Who would you have chosen?

[Hotwire]

There seem to be quite a few of us here who think Michael Bay sucks. So I ask, who do you think should have been the one to make this movie?? Let's hear your suggestions, and why.

[Oerwinde]

Well, Robert Rodriguez has shown that he can be faithful to the source material... having made the most faithful adaption since Lord of the Flies. He's also excellent at budgeting. He can do a good movie quick and cheap. So just imagine what he could do with a 150 million dollar budget.

When they were bouncing names about at the beginning of production I also liked the idea of Robert Zemeckis.

I know a lot of people will say Spielburg... but I'm not going to be one of them. While he would totally nail the dramatic elements of the film, I think he would put too much focus on them.

Above all I believe that the director should be a fan of the property. Not someone who is like "Thats a neat concept, but I like it better this way" which is what Michael Bay has done.

[CFlash]

I tend to agree. I like Rodriguez... and if he was given enough money he would (IMO) make a knockout movie with a GOOD script (the guy has Sam Raimi talent going from kiddy fare to deadly gory movies).

But, Zemekis would probably be my first choice.

Michael Bay's weakness is not so much his talent, which are tailor-made for Transformers..... but his ego and his utter shallowness. His changes to Transformers are total evidence of that (A Camaro??? Flame paint? for heaven's sake!!!). Not to mention the storyline.

[nosebleed.]

Zemeckis

Brad Bird

Cameron *sigh*

But Bay will deliver big action and laughs. It will be successful in the studios eyes because it will be a summer popcorn flick. It'll get my money based on the name alone but I'm withholding judgement til opening day...as I always do.

[Oerwinde]

I think Bay could do a great job... if the art director was a G1 fan and had final say over the designs.

[CGHulk]

I would like James Cameron! Michael Bay did a decent job on The Island under the Dreamworks banner, it was a failure at the boxoffice but IMO it's his best work thus far. It bombed because, how do you advertize and see a movie called The Island!

[Hotwire]

Well, Robert Rodriguez has shown that he can be faithful to the source material... having made the most faithful adaption since Lord of the Flies. He's also excellent at budgeting. He can do a good movie quick and cheap. So just imagine what he could do with a 150 million dollar budget.

I'm betting you don't have kids. Or if you do, they never forced you to watch the 3 Spy Kids movies, nor SharkBoy and LavaGirl. That's what happens when he makes movies his kids can watch. When he gets to make "R" rated movies for grown-ups, however, you get some great movies. i.e.-Desperado, Sin City, From Dusk Til Dawn

[roach]

I dont have an issue with Bay making this movie

[CherryRedSpider]

I dont have an issue with Bay making this movie

Same here

[roach]

I have been entertained by his films...The Rock being my all time fave

[Hotwire]

I have been entertained by his films...The Rock being my all time fave
Damn straight, dude. That car chase thru San Fran! Damn!!

[CherryRedSpider]

Damn straight, dude. That car chase thru San Fran! Damn!!

I see no reason why he can't pull that off in this movie.

[Creature SH]

Could the rectum-crawlers please at least leave this topic alone ? It's not really about Bay's (lack of) qualties, it's about theoretical alternatives. No need to get all defensive about your overlord.

[Yurka]

I dont have an issue with Bay making this movie

neither do I, I think he will do a good job

[CFlash]

I'm betting you don't have kids. Or if you do, they never forced you to watch the 3 Spy Kids movies, nor SharkBoy and LavaGirl. That's what happens when he makes movies his kids can watch. When he gets to make "R" rated movies for grown-ups, however, you get some great movies. i.e.-Desperado, Sin City, From Dusk Til Dawn

You'd lose the bet. I have a 7 1/2 yr old daughter. With the exception of part III- which actually wasn't aweful... just not great- I've loved the Spy Kids movies.

Given the chance, I'm confident he could go from Once Upon A Time in Mexico and Sin City to something more "neutral" the way Sam Raimi did with Spider-man. Although perhaps not.... Raimi did have years of practice after The Evil Dead by making all those Xena shows.

One thing is for sure... I think Transformers, in terms of GOOD SCI-FI, could have used a less shallow, more thought provoking director and creative team. Not the Hollywood Eye-Candy Mastermind it got.

[Stringer]

Bay is a good choice for this kind of movie. I think this kind of action may be too big for a director like Rodriguez. Cameron and Speilberg are the only ones I could see matching the scope of the action that Bays going to bring.

[Yurka]

yeah I agree, if theyre having prime fight megatron in downtown LA, there isnt a better director than bay for massive action sequences

[CFlash]

Bay is a good choice for this kind of movie. I think this kind of action may be too big for a director like Rodriguez. Cameron and Speilberg are the only ones I could see matching the scope of the action that Bays going to bring.

yeah I agree, if theyre having prime fight megatron in downtown LA, there isnt a better director than bay for massive action sequences

Actionwise only Cameron and Spielberg are in the same scope as Bay? I think you're probably right. But the problem is that those guys would likely ALSO have brought you GOOD SCI-FI. Instead, based on track record, you're most likely getting boobs, fast (and furious) cars, dumb jokes, and cliches up the wazoo. But, then, maybe that's what Transformers has always been about. I didn't think so. Not to me anyway.

[jignat]

I wasthinking and my ideal choices would be:

spielberg - nuff said(main problem would prolly be the sappiness)

robert Zemeckis: Good w/technology yet his movies have chars you can relate to and emphasize( abit on the sentimental side)

James Cameron- he would do justice to the action/scifi, his chars are tough and has no problems w/romantic elements intertwind w/big action.

[CFlash]

I wasthinking and my ideal choices would be:

spielberg - nuff said(main problem would prolly be the sappiness)

robert Zemeckis: Good w/technology yet his movies have chars you can relate to and emphasize( abit on the sentimental side)

James Cameron- he would do justice to the action/scifi, his chars are tough and has no problems w/romantic elements intertwind w/big action.

And for a truly great and serious sci-fi treatment... how about:
Ridley Scott?

[nosebleed.]

And for a truly great and serious sci-fi treatment... how about:
Ridley Scott?

Now you're talking. :up:

I still say Brad Bird...his movies imbibe the spirit of the material very well without overkilling them emotionally.

[Oerwinde]

I'm betting you don't have kids. Or if you do, they never forced you to watch the 3 Spy Kids movies, nor SharkBoy and LavaGirl. That's what happens when he makes movies his kids can watch. When he gets to make "R" rated movies for grown-ups, however, you get some great movies. i.e.-Desperado, Sin City, From Dusk Til Dawn

I own all 3 spy kids movies.

[Spyda-Man]

Alex Proyas
the director of the fantastic "I,Robot" which also featured Shia Lebouf, not to mention, the robots

[Hotwire]

I own all 3 spy kids movies.
Are they your's personally, o do they belong to your kids?

[Hotwire]

And for a truly great and serious sci-fi treatment... how about:
Ridley Scott?
I think you're right. Ridley Scott would probably been the best choice. Kinda makes you wonder why he din't get the job.

[CFlash]

I think you're right. Ridley Scott would probably been the best choice. Kinda makes you wonder why he din't get the job.

He probably turned it down. He's kinda aloof nowadays I think.
That, and he probably thought the script sucked balls.

[Oerwinde]

Are they your's personally, o do they belong to your kids?

Mine. Don't have any kids. About half my DVD collection is cartoons too. And I'm 24, so its not because I'm still a kid :P

[Stringer]

I think you're right. Ridley Scott would probably been the best choice. Kinda makes you wonder why he din't get the job.
I didnt name Scott as a replacement because I think this kind of movie isnt really sophisticated enough for him.:o

[Destructicus]

Hell Speilberg is producing why not have him direct it too. He could bring in George Lucas and make the Transformers movies huge. Like Indiana Jones.

[crazy monkey]

I choose myself (:p) -- and I'd set it in the eighties where it belongs, dammit, with an eighties rock soundtrack and a slam-bang opening on Cybertron. Remember the prologue to Fellowship? Replace the orcs and elves with Bots and Mordor with a dark, wartorn Coruscant and you're gettin' close.

My design sense would definitely go the Sam Raimi/Spidey route: it's got bright colors, deal with it. Human characters would play a part, but only seen through the eyes of the robots as they struggle to understand our way of life, learn from our good points and see themselves in our worst, and pity our fragility.

I want a true sense of wonder from the Autobots as they experience Earth. This is the first time they're seeing organic life! Living things made of materials they've never heard of, things that grow and age and die, life cycles and food chains and symbiotic systems -- all of it completely new and alien to them. How cool would a conversation between two Transformers be as they ponder what it's like to be stuck in only one form your entire life?

But they eventually learn that indeed, humans do transform, albeit in much more subtle ways. And the difference in man between an ally and a Deceptacon is not forewarned by a symbol on our chests. Learning to decipher the abstract nature of our emotions, learning to trust humankind and eventually sacrificing to split the focus of their war in two directions: our safety and their future -- that would be the subtext of my Transformers, artfully laced beneath an explosive, grungy, epic, sci-fi rock opera.

But...If not me, than Cameron. :D

-- END!

[Boom]

Neill Blomkamp....:o

[Doyle77]

Peter Jackson!

[nosebleed.]

I choose myself (:p) -- and I'd set it in the eighties where it belongs, dammit, with an eighties rock soundtrack and a slam-bang opening on Cybertron. Remember the prologue to Fellowship? Replace the orcs and elves with Bots and Mordor with a dark, wartorn Coruscant and you're gettin' close.

My design sense would definitely go the Sam Raimi/Spidey route: it's got bright colors, deal with it. Human characters would play a part, but only seen through the eyes of the robots as they struggle to understand our way of life, learn from our good points and see themselves in our worst, and pity our fragility.

I want a true sense of wonder from the Autobots as they experience Earth. This is the first time they're seeing organic life! Living things made of materials they've never heard of, things that grow and age and die, life cycles and food chains and symbiotic systems -- all of it completely new and alien to them. How cool would a conversation between two Transformers be as they ponder what it's like to be stuck in only one form your entire life?

But they eventually learn that indeed, humans do transform, albeit in much more subtle ways. And the difference in man between an ally and a Deceptacon is not forewarned by a symbol on our chests. Learning to decipher the abstract nature of our emotions, learning to trust humankind and eventually sacrificing to split the focus of their war in two directions: our safety and their future -- that would be the subtext of my Transformers, artfully laced beneath an explosive, grungy, epic, sci-fi rock opera.

But...If not me, than Cameron. :D

-- END!

I'm glad you are nowhere near this movie. Bay may be messing up but your movie sounds like the Transformers version of Dukes of Hazard combined with hippie garbage.

[CFlash]

I'm glad you are nowhere near this movie. Bay may be messing up but your movie sounds like the Transformers version of Dukes of Hazard combined with hippie garbage.

Hippie garbage? As oppossed to Bay's usual "Jock-ish," shallow, cliche-ridden, lacking-any-intelligent-subtext, crap?

[xwolverine2]

im no michael bay fan.... but hes doing great so far

[nosebleed.]

Hippie garbage? As oppossed to Bay's usual "Jock-ish," shallow, cliche-ridden, lacking-any-intelligent-subtext, crap?

If I could only have it one way or the other, I'd take the latter evil to this:
I want a true sense of wonder from the Autobots as they experience Earth. This is the first time they're seeing organic life! Living things made of materials they've never heard of, things that grow and age and die, life cycles and food chains and symbiotic systems -- all of it completely new and alien to them. How cool would a conversation between two Transformers be as they ponder what it's like to be stuck in only one form your entire life?

Why do you think SR performed so poorly in the Box Office? Mainly not enough action.

[CFlash]

Why do you think SR performed so poorly in the Box Office? Mainly not enough action.

Probably. Though it didn't exactly perform "poorly." It looks like its final gross will be about 400 million... which is pretty good... just totally not what was expected given the production costs. Here in NYC it still seems to be packing them in IMAX3D (the only way to truly watch the movie).

And, at the end of the day, Singer can sleep well knowing he created an artistically great movie with depth and emotion AND awesome action (just not enough of it apparently) that didn't pander to the lesser traits of society.

[crazy monkey]

I'm glad you are nowhere near this movie. Bay may be messing up but your movie sounds like the Transformers version of Dukes of Hazard combined with hippie garbage.

Yes, anything emotional is garbage. Your insight is profound. You know what, lets hope Bay just makes this whole thing a two-hour fireball engulfing the screen, just so we can critcize its lack of depth and direction as we exit the theatre.

And, OK, I get it, you're like, twelve, but come on -- the Dukes? Is that just the only other 80's property you could name? Because nowhere did I mention ignorant yahoos jumping muscle cars across creeks in the Southland. Or do you think that all 80's music involved banjos, or something? Seriously, WTF. :rolleyes: Kids...


Why do you think SR performed so poorly in the Box Office? Mainly not enough action.

Well, that and because it captured neither the history nor the spirit of the comics, and I'm sorry, a comic adaptation has got to have at least one or the other. Batman's dark; Supes is bright, hopeful, idealistic, iconic and yes, action-packed. Singer and co. got it wrong. It should have been titled Superman Pouts.

Of course the Transformers has to be full of explosions and carnage and have at least one nasty, personal, hand-to-hand fight between Optimus and Megatron. I assumed that would go without saying. But when I think back on my favorite action movies, like:

LOTR trilogy
Saving Private Ryan
The Fugitive
Gladiator
Spidey 2
Batman Begins
The Matrix
Both Borne flicks
Empire Strikes Back
Revenge of the Sith
Seven Samurai
Hidalgo

I missing so many, but you get the picture -- what makes those movies great are what goes on between the action. It's the stories, the characters, the journey, the twists, the weight, the emotions, the desperation, the downward spiral to a dead end where it's either die -- or die trying. So when that hero moment comes, it hits you in the chest. What the characters are fighting and sacrificing for matters to you, the audience, and that's only because the movie took time to develop those characters, set-up their world and make you believe in what they need to accomplish.

Now, does that sound like hippie garbage?

-- END!

[nosebleed.]

-- END!


edit: Your first post sounded like hippie talk to me...you didn't really label any action elements so what was I to think? And as far as being a "kid", one can only wish.

[Orko Is King]

James Cameron...the guy knows badass robots and he hasn't done a big movie since Titanic.

[xwolverine2]

James Cameron...the guy knows badass robots and he hasn't done a big movie since Titanic.
hes doing two movies right now....each will prob take 20 years to make:o

[Chris B]

I am going to withhold judgement as to whether or not Michael Bay was the right director for 'Transformers' until I see the film next July. In regards to the topic at hand, the only other director that comes to mind is Robert Zemeckis. He had reportedly expressed interest and definitely could had pulled of the Spielberg-type moments they are aiming, and overall a solid film.

[nosebleed.]

I am going to withhold judgement as to whether or not Michael Bay was the right director for 'Transformers' until I see the film next July. In regards to the topic at hand, the only other director that comes to mind is Robert Zemeckis. He had reportedly expressed interest and definitely could had pulled of the Spielberg-type moments they are aiming, and overall a solid film.

co-sign. Zemeckis would have made this appealing to the general public while still maintaining the spirit of Transformers.

[Golgo-13]

He sucks as a director, but do you think that David Goyer would have written a more faithful adaption of the TF's, seeing as how he's a comic book buff?

[Spyda-Man]

i still say alex proyas

[CFlash]

i still say alex proyas

Yeah. I Robot was pretty darn good... And I think his visual imagination in Dark City has inspired almost every single comic and sci-fi movie in the last 7 years.

I second that choice. The visuals he would bring would be awesome without being Bay-esque hokey and contrived.

[xwolverine2]

i still say alex proyas
i want to make love to i,robot:up:

[nosebleed.]

Yeah. I Robot was pretty darn good... And I think his visual imagination in Dark City has inspired almost every single comic and sci-fi movie in the last 7 years.

I second that choice. The visuals he would bring would be awesome without being Bay-esque hokey and contrived.

Yeah, plus the fact that Will Smith is sporting Chuck Taylor's is pretty damn cool too.

[Hotwire]

Yeah, plus the fact that Will Smith is sporting Chuck Taylor's is pretty damn cool too.
And leather ones at that! I have been looking for them since I saw that movie and can't find them in any store.

[nosebleed.]

And leather ones at that! I have been looking for them since I saw that movie and can't find them in any store.

Are you a shoe head Mal'Akai? AF1s and the like?

[Hotwire]

Are you a shoe head Mal'Akai? AF1s and the like?
No, just liked the black leather Chuck Taylor's, wanted a pair, and never found them. Of course I'm not exactly going out of my to hunt them down, just casually looking for them.

[nosebleed.]

No, just liked the black leather Chuck Taylor's, wanted a pair, and never found them. Of course I'm not exactly going out of my to hunt them down, just casually looking for them.

man...that sucks. I thought I found another shoe head.

here's a pair for you: http://cgi.ebay.com/1v332-converse-CHUCK-TAYLOR-LEATHER-BLACK-7-5-M-9-5-W_W0QQitemZ200020590580QQihZ010QQcategoryZ63850QQr dZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Hotwire]

man...that sucks. I thought I found another shoe head.

here's a pair for you: http://cgi.ebay.com/1v332-converse-CHUCK-TAYLOR-LEATHER-BLACK-7-5-M-9-5-W_W0QQitemZ200020590580QQihZ010QQcategoryZ63850QQr dZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Thanks dude, but they're about 5 sizes too small.

[nosebleed.]

Thanks dude, but they're about 5 sizes too small.

lol...the seller has multiple shoe sizes. but we digress...

Proyas's style might be a little a little too dark for Transformers...but then again, maybe that edge would bring Transformers to a different level.

[xwolverine2]

too bad i dont like converse that much anymore:(

[Hotwire]

lol...the seller has multiple shoe sizes. but we digress...

Proyas's style might be a little a little too dark for Transformers...but then again, maybe that edge would bring Transformers to a different level.
Careful, you'll upset the fanboys! Fanboy rants, "What are you thinking!! G1 was NOT dark!!"

[xwolverine2]

you can only go so far with a PG-13 rating

though bettlejuice got away with the word "F---" in a PG movie.........somehow.

[Hotwire]

you can only go so far with a PG-13 rating

though bettlejuice got away with the word "F---" in a PG movie.........somehow.
That and the whore house thing, too.

[xwolverine2]

That and the whore house thing, too.
further proof that the mpaa is nothing but a bunch of ****ing stupid mothers with a giant biblical shield....

........if theres one thing i hate more than school and uwe boll.......its the mpaa:(

im their #1 hater:up: (i want to get a bumper sticker with that on it)

[Spyda-Man]

i have NOOOO idea how beetlejuice got away with.
anyways, YAY for Proyas

[Hotwire]

further proof that the mpaa is nothing but a bunch of ****ing stupid mothers with a giant biblical shield....

........if theres one thing i hate more than school and uwe boll.......its the mpaa:(

im their #1 hater:up: (i want to get a bumper sticker with that on it)
Ask and ye shall receive.