Topic: Transformers Movie discussion

[JonLeung]

Can't get enough?  How about his weapon?

[JonLeung]

Or how about this interview with Shia LaBeouf?

[JonLeung]

Or new pictures of a set mock-up that show several Transformers' robot modes?



Scroll down to the user comments where a user named Skowl has labeled who the Transformers are assumed to be at this point.

[JonLeung]

[TerraEsperZ]

Cool, I hadn't seen that one yet.



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"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard



B*tch, meet reality. Reality, meet b*tch. - Me

[bustin98]

I just had a thought. I remember when Godzilla was making waves, and then it was released and everyone was like 'ewww' because it was 'Americanized'. How come they didn't learn their lesson? I say that while thoroughly enjoying the Godzilla movie. I think I'll enjoy this movie, but I really think there will be a backlash due to the changes of the designs.



Thanks for posting those pics. I am really looking forward to seeing this film.



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Cool beans

[JonLeung]

There already is a backlash, I'd say - there's likely a bunch of hardcore Transformers fans that refuse to see the movie because of the choices and changes that have already been revealed.  Some people have been totally leery since they heard Michael Bay was directing, even before seeing a thing.  It's hard if not impossible to please everyone.



As a Transformers fan, I may have to see this film, even if it is a blasphemy of sorts (much like how I'd like to play the CD-i Zelda games even though many Zelda fans would rather pretend they didn't exist).



It's an action film, anyway, and we haven't seen many movies recently, if any or if ever, with about a dozen giant transforming robots duking it out.



So while I'm hyped as a Tranformers fan, part of me also says, look, it's not likely to be like a live action version of "More Than Meets The Eye" (the three-part origin story of the G1 cartoon Transformers) so just sit back and enjoy a movie about giant transforming robots.



Well, I hope I'll enjoy it.  And if not, well, I'm sure that I've seen worse movies, and I'm sure it's not going to affect the Transformers toyline too negatively or for very long, and I'll still enjoy Transformers for what they are/were and how I remember them, and I'm sure life will continue on.



Anyway, I don't mind Bumblebee so much, it's really Megatron and Starscream that I wonder what they were thinking when they designed them.  If you saw the picture of the set mock-ups with the little cardboard placeholder things, you might have seen Jazz, who actually doesn't look too bad - at least from what we can tell so far.

[TerraEsperZ]

Stylized drawings of Jazz, presumably either for the toy's packaging or for the comic of the movie adaptation:







Remember that this design is probably heavily stylized, and the actual movie design will no doubt be closer to Bumblebee or Optimus Prime.



---

"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard



B*tch, meet reality. Reality, meet b*tch. - Me

[JonLeung]

Jazz actually looks good.  Well, if his CG form for the movie comes close to that, that is.  They should've revealed his design first.  Or allowed it to be leaked first.  Whatever.



I thought there was a Mazda promotion involving Jazz (for some reason I think it's separate from Alternators/Binaltech) so you'd think he would've been some kind of Mazda in the movie.  Huh.



Zoom-zoom?

[bustin98]

New action figures are out at Walmart. Starscream, Rodimus, BumbleBee, and Astrotrain.



While BumbleBee is an improvement, the others still look like cheap plastic. That little bit of metal of old really makes a difference. And Astrotrain looks a bit 'off', but ok. Starscream does not transform the way he used to, but looks very similar in both modes. I was never a Rodimus Prime / Hot Rod fan so I don't really know how he compares, other than he looks more like Hot Rod than Rodimus Prime.

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Cool beans

[JonLeung]

Are we talking about Classics or Titanium or what?



I don't really like how there are more Transformers toylines than shows.  I'm not saying the TV shows should define everything, but all the simultaneous toylines is still confusing regardless, especially if there's a figure of someone in some or all of them.  Universe, Classics, Alternators, Titanium...then there's Armada/Cybertron/Energon/whichever show is on now.  And the movie will have a toyline too.

[bustin98]

Classics, I guess. I don't remember if there was a tagline to the series. There is a 'flip' card on the front of the box that reveals the robot mode.

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Cool beans

[TerraEsperZ]

I'm just hoping the 2008 series, tentatively named "Heroes", will bring back the quality of Beast Wars/Machines, since it will be the first cartoon after them to be written in America. I couldn't stomach any of the recent 4 cartoons (Robots In Disguise, Armada, Energon and Cybertron) because of the crappy Japanese direction.



As for the various lines, I think it's pretty easy to sort them out when explained properly:



-Main toy lines:



-Armada, which was followed by...

-Energon, which was itself followed by...

-Cybertron, which will in turn be kinda replaced by...

-Classic, which is kind of a filler line, intended to last until the movie comes out and only 2 or 3 waves of releases are planned.

-Universe (which has been over for a long while) was also a filler line running in parallele with the main lines, and consisted exclusively of repaints to meet the increasing demand for toys that wasn't satisfied by the main lines.



-Collectors toy lines:



-Alternators consists of realistic/licensed car modes updates of classic G1 characters with lots of articulation

-Heroes Of Cybertron is made up of cheap and miniature transforming figures from the Cybertron line

-Titanium offers transforming die-cast statues of popular characters, including some exclusive to comics and cartoons



It's also most likely that the movie line will be the main line for 2007, with "Heroes" being the main line for 2008.



I hope that made things a big clearer. It should also be noted that there never was this many Transformers products offered at the same time, which is hopefully indicative of the overall health of the franchise



---

"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard



B*tch, meet reality. Reality, meet b*tch. - Me

[JonLeung]

Doesn't the Japanese also have a Masterpiece line, seeking to make definitive versions of G1 characters that look proper in both robot and vehicle modes?  Now that is cool (though in my opinion makes Classics seem redundant).



I think there are only four toys in the series so far, but really only two true ones...Optimus Prime and Starscream, and they look really cool in both of their modes.  The other two are just a trailerless Optimus and a white one recolour that's supposed to be trailerless and armorless Ultra Magnus, if I recall correctly.  Heck, they'll probably repaint Starscream to add Thundercracker and Skywarp (and maybe Sunstorm).



Isn't the Optimus (with shorter stacks and no trailer) being rereleased as the 20th Anniversary DVD Optimus here in North America?  And is that it for the Masterpiece line here then, or will he be sold as part of another already-existing North American line?



I swear, Optimus probably has more forms than there are Tranformers series.  Even if he didn't have three in Beast Wars.

[TerraEsperZ]

I didn't want to include Japanese-exclusive lines, because then I'd be forced to mention Kiss Players *shudders*



-Masterpiece: Just like JonLeung said; it started by making the definitive G1 Convoy (Optimus Prime) which is really like an ultimate version of the cartoon version; they then repainted it in white to make an armorless Ultra Magnus.



Starscream was given to the main Macross designer to do and he made it his toy: the F-15 mode is as accurate as technically possible, but the robot mode suffers a bit from it and from some design decisions, like giving him an overall grey/green color scheme and only some bits in pinkish red and blue, or having the leg kibble hang from his tights like "samurai swords" as he said, which incidently gives him really slender legs (too slender in my opinion).



And finally, they'll try and squeeze yet more money out of the first mold by reissuing Convoy yet again but with a real transforming trailer this time.



-Kiss Players: This line so far basically consists of a few Alternator repaints/remolds package with figurines of young females partners in suggestive poses. I'm not kidding! Supposedly, when they kiss their partners, they grant news forms and powers to their partners. ...And the time-in manga features a half-organic Megatron look-alike who literally eats these little girls using a huge drooling penis-shaped tongue...



Oh and technically, Optimus Primal in Beast Wars is a totally different character from Optimus Prime, at least for the three incarnations you're talking about. That's because the very first Primal toy, which turned into a bat, was at first intended to be Prime in a new form (along with Megatron as an aligator), but the cartoon writers did their own things afterward.



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"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard



B*tch, meet reality. Reality, meet b*tch. - Me