Hero
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Post by Hero on Jul 23, 2011 10:27:55 GMT
figuredouthq.blogspot.com/2011/07/clean.htmlI've pretty much cross-posted this now. Just my thoughts in general on Michael Bay's interpretation on Transformers and my now disassociation with it. Seeing Dark of the Moon was the third strike for me. I just hope whatever surfaces after this mess is something that cleans it up  . Enjoy the blog and comment there if you can. Would appreciate the activity, thanks. ===KEN
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Post by jameso on Jul 24, 2011 0:34:34 GMT
I agree that this version of Transformers isn't quite right, and there is a bit of a 'it's the only mega budget, live action version we've got so be grateful' element to some discussions. More and more thinking about DOTM makes me more appreciative of the first movie, which seemed to have really got the heroic Autobots and robots in disguise elements down.
Bay won't be doing another one now anyway, so who knows what will happen next. The producers are on record saying no reboot, but that doesn't really mean anything at this stage.
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Jul 24, 2011 10:47:34 GMT
I agree that this version of Transformers isn't quite right, and there is a bit of a 'it's the only mega budget, live action version we've got so be grateful' element to some discussions. With me it's more a case of taking the view that if the films were to be as successful in the box office as they have been, they couldn't have taken a _hugely_ different tack. Yes, they could have made Prime less of a killer, and yes, they could have toned down the sexual elements, but the on-screen time with the robots was inevitably going to be action all the way, with minimal dialogue. For example, there's no way they could financially justify filming the story of IDW Transformers Ongoing #22 to 3D IMAX quality. It would be money down the drain. And in any case, CG robots can't compete with good human actors for characterisation on film. If you want to do deep character pieces about war leaders on film, you don't do it with robots. For me, the main points of _having_ live-action Transformers films are (a) to see the robots rendered realistically and seeing how they can move (i.e. robot action scenes), and (b) to popularise the brand. It succeeded in both of these. The purpose was never going to be depth of storytelling - you can do that just as well through far cheaper media. I'd love a live-action TF television series that was slow-burning and took ages to reveal the robots. It would be mainly humans, with occasional robot reveals. It would be dirt cheap to make, the stories could be very good indeed, and it wouldn't make much money. The made-for-cinema movies were never going to be that, and I don't criticise them for not being that. And TF stories where the main characters are the robots talking to one another are really not suited to the live-action medium in my opinion. To sum up, yes, the films could have been better in certain aspects, but certain big things - the heavy use of the human military, the emphasis on action whenever the robots were on screen, etc. - were pretty much inevitable for the films to be a success. The things that the Transformers franchise couldn't do in any medium but big-budget cinema, they got right. Everything they got wrong can be delivered better through other media anyway. Until such a time as they do a live-action TV series, the Michael Bay movies will remain one of the three TF continuities I have time for (the other two being the Marvel comics and Masterforce). I go to Marvel for a mind-expanding read, Masterforce for an epic emotional saga, and Bay for photorealistic Transformers smashing one another. Martin |
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primenova
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Post by primenova on Sept 27, 2011 8:33:50 GMT
When is it out on DVD? 30/9/11- or is this just US only. UK date on all sites at 28/11/11 - but isn't that for the 2 disc, that we are getting a one disc one first?
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Hero
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Post by Hero on Oct 7, 2011 19:55:04 GMT
The great 'Bayformer' purge is almost finished at my house. I still feel as positive about the decision now as I did when I made it.
===KEN
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Post by legios on Oct 7, 2011 21:30:39 GMT
The great 'Bayformer' purge is almost finished at my house. I still feel as positive about the decision now as I did when I made it. ===KEN A reasonable position. One's collection should consist of things that one likes, there is no point in keeping things that one doesn't enjoy owning. Karl |
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Hero
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Post by Hero on Oct 13, 2011 6:23:30 GMT
Don't get me wrong; I liked some of those 'ugly' robots, but I had to part with Bayformer everything on moral grounds.  ===KEN |
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Post by Death's Head on Oct 30, 2011 21:45:02 GMT
I never got around to seeing the second or third films, and to be honest I'm not sure I really want to ?  |
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Oct 30, 2011 21:57:35 GMT
Miss the second film.
Andy
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Post by The Doctor on Oct 31, 2011 8:38:27 GMT
Indeed. The third isn't that great either but is the most watchable of the three due to feeling a bit like Frank Miller's crazy version of Transformers. It's a watch once flick though.
Overall though, they are rather inappropriate for films based on a kids property. I now happily ignore them.
-Ralph
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Post by Death's Head on Nov 17, 2011 12:07:13 GMT
It took me a while to get particularly excited about the first one, but it did happen: it took seeing a giant poster of Megatron while walking near the old toyshop where I used to gaze longingly at all the toys we couldn't afford.
Then, having seen it twice, I could quite happily not see it again.
Is this 'growing up'? Brrrr.
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Post by The Doctor on Nov 17, 2011 18:03:13 GMT
Saw the 2007 film once in a regular cinema, then once in IMAX. A later viewing on DVD told me that it neither worked on a small screen or stood up to repeated viewing. Have never had the urge to watch it again, even when I've seen it in £3 bargain bins.
-Ralph
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Post by legios on Nov 17, 2011 20:36:47 GMT
Having seen the first film once in the cinema and been mildly unimpressed I purchased it on DVD and discovered that it isn't terribly rewatchable - not in the sense of sitting down and watching the whole film again without the attention wandering. I've only fired up that DVD since for research for a piece of fan-fiction - research that I never ended up using anyway....
The second film is not only incredibly poorly structured, incoherently plotted in the extreme but commits by far the more catastrophic sin of being completely unsuitable for children. Thus rendering its existence somewhat pointless.
Karl
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