More Interviews with Transformers Movie Producers

Don Murphy wrote: Murphy: Specific episodes? No. And not to sound like a pure internet geek myself even though this is the whole internet geek press, but obviously it was G1. Everything. Like the original writer John Rogers had grown up on generation one. When Roberto [Orci] and Alex [Kurtzman] came on to do the subsequent drafts it was all the first season because that's what had been earmarked as like the traditional thing as far this being what kids grew up on and everything like that. But I would say that it wasn't one individual episode. No.

I'm pretty sure John Rogers said in a recent interview that the whole 'protoform/comet mode' and 'coming to Earth to find a magic whatzit that turns stuff into little robots' aspects, among others, were his ideas and part of his so-called "pure G1" script, didn't he?

Don Murphy wrote:Murphy: He's not a gun and that's not something that I'm going to give away at the moment, but he's definitely not a gun. He hasn't been a gun since G1. Then he became a tank and then he became some sort of combat boat or a jet. Megatron was the one from the beginning because he became a gun, and then they were like, 'Wait, we're selling guns to kids.' He's always been a different thing and he is a different thing in our movie too.

This interview looks to have been made pre-trailer but this is still further indication that Megatron's alien jet mode, which we're really only privy to due to leaks, is the big 'hush-hush top-secret' alt-mode.

Don Murphy wrote:Murphy: I'm only speaking for my producing partner Tom who I think that you're going to talk to next, but from the beginning we've tried to, through the message boards and through the fact that you guys are here and everything else, we've tried to be very, very attuned to the fans because at the end of the day if you make a good movie and you can appeal to the fans then you've got everything. There are going to be a lot of people who are going to see the movie because it's cool cars turning into robots smashing each other, but the people who are going to go again and again and bring their friends are the fan base. So we've been trying to appeal to the fan base.

Don Murphy wrote:Murphy: I mean, character wise I think that StarScream is probably the most bad ass villain next to Megatron. There've been a lot of people complaining on the web about the design, but again it was like they're complaining about a toy mold that's not finished yet. So that was weird.

Yeah, seeing as that unfinished toy looked nothing like the final version or the version in the film....

Di Bonaventura wrote:Did the luke warm reception to 'Snakes on a Plane' take some pressure off of you in terms of listening to the fan community online?

Di Bonaventura: I was involved in 'Doom' which had some of the similar experiences that 'Snakes on a Plane' had and I think that Hollywood has to both listen to the voice and not overvalue it. I think that's the lesson of it. But again, it's a little bit of what we were talking about with surprise. It's like, they sort of sucked the surprise out of that movie by the sheer quantity that was out there. So that particular part of the fan based had been oversaturated.

So Doom... which had practically nothing in common with the video game apart from the setting... sucked because they listened to fan input?

lol @ lies

Murphy is such a stereotypical hollywood producer. He talks out of his a$$ with as many fibs he can think of to push his movie and not look as much of the moron he really is.

He says Arcee was a little scooter thingy (what is this, Gobots? :rolleyes: ) and that she was from like generation 2 or 3. There was never ever a generation 3 Don! And she was a sports car in the generation Tom said you supposedly based this off of!

Which is another thing. I like what Tom said about the movie and needing to care for the characters because it's spot on, but the problem is we have a contradiction. If this is supposed to be based on generation 1 like he said, why is there absolutely no real elements of those characters and their identities. And how is Bumblebee being a gas guzzling, loud engined muscle car going to continue to be a spy and "the weakest of all autobots?"

Farthermore, Let's take a look at the Starscream comment. So Starscream is going lead a Decepticon charge to try and free Megatron? Starscream would NEVER do that! Starscream has always wanted megatron out of the way so he could lead the Decepticons. Heck, perfect example is when Starscream thought Megatron was dead Roll For It and those few episodes right there. He never searched for him at all. He assumed leadership and continued to steal from the humans. Heck, evertime Megatron got shot and went down injured, Starscreams' first words were "Megatron has fallen. I Starscream now lead!" Heck, he freakin' kicked Megatron after he went down in the animated movie and then left him for dead in empty space!!

Starscream would NEVER lead a team the decepticons to rescue Megatron!

And that's not even talking about the disgusting designs!

What a mess.

Hot_Rod wrote:Murphy is such a stereotypical hollywood producer. He talks out of his a$$ with as many fibs he can think of to push his movie and not look as much of the moron he really is.

He says Arcee was a little scooter thingy (what is this, Gobots? :rolleyes: ) and that she was from like generation 2 or 3. There was never ever a generation 3 Don! And she was a sports car in the generation Tom said you supposedly based this off of!

Which is another thing. I like what Tom said about the movie and needing to care for the characters because it's spot on, but the problem is we have a contradiction. If this is supposed to be based on generation 1 like he said, why is there absolutely no real elements of those characters and their identities. And how is Bumblebee being a gas guzzling, loud engined muscle car going to continue to be a spy and "the weakest of all autobots?"

Farthermore, Let's take a look at the Starscream comment. So Starscream is going lead a Decepticon charge to try and free Megatron? Starscream would NEVER do that! Starscream has always wanted megatron out of the way so he could lead the Decepticons. Heck, perfect example is when Starscream thought Megatron was dead Roll For It and those few episodes right there. He never searched for him at all. He assumed leadership and continued to steal from the humans. Heck, evertime Megatron got shot and went down injured, Starscreams' first words were "Megatron has fallen. I Starscream now lead!" Heck, he freakin' kicked Megatron after he went down in the animated movie and then left him for dead in empty space!!

Starscream would NEVER lead a team the decepticons to rescue Megatron!

And that's not even talking about the disgusting designs!

What a mess.

Don't forget:

Jabba wrote:Is that StarScream is so bad ass that people will want to buy t-shirts with him on it?

Murphy: That'd be giving away a couple of things that I'd rather not...

Jabba wrote:Has Bumblebee's character changed a lot since he's now a bad ass car and not a Volkswagon?

Murphy: Changed a lot? No. He's still very much the Bumblbee that we all know

Jabba wrote:So character wise Starscream is the most ruthless, humans are in the way, humans must be destroyed character.

Jabba wrote:Are there any Dinobots or Incepticons in the film?

Murphy: [Laughs] Well, as you know Scorponok is in it, but I don't believe that he's an Incepticon. Tom will know. When the writers and the director put this together they tried to put together a team that works for the movie, but again had characters that everyone was familiar with from the show and the comic.

Jabba wrote:In the movie no. In one of the drafts actually Roberto and Alex put in RC who is a later, like generation two or three scooter that transforms who was a female and it was interesting.

Pardon me, I have to vomit.

DM wrote:He's not a gun and that's not something that I'm going to give away at the moment, but he's definitely not a gun. He hasn't been a gun since G1.

Execpt for Classics and Masterpeice Megs.

DM wrote:Then he became a tank and then he became some sort of combat boat or a jet.

Combat boat...? Was that in Generation 3?

DM wrote:Megatron was the one from the beginning because he became a gun, and then they were like, 'Wait, we're selling guns to kids.' He's always been a different thing and he is a different thing in our movie too.

And then they were like "Wait US toy law prohibits selling realistic toy handguns so making Megatron a gun wouldn't make us as much money. Which I like. A lot."