The Transformers Thread

CT-1138 wrote:

Rhedosaurus wrote:

Michael Bay has 14 more Transformer movies in store.

My god, what did the world ever do to Michael Bay to deserve this?

TBH, I can't help but wonder if somebody is pulling Bay's strings. He said that he was going to quit after the 4th one but his mind was changed. Given how Paramount is somewhere between $13-$14.5 billion in debt, they see the Transformers movie series as their ace-in-the-hole for the time being. I wouldn't be surprised if they somehow paid him a ton of money or managed to manipulate him in some way.

The Bumblebee spinoff is going to be set sometime in the 1980's.

Rhedosaurus wrote:

The Bumblebee spinoff is going to be set sometime in the 1980's.

As much as I don't think the Bumblebee spinoff is going to be as bad as any of the TF sequels, despite having an amazing animation director at the helm, it'll still be miraculous if its actually good. Pitting it against Pixar's and Universal's No 1 blockbusters of the year is still a stupid mistake. What I am curious about this is if its set in the 80s, will Bumblebee appear in his classic Volkswagen Beetle mode?

BarrytheOnyx wrote:

Rhedosaurus wrote:

The Bumblebee spinoff is going to be set sometime in the 1980's.

As much as I don't think the Bumblebee spinoff is going to be as bad as any of the TF sequels, despite having an amazing animation director at the helm, it'll still be miraculous if its actually good. Pitting it against Pixar's and Universal's No 1 blockbusters of the year is still a stupid mistake. What I am curious about this is if its set in the 80s, will Bumblebee appear in his classic Volkswagen Beetle mode?

I just think that they are going to make it feel more like the old 1980's cartoon show.

I had a feeling that was the case fro the 80s setting itself. If nothing else it could potentially feel more like Transformers without Michael Bay's obvious influences and now infamous style.

It looks like Transformers 5 will be the last one for Mark Wahlberg.

Here's Brad Jones and Brian reviewing Transformers 5. The Last Knight.

So far, Transformers 5 is slightly underperforming in China.

Rhedosaurus wrote:

Michael Bay has 14 more Transformer movies in store.

That is just awful. I liked the first Transformers movie but there is a huge drop in quality from 1 to 2 and even further for 3. When is Bay going to hang it up with the Transformers? He's seriously holding the franchise back in a huge way. I was hoping they would shelf Transformers for a while and then hopefully bring it back to full glory with an entire reboot and new director.

Megaspino2 wrote:

Rhedosaurus wrote:

Michael Bay has 14 more Transformer movies in store.

That is just awful. I liked the first Transformers movie but there is a huge drop in quality from 1 to 2 and even further for 3. When is Bay going to hang it up with the Transformers? He's seriously holding the franchise back in a huge way. I was hoping they would shelf Transformers for a while and then hopefully bring it back to full glory with an entire reboot and new director.

It wouldn't shock me if he goes back on his claim and somehow come back again eventually to direct another one.

Troyal1 wrote:

Megaspino2 wrote:

Rhedosaurus wrote:

Michael Bay has 14 more Transformer movies in store.

That is just awful. I liked the first Transformers movie but there is a huge drop in quality from 1 to 2 and even further for 3. When is Bay going to hang it up with the Transformers? He's seriously holding the franchise back in a huge way. I was hoping they would shelf Transformers for a while and then hopefully bring it back to full glory with an entire reboot and new director.

It wouldn't shock me if he goes back on his claim and somehow come back again eventually to direct another one.

Paramount is $13-$14 billion in debt and the Transformers movie series has been their most successful, at least financially, franchise. Bay really might be sick of making these movies, but my guess is that Paramount is paying him a fortune to make them since they don't know who else they can turn to.

I remember there was a time when I was eagerly anticipating Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, I liked the first film way more than I do today back then. I was ready and eager to embrace a new action franchise, but the more I thought about the second and third movies the more I grew disenfranchised with them. I also grew more aware of the film reviewing landscape as a result, but I still remember being in that "dumb action" mindset of my teens and liking the second movie at the time. I didn't see Age of Extinction, but seeing it become the highest grossing film of 2014 over The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies was the final insult.

When people say that Superman in the DCEU is broken and irredeemable, my first riposte is to bring up Bay's Optimus Prime. This Prime is unstable, violent, bloodthirsty, and has no qualms about killing other Transformers and humans. There were no signs of these traits in the first film but they've gotten worse over time. He's a far cry from the just, honourable and courageous Optimuses of the various cartoons, who also had their flaws.

Rhedosaurus wrote:

Troyal1 wrote:

Megaspino2 wrote:

Rhedosaurus wrote:

Michael Bay has 14 more Transformer movies in store.

That is just awful. I liked the first Transformers movie but there is a huge drop in quality from 1 to 2 and even further for 3. When is Bay going to hang it up with the Transformers? He's seriously holding the franchise back in a huge way. I was hoping they would shelf Transformers for a while and then hopefully bring it back to full glory with an entire reboot and new director.

It wouldn't shock me if he goes back on his claim and somehow come back again eventually to direct another one.

Paramount is $13-$14 billion in debt and the Transformers movie series has been their most successful, at least financially, franchise. Bay really might be sick of making these movies, but my guess is that Paramount is paying him a fortune to make them since they don't know who else they can turn to.

What?? How did they get in debt? Is that why they sold their amusement parks to cedar fair about 7 years ago?

Troyal1 wrote:

Rhedosaurus wrote:

Troyal1 wrote:

Megaspino2 wrote:

Rhedosaurus wrote:

Michael Bay has 14 more Transformer movies in store.

That is just awful. I liked the first Transformers movie but there is a huge drop in quality from 1 to 2 and even further for 3. When is Bay going to hang it up with the Transformers? He's seriously holding the franchise back in a huge way. I was hoping they would shelf Transformers for a while and then hopefully bring it back to full glory with an entire reboot and new director.

It wouldn't shock me if he goes back on his claim and somehow come back again eventually to direct another one.

Paramount is $13-$14 billion in debt and the Transformers movie series has been their most successful, at least financially, franchise. Bay really might be sick of making these movies, but my guess is that Paramount is paying him a fortune to make them since they don't know who else they can turn to.

What?? How did they get in debt? Is that why they sold their amusement parks to cedar fair about 7 years ago?

Mainly,bad business decisions. Other then Transformers, Paramount has been a bomb factory for a quite some time now. WB has a similar problem, but not as bad. And least they have a better reputation. That and that AT&T deal will fix their debt if it happens. Paramount has none of that.

In related news, Transformers 5 made a franchise low $69 million dollar box office opening.

Rhedosaurus wrote:

Troyal1 wrote:

Rhedosaurus wrote:

Troyal1 wrote:

Megaspino2 wrote:

Rhedosaurus wrote:

Michael Bay has 14 more Transformer movies in store.

That is just awful. I liked the first Transformers movie but there is a huge drop in quality from 1 to 2 and even further for 3. When is Bay going to hang it up with the Transformers? He's seriously holding the franchise back in a huge way. I was hoping they would shelf Transformers for a while and then hopefully bring it back to full glory with an entire reboot and new director.

It wouldn't shock me if he goes back on his claim and somehow come back again eventually to direct another one.

Paramount is $13-$14 billion in debt and the Transformers movie series has been their most successful, at least financially, franchise. Bay really might be sick of making these movies, but my guess is that Paramount is paying him a fortune to make them since they don't know who else they can turn to.

What?? How did they get in debt? Is that why they sold their amusement parks to cedar fair about 7 years ago?

Mainly,bad business decisions. Other then Transformers, Paramount has been a bomb factory for a quite some time now. WB has a similar problem, but not as bad. And least they have a better reputation. That and that AT&T deal will fix their debt if it happens. Paramount has none of that.

In related news, Transformers 5 made a franchise low $69 million dollar box office opening.

For 5 days that sounds like it could be loosing steam pretty bad.

On a side note the film actually had its biggest debut of the franchise in china! 

http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/transformers/news/a831640/transformers-the-last-knight-wins-us-box-office-franchise-low-opening-weekend/

That's weird lol

It looks like China won't save Transformers 5 like it did with Age Of Extinction back in 2014.

Rhedosaurus wrote:

It looks like China won't save Transformers 5 like it did with Age Of Extinction back in 2014.

Lol unless things get significantly better all those other planned movies are never coming to fruition.

And even if the movies were good, I think it speaks to how tired people are getting in general of even great sequels coming at too quick a pace. It seems like every big summer hit in recent memory is just a sequel. And I think people are fatigued.

Transformers 5 suffered an 82% friday-to-friday implosion.

Damn, this movie is starting to bomb faster than one of Michael's Bay's own explosion-fests!

Transformers 5 has made just under $430 million dollars...but only $102 million of that came from American moviegoers.

And it looks likes pandering to China was a part of that.

My guess is that Transformers 5 will make similar money to the 5th Pirates of the Caribbean movie, but not much more than that. Enough to be financially solvent, but certainly not a billion dollar hit.

I blame Spielberg for much of this. He's the Executive Producer of Transformers from day one, but other then firing Megan Fox for her Hitler comment-though I've heard it was just a cover since the real reason was that she was a spoiled brat offscreen and THAT was the real reason-he hasn't done ANYTHING to make it better. He's just been sitting and let Michael Bay do everything they way he did back when JP3 was being run into the ground.

My view on Spielberg's involvement is a bit more complicated. The ironic thing is that early in the production of the first film, Spielberg was actually one of the mitigating forces on the production, and with Michael Bay wanting to impress him he dialed back much of his typical Bay-isms and being more of a team player. He even listened to the early fan criticisms, including redesigning Optimus Prime and casting Peter Cullen to voice Prime. But since the second film, and each sequel being a big paycheck for him, he obviously allowed his excesses to drown out any Spielberg elements that could be pointed out in the first film. Basically, I think Spielberg was a boon to the first film but his non-involvement in the sequels (apart from Megan Fox getting fired) and not letting Michael Bay go after the first film doomed the franchise.

If you care to know more, check out this retrospective/review by one of my personal favourite YouTubers, Oliver Harper. In the first part, he touches on why DreamWorks and Spielberg got involved and how Robert Zemeckis was almost the man who got the job. If he was ever interested, he would have been a far superior choice. Even the pitch for the first TF movie was meant to invoke 80s sci-fi in a suburban setting, and you get elements of it like the Autobots' descent onto Earth.

BarrytheOnyx wrote:

My view on Spielberg's involvement is a bit more complicated. The ironic thing is that early in the production of the first film, Spielberg was actually one of the mitigating forces on the production, and with Michael Bay wanting to impress him he dialed back much of his typical Bay-isms and being more of a team player. He even listened to the early fan criticisms, including redesigning Optimus Prime and casting Peter Cullen to voice Prime. But since the second film, and each sequel being a big paycheck for him, he obviously allowed his excesses to drown out any Spielberg elements that could be pointed out in the first film. Basically, I think Spielberg was a boon to the first film but his non-involvement in the sequels (apart from Megan Fox getting fired) and not letting Michael Bay go after the first film doomed the franchise.

If you care to know more, check out this retrospective/review by one of my personal favourite YouTubers, Oliver Harper. In the first part, he touches on why DreamWorks and Spielberg got involved and how Robert Zemeckis was almost the man who got the job. If he was ever interested, he would have been a far superior choice. Even the pitch for the first TF movie was meant to invoke 80s sci-fi in a suburban setting, and you get elements of it like the Autobots' descent onto Earth.

Thanks for the share. Pretty fascinating stuff.

Troyal1 wrote:

BarrytheOnyx wrote:

My view on Spielberg's involvement is a bit more complicated. The ironic thing is that early in the production of the first film, Spielberg was actually one of the mitigating forces on the production, and with Michael Bay wanting to impress him he dialed back much of his typical Bay-isms and being more of a team player. He even listened to the early fan criticisms, including redesigning Optimus Prime and casting Peter Cullen to voice Prime. But since the second film, and each sequel being a big paycheck for him, he obviously allowed his excesses to drown out any Spielberg elements that could be pointed out in the first film. Basically, I think Spielberg was a boon to the first film but his non-involvement in the sequels (apart from Megan Fox getting fired) and not letting Michael Bay go after the first film doomed the franchise.

If you care to know more, check out this retrospective/review by one of my personal favourite YouTubers, Oliver Harper. In the first part, he touches on why DreamWorks and Spielberg got involved and how Robert Zemeckis was almost the man who got the job. If he was ever interested, he would have been a far superior choice. Even the pitch for the first TF movie was meant to invoke 80s sci-fi in a suburban setting, and you get elements of it like the Autobots' descent onto Earth.

Thanks for the share. Pretty fascinating stuff.

It is a remarkable video. I do find it odd that he basically blew off Beast Wars, though. After all, that's still regarded as the best Transformers cartoon show ever made.

Rhedosaurus wrote:

It is a remarkable video. I do find it odd that he basically blew off Beast Wars, though. After all, that's still regarded as the best Transformers cartoon show ever made.

I'm confused, when you said "he", do you mean Oliver or Michael Bay?

While I agree that Beast Wars is easily one of the best Transformers show ever created, I think it's still not as well known as the more recent shows or Generation 1. When it comes to Geek pop culture, hasn't gained that level of recognition despite it being very successful during its time. I have no real idea why, but it certainly deserves more attention.

BarrytheOnyx wrote:

Rhedosaurus wrote:

It is a remarkable video. I do find it odd that he basically blew off Beast Wars, though. After all, that's still regarded as the best Transformers cartoon show ever made.

I'm confused, when you said "he", do you mean Oliver or Michael Bay?

While I agree that Beast Wars is easily one of the best Transformers show ever created, I think it's still not as well known as the more recent shows or Generation 1. When it comes to Geek pop culture, hasn't gained that level of recognition despite it being very successful during its time. I have no real idea why, but it certainly deserves more attention.

Oliver. He just ignores it, or at least it seems like that.

Rhedosaurus wrote:

Oliver. He just ignores it, or at least it seems like that.

I think it's more of an oversight on his part, not a deliberate attempt to slight the show. Like I said, the general awareness of Transformers G1 (thanks in part to the first movie) generally outweighs anything that occurred afterwards, with only fairly recent shows like Transformers: Prime getting a bit more attention than the norm.

BarrytheOnyx wrote:

Rhedosaurus wrote:

Oliver. He just ignores it, or at least it seems like that.

I think it's more of an oversight on his part, not a deliberate attempt to slight the show. Like I said, the general awareness of Transformers G1 (thanks in part to the first movie) generally outweighs anything that occurred afterwards, with only fairly recent shows like Transformers: Prime getting a bit more attention than the norm.

I just find it odd that Beast Wars is overlooked considering how it's so popular with fans. Not to mention how, even as 1990's kids TV shows were, it was not only violent, but surprisingly graphic as well.

Probably unpopular opinion : I watched TF5 and really enjoyed it.