Transformers News
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Date: Wednesday, March 28th 2007 9:50am EDT
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Posted by: Stormrider |
Credit(s): Ghost One, Ghosts of Yesterday
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Our own Ghost One has posted a synopsis of the Transformers book,
Ghosts of Yesterday, by Alan Dean Foster. The
Ghosts of Yesterday is a prequel to the up coming
Transformers Movie.
*WARNING - Contains many spoilers
-----------------------------
Transformers: Ghosts of Yesterday
By Alan Dean Foster
As the world watched Apollo 11 launch for the moon (1969 for you young’uns), they missed out on Sector Seven’s (SS) launch of their prototype starship, Ghost One. Ghost One was developed using tech reverse engineered from the “Ice Man” (IM). Its mission is to investigate the possibility of IM’s friends staging an invasion fleet forming behind Jupiter. Slingshot around the sun, flyby to Jupiter and slingshot home, easy.
SS’s Artic Base has received orders to transport IM down to a new facility south of Las Vegas. SSAB’s C.O. (Kinnear) argued against the move to the “Old Man” and insisted on bringing “The Cube” to his facility. Kinnear is told it’s easier to move IM then to move the Cube (?).
Ghost One begins it slingshot around the Sun when the engines outperform the system specifications. Their acceleration opened a wormhole (think Back to the Future) and disappeared from SSAB’s sensors.
The Nemesis Transport (not Warship) drifts through deep space, commanded by Starscream, acting leader of the Decepticons. Crew: Barricade, Blackout, Frenzy, and Bonecrusher. Their standing orders: Locate Megatron, Aquire the Allspark. If the Decepticons locate Megatron, Starscream loses his command and that’s not going happen as long as he has anything to do about it (Starscream is more G1 than G1 Starscream!). As he is about to secure his leadership by ordering the plunder of a local system, the first new acquisition since Megs disappearance, Barricade receives a weak Decepticon signal on the deep field array. Barricade and Blackout argue that it might be Megs. Starscream hopes not as he succumbs to checking the signal.
The Ark, Autobot Transport and long time mobile home, exits a wormhole near a star cluster that is showing signs of containing the Allspark (beacon pulse once every thousand years). Optimus wonders if Megs will make an appearance when they find the Allspark. Ratchet is ordered to keep the Ark outside the system while Prime, Bumblebee, Jazz and Ironhide meet in the Docking Bay. They exit and transform into their Cometary mode and head off for their individual worlds to search. Ratchet stops them cold as he picks up a weird Signal from not to far off.
The Decepticons reach the signal and find Ghost One. Scans showed no Megs, but confused by its design, an investigation is ordered. And cut short as the Ark dropped out of a wormhole near Ghost One. Starscream orders a surprise attack before the Autobots even notice they are there.
The Ark’s sensors also confirm no Megs, but Prime believes it to be a Decepticon trap. A debate as to whether the Decepticons would use such a primitive vessel were heard when it was noticed that Ghost One had deployed a mounted weapon.
Back on Earth, Kinnear is trying to find out where Ghost One disappeared to when he received a call that there might be a Russian spy in SS. The IM transport team is just about ready to leave when an artic blizzard kicks up.
The Nemesis is in hiding behind the planet’s moon. The Decepticons are arguing, again (not in a bad way, but defining how they don’t trust Starscream). Starscream says he’s going to put a stop to this by destroying Ghost One and then the Ark.
The Autobots determine that Ghost One’s weapons will be less than ineffective against them in combat. They also note how instead of attacking like Decepticons, they are slowly shifting planet side. Prime dispatches Bumblebee to make contact with the animals inside. After Bumblebee leaves, the Ark picks up Starscream also heading towards Ghost One.
Ghost One finds a nice little place to hide planet side and the crew discusses there options. IM’s friends are around but not sure what they want. They don’t know where Earth is or where they are or even if they can get home if they knew where they were. No communication from SSAB. The most alone a Human can be.
Bumblebee makes his way to Ghost One when Jazz radios saying that they have detected the Nemesis and Starscream, who was heading his way.
On the Nemesis, Blackout (Megs Supporter) revives the anti-Starscream commentary. Barricade (leader loyalist, not necessarily Starscream) opposes Blackout’s plan to assault the Ark while Starscream is gone, but Bonecrusher and Scorponok are ready for action.
Ghost One tries to send a message home stating, simply, were lost, can you help and, oh yeah, we ran into some of IM’s friends. Ships sensors pick up something big moving in on them.
Kinnear received a call from “Old Man”. Wanting updates on the operations, Kinnear tells him the good news, IM is almost ready to go. The bad news, we lost Ghost One. “Old Man” wasn’t too surprised but had news of his own, new course for IM’s road trip and Kinnear is going with because he understands that if IM wakes, it’ll be worse then if the Russians captured it.
Planet side, Bumblebee tries to approach Ghost One in as unthreatening a way as possible for a giant alien robot. Then Starscream ambushes him. Bumblebee’s only option is to run. He transforms into a wheeled vehicle (predefined secondary alt? no cars on this world) and races off bobbing and weaving through spires of rock while Starscream shoots for the kill.
SSAB: Kinnear meets with Jenson (IM road trip manager) and they discuss how to keep IM frozen, deal with the storm and navigate a new course. As they ready to leave, Nolan (Ghost One manager, him and Kinnear served in Black Ops together) stops Kinnear and reports word from Ghost One. They discuss how to handle the message.
Starscream returns to Ghost One after chasing off Bumblebee. He studies the vessel and after downloading everything, makes contact via a form of Instant Messenger. “Greetings, it is fortunate that I arrived when I did. The other creature you encountered would have surely destroyed you and your ship.” (Told you he was slick.)
On the Ark, the Autobots ready themselves for the coming Decepticons. Prime, Ironhide and Jazz leave the ship to do battle with Blackout, Bonecrusher and Frenzy. Hell breaks loose (read it, this combat is incredibly well written). The Decepticons call a retreat. When the Autobots board the Ark, they receive word from Bumblebee about his encounter with Starscream.
Bumblebee takes cover by some peculiar outcroppings only to find himself dragged down a sinkhole into a natural underground labyrinth. As he finds the direction out, he also finds that the planet is not entirely devoid of life.
At SSAB, Nolan gets the tech to send a message back to Ghost One: “Glad to hear you’re alive, try to keep it that way, we’re working on a way to get you home”. To all their surprise, they got a real time response. Ghost One and SSAB traded updates and bad news. Bottom line that Ghost One received was that they are on there own. That did not boost morale.
Starscream talks to the “Humans” and convinces them that he is good, Autobots are evil and Prime is the vilest killer in the universe. Also, if Ghost One would be so kind as to help him with destroying the Autobots, he will help them get back home. (Your boss told you you’re lost and as good as dead, how bad do you want to get home?)
Ratchet points out that they haven’t heard from Bumblebee since just before he fell down the hole. Prime decides to go find him while the others stay and defend the Ark if the Decepticons return. If things start to turn for the worse, take the Ark, ditch the Nemesis somewhere and come back for him and Bumblebee. Prime heads planet side.
Kinnear and Jenson talk business as they plow through the snowstorm taking IM to his new home. The roads are treacherous, iced and visibility is like 10 feet. So when the lead truck spins out, the entire convoy piles up and the mission is officially halted. Also Kinnear gets his femur pulverized in the wreck.
Bumblebee hides against a wall as these Giant (Bumblebee’s size and bigger) Leech /Snake /Worms (Buggers) come barreling into the chamber and more hell breaks loose.
Prime pretty much follows Bumblebee’s footsteps to the letter, including the sinkhole and reaching the chamber where he finds battle in progress. Prime and Bumblebee retreat to preserve their sparks from the impressively tough Buggers. System checks indicate that it won’t be easy to get out, not to mention that they can hear the Buggers regrouping. It sounds like there are more now.
The crew of Ghost One is at ends with each other over how to handle the fact that if they go home without the destruction of the evil Autobots, they would just be leaving a trail for them to make there way to earth. After much conversation, they decide to help Starscream hoping that when it’s safe, he will take them home.
Starscream receives word from the Nemesis that Prime is planet side. Starscream orders the Decepticons to take out the Ark while Prime is gone. He turns his attention to Ghost One and explains the situation to the crew. They offer to help and Starscream accepts and leads them to the sinkhole.
Kinnear is woken up by Jenson who gives him the bad news, IM’s storage unit is damaged and loosing its cool. They set up a base camp and are trying to get the vehicles operational again.
Barricade brings the Nemesis to bear and the other Decepticons launch for their assault on the Ark. The Autobots are preparing, Ratchet stays behind to run the Ark (he has a little Wheeljack in him) while Ironhide and Jazz launch to face off with the Decepticons.
(Note: It is clarified that both the Ark and the Nemesis are purposely designed as weak attack vessels because the Cybertronians are far more powerful and efficient fighting bot to bot. In Fact, as best I can tell, the only reason they need the ships is for repairs and traveling through wormholes.)
Kinnear awakes yet again to find himself in a med tent and finds out that the lead driver is missing, as the search order is given, the driver is drug in half frozen. He’s Russian and he has alerted his comrades it is time to collect their prize. Instead of killing him, Kinnear strips him to his skivvies and has him placed in another tent. Fears of IM waking are beginning to manifest as reports of heat signatures and twitchy fingers come in. Kinnear’s clearly dying at this point.
Prime and Bumblebee find a way out but Starscream is waiting. They BS for a minute when Prime had enough he grabbed Bumblebee, hit his thrusters and raced through the opening towards Starscream. Starscream and Ghost One opened fire on Prime who pulled a 180 and went back underground. Starscream collapsed the opening on top of them.
Nolan at SSAB receives a call from “Old Man” who informs him that there has been an incident with the convoy. He was told to take the Rangers training there with and go fix the problem. Nolan was reluctant but set it up. He left a desk jockey in charge to find a way to get Ghost One back.
Ghost One is following Starscream after having taken out Prime and Bumblebee. They fake a malfunction to buy some time to talk about what just happened. Starscream buys the malfunction story (both Autobots and Decepticons couldn’t help but talk bad about how terribly primitive this vessel was) and anxiously waits. The crew discusses how weird it was that this most terrible of beings chose to speak with Starscream instead of fighting. Not to mention that he didn’t fire on any of them. They lie to Starscream and say they are going to be out of commission for a while. Starscream tells them that he will be back after he helps destroy the Ark. After he leaves, Ghost One tries to run when the Ship gets stuck in a sinkhole and before long they find themselves buried in a tin tomb on the ass end of the galaxy. Also, they’re not alone down there.
Prime and Bumblebee ducked from chamber to chamber trying to avoid another confrontation with the Buggers. In the next chamber, the more injured Prime pulls the less injured Bumblebee behind him and articulates his weapon in a stand off with Ghost One. This act eventually convinces the crew that Starscream twisted the truth and they lowered their weapon. Prime followed suit and Bumblebee initiated contact. They make friends and tell Prime that IM/Megs is on Earth. Prime must warn Earth of the danger it is in.
At SSAB, Nolan and his artic rangers prepared to leave to find Kinnear’s convoy. Nolan defends his current shape to the lead ranger and talk about “Old Man”.
In Orbit, Jazz’s plan wasn’t working out as well as he and Ironhide hoped (This battle sequence was very cool). Jazz is messed up real good and then Starscream shows up to knock the scales of the table. Not looking pleasant.
Prime finds a weak spot that can be blown open to allow for them to escape. Then the Buggers attack and screw up the plans. Prime gets a complex idea that can not only open a door and not kill the Humans, but take out the Buggers as well. With Bumblebee and Ghost One clear, Prime’s escape is delayed when he is caught by a hidden Bugger.
Kinnear wakes up and demands a stimulant, can’t lead if he’s asleep. As Kinnear ‘wakes up’, the Russians attack. Kinnear orders a perimeter and IM cannot be taken. They also begin to start firing the flares. Nolan and the Rangers see a flare in the distance.
Jazz and Ironhide have been successful at staying alive with Ratchet at the turrets, but Starscream, Bonecrusher, Blackout and Frenzy have a very large advantage. As the Autobots near the Ark, the Decepticons slow pursuit to avoid the turrets. That’s when Jazz and Ironhide made a mad dash for the Ark. Once behind the shields, they argue whether to follow orders and split or to stay and wait for Prime.
Starscream insists on finishing the Autobots before they escape, but the others won’t hear it. They want to know what is the deal with Ghost One (Starscream hasn’t told them a thing, in fact he’s been avoiding the subject). Starscream swears that if the Ark gets away he’ll take them all out. Blackout tells him that Scorponok is onboard already, destroying their engines. Blackout now demands to know about how Prime and Bumblebee died. Starscream says their dead because he says so. It’s on! Blackout opens fire on Starscream and a brawl ensues (I just realized Brawl wasn’t in the book, hmm). The other Decepticons just watch the fun.
At SSAB, that desk jockey calls up Ghost One to tell them that they are ordered to stay there if there is any chance for IM’s friends to find a way to Earth. The crew talks seriously about what has happened and decide that if they are going to die out here, they are going to do it as heroes. Prime reluctantly accepted their assistance after they explained their new situation.
As they made Orbit, they found the Decepticons infighting. Prime called everyone out of the Ark for the final showdown before they lose their advantage.
Jenson sees Kinnear and informs him that the perimeter is falling and the IM re-freezing has pretty much stopped. Then gunfire rang out, it was the rangers. Relieved, Kinnear gives Jenson his seal of approval as he heads out to defend the IM. Kinnear is next visited by the Russian Driver with a nasty knife. Kinnear, not being able to walk, is having a bad day. Nolan and his rangers arrive at the outskirts of the battleground. The rangers deploy on foot and Nolan drives the Sno-Cat.
Starscream and Blackout go at it pretty rough until Starscream all but kills Blackout. Having asserted himself as unquestionable, he sends Bonecrusher to take the remains to the Nemesis with Barricade while he and the others go to finish off the Ark. Before they could move, Barricade warns them of the approaching Prime, Bumblebee and Ghost One. Thought they were all dead, Starscream?
Kinnear was dying and crippled, the Russian was frost bitten and sick. A cripple fight is the best analogy here. The Russian pierced one of Kinnear’s lungs before he was slit ear to ear. As Kinnear laid there ready to die, he heard tearing metal and loud thumping from where the convoy’s direction. Nolan comes rolling up in time to see IM swaying on his feet, so he ‘ghost rides’ the Sno-Cat into IM, knocking him into an exploding truck which bounces him a little bit. Nolan looks to see that Kinnear has dragged his ass out into the battle to help with the IM. He was all that mattered now.
Aboard Ghost One, desk jockey tells the crew that their wormhole is still open, barely. They should come home regardless of the order to stay away. Conflicts flare between just going home and making sure home is safe. The Capt. puts an end to it all by ordering that they all stay and do what is right. They call SSAB and declare their intentions and sign off. Attack positions people.
How does the final battle end?
What happens to Ghost One?
How do they get the “Ice Man” back under control?
Do you get to hear the ‘squishy’ sound?
What goes down between the Decepticons and Starscream?
Did Scorponok complete his mission?
Do Kinnear and Nolan have a Brokeback Mountain moment on the artic tundra?
The last answer is NO.
I'll answer any questions EXCEPT those listed above.
For the rest, GET THIS BOOK!
Date: Monday, February 19th 2007 10:26pm EST
Categories: Collector's Club News,
Movie News,
Reviews,
Site Articles,
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Posted by: Seibertron Discuss This Topic · Permanent Link
| Views: 181,105
Written by Ryan Yzquierdo
February 13th, 2007
Ok, where to begin? As many of you know, I've been a pretty big naysayer about a variety of issues regarding the upcoming Transformers Movie. Most of my concerns have revolved around the designs of the robots. While I still think the look of Megatron and Starscream is pretty bad, other characters such as Blackout, Barricade and Bumblebee are saving my overall opinion. The leaked script that I read during August 2006 is actually a big part of what started to turn me around about the movie. While I think it's great that Transformers "transform", I've always been more interested in the story behind the Autobots and the Decepticons. I found the script interesting, entertaining, compelling, emotional and true to an alien invasion of Transformers robots coming to Earth. While I found the script up to par, I still had my reservations about the movie.
Until tonight.
Click here to view screen captures from the trailer ...
Event Introduction
Let me rewind by about 6 hours. Tonight was the big event that truly brought me from Chicago to a fun-filled weekend in New York that just happened to intentionally coincide with Toy Fair 2007. The event was located at the Walter Reade Theatre on 165 W 65th St in New York city, on the northside of Manhattan and east of Central Park (near WABC's studios). The doors to the event opened at 5:45.
Upon entrance to the event, I had begun to immediately feel underdressed in my black pants and button up shirt. It had become obvious very quickly that the event wasn't designed to cater to guys who run major Transformers fan websites. Regardless that I was missing the attire that most were wearing, I quickly saw some familiar faces from Hasbro, Hunter PR and, of course, several key people within the Transformers hobby.
The walls of the front rooms to the theatre were decorated with various Transformers Movie posters, most of which prominently featured the Autobot and Decepticon symbols. The cardboard cutouts of Optimus Prime and Bumblebee were near the place where we checked in our coats. The 4 primary products featured at Toy Fair (Optimus Prime helmet, arm blaster, Leader class figure and Ultimate Bumblebee) were also on display. I expressed to Aaron Archer that I thought the Bumblebee figure was excellent. He seemed to be really proud of the figure. I got the same sense from Brian Goldner during a brief conversation with him at Hasbro's Toy Fair event this past Saturday.
The staff of theatre people operating the theatre were all dressed in black Autobot and Decepticon t-shirts. It was pretty cool to see all of these people wearing Transformers shirts ... and we weren't even at a BotCon or comic book convention. The staff of people handing out drinks had black Autobot and Decepticon napkins which several of us kept as souveniers.
Click here to view screen captures from the trailer ...
After a few drinks, we started moving into the theatre to view the presentation. I sat next to Tony Bacala (tfw2005.com) and Rick Alvarez, one row above Brian Savage and one row below Kevin and Jason Lukis (unicron.com). Ben Yee (bwtf.com) was there also but I'm not sure where he sat at the event. I'm assuming that most of the people who were in the theatre were executives of various companies or worked for Hasbro, Hunter PR, Paramount, Dreamworks or various retail chains (the CEO of Toys R Us was apparently there).
Brian Goldner (Hasbro - CEO) took the stage once everyone was in the theatre. He made several comments about the Transformers franchise before making some introductions. I missed the name of one of the people who were on the stage. Tom DeSanto was present, but not on the stage. Brian Goldner was joined by Adam Goodman (Dreamworks), Wayne (didn't catch his last name) and, of course, Michael Bay (Director). Here are some of the things that were said about the Transformers Movie prior to playing the 4 different scenes:
Click here to view screen captures from the trailer ...
- This movie will be "Revolutionary" in the same sense of the Matrix trilogy starring Keanu Reeves from Warner Brothers.
- I wrote down in my notes: "Robots in Disguise". If I recall correctly, Brian Goldner was talking about how the movie really plays up the aspect of the Transformers being "robots in disguise." While this might not seem like an important part to some of you, it really is the key idea behind the Transformers. The ability to infiltrate society as everyday objects, cars and planes is what makes the Transformers so unique.
- [You will be] blown away.
- Transformers is a 3 billion dollar brand behind Star Wars and G.I.Joe. I was surprised to hear that Transformers makes less money than G.I.Joe but this might have something to do with Hasbro's brand sharing with Takara Tomy.
- The Transformers Movie is one of the few original franchise flicks that will be released in 2007. Mentioned other franchise films such as Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, Spider-Man and several others.
- For Dreamworks, this movie will be bigger than War of the Worlds and Mission Impossible 3 (both movies starred Tom Cruise). The Transformers Movie will be a worldwide event.
- Shia Lebeouf (Sam Witwicky) was compared to a "young Tom Hanks".
- The scenes that were previewed were "most ready to show but not finished." This meant that there was temporary sound, music and animation still in place in the scenes that we saw.
- Mentioned that this movie harkens back to the fun days of Steven Spielberg's Back To The Future and other Amblien movies from the 1980s.
- Really stressed that Steven Spielberg is a really big fan of the Transformers and was familiar with the comics and toys from when his kids were into the Transformers during the 80s. For those of you who saw Spielberg's message on the TransformersLive.com website about 1.5 to 2 years ago, it seemed like this was a rehash of things that Spielberg himself said in that video clip.
- Michael Bay stated that this has been a really fun movie to work on. He really seemed to have enjoyed his time with this movie. He told us some about the origin of him getting involved with the movie. His initial reaction was that he didn't want to be involved with a toy movie to "how can I find out more about this franchise" in about 30 seconds.
- I read in some of the existing reviews of this event that people quoted Bay as saying it took 38 hours to render 1 frame of film. I wrote in my notes that it was 38 hours to render 1 second of film. I don't know if I misheard or what, but that's what was in my notes. I'm sure we'll find out clarification at a later date.
- I think it was Bay who said that the movie was "mind blowing." It was also said that the film was ILM's "heaviest digital effects ever." Considering their work on Star Wars, I find this hard to believe but after the full sophisticated transformation of Blackout, I could see how it was more complex than just rendering a shell of a ship (for example).
Click here to view screen captures from the trailer ...
Descriptions of Movie Scenes
There were a total of 4 scenes previewed at the event. If you do not want to read any spoilers, please do not read any futher. Here are my notes and thoughts on the scenes that were previewed:
- Qatar 1: Blackout Transforms and Attacks!
- The tension that builds up to Blackout's transformation (not to mention my anticipation) was excellent. The execution of this entire scene was very well done.
- I noticed the Hewlett Packard logo on a couple of products in this scene. Knowing how movies work these days, I'm sure this was NOT a coincidence. I think we can add Hewlett Packard (HP) to the list of official movies sponsors alongside Pepsi and Burger King.
Click here to view screen captures from the trailer ...
- Josh Duhamel (Las Vegas) and Tyrese Gibson (Four Brothers, 2 Fast 2 Furious) were both prominently featured in this scene. Amaury Nolasco (Prison Break, Mr 3000) was also in this scene. It was a running joke during his scenes that he was always speaking Spanish.
- Captain Lennox (Josh Duhamel) speaks with his wife over a video phone. His wife recently had a baby during Duhamel's tour of duty. There's some fun cutesy comments shared between the couple. I'm assuming the video connection was lost during the couple's conversation thanks to Blackout's EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) deployment.
- During Blackout's transformation, the original transformation was used briefly during one part of his transformation. I am assuming this is one of the temporary sounds that were mentioned in the introduction. It sounded out of place and much louder than the other transformation sounds. As much as I love the old school transofrmation sound, I would prefer it to be more realistic ... kind of like a cross between the "whirring" sound from Beast Wars when the Maximals and Predacons transformed. The actual sound of the transformation that was used throughout the rest of Blackout's transformation sounded more like I would expect: metal moving against metal, parts moving and shifting.
Click here to view screen captures from the trailer ...
- Blackout's transformation was more complex than I would have imagined. This was a big area of concern for me originally. I was worried that the robots were going to have parts that "morphed." I was reassured by seeing an actual Blackout truly "transform" from a helicopter to a robot. I couldn't believe the complexity of his transformation on screen. It was unbelievable and much longer than I was expecting. If I recall correctly, Blackout is the first Transformer to transform in the movie. It was everything I could have hoped to see a helicopter transform for the first time on the big screen. It was absolutely amazing and even gave me chills while I saw this incredible event happen.
- When Scorponok "ejected" from Blackout's helicopter mode, there was a round of applause.
- Sam's "first" encounter with Mikeala
- Sam and Mikeala at the Witwickys' house
- I believe all 5 Autobots were in this scene (Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Ratchet, Ironhide and Jazz) who took
Spike (Sam, yes, his name is "Sam" in this movie. I hope he becomes codenamed "Spike" at some point.) and Mikeala to the Witwickys' house. - Sam was looking for his grandfather's glasses (Archibald Witwicky is his grandfather's name) which have the code from the AllSpark encoded onto the glasses if I remember the script correctly.
Click here to view screen captures from the trailer ...
- While Sam was desperately searching his room for the pair of glasses, Optimus Prime lifts Mikeala up to Sam's window with the palm of his hand.
- Sam tells Mikeala that he can't find the glasses. They argue back and forth about who should go tell the alien robots that they can't find what they're looking for.
- Optimus Prime does have a mouth in this scene. While I can't really remember what his mouth looked like in this scene, it reminded me of a really detailed version of Masterpiece Convoy / Optimus Prime's mouth when you removed the toy's face shield. It was very alien looking just like the rest of the Transformers faces. It will take some time getting used to it though I imagine Optimus Prime will mostly have the face shield based on all of the marketing pieces that I've seen so far. I didn't really like it but I knew it was going to happen. It's better for live film (the same reason why Cybertron Optimus Prime and Beast Wars Optimus Primal had mouths.
- There was only one line that I caught as sounding like Peter Cullen. It honestly sounded like a filler voice to me during the scene but everyone I asked about it said that it was indeed Cullen. Apparently, Cullen was talking quietly or whispering to keep quiet during this scene so that could be part of why it didn't sound like the Optimus Prime that I'm used to hearing. Generally, Optimus Prime is "commanding" the Autobots, which he definitely wasn't doing in this scene.
- I especially liked the scene where Sam was attempting to keep the Autobots quiet. The mute Bumblebee acknowledged Sam's request by holding his index finger up to his face.
Click here to view screen captures from the trailer ...
- It was pretty humorous when the Autobots transformed into car mode to "hide". This is a great example of the Autobots not always being able to pull off being "robots in disguise" which I appreciated as a fan. Sam commented on how transforming into car mode while still on the lawn wasn't "hiding". It was a pretty humorous scene that the audience seemed to genuinely enjoy.
- The Autobots seemed very "real", which I guess is the main objective. This is one of the things that really seemed to gain my interest and trust in what the movie folks are doing with the Transformers property. If they can convince me, one of the most die-hard Transformers fans ever, then I think they've done their job regardless if I feel like the robots could've benefited from better designs in robot mode.
- One of the Autobots almost step's on the Witwicky's Chihauhau. The dog retaliates by peeing on Ironhide's foot. The Autobot turns his weapon on the dog which causes Sam to flip out.
Click here to view screen captures from the trailer ...
- Sector Seven, lead by John Turturro's character, arrives at the Witwicky's house who want to take Sam with them once they find out he's covered with "isotopes" (??? can't remember if that was the term used) from being around the Transformers. Determine he's had physical contact with them. Sam's father, Ron, tries to prevent them from taking Sam with them. From reading the script, I can tell you that Ron and his wife (can't remember her name offhand) were unsuccessful in their attempt.
- Someone refers to the Witwicky's dog as a Taco Bell dog ... I think it was one of the Sector Seven guys.
- Ratchet trips over some power lines while trying to leave the scene quietly so as not to alert Sector Seven. Ratchet's line that he says after falling was originally supposed to be a line Jazz says from the February 2006 script.
- The Transformers seemed very real and despite some of their odd faces, they seemed to be able to express emotions just fine. Kudos to ILM for being able to pull that off with these designs.
- Qatar 2: Scorponok Attacks!
- This scene was shown as an encore, thanks to Brian Goldner.
- There's a humorous scene during Scorponok's attack of Captain Lennox trying to get a Middle-Eastern Operator to connect him to the Pentagon. Lennox obtained the phone from a civilian. The operator was trying to get Captain Lennox to use a credit card number when he obviously didn't have access to one during the middle of a battle.
Click here to view screen captures from the trailer ...
- Jon Voight appears briefly during this scene at the Pentagon.
- While Scorponok was one of my least favorite characters from the movie roster, I have to admit that watching him "slither" mechanically in and out of the desert sand was pretty damn cool. Scorponok is really little more than a plot device to show off a pretty cool desert battle scene but it appears they succeeded in coming up with a compelling action sequence that is sure to please audiences.
Click here to view screen captures from the trailer ...
- The humans attack Scorponok with an onslaught of weapons. The humans are eventually successful in forcing Scorponok to retreat. Part of Scorponok is left behind which will be used as a plot device during a later scene in the movie.
- For whatever reason, I don't remember as much about this scene as I do the others. It seems like it was pretty action intense. It was just an all-around incredible action sequence.
My Thoughts on the Sneak Peak
After the event, a group of us were gathered near the coat check toward the front of the building. I talked to Paula Walsh (Hasbro's Public Relations Director) for a little bit. Brian Goldner joined the group to ask a few of us what we thought. I said "Remember that little Transformers 101 stunt from my website?" everyone kind of chuckles nervously, not sure where I'm going with that comment. "Let's just say that tonight was Transformers 102 and it was MY turn to get schooled." Everyone in the group laughed and I felt a lot better after acknowledging the Transformers 101 thing directly to Brian. No hard feelings, right? ;)
The Transformers Movie reminds me most of Independence Day (ID4). It doesn't seem to have the stupid slapstick humor that I didn't find appealing in Armageddon but it does retain some of the classic humor that Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum demonstrated in Indepence Day as well as Bruce Willis and Ben Afleck in Michael Bay's Armaggedon. It's not Steve Buscemi type humor.
Click here to view screen captures from the trailer ...
The action seems very similar to Indepence Day (ID4 - Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum). ID4 is one of my all-time favorite movies so I'm pretty pleased with this direction. The scenes were absolutely incredible, the transformation of Blackout was fascinating and spectacular, and the mood was exactly what I was hoping for in the movie. I still think some of the robot designs could have used some improvements to be more reminiscent of the original characters but it's too late for that now. From what I've seen and from the version of the script that I've read, I think ILM has done a top notch job with bringing Transformers to life. The robots are designed to look like REAL Transformers, not computer animated or cell animated or toys for that matter. I think this goal was accomplished.
I've read that a few people out there were questioning if Hasbro/Paramount/Dreamworks "bought out" some of the outspoken people such as myself who attended this event. If getting to see a sneak peak of the movie so that I can share my thoughts with all of the fans of my website constitutes as being "bought out", then that's what happened. I think their main objective was to give some key people in the Transformers hobby a taste of what Hasbro/Paramount/Dreamworks have been seeing so that we could share that with you. It's a little different to hear the opinion of a die-hard fan like myself and not from someone who's officially involved with the movie. I saw it. I got it. It's going to be a spectacular summer blockbuster that most of us should enjoy. Ben Yee (bwtf.com), Kevin Lukis (unicron.com), Jason Lukis (unicron.com), Rick Alvarez (Transformers Collector's Club, etc), Tony Bacala (tfw2005.com) and myself all seemed to genuinely enjoy the movie. If I can look past some of the robot designs that I don't really like and was able to thoroughly enjoy myself while I watched the scenes that I saw, then I'm pretty confident that most of you will be able to enjoy the movie as well.
Click here to view screen captures from the trailer ...
The Transformers Movie is going to be a very solid action flick that audiences worldwide will thoroughly enjoy. If you're a fan that is really against this movie, all that I ask is that you see the movie at least once with an open mind. You know the movie is going to be different. If you can accept the Transformers Movie for what it is, I'm pretty confident that you'll find yourself having a great time with the rest of the audience.
Stay tuned to Seibertron.com for all of the latest news regarding the Transformers Movie. I'll see you in theatres starting July 4th, 2007!
Sincerely,
Ryan Yzquierdo
Seibertron.com
Other Links
Transformers Movie - Official WebsiteTransformers Movie News on Seibertron.comTransformers Movie Toy GalleriesTransformers Movie Trailer Screen CapturesUnicron.com's Preview ReviewBen Yee's Preview Reviewtfw2005.com's Preview ReviewTFormers.com's Preview Review
Date: Saturday, February 10th 2007 5:32pm EST
Categories: Company News,
Event News,
Movie News,
Press Releases,
Toy News
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HASBRO ROLLS OUT TRANSFORMERS TOYS THAT ARE ‘MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE’
FOR THIS SUMMER’S MUCH ANTICIPATED BLOCKBUSTER MOVIE
Hasbro teams up with DreamWorks and Paramount for first-ever live-action TRANSFORMERS feature film release on July 4, 2007
Pawtucket, RI (February 2007) - On July 4, 2007, the colossal battle between the AUTOBOTS and the DECEPTICONS will invade our world when these aliens make Earth their final battleground in the live-action TRANSFORMERS movie. Produced by DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures, in association with Hasbro, the film is poised to catapult the legendary characters and storyline -- which have captivated kids since they debuted more than 20 years ago -- even higher into the stratosphere of pop culture.
First introduced in 1984 by Hasbro and Takara as a toy line, TRANSFORMERS has become a global phenomenon inspiring comic books, video games, animated series, films and a convention dedicated to TRANSFORMERS collectors. Whether fans grew up with the robots or discovered them more recently, they continue to be fascinated by the alien robots from CYBERTRON that live on earth as "Robots in Disguise" and have the ability to change from robot mode to vehicle mode.
The movie, directed by Michael Bay (Armageddon, The Rock, Bad Boys I and II) and executive produced by Steven Spielberg, follows the epic feud between the AUTOBOTS (led by OPTIMUS PRIME) and the DECEPTICONS (led by MEGATRON) as they bring their battle to Earth. In their efforts to help the humans, the AUTOBOTS meet up with an unsuspecting teen (Shia LaBeouf, who starred in Holes and Even Stevens) who finds himself in the middle of an intergalactic war being fought on our planet. The movie also stars Josh Duhamel (Las Vegas), Tyrese Gibson (Annapolis, 2 Fast 2 Furious), Megan Fox (Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen), John Turturro and Jon Voight.
"Hasbro is thrilled to work with DreamWorks, Paramount and Michael Bay in making the most amazing, larger-than-life version of the TRANSFORMERS saga ever created," said Brian Goldner, Hasbro’s Chief Executive Officer and Executive Producer of the film. "Michael, Steven and the production crew have captured the personality of the TRANSFORMERS characters through ground-breaking visual effects and they have translated the storyline into a film packed with non-stop action and excitement."
To bring the action and adventure into kids’ homes, Hasbro will be releasing a new lineup of toys and games based on the characters and styling of the movie. From the OPTIMUS PRIME VOICE CHANGER HELMET to the ULTIMATE BUMBLEBEE figure, TRANSFORMERS fans of all ages will find something that will help them experience the excitement of the movie.
The TRANSFORMERS 2007 line includes the following:
TRANSFORMERS MOVIE ULTIMATE BUMBLEBEE
(Approximate Retail Price: $89.99; Ages: 5 & up; Available: Fall 2007)
Fans of TRANSFORMERS will love seeing BUMBLEBEE come to life on the big screen and this fall, they can experience the ULTIMATE BUMBLEBEE action figure, which is among the most realistic and technical TRANSFORMERS toys ever. The impressively styled Chevrolet Camaro Concept car changes into the beloved AUTOBOTS character, which stands an imposing 14 inches tall. BUMBLEE will "come to life" with robot animatronics action in both car and robot modes. Working headlights, battle sounds, and music, including Devo’s "Whip It", all add to the interactive experience.
TRANSFORMERS MOVIE DELUXE and VOYAGER assortments
(Approximate Retail Price: $9.99 - $19.99; Ages: 5 & up; Available: June 2007)
The fun and excitement of 2007’s live-action film is placed in kids’ hands with the all-new TRANSFORMERS MOVIE action figures. Not only do the figures feature the authentic TRANSFORMERS action that enables all figures to change from vehicle mode to robot mode, but they also feature new "Automorph Technology" that will allow some parts to "automatically" move. Each figure also includes other action features like firing projectiles. Movie-styled figures in the Deluxe and Voyager scales include: OPTIMUS PRIME, MEGATRON, SCORPONOCK™, BARRICADE™, AUTOBOT JAZZ and BUMBLEBEE™.
TRANSFORMERS MOVIE LEADER assortment
(Approximate Retail Price: $39.99; Ages: 5 & up; Available: June 2007)
It’s Prime time! OPTIMUS PRIME and other popular TRANSFORMERS characters from the movie are represented in Leader scale figures, which feature lights and sounds in vehicle and robot mode. Additionally, the figures feature new "Automorph Technology", a gearing mechanism that allows some parts to move automatically. The Leader scale includes OPTIMUS PRIME and MEGATRON.
TRANSFORMERS OPTIMUS PRIME VOICE CHANGER HELMET
(Approximate Retail Price: $29.99; Ages: 5 & Up; Available: June 2007)
The OPTIMUS PRIME VOICE CHANGER HELMET, authentically detailed to look like the character in the movie, allows kids to imitate OPTIMUS PRIME and sound like a TRANSFORMERS robot for the first time! The OPTIMUS PRIME VOICE CHANGER HELMET features 3 modes:
VOICE CHANGER: Make your voice sound like a robot!
BATTLE PHRASES: OPTIMUS PRIME speaks iconic phrases
CONVERSION SOUNDS: Hear OPTIMUS PRIME change from a truck to a robot and back!
TRANSFORMERS ARM BLASTER assortment
(Approximate Retail Price: $29.99; Ages: 5 & up; Available: June 2007)
Quickly changing from either STARSCREAM’S jet or OPTIMUS PRIME’S truck, these powerful TRANSFORMERS ARM BLASTERS offer kids the unique opportunity to role-play the galactic battle which AUTOBOTS and DECEPTICONS have waged for centuries! One pull changes the toy from vehicle mode to blaster mode, unleashing the power of a Nerf dart blaster. OPTIMUS PRIME comes with 3 Nerf darts and STARSCREAM comes with 4 Nerf darts.
TRANSFORMERS CYBER STOMPIN’ ROBOT assortments
(Approximate Retail Price: $19.99; Ages: 4 & up; Available: June 2007)
The CYBER STOMPIN’ ROBOT features 12-inch robot-only versions of BUMBLEBEE and OPTIMUS PRIME, the heroes of the TRANSFORMERS movie. Designed to enable easy play for younger fans, each of the figures feature robot stomping sounds, battle sounds and phrases and light-up eyes!
MR. POTATO HEAD OPTIMASH PRIME
(Approximate retail price: $9.99; Ages: 2 & up; Available: June 2007
MR. POTATO HEAD, the iconic face-changing potato friend for kids, takes on the role of a lifetime as the spud-ly leader of the AUTOBOTS, OPTIMASH PRIME. Kids will be able to have all kinds of mix 'n match fun with this wacky spud dressed as OPTIMUS PRIME. OPTIMASH PRIME comes with fun parts, including shoes, ears, eyes and helmet.
RISK: THE TRANSFORMERS EDITION
(Approximate retail price $ 24.99; Ages: 8 & up; Players: 2 to 4; Available: June 2007)
The game of Global Domination takes a twist with this version set on CYBERTRON and based on the TRANSFORMERS movie. Fight to gain control of the world on the side of the AUTOBOTS or the DECEPTICON! Choose your side, then play by either classic RISK rules or the TRANSFORMERS variations!
TRANSFORMERS CHESS SET
(Approximate retail price $ 29.99; Ages: 7 & up; Players: 2; Available: June 2007)
This classic game provides an opportunity to pit the AUTOBOTS against the DECEPTICON in a two-player strategy game. The figures are authentically detailed to look like the movie characters.
TRANSFORMERS FUN FIT PUZZLE
(Approximate retail price: $15.99 Ages: 7 & up; Available: June 2007) Two puzzles in one. Assemble OPTIMUS PRIME in robot mode and then with the same puzzle pieces, assemble the AUTOBOT leader in truck mode.
TRANSFORMERS 70PC STICKER PUZZLE
(Approximate Retail Price: $3.99; Ages: 5 & up; Available: June 2007)
TRANSFORMERS 100 PC PUZZLES
(Approximate Retail price: $2.99; Ages: 5 & up; Available: June 2007)
For more information on Hasbro’s TRANSFORMERS toy line and the live-action feature film, please visit
www.transformers.com and
www.transformersmovie.com.
# # #
Date: Monday, February 5th 2007 7:44pm EST
Category: Comic Book News
Posted by: Hotrod |
Credit(s): Comics Continuum
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IDW's list of comic book solicitations for the month of May are now know.
Comics Continuum has received IDW's solicitations for May and they have posted them. It looks like there will be alot of Transformers books offered by IDW. Here is a list of the Transformers titles that will be available:
"THE TRANSFORMERS: MEGATRON: ORIGIN #1
Written by Eric Holmes, art by Alex Milne, covers by Milne and Marcelo Matero.
Before allegiance, rank and function -- before war -- a civilian will become a warrior, a warrior will become a leader. As a leader he will learn of the most powerful weapon on the planet -- a weapon powerful enough to bind legions to his will -- a faction named Decepticon. This landmark story brings the major players of the faction together for the first time in a seminal story for Megatron, the Decepticons, and The Great War.
32 pages, $3.99.
THE TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE PREQUEL #4
Written by Simon Furman and Chris Ryall, art and cover by Don Figueroa.
Their war has come to our world. Now, as the Robots in Disguise continue their struggle on the planet Earth, only the organization known as Sector 7, and an Autobot named Bumblebee, stand in the way of total victory for the Decepticons! Furman, Ryall and Figueroa conclude the official beginning of the Summer movie extravaganza right here! Figueroa contributes two special covers for this issue!
32 pages, $3.99.
TRANSFORMERS: THE BEST OF DON FIGUEROA: THE PREMIERE COLLECTION
Written by Simon Furman and others, art and cover by Don Figueroa.
Artist Don Figueroa has been blowing away fans' conception of what Transformers comic book art is capable of being, and now his spectacular work gets the Premiere treatment here. This special oversize hardcover-with-dustjacket offers the ultimate presentation of Don's work, spanning his earliest work through his current work on the IDW movie prequel, including sketches, concept art and much more.
220 pages, $50.
TRANSFORMERS: THE GREATEST BATTLES OF OPTIMUS PRIME AND MEGATRON
Written by Simon Furman and others, art by Don Figueroa and others, cover by Figueroa.
Optimus Prime and Megatron have opposed each other since the Transformers began, and their fight continues even into this year's big-screen movie. And now, this collection looks back at many of the most awe-inspiring match-ups of these two polar opposites, spanning decades of Transformers comics. Compiled in this volume are G2 #6: "The Gathering Darkness," The War Within #4, IDW's Animated Movie Adaptation #1 and many more!
152 pages, $19.99.
TRANSFORMERS: THE ARK -- A COMPLETE COMPENDIUM OF TRANSFORMERS ANIMATION MODELS
Cover by Don Figueroa.
Revisit The Transformers, one of the most popular cartoons of the 1980s, in "The Ark." "The Ark" collects over 500 of the animation models from the classic TV show that have been painstakingly restored to their original glory. This volume has them all, from Optimus Prime to Galvatron, and features a brand new Don Figueroa cover. These designs are incredibly rare and are seldom seen outside of Japan. This amazing collection has been painstakingly organized and assembled by Jim Sorenson and William Forster.
208 pages, black and white, $19.99.
THE TRANSFORMERS COVER GALLEY BOOK 2
Art by Mark Bright, Don Figueroa, James Raiz, Nick Roche, E.J. Su and more.
Collected in one volume are the awe-inspiring and out of this world covers to some of IDW's popular Transformers series including The Transformers: Stormbringer, The Transformers: Escalation, and the first series of Transformers Spotlights. Artists include Transformers artist-extraordinaires Don Figueroa, James Raiz, and E.J. Su, as well as fan-favorites Nick Roche and Robby Musso, and more!
32 pages, $3.99.
THE TRANSFORMERS: TARGET 2006 #2
Written by Simon Furman, art by Jeff Anderson and Will Simpsons, cover by Nick Roche.
The landmark Marvel UK series continues as Galvatron continues to scheme with the aid of the Constructions as Ultra Magnus arrives on Earth to search for Optimus Prime. But unfortunately Jazz is captured and at the mercy of Galvatron. Will the Autobots be able to save him in time? Writer Simon Furman and artists Jeff Anderson and Will Simpson continue this epic tale. Nick Roche once again provides an all-new cover!
32 pages, $3.99.
TRANSFORMERS: WAR WITHIN VOL. 2: THE DARK AGES
Written by Simon Furman, art and cover by Don Figueroa.
Everything old is new again! More secrets of Cybertron's dark past are revealed, as this second collection of Transformers: The War Within sheds light on...the Dark Ages! Optimus Prime and Megatron are missing, presumed dead, the civil war for control of Cybertron has degenerated into a dark cauldron of confusion and turmoil, splinter factions clashing in endless border skirmishes. Into this potent powder keg of a divided world comes The Fallen, a Transformer from the planet's prehistory... with dark designs of his own! IDW is proud to present an all-new collection of this long-out-of-print tale from the Transformers' past.
168 pages, $19.99."
Date: Sunday, January 28th 2007 2:44pm EST
Categories: Comic Book News,
Site Articles,
Site News
Posted by: Hotrod |
Credit(s): Darth Bombshell
Discuss This Topic · Permanent Link
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This week Darth Bombshell has decided share another of his articles with us. Last week Darth Bombshell shared his thoughts on Dreamwave's Generation One More Than Meets The Eye Profile Series. In this weeks article Darth Bombshell shares his thoughts on Dreamwave's Armada More Than Meets The Eye Profile Series. If you missed last week's article check out
Seibertron.com's Article Section. Without further delay here it is the latest article by Darth Bombshell:
Armada MTMTE Overview
Throughout 2003, Dreamwave released the eight issue “More Than Meets The Eye” series. Despite the numerous problems that the series had, it was well received. It was perhaps this response that encouraged the staff at Dreamwave to create a sequel of sorts by writing a series based on the other Transformer franchise that the company was writing at the time: Transformers Armada.
Because of the vastly different scope of the series, changes had to be made in the way it was presented. Instead of eight issues, Armada MTMTE would instead be done in three, no doubt due to the fact that Armada has less than a third of the characters that the Generation One series had to cover. Instead of drawing on previous writings, the biographies and tech spec quotes for most of the characters had to be invented by the writers, since only a select few had officially written bios. And since this series was drawing on both a completed comic and cartoon series, the creators had to attempt to cover elements of both series, while maintaining the fact that they have to try to arrange it all in the comic universe.
All of these changes were perhaps made to make the series more understandable, since the information presented would be fresh in the fans’ minds. Unfortunately, this probably lead to it being as convoluted and confusing as its predecessor.
The first and most obvious problem that the series has was the previously stated attempt by the writers to somehow manage to take elements from both the comic and cartoon and find a way to make them both work. Three bios in this series show how disastrous that attempts was: Galvatron, Nemesis Prime and Sideways. Galvatron, with the exception of the toy comics, was never a part of the regular comic to begin with, was somehow given a life as part of the regular comics, although the conditions and time that this occurred are purposely left vague, no doubt meant to cover up the fact that they have no actual way to describe it. The biography for Galvatron, narrated by Leader-1, gives a very interesting insight to the character. It is just a shame that it is not really part of the comic universe.
Like Galvatron, Nemesis Prime also falls into the category as a toy character needing to have an comics origin. Unlike Galvatron, who was given a believable, yet implausible, comics life, the writers of the comic saw fit to merely rehash the plot of the Armada episode “Puppet”, trying to incorporate the events that occurred in the episode to the comic timeline. This doesn’t work for two reasons: there was no way that this event could have occurred in the comic, and they made the mistake of incorporating Run-Over, the Mini-Con partner who came with the Nemesis Prime toy that never appeared in the episode in question, into the character’s history. By all rights, Nemesis Prime should not be in the comic at all. Much like Galvatron, the only reason for his inclusion in this series was because he was a toy character who needed to be explained.
Sideways, however, falls into a different path. Unlike Galvatron and Nemesis Prime, Sideways actually was in the comic. Yes, it was in two very brief appearances, but he was there. I expected that his biography would state that he was a mercenary playing both sides of the Transformer war. And I was right. That is how he was presented However, they made the big mistake of including elements of the cartoon into his bio, and said that he was a servant of Unicron. This makes no sense as far as the comic goes, since his first appearance was a good four issues before Unicron’s presence was ever confirmed, and his second was during Unicron’s ill-fated attack on Cybertron cowering with a bunch of Decepticons. This especially makes no sense, because if he was truly Unicron’s herald, would he not be rampaging around causing chaos?
The writing, as previously stated, had to draw heavily on the imaginations of the writers of the series since, with a few exceptions, there were few “official” biographies made for the Armada characters during its run. This lead to a great many of the characters having fairly unsuited character biographies and tech spec quotes that sound incredibly horrendous. I do believe that a great many of these will be making an appearance on the Trannies “Worst Tech Spec Quotes” ballot next year.
The artwork in the series, like in the Generation One MTMTE, is another round of “one good for every five bad” deal. Ironically, much of the good art in this series has made appearances on the toy boxes or promotional art made during the run of the toyline, also drawn by the various artists in this series. A good deal of this art takes up much of the space in the books, making me wonder why the artists were lazy enough to include this art. Couldn’t they do new artwork for this series? Isn’t it what it was meant to do?
Another problem this series has in its artwork is the fact that the Mini-Con teams that were repainted during the toyline each had two pages of artwork devoted to them, one for the color in which they were first released and their “powerlinx” recolors. I found this to be an incredible waste of page space, with the only acceptable color changes coming from the Road Assault (Race) Team and the Star (Dark) Saber sword, since the bios for these weapons state that the characters would change color depending on how long they were held by an enemy.
Finally, much like the Generation One MTMTE, the Armada MTMTE had a prologue and epilogue story designed to explain they reason why this information is being presented. Unlike the story in G1 MTMTE, the Armada one is meant to be part of the actual timeline. The prologue explains that a machine by someone that Alexis has possession of and is using to be prepared for the return of the Transformers. The epilogue explains that the device was left by Over-Run, who wants to prepare Alexis for the return of the Transformers. This would appear to make Alexis the focus of the Energon story, a fact we know to be false, as it is Kicker whose fate is ultimately linked to the Energon story…at least in the cartoon, anyway.
The Armada MTMTE was written shortly after the end of the series, with Energon firmly in the minds of the people behind the Transformers. This fact, combined with the haphazard way that the series was written and the apparent poor production values, have lead many to look down upon this series. It could have been better, though, had it been written later. But as it is, it exists merely as a way for Dreamwave to earn an dollar by any means.
After all, it’s what they’re known for.
Date: Saturday, January 20th 2007 7:05pm EST
Category: Site Articles
Posted by: Hotrod |
Credit(s): Darth Bombshell
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Our latest installment in the
Seibertron.com Articles Section comes from staff member Darth Bombshell. Darth Bombshell wrote this article awhile back, but has decided to share it with the rest of the
Seibertron.com community. In this article Darth Bombshell shares his thoughts on Dreamwave's Generation One More Than Meets The Eye Profile Series. Without further delay here is the article:
Darth Bombshell's Thoughts on Dreamwave's Generation One More Than Meets The Eye Profile Series
In late 2002, Dreamwave announced plans for their most ambitious project yet: a series of profile book on the original Transformers that would appeal to both the current and older fans of the Generation One characters. The plan was not met with the best reviews, but I was cautiously intrigued. I felt that the series had the potential to be the most informative and enjoyable series that they had produced up until that time.
And then the problems began.
The first of these problems occurred when the first volume of their planned four issue series, set for a planned release on December 2002, was not released. Fans had thought that the project, due to the immense undertaking that it would take to produce, had fallen apart. The official word was that, in order to incorporate fan demand, the format had to be changed from a four issues bi monthly series to an eight issue monthly series. I don´t think that many fans bought this excuse. In fact, I am almost definitely sure that many fans thought that it was an excuse to explain the fact that they could not get the books out on time, a theory not at all helped by the fact that Dreamwave was, at the time, developing a history of not releasing their books on time. The last two issues of the first Generation One miniseries had arrived unacceptably late, an act most fans thought was an attempt to squeeze a second miniseries out of the various plot points left dangling at the first miniseries conclusion. This would become ironic in that none of these plots are expanded upon at all. In fact, it seemed that Brad Mick, the writer of the second miniseries, was going out of his way to ignore most of the events that had occurred in the first miniseries. In any event, most saw the restructuring of the whole project as little more than an excuse to try to attempt to construct an overall continuity to their Generation One projects.
This would inevitably lead to what would end up becoming the most well known problem that the series would be blamed for. It was decided somewhere during the series run that the final issue would include what would ultimately become something of a “bible’ for their various Generation One series. Many of the plot points described in this issue (the origin of the Triple Changers, Cybertron´s history, explanation of the various ‘Master technologies, etc.) would become the hard and fast rules for their Generation One storyline, in the War Within series, the two mini-series and the upcoming ongoing series. Unfortunately, continuity problems arose almost immediately, the most famous of which was the fact that Shockwave developed the Triple Changer technology shortly after coming back online following the events of the Great Shutdown, a plot point which would be contradicted by the first War Within series, which would show Blitzwing as part of Shcokwave´s attacking force transforming between his various three modes, supposedly before he gained the ability to do that. This would become even more convoluted by the events of War Within: The Dark Ages, which state that Shockwave was using Blitzwing as a test subject for various technologies. Granted, the former was released before a set continuity was established, but the fact that the latter attempts, and fails, to try to bring together all these seemingly confusing elements together show how restrictive setting down a straight path that all future projects must follow unerringly can get.
The quality of the writing would suffer, as well. This series was designed to give each and every Transformer character that was released in North America as a toy between 1984 and 1990 a profile. In order to do this, Adam Patyk and Brad Mick, writers of the series, had to draw from two different sources: the tech specs for these characters and the established bios written for the characters from Marvel´s “Transformers Universe’ series written almost twenty years ago. This would ultimately lead to the series having two different types of profiles: profiles that were nearly carbon copies of the original slightly rewritten to make them look different (for those characters who had previously written bios) and bios written using elements from the tech specs (for toy only characters) and bios written completely from scratch. (particularly the Micromasters)
But all of these problems seem very moot when one realized the main reason that the series was being produced: to showcase new and exciting art of the Generation One characters. All the art in the series was drawn either by Dreamwave talent (such as Pat Lee, Don Figueroa and Guido Guidi) or freelance talent hired on for the project. (such as Matt "Jackpot" Kuphaldt and Joe Ng, later to do work for Transformers Energon and the upcoming War Within: Age Of Wrath miniseries). The art, like much of the elements of the project, is a mismatch of good and bad, the most horrendous of which, unsurprisingly, comes from Pat Lee. One need look no further than his drawing of Starscream in the sixth issue to realize this fact.
The final problem that the series faced occurred, ironically, on the first page of the first issue. The whole series was based upon the fact that some unknown force was accessing this information from the Vector Sigma computer. Fan speculation ran unabated throughout the entire series run as to who this person was. The final issue revealed to us who this person was: Beast Wars Megatron. When people realized this fact, many mistakenly assumed that it would be a prelude to a Beast Wars miniseries. Although not likely at first, it was probably apparent that it was planned, the fact that a potential Beast Wars miniseries may occur (should enough fans vote for it on the upcoming Summer Special poll) confirming this fact.
In the end, despite the many problems that the series faced, it was considered one of the more popular projects undertaken by Dreamwave, and would be of use as both a encyclopedia for fans and guideline for fans. It´s popularity would lead to the creation of a “sequel’ series for Dreamwave´s other Transformers project: Transformers Armada.
It too would not be welcomed so easily, but unlike its predecessor, would not prove to be as popular.
Date: Friday, January 19th 2007 5:35pm EST
Categories: Event News,
Toy News
Posted by: Fender Bender |
Credit(s): Pete@Botcon of TFClub.com
Permanent Link
| Views: 11,560
Pete@Botcon recently announced a winner of the guess the next club figure's name, but he also posted a little tidbit here that some of you may find interesting:
| Pete@Botcon : |
Victorysabre,
No, Skyfall, Landquake and Breakaway are not even a part of the Timeline's series. Unlike Universe, Timelines is purely a forum in which stories can be told from the different TF continuities. Timelines so far has 3 installments:
Descent into Evil - Gen 1 story
Dawn of Future's Past - BW story
The Dark Heart of Sandokan - Cybertron story (debuts very soon)
As more stories are told it will be even more clear the concept behind Timelines. However, we put out our own on-going regular fiction as well. The first 2 years of the club comic took place in the Dreamwave Post-Energon continuity and this years story takes place in the Post Marvel issue 80 continuity now known as "Classics." While they are an on-going story, connected by the club characters, each is its own series as well. |
So with that in mind, let the speculation commense and we'll keep you updated with the most up-to-date information we can find regarding Botcon '07.
Date: Saturday, January 13th 2007 6:04am EST
Category: Rumors
Posted by: Air Commander Starscream |
Credit(s): Super Megatron of TFW2005.com, Professor Smooth
Permanent Link
| Views: 13,368
A image has appeared on the
Japanese Transformers Image board of what appears to be a mock up of the upcoming Revoltech Convoy's packaging. It is worth pointing out that on the packaging the name of the figure is "Cybertron Commander Convoy", and one other point of interest is that the figure inside the packaging is the Mega SCF Convoy. You can view the image of Revoltech Cybertron Commander Convoy
here. You can also view the original post
here.
There is also a comparison picture of Revoltech Convoy and Mega SCF Convoy which can be seen
here.
EDIT: It appears that there is a problem with the original post link. Instead of clicking that link above just copy and paste the fallowing link and it should work with no problem.
http://transformers.hp.infoseek.co.jp/cgi-bin/imgboard.cgi
Date: Sunday, December 31st 2006 2:52pm EST
Category: Toy News
Posted by: Hotrod |
Credit(s): DESTRO of TFW2005
Permanent Link
| Views: 59,979
DESTRO of
TFW2005 has posted some new information about upcoming Transformers toys. He has posted several new bios for some upcoming toys. Here they are:
TRANSFORMERS The War Within - TITANIUM SERIES Die-Cast ULTRA MAGNUS Figure
No commander could ask for a finer soldier than ULTRA MAGNUS. He is a total soldier – highly intelligent and deadly dangerous, but with a fervent desire for peace and a willingness to sacrifice himself for the sake of a cause or his fellow AUTOBOTS. The death of Sentinel Prime sent him into a tailspin. Certainly the AUTOBOTS hadn't been winning the war, but the pace of their losses had slowed. The hope of a rally was just over the horizon when MEGATRON pulled the AUTOBOT leader's spark core from his ruined body. To hear that Optronix had been passed the mantle of leadership – made OPTIMUS PRIME - was simply another, greater shock. The archivist? ULTRA MAGNUS is on the other side of CYBERTRON, literally a world away from his new leader. As the DECEPTICONS continue slaughtering their way around the globe, he and his men wait for word from OPTIMUS PRIME, hoping only that the new leader proves equal to the challenge of the diabolical will to conquest of MEGATRON. Detailed die-cast metal ULTRA MAGNUS figure changes from warrior robot to monster vehicle and back!
TRANSFORMERS The War Within - TITANIUM SERIES Die-Cast SUNSTORM Figure
Deep within the laboratory of the DECEPTICON genius SHOCKWAVE, SUNSTORM languishes in a sealed cryogenic regeneration chamber. His body covered in rare electrum to protect him from the furious energies boiling from his internal fusion reactors and his mind held in stasis lock, he is fierce potentiality held barely in check. Though SUNSTORM is a clone of the famous air warrior STARSCREAM, SHOCKWAVE has made a number of modifications to his systems. His weapon systems have been upgraded to take advantage of the huge amount of energy produced by the twin tokamak reactors spinning in his torso, each arm cannon delivering the force of a small nuke with a single shot. His mind has been simplified, streamlined, and stripped of the extraneous ego and ambition that so cripples STARSCREAM. He is a pure creature, built the way all TRANSFORMERS would have been had SHOCKWAVE been their designer. He waits, silent and still, for the stimulus that will drive him into action. Detailed die-cast metal SUNSTORM figure changes from warrior robot to monster vehicle and back!
Ultra Magnus G1 6 inch Diecast
No AUTOBOT is more pure a soldier than ULTRA MAGNUS. He is a supreme battlefield commander who combines an encyclopedic knowledge of pure tactics with a talent for improvisation that allows him instant and total control over almost any combat situation. When other AUTOBOTS look at the tide of battle and see a lost cause, he displays a sixth sense for knowing what chances to take and when to pull victory from the certain jaws of defeat. Only rarely do his guesses prove wrong. He is a brave, capable warrior with no interests outside of his command, and no will or desire except victory for the AUTOBOTS. Detailed die-cast metal ULTRA MAGNUS figure changes from warrior robot to monster vehicle and back! Figure comes with display stand.
Megatron WarWithin 6 inch Diecast
For years he waited. For years he planned. For years he sat in the shadows of the arena in Kaon watching as TRANSFORMERS fought and died. As the taste for destruction grew within those who fought, he sowed the seeds of his own rise to power, and the subjugation of CYBERTRON. Those who proved themselves worthy through a talent for viciousness or simple, raw power, he recruited. No more would they call themselves TRANSFORMERS. Now they are DECEPTICONS. When the time came, his DECEPTICONS rose up all over the planet. In that first lightning strike, thousands ceased functioning. So far, all of his planning has gone perfectly. Before his assaults, the AUTOBOTS are helpless, capable of fighting only long enough to barely manage a retreat to the next fallback position. All the while, his plan progresses. The AUTOBOTS will be destroyed utterly, MEGATRON thinks, the universe subjugated beneath my immortal heel, and the history of my conquest read by the flickering flames of a thousand burning civilizations. Detailed die-cast metal MEGATRON figure changes from warrior robot to monster vehicle and back! Figure comes with a shield and a display stand.
RamJet Classics
The DECEPTICONS are known for fielding their craziest warriors in the skies, but RAMJET really outclasses them all. He's a born flier who loves nothing more than crashing. Sure, he's got a whole rack of concussion missiles and argon lasers strong enough to vaporize a DINOBOT, but he'd rather skip all that nonsense and just smash head first into his targets – and anything else that gets in his way. He's just as likely to smash his allies out of the way as he is to destroy any AUTOBOTS in his path, but watching him plow through a battlefield is so fun that MEGATRON keeps him around anyway. Awesome robot-to-jet figure features twin laser cannons with firing projectiles and flip-down landing gear in jet mode! Add this DECEPTICON warrior to your collection!
CliffJumper classics
Don't be fooled by his small size: CLIFFJUMPER is as tough as they come. Always spoiling for a fight, just hearing the word DECEPTICON is enough to get him riled up. He carries a unique gas-pistol that fires a cloud of nano-robots capable of making DECEPTICON armor as brittle as glass, but he'd almost always rather just toss his weapons aside and start swinging. More than one DECEPTICON warrior has ended up with a busted grill from underestimating CLIFFJUMPER. He may not be very strong, but no one is more determined. Awesome robot-to-cruiser vehicle figure features a Wave Crusher watercraft and trailer that convert to a jet pack in robot mode!
Cliffjumper 3 inch
Twenty-five tons of courage in a one-ton package – that's CLIFFJUMPER. He's the short guy who's so ready for a fight that even inanimate objects shaped like DECEPTICONS get him fired up enough to start kicking tailpipe. To him, "negotiation" is just another word for "loser," and "retreat" is something the other guy does. No one has any idea what CLIFFJUMPER is going to do with himself once the war is over and there aren't any more DECEPTICONS to blast. Poseable, die-cast metal figure is an awesome addition to your collection. Figure comes with a display stand.
Alternators SUNSTREAKER 3 inch
There are plenty of mavericks and weirdoes in the AUTOBOT ranks, but most of them are down and dirty warriors fighting for freedom against the DECEPTICONS. SUNSTREAKER is in a totally different class, and he makes no secret of the fact that he knows it. In fact, he thinks he's the hottest thing on wheels. When it comes to a fight, winning is only the second or third thing on his list, after protecting his artillery-resistant hide from scuffs and scratches, and making sure reflected laser light glints just so off his paint job.
RID Optimus Prime 6 inch diecast
Chosen by the Matrix to lead the AUTOBOTS on their mission to Earth, OPTIMUS PRIME is the very embodiment of all that every AUTOBOT strives to be. He is the soul of honor and compassion, dedicated to the preservation of life and freedom for all creatures. His affection for those he protects is matched only by his ferocity in battle. He has faced them many times, and knows that there can be no surrender and no compromise with the treacherous PREDACONS. In addition to being an ideal leader, he is a war machine of incredible power. Nearly unbeatable in single combat, his enemies have resorted to an endless string of dirty tricks to lay him low, only to see him rebound every time, stronger than ever before. His strength and confidence, however, hide a deeply reflective spirit. During solitary moments, he has been known to doubt his skill as a leader, for his deep compassion has – at times – clouded his judgment. Thankfully, his brilliant mind and the dedication of his compatriots have always managed to snatch victory from the evil claws of the PREDACONS. Detailed die-cast metal OPTIMUS PRIME figure features hidden arm blasters and changes from combat robot to vehicle and back!
Starscream 6 inch diecast
One of the first warriors recruited to the DECEPTICON cause, STARSCREAM is a vicious warrior, and gleeful killer. Most DECEPTICONS keep score of how many AUTOBOTS they take out, but STARSCREAM carves himself little trophies out of their pelvic gimbals. As leader of the elite Seeker squadron assigned by MEGATRON to launch high-speed, surprise assaults on AUTOBOT strongholds, and one of the old guard among the DECEPTICON leadership, he enjoys more freedom of opinion than many other DECEPTICONS. MEGATRON is tolerant of his sarcasm and belligerent ambition only because STARSCREAM is simply too efficient an engine of destruction to do without. It is not only his skill as a fighter that gives his AUTOBOT victims pause. Before the war, he was an explorer and scientist, with many friends among the AUTOBOTS – JETFIRE and GRIMLOCK among them. Even then he was a bully and a manipulator, but few who knew him suspected he could be capable of the atrocities now attributed to him. Detailed die-cast metal STARSCREAM figure features changes from combat robot to vehicle and back! Figure comes with display stand.
Date: Thursday, December 21st 2006 12:29am EST
Categories: Comic Book News,
Press Releases
Permanent Link
| Views: 38,327
IDW Publishing has released a press release regarding the upcoming four part comic prequel to the upcoming live action movie! Due for release in February 07, it will deal with the events leading up to the movie, and will written by Chris Ryall and Simon Furman, with art by Don Figueroa.
TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE PREQUEL
THEIR WAR. THEIR WORLD. OUR COMICS.
TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE PREQUEL Comic Books Kick Off The Blockbuster Event of '07!
San Diego, CA (December 20, 2006)- IDW Publishing's TRANSFORMERS' universe has spanned from modern-day Earth (The Transformers: Infiltration and Escalation) to the far-flung planet of CYBERTRON (The Transformers: Stormbringer) and many light-years of time and space in-between. Now get ready for an all-new TRANSFORMERS story that breaks new ground, setting the stage for the highly anticipated summer '07 blockbuster TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE. And while the movie might not explode onto theater screens until July, IDW Publishing offers your first glimpse of the live-action motion picture ROBOTS IN DISGUISE in the TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE PREQUEL beginning in February 2007.
In the four-part TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE PREQUEL, co-writers Chris Ryall (Zombies Vs. Robots) and Simon Furman (The Transformers: Escalation) team up with celebrated TRANSFORMERS artist Don Figueroa (The Transformers: Stormbringer) to deliver a special tale that spans centuries, travelingg from CYBERTRON to Earth. This special four-part series reveals the events that lead up to next Summer's blockbuster movie, directed by Michael Bay and Executive-Produced by Steven Spielberg.
"This is no peripheral movie tie-in," said co-writer Chris Ryall (who also spends his days as IDW's Publisher and Editor-in-Chief. "Rather, it's a fully realized, generations-spanning tale that also sets up and explains much of the backstory in the coming movie. With Paramount and Hasbro's assistance, we're able to show you the characters and explain some situations that are integral parts of the movie. It should also assuage any early fan trepidation and show that this prequel and the movie together are going to comprise quite an epic TRASNFORMERS story."
TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE PREQUEL is an all-new, four-part series that hits shelves in February 2007 with a 32-page full-color comic book.
ABOUT IDW PUBLISHING
IDW PUBLISHING is a division of Idea and Design Works, LLC, a revolutionary creative service company with a wide range of clients. Among their best-selling titles are Hasbro's THE TRANSFORMERS; Fox's ANGEL, Konami's METAL GEAR SOLID, and FALLEN ANGEL. IDW's 30 DAYS OF NIGHT film is in development and will be released by Sony Pictures in October 2007. IDW has films in development at Dimension Films and Paramount Pictures, as well.
ABOUT THE HASBRO PROPERTIES GROUP
The Hasbro Properties Group (HPG), the intellectual property development arm of Hasbro, Inc., (NYSE:HAS), translates one of the industry's richest portfolios of brands into a world of fun and excitement for children and adults globally. Through a host of publishing, digital media, lifestyle and entertainment platforms, HPG is able to surround fans worldwide with consumer products that expand Hasbro’s core brands, such as TRANSFORMERS, LITTLEST PET SHOP, MY LITTLE PONY, MONOPOLY, G.I. JOE, TONKA and PLAYSKOOL.
TRANSFORMERS is under license from Hasbro Properties Group, the intellectual property development arm of Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS).
View the announcement
here!
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