Transformers Transformers the new Godzilla

[roach]

they've got to show one transform in a trailer. period. even if we just see it from behind.

you've got to use the sfx to wow them in the trailer to get them in, and people will get hooked by seeing a great transformation.

it doesn't even need to be a major player.

I just showed the trailer to a recruiter friend of mine and he flipped out when the Transformers logo hit the screen. This movie is gonna sell itself

 

[ragdus]

so then they should leave it with that one trailer for the next 12 months?

i'm going to go ahead and disagree.

every successive trailer reveals more and more to build more hype. it's the way it is.

 

[roach]

so then they should leave it with that one trailer for the next 12 months?

i'm going to go ahead and disagree.

every successive trailer reveals more and more to build more hype. it's the way it is.

no they should continue to show new trailers but show very little of the robots...but I know we live in the instant gratification era so I am sure we'll see some transforming in the latter trailers

 

[ragdus]

well it just makes sense. how many trailers can you make about transformers without showing anything transforming?

 

[TigerClaw]

What the trailers could do is showing the end results, And I mean the end results being the humans reacting to the transformations.

 

[CFlash]

well it just makes sense. how many trailers can you make about transformers without showing anything transforming?

While I think it's a MUST that we see PART of the robot-modes in a trailer.
The transformation can happen offscreen... I just want to hear the SOUND.

 

[ragdus]

While I think it's a MUST that we see PART of the robot-modes in a trailer.
The transformation can happen offscreen... I just want to hear the SOUND.

Yeah true. it doesn't have to be the actual transformation. but if it's not, they need to show some bots, yeah.

 

[Hunter Rider]

No i don't think so

 

[Iceburgeruk]

Its a bit of a useless comparison really.

Godzilla, like say mario bros, is a near impossible form of entertainment to translate into a hollywood movie. The whole guys in monster suits fighting and stomping on fake buildings although really cool in low budget japanese films is near impossible to do as a hollywood film. The constraints of the medium means that it is difficult to make a film where you root for a giant monster even if he is fighting a slightly meaner giant monster. Add to that the extreme lack of depth that devlin/emmerich films have. And the fact that something watchable came out of the process is staggering.

Transformers is a different story. There are clear good guys and bad guys (as oppossed to godzilla`s i`ll be a good guy if it`s your lucky day). The action shown in the original series is half big punchups and half crazed chases (ie bay and hollywoods two favourite realms). Transformers has a more widespread fan base (it is a rampant kid fave every couple of years) in comparison to godzilla`s more niche market (c`mon you have to accept that most people outside of the fanbase will find godzilla movies either mildly entertaining or laughable.) Transformers is an always has been firmly within the family film/tv/cartoon landscape while godzilla is either niche or b-movie horror. Transformers is more appreciative of the original material. The crew of Transformers have taken time and effort to to a rather considerate extent take into account what the fans think about the live action adaption. There have been a couple of changes but most are really rather superficial. Godzilla 98 on the other hand changed the setting to new york, placed the blame for his birth on the french and made him into some bizarre asexual freak just so they could have some raptor sized godzilla babies to chase the main characters indoors.

Michael Bay himself is far more competent than emmerich/devlin, Bay makes action films because he likes them while emmerich/devlin seem obsessed with blowing up landmarks and using a large amount of cg. Bay approached making a deep film with the island while can anyone name an emmerich film that was any deeper than one of those tiny french coffee cups?

Godzilla 98 bombing doesn`t mean transformers will anymore than the critcial reception to wild wild west affected the popularity of pirates of the caribean.

Additionally: I always thought godzilla 98 didn`t work for me coz i wanted to see a big screen cg godzilla smacking another monster around. Him just stepping on people and being asexual is not the kind of thing that interests me.

 

[Golgo-13]

Actually the comparison to the GINO film is pretty much dead on.

This movie's production thus far is almost completely mirroring how GINO went down at Tristar.

Leaked concept drawings from GINO were said to be fake according to Emmerich and Devlin and were later proven to be liars.

Rumors of how the character appeared, acted, plot elements and more were pretty much dead on also(which were negative and rightfully so.)

I am now seeing the exact same thing with the Transformers movie production.

Now to be fair, I'll naturally reserve judgement until I see the film. Still, if you're a Transformers fan you have to at least be very concerned with what we're "hearing" and "seeing".

I'm starting to get the feeling that this movie might actually be more like 'War of the Worlds', where we get to know the human characters before we see the Transformers, then get to see how the Transformers effect the lives of each of these human charcaters. Kinda like how the alien invaders effected the lives of Tom Cruise family. It's classic hollywood shmuck where they want the human characters in the movie to represent the 'audience', so we as the movie goers see the Transformers through the eyes of the movies human characters...which sucks!:

...and we have Speilburg overseeing this too?... oh i'd bet my life this is what we're gonna get!

 

[VolgusZildrohar]

You see, this is a story of a boy and his car. And although Cybertron is a massive metal planet ruled by space traveling, shape changing robots- a red ball of dirt named Mars is much cooler to make a preview about

 

[Iceburgeruk]

You see, this is a story of a boy and his car. And although Cybertron is a massive metal planet ruled by space traveling, shape changing robots- a red ball of dirt named Mars is much cooler to make a preview about

I think if they had gone with a short trailer about the history and inner workings of cybertron a lot of people would have considered it a quarantined portion of nerdsville and have not given the film a chance. The mars bit makes so you see a glimpse of a robot but without making average people thing its gonna be a geekfest.

 

[Spark]

I just showed the trailer to a recruiter friend of mine and he flipped out when the Transformers logo hit the screen. This movie is gonna sell itself

That's because 'Transformers' is a recognisable name. T-R-A-N-S-F-O-R-M-E-R-S. Let's see what happens when they show an unrecognisable Prime.

And you never said Dinosaurs where missing from the first JP trailer (even though they weren't anyway). You said Dinosaurs weren't shown before the movie arrived.

 

[SolidSnakeMGS]

Good analogy. I am pretty sure this will most likely end up like Godzilla, a mindless Hollywood cookie-cutter action movie. Bay's ego won't let it be anything but.

 

[VolgusZildrohar]

but short glimpse of an impressive overshot of the cybertronian hemisphere would have made the people gasp in their seats....and not pointing on the screen in furious laughter.

hey, those guys who made riddick were able to do that. now imagine spielberg and all the money.......god what are they thinking...

by the way....the "realistic" view bay is talking about the whole time........man, "giant f***** robots" ROBOTS!!!

it would have been easier if they simply took the script from the 86 movie and made it real life/CG

i totally agree, THIS will be the new godzilla.....and bay will sit in his basement and will hug himself over his ideas

 

[ragdus]

Yes, it would have been so much better to just remake a 20 year old movie and then all they'd have to focus on was the visuals, which you could then turn around and complain about the severe lack of creativity and focus jusrt on 'splosions!

btw, nobody pounted at that trailer and erupted in furious laughter. we both know it, so let's not be overly dramatic.

 

[CFlash]

Its a bit of a useless comparison really.

Godzilla, like say mario bros, is a near impossible form of entertainment to translate into a hollywood movie. The whole guys in monster suits fighting and stomping on fake buildings although really cool in low budget japanese films is near impossible to do as a hollywood film. The constraints of the medium means that it is difficult to make a film where you root for a giant monster even if he is fighting a slightly meaner giant monster. Add to that the extreme lack of depth that devlin/emmerich films have. And the fact that something watchable came out of the process is staggering.

Transformers is a different story. There are clear good guys and bad guys (as oppossed to godzilla`s i`ll be a good guy if it`s your lucky day). The action shown in the original series is half big punchups and half crazed chases (ie bay and hollywoods two favourite realms). Transformers has a more widespread fan base (it is a rampant kid fave every couple of years) in comparison to godzilla`s more niche market (c`mon you have to accept that most people outside of the fanbase will find godzilla movies either mildly entertaining or laughable.) Transformers is an always has been firmly within the family film/tv/cartoon landscape while godzilla is either niche or b-movie horror. Transformers is more appreciative of the original material. The crew of Transformers have taken time and effort to to a rather considerate extent take into account what the fans think about the live action adaption. There have been a couple of changes but most are really rather superficial. Godzilla 98 on the other hand changed the setting to new york, placed the blame for his birth on the french and made him into some bizarre asexual freak just so they could have some raptor sized godzilla babies to chase the main characters indoors.

Michael Bay himself is far more competent than emmerich/devlin, Bay makes action films because he likes them while emmerich/devlin seem obsessed with blowing up landmarks and using a large amount of cg. Bay approached making a deep film with the island while can anyone name an emmerich film that was any deeper than one of those tiny french coffee cups?

Godzilla 98 bombing doesn`t mean transformers will anymore than the critcial reception to wild wild west affected the popularity of pirates of the caribean.

Additionally: I always thought godzilla 98 didn`t work for me coz i wanted to see a big screen cg godzilla smacking another monster around. Him just stepping on people and being asexual is not the kind of thing that interests me.

I disagree wholeheartedly.
Godzilla 85 came very close to being a traditional Hollywood movie, even though it was still set in Japan. And it somehow managed to make him a sympathetic creature... at the same time terrifying... sorta like a Frankenstein. That Emmerich couldn't even improve on that movie is a testament to unimaginative writing and bad moviemaking.

IMHO Godzilla 98 only needed a few things to make it good:

1) Nuke breath
2) Not running away from military
3) Lose the slapstick cheese... like the foot stomp where the guy comes out alive because he miraculously ended up between the monster's toes.

And, of course, the Jurassic Park rip-off scene that also managed to rip off Aliens.

Godzilla 98 could have been great. But, instead it demonstrated everything that was wrong with Hollywood in the 90's.

 

[MagicPrime]

You see, this is a story of a boy and his car. And although Cybertron is a massive metal planet ruled by space traveling, shape changing robots- a red ball of dirt named Mars is much cooler to make a preview about

Also, it has been said multiple times that the Mars footage was JUST for the teaser. And thats all it was - a Teaser. Im sure when the first full trailer comes out we will atleast see some glimpse of Cybertron, maybe with a space battle happening and a lone ship blasting from the surface into the unknown.

 

[kaisersoze]

Godzilla, like say mario bros, is a near impossible form of entertainment to translate into a hollywood movie. The whole guys in monster suits fighting and stomping on fake buildings although really cool in low budget japanese films is near impossible to do as a hollywood film.

I stopped reading right there.

I guarandamntee you if you gave a Japanese Godzilla film crew(or an American film crew who actually know and respect Godzilla's legacy) an 80+ million dollar U.S. budget and the services of let's say ILM, you'd have one hell of a Godzilla movie.

 

[kaisersoze]

I disagree wholeheartedly.
Godzilla 85 came very close to being a traditional Hollywood movie, even though it was still set in Japan. And it somehow managed to make him a sympathetic creature... at the same time terrifying... sorta like a Frankenstein. That Emmerich couldn't even improve on that movie is a testament to unimaginative writing and bad moviemaking.

IMHO Godzilla 98 only needed a few things to make it good:

1) Nuke breath
2) Not running away from military
3) Lose the slapstick cheese... like the foot stomp where the guy comes out alive because he miraculously ended up between the monster's toes.

And, of course, the Jurassic Park rip-off scene that also managed to rip off Aliens.

Godzilla 98 could have been great. But, instead it demonstrated everything that was wrong with Hollywood in the 90's.

Awesome post! Nice to see other Godzilla fans here and calling out the GINO movie. Such a letdown.

I hope beyond hope the Transformers movie will be faithful to the legendary icons.

 

[el brujo138]

You see, this is a story of a boy and his car. And although Cybertron is a massive metal planet ruled by space traveling, shape changing robots- a red ball of dirt named Mars is much cooler to make a preview about

It´s funny because it`s true!

 

[Lantern Venom]

You state 54 to 75... well, those are the movies I grew up with. And, I lost count how many times Godzilla was good or bad and how many times he died.... heck, Kong beat him up and sent him packing once!

.

Wasn't there two versions ( endings of Godzilla vs. Kong--one w/ Kong winning and the other w/ Godzilla winning? Sorry for the off topic question.

Anyway, I didn't think updating Godzilla for the '98 moive was a problem ( except for his weird head) and I think TF can absorb some new twists too as long as the basic premises are intact.

 

[roach]

Wasn't there two versions ( endings of Godzilla vs. Kong--one w/ Kong winning and the other w/ Godzilla winning? Sorry for the off topic question.

nope it's a Urban Legend

 

[kaisersoze]

I just got done writing and posting this on Don's forum.

Ahh, GINO(Godzilla in Name Only),

GINO is the perfect example of Hollywood screwing over AN ICON loved by millions across the globe.

Emmerich and Devlin apparently felt those millions of people were wrong and ripped apart EVERYTHING that made Godzilla an ICON-His look, his character, his actions, EVERYTHING!

Pictures of GINO's design were mysteriously "leaked" that basically threw Godzilla fandom and even *common* movie goers into a "WTF was that?" stupor. GINO's appearance was also "kept secret" until the movie released.

Parts of the script were "leaked" that further cemented the fact that the "Big Budget" Godzilla was actually a "Big Budget" remake of the Beast from 20,000 fathoms(and a poor one at that.) Nothing in the scenes or final script remotely resembled the ICONIC Godzilla. A couple clueless idiots and studio instead felt they were giving us a "new and improved" Godzilla when there was absolutely nothing wrong with the original ICON to begin with.

The two knuckleheads later came out and defended their "vision"(a great Hollywood buzz term btw) and discarded everything that the fans had to say or suggest. What do they know anyway? They're just fans of an ICON known worldwide. :rollseyes:

The movie's opening weekend did decent numbers(over $50 million) but word of mouth quickly spread that ALL THE FEARS OF THE FANS DURING THE MOVIE'S PRODUCTION WERE IN FACT TRUE!

GINO became the *perfect* example of a Hollywood out of touch when it came to treating WORLD WIDE ICONS and THEIR FANS with respect and love.

A little clue for Hollywood and studios when you go around shopping for those "hot properties" aka "ICONS": They're ICONS for a reason. They were popular for a reason. They were popular because of the way they looked, sounded and acted. Millions of people grew up with these properties who are now hard working adults who happen to have the money in their pockets you're trying to get with your "hot property".

Do you honestly think these people are braindead and won't care about the needless changes you make to these ICONS? That you change almost everything that made them ICONS to begin with and somehow everything will be o.k?

How does this all fit in with the now lensing Transformers movie? I don't have to point out that much of the Transformer's production so far has eerily mirrored the production of GINO in terms of "leaked photos", script/scene leaks and rumors of characters being totally "reimagined" which does not bold well for us fans.

But I have a philosophy of at least trying to learn 1 new thing a day. I hope that the production team of Transformers will do the same. I'd like them to take a close look at the GINO production and how that went down. I want them to realize that the Transformers are ICONS that you don't "reimagine" because you think it'll be "neat and cool!". I want them to realize Optimus Prime is a red and blue flat nose Mack truck.
I want them to realize that Optimus Prime's voice is that Peter Cullen and Megatron's voice is Frank Welker. I want them to simply realize they don't have to "reimagine" the ICONS that are the Transformers.

All I ask you is that you realize certain things belong to the fan's hearts. That these ICONS are important to them and that they actually *do* care about how they're handled and portrayed.

I ask you to learn from the mistakes of others(mainly GINO) and never make the same mistake TWICE!

But the number 1 thing I ask you is that if you know these things to be true(reimagining, design changes, etc) you look deep down inside yourself and realize there was nothing wrong with these ICONS to begin with and that the changes or reimagining is senseless. That you, the entire production team sit down and say "You know what, they are right!" We can easily make Optimus a flat nosed red mack truck. We can approach Volkswagon and lobby for Bumblebee to be a beetle car. We can use Cullen and Welker for the voices.

We can give them a Transformers movie that will not only rock, but it'll be a love letter to the history of these ICONS we all know and love.

Take it to heart. Please.

http://www.d13satellite.com/donmurphy/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12281

 

[nosebleed.]

TRINO eh? Why not TINO? Where's the R come from?

This is at least more respectful than the backlash from the Gears of War designer. I agree with certain points but until we can see robot designs or actual footage I will reserve judgement.