The Energon Pub

USA Today ran an article today about the upcoming Transformers Movie. The article hints at an Earth-mode for Megatron but this could just be me holding onto hope that he becomes something other than his Cybertronian jet mode. You can read the full article in today's USA Today newspaper or you can read it online here.

Never thought about the Transformers as knights but I guess in a way it works. Nice read.

'But the gun that Megatron used to transform into had to go. Says Orci, "That would be the equivalent of Darth Vader turning into his own lightsaber and someone else swinging him around."'

Hahahaha, that's so funny

Optimus = King Arthur?

I thought Optimus = John Wayne.

But, I can see that they are comparing him to King Arthur through both of their leadership.

The references to politics concern me.

I frankly think that hollywoods desire to preach in nearly every single movie is something that turns off moviegoers. Or more explicitly the desire to inject preachiness into totally unrelated productions.

I really hope we don't get some sort of "To avoid Cybertrons fate the earth people must listen to Al Gore" type message.

Transformers was always fairly good at avoiding contentious cultural issues whilst generally affirming a positive viewpoint.

I tell you I was very disappointed when I saw Devils Due making the whole "Republicans = Decepticons" angle in escalation, and Im really really really hoping they can avoid that in the movie.

Though it might be too much to ask.

It is interesting. I have to agree about Megs turning into a gun...he can't control his own power in that mode. how many cartoon eps and comics did his power get turned against the troops he commanded? Beast Wars was really the first Series where Megatron was able to use and control his own power rather than relying on someone else.
I didn't see any reference to an alt mode...I have to admit they are doing a hell of job of keeping his altmode secret from the public...and his Earth altmode secret from us.

Funny. I've always thought of them as knights, since the first Marvel comics because they look and act like people in metal suits.

Megs' cybertron jet mode is no secret, so, hmmmmm...

Not to put too fine a point on it- but a "secret war" between two superpowers in the 80's was pretty darn political already. Throw in a big emphasis on energy/power and where it comes from- and you've got Reaganist America in a nutshell. Transformers weren't political- as much as they were a product of the politics and fears at the time.

The movie still won't win any points in my book by throwing out a handful of treacle about conservation though. Not from a two hour toy commercial.

First-Aid wrote:It is interesting. I have to agree about Megs turning into a gun...he can't control his own power in that mode. how many cartoon eps and comics did his power get turned against the troops he commanded? Beast Wars was really the first Series where Megatron was able to use and control his own power rather than relying on someone else.
I didn't see any reference to an alt mode...I have to admit they are doing a hell of job of keeping his altmode secret from the public...and his Earth altmode secret from us.

Shockwave could do it so why not Megs?

Fussion wrote:

First-Aid wrote:It is interesting. I have to agree about Megs turning into a gun...he can't control his own power in that mode. how many cartoon eps and comics did his power get turned against the troops he commanded? Beast Wars was really the first Series where Megatron was able to use and control his own power rather than relying on someone else.
I didn't see any reference to an alt mode...I have to admit they are doing a hell of job of keeping his altmode secret from the public...and his Earth altmode secret from us.

Shockwave could do it so why not Megs?

Good question. In the Marvel comics, Megatron even stated that Shockwave had interstellar flight capabilities in gun mode, which Megatron did not.

On topic, seeing them as knights is not too far of a stretch. I can relate many good versus evil battles to tales of knights. It's a common literary parallel. One might even say, obvious.

Maybe i'm wishing here but perhaps Megatron will look more like Galvatron, like some secret mobile artillery platform? Anything's possible I suppose...

Transformers as Knights......nice connection. As for the political side of things, I hope they don't get TOO involved to make Megatron become someone like Hitler or Stalin, even for him that would be a new low.

Wasn't there something posted after one of the conventions of someone slipping about Megs being a B2?

Leonardo wrote:

Fussion wrote:

First-Aid wrote:It is interesting. I have to agree about Megs turning into a gun...he can't control his own power in that mode. how many cartoon eps and comics did his power get turned against the troops he commanded? Beast Wars was really the first Series where Megatron was able to use and control his own power rather than relying on someone else.
I didn't see any reference to an alt mode...I have to admit they are doing a hell of job of keeping his altmode secret from the public...and his Earth altmode secret from us.

Shockwave could do it so why not Megs?

Good question. In the Marvel comics, Megatron even stated that Shockwave had interstellar flight capabilities in gun mode, which Megatron did not.

On topic, seeing them as knights is not too far of a stretch. I can relate many good versus evil battles to tales of knights. It's a common literary parallel. One might even say, obvious.

The difference is the medium. It works in a comic book, but for a movie for the masses (of which many of whom have never heard of Transformers) it doesn't. Megatron is suppose to be a real villain; said villain having an alt-mode that requires someone to grasp him and pull the trigger probably would confuse half of the theater audience.

By the way, First-Aid, I disagree about BW Megatron. After Unicron reformatted Megatron into Galvatron, his alt-mode didn't have to rely on someone else to pull a trigger.

the only thansformers that i view as knights are probaly Armada Starscream and Dinobot

What's wrong with Megatron being swung around and aimed at targets? It worked in the G1 show. He was a gun for goodness sake! They should have just said that it was the stupid US gun laws that forced this change. State the obvious fools!

98 days feels like forever! Ugh.

good article. pleasent suprise while i was eating breakfast

General Magnus wrote:the only thansformers that i view as knights are probaly Armada Starscream and Dinobot

BW Silverbolt was the knight; Dinobot is a Viking (just watch my dedication to him in my sig).

The article simply states:

"The writers don't want to reveal yet what machine Megatron becomes."

REMEMBER: This is an article for regular people, not so much the fans. The alt mode being implied here IS the cybertronian space ship. At least, that's my theory

I also hate that whole "That would be the equivalent of Darth Vader turning into his own lightsaber and someone else swinging him around."

I always thought that in gun mode, Megatron's blasts were more powerful since most of his robotic functions had shut down (due to the simplicity of the gun compared to a mobile, robot) and diverted it's power to the canon.

Ransom wrote:

First-Aid wrote:The difference is the medium. It works in a comic book, but for a movie for the masses (of which many of whom have never heard of Transformers) it doesn't. Megatron is suppose to be a real villain; said villain having an alt-mode that requires someone to grasp him and pull the trigger probably would confuse half of the theater audience.

By the way, First-Aid, I disagree about BW Megatron. After Unicron reformatted Megatron into Galvatron, his alt-mode didn't have to rely on someone else to pull a trigger.

That's interesting. I never saw it that way. I always thought they made the change because they felt Megatron needed an update and look more menacing in both modes and of course, the gun laws that would get in the way of toy sales.

Predaprince wrote:BW Silverbolt was the knight; Dinobot is a Viking (just watch my dedication to him in my sig).

I always saw Dinobot as more of a samurai. Not quite a full blown one, but more along the lines of a samurai than that of a viking.

Gierling wrote:The references to politics concern me.

Wow. You put that so much more politely than I want to. (Bite your fingers, 'Stachey, bite 'em hard...)

I think all I can say with any modicum of courtesy is that this talk of "dark political parallels" is the first thing I've seen that makes me seriously- and I mean seriously- consider not seeing the film.

ZenithF0RTE wrote:[...] and of course, the gun laws that would get in the way of toy sales.

I had not considered that aspect.

SeekerInAFakeMoustache wrote:I think all I can say with any modicum of courtesy is that this talk of "dark political parallels" is the first thing I've seen that makes me seriously- and I mean seriously- consider not seeing the film.

I agree. Of course people are going to draw parallels to what is occurring in the world - especially media because it's irresistable for them - but the audience should be allowed to take whatever they want from the movie, whether that be a new perspective on contemporary events or simply be entertained for the night. The USA Today article really is decent in that respect because it was only one sentence - unlike a different media article almost completely given over to linking Transformers to environmentalism and Al Gore. But I understand your frustration.

Now please hide your claws and fangs.

I agree , I never thought of Transformers as knights, but I can see how they could be thought of that way. As for any political ideas, I wish they'd leave that out. I want to be entertained , not preached to. Let's just have a movie we can enjoy.

Folks....It's a war between two different factions with weapons powerful enough to destroy city blocks....How could they not connect it to politics of some sort? Wars are political by nature.

Nightwatcher wrote:Folks....It's a war between two different factions with weapons powerful enough to destroy city blocks....How could they not connect it to politics of some sort? Wars are political by nature.

As has been said, political parallels are going to be drawn either way. What people are concerned about is the way a lot of modern media seems to be passing judgement on real world events, and dressing it up as drama.
Many people, myself included are completely turned off of any story that seems to be written with some subversive intention.

I don't mind alternative points of view being expressed through drama, but so many writers just want to kick the audience in the head with it over and over again, whilst dressing it up as something else, and expecting people to be stupid enough to buy into it without realising what the wrtier is doing nowadays. I watch movies for the purpose of escapism, it's genuinely ruined for me the moment someone begins lecturing about climate change/iraq/corporate america/bush/etc, dressed up as some transparently obvious metaphor.

i forgot where this was said, but another reason megatron wont be turning into a gun is that they wanted all the transformers to be proportioned to their alt mode. you cant have a 30 foot robot transform into something 1/5 of its size. unless he would be a giant cannon, that wouldnt really work in a movie.