A Transformers Thread

You really found dangling testicles on a robot funny?

Huh ya think they’d keep the wrecking balls on an actually usable place like on the fists.

Edited by slimcoder on Oct 22nd 2019 at 2:28:50 AM

It was hilariously juvenile, and that made it kind of insulting in the process. Reportedly the fx team rendered a version without the wrecking balls because the supervisor was opposed to it. The later films made a point of skewing away from going THAT immature again. Among the films even the people working on ROTF were ashamed of it.

And considering how much there is to be ashamed of in that film, that must say a lot.

Worst of the worst, really.

From what I've remembered, even the writers didn't like it. They said that the whole joke was not in their script (or at least, the rushed outlines they had to write in a few weeks), and it's quite telling that only the film has that joke. And likely by director's input.

Speaking of ROTF script, there was clearly an attempt to give more story for the Transformers than in the actual film. Sure, there are plenty of details that don't add up in the novels and comic adaptations but you can tell they were trying to give more concrete mythos as well as trying to give Megatron his groove back after being subservient to the Fallen. A few more rewrites, and you might have a good script to shoot.

I really didn't care much for Revenge of the Fallen when I finally watched it. It was also the film that probably played a part in me listening to critical reception before I see a film, even though I often find I'm bound to disagree with mainstream critics.

I liked Dark of the Moon a lot better, even though there were some obvious issues with the movie. And I only saw Age of Extinction out of the second "trilogy", but still appreciated its more streamlined and recognizable robot designs.

I never saw The Last Knight, so I can't fairly judge that one. I did read that there were a lot of films basically crunched into that one, which is disappointing, since individual plots about the Cybertronians in Arthurian times and World War II seemed interesting enough to be films in their own right (if a bit gimmicky).

Edited by Etheru on Oct 22nd 2019 at 8:48:37 AM

How much of the complaining about Devastator's fat nuts would be averted if Overload (the Constructicon who forms the crotch) had a bolas weapon in robot mode? It might head off the "but where do they go in alt-mode" argument, at least.

To be frank and objective, no, that wouldn't change a thing.

Why would a useful weapon such as bolas be relegated to being Gentleman's Parts rather than being located somewhere much more practical on the body?

Huh ya know the crew being completely against the balls joke makes me wonder what other jokes or scenes the crew was also against but were forced to do so anyway.

I mean I can’t imagine anyone enjoyed filming the Romeo & Juliet law scene, especially Shane’s actor.

It's really standard operating practice when it comes to these big movies. A million people are offering suggestions on ideas and scenes, suddenly you have a scene of characters arguing over age of consent laws to try and fix implied age of consent issues. What often separates the good movies from the bad is being able to take those out, which is why I've felt AOE in particular would have benefited from a lot of trimming.

I find it interesting that despite the original cartoon being much more well known that the original comic, it's the latter's origin for the Cybertronian race, being creations of Primus, that has stuck around much more than the former's, where they were a rebellious former Servant Race of the Quintessons.

I think that's partially because they gave a more interesting origin for Unicron and because the presence of deities helps explain the hyper-advanced technology as well as adds more mystical elements.

That's because the cartoon's explanation of Unicron and the Transformers were heavily agreed to be disappointing in execution. Only Derrick J. Wyatt seems to embrace it.

The idea of Unicron being created by an evil scientist doesn't sound bad on paper but when you factor in how the movie makes Unicron into this unknowable, gigantic Eldritch Abomination that travels the universe eating planets (especially with that music), your mind runs wild on Cosmic Horror possibilities. Maybe Unicron is an elder god. Maybe he's created by the Quintessons. Or he created the Quintessons. A natural phenomenon or a weapon gone wrong? And then you find out that Primacron, Unicron's creator, is a pathetic being who apparently didn't realize to use the reverse switch to stop his latest creation and is so wimpy that even Grimlock laughs at him for it. It's no wonder nobody wanted to tackle the idea of Unicron being a creation of a scientist until IDW came around. And even then, they ensured that Unicron's creator looks nothing like Primacron.

Same thing with the Quintessons. Their robotic bodies only raises more questions than answers about the Transformers. And they lack the mystique that Vector Sigma had. Vector Sigma feels ancient with its line "Before Cybertron was, I was." The Quintessons, on the other hand, don't feel that old mainly because they don't look they visibly aged.

Fun fact, you look carefully at the G1 characters' modern origins these days, they all share one thing in common. Their origins are always from Cybertron. Any origin where a character was built on Earth (Cartoon Dinobots, Marvel Comics Jetfire) are passed over for their Cybertronain origins (Marvel Comics Dinobots, Cartoon Skyfire). It seems clear that Earth origins have become all but extinct in modern media of Transformers.

Animated has an impressive number of Earth-born Transformers (the Dinobots, Soundwave, the Constructicons, Wreck-Gar, the Seekers). But of course, the All Spark is always responsible.

Derrick J. Wyatt.

A great artist when he puts his heart and soul into his work.

A terrible, terrible storyteller and PR guy.

How so? I thought you liked Transformers Animated and Wyatt was heavily involved with the world building of Animated.

Edited by Shadao on Nov 3rd 2019 at 8:49:30 AM

Worldbuilding is only as good as the characters that inhabit those worlds.

Marty Isenberg was the head writer, and he was responsible for the character development that made TFA brilliant.

Wyatt, as you mentioned, prefers the characterizations and origins that align much more closely with G1, and, as someone who knows of his involvement in the Ben 10 franchise, he prefers immature fun to character growth and maturity.

Edited by BrightLight on Nov 5th 2019 at 3:29:23 AM

Huh I just realized Andrei hasn't posted the last 2 episodes of Cyberverse.

Wonder where Andrei is. Haven't seen them since the Star Wars thread.

The closest view of the completed Devastator, there was a different one a month ago but was so mistransformed it didn't look right (completely upright rather than being hunched over). This one looks a little off when it comes to the positioning of the arms, but overall looks quite screen accurate and with a reasonable amount of articulation. Getting proper release-quality toys for Overload and Scrapper will only improve the look.

Edited by KJMackley on Nov 25th 2019 at 3:46:56 AM

The first trailer for the Netflix War for Cybertron trilogy is here, fresh from Toy Fair -

Get it while it’s hot and has that fresh car smell.

Edited by Beatman1 on Feb 22nd 2020 at 4:19:54 AM

The faces look a bit wonky to me but so far, seems promising.

It’s funny how it has better CG than the actual anime series.

Beast Wars had better CGI than the Unicron Trilogy. That's not exactly a high-bar to pass.

So, with the name Transformers: War for Cybertron Triology, I assume it's going to be three movies? Is it at all related to the video game Transformers: War for Cybertron?

Edited by WillKeaton on Feb 22nd 2020 at 4:45:55 AM

...what's with those lips?