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

[JB0]

Having been given the BetaRay for my birthday, I am actually watching the movie right now.

Taking regular breaks to protect my intellect.

I like how they just say they're in Texas and show a pan across a cornfield, as if all of Texas looks like Smallville, Kansas(and I'm just left going "that is WAY too green.").

In their defense, Paris, Texas IS in one of the few counties that actually grows corn(poser Texans, livin' against a river like they need water to live or somethin'), but it took them an hour to actually say where the movie was happening, so... I think that balances out.

The pacing of the CIA raid on the farmhouse and subsequent escape sequence was terrible, and like everything else, it was largely Lucas's fault. Bad enough he nearly gets everyone killed, he has to keep interjecting one-liners through the entire scene until he gets blown up/incinerated/petrified/what do those bombs even DO?

I do like Crazy Prime, though. It's a shame he's in such bad movies.

Edit: Lord, the Micheal Bay pacing is strong in this one. It's an entire movie focused on human drama followed by an entire movie of robots blowing things up.

Edited October 2, 2014 by JB0

[Scyla]

Having been given the BetaRay for my birthday, I am actually watching the movie right now.

Taking regular breaks to protect my intellect.

I like how they just say they're in Texas and show a pan across a cornfield, as if all of Texas looks like Smallville, Kansas(and I'm just left going "that is WAY too green.").

In their defense, Paris, Texas IS in one of the few counties that actually grows corn(poser Texans, livin' against a river like they need water to live or somethin'), but it took them an hour to actually say where the movie was happening, so... I think that balances out.

The pacing of the CIA raid on the farmhouse and subsequent escape sequence was terrible, and like everything else, it was largely Lucas's fault. Bad enough he nearly gets everyone killed, he has to keep interjecting one-liners through the entire scene until he gets blown up/incinerated/petrified/what do those bombs even DO?

I do like Crazy Prime, though. It's a shame he's in such bad movies.

Edit: Lord, the Micheal Bay pacing is strong in this one. It's an entire movie focused on human drama followed by an entire movie of robots blowing things up.

Lucas is the name of one of the humans right? At first I thought you meant George Lucas which would explain a lot....

...by which I mean nothing at all.

*vanish*

I still want a set of Dinobots but all I've found at the TRU was a Slag which I didn't buy because if I can't have all of them I don't want any!

Bought a Botshots Skywarp instead!

[Kanedas Bike]

Having been given the BetaRay for my birthday, I am actually watching the movie right now.

Taking regular breaks to protect my intellect.

I like how they just say they're in Texas and show a pan across a cornfield, as if all of Texas looks like Smallville, Kansas(and I'm just left going "that is WAY too green.").

In their defense, Paris, Texas IS in one of the few counties that actually grows corn(poser Texans, livin' against a river like they need water to live or somethin'), but it took them an hour to actually say where the movie was happening, so... I think that balances out.

The pacing of the CIA raid on the farmhouse and subsequent escape sequence was terrible, and like everything else, it was largely Lucas's fault. Bad enough he nearly gets everyone killed, he has to keep interjecting one-liners through the entire scene until he gets blown up/incinerated/petrified/what do those bombs even DO?

I do like Crazy Prime, though. It's a shame he's in such bad movies.

Edit: Lord, the Micheal Bay pacing is strong in this one. It's an entire movie focused on human drama followed by an entire movie of robots blowing things up.

So...essentially you're saying you feel this one was exactly like the first three.

And Crazy, or Murderous Prime as I like to think of him is just that. His first words in this movie were "I'll kill you". And yeah, I get his motivations and all of that, but hot damn, you'd think that they had no concept of what a heroic leader is.

-b.

[JB0]

So...essentially you're saying you feel this one was exactly like the first three.

I wouldn't go THAT far.

I think this is the best live-action Transformers movie yet, though that is damning with faint praise.

The humans don't make me want to kill them every time they're onscreen, the cybertronians are treated as PEOPLE and not tools...

The action is coherent and engaging, albeit over-the-top...

There's no awkward bathroom humor, no random pantyshots...

It's THIS CLOSE to actually being a good movie.

Dark of the Moon was the first one I didn't regret watching, and Age of Extinction is the first one I might actually rewatch(if it was shorter, I WOULD rewatch it, but I don't think it's got three hours of quality in it).

And Crazy, or Murderous Prime as I like to think of him is just that. His first words in this movie were "I'll kill you". And yeah, I get his motivations and all of that, but hot damn, you'd think that they had no concept of what a heroic leader is.

-b.

Crazy Prime is a sociopath. A literal, clinical one. He does not empathize with others, and is prone to impulsive and excessive behavior.

But at least he's been consistent across all four movies. And, you know, TRIES to do right, even if he's not entirely clear on what right IS all the time.

I like how he's gotten angry at the mistreatment of himself and his charges in the last two.

Primus knows humanity's given him enough reason to just bulldoze them all(wait, wrong altmode) in the movies.

[Kanedas Bike]

Well JBO, I think your observations are very kind and fair. I'll just leave it at that.

I would add that all of the Autobots are sociopaths following the definition above, even Bumblebee was a little more over-the-top then what he'd been in the previous films (thinking about the first time we seem him on-screen and his temper tantrum after seeing that human-created TF modeled after him).

-b.

[anime52k8]

I <3 crazy murder prime.

[Kanedas Bike]

I <3 crazy murder prime.

ahem

-b.

[peter]

I was at the local electronics store and they had it playing on their screens and I couldn’t get through even the 3 minutes I was standing there before I went on to look at toasters. The first movie I watched in theatres, the second one I downloaded, and I didn’t even bother downloading the third one. There was a third one right? This one is the 4rth? I refuse to contribute financially to that satanic clown orgy known as Michael Bay. It’s a shame, because I some of Mark Walberg’s acting and some of his movies are pretty decent.

For the 3 minutes of the movie I did watch, can I ask someone WTF is up with the transforming? So, they’re no longer broken shards of metal in a blender bonded together as one unit machine, they are now floating metallic apparitions???? Really???? They way they transformed, by breaking down into little pop cans floating in the wind and reassembling themselves in a new form, WHAT IS THE GODDAMN POINT of retaining any shape at all of their alt forms???? Why bother dodging a strike or shot when they can just morph a hole to evade a hit? I understand this is a method of saving time and money for filming an animation, but that is extraordinarily lazy on the part of this film.

Michael Bay, you sir are a genius for taking the money of idiots who watch your stupid films.

[Kanedas Bike]

I was at the local electronics store and they had it playing on their screens and I couldn’t get through even the 3 minutes I was standing there before I went on to look at toasters. The first movie I watched in theatres, the second one I downloaded, and I didn’t even bother downloading the third one. There was a third one right? This one is the 4rth? I refuse to contribute financially to that satanic clown orgy known as Michael Bay. It’s a shame, because I some of Mark Walberg’s acting and some of his movies are pretty decent.

For the 3 minutes of the movie I did watch, can I ask someone WTF is up with the transforming? So, they’re no longer broken shards of metal in a blender bonded together as one unit machine, they are now floating metallic apparitions???? Really???? They way they transformed, by breaking down into little pop cans floating in the wind and reassembling themselves in a new form, WHAT IS THE GODDAMN POINT of retaining any shape at all of their alt forms???? Why bother dodging a strike or shot when they can just morph a hole to evade a hit? I understand this is a method of saving time and money for filming an animation, but that is extraordinarily lazy on the part of this film.

Michael Bay, you sir are a genius for taking the money of idiots who watch your stupid films.

And with that last line I can no longer take what you say seriously (whether you care about that or not).

Nothing wrong with having gripes, justified or not, but get off of your high horse and save the name calling.

-b. aka idiot

[JB0]

Well JBO, I think your observations are very kind and fair. I'll just leave it at that.

We all have our faults. This is mine.

I would add that all of the Autobots are sociopaths following the definition above, even Bumblebee was a little more over-the-top then what he'd been in the previous films (thinking about the first time we seem him on-screen and his temper tantrum after seeing that human-created TF modeled after him).

I took the temper-tantrum as more "'Bee is a teenager, and these guys just bootlegged him and put the bootleg on display with a video explaining how shitty Bumblebee was."

Basically a standard adolescent outburst more than crazy Prime's complete disconnect from everything.

Though there's a good argument to be made for the Transformers never really mentally maturing. It explains a lot about much of their behavior across the entire brand if they all have permanently child-like brains.

For the 3 minutes of the movie I did watch, can I ask someone WTF is up with the transforming? So, they’re no longer broken shards of metal in a blender bonded together as one unit machine, they are now floating metallic apparitions???? Really???? They way they transformed, by breaking down into little pop cans floating in the wind and reassembling themselves in a new form, WHAT IS THE GODDAMN POINT of retaining any shape at all of their alt forms???? Why bother dodging a strike or shot when they can just morph a hole to evade a hit? I understand this is a method of saving time and money for filming an animation, but that is extraordinarily lazy on the part of this film.

Those are the bootlegs. Seriously. In-universe, they are Transformers knockoffs built by humans.

The "real" Transformers still transform properly. More or less.

The bootlegs were designed, in-universe, to look cool and high-tech. So they have a transformation that would've looked high-tech a few decades ago when wire-frame graphics were all the rage. Yeah. Someone dropped the ball there.

I don't think it actually saved time or money. It looked like a pain in the ass to animate.

At first glance, it looks really simple, yes. But there's more than meets the eye to that effect.

The wire frame skeleton actually has volume, texture, and lighting, so it's not really a wire-frame and they had to spend an absurd amount of effort on rendering the "wire frame" in addition to the cubes and the car and the robot. And they ARE rendering both the car and robot at the same time in many cases. I'm not gonna go back and freezeframe to check the lighting and shadowing on the swarm of cubes, but... I'd bet on them getting a lot more attention than it seems like they did.

It was a very expensive way to make it look like the movie was made with cutting-edge CG effects from 1985, and I don't know if I should laugh or cry.

[Twoducks]

......

But there's more than meets the eye to that effect.

......

Ooooooh, I see what you did there!!

[big F]

I took the temper-tantrum as more "'Bee is a teenager, and these guys just bootlegged him and put the bootleg on display with a video explaining how shitty Bumblebee was."Basically a standard adolescent outburst more than crazy Prime's complete disconnect from everything.Though there's a good argument to be made for the Transformers never really mentally maturing. It explains a lot about much of their behavior across the entire brand if they all have permanently child-like brains.

That's what I thought.

[areaseven]

[JB0]

At 3:20... it may just be my age, but I took it as Lockdown trying to look like a badass moreso than "frakk yeah, a Lambo!"

I see where he's getting his interpretation, and he's probably right. I just took it as the Transformers version of Anime Villain walking through a fire.

Of course, Lockdown was apparently supposed to be a muscle car before Lamborghini wanted a bit of product placement. So Lamborghini may not have ruined the movie, they ruined a toy.

And IMNSHO, the most egregious product placement mark went completely un-noted. Drift the japanese fanboy samurai turns into a Bugatti. He SHOULD have been a Honda or a Toyota or... you know, ANYTHING japanese.

But he's french. Because... because... ummm... hang on, it'll come to me... Yeah, I got nothin'. I can only assume France is known for their samurai warriors, but it sounds wrong somehow.

He even wears not just the Bugatti logo in the very center of his chest, but the entire grill. And they make sure to give us a closeup.

[Dio]

This is the first movie I have ever walked out at the end and felt like my brain had been turned to Jell-O. Such a weird feeling, but the assault on the senses was crazy compared to the first 3 for me. I probably like this one second best after DotM.

I appreciated the reduced 15-year-old humor (reduced but not eliminated, and where it got used seemed very forced) and the much-improved human characters, but I feel like they got very lazy with the TFs. Prime seemed very un-Prime-like, understandably guarded toward humanity but absolutely barbaric with the death threats to both humans and the TF antagonists, and an oddly-placed "exasperated father" scene talking about Bumblebee. The shards of metal effect almost seemed like Bay trolling us, for claiming the transformations were too busy and jumbled in the first 3 movies. The dinobots... ehh?

Probably the best thing to me in this movie was Lockdown, he seemed like a geniune villain character that had motivation and personality. Galvatron might make for an interesting addition at this point as well, if they can distance him from Megatron (less generic grunting and roaring, more leadership and ambition). Assuming they're using this to kick off the franchise in a new direction, maybe it gives them enough of a foundation to try and make some compelling stories, but I would like more out of the follow-ups.

And IMNSHO, the most egregious product placement mark went completely un-noted. Drift the japanese fanboy samurai turns into a Bugatti. He SHOULD have been a Honda or a Toyota or... you know, ANYTHING japanese.
But he's french. Because... because... ummm... hang on, it'll come to me... Yeah, I got nothin'. I can only assume France is known for their samurai warriors, but it sounds wrong somehow.
He even wears not just the Bugatti logo in the very center of his chest, but the entire grill. And they make sure to give us a closeup.

To play devil's advocate for a moment, he spent probably 2/3 of his alt-mode time as a helicopter.

[JB0]

Prime seemed very un-Prime-like, understandably guarded toward humanity but absolutely barbaric with the death threats to both humans and the TF antagonists,

I just want to point out this is the same Prime that has hooks built into his wrists for the explicit purpose of ripping faces off of people.

Galvatron might make for an interesting addition at this point as well, if they can distance him from Megatron (less generic grunting and roaring, more leadership and ambition).

Galvatron bugs me for the silliest reason.

He has no spark, he shouldn't BE self-aware, and this has been bothering me ever since I finished the movie.

Yes, THAT is where I choose to make my stand with the writing. Yes, I'm aware this does not bode well for me.

To play devil's advocate for a moment, he spent probably 2/3 of his alt-mode time as a helicopter.

A FRENCH helicopter!

[big F]

the most egregious product placement mark went completely un-noted. Drift the japanese fanboy samurai turns into a Bugatti. He SHOULD have been a Honda or a Toyota or... you know, ANYTHING japanese.But he's french.

Worse than that, a French company started by an Italian in Germany, sold to a German car company who publicly stated they wanted no part in a film where their products were depicted as tools of war.

I feel that this was down to either VW testing the water or somebody wanting the most expensive super car on screen in another film.

Edited October 5, 2014 by big F

[peter]

And with that last line I can no longer take what you say seriously (whether you care about that or not).

Nothing wrong with having gripes, justified or not, but get off of your high horse and save the name calling.

-b. aka idiot

[Kanedas Bike]

^LOL

good one

-b.

[big F]

LOL

I am printing one out now, one of my clients will have it issued to them stat!!

[Froy]

Why so much hate about transformers movies? Look Batman franchise, Iron Man, Spider Man, and some more. Really turned if not bad, at less not that good.

Are transformers fans really that loyal or comic fans are really that retarded to buy anything that can be sold to them?

I just don't get it.

I'm 30 and grown up with both transformers and some comic sagas and can't spot a real difference.

Edited October 6, 2014 by Froy

[JB0]

Because Micheal Bay is a lightning rod for opinions.

Also because the first one was tremendously awful.

[Kanedas Bike]

Because Micheal Bay is a lightning rod for opinions.

Also because the first one was tremendously awful.

True, and really at the root of some very ill-expressed opinions the movies, objectively speaking, aren't very good when compared to other movies in the same genre. They can be entertaining and "fun" though if you possess the ability, or want, to just sit back, and enjoy the ride for what it is.

What gets me is the nerds (and yeah, we all fit that description by fact of being members of an internet message board dedicated to a 30 year old anime) that rant and rave like somehow that will improve the situation, and then put the icing on the hypocrite cake when they want to try and deride others. Just makes no sense...but I guess it takes all kinds.

-b.

[peter]

True, and really at the root of some very ill-expressed opinions the movies, objectively speaking, aren't very good when compared to other movies in the same genre. They can be entertaining and "fun" though if you possess the ability, or want, to just sit back, and enjoy the ride for what it is.

What gets me is the nerds (and yeah, we all fit that description by fact of being members of an internet message board dedicated to a 30 year old anime) that rant and rave like somehow that will improve the situation, and then put the icing on the hypocrite cake when they want to try and deride others. Just makes no sense...but I guess it takes all kinds.

-b.

Still butt-hurt huh?

[Kanedas Bike]

Still butt-hurt huh?

Damn dude, you never really struck me as troll before - but by all means continue to be yourself.

-b.

[peter]

And with that last line I can no longer take what you say seriously (whether you care about that or not).

Nothing wrong with having gripes, justified or not, but get off of your high horse and save the name calling.

-b. aka idiot

I like what you did there: baka idiot

^LOL

good one

-b.

And you were fine here....

True, and really at the root of some very ill-expressed opinions the movies, objectively speaking, aren't very good when compared to other movies in the same genre. They can be entertaining and "fun" though if you possess the ability, or want, to just sit back, and enjoy the ride for what it is.

What gets me is the nerds (and yeah, we all fit that description by fact of being members of an internet message board dedicated to a 30 year old anime) that rant and rave like somehow that will improve the situation, and then put the icing on the hypocrite cake when they want to try and deride others. Just makes no sense...but I guess it takes all kinds.

-b.

But then you started to whine again.

Damn dude, you never really struck me as troll before - but by all means continue to be yourself.

-b.

Sorry man, I couldn’t resist, sometimes I’m an @$$hole. I have the same sentiments for M7, Robotech and MLP.

Edited October 6, 2014 by peter

[Scyla]

Because Micheal Bay is a lightning rod for opinions.

Also because the first one was tremendously awful.

The first movie was the best one without a question. Why you ask? Well I'm glad you asked. It is the best Bayformers movie because it has the shortest runtime thus less chances for Bay to ruin your childhood.

Also it had almost no Transformers in it so again less chance to ruin the heroic Optimus Prime, the skillful Jazz, the treacherous Starscream and the evil Megatron.

Instead of tainting the Transformers to their core he ruined the career of Shia LaDouch. He could have been the next Indiana Jones or Han Solo in the reboot of the OT, a real successor to Harrison Ford. Now we will never know what could have been.

Thank you Michael Bay!!!

[JB0]

The first movie was the best one without a question. Why you ask? Well I'm glad you asked. It is the best Bayformers movie because it has the shortest runtime thus less chances for Bay to ruin your childhood.

Also it had almost no Transformers in it so again less chance to ruin the heroic Optimus Prime, the skillful Jazz, the treacherous Starscream and the evil Megatron.

Instead of tainting the Transformers to their core he ruined the career of Shia LaDouch. He could have been the next Indiana Jones or Han Solo in the reboot of the OT, a real successor to Harrison Ford. Now we will never know what could have been.

Thank you Michael Bay!!!

You make an excellent point.

I would counter with the argument that while suckitude is multiplicative with runtime, a movie with 17 sucks and 1 runtime is still worse than a movie with 8 sucks and 2 runtime. And the first movie was WAY worse than the rest of them. It's one of the worst movies I have ever seen.

And the "skillful" Jazz will always be remembered as "waz crackin', bitches" and "ripped in two by Megatron" , because it was the sum total of his contributions to the first movie. Indeed, to the entire live-action franchise.

Minimal appearances just makes the scant screen time a character DOES have that much more important.

And the movies have been big enough to define the characters for a generation.

Frightening, isn't it?

Edited October 6, 2014 by JB0

[Kanedas Bike]

I like what you did there: baka idiot

Uh huh, thanks.

And you were fine here....

Thank goodness for your approval. Now I can rest easy.

But then you started to whine again.

This is the 2nd funniest thing you've posted in this exchange.

That said, your whole post abut the movie and those before it was one big exercise in butt-hurt and whining (you know, with the words in all caps and multiple question marks) about how sh!tty you thought the movie was, which to the best of my knowledge no one is really disputing - it's just a matter of varying degrees of what people are willing to watch or have the capacity to enjoy. And that's perfectly fine, I don't care who enjoys what - it's all personal preference. What pisses me off is when people attempt to sh!t on those who think differently. Who the f#ck are you to judge? And it case it goes over your head that was rhetorical, you're no one to do so.

Just so we're clear there are times that I may think people are pretty damn stupid for what they say or do, but unless they're my close friends, family or have asked - I keep my opinion on the matter, or any passing desire to call them out of their names to myself.

Sorry man, I couldn’t resist, sometimes I’m an @$$hole. I have the same sentiments for M7, Robotech and MLP.

Sure. Your words.

-b.

[Scyla]

You make an excellent point.

I would counter with the argument that while suckitude is multiplicative with runtime, a movie with 17 sucks and 1 runtime is still worse than a movie with 8 sucks and 2 runtime. And the first movie was WAY worse than the rest of them. It's one of the worst movies I have ever seen.

And the "skillful" Jazz will always be remembered as "waz crackin', bitches" and "ripped in two by Megatron" , because it was the sum total of his contributions to the first movie. Indeed, to the entire live-action franchise.

Minimal appearances just makes the scant screen time a character DOES have that much more important.

And the movies have been big enough to define the characters for a generation.

Frightening, isn't it?

Of course you're right!

But let me counter with the argument that Transformers The Movie from 1986 was only 84 minutes long and clearly the best Transformers movie ever. This indicates: the shorter a transformers movie runs the better it gets. This would lead to an infinitely awesome movie if we could reach a near zero seconds long movie. However since the 1986 movie was magnitudes better than the first Bay movie we could see an exponentially grow in awesomeness in relation to the run time thus resulting in an adequately awesome movie in the interval from 20 to 60 minutes run time. Thus I conclude that the golden lagoon is the best Transformers "movie".

[peter]

That said, your whole post abut the movie and those before it was one big exercise in butt-hurt and whining (you know, with the words in all caps and multiple question marks) about how sh!tty you thought the movie was, which to the best of my knowledge no one is really disputing - it's just a matter of varying degrees of what people are willing to watch or have the capacity to enjoy. And that's perfectly fine, I don't care who enjoys what - it's all personal preference. What pisses me off is when people attempt to sh!t on those who think differently. Who the f#ck are you to judge? And it case it goes over your head that was rhetorical, you're no one to do so.

Woah, haha, find some feces in your cornflakes this morning? So I didnt like the film, big deal, and from what little I saw of it, I was of the opinion that it was crap. You said that nobody was really disputing that, I certainly didnt shed any tears over how crappy the film was, I didnt lose any money so no problems there, and near as I can tell, my cornhole isnt sore so tell me again how that can be defined as butt-hurt? Seems like your cheeks are a bit tender though, lol!

It pisses you off (hurt feelings followed by emotional tirade = butt hurt) that people $hit on those who think differently? Ok, so let me try to get this around my head, I think differently than you, and here you are $hitting on me, so.......you hate yourself? I cant help you there, but maybe some therapy might.

Who am I to judge? I love these word games! So youve asked me the question, gave me the partial answer that its not going to be me, you appear to be doing an awful lot of judging at the moment, ........so my guess is......you? Lol!

[Kanedas Bike]

Woah, haha, find some feces in your cornflakes this morning? So I didnt like the film, big deal, and from what little I saw of it, I was of the opinion that it was crap. You said that nobody was really disputing that, I certainly didnt shed any tears over how crappy the film was, I didnt lose any money so no problems there, and near as I can tell, my cornhole isnt sore so tell me again how that can be defined as butt-hurt? Seems like your cheeks are a bit tender though, lol!

It pisses you off (hurt feelings followed by emotional tirade = butt hurt) that people $hit on those who think differently? Ok, so let me try to get this around my head, I think differently than you, and here you are $hitting on me, so.......you hate yourself? I cant help you there, but maybe some therapy might.

Who am I to judge? I love these word games! So youve asked me the question, gave me the partial answer that its not going to be me, you appear to be doing an awful lot of judging at the moment, ........so my guess is......you? Lol!

You're not big on the whole reading comprehension thing. So we're both clear that folks seeing things differently is perfectly fine? Good. Great.

What I've said from the beginning and what I'll say again is that when you call people "idiots" for doing something contrary to what you feel, especially related to spending money on entertainment you stop making a point about how you feel about a subject to trying to deride those that feel differently.

So butt-hurt, no, not at all. I just don't like your apparent need to put others down regarding their spending habits as it concerns Sci Fi.

Your reply probably says a lot more about you, then it ever could me.

If you can't deal with 3 minutes of a movie playing on a screen in a retail shopping environment I can't wait to see you blow your top when the next installment comes out...

-b.

[Phyrox]

Can someone give these kids a timeout?

[azrael]

You 2 wanna get a room? If you wanna be judgmental about who likes what here, leave it off the board.

[Kanedas Bike]

Can someone give these kids a timeout?

Kids? That feels almost as nice as when I get carded when I'm out for drinks.

You 2 wanna get a room? If you wanna be judgmental about who likes what here, leave it off the board.

No room needed, I'll just leave it as we come down on different sides of the issue.

Everyone please do continue to talk about how awesome, or not, the Bay Transformer movies are.

-b.