headsortails wrote:You know, I felt like that, at first, when watching this film, but then I think back to the G1 movie...........during the opening, we saw a whole planet of robots being eaten alive by Unicron. Ten minutes later, we saw Brawn, Prowl, Rachet, and Ironhide get blasted, not mention seeing Windcharger's and Wheeljacks lifeless bodies on the ground. Also seeing Unicron being dismembered and decapitated before exploding. Oh yeah, and the minor language. Yeah, I know it's cartoon violence, but still violence, just the same.
THANK YOU.
Yes, let's go over the list of violence in G1, shall we?
MTMTE: Mirage blew up the Decepticon ship and sent it crashing, along with the Decepticons to their supposed deaths. (until the pre credits scene, for all we knew, they died. In a big boom kinda way.)
Heavy Metal War: The Dinobots shove the Constructicons and Decepticons into a crevasse filled with <Dr. Evil> liquid. hot. mag. MA. </Dr. Evil>
City Of Steel: Optimus is dismembered, his arm is used as a weapon adorning the top of a tower, his torso rebuilt into an animal, and his head left sitting on a control panel.
The Ultimate Doom: Megatron causes Tsunamis when Cybertron approaches. Humans are mind controlled against their will, by a device that seems to be implanted with much pain (as shown by Sparkplug's turn to the dark side).
Oh, and speaking of Sparkplug, he was going to kill his own son when Spike refused to help him. Mind control or not, kids don't need to see "Oh, Daddy can turn against me and kill me? That kinda sucks!" and please, people...don't try and sugar coat it or be an apologist with things like "but he was under mind control!" Because it doesn't fly for this reason: Kids have short attention spans. Some will know the whole story by heart, but some new fans will forget the scene where Sparkplug is forced to be a slave, by the time we see him try to kill Spike. A good portion of kids won't pay attention enough to put the two together.
Those are just the ones I can remember!
TFTM:
Lithone and all of it's inhabitants, including laughing and playing children, eaten by Unicron.
Brawn (shot in the shoulder, shouldn't have been killed because there's no logic in a shoulder kill...)
Prowl shot repeatedly and then his eyes darkened and smoke came out of his mouth
Racthet, and Ironhide shot repeatedly in the chest, and then Ironhide is executed, point blank in the face, while laying defenseless on the floor of the ship.
Windcharger's and Wheeljacks lifeless bodies on the ground. (borrowed from the above quote) Not to mention the gaping holes in their bodies...
Prime is cut with a laser sword, stabbed with a pointed rock, and beaten to the point his metal is cracked and he begins bleeding.
headsortails wrote:Also seeing Unicron being dismembered and decapitated before exploding. Oh yeah, and the minor language. Yeah, I know it's cartoon violence, but still violence, just the same.
Actually, to be accurate, Unicron dismembered himself, which is even more twisted and grisly. And then the decapitation, of course.
Minor language? I dunno. It was more than minor, really.
"Open... Dammit! Open!"
Lyrics "when all hell's breaking loose"
I realize that hell, used in that context isn't a curse, but until the movie, terminology like that just wasn't used in any capacity in a piece of kids entertainment. The Ultra Magnus line blew my mind and set my parents off like crazy. Geez...I still remember how much they freaked when Robert Stack blurted that out.
And the cut scenes? Optimus taking one of the coneheads and smashing him headfirst into the ground to kill him. (It's on storyboards somewhere) It was cut, but it's well known in the fandom.
Oh and what about the Insecticons having their heads crushed by Hot Rod and Kup as a ramp to enter into Autobot City?
And the Quintessons executing people by throwing them in a pit of sharks, even though they proclaimed them innocent? (That is a good way to mess with a kid's mind.)
Animation, schmanimation. Violence is violence. Whether it's animated or live action, it's still violence, and it's visited the TF world before, so no one really has a right to complain about the movies and their violence.
The key differences between the movies and G1?
1.) This time, actions actually have consequences. When a person dies, they die. Horribly, miserably, violently, but they die. And they stay dead. (Arcee's a good example of this.)
2.) Prime is violent and brutal in his tactics. This is what real war is like. Soldiers will use any means necessary to accomplish their mission at hand, and if that's taking off someone's head? So be it. The spine ripping is only for Hollywood spectacle, I can't deny that, but everything else? Brutal because it's realistic.
G1 and the movie proved you could kill and kill and not everyone has to die. They can come back. I know the movies did the same thing with Optimus in ROTF and Sentinel in DOTM, but those were just like G1 when Optimus came back, so if it's good for the goose, it's good for the gander, really.
I think the biggest problem people have with violence in this franchise is that the movies taught kids an actual lesson. Aside from fantastical exceptions of Optimus, Megatron and Sentinel, when someone dies in battle, they stay dead. Not returning next week, like Optimus did last week, little Billy. Sucks, but it's true. This is really how it is.
The movies aren't G1, though they borrow heavily from it. So if you wanted to make this argument, it's G1 with realism thrown in. I think it's too much for people to process.
Is it kid friendly? No. Will it bother them as much as you think it will? Possibly. It's your job to police them. Do what's right by your child, by all means. In fact, I commend you for it. However, if they play games that are violent (and I hear kids on Left 4 Dead all the time...annoying, honestly...they won't shut up, and you can't hear the tank coming, but I digress...) or watch TransFormers Prime, or G1, then your argument doesn't hold water with me.
I'd be more offended by the off color humor, FOUL language, sexual innuendo and visuals, rather than the violence. Especially if they've been treated to it in other areas and no complaints have been made.
Should these movies be marketed to kids? I honestly don't know. On the one hand, some of the content IS questionable, especially the adult stuff, but on the other hand, the violence is nothing worse than what they've seen in other cartoons, movies and even TV. Pirates Of The Caribbean, anyone? I know PLENTY of kids went to see those movies.
Bayverse is a walk in the park compared to what's been seen in those movies.
NOTE: Realize that I am not a perfect Christian, nor do I profess to be. I apologize if anyone's ever offended by me, I'm not perfect. Don't hold my posts and opinions against other Christians.
He already told me if something happens to me he wants my Buster Prime.
