The Energon Pub

[Va'al]

Thank to the official Transformers: the Last Knight Snapchat account - and the hard work of D-Maximus_Primal - we have some images from the set of Michael Bay's movie, featuring the returning Barricade with his 'to punish and enslave' motto, the crew hat with the movie Optimus Prime head logo, and a potential teaser at a fire truck character, who might just be actually part of the safety crew instead. Check them out below!

[Deadput]

Since the firetruck says Detroit Fire Department I'm going to assume it's just a normal vehicle.

[SeventhSage]

I really hope that's inferno!

[SeventhSage]

Resembles a certain orange mini con...

[kriksix]

eh. so Bumblebee will be able to talk so we need another cute bot that communicates in cute beeps and squeaks. initial dread, but I can kinda see it working with the girl. the premise of TF1 with Sam and Bee but younger, smaller, cuter. ok.

hoping also we have some Autobots with a bit more of a sense of honour and nobility this time. the Wreckers, the AOE bots and even Ironhide all seemed to find protecting innocent life forms an annoyance and a chore.

[Kurona]

eh. so Bumblebee will be able to talk so we need another cute bot that communicates in cute beeps and squeaks. initial dread, but I can kinda see it working with the girl. the premise of TF1 with Sam and Bee but younger, smaller, cuter. ok.

hoping also we have some Autobots with a bit more of a sense of honour and nobility this time. the Wreckers, the AOE bots and even Ironhide all seemed to find protecting innocent life forms an annoyance and a chore.

Oh don't worry, according to rumours Drift is back so you'll get all that packed into a terrible Japanese stereotype that I'm surprised I didn't see more people mad about.
Sorry, watched AOE yesterday so I'm a bit jaded

On the positive side, I am just realising what Squeaks and the young female protagonist means - that they're trying to appeal to a younger audience so it should be a bit more child-friendly and fun, and we'll actually have a main female protagonist who isn't just the most obvious horny teenager views incentive. So... it's progress.

[kriksix]

eh. so Bumblebee will be able to talk so we need another cute bot that communicates in cute beeps and squeaks. initial dread, but I can kinda see it working with the girl. the premise of TF1 with Sam and Bee but younger, smaller, cuter. ok.

hoping also we have some Autobots with a bit more of a sense of honour and nobility this time. the Wreckers, the AOE bots and even Ironhide all seemed to find protecting innocent life forms an annoyance and a chore.

Oh don't worry, according to rumours Drift is back so you'll get all that packed into a terrible Japanese stereotype that I'm surprised I didn't see more people mad about.
Sorry, watched AOE yesterday so I'm a bit jaded

On the positive side, I am just realising what Squeaks and the young female protagonist means - that they're trying to appeal to a younger audience so it should be a bit more child-friendly and fun, and we'll actually have a main female protagonist who isn't just the most obvious horny teenager views incentive. So... it's progress.

ha yeah, agreed. Drift and Hound killing life forms in AOE simply because they were ugly or caught unawares is SO not the Autobot way. right..? well I can understand some Autobots being slightly deviant, but ALL of them except for Prime and Bee..? I wouldn't have minded the Japanese honour stereotype so much if Drift actually was honourable..

[kriksix]

also also. "Squeaks"? really?

hoping it's a placeholder name. but what actual Autobot could this little guy be derived from or take his name from...

I'm thinking Gears..

or..?

any good minicon names?

[Kurona]

eh. so Bumblebee will be able to talk so we need another cute bot that communicates in cute beeps and squeaks. initial dread, but I can kinda see it working with the girl. the premise of TF1 with Sam and Bee but younger, smaller, cuter. ok.

hoping also we have some Autobots with a bit more of a sense of honour and nobility this time. the Wreckers, the AOE bots and even Ironhide all seemed to find protecting innocent life forms an annoyance and a chore.

Oh don't worry, according to rumours Drift is back so you'll get all that packed into a terrible Japanese stereotype that I'm surprised I didn't see more people mad about.
Sorry, watched AOE yesterday so I'm a bit jaded

On the positive side, I am just realising what Squeaks and the young female protagonist means - that they're trying to appeal to a younger audience so it should be a bit more child-friendly and fun, and we'll actually have a main female protagonist who isn't just the most obvious horny teenager views incentive. So... it's progress.

ha yeah, agreed. Drift and Hound killing life forms in AOE simply because they were ugly or caught unawares is SO not the Autobot way. right..? well I can understand some Autobots being slightly deviant, but ALL of them except for Prime and Bee..? I wouldn't have minded the Japanese honour stereotype so much if Drift actually was honourable..

I kinda get a lot of the autobots being that way, especially given the circumstances (circumstances being very contrived and out of nowhere, mind), because they are that way in a lot of series - and it's Optimus that has to hold them back, and bring them back to their senses that they're protectors of innocent lives and they shouldn't hurt humans.
... except he's about as bloodthirsty if not more bloodthirsty than all of them combined. It's the centerpiece problem I have with all the films, really - just hearing Optimus say "Kill the humans!", "Kill them all!", "I'll kill you!" or some variation thereof, especially coming from Peter Cullen just... it just hurts.

Still... I suppose I should save this for the AOE rants thread. If there is an AOE rants thread. Which, considering I've seen a lot of people here say even if they liked the films they hated AOE, is probably not too unlikely.
But yeah, Last Knight. Guess I should be a bit more positive.
Positive things to say, positive things to say...
...
Squeaks is adorable!

[OptimalOptimus2]

Wall-E meets the Transformers. Well, I can't say it is not interesting to see a practical Transformer on set.

[SlyTF1]

eh. so Bumblebee will be able to talk so we need another cute bot that communicates in cute beeps and squeaks. initial dread, but I can kinda see it working with the girl. the premise of TF1 with Sam and Bee but younger, smaller, cuter. ok.

hoping also we have some Autobots with a bit more of a sense of honour and nobility this time. the Wreckers, the AOE bots and even Ironhide all seemed to find protecting innocent life forms an annoyance and a chore.

Oh don't worry, according to rumours Drift is back so you'll get all that packed into a terrible Japanese stereotype that I'm surprised I didn't see more people mad about.
Sorry, watched AOE yesterday so I'm a bit jaded

On the positive side, I am just realising what Squeaks and the young female protagonist means - that they're trying to appeal to a younger audience so it should be a bit more child-friendly and fun, and we'll actually have a main female protagonist who isn't just the most obvious horny teenager views incentive. So... it's progress.

So, because he's a samurai played by a Japanese guy, he's obviously a stereotype. Right.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

To be fair to the AoE bots though, they had been hunted down and exterminated, and those 5 were all that were left. I think that there would be good reason not to care for humanity when part of it killed their comrades.

Now other movies are down to the movie-verse being darker and less caring for collateral damage, but that's just this universe's deal.

[SlyTF1]

To be fair to the AoE bots though, they had been hunted down and exterminated, and those 5 were all that were left. I think that there would be good reason not to care for humanity when part of it killed their comrades.

Now other movies are down to the movie-verse being darker and less caring for collateral damage, but that's just this universe's deal.

They were the type of Autobots who would survive a situation like that. Everyone else was either too passive, or just caught off guard. These guys seemed like they would always have their guard up. There isn't a single new Autobot in AOE I don't like.

[D-Maximal_Primal]

To be fair to the AoE bots though, they had been hunted down and exterminated, and those 5 were all that were left. I think that there would be good reason not to care for humanity when part of it killed their comrades.

Now other movies are down to the movie-verse being darker and less caring for collateral damage, but that's just this universe's deal.

They were the type of Autobots who would survive a situation like that. Everyone else was either too passive, or just caught off guard. These guys seemed like they would always have their guard up. There isn't a single new Autobot in AOE I don't like.

I also really liked the new Autobots. Each was different and had some fun stuff. Crosshair's trenchcoat was pretty sweet

[Sabrblade]

So, because he's a samurai played by a Japanese guy, he's obviously a stereotype. Right.

No, it's how he was played. He was given an exaggerated accent (Ken Watanabe does not sound in real life quite like how Drift sounded), he used Japanese terms that Americans know but only used them out of their proper meaning because of how pop culture has constantly used those terms incorrectly, he presented himself as a well-behaved bot of honor yet kept doing lot of disrespectful and dishonorable things throughout the movie, he spoke proverbs for no reason other than his having a Japanese motif as said proverbs never fit the context of the situations in which he spoke them and which only incited ill reactions from his teammates (particularly Crosshairs)... Drift is a far cry from a respective representation of a Japanese Samurai character. Beast Wars Dinobot, or even the character-less Swordbot Samurai Team members from Transformers Go!, were far more accurate expressions of how an actual Samurai would be like.

[JazZeke]

So, because he's a samurai played by a Japanese guy, he's obviously a stereotype. Right.

No, it's how he was played. He was given an exaggerated accent (Ken Watanabe does not sound in real life quite like how Drift sounded), he used Japanese terms that Americans know but only used them out of their proper meaning because of how pop culture has constantly used those terms incorrectly, he presented himself as a well-behaved bot of honor yet kept doing lot of disrespectful and dishonorable things throughout the movie, he spoke proverbs for no reason other than his having a Japanese motif as said proverbs never fit the context of the situations in which he spoke them and which only incited ill reactions from his teammates (particularly Crosshairs)... Drift is a far cry from a respective representation of a Japanese Samurai character. Beast Wars Dinobot, or even the character-less Swordbot Samurai Team members from Transformers Go!, were far more accurate expressions of how an actual Samurai would be like.

Basically, they took Drift from the comics, dialed the weaboo factor that no one liked up to 11, and excised the few positive traits Drift did have (mostly thanks to James Roberts).

[Deadput]

Drift is hardly an offensive stereotype like seriously guys it's an accent get over the movies trying to be diverse with it's cast.


You guys always blow everything out of proportion with this franchise I can't even enjoy looking at the news anymore without getting annoyed with comments especially with those people trying too hard to make Bay look like a horrible person for not making some grand mind blowing movie about robots from space.

[Kurona]

Drift is hardly an offensive stereotype like seriously guys it's an accent get over the movies trying to be diverse with it's cast.


You guys always blow everything out of proportion with this franchise I can't even enjoy looking at the news anymore without getting annoyed with comments especially with those people trying too hard to make Bay look like a horrible person for not making some grand mind blowing movie about robots from space.

It's... not really diversity, no. It's a stereotype. And as Sabrblade laid out, it is definitely not just the accent.
If you're tired of seeing criticism, fine. But if you're going to respond to it at least read what you're responding to.

[Deadput]

It's... not really diversity, no. It's a stereotype. And as Sabrblade laid out, it is definitely not just the accent.
If you're tired of seeing criticism, fine. But if you're going to respond to it at least read what you're responding to.

Here is the thing that is how you guys see Drift but it's not how I see it from my point of view which is what I was trying to say.

[Sabrblade]

It's... not really diversity, no. It's a stereotype. And as Sabrblade laid out, it is definitely not just the accent.
If you're tired of seeing criticism, fine. But if you're going to respond to it at least read what you're responding to.

Here is the thing that is how you guys see Drift but it's not how I see it from my point of view which is what I was trying to say.

You don't see the problems because you don't recognize them. I've likely experienced more Japanese culture and history than you have, having studied the language for two semesters, taken several courses on East Asian humanities and religions, and having done an oral presentation on the history and essential facets of Bushido. The way AOE portrayed Drift's character was a galling misrepresentation of Japanese lifestyle and heritage, more resembling the typical American ignorance of the culture seen in many Hollywood works and pop culture rather than anything authentic to the culture that the movie was trying to imitate with Drift. He was more of a caricature than anything else.

[Hellscream9999]

It's... not really diversity, no. It's a stereotype. And as Sabrblade laid out, it is definitely not just the accent.
If you're tired of seeing criticism, fine. But if you're going to respond to it at least read what you're responding to.

Here is the thing that is how you guys see Drift but it's not how I see it from my point of view which is what I was trying to say.

You don't see the problems because you don't recognize them. I've likely experienced more Japanese culture and history than you have, having studied the language for two semesters, taken several courses on East Asian humanities and religions, and having done an oral presentation on the history and essential facets of Bushido. The way AOE portrayed Drift's character was a galling misrepresentation of Japanese lifestyle and heritage, more resembling the typical American ignorance of the culture seen in many Hollywood works and pop culture rather than anything authentic to the culture that the movie was trying to imitate with Drift. He was more of a caricature than anything else.

Agreed, just because you can't, or don't recognize something that's a stereotype, doesn't mean it's not there... The movie's are full of caricature-like stereotypes: the twins, the wreckers, crosshairs... just because it may not bother you, doesn't mean it doesn't bother or offend others, and it is a problem that plague's these movies.

[SlyTF1]

It's... not really diversity, no. It's a stereotype. And as Sabrblade laid out, it is definitely not just the accent.
If you're tired of seeing criticism, fine. But if you're going to respond to it at least read what you're responding to.

Here is the thing that is how you guys see Drift but it's not how I see it from my point of view which is what I was trying to say.

You don't see the problems because you don't recognize them. I've likely experienced more Japanese culture and history than you have, having studied the language for two semesters, taken several courses on East Asian humanities and religions, and having done an oral presentation on the history and essential facets of Bushido. The way AOE portrayed Drift's character was a galling misrepresentation of Japanese lifestyle and heritage, more resembling the typical American ignorance of the culture seen in many Hollywood works and pop culture rather than anything authentic to the culture that the movie was trying to imitate with Drift. He was more of a caricature than anything else.

Agreed, just because you can't, or don't recognize something that's a stereotype, doesn't mean it's not there... The movie's are full of caricature-like stereotypes: the twins, the wreckers, crosshairs... just because it may not bother you, doesn't mean it doesn't bother or offend others, and it is a problem that plague's these movies.

People should stop being offended by everything. No one's threatening their lives. Why get mad?

[Hellscream9999]

It's... not really diversity, no. It's a stereotype. And as Sabrblade laid out, it is definitely not just the accent.
If you're tired of seeing criticism, fine. But if you're going to respond to it at least read what you're responding to.

Here is the thing that is how you guys see Drift but it's not how I see it from my point of view which is what I was trying to say.

You don't see the problems because you don't recognize them. I've likely experienced more Japanese culture and history than you have, having studied the language for two semesters, taken several courses on East Asian humanities and religions, and having done an oral presentation on the history and essential facets of Bushido. The way AOE portrayed Drift's character was a galling misrepresentation of Japanese lifestyle and heritage, more resembling the typical American ignorance of the culture seen in many Hollywood works and pop culture rather than anything authentic to the culture that the movie was trying to imitate with Drift. He was more of a caricature than anything else.

Agreed, just because you can't, or don't recognize something that's a stereotype, doesn't mean it's not there... The movie's are full of caricature-like stereotypes: the twins, the wreckers, crosshairs... just because it may not bother you, doesn't mean it doesn't bother or offend others, and it is a problem that plague's these movies.

People should stop being offended by everything. No one's threatening their lives. Why get mad?

Because it's perpetuating stereotypes... I'm not offended by any of it, but it is an issue

[Deadput]

You don't see the problems because you don't recognize them. I've likely experienced more Japanese culture and history than you have, having studied the language for two semesters, taken several courses on East Asian humanities and religions, and having done an oral presentation on the history and essential facets of Bushido. The way AOE portrayed Drift's character was a galling misrepresentation of Japanese lifestyle and heritage, more resembling the typical American ignorance of the culture seen in many Hollywood works and pop culture rather than anything authentic to the culture that the movie was trying to imitate with Drift. He was more of a caricature than anything else.

Agreed, just because you can't, or don't recognize something that's a stereotype, doesn't mean it's not there... The movie's are full of caricature-like stereotypes: the twins, the wreckers, crosshairs... just because it may not bother you, doesn't mean it doesn't bother or offend others, and it is a problem that plague's these movies.[/quote]


I guess I see where you guys are coming from I've always been an isolated/sheltered person so I don't understand things that I really should most of my knowledge comes from the internet and sometimes if I see people say things i myself don't understand or offend me then i make the comments that I do.


Guess you could say I'm offended by people being offended for things I either enjoy or feel it gets more hate then it should so if guys say that they are offensive stereotypes I guess I just have to take your word for it doesn't mean I agree of course but I won't try to change your minds.

[Hellscream9999]

Agreed, just because you can't, or don't recognize something that's a stereotype, doesn't mean it's not there... The movie's are full of caricature-like stereotypes: the twins, the wreckers, crosshairs... just because it may not bother you, doesn't mean it doesn't bother or offend others, and it is a problem that plague's these movies.

I guess I see where you guys are coming from I've always been an isolated/sheltered person so I don't understand things that I really should most of my knowledge comes from the internet and sometimes if I see people say things i myself don't understand or offend me then i make the comments that I do.

Guess you could say I'm offended by people being offended for things I either enjoy or feel it gets more hate then it should so if guys say that they are offensive stereotypes I guess I just have to take your word for it doesn't mean I agree of course but I won't try to change your minds.

I get you, it's sometimes difficult to broaden your horizons; to others though, it's their culture, heritage, history, something they likely take pride in, and it's gets bastardized and misrepresented for hundreds of millions to see and then they walk away with the wrong idea of said culture, thus perpetuating the misrepresentations and further cementing in their minds that stereotype. It's kind of sad really...