I have heard for years that they were going to make a Transformer live action movie and it's finally going to start shooting in May. I have been trying to find info about it but there is not much on the web.. but I thought I would start a thread and see if anyone else has heard anything. If you don't know what Transformers are here is a brief description.
Transformers are robots are divided into two groups: the Autobots, led by Optimus Prime, who believe in tolerance and the sanctity of life; and the Decepticons, led by Megatron, who espouse survival of the fittest and the extermination of biological life.
I don't think there is a lot of info out there yet.
The only thing that I know (or that I last heard) was that Spielberg was involved.
Lord I hope they stick to the "original" storyline....Autobots vs Decepticons
I love Transformers, but I dunno about a live action movie.
I've been re-visiting this series on DVD recently and I'm surprised by how well it seems to hold up. My daughter loves the Dinobots.
The DInobots was when the series took a SERIOUS turn towards jumping the shark.
But it is still a great cartoon.
Never was into the Transformers much but I know some of my friends loved it.
Darth, the Dinobots were introduced in the first season. You think the near shark-jump occurred that early? I always thought the shark-jumping occurred when the animation style changed when the series skipped ahead 20 years after the theatrical movie.
Were they....man my memory is going.....De I think I am thinking about when you are and my timelines are just WAY off.....hey it's been awhile, sue me
No prob, Darth. I tend to remember more about this stuff than any sane man should :)
This doesn't pertain to the live-action movie, but I did post a review of the "reconstructed" animated movie DVD over at my blog (click on the Retroactive Continuity link below). It was released in Region 2 last fall and is an interesting effort; though I'm not sure if it was $30 worth of interesting. Allegedly, the same company is working on a 20th anniversary edition of the 1986 cult hit for release later this year.
The movie will be directed by Michael Bay, a very good action movie maker.
We have to wait and see who's writing it and I really hope they stay close to the original story.
News is hard to come by.. but is some casting news.
Josh Duhamel and Bernie Mac are now officially set to join Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight and John Turturro in Michael Bay's live-action Transformers: The Movie, which begins shooting this month, Variety reported.
wasn't there already a transformers cartoon movie, they made a big deal about it cause a cartoon said "Damn" Can someone explain the origin of transformers and the various series / movies that they have made, i don't know anything about it...
Quote from: Picard_delta_5 on May 13, 2006, 10:28:45 PM
wasn't there already a transformers cartoon movie, they made a big deal about it cause a cartoon said "Damn"
I reviewed a Region 2 DVD of this film on my blog that was mentioned it in Reply #9 of this thread. The film was released in 1986 and the profanity, as well as the level of violence, was very controversial at the time. Both were chief reasons why the film flopped royally at the box office.
QuoteCan someone explain the origin of transformers and the various series / movies that they have made, i don't know anything about it...
Essentially a civil war between two factions of sentient robots on a planet called Cybertron drifted to Earth. The robots are capable of transforming into mostly Earth vehicles like cars and planes, though there are exceptions. The first season of the television series premiered in late 1984 to coincide with a line of toys (the 1980s was notorious for such marketing). It began with a three-part miniseries that many stations ran during weekday afternoons. Reception was quite high and a weekly series began shortly afterward. In the fall of 1985, the second season began airing five days a week and eventually introduced new characters based on the new toys.
The summer of 1986 saw
Transformers: The Movie, which served as a bridge between the 1985 season and the 1986 season. After the 1986 season, the series limped along in repeats with an occasional new episode, most notably "The Return of Optimus Prime" and the three-part "Rebirth," which ended the American series in late 1987.
Transformers lived on Japan in three additional television series:
Headmasters,
Masterforce, and
Victory. None of these series have aired in the United States and have just become available in Europe through DVD.
Eventually, Transformers returned to US airwaves in the 1990s with
Beast Wars, a five-season series (two seasons were called
Beast Machines) that took place in the far future and would reference the 1984-1987 every once in a while.
Beast Machines ended in 2000.
A new series would arise in the fall of 2001 called
Robots in Disguise that had no ties to the original series whatsoever. It was a recycled Japanese series just like its successors
Armada,
Energon, and
Cybertron (which still airs on Cartoon Network). None of the successors have any ties to the original series save for the use of similar names.
So there you have it, a brief history of the Transformers.
very nicely illustrated De, thanks...
Thank you very much De, I had no idea that the series wnet so far back. I did know however, that the new series are in no way tied. And THANK YOU VERY MUCH for someone finally explaining the Beasties having an Optimus Prime in it. I understand now.
Here is the offical website.. http://www.transformersmovie.com/
There is currently a countdown that people are saying is for the teaser trailer.....
Fascinatuing. Thanks Kenny, I didn't know that they already had a site for it.
dont hold your breath... lol
Check out this video:
http://www.funny-city.com/videos/citroen_c4.shtml
i wish cars could do that...
The teaser is up at the official movie site
WOW... looks kind of forboding and spooky. Can't wait to see it.
Transformers screenwriters Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman revealed all the robots that will appear in the anticipated film today in a webcast on Yahoo! Movies. The Transformers that will be in the film include:
Autobots:
Optimus Prime
Bumblebee
Jazz
Ratchet
Ironhide
Decepticons:
Megatron
Starscream
Brawl
Bonecrusher
Barricade
Scorponok
Frenzy
Blackout
Oh man there are gonna be some purists that will be peeved that Soundwave is not in it.....me I could care less. I cannot wait until next year to see this film.
They mentioned that they were going to do Soundwave but for story purposes they would have to change him to much and knew people would be upset so instead you cut him out.
It's a bit difficult to use a tape deck as a disguise when the mainstream populace doesn't use them anymore.
Plus I heard that they will not be using any miniaturization in this movie.
This is a leaked picture of Bumblebee. DROOL.
(http://www.realitydistortion.org/wp-content/uploads/2006/08/set1.jpg)
Most of the Transfomers are revealed here:
http://servewithchips.blogspot.com/2006/08/megaupdate-transformers-and-winners.html (http://servewithchips.blogspot.com/2006/08/megaupdate-transformers-and-winners.html)
I saw these pics the other day and I must say that I am impressed. Megatron seems a bit....."busy" I guess would be the word. Optimus Prime looks cool even if he is not the flat nosed semi all of us First gen Transformers fans love. Starscream looks to be maybe an F-22 Raptor rather than an F-15...no biggy. I am really impressed with "Incinerator"...he looks sweet.
Overall, again, I really cannot wait to this movie next year
Transformers Details Revealed
SCI FI Wire got a rare peek at the production of director Michael Bay's upcoming Transformers movie in downtown Los Angeles on Aug. 26, including the first up-close look at the disguised versions of four key Autobots: the chartreuse search-and-rescue vehicle Ratchet, the giant black GMC 4x4 Ironhide, the sleek silver Pontiac Solstice sports car that is Jazz and the muscle-y yellow-and-black Chevy Camaro that is the new Bumblebeeâ€"so new that the car in the movie is a prototype for a vehicle that hasn't even gone into production yet. Ironhide had an Autobot logo on his tailgate; Ratchet featured a fire department seal on its doors with the same logo in the design.
In interviews with cast and crew, SCI FI Wire also got a preview of the film and learned a few key spoilers:
•The film will offer background about the origin of the war between the Autobots and Decepticons. The plot will be set in motion when 18-year-old Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) discovers his grandfather's pair of century-old glasses, improbably laser-etched with a map and information about the location of a key artifact, the "Energon" cube, which he then tries to sell on eBay. The movie will follow five separate storylines, which will all converge with a final battle between the Autobots and Decepticons, starting at Hoover Dam and ending in an American city that looks a lot like Los Angeles.
•The film is seeking permission to be the first production to film the exterior of the Pentagon since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001; the movie will also shoot in various cities, including L.A., Chicago, Detroit and Washington.
•The film will feature a top-secret military unit called Sector 7.
•Voice casting of the Transformer robots is being left until later in the production, except for Peter Cullen, who was previously named to reprise his role as Optimus Prime. In particular, producers wouldn't say whether Frank Welker, who voiced Megatron in the 1986 animated Transformers film, would voice the character in the movie.
•The movie will use a mix of computer animation and large-scale puppetry to depict the giant robots. Megatron will appear as a plane, not a giant gun, as he did in early versions of the franchise.
•The film's first full trailer will appear sometime during the holiday season this year.
Overall, director Bay told SCI FI Wire that the movie strives for realism, despite its cartoony origins. "I only wanted to do Transformers if I could do it realistic," Bay said in an interview. "And from what I've seen and what we've done with our digital studies, putting it in real-world stuff, that is lots of effects around that are real effects, that's how we make it realistic." When Bay got the first call from producer Steven Spielberg, he said, "My first thought was, 'Nah, I'm not interested.' And just because I thought, 'OK, how am I going to do a toy movie?' And then I realized, when I went to Hasbro, 'OK, start over and go for [a] realistic alien-invasion-robot movie on Earth.' And so, with that thinking in mind, that's how I went about it."
On a hot Saturday, Bay and his crew shot a scene on a blocked-off street in the heart of downtown L.A. The scene featured the four Autobots, accompanied by military crews led by co-stars Tyrese Gibson and Josh Duhamel, and young stars LaBeouf and Megan Fox, who plays Mikaela, LaBeouf's love interest. In the scene, the commandoes see what they believe to be Air Force jets flying overhead, then realize that the coming flying machines are something elseâ€"Decepticons in disguise?â€"and throw smoke grenades to obscure their positions as dozens of civilians run screaming around them. Ironhide, the black truck in the lead of the column of Autobots, appears to collide with a delivery truck carrying Furbys (the talking furry animal toys that are also made by Transformers maker Hasbro). The truck is on a gimbal, which allows it to swing up and stand perpendicular to the street, as if knocked on its end. The idea is that the Furbys will be knocked from the truck, in flames, then activate when the Energon cube flies overhead. "We just wanted to have burning Furbys on the ground, you know?" Bay said with a laugh. "We're going to be blowing up a lot of little Furbys." Transformers is currently in production, with an eye to a July 4, 2007, release. â€"Patrick Lee, News Editor
I am MEGA excited about how the robots look. And I amm happy they didn't go with the classic Megatron. I mean, old Megatron turned into a gun. Here he will trnasform into some sort of space ship. Awesome!
Here's a cool picture for Opitmus Prime.
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Nice pic I can't wait :trooper
Why are we still waiting? Come on July 4th, get here already! I need my Transformers!
And beyond that, I'm pleased that it isn't being addressed as a silly toy line but instead more akin to something like Independence Day. When I first heard there would be humans working with the Autobots, I immediately thought of kids as in the various cartoons, but no... this looks serious.
I'm also pleased that they aren't shying away from brand names by using GM products. That's great marketing material. I wonder if they will have any full size Autobot mockups at GM dealers when the movie comes out? That would seem like a natural tie-in and a real collector's item.
Offical Movie Posters
Yahoo movies has two 30 second spots... OMG!!!!!!!!!!!! This movie is going to rock.
http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/transformers.html;_ylt=AumvrpUmunzzZidmP.AmfqpfVXcA
I am really looking forward to this Movie. I was not much into the Transformers when I was younger, but after seeing the Previews for this movie, I can see where people get really excited about them.
There is a new Exclusive Trailer on Yahoo.com... all I have to say is WOW. After watching it I am near tears, I'm so excited for this movie. Check it out
http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/transformers.html;_ylt=Ap_dKmzLpBgXFfrp2TRcph5fVXcA
I saw that new trailer yesterday and I am with ya all the way Kenny....WOW..>AWESOME....UNBELIEVABLE......and for all you 80's Transformer fans....did you listen closely to when Optimus Prime was transforming?? All I can is YES!!! :metallica:
Quote from: Darth Gaos on May 18, 2007, 01:14:03 PM
did you listen closely to when Optimus Prime was transforming?? All I can is YES!!! :metallica:
OMG... that gave me chills down my spine when I heard that. And it does everytime I have re-watched it.
LOL, same here and I JUST rewatched it for the umpteenth time....I trying to find it somewhere that I may download it....we don;t have internet at home and I wanna show it to my wife.
Here is an international trailer.. at least one of them. Most of it looks the same but there are some added scenes and of course the scene at the very end after the Title.
http://www.universalpictures.nl/bioscoop/data/trans/trailerf.html
Holy Crap.....the Fourth of July cannot get here soon enough. What is really cool is that my brother (who I have not seen in about 7 years) is going to be in town with his kids and we are all gonna go see it....it is gonna be AWESOME.
I'm by no means a Transformers geek. Unlike many of my friends, I just was never into it as a child.
Still, I am anticipating this movie as much as I have any movie without Jedi or DC superheroes.
I've watched that Yahoo!-exclusive trailer many, many times now. That one shot of the robot transforming to a jet and screaming out of there is freakin' awesome.
They've got my $10.
Transformers 1.5 / 5
Less Than Meets The Eye
Well that's 2hrs 11 I'll not get back, I know the running times 2hrs 17, but the disc skipped 2 minutes thrice, I wish it could have jumped more. The 1986 movie is far more palatable as a piece of entertainment. Eighty minutes in, I was wishing for it to end, worst movie I've seen this year.
When it comes to the reason a lot of people watched this, the Autobots & Decepticons, I have to say I hate Bay's take on the robot's appearance and with his cut and flash style cinematography and the similar looks of all the Transformers in their robot state means you lose track of who you're actually watching, not that it seems to actually matter with the titular characters having no real personalities or uninteresting fight scenes.
And the actual Robots weren't the worst thing in this film, a stoned Chihuahua, really, in an action film? And the appalling hiding sequence outside the Witwicky house, the Section 7 stuff Men In Black (cheap) rip-offs. The tree climbing kid, the appalling scene with the weird cop, the unnecessarily gratuitous Megan Fox/Bumblebee hood scene and lets not forget the awful acting from Miss Fox and plus score sounded like rip-offs off various film, I swear I noticed bits similar to those in Con Air and the Rock, as well as others.
That said, I didn't hate everything, Shia Labeouf, the special forces team and the hackers (especially the aussie and Anthony Anderson), all put in decent performances, unfortunately not enough to transform this turkey.
Congratulations Michael Bay, you've made me yearn for the days of Rodimus Prime and he was awful.