The Energon Pub

Hi I wanted to make a few comments about the upcomming Transformers movie. I watched the trailer a few weeks ago and have been looking forward to both the movie and the game (the game more so then the movie) so today I went all over the web trying to get some more info about it and eventually I ended up here. "hello" everyone.

Anyway I felt compelled to put my thoughts down about how I feel about the movie because I have mixed feelings although I am niether a die hard fanboy or a hater. I'm just someone who is now in his early 30s and who grew up with the Transformers and who will in 20 days go check out this movie.

I have always had a special place in my heart for the Transformers. This is what I grew up with. I had this special bond with the show because of the "personalities" that I came to love when I watched it.

I have also been a fan of Bay's films. I liked the Rock when I saw it (even though now I think its kind of cheesy). I liked Armageddon, and I really liked the Island (except the parts were the main characters were falling down the side of the building which was completely unrealistic).

Anyway when I first heard about a transformers movie and about Bay directing I was excited. I felt that this would be a very cool pairing. They I heard about him not being interested and about some changes...after seeing the "new" robot designs I was crushed because they in no way resembled the transformers that I grew up with and remembered. I used to watch the G1 show religiously when I was a kid and even up to highschool. Transformers the movie is still one of my all time favorite memories. When I heard that Frank Welker would not be doing Megetron I was sad (I don't like Hugo Weaving because everytime I hear him now all I can think of is Agent Smith, and after Lord of the rings, and V he is imho too recognizable).

When I heard that this was a movie like "ET" about a "boy and his car" I was worried. I thought this was supposed to be about the "transformers"? I understand the need to make the people the main characters but I think the filmmakers got it wrong as far as the source material goes.

I think that a big part of the original show was the conflict between Prime and Megetron, and the relationship between Starscream, and Megetron, and the relationship between the autobots and Prime, and then in an overall sense the repationships between the autobots and the decepticons not between the humans and the transformers. Its their war, a war over energy and supreme dominance ofthe galaxy and/or cyberton. They just brought it over to earth and some people got mixed up in it.

I think this will be a fine film from an action movie standpoint but I have a feeling that this is a "new" transformers franchise completely seperate from what I remember and really "want" and "had hoped" to see.

Don't get me wrong as I said above I think this will be a very good action movie and many people will see it, but I am saddned that the iconic image I have about the Transformers canon is gone. I don't like the insect loking designs. I am not a fan with the choices of what everyone transforms into except for the helicopter. (GM cars??? gawd). Especially I am not a fan of Megetron (I mean at all). I don't know what they were thinking. I also can't get over the fact that Prime does not look like Prime.

Its like they took the source material and put it through the washing machine. I don't get that. I always thought that if you have a successfull and long established universe and source material you "respect" it an stick to it and you do not gut it. Megatron should have had a helmet head and looked more like the Megetron of old at least the chest and face. He should transform into a gun, if not a gun then into a turret, if not a turret then into a tank with a turret or some sort of military or private sector weapon, not a jet. If they did not want him to transform and be a gun and be used by someone else they should have made him into some sort of floating cybertronian gun, plain and simple.

Prime should have been the old school design or at least had no flames. Bumblebee should have been a VW bug, or VW new bug, or a civic, or some sort of hatchback Mini not a camaro a frikkin muscle car. My list of gripes goes on and on....

When you watched the show the characters personalities were the things that stood out the most. The personalities came out of what they transformed into and how they behaved. Since they were not human you could not get human traits out of them so the "traits" of the transformers, their "characters" became the cars they transformed into. Rachet's symbol for his personality was the fact that he was an ambulance. Megatron was a gun becasue he was a weapon of destruction. Ironhide was a red security truck if I recall, etc etc.

There was purpose to the robots and what they were. In the movie I don't see the purpose besides a advertising deal with GM. (I hate spielsberg for this very reason. If you ever watched Jurasic Park 2 the entire movie was an a TV spot for Nikon, Mercedes, 76, and a bunch of other things).


I am a little sad because I think those "old School" personalities are dead and they will be replaced by the new 2007 modern versions that do not reflect the true spirit and character of the original transformers characters. They will be euqally good or might even be better translated to the silver screen but the characters I grew up with are dead and gone. I think that is a big shame as they were some of the most colorful and interesting characters I remember.

Starscream's square head, his smirk and his lasers on his arms was what made him. I loved seeing him Shoot Megatron with them and then get his butt kicked. He was one of the most ambitious, rash, and doublecrossing underlings I ever remember. Completely going off his emotions.

Frank's voice and Megatron's still gun looking transformed robot body with that giant bazooka made Megatron. part of what made him so ruthless was how much he shot his own people as much as the autobots. In the new movie his head looks like that of a wasp and I don't even know how to describe the body. WTF is that?

Prime's leadership was as much exibited by his boxy wide form as it was by his voice. It was his simple yet noble design that drew me in.

Bumblebee's personality was the bug form and the voice.

What happened?!??!?!?!...I don't understand how you can not "get" the source material.

Overall its interesting that form talking to people those that I know who are like me who watched the show and remember the show are somewhat dissapointed. Those who are younger or never watched the show don't care because they just think the robots look way cool.

I wish they respected the source material more for what its worth. My feeling is that this is a new take on the franchise and that the best way to enjoy it is to look at it from that point of view.

I am definitely going to see it as I think it will be a good film and I like Bay as a director, but I will be going into this movie knowing that The old school Transformers I know are gone and this is a "reboot" much like what they did with batman begins (except they got it right and did not put him in a pink bunny suit or made a hummer into the bat mobile) and the upcomming hulk film.

anyway I hope that this movie regardless of the changes will be good and at least incorporate the basic relationships of starscream and Megatron and Megatron and Prime. I really hope I get pleseantly suprised when I see it. After the disaster (and silliness) that was Spiderman 3, and the confusing pointells sailing of Pirates 3 I hope this does not turn sour.

Sorry its so long....but I had to get it out...if you got this far..thank you.

Interesting read and good to hear about you "regular" guys opinions. I'm really interested if this opinion will be shared by more people once they've seen the movie

You know, that was a good read. Even though I don't feel the same way you do.

What might help answer some questions for you is that when it comes to Transformers canon, there really isn't one.

I'm going to assume that you grew up with TF's but eventually grew out of them. So there's a few years of TF history you're missing.

Generation 1 (the era which you grew up with) has had numerous takes on canon. The original cartoon, the old Marvel comics, and most recently Dreamwave's short lived comics and currently IDW Publishing's take on G1. While all pretty much have the core stuff, they're also all a little bit different.

And then there's the subsequent series. Beast Wars and Beast Machines for example are set after the end of the G1 series. Rather than transforming into vehicles, the characters turned into animals (BW) and later some went back to their vehicle forms (BM).

Following that was the short lived "Robots in Disguise" which had it's own canon entirely.

After that came the Armada/Energon/Cybertron era which was meant to be all interconnected (though Cybertron was a stand alone in Japan, when it was ported to the western market they tried to force it to tie into the previous Armada and Energon series, didn't work too well) also had it's own canon.

Then along comes this movie. Don't think of it as G1, think of it as a re-telling of Generation 1. In some cases what could be done 20 years ago couldn't be done today. Bumblebee for example couldn't be a VW because of licensing reasons. Which would also explain why he's a Camaro.

I think if you just sit back and try to not compare it too much to what you grew up with you'll enjoy the movie a lot more. There's going to be similarities and nods to what came before, but try not to dwell on it. This is just a new take on Transformers. Something that seems to happen on a regular basis with this franchise.

You know I struggled with this awhile back, when i first got back into the genre...But as someone who is also 30, grew up with G-1 and boycotted everything else..until recently...there is so much more out there then just G-1 and what broadens your horizons and makes the movie alot better is exploring those worlds.. like Beast Wars, it ties itself to G-1 in many ways.. look it up on youtube, you won't be disappointed..

not to mention, when you think about the movie designs in terms of realism and believability, Megatron needed to something that would exist on Cybertron, since story wise, he hasn't had time to get an Alt mode..and the reason he looks funky, is because on Cybertron, technology is so advanced that the bots seem to look organic..so Megatron looks organic, like a walking corps in bot form.. but he's in effect naked, and so he can be, on cybertron its all machines, there's no need to wear clothes, or earth alt modes.

The Camaro, well if you were a teen, what car would be cool to you?? Bumblebee needed a new alt mode, he's fast and sleek, and yellow, and helps Spike alot...In the 80s a bug was cool..but in the year 2007, a Camaro, and a 2008 Camaro are really cool...

Optimus Prime is Peter Cullen an looks great, even with flames, hey its like if you were a bot from cybertron and you saw a shinny chrome, blue,red, and flames deco-ed and kick ass semi truck you could scan, what would you do??

overall I like the new concepts, they grow on you, and you have to see them from a different point of view.."mass shifting" (turning from small hand gun to giant robot) would be too unbelievable, the extreme amounts of kibble are more to what a real transformer wuld have to do, to remain hidden and not look like an alternators toy, or a toy period..

So overall, I think you understand, what all or most of us have come to realize, that it will not be our G-1..but its heavily based on our G-1, and is new and is realistic..as much as you can get for giant alien robot transformers that is...But the movie will rock!!! I AM OKAY WITH IT..

skywarp-2 wrote:You know I struggled with this awhile back, when i first got back into the genre...But as someone who is also 30, grew up with G-1 and boycotted everything else..until recently...there is so much more out there then just G-1 and what broadens your horizons and makes the movie alot better is exploring those worlds.. like Beast Wars, it ties itself to G-1 in many ways.. look it up on youtube, you won't be disappointed..

not to mention, when you think about the movie designs in terms of realism and believability, Megatron needed to something that would exist on Cybertron, since story wise, he hasn't had time to get an Alt mode..and the reason he looks funky, is because on Cybertron, technology is so advanced that the bots seem to look organic..so Megatron looks organic, like a walking corps in bot form.. but he's in effect naked, and so he can be, on cybertron its all machines, there's no need to wear clothes, or earth alt modes.

The Camaro, well if you were a teen, what car would be cool to you?? Bumblebee needed a new alt mode, he's fast and sleek, and yellow, and helps Spike alot...In the 80s a bug was cool..but in the year 2007, a Camaro, and a 2008 Camaro are really cool...

Optimus Prime is Peter Cullen an looks great, even with flames, hey its like if you were a bot from cybertron and you saw a shinny chrome, blue,red, and flames deco-ed and kick ass semi truck you could scan, what would you do??

overall I like the new concepts, they grow on you, and you have to see them from a different point of view.."mass shifting" (turning from small hand gun to giant robot) would be too unbelievable, the extreme amounts of kibble are more to what a real transformer wuld have to do, to remain hidden and not look like an alternators toy, or a toy period..

So overall, I think you understand, what all or most of us have come to realize, that it will not be our G-1..but its heavily based on our G-1, and is new and is realistic..as much as you can get for giant alien robot transformers that is...But the movie will rock!!! I AM OKAY WITH IT..

This is my first post, and I agree 100% with everything you said here. Especially the part about how Megatron looks in the new movie. I was maybe one of the biggest TF fans back during the Gen 1 era, yet I have NO problem with the way the movie versions look. If I could have ever imagined what a real life TF would like, these are them!

I agree with Burn and skywarp-2. I guess it's safe to say that I'm a TF fanboy, but I also keep an open mind. The first time I saw the concept art for the TF's, I thought to myself, "WHAT DID THEY DO TO THEM!?" The next day I got over it. I figured it was more of a rebooting of the franchise than a straight translation of the G1 source material.

I guess I'm one of the very few people that actually like Megatron's look, but a part of me also feels that they shouldn't have strayed TOO much from said material. At least make all the robots' faces resemble their G1 counterparts, kind of like Optimus Prime and Jazz.

I can also understand that Megatron and Starscream's trademark arm cannons from the cartoon lost their uniqueness when they got rid of them for the new movie, but every other character has an arm that transforms into a gun or already has a gun attached to them, etc. I guess this was for the purpose of realism. If they had a pistol, where would the robots hide them in their alt mode? They wouldn't just leave it on top of their alternate forms like they do in the comics. It defeats the purpose of them being "robots in disguise". Unless they're Targetmasters, but that would be a whole different argument.

I also see the reason for the TF's looking like they do for the new movie. I mean, come on. They're supposed to be realistic-looking alien robots. I'm afraid to imagine a live-action TF movie with the robots looking like the G1 toys. Even if they do try to make them look like the ones from the Classics toyline, I believe they would look too fake. They would seem too bulky to move around. It would look like they'd lack a lot of the flexibility and dexterity that would make them formidable in hand-to-hand combat.

Also, if they were to make the whole movie that concentrated more on the robots and less on the human elements, I don't see how it would work. It definitely works on a cartoon, no doubt, but a live-action movie that the setting takes place on our planet? You can't really have that unless humans are involved. Unless some creative genius manages to write a story that nobody's ever even thought about and manages to pull that off...

Last, but not least. A story about "a boy and his car"? Come on, folks. When I found out that Spielberg was producing the movie, I saw this coming from a mile away. You HAD to know that this movie wasn't gonna focus mainly on the robots.

My two cents. Thank you.

skywarp-2 wrote:so Megatron looks organic, like a walking corps in bot form.. but he's in effect naked, and so he can be, on cybertron its all machines, there's no need to wear clothes, or earth alt modes.

The Camaro, well if you were a teen, what car would be cool to you?? Bumblebee needed a new alt mode, he's fast and sleek, and yellow, and helps Spike alot...In the 80s a bug was cool..but in the year 2007, a Camaro, and a 2008 Camaro are really cool...

Optimus Prime is Peter Cullen an looks great, even with flames, hey its like if you were a bot from cybertron and you saw a shinny chrome, blue,red, and flames deco-ed and kick ass semi truck you could scan, what would you do??

First, I realize that the robots are going to look somewhat different. But let's face it....Megatron just looks stupid. What made Megtron was not only his menacing personality, but the gun on the arm. It was the fact he could take somebody out at any moment with that thing. Instead we've got something that looks like it's from the movie "Aliens" and changes into a jet. Megatron should have been a tank (I understand the size changing problems of a gun). I have no problem with the new voice.

You have missed Bumblebees personality. He was never "cool". Even in the 80's a Volkswagon Bug was not "cool". It was the poor man's car. Bumblebee was always a bit clumsy and basically the equivilent to what R2-D2 was to Luke Skywalker in Starwars. Had they wanted Bumblebee to be cool in the original series he would have been a camaro or porsche back then. Jazz, Sideswipe, and Sunstreak were the cool ones.

I will say that Optimus Prime looks pretty good. The flames were only added because Michael Bay "wanted flames". Definitely would have looked more respectable as a leader without the flames. Just my opinion.

Regardless, I'm looking forward to the movie. I'm just going in knowing that basically only Optimus will be similar to what he used to be. Michael Bay was a mistake for this film.

I agree with diglyd 100%! Okay, let's change all the characters around... Yeah... Let's make Bumblebee a Camaro... Let's make Frenzy a boombox... Let's make Megatron a... Let's include some combiner Trasformers (Constructions/Combaticons), and isolate them from the REST OF THEIR TEAM! Let's completely RUIN G1!!!!! That's how I feel.

I'll still go see the movie, but I will come home and watch the REAL TRANSFORMERS MOVIE right after that. You know, the one with all the REAL characters?

Okay, sorry about the rant. G1 Transformers forever! Hopefully this movie WON'T INCLUDE A LOVE STORY.

WIIM wrote:Okay, sorry about the rant. G1 Transformers forever! Hopefully this movie WON'T INCLUDE A LOVE STORY.

hmm, obivously you haven't seen the trailer? i don't think shia and megan fox were hired for a game of spin the bottle.
now the real question, are bumblebee seat's vinyl?

rowdyroost wrote:First, I realize that the robots are going to look somewhat different. But let's face it....Megatron just looks stupid. What made Megtron was not only his menacing personality, but the gun on the arm. It was the fact he could take somebody out at any moment with that thing. Instead we've got something that looks like it's from the movie "Aliens" and changes into a jet. Megatron should have been a tank (I understand the size changing problems of a gun). I have no problem with the new voice.

You have missed Bumblebees personality. He was never "cool". Even in the 80's a Volkswagon Bug was not "cool". It was the poor man's car. Bumblebee was always a bit clumsy and basically the equivilent to what R2-D2 was to Luke Skywalker in Starwars. Had they wanted Bumblebee to be cool in the original series he would have been a camaro or porsche back then. Jazz, Sideswipe, and Sunstreak were the cool ones.

I will say that Optimus Prime looks pretty good. The flames were only added because Michael Bay "wanted flames". Definitely would have looked more respectable as a leader without the flames. Just my opinion.

Regardless, I'm looking forward to the movie. I'm just going in knowing that basically only Optimus will be similar to what he used to be. Michael Bay was a mistake for this film.

I agree with everything up until the "looking forward to it" part.
I mean, once such basic, obvious elements are stripped (such as the integral characters of the G1 Megs and Starscream)... what would I be looking forward to?
The "funny" humans in it?
The "humans" you see in EVERY movie doing their cookie-cutter love-story thing?
CGI sequences that we've seen 800 times in the trailers, and in sneaker, car and other commercials / movies?

I have literally NO motivation. Other than the Transformers name, what would I be paying money to see?

What, I just am too happy and need a good cry?

WIIM
Post Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 12:14 pm Post subject:
Okay, let's change all the characters around... Yeah... Let's make Bumblebee a Camaro... Let's make Frenzy a boombox... Let's make Megatron a... Thinking Let's include some combiner Trasformers (Constructions/Combaticons), and isolate them from the REST OF THEIR TEAM! Let's completely RUIN G1!!!!! That's how I feel.

You applied logic to a set of factors which brought you to a correct result.

I'll still go see the movie, but I will come home and...

...aaaaaand I take it back.

Okay, sorry about the rant. G1 Transformers forever! Hopefully this movie WON'T INCLUDE A LOVE STORY. Confused

Oh... I'm afraid our love story will be quite operational... when your movie arrives...

Has this "Michael Bay" fella ever seen an episode of THE TRANSFORMERS?

WIIM wrote:Has this "Michael Bay" fella ever seen an episode of THE TRANSFORMERS?

No point in asking him.
Alot of the actor interviews have G1 robots present in the background, with them saying something like, "I usedta watch'em as kids, hurr HURR!"

...even if he hasn't, you can get a guaranteed "yes", I'd imagine.

WIIM wrote:Has this "Michael Bay" fella ever seen an episode of THE TRANSFORMERS?

I'm sure he hasn't. Why would he? He didn't want to make a stupid toy movie, and he hasn't.

Dark Zarak wrote:

WIIM wrote:Has this "Michael Bay" fella ever seen an episode of THE TRANSFORMERS?

I'm sure he hasn't. Why would he? He didn't want to make a stupid toy movie, and he hasn't.

You are officially my best friend right now

rowdyroost wrote:

skywarp-2 wrote:so Megatron looks organic, like a walking corps in bot form.. but he's in effect naked, and so he can be, on cybertron its all machines, there's no need to wear clothes, or earth alt modes.

The Camaro, well if you were a teen, what car would be cool to you?? Bumblebee needed a new alt mode, he's fast and sleek, and yellow, and helps Spike alot...In the 80s a bug was cool..but in the year 2007, a Camaro, and a 2008 Camaro are really cool...

Optimus Prime is Peter Cullen an looks great, even with flames, hey its like if you were a bot from cybertron and you saw a shinny chrome, blue,red, and flames deco-ed and kick ass semi truck you could scan, what would you do??

First, I realize that the robots are going to look somewhat different. But let's face it....Megatron just looks stupid. What made Megtron was not only his menacing personality, but the gun on the arm. It was the fact he could take somebody out at any moment with that thing. Instead we've got something that looks like it's from the movie "Aliens" and changes into a jet. Megatron should have been a tank (I understand the size changing problems of a gun). I have no problem with the new voice.

Ok he's an alien jet from cybertron, and thats how the story is woven, he hasn't had time to scan an earth mode, and BRAWL IS ALREADY A TANK..who needs an arm canon when you got two on each hand that combine!! plus Megatron is freaking huge, and can take out almost anyone!!! Also you have to realize, he's an alien from a machine world, out in space, they are not gonna look like stuff from War Within..besides he has giant claws on his hands and feet.. and the whole high protector megatron makes him seem that more ceremonial in his cybertronian form..

rowdyroost wrote:You have missed Bumblebees personality. He was never "cool". Even in the 80's a Volkswagon Bug was not "cool". It was the poor man's car. Bumblebee was always a bit clumsy and basically the equivilent to what R2-D2 was to Luke Skywalker in Starwars. Had they wanted Bumblebee to be cool in the original series he would have been a camaro or porsche back then. Jazz, Sideswipe, and Sunstreak were the cool ones.

ok back in the 80s a 70s Camaro like the one spike owns, was only a few 5 to 10 years old..so in that time the 70s camaro was like badass still.., yes the super cars were sunstreaker and sideswipe, but a bug was the common car of the day.. the bug was cool, because it was like the equivalent to the jetta today.. many teenage and young men had a bug.. it was cool..

Today times have changed, Muscle cars are not too cool anymore.. they are cumbersome and expensive to maintain, gas prices , you name it.. so its the car of choice for young guys and teens for transportation, and cheap to buy, but still look good in front of the ladies... its no hyped up "need for speed mobile" or " fast and furious" tinker toy.. the adults are more into style and performance, like the infinity, the mazdas, BMW, ect... so it works for the difference in years and tastes of the country..

rowdyroost wrote:I will say that Optimus Prime looks pretty good. The flames were only added because Michael Bay "wanted flames". Definitely would have looked more respectable as a leader without the flames. Just my opinion.

I prefer to accept the Hasbro explanation on the back of the box, which indicates that from Optimus Prime's point of view, it was the coolest thing he has ever seen.. and If I was a robot from outer space and seeing earth modes of machinery for the first time, I would want the flaming chrome semi too as an alt form.. especially if I was the leader and needed to give myself a more appealing look to relate to people.. who knows maybe prime thought this is how we decorated all our vehicles..

rowdyroost wrote:Regardless, I'm looking forward to the movie. I'm just going in knowing that basically only Optimus will be similar to what he used to be. Michael Bay was a mistake for this film.

I strongly disagree with you.. Optimus is good, and yeah jazz is cool, but there are some really awesome traits about this movie that I think were necessary.. now that i have taken a more realistic approach to how they looked at it, It makes sense...

Venomous Prime wrote:

Dark Zarak wrote:

WIIM wrote:Has this "Michael Bay" fella ever seen an episode of THE TRANSFORMERS?

I'm sure he hasn't. Why would he? He didn't want to make a stupid toy movie, and he hasn't.

You are officially my best friend right now

HAHAHAAH thats so true. You have to relize g1 will never come back ever unless you get a time machine and go back or hey mabey just mabey if you run blackwards fast enough it will take you back in time. I love all the movie designs and I hope this will be transformers from know onn. I really like megs and i like where the oe dude said how megatron needed no earth mode and they were like clothes I like that alot also id say he MEGATRON thinks hes to good to take one a form of an earth vechile and stoop him self to the others levels.I cant wait to see the movie ill shurly watch it atleast 4 times mabey more but no less.

I'm holding out hope that the movie will be good, despite the changes (such as those with Bumblebee). What gives me that hope is not Michael Bay, but the rumor that Spielberg (who can get 'spielbergy' at times with movies) had a lot of oversite on the final product. I don't like all of Spielberg's films, but I like a greater percentage of his work than I do of Michael Bay's crapfests like 'Pearl Harbor.'

Michael Bay made Armageddon AND Pearl Harbor?

I can see where this movie is going...

I just watched the original movie again last night and I don't really see how anyone can think that is the pinnacle of transformers. Some parts were just as bad as watching the series. I mean Optimus gets shot at a couple times and dies. But Magnus gets ripped apart at the seams but a few welds here and there and "all better". For anyone to say that the new movie is cheezy with its love story and "boy meets car" attitude and then say the the original is not cheezy needs a checkup from the neck up.

Edit: I just remembered they used Turtle Wax on Magnus too.

Dark Zarak wrote:

WIIM wrote:Has this "Michael Bay" fella ever seen an episode of THE TRANSFORMERS?

I'm sure he hasn't. Why would he? He didn't want to make a stupid toy movie, and he hasn't.

i dunno.. i have some of the toys and well.. they're kinda stupid.
i kid.
i don't really care.
people who haven't seen it yet think it's either the best thing on earth, or the worst thing that could happen.
so let's just wait and leave the baby talk for after the flick opens.
and if it's aweful, i plan to laugh at everyone who said "omfg11!!!1 im so totally gonna see this movie at least 18 timesrofl lol fu geewunners!!11!"

Don't get me wrong, I certainly think this will be a solid movie! However, I think it will only be a shadow of what we knrw Transformers to be with the characters we grew to love in the 80's. Those characters will not exist as we know them.

Yes, I'm disappointed with that, but, I can certainly live with it. Just wish we could have had someone besides Michael Bay behind the movie. Maybe he'll prove me wrong!

I agree with what a few of you have said. The movie did have to evolve as did the transofrmers for the new generations of fans. Of course they could not make them look boxy or make things dissapear as it happened in the cartoons. I am sure there were alot of things in the movies that had to be created t oovercome for the shortcommings of the transformers cartoons and canon.

Megatron looks alien and menacing as he should. I am sure he will be very cool in the movie. I have watched a few clips and even the video game clips and he looks pretty cool, but his look is so different that its no longer the "character" that you knew as Megatron.

Its like remaking Rocky and casting a guy who is 6.4 and looks like tom cruise, or making the simpsons movie and making homer black with a square head. If you do that you no longer have the same character.

My main issue is the fact that by straying too much from the source material there is a big chance that the makers of the film will loose the essence of what the "transformers" were and what made me fall in love with them as a kid. The design aspects of the Transformers and the very things they transformed into or the things they had on them, as well as the voices/faces is what gave them their personalities.

For example as some of you have said bumblebee was the R2D2 of the transformers. He was not "cool" and this is where I disagree with Skywarp 2 where he said,

"Today times have changed, Muscle cars are not too cool anymore.. they are cumbersome and expensive to maintain, gas prices , you name it.. so its the car of choice for young guys and teens for transportation, and cheap to buy, but still look good in front of the ladies... its no hyped up "need for speed mobile" or " fast and furious" tinker toy.. the adults are more into style and performance, like the infinity, the mazdas, BMW, ect... so it works for the difference in years and tastes of the country.."

I don't know about you but ask any kid in high school or college if a 69 mustang or 70 something or the new camaro is not "cool" anymore and see whether he tells you that he would rather have a Toyota Prius over a Camaro in his quest to get girls. Look at how much more attention has been given to muscle cars in the recent years with movies like the last fast and the Furious, games like NFS Carbon, Forza 2, Juiced 2, NFS Pro Street, and cars like the charger, or re-invention of the new mustag going back to the classic look.

Bumblebee in this movie is cool. Way way too cool. The car is cool, the robot is slick, the silent treatment from him makes him cooler. In the 80s bumblebee was a bumbling bee...a VW beat up everyman's, poorman's ride hat was yellow on top of that which on a bug is way not cool. VWs have been around since WWII. Jazz was cool bumblebee was not.

Now I understand how contractually they can't use a VW but to stay close to the creators ideas of what bumblebee was, to stay close to his original personality he should have been some sort of hatchback 4 cylinder car not a muscle car which is still to this very day considered cool, especially one that looks like that.

Back on topic...I always thought that Megatron's gun was an outlet of his own perosnality and as it has been poitned out he would shoot anyone at any time. That was how they showed his merciless nature. That gun for example was like the glasses that you wear or the outfit that you dress in. It was part of him and his image. He was a weapon of destruction in whicever form he was in. You just did not cross him. In a way he was like a middle eastern stereotypical dictator who carries a gun with him at all times to show his subjects that he is in charge, and that he will shoot anyone dead on the spot who even thinks of treason or crosses him the wrong way. This Megatron "persona" has appeared in other films such as Lord of War in the form of Andre the diabolical dictator or Monrovia for example. Megatron was made based on a world view of evil leaders. He was brutal but almost western educated and compared to other Decepticons smarter, wiser, and more grounded in reality. That should have been preserved and I hope that it is carried on in this movie.

I actually re-watched the G1 series this week and some of the key elements are as strong to me today as they were when I was 13. I am also familiar with Beast wars, Energon, the movie etc...I have seen many of the series. I just have not read the comics.

My big thing with the film is my concern that they might have strayed too far from the source material. It does not matter which shows you watch the "essence" of what the characters were should have been preserved or the outmost care should have been taken to ensure that in making them "modern" and "realistic" their core "values" and "design aspects" were preserved becasue those things reflected their personalities and idealogies.

I would have given Megatron his arm Cannon even if he was a spaceship because blasting other Decepticons as well as Autobots reinforced his evil yet full of common sense brutal personality of a dictator who rules with an iron fist.

I would have made bumblebee a hatchback or a pimped out hachback that you would see some highschool kid drive.

I would have ensured that starscream is exactly like he ws in the series...an emotionally charged ambitious decepticon who is tired of being in Megatron's shadow with the same type of whiny voice. A guy who dreams of glory and want to be in charge. I loved the guy who played him, and if my memory serves me right it was the same guy who voiced cobra commander on GI joe. That voice was great. It was the core of what starscream was.

I would have hired The original actors who voiced megatron, optimus, and starscrea, and maybe ironhide.

I agree with rowdyroost who said that the movie will be solid and very cool to watch but in alot of way it is a shadow of what we knew as the Transformers and the characters that we knew and gew up with as kids.

I completely agree that the franchise had to change and evolve and grow for the future generations but I have a feeling that much of what we loved will be lost in the translation due to the fact taht Bay wasn't exactly a transformers fan. Now if the movie was done wit hthe same passion that Peter jackson instilled into LOTR this would have been a trilogy and a completely different looking movie.

Its not about the look for looks sake or about moderninzing the series but about capturing the "essence" of what the transformers are.

That might not be a bad thing as I am sure Bay and crew can come up with some new elements, but people might never know what the original "charm" was that drew us to the series in the first place.

Either way I can't wait to see the film, and thank you for those who read my long post and replied.