Transformers Realism and Cartoons

[Headless Knight]

P.S.
If the point of TF was to sell toys.... it didn't work on me. I had but one or two Transformers (I collected Masters and G.I. Joe). In fact, most of my friends when I was a kid and even friends I talk to now never collected Transformers (inner city kids... I guess they were too expensive).

I can totally relate. I live in a Third World country and the only TF toys I had were some minibots, because they were the only ones available (unless you had the money to import the really cool ones (I think I knew one kid who had Optimus Prime)).

I had Bumblebee, Brawn, Windcharger, Cliffjumper and an imported Hound my uncle brought from Japan (I totally flipped when I got that one).

That was it, aside from two very small versions of Astrotrain (one was a train and the other was a spacebus) and a very small Firetruck (it was probably supposed to be Inferno, but I used to pretend he was Optimus Prime). I don't even know if these three were official Transformers, though.

However, I had the complete Masters of the Universe collection, a lot of G.I. Joes and a few Thundercats.

But boy that cartoon and comic had an impact on our lives. I dunno why. No... wait... I do. It's because Jim Shooter and Bob Budiansky came up with kickass story and an awesome set of characters... that's why!

I honestly don't think the story and characters were that great. IMHO, what really got to the kids was the concept in itself.

Think about it. Masters of the Universe was a generic mix of LOTR-type fantasy with a little bit of Star Wars-like "sci-fi"; G.I. Joe was about superhero soldiers; Thundercats was about animal-people; etc. Those are things any kid could come up with.

Transformers, however, was something completely different, though the thing that really got to me back in the day were the visuals (and that's probably the case with most fans, based on the reactions the movie designs are causing). I can almost remember the feeling I got when I looked at those characters. It was just pure coolness.


All that said, the main point of the cartoon/comics was to sell toys. This becomes obvious when you look at the number of new characters that were being constantly introduced.

 

[Anubis73]

I think the original post was a bit long-winded. But combocaz has made some very good points. Many of us (myself included) are trying to read too much into so little. As we get closer to the movie hitting theaters maybe some of the things we have seen and heard will change. *crosses fingers*

 

[nosebleed.]

As we get closer to the movie hitting theaters maybe some of the things we have seen and heard will change. *crosses fingers*

Its called bracing yourself before the crash. Not saying this movie will be anywhere near a bomb. Its action, explosions, action, more explosions, fast cars, big cars, big trucks, jets, military, Megan Fox and Bay will guarantee it excellent popcorn flick status. But it will feel like a smack in the face to a lot of Transformer fans (and casual fans as well, They will be thinking to themselves, "This isn't how I remember it").

 

[CFlash]

Its called bracing yourself before the crash. Not saying this movie will be anywhere near a bomb. Its action, explosions, action, more explosions, fast cars, big cars, big trucks, jets, military, Megan Fox and Bay will guarantee it excellent popcorn flick status. But it will feel like a smack in the face to a lot of Transformer fans (and casual fans as well, They will be thinking to themselves, "This isn't how I remember it").

Yup. Like Godzilla 98. I remember purplexed WTF? looks on people's faces.

 

[nogster]

i smell a flop. will deliver good numbers the 1st week then it will make the hulk look like the titanic in regards to having legs.

 

[CFlash]

i smell a flop. will deliver good numbers the 1st week then it will make the hulk look like the titanic in regards to having legs.

Especially considering the competition next summer. But I sincerely doubt Bay is aiming for the Spidey / Pirates $1 billion stratosphere anyway.

 

[The Lizard]

There's a difference between being slavishly devoted to duplicating the TF cartoon (which would indeed be silly), and making the characters and situations at least somewhat recognizable when compared with their source material.

And, lest we forget, the true source material here is NOT really the TF cartoon, but is the very well-designed toys originally made by Takara. So while I'm willing to see changes in storyline and even some changes in characterization, I'm much less enthusiastic about the big changes in the robot designs.

It bears repeating: Too much unneccessary changes, and we've got another American Godzilla on our hands.

 

[Headless Knight]

American Godzilla was as lame as any Godzilla movie.

There, I said it. Sorry Godzilla fans. It's the truth.

However, the old Godzilla movies had at least enough camp to be entertaining, while the american one is actually pretty boring.

PS: Why do I always end up talking about other movies in these boards? Is it possible that I'm unconsciously avoiding the "Transformers" subject? Am I in denial?

 

[thegameq]

IThis is about Michael Bay and crew taking a property that needed rejuvenation and totally trashing it to fit THEIR personal desires.

This is "Bad Filmmaking 101" we're witnessing here.
Damned shame it had to be Transformers...

You know that is probably one of the biggest factors that hurt these types of films. The directors and producers egos get in the way. They want to make THEIR movie at the expense of our movie. All fans want is a true as can be rendition/adaptation ala the SM, LOTR, etc. films. As far as scope and seriousness, I think a LOTR or WOTW sized scope would do.

Why is it that certain directors find it so hard to do?

sigh.

Again, the fact that Bay is directing this film speaks tons about the kind of film we're going to get. Bay has proven time and time again that he's not even in the same league as the elite directors--much less the elite fantasy directors. Bay is in the same class of director as Brett Ratner and the myriad of other credit fillers; forgettable and nothing special.

Thank goodness for the films and directors that treat scifi/fantasy with respect and give us more than "popcorn flicks". Is their anyone left in Hollywood that aims high with the scifi/fantasy genre anymore. Is LOTR , Potter, and the SM films that much of an rarity?

Damn. Another pop-culture icon butchered for the sake of "because we can" and "why not".

 

[CFlash]

American Godzilla was as lame as any Godzilla movie.

There, I said it. Sorry Godzilla fans. It's the truth.

However, the old Godzilla movies had at least enough camp to be entertaining, while the american one is actually pretty boring.

PS: Why do I always end up talking about other movies in these boards? Is it possible that I'm unconsciously avoiding the "Transformers" subject? Am I in denial?

Japanese Godzilla movies (a 50 year franchise!) have very low budgets and are ultimately B movies. But, they're wonderful.... if you get them. Now I'm not saying that American Godzilla should have strived to be a B movie, but even the worser of the Godzilla movies had more to say about mankind and the world than American Godzila 98.

And, although I personally liked the design of the monster, they got almost NO part of his personality (running from the military like a baby? wtf???) and missed the ONE thing that made Godzilla unique... his nuclear fire. Not to mention the aweful, cliched, and idiotic Jurassic Park rip-off scene in Madison Square Garden.

 

[CFlash]

You know that is probably one of the biggest factors that hurt these types of films. The directors and producers egos get in the way. They want to make THEIR movie at the expense of our movie. All fans want is a true as can be rendition/adaptation ala the SM, LOTR, etc. films. As far as scope and seriousness, I think a LOTR or WOTW sized scope would do.

Why is it that certain directors find it so hard to do?

sigh.

Again, the fact that Bay is directing this film speaks tons about the kind of film we're going to get. Bay has proven time and time again that he's not even in the same league as the elite directors--much less the elite fantasy directors. Bay is in the same class of director as Brett Ratner and the myriad of other credit fillers; forgettable and nothing special.

Thank goodness for the films and directors that treat scifi/fantasy with respect and give us more than "popcorn flicks". Is their anyone left in Hollywood that aims high with the scifi/fantasy genre anymore. Is LOTR , Potter, and the SM films that much of an rarity?

Damn. Another pop-culture icon butchered for the sake of "because we can" and "why not".

I completely agree. I have a feeling that Bay is desperate to be back on top the way he was in the 90's. He's been upstaged by a new crop of directors..... Actually, they're not "new", they have been cutting their teeth for years and years. And, NOT making music videos either.

A review of Pearl Harbor described his lack of real talent nicely:
I received the impression that Pearl Harbor was made in complete ignorance of the last 100 years of film history, using incredibly hackneyed and old-fashioned devices that might have come from D.W. Griffith himself.

A funny essay in The Onion:
What Has Our Society Come To When March Of The Penguins Is The Blockbuster Hit Of The Summer?
By Michael Bay , Aug 17 2005
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/37499

 

[Headless Knight]

Lol, The Onion is awesome.

 

[Timstuff]

As the world gets warmer, the Bay is gonna get a lot bigger. Just watch.

 

[Comicfan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDybfY-300A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVwbUljGs3g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOoxa-W9afE&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFVSuUIt8KY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMd4NAYIui4