The Energon Pub

General Motors, who provided several of their company's vehicles to Paramount for use in the live action Transformers films, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy today, leaving the future of the company very much in doubt.

Also in doubt is the company's role in future live action Transformers films. As previous stated, the company licensed the use of several of its vehicles (most notably the fifth generation Camaro that served as the vehicle mode for Bumblebee, the Beat and Trax for Mudflap and Skids and the Corvette Stingray Concept for Sideswipe) and had already seen it's marketing campaign dramatically reduced in part due to the economic climate. Whether or not this partnership will continue is a question that only time can answer.

Man, I sure HOPE the partnership is over. I want to see some more interesting cars used for Transformers. Like the Nissan Cube, or a Smart Car, for example.

As much as I love GM I would look forward to them NOT sponsering the next film. I'd love to see sunstreaker be a lambo or a ferrari that'd be awesome. It would really expand the potential charaters I think. I do really hope GM pulls through though.

man, imagine if we got alternator's and universe characters in tf3 as vehicles. how awesome would that be?

Well Bumblebee showed us this solution in the first movie, they can change into what ever vehicle they scan. BB was a crappy old camaro then became a new one. So he can just do this again but with another car. Or use the scanning tech from the DS games that Wheeljack made. Im hoping that GM isnt the soul provider of cars in the next one. Im sure GM is not going to just disappear so im sure there wont be any major changes to the characters. I want to see more Fords and maybe a Ferrari or two in the next one. Get some more cool cars in the films damnit.

How about Ricochet as a Nissan 350Z?

It's time to bring on the Lamborghinis!! Yes, I'm a huge fan of Lamborghinis and although I like the car used for Sideswipe I got a bit disapointed at not being a Lamborghini... Can you imagine Sideswipe being a Lamborghini Reventon? OMG, that would be more than meets the eye!

Anyway, this news is sad .

More cars would be great! I thought Jazz should have been an Aston Martin. I'd love to see Cliffjumper as a Fit or Cooper Mini. Hell, a DeLorean secondary character would kick ass for true 80's vintage!

Since the US Government owns 60% of GM, I'm pretty sure the company will restructure and pull through or be broken apart. I wouldn't mind seeing more different cars, maybe a Sideswipe reformatted into a Lamborghini Diablo or Countach

BATTLEMASTER IIC wrote:Since the US Government owns 60% of GM, I'm pretty sure the company will restructure and pull through or be broken apart. I wouldn't mind seeing more different cars, maybe a Sideswipe reformatted into a Lamborghini Diablo or Countach

According to ABC News this evening only 10% of GM would be in full ownership by the US government AND Canadian investment. Definitely no mention of 60%.
Doesn't matter anyway. Filing bankruptcy doesn't mean the whole dang company is going down in flames. Chapter 11 is a debt reorganization/consolidation in the U.S. system, not closing of the doors and burying the key. The worst thing that will happen is that Ratchet and crew will stay the same. Well, Prime's options are wide open as far as upgrades but the rest of his boys are sort of locked in with their 2010 look.
Actually, they aren't locked in. This is the 21st century! If it's saved on a hard drive it can be digitally manipulated. ILM has all the info, Bay and his crew really don't need GM anymore. The cars they currently film with can still be used and any modifications can be edited in later.
Well, problem solved. Next obstacle?

They're only down sizing and restructuring, not disappearing. In a bid to stay relevant, they'll probably make the argument that they need to sponsor the third film to reach that coveted youth audience.
Of course if they end up not dominating the third film then a 350Z and a Reventon would be nice

Bah

Between the White House pulling the companies strings behind the scenes and the new gas mileage/efficiency standards all that'll be coming out of Government Motors will be things along the lines of the Smart Car... and there's no way Bay would want them in his movie.

Of course that could be a good way to get rid of Bay

Bun-Bun wrote:Bah

Between the White House pulling the companies strings behind the scenes and the new gas mileage/efficiency standards all that'll be coming out of Government Motors will be things along the lines of the Smart Car... and there's no way Bay would want them in his movie.

Of course that could be a good way to get rid of Bay

Shoot, I could go for a Smart Car transformer. Seriously. A tiny little car like that could make for an interesting character. Kind of like G1 Bumblebee, a tiny little spy robot. And with the modern, sports-car-esque stylings that they've got going (seriously, compare a Smart Car to a Lotus Elise or something), a Smart Car could fit in pretty well.

Hmmm, well. Been seeing this coming for a while.

As much as we all would love to see more car companies (Ford, Honda, I'd especially love to see a Mercedes with a Decepticon logo where the raised Mercedes crest should be) pitching in their works of art to become transforming robots, you can thank their public relations who aim to make the licensing part extremely convoluted. Volkswagen, for example nowadays outright refuses to have their classic yellow bug to be made into a transforming toy that represents "War Machines". One of the alternator figures, too, had to have his gun retooled into a 'shield' because the car company was apparently uncomfortable with their vehicle coming with a built-in weapon. Right.

As much as we'd love to see it happen, there's the potential of so having many crappy strings attached to the licensing deals (I.E. robots not allowed to have weapons or even throw a punch) it's actually much easier to have deals with as fewer, more understanding companies as possible. Not that it's necessarily a good thing; a little more variety in vehicle selections would make the movie seem more realistic than, say, 65% vehicles having the GM logo on them, making it feel like some sort of subliminal advert for GM vehicles.

Dinobot Prime wrote:

Bun-Bun wrote:Bah

Between the White House pulling the companies strings behind the scenes and the new gas mileage/efficiency standards all that'll be coming out of Government Motors will be things along the lines of the Smart Car... and there's no way Bay would want them in his movie.

Of course that could be a good way to get rid of Bay

Shoot, I could go for a Smart Car transformer. Seriously. A tiny little car like that could make for an interesting character. Kind of like G1 Bumblebee, a tiny little spy robot. And with the modern, sports-car-esque stylings that they've got going (seriously, compare a Smart Car to a Lotus Elise or something), a Smart Car could fit in pretty well.

You do of course realize that in the world of Transformers that would be the equivalant of a massive midget wrestling fest! I'm not talking just with the one, I mean if we lose all the GM cars to smart cars. Actually, when I first started typing this I thought that might be a bad idea but after giving it a second thought...that would be funny as hell! I would actually pay to see that in IMAX.
I don't mean any of this to reflect poorly upon or to imply that I have any prejudice toward "little people" or " the vertically challenged" or whatever this months PC term is. I have no desire to offend anyone, especially those who could have a justifiable excuse to hit me below the belt and leave me with no recourse. But the image of Prime leading a charge of Smart Car Transformers reminds me of the old late 70's/early 80's wrestling programs. That or assorted episodes of MTV's Jackass.

Dinobot Prime wrote:Man, I sure HOPE the partnership is over. I want to see some more interesting cars used for Transformers. Like the Nissan Cube, or a Smart Car, for example.

Cube??? Smart car?? How exactly are any of these more "interesting" vehicles than a 2010' Camaro, Volt, Concept Corvette, Audi R8 etc?? I'd say there more lame.


Honestly, this isn't going to mean anything. GM as a company isn't going anywhere any time soon. All there doing is restructing, and down sizing a bit. If anything, having the royalties coming in the 3rd movie could help out. Especially if they have some new models.

For me, i think (for the most part) that the partner ship with GM has served well. Its given us great vehicle alts (for the most part. I'm not all that found of the Volt, or Corvette concept. They should have just used a ZR1) for the auto bots.

But if they bailed out of the 3rd movie, I'm sure bay would use his better judgment to keep alt modes interesting and different. Regardless of which manufacturer ends up sponsoring.

you can count out Porsche and VW
as hasbro tried and failed to get them for there alternator line
but how about more ford or jags

5150 Cruiser wrote:

Dinobot Prime wrote:Man, I sure HOPE the partnership is over. I want to see some more interesting cars used for Transformers. Like the Nissan Cube, or a Smart Car, for example.

Cube??? Smart car?? How exactly are any of these more "interesting" vehicles than a 2010' Camaro, Volt, Concept Corvette, Audi R8 etc?? I'd say there more lame.

you said it, i dont want to see any cars like that as transformers they need to be more performance or utility type of vehicle.

They will scan new alts and Hasbro can make new figures

Ultra Markus wrote:

5150 Cruiser wrote:

Dinobot Prime wrote:Man, I sure HOPE the partnership is over. I want to see some more interesting cars used for Transformers. Like the Nissan Cube, or a Smart Car, for example.

Cube??? Smart car?? How exactly are any of these more "interesting" vehicles than a 2010' Camaro, Volt, Concept Corvette, Audi R8 etc?? I'd say there more lame.

you said it, i dont want to see any cars like that as transformers they need to be more performance or utility type of vehicle.

If two similarly spec'd autobots scanned a Corvette and say the Volt, would the Corvette be faster?

syphonn wrote: If two similarly spec'd autobots scanned a Corvette and say the Volt, would the Corvette be faster?

Yes. They claim that their 0-60 times are going to be around 5 or 6 seconds, but that's still off the Corvette's pace. Not only that, but it (the volt) only has a 40 mile range. Drop the hammer, and you can expect that number to drop dramatically.

let me put it this way, Skids and Mudflap are twins so we can assume they are equally matched in speed strength etc (and if they are not, lets just say they are for the sake of this argument). If Skids chose the Corvette as his alt mode and Mudflap, a Cobalt, would Skids as a Corvette be faster?

syphonn wrote:let me put it this way, Skids and Mudflap are twins so we can assume they are equally matched in speed strength etc (and if they are not, lets just say they are for the sake of this argument). If Skids chose the Corvette as his alt mode and Mudflap, a Cobalt, would Skids as a Corvette be faster?

To keep realism yes. Iena think about it.. This is something that would always piss me off about chase scenes in movies. lets use "wanted" as an example.

Angelina Jolie is in a Dodge Viper SRT10 coupe running away from some dude in a bread truck and the bread truck is keeping pace. If the hole idea is realism, then they need to stick that concept with everything. This includes robot modes. I don't suspect we'll see Skids or Mudflap body slamming Overhaul. Alt modes are picked (or at least should be) based on there size/strength/abilities.