eschewed this idea, and transformed from car into robot 'with somewhat relevant color scheme reminiscent of the vehicle form'.

I suppose Drift and Lockdown held more apparent hints of their alternate vehicle forms.

My thoughts exactly.

IMO, the evolution of movie TF designs were a downhill process. I actually grew to like the "junkyard after a tornado" designs, but then they started getting even weirder with unicycle bots in ROTF. The designs got lazier in DOTM, with Megatron and the Dreads barely having any car parts on them, and the transformation cheating got even worse--Megs' truck parts basically folded into his body, but at least it looked cool.

With AOE, they didn't even bother trying, and went with designs that are premeditatedly impossible to transform, in the case of OP's Western Star, Drift's Bugatti and Bee's Camaro du jour.

The Stingers were just Bee color-swaps that turned into high-tech Lego.

[David Hingtgen]

Well, Lockdown has his hood badge and tail lights visible, that's about all I could find.

Drift has a bit more.

[anime52k8]

Well, Lockdown has his hood badge and tail lights visible, that's about all I could find.

Drift has a bit more.

His biceps are the brake calipers (they're pretty noticable since they're bright orange, and it's basically the only color on his upper body that isn't a light)

[spanner]

Went to see this with my son the other day.. found it quite average.. Most of the SFX were nice and overall it was better than the first 3 movies but the highlight for me was the girl in it (Nicola Peltz) she looked smokin hot! Especially in those super short shorts!

[JB0]

To be fair, the original IDW drift was a slightly less overt racist samurai caricature too.

Personally, I think IDW Drift is Peg's self-insert fanfic character.

And movie Drift is a fan of Peg's work, so he styled himself after IDW Drift.

That's my canon. I don't care if it makes no sense.

[Einherjar]

I think this post defines one of the many reasons why I don't watch the movies anymore. Note that it only concerns robot fight scenes.

http://io9.com/the-transformers-trilogy-contains-only-20-minutes-of-ro-1603094507

So how much from this movie can be added to this?

Edited July 11, 2014 by Einherjar

[Kanedas Bike]

I think this post defines one of the many reasons why I don't watch the movies anymore. Note that it only concerns robot fight scenes.

http://io9.com/the-transformers-trilogy-contains-only-20-minutes-of-ro-1603094507

So how much from this movie can be added to this?

Well...I would say that Age of Extinction might have had even fewer 'Bot on 'Con action but there were enough action scenes packed into 3 hours that it wasn't like there was a "want" for them.

And why was that video of "Robots fighting" out of chronological order, they makers of that loose major points for that. The first ever fight was between Bumblebee and Barricade, not Prime vs. Megatron from the end of Transformers.

-b.

[Einherjar]

Because continuity really matters when it comes to Michael Bay films, right?

[areaseven]

[Graham]

Saw it today with wife and son. Things I liked best were all the SAI custom pistols and carbines and Hound and his one liners and guns.

[mikeszekely]

Personally, I think IDW Drift is Peg's self-insert fanfic character.

And movie Drift is a fan of Peg's work, so he styled himself after IDW Drift.

That's my canon. I don't care if it makes no sense.

It makes sense to me. It also makes more sense that a nerdish fanfic-writing anime Transformer named Peg really exists vs IDW Drift.

[Kanedas Bike]

Because continuity really matters when it comes to Michael Bay films, right?

LOL - did Bay put that together or did someone complaining about Bay while doing what Bay does (loose or lack of continuity) put that montage together?

And it wasn't really a complaint, more of a critique. I think that the clip would have been significantly better had they put the fights in chronological order.

Anyway, was feeling masochistic the other day and saw AoE again. While it's still a typical Bay Transformers film I actually liked it more after the 2nd viewing (plot holes and assorted ridiculousness notwithstanding).

-b.

[Archer]

I'm not super familiar with G1. Does Lockdown ever actually turn his own face into a weapon?

I remember his hand hook from "animated"

[areaseven]

I'm not super familiar with G1. Does Lockdown ever actually turn his own face into a weapon?

I remember his hand hook from "animated"

Lockdown was first introduced in Animated. That face gun gimmick is in this movie only

[DuelGundam2099]

AoE is now at the 752.5 Million marker, a couple more weekends and it should be able to reach the billion dollar movie club.

[big F]

Just got back from seeing it, everything I wanted to say has already been said. My major issue wasn't with the film, it was with the numb nuts teens in front of us who spent the entire film texting, and standing up during the star of the film blocking everyone's view. A special WTF goes out to the woman in front of us who got up 4 times during the film to go out and buy drinks. She arrived with drinks and snacks.

May well see it again further down its run when the cinema is more empty.

It was the better of the 4 but not by much.