Transformers Style - What will this movie be like?

[CFlash]

... and what do you think it should have been?

Armageddon felt like it tried to be Apollo 13 meets Independence Day. Pearl Harbor is almost a verbatim(!) copy of Titanic. The Island seemed heavily influenced by Minority Report. (Of course, all those movies had the Michael Bay formula running through the whole thing- for better or worse).

Will this movie have you saying "cool!" throughout the whole thing (even as buildings fall or people die) or do you think this movie will be more mature? What would you have liked to see instead?...
- a James Cameron (serious sci-fi AND action)
- a Zemekis movie (more fantasy I guess),
- a Spielberg movie (whose blockbusters have been iffy lately... tho WOTW failed on story NOT direction and intelligence)?

Why or why not?

Feel free to express your love about Bay and his movies. This isn't a hate thread.

 

[AyeCapn]

Strange as it sounds, I think it is going to be a Bay movie. Much hatred for the content of the films, but his visual style is a thing of it's own. Even Bruce willis admitted that because of his work action movies have been "ruined".

I would love it to be James Cameron circa 1991. That being said, I can see how light-hearted moment likle Bobby Bolivia have their place. Especially for the setup film for a franchise.

When you look at any sequences in Bay movies versus other action directors, I'd personally pick Bay every time. I'll again state my wish for Spielberg directing with Bay as Director of Photography and second unit.

 

[Cth]

Strange as it sounds, I think it is going to be a Bay movie. Much hatred for the content of the films, but his visual style is a thing of it's own. Even Bruce willis admitted that because of his work action movies have been "ruined".

I would love it to be James Cameron circa 1991. That being said, I can see how light-hearted moment likle Bobby Bolivia have their place. Especially for the setup film for a franchise.

When you look at any sequences in Bay movies versus other action directors, I'd personally pick Bay every time. I'll again state my wish for Spielberg directing with Bay as Director of Photography and second unit.

I wouldn't mind that happening, especially if Bay gets tied up with Prince of Persia and whatever else.

 

[The Kid]

Willis is full of ****, sorry. If anything, bay's elevated the genre. What's a real action movie? commando? That movie is a pile of crap, delicious fun crap yes, but still crap as are many many many many many action movies I've seen while drunk.

Bay's style is a mix of Anime and Comic Books. Transformers is a mix of Anime and cheap 80s cartoon stuff. He'll do it that way, and it'll be like robotech or gundam and be awesome...

 

[kzupin]

I look at it like this, Cameron is a good director. But name one thing in the past 5 years he's made? Nothing, hes been doing his ocean/discovery channel movies and pushing digital film making on the world. Zemekis I dont think could of handled this movie. Spielberg is my all time favorite director of all time. (Did I say that enough) But I dont think he could of handled and done this movie the right way either.

Love Bay or hate Bay, he is the KING of summer popcorn movies. You point out that the Island bombed, as its been pointed out its his first one to do that. I think part of the reason it did so bad was the fact that it was a little too smart for your average Bay movie goer. Didn't appeal quite to the popcorn eating, big explosion group that he does. It had to MUCH story in it.

Transformers is the perfect Bay summer Tent pole. And the fact that he was hand picked my Steven Spielberg only gives me more hope for this film. I have no doubt that when I walk of the Theater on JULY 4th I will be blown away and trying to talk my GF into seeing it just one more time before we go home.

Just my 2 cents

 

[thegameq]

Based on what I've seen and read, this movie will probably have the typical action of a Bay movie blended in with Spielberg's E.T. (it's incredible, it's wonderous, ooooooo, ahhhhhhh) treatment--which is kinda old.

I like Spielberg, but I really don't know where his priorities lie sometimes. Is he an artist (Jackson, Tarantino, Rodriguez, etc.) or is he just looking to cash in? I think when it's his films, we get the Spielberg we all are familiar with. When his name is just attached to a project, the best thing about the film is usually the sfx.

As for what it could have been, definitely a James Cameron blend of action and sci-fi (I find your entry for Zemeckis very intriguing however. Personally, I think there's a certain dynamicism or stylization to the Transformers that only a handful of directors could probably pull off, just as in comicbook movies). Make no mistake, it would have been state of the art and expensive as all hell but the potential.....

The biggest rub with this film, as with many others in the fantasy film genre is that it seems the producers didn't even try or dare to make a "great" film. It's as if they just wrote off the possibility of making a great movie and decided to take the easy way out and concentrate on making something passable. How many teen outcast becomes hero and gets hot chick films does H-wood have to make before they realize it's been done to death.

Think about it fellow hypsters (no offense to you folks with limited imaginations, but you may have to sit this part out); Paramount had the opportunity to really make something special. A character based sci-fi action movie where the main characters are a race of living robots. The bold shift of focus from the humans to the robots would have been a great move. Imagine the size and scale of the Transformers world bought to vibrant life on the big screen. Just wow..........imagine anime-esque robot designs and stylization in live-action--HOLY *****--WOW!!!.............what an onscreen villain Megatron would have made!! Imagine Megatron crippling a bridge with his fusion cannon (taken from a scene in Tfs movie as if I have to mention that) WOW!!! The dynamic onscreen action, WWWWOOOOWWWW!.....Obviously, I'm talking about a no holds-barred fantasy film.

In the end, this film's artistic vision and direction was more than likely largely decided in the board room, and that my friends is very sad. Paramount had a chance to paint a bold stroke this summer movie season and scare the ***** out of every movie studio this summer, instead they opted for a much safer route, the disposable popcorn flick. Films you discard from your mind like the popcorn bucket you discard when leaving the theatre; nothing really special, nothing truly memorable to add amongst the hallowed halls of the great films in memory...yeah, yeah we know, giant f**king robots, ILM.......

Transformers is a classic case of the people involved just not "getting it".

 

[CFlash]

I can't believe I actually read through all that, thegameq. But I think you hit a lot of nails on the head.

 

[Marvin]

sorry dude but unlike the cartoon series, it's quasi suicide to not anchor a film in the human story adjacent to the fantastical characters..

ie Jurassic park (even though dinos can't really talk it's and example of the extreme)

The terminator series is a good example
we're following humans follow the fantastical characters

believe it or not, the average audience can connect more with will smith being will smith and yelling at aliens than a robot vs robot war

the summer time is no time to demand an audience to immerse themselves in hard core fantasy/sci fi...note LOTR was released in the winter.

basically the cartoon had alot of robots looking down shots
this movie has humans looking up shots

we are in a theater looking to relate to characters in action driven plot

and bay wrote the book on low angle long shots amen

 

[Cth]

He has some good points, but it dismisses that Hasbro is largely to blame instead of Paramount.

 

[AyeCapn]

the more trailers and TV spots I see the more I get the same feeling I got when I watched the cartoon as a kid. I don't know that it is based on anything concrete other than an emotional reponse to characters that for me resonate just as well as the cartoon did.

As long as I get that giddy feeling and get to annoy my wife with it, I'm good

 

[CFlash]

the more trailers and TV spots I see the more I get the same feeling I got when I watched the cartoon as a kid. I don't know that it is based on anything concrete other than an emotional reponse to characters that for me resonate just as well as the cartoon did.

As long as I get that giddy feeling and get to annoy my wife with it, I'm good

That yahoo trailer is damn good, that's for sure. One of the best trailers I have ever seen.... EVER. See, I can be positive! t:

Not too sure about the TV commercials tho... I think they've given away too much. "The Island" syndrome might hit this movie hard... and Bay will blame Dreamworks marketing again. We'll see.

 

[Tempest19]

sorry dude but unlike the cartoon series, it's quasi suicide to not anchor a film in the human story adjacent to the fantastical characters..

ie Jurassic park (even though dinos can't really talk it's and example of the extreme)

The terminator series is a good example
we're following humans follow the fantastical characters

believe it or not, the average audience can connect more with will smith being will smith and yelling at aliens than a robot vs robot war

the summer time is no time to demand an audience to immerse themselves in hard core fantasy/sci fi...note LOTR was released in the winter.

basically the cartoon had alot of robots looking down shots
this movie has humans looking up shots

we are in a theater looking to relate to characters in action driven plot

and bay wrote the book on low angle long shots amen

Preaching to the choir dude. Preaching to the choir.

 

[The Kid]

anybody else here ever see terminator 2 3d?

 

[Tempest19]

You mean at Universal???

 

[The Kid]

ya. this movie will be like that.

 

[Marvin]

Preaching to the choir dude. Preaching to the choir.

some of the choir seems to have lost their way
(after church is done they go and do very unchristian things)

basically
there's a reason the loose dinosaurs and humans in the park with movie did better than any dino movie that has dinos that can talk and theres no a human in sight
(disneys dinosaur)

as far as the summers concerned
not that either one is better but u have to understand ur markets

 

[kzupin]

Hey....I LOVE LAND BEFORE TIME!

 

[CFlash]

I personally have no problem with the human POV of the story. I agree that it must be that way in order to succeed.... and not for nuthin, but the comic was very much from a human standpoint too. A lot of it was.

What I don't care for, and I think is eye-roll inducing stupid, is the military "kickin ass" saving the day crap. That Michael Bay feels the need to inject this moronic macho-man hero *****, is just painful. He's the kind of guy that watched Aliens and completely missed the whole point... he only saw the guns and soldier-talk.

NO weapon should hurt any of the robots, but they do. The Autobots should be the heroes (in the end). But, they're not. To me, that's missing the whole point.

 

[Super78]

What I don't care for, and I think is eye-roll inducing stupid, is the military "kickin ass" saving the day crap. That Michael Bay feels the need to inject this moronic macho-man hero *****, is just painful. He's the kind of guy that watched Aliens and completely missed the whole point... he only saw the guns and soldier-talk.

Yeah, I agree.

I hate that stupid "Bring it!" line in the trailers.

GROAN.

 

[Marvin]

I see ur point

I just don't see why it can't have both
ie american soldiers getting audience cheers for straping that bomb to starsreams back
and BB overcoming the bully that has the upper hand

I just wonder about todays war on iraq state of mind

 

[Marvin]

Yeah, I agree.

I hate that stupid "Bring it!" line in the trailers.

GROAN.

as long as u know that the trailer guy(guy who sits in his trailer and splices movie trailers together for studios)

cut those two scenes together without any context apart from getting the message across to the audience...

I'm sure tyrese has his own reasons for shouting that

 

[CFlash]

I see ur point

I just don't see why it can't have both
ie american soldiers getting audience cheers for straping that bomb to starsreams back
and BB overcoming the bully that has the upper hand

I just wonder about todays war on iraq state of mind

I dont care about any iraq crap. All I'm saying is that just like Godzilla 98 missed the *point* of its source material, so too (it seems) does this movie.

 

[Marvin]

those silly hong kong movies are wonderfull source material

i would have loved to see that exact thing but with cleaner effects....

sorry but as weak as it was it made more sense than that silly stuff

 

[CFlash]

those silly hong kong movies are wonderfull source material

i would have loved to see that exact thing but with cleaner effects....

sorry but as weak as it was it made more sense than that silly stuff

First off, it's Tokyo not Hong Kong. And, at its heart, Godzilla is anything but silly. It's about as silly as any stupid comic book that gets elevated to the big screen while still remaining faithful to the CORE concepts.

 

[Batmun]

Based on what I've seen and read, this movie will probably have the typical action of a Bay movie blended in with Spielberg's E.T. (it's incredible, it's wonderous, ooooooo, ahhhhhhh) treatment--which is kinda old.

I like Spielberg, but I really don't know where his priorities lie sometimes. Is he an artist (Jackson, Tarantino, Rodriguez, etc.) or is he just looking to cash in? I think when it's his films, we get the Spielberg we all are familiar with. When his name is just attached to a project, the best thing about the film is usually the sfx.

As for what it could have been, definitely a James Cameron blend of action and sci-fi (I find your entry for Zemeckis very intriguing however. Personally, I think there's a certain dynamicism or stylization to the Transformers that only a handful of directors could probably pull off, just as in comicbook movies). Make no mistake, it would have been state of the art and expensive as all hell but the potential.....

The biggest rub with this film, as with many others in the fantasy film genre is that it seems the producers didn't even try or dare to make a "great" film. It's as if they just wrote off the possibility of making a great movie and decided to take the easy way out and concentrate on making something passable. How many teen outcast becomes hero and gets hot chick films does H-wood have to make before they realize it's been done to death.

Think about it fellow hypsters (no offense to you folks with limited imaginations, but you may have to sit this part out); Paramount had the opportunity to really make something special. A character based sci-fi action movie where the main characters are a race of living robots. The bold shift of focus from the humans to the robots would have been a great move. Imagine the size and scale of the Transformers world bought to vibrant life on the big screen. Just wow..........imagine anime-esque robot designs and stylization in live-action--HOLY *****--WOW!!!.............what an onscreen villain Megatron would have made!! Imagine Megatron crippling a bridge with his fusion cannon (taken from a scene in Tfs movie as if I have to mention that) WOW!!! The dynamic onscreen action, WWWWOOOOWWWW!.....Obviously, I'm talking about a no holds-barred fantasy film.

In the end, this film's artistic vision and direction was more than likely largely decided in the board room, and that my friends is very sad. Paramount had a chance to paint a bold stroke this summer movie season and scare the ***** out of every movie studio this summer, instead they opted for a much safer route, the disposable popcorn flick. Films you discard from your mind like the popcorn bucket you discard when leaving the theatre; nothing really special, nothing truly memorable to add amongst the hallowed halls of the great films in memory...yeah, yeah we know, giant f**king robots, ILM.......

Transformers is a classic case of the people involved just not "getting it".

I can see your point, but they wanted a more family oriented flick when the project first started. Meaning, keeping the story simple with lots of action.

I would love to see an epic sci-fi Transformers film. I just don't see it becoming reality. Transformers is a marketing cash cow. If they wanted to make the flick you wanted, they would have replaced Bay with Stanley Kubrick. It would probably had less interest from the general public, but what a story it could've been.t: