Revenge of the Fallen Michael Bay out of the way!

[craigdbfan]

Weta's Evangelion project looked kickass. I really hope they can get a studio to pick it up someday, because NGE is my favorite anime series and one of my favorite TV shows period. It's pretty much tied with Superman in the "movie projects I want to escape from development hell" category.

Anyway, I'm not sure if Peter Jackson would do Transformers 3. The guy is pretty busy, and I honestly don't see him picking up where another director left off. And given that there's like a lot of creative differences between Jackson and Bay, I wouldn't count on a very strong sense of continuity since he'll probably want to change things to his own tastes.

Personally, Louis Leterrier would be my first choice. He's just as capable of balls-to-the-wall action scenes as Michael Bay (including chaotic car chases, as seen in The Transporter), and in The Incredible Hulk showed that he can put together a cool monster fight scene. If the goal is to maintain continuity with the first two movies will injecting a bit of new flavor, I think Leterrier would be the most logical choice.

Your not alone in hoping NGE gets picked up by a studio at some point. I hope with all the popularity of the "Transformer" movies it has a chance of being brought to LA. I'm still not to sure how they would be able to pack the same complexity that was so ever present in the anime though. Especially if its produced with a large budget and at one of the major studios.

Louis Leterrier is a great suggestion that hadn't occurred to me but he definitely makes it through the cut based on his past films.

 

[AnorexicBatman]

JJ ABRAMS!!

Bring on intelligent science fiction from the man who brought us Lost, Alias, Fringe and the "Dark Knight" of 2009, STAR TREK. It will be godly.

How about Del Toro? It would be like Hellboy I & II in terms of tone.
He could make the robots look sorta organic yet somehow mechanical
Or is he busy with The Hobbit?

Peter Jackson? Futuristic LOTR anyone?

Anybody respectable and is not a two bit hack?
Not Bryan Singer though... he would give Optimus an illegitimate child with Elita-1

Wachowski Brothers?? Holy F**K!
That could be incredible. Maybe the next MATRIX for them.


The sky is the limit.

 

[CEREBRAL....]

The G1 designs are too blocky and simple to look compelling in a real world setting. The only way they would work is if the entire movie was an animated CG film, because that's the one setting where such cartoony looking designs would be acceptable. I am an animator and I can assure you that in addition to the fact that the G1 designs would look stupid in real life, they simply would not be any fun to animate as CG. The G1 designs are what you would use in a direct-to-video movie or a Sci-Fi Saturday Original, because they are simple and easy to animate. For a multi-million dollar blockbuster though, a more baroque design is preferable.

an i'm a graphic designer...i don't want a real live film to be the exact same as any cartoon..i do realize and would hope things get updated...."boxy" as the term is used...to me is what the vehicles were back then (80s). I'm just not gonna say a G1 verison or something somewhat similiar to it wouldn't work...with the powers and talent of grphic artist and ainmators anything is possible..keyword "simliar to"

i think the concept art of "long haul" was done great..and it's the film...if the other robots were done with that similar approach (not like or look) then i think a lot of us wouldn't complain..

 

[LightningFlash]

And the whiney G1 fans will now rejoice.

But I'm glad Bay has gave us close to five hours of TF fun.

 

[luca_frontino]

Again! The lame argument "G1 is ridiculous" has no proof.
This is (for nth time) just a drawing of a detail improved Prime. Now imagine this in CGI.
Would it really look worse than Bay-Prime?

 

[chaseter]

Yes it would. I admire ILM and Bay for making the robots look absolutely realistic and how much detail they put into each character. So yeah, I like what we have and I prefer what we have.

 

[Chris B]

It wouldn't surprise if this is just some grandstanding by Bay. Something involving a dispute between him and Dreamworks/Paramount where the studio wants TF3 to make the July 2011 release date they set while Bay insists on taking his year-long vacation.

That said, I have mixed thoughts on Bay not returning. I thought that for that most part, TF1 still managed to capture the essence of the franchise despite it flaws. But at the same time things like Optimus Prime not wearing his faceplate most of the the time, not knowing what to do with Soundwave, messing around with Jetfire, and creating the likes of Skids and Mudflap are just a few of the things that make me scratch my head. I just don't think Bay really has the respect for the franchise that any director whose making a movie based on a geek property should have.

As for who I think could replace him, I'm with Timstuff about Louis Lettier. Who has been my first choice since seeing TIH, in case of a situation like this.

 

[chaseter]

JJ ABRAMS!!

Bring on intelligent science fiction from the man who brought us Lost, Alias, Fringe and the "Dark Knight" of 2009, STAR TREK. It will be godly.

How about Del Toro? It would be like Hellboy I & II in terms of tone.
He could make the robots look sorta organic yet somehow mechanical
Or is he busy with The Hobbit?

Peter Jackson? Futuristic LOTR anyone?

Anybody respectable and is not a two bit hack?
Not Bryan Singer though... he would give Optimus an illegitimate child with Elita-1

Wachowski Brothers?? Holy F**K!
That could be incredible. Maybe the next MATRIX for them.


The sky is the limit.

Del Toro, Peter Jackson, and Abrams have their plates full for another 3-4 years so they won't be on board with Transformers. Wachowskis..maybe but they are more into making their own, not continuing what someone else started.

 

[chaseter]

It wouldn't surprise if this is just some grandstanding by Bay. Something involving a dispute between him and Dreamworks/Paramount where the studio wants TF3 to make the July 2011 release date they set while Bay insists on taking his year-long vacation.

That said, I have mixed thoughts on Bay not returning. I thought that for that most part, TF1 still managed to capture the essence of the franchise despite it flaws. But at the same time things like Optimus Prime not wearing his faceplate most of the the time, not knowing what to do with Soundwave, messing around with Jetfire, and creating the likes of Skids and Mudflap are just a few of the things that make me scratch my head. I just don't think Bay really has the respect for the franchise that any director whose making a movie based on a geek property should have.

As for who I think could replace him, I'm with Timstuff about Louis Lettier. Who has been my first choice since seeing TIH, in case of a situation like this.

Dear god, another "Optimus didn't wear his faceplate enough = Bay sucks" mentality

 

[CEREBRAL....]

misread quote.....

 

[Fanticon]

shurrrr....lets see how much money this one makes and then we'll see what Bay thinks about doing part 3.

 

[Chris B]

Dear god, another "Optimus didn't wear his faceplate enough = Bay sucks" mentality

Don't worry, I don't think that.

I didn't even bother me as much as I initially thought it would. Its just that to me, the faceplate has always been one of the key design traits of the character. And looking at a lot of the promo material, it just looks better to me.

 

[craigdbfan]

Del Toro, Peter Jackson, and Abrams have their plates full for another 3-4 years so they won't be on board with Transformers. Wachowskis..maybe but they are more into making their own, not continuing what someone else started.

Peter Jackson as an executive producer/producer is completely tied up to tons of projects but when it comes to directorial gigs he is finishing up The Lovely Bones and everything else ahead of him is still tentative and aren't even in the early stages of production for the exception of the Tin Tin film which he needs to direct after Spielberg releases his take on the character first.

Meaning its not a complete loss when it comes to him possibly directing the third Transformers film if Paramount choose to approach him. Although its a long shot and Timstuffs suggestion of Louis Leterrier seems far more possible.

 

[chaseter]

Don't worry, I don't think that.

I didn't even bother me as much as I initially thought it would. Its just that to me, the faceplate has always been one of the key design traits of the character. And looking at a lot of the promo material, it just looks better to me.

Optimus wears it when he is in battle and it looks as if he gets into 2 or 3 fights this round so he will be wearing it much more. Bay and the designers chose to not have it on constantly so that we could see his facial movements when he talked. That gives these characters tons of life and makes them more relatable. The facial cues tells a lot about each character as well and also helps the general audience know which robot is talking. So, in terms of design, I think it was a fantastic choice to not make him wear the faceplate the entire time. Even in the cartoons, the faceplate got bigger and even light up a little to show that he was talking.

 

[chaseter]

Peter Jackson as an executive producer/producer is completely tied up to tons of projects but when it comes to directorial gigs he is finishing up The Lovely Bones and everything else ahead of him is still tentative and aren't even in the early stages of production for the exception of the Tin Tin film which he needs to direct after Spielberg releases his take on the character first.

Meaning its not a complete loss when it comes to him possibly directing the third Transformers film if Paramount choose to approach him. Although its a long shot and Timstuffs suggestion of Louis Leterrier seems far more possible.

Peter is writing and helping out with the Hobbit films...that will consume his life for a while, him and Del Toro.

 

[Doctor Jones]

Bay is perfect for these films. If you want any other filmmaker for intelligence sake, then you're taking away that is the silly great fun of these films. They're meant to entertain and entertain only. Bay is the man for the job.

 

[The Guard]

Hmm. Takes a lot to walk away from the kind of money they'll offer him if ROTF is as big as the first movie. We'll see what happens, I guess. I very much doubt we’ll see a drastic change in the design or look of the franchise. I can kind of see them making a sequel that has more flashback elements to the Autobot/Decepticon origins/war. That'd be sort of cool. Unicron, anyone?

I've never seen a chicken that looks anything like Starscream does.

Megatron's helmet is still intact, it just doesn't look exactly the same.

One assumes Megatron chose his image (the teeth, etc) because it's intimidating, or was built that way because it's intimidating. The Samurai thing also isn't far off, nor is the idea that he might file his teeth or something to, again, look intimidating.

 

[luca_frontino]

Two Bayformers is actually enough for you "Yes, man".
Now it's our turn.

 

[CEREBRAL....]

Two Bayformers is actually enough for you "Yes, man".
Now it's our turn.

ha ha...

 

[Figs]

Two Bayformers is actually enough for you "Yes, man".
Now it's our turn.

LOL "Our turn"...lmfao. Yeah, I would love to see a fanboy make a big budget film...there would be a 90-95% chance it would be full of fail.

Also, what makes Bay a yes man? He tends to make the kind of films he wants and does what he wants on set as well.

 

[The Guard]

LOL "Our turn"...lmfao. Yeah, I would love to see a fanboy make a big budget film...there would be a 90-95% chance it would be full of fail.

I suspect they'd run into problems when the G1 style Transformers weren't able to move without looking incredibly, incredibly awkward. That'd be hilarious.

 

[luca_frontino]

You Bayfans are just "Yes, man"

 

[8Diagrams(WU)]

Bay is a little bit of a drama queen.

If this movie does well, and it will, hell come back for the big bucks.

I wouldnt be against a bayless TF though. These movies could really do without some of the kiddie friendly cheese.

 

[Figs]

You Bayfans are just "Yes, man"

Nope, not at all. Having grown up on the cartoon series myself(I'm currently 28), I've just grown up and matured enough to realize that the cartoon which literally was a 20-25 minute toy commercial was cheesy, still fun but incredibly cheesy. It's due to that, that I can respect and even look forward to changes made for the better like getting rid of the blocky structure for something more plausable and realistic.

As well as making their faces a bit different so they all don't share the same gray colored looking face like the cartoon in which if it wasn't for different voice actors and their body color they would look like the same guy...looking just at their faces at least.

I suspect they'd run into problems when the G1 style Transformers weren't able to move without looking incredibly, incredibly awkward. That'd be hilarious.

So very true.

 

[Chris B]

Optimus wears it when he is in battle and it looks as if he gets into 2 or 3 fights this round so he will be wearing it much more. Bay and the designers chose to not have it on constantly so that we could see his facial movements when he talked. That gives these characters tons of life and makes them more relatable. The facial cues tells a lot about each character as well and also helps the general audience know which robot is talking. So, in terms of design, I think it was a fantastic choice to not make him wear the faceplate the entire time. Even in the cartoons, the faceplate got bigger and even light up a little to show that he was talking.

Thing is, I think the old principal about eyes being perhaps the most important body part when it comes to actors emoting is something that I think could've easily been applied to Optimus.