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Canadian website Canoe has posted a few quotes that director Michael Bay gave during an interview with QMI Agency regarding his upcoming Transformers 4. Nothing new in terms of plot or characters, but he does reveal this film will be shorter than the previous three with a run time of 2 hours and 7 minutes. The original article, which is in French, can be found by clicking here.

Google Translate wrote:I designed two hours 7 minutes, which I think is a good formula, which gives enough room to maneuver.

All right.I'm okay with this.

As long as the stupid humor is cut out and the action doesn't suffer. I had no problem with the others being long, though.

This combined with the news they'll be filming all three at the same time gives me the impression they can afford a shorter film since it will be one continuous plot line across a trilogy compared to the last three film's self contained but interconnected stories.

In context, "aimed for" makes more sense than "designed." Translation is a bit of an art, something for which Google Translate does not compute.

Rodimus Prime wrote:As long as the stupid humor is cut out and the action doesn't suffer. I had no problem with the others being long, though.

THIS. The dorky jokes were nothing more than dead weight in the movies.

I also hope Bay continues to portray NEST/the military using guerrilla style tactics against the Cons in battle. I understand that he needs to make the US military look good in order to get their support and cooperation, but he can accomplish all that without being overhanded by continuing what he did in DOTM. I really loved the cooperative tactics employed in DOTM, with the humans sneaking in and blowing out the Cons' legs, and the Autobots moving in to take them out.

The "solve-it-all Vietnam War style carpet bombing" thing destroys suspense and makes the Decepticon army look pathetic.

Capt.Failure wrote:This combined with the news they'll be filming all three at the same time gives me the impression they can afford a shorter film since it will be one continuous plot line across a trilogy compared to the last three film's self contained but interconnected stories.

So, will we be expecting a Star Wars style kind of story-telling, with one story told in three separate acts?

Sounds interesting, and if handled properly, it could be allow for much better character development, since we're seeing the same characters in the same story through three movies.

SKYWARPED_128 wrote:

Capt.Failure wrote:This combined with the news they'll be filming all three at the same time gives me the impression they can afford a shorter film since it will be one continuous plot line across a trilogy compared to the last three film's self contained but interconnected stories.

So, will we be expecting a Star Wars style kind of story-telling, with one story told in three separate acts?

Sounds interesting, and if handled properly, it could be allow for much better character development, since we're seeing the same characters in the same story through three movies.

One of the things about Transformers as a whole is it lacks character development often barring a few instances due to having loads and loads of characters. The fact that they had to introduce more each film in the previous trilogy indeed hampered character development when combined with Spielberg's mandate for more focus on humans.

I saw this in the Toronto Sun (my local newspaper) today but I just figured it was outdated guess I was wrong :/

Capt.Failure wrote:

SKYWARPED_128 wrote:

Capt.Failure wrote:This combined with the news they'll be filming all three at the same time gives me the impression they can afford a shorter film since it will be one continuous plot line across a trilogy compared to the last three film's self contained but interconnected stories.

So, will we be expecting a Star Wars style kind of story-telling, with one story told in three separate acts?

Sounds interesting, and if handled properly, it could be allow for much better character development, since we're seeing the same characters in the same story through three movies.

One of the things about Transformers as a whole is it lacks character development often barring a few instances due to having loads and loads of characters. The fact that they had to introduce more each film in the previous trilogy indeed hampered character development when combined with Spielberg's mandate for more focus on humans.

Good gosh, don't get me started with Spielberg!

The man encourages Bay to continue with the stupid jokes, and keeps asking for more focus on the humans. In theory, it helps to have strong human characterization since budgeting factors require there to be human scenes mixed in between the super-expensive CGI scenes. But the problem is, they only FOCUSED on the humans without giving them strong character development! Many of the human characters are so slapstick that I keep looking at the clock, waiting for the bots to appear.

If Spielberg still has Bay's ear, which he probably does, the best one can hope for is that they stop making caricatures out of the authority figures and government agents. I can live with Sam being slapstick, as he's this weird kid who found a bunch of alien robots, but special agents and government guys are supposed to be serious and no-nonsense, not stand-up comedian wannabe's. Take Simmons for instance; the second he got fired from S7, I found him so much more acceptable, because that how crazy "ufology" fanatics would act...sort of.

As for the bots, I actually prefer fewer ones, but more focus and characterization. And please, no more mute Bee. It was fun and cute in the first movie, but after three consecutive ones, I've had my fill of radio charades.

And I'm all for bringing back Wheelie! He's great, in a strange, Steve Buscemi kind of way...except for that one time with him humping Fox's leg. That was just weird.

SKYWARPED_128 wrote:If Spielberg still has Bay's ear...

It's not so much having his ear as having creative control over Bay. Spielberg is one of the most powerful men in Hollywood. When he says "crap" you squat and squeeze. If Spielberg wants more humans and less robots or more humor and less drama/action then that's what he's going to get because no one in Hollywood questions Spielberg. It's sad really, since without his influence Bay could have made a Transformers trilogy that made everyone happy, even the fans. I don't hate the films, in fact I love them. But I realize Spielberg is a monkey on the back of the series' potential to do better.

Capt.Failure wrote:

SKYWARPED_128 wrote:If Spielberg still has Bay's ear...

It's not so much having his ear as having creative control over Bay. Spielberg is one of the most powerful men in Hollywood. When he says "crap" you squat and squeeze. If Spielberg wants more humans and less robots or more humor and less drama/action then that's what he's going to get because no one in Hollywood questions Spielberg. It's sad really, since without his influence Bay could have made a Transformers trilogy that made everyone happy, even the fans. I don't hate the films, in fact I love them. But I realize Spielberg is a monkey on the back of the series' potential to do better.

You do have a point there. A pity that Spielberg is so stuck in his own thinking that he can't see it's doing more harm than good to the movies.

At least Lucas had the self-awareness to know it's time to quit and pass the Star Wars torch to someone else. Spielberg should take a hint and let go.

But all in all, at least DOTM improved a lot on the problems that ROTF and TF1 had. For one, it finally felt like an actual TF story, and I dare say more so than even the first movie, to say nothing of ROTF. Sentinel's duplicity, his conversations with Optimus, betraying the Autobots and killing Ironhide; that's far more character development than I've seen in both of the earlier movies put together.

The Autobots' interaction with the human soldiers in DOTM also lends a sense of "realism" to the story. In the past, the bots seem disconnected from the humans; they would say stuff to the soldiers, while the soldiers go about their own business without reacting. In DOTM, we have scenes where Bee trains with the NEST soldiers, and in the final battle, Ratchet gives coordinates to a soldier, who nods and starts shelling the area with mortars.

Gould's involvement with Soundwave and Laserbeak also fleshes out both human and bot characters in ways that the previous movies couldn't.

The story, while not exactly original and somewhat ludicrous, revolves around the bots and their history; Sam's just trying to get back into the fold.

These things, to me, are a sign of improvement. And with TF4, 5, and 6 reportedly sharing the same plot, I'm cautiously optimistic that we may finally see a TF movie that satisfies everyone.

I just hope there won't be anymore Meering and Simmons type government agents, or idiot characters like Leo and Jerry Wang.

Thank Primus. The last two movies were way too long. Particularly DOTM which felt like it was never going to end.

Bleak5170 wrote:Thank Primus. The last two movies were way too long. Particularly DOTM which felt like it was never going to end.

I liked the first movie being long I thought it was a nice fit for the first movie a trilogy but ROTF and DOTM were like watching documentaries.

viruscarnage wrote:

Bleak5170 wrote:Thank Primus. The last two movies were way too long. Particularly DOTM which felt like it was never going to end.

I liked the first movie being long I thought it was a nice fit for the first movie a trilogy but ROTF and DOTM were like watching documentaries.

If you cut out all the dorky jokes and unnecessary human scenes, they'd be a lot better. I mean, was it really necessary to show a complete scene of Sam's mom giving him relationship counseling?

SKYWARPED_128 wrote:

viruscarnage wrote:

Bleak5170 wrote:Thank Primus. The last two movies were way too long. Particularly DOTM which felt like it was never going to end.

I liked the first movie being long I thought it was a nice fit for the first movie a trilogy but ROTF and DOTM were like watching documentaries.

If you cut out all the dorky jokes and unnecessary human scenes, they'd be a lot better. I mean, was it really necessary to show a complete scene of Sam's mom giving him relationship counseling?

What really bothers me about that scene in particular is that it came immediately after Sentinel's betrayal. It seriously lessened the gravity of the situation. The human stuff in the first 2 didn't bother me because it took a back seat once the robot action started. In DotM the human stuff kept stealing focus when there were more important things happening. Hopefully that's the kind of thing they cut down on for the next 3.