# Transformers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 24, 2007, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transformers/409212 "2007-06-24T14:09:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transformers/409212/81 "2007-07-04T08:34:04Z")
Just got back from seeing it. Overall I really liked it. _nerd hat_ Some of the name changes bugged me. Blackout (helicopter robot) should’ve been Soundwave, since Frenzy (teeny robot) was sone of Soundwave’s minions. Bonecrusher (Bulldozer) was part of Devastator (tank robot). They should’ve simply renamed Devastator Blitzwing (or even just Blitz) since that decepticon DID turn into a tank. The scale of the robots worked well. The transformations seemed realistic. And as always, with a film like this, there is sequel potential. Anyone else get a kick out of some of the other allspark-created transformers? The cell phone with a tiny machine gun and rocket launcher, and the Mountain Dew machine that started firing missles randomly was a riot. Speaking of which…if the allspark is gone, aren’t those three (a junky computer, a car, and a Mountain Dew machine) running amok? They certainly can’t turn them off…also I’m pretty sure they didn’t kill Skorpinok… ---
**Author:** ![Orbifold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orbifold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orbifold)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transformers/409212/82 "2007-07-04T09:19:05Z")
[QUOTE=wasson] Well yeah, but in the original cartoon Devastator was all the Constructicons combined, so he was like 3 times as big as anyone else, and his arms were freaking cranes and backhoes and shit! It was rad as hell! In the movie, Devastator is just a bulldozer. Kinda lame. [/QUOTE] Not a bulldozer…one of [these](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_%28mine_protected_vehicle%29). And it rollerbladed through a bus; that’s gotta count for something. Devastator was the tank, anyway. You’re thinking of Bonecrusher. (Awesome movie.) ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transformers/409212/83 "2007-07-04T09:20:05Z")
I saw it last night at 8pm local. FUCKING AWESOME is my official opinion. I am a G1 loyalist, and consider most other continuums to be blasphemy. It was pure badassery of the highest order, despite the fact that it didn’t have Soundwave, who is of course the coolest transformer of all time. > [@Terrifel](#): > > I find it hard to imagine that any kid in the 1980s, informed of an imminent megabudget live-action movie with hyperrealistic special effects depicting Transformers beating the crap out of each other onscreen, would consider such a film anything short of the coolest possible thing ever I was a kid in the 1980s. I think it is definitely the coolest thing ever. > [@](#): > > but honestly, what kind of scriptural source material is being irrevocably violated here? Twitchy 12-frame-per-second animation featuring battles over Energon cubes, Junkions, and a guy named “Witwicky.” You’re right about the junkions, but everything else you are going to hell for. > [@Alessan](#): > > but I have enough self-awareness - and enough self-respect - to admit that it was a profoundly stupid show. You’re going to hell too. > [@Bosda](#): > > Hmmm…why no GI Joe movie? Because Chris Latta is dead and therefore there can be no more true Cobra Commander voice. He also did Starscream, and I think the lack of THAT voice for Starscream is one of the new movie’s few weak points. > [@Soapbox Monkey](#): > > animated Transformers movie where they killed off…well pretty much everyone? I was 5 when that movie came out. It was VERY traumatic. > [@Jurph](#): > > lose sense of scale, and when Megatron landed, he’d be the same size Optimus Prime. The robot forms were basically the same size, but the toy gun you could buy was a more-or-less reasonable size for a real person to use, and the toy truck was 1/120th scale or somesuch (not at all driveable by a real person). He keeps his cybertronian form as a bomber. Blasphemous, but he doesn’t have much of a role in this movie. > [@Cuckoorex](#): > > small robots become small items, car-sized robots stay the same size, etc. I know Bay didn’t want any “cheating” in the form of mass-shifting, which is why we couldn’t have Soundwave, Blaster (or even a good Frenzy) etc. But my question is: if the giant fucking cube (referred to as an Energon cube in the novelization - obviously an idiotic mistake) can shrink down, why the FUCK can’t we have Soundwave? ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transformers/409212/84 "2007-07-04T11:33:06Z")
Anybody catch the last trailer before the movie started? (at least in Hawaii) Party scene. Some guy is going to Japan. Then boom, a huge explosion in NYC. Screaming, then the Statue of Liberty head comes rolling down the street. I swear I heard a roar… but then it cut to coming soon, with no title. Can’t be another Godzilla, can it? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transformers/409212/85 "2007-07-04T11:50:52Z")
[QUOTE=HubZilla] Anybody catch the last trailer before the movie started? (at least in Hawaii) Party scene. Some guy is going to Japan. Then boom, a huge explosion in NYC. Screaming, then the Statue of Liberty head comes rolling down the street. I swear I heard a roar… but then it cut to coming soon, with no title. Can’t be another Godzilla, can it? [/QUOTE] :smack: :rolleyes: I’m hopin’ it’s _The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms_. ---
**Author:** ![Lockseer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a5b964/32.png) [@Lockseer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lockseer)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transformers/409212/86 "2007-07-04T14:17:38Z")
[QUOTE=HubZilla] Anybody catch the last trailer before the movie started? (at least in Hawaii) Party scene. Some guy is going to Japan. Then boom, a huge explosion in NYC. Screaming, then the Statue of Liberty head comes rolling down the street. I swear I heard a roar… but then it cut to coming soon, with no title. Can’t be another Godzilla, can it? [/QUOTE] Godzilla was my guess. Might actually be interesting if the entire film is told “Blair Witch” style through different first-person media. Definitely caught my attention. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transformers/409212/87 "2007-07-04T15:45:53Z")
[QUOTE=Lockseer] Godzilla was my guess. [/QUOTE] Yeah, between to roaring sound, the explosion, and reports of some kind of animal, Godzilla seems the best guess. But if it’s all done through a regular digital camera POV, I think it will give a lot of people motion sickness. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transformers/409212/88 "2007-07-04T16:01:29Z")
I saw it last night, and I thought is was good summer entertainment. Great robot effects, interesting cinematography that translated the action well in a cinema verite style. I like the teen actors. Nice support from John Turturro and Jon Voight . The only thing I found off-putting was… …the robot’s dialog. Somehow, it was too cheesy and Saturday morning cartoonish. It dimished the robots for me. ---
**Author:** ![wasson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/4da419/32.png) [@wasson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wasson)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transformers/409212/89 "2007-07-04T16:49:00Z")
[QUOTE=Orbifold] Not a bulldozer…one of [these](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_%28mine_protected_vehicle%29). And it rollerbladed through a bus; that’s gotta count for something. Devastator was the tank, anyway. You’re thinking of Bonecrusher. (Awesome movie.) [/QUOTE] No, Bonecrusher was one of the Constructicons. Devastator was the dude they formed when they call came together. > **[List of The Transformers characters](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructicons)** > > This article shows a list of characters from The Transformers television series that aired during the debut of the American and Japanese Transformers media franchise from 1984 to 1991. The Autobots (also known as Cybertrons in Japan) are the heroes in the Transformers toyline and related spin-off comics and cartoons. Their main leader is Optimus Prime, but other "Primes" have also commanded the Autobots such as Rodimus Prime. They are constantly at war with the evil Decepticons. In the America... ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transformers/409212/90 "2007-07-04T17:53:04Z")
[QUOTE=HubZilla] Can’t be another Godzilla, can it? [/QUOTE] I forgot about that! The audience gave a collective “WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT???!!” > [@Fear Itself](#): > > …the robot’s dialog. Somehow, it was too cheesy and Saturday morning cartoonish. It dimished the robots for me It’s SUPPOSED to be Saturday morning cartoonish!!! ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transformers/409212/91 "2007-07-04T19:25:56Z")
I saw a packed 9:30 showing this morning. Here’s my take. **The GOOD** : **Shia LeBouf** - very funny, does a good job of getting you invested in the story. **Megan Fox** - did a good job and is HOT! Reminds me very much of a young Jennifer Connelly. **Optimus Prime** and **Bumblebee** were kick-ass. The rest of the friendly bots weren’t characterized well enough, though. **Megatron** was appropriately menacing, but I would have liked him to have been in the movie more. The little guy ( **Frenzy**?) was cool. **The BAD** : The **MOST** annoying actor in the world is the guy who played the computer hacker that the cute blonde turned to for help. All he does is yell, in every movie he’s ever been in. He’s not funny. Please, Hollywood, stop employing this idiot. And really, all of the scenes involving the blonde and the hacker were pretty pointless. The movie suffered from the **shaky-cam effect**. And everything was shot in **EXTREME CLOSE-UP!** I kept hoping for a static wide shot in the fight scenes so that you could, you know, tell what the hell was actually happening. I fucking hate this trend in action movies. Overall, I was entertained by it, but it was a little disappointing. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transformers/409212/92 "2007-07-04T19:32:41Z")
[QUOTE=Lockseer] Godzilla was my guess. Might actually be interesting if the entire film is told “Blair Witch” style through different first-person media. Definitely caught my attention. [/QUOTE] I noticed J.J. Abrams name on that trailer, so I checked his IMDB page and one of his “Untitled J.J. Abrams Projects” currently has this as its plot synopsis: sort of a spoiler, I guess, so I’ll box it: giant monster movie (refferred internally as The Parasite) which is shot using home video cameras from the point of view of real people who are experiencing the attack on New York City ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transformers/409212/93 "2007-07-04T20:18:21Z")
[QUOTE=Tangent] The movie suffered from the **shaky-cam effect**. And everything was shot in **EXTREME CLOSE-UP!** I kept hoping for a static wide shot in the fight scenes so that you could, you know, tell what the hell was actually happening. I fucking hate this trend in action movies. [/QUOTE] I agree. Even though this was The Greatest Movie Of All Time, it would have been better if the audience could have actually seen what was happening from a static view. ---
**Author:** ![Orbifold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orbifold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orbifold)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transformers/409212/94 "2007-07-04T21:37:33Z")
[QUOTE=wasson] No, Bonecrusher was one of the Constructicons. Devastator was the dude they formed when they call came together. [/QUOTE] I was referring to the movie. In the movie Devastator is the tank and Bonecrusher is the rollerblading-through-buses not-a-bulldozer. ---
**Author:** ![aerodave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f08c70/32.png) [@aerodave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aerodave)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transformers/409212/95 "2007-07-05T00:49:18Z")
Saw it this afternoon. I thought it was great…a terrific way to lose yourself for a couple hours. The robots were very well done. I can now say with confidence that anyone who complains about the movie not staying true to the original characters is just impossible to please. The Transformers are, IMHO, awesomely brought to life. There are no unforgivable liberties taken with appearances, and I think the changes that _were_ made were necessary and appropriate for a live-action movie. So Bumblebee is a Camaro…it really works fine when you’re watching it. I do, however, have a couple questions that may take a second viewing to resolve: [spoiler]What happened to Barricade? He was on the freeway headed away from Hoover Dam, but didn’t get into any action and was never seen again. Is he still presumably alive somewhere, ready for the sequel? Starscream’s Wikipedia article says about the movie, “he disguises himself as one of the [F-22] Raptors that severely wound Megatron, resurfacing Starscream’s treachery and eagerness to lead”. Did he actually take a shot at Megatron and I missed it? That, to me, would be a major, if subtle, piece of the character development missing from the film. Because if a viewer didn’t know about the Megatron/Starscream relationship beforehand, the movie wouldn’t do much to make it clear.[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Orual](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orual](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orual)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transformers/409212/96 "2007-07-05T01:03:00Z")
All right, that was EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED out of a live-action Transformers movie. The CGI was great. Bumblebee was cute. Optimus Prime was awesome. Megtraon was bitching out Starscream for being a failure. All was as it should be. I would complain about how totally Barbie-looking the two gals were, but I was too busy ogling Josh Duhamel to pay much attention. I’m going to spend the rest of the evening giggling like a 5 year old. ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transformers/409212/97 "2007-07-05T01:51:40Z")
I saw the movie at a matinee today. THIS is what a summer blockbuster and 80s nostalgia movie should be – entertaining, pure and simple. Praise Og and pass the popcorn! I actually liked the Human-perspective camera angles in the Big Climactic Battle - it helped show that while the Cybertronian war may be fought by 4-storey-high mechanicals, they’re fighting here on Earth. And the US Rangers, F-22s, and tow-truck-driving babe (I never did get her name) did their part too. In follow-up to **aerodave** ’s Wikipedia quote:As I remember, Starscream was in the second wave of F-22s – then started shooting down the USAF planes, disrupting their attack run. Wikipedia needs updating! ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transformers/409212/98 "2007-07-05T02:25:32Z")
[QUOTE=Tangent] The **MOST** annoying actor in the world is the guy who played the computer hacker that the cute blonde turned to for help. All he does is yell, in every movie he’s ever been in. He’s not funny. Please, Hollywood, stop employing this idiot. [/QUOTE] That would be [Anthony Anderson](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0026364/) and he is an extremely versatile actor. Remember his role in _Transformers_ then watch him in _Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London_ and then _The Shield_ season four. You wont believe it’s the same actor. I enjoyed his scenes in _Transformers_ but you’re right, they were pointless. ---
**Author:** ![aerodave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f08c70/32.png) [@aerodave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aerodave)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transformers/409212/99 "2007-07-05T02:53:58Z")
**Scuba\_Ben** , that’s what I remembered, too. I will be keeping an eye out next time I see it, though. But a couple more questions have come to mind (and this spoiler box is for real…major surprise killer here) [spoiler]Right before Sam shoves the Allspark into Megatron’s chest to kill him, Optimus Prime urges him not to. His concern ends up being unwarranted, because Sam’s plan works. But what could have been Optimus’s reason for trying to stop him? As soon as he realized what the result would be–the death of Megatron–you’d think he would be all for it. Was he expecting a worse-than-predicted outcome? That line got no resolution…perhaps there’s something to it that will be made clear in a sequel. My guess is that Sam’s manner of dispatching Megatron leaves a loophole for Megatron’s resurrection. The Government’s choice to dispose of him intact only serves to enable that. Also, are the robots created from the vending machine and Xbox as Sam carries the cube supposed to be of any consequence? Do they match up to any classic characters, or are they just disposable characters? (I’m sure it’s hard to tell from 3 seconds of screen time, but some true fans may have a clue) Why’s the Allspark always making mean robots, anyway?[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transformers/409212/100 "2007-07-05T03:14:15Z")
[QUOTE=aerodave] **Scuba\_Ben** , that’s what I remembered, too. I will be keeping an eye out next time I see it, though. But a couple more questions have come to mind (and this spoiler box is for real…major surprise killer here) Right before Sam shoves the Allspark into Megatron’s chest to kill him, Optimus Prime urges him not to. His concern ends up being unwarranted, because Sam’s plan works. But what could have been Optimus’s reason for trying to stop him? As soon as he realized what the result would be–the death of Megatron–you’d think he would be all for it. Was he expecting a worse-than-predicted outcome? That line got no resolution…perhaps there’s something to it that will be made clear in a sequel. My guess is that Sam’s manner of dispatching Megatron leaves a loophole for Megatron’s resurrection. The Government’s choice to dispose of him intact only serves to enable that. [/QUOTE] Prime’s words after that scene were, “You left me no choice brother.” I took that to mean he and Megatron are more intertwined than previous incarnations of the franchise and that he didn’t want to kill him. Just stop him from using the Allspark for evil. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transformers/409212.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transformers/409212.md?page=6)