Seibertron.com Review for Transformers One: The Most Transformers Movie Ever
Sunday, September 15th, 2024 9:17PM CDT
Categories: Movie Related News, Reviews, Site Articles, EditorialsPosted by: william-james88 Views: 38,829
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It is very tough to assess if this is the best Transformers film. We have the 86 film which was literally as G1 as it can get, if you want to go by a purist standpoint. We have Bumblebee, which was a very well made film on a smaller scale and we had the 2007 Michael Bay film which did an amazing job at showing the potential of the Transformers franchise on the big screen, focusing on scale and spectacle.
Now we have Transformers One which gives us "EVERTHING" (said in the style of Gary Oldman from Leon The Professional). So does that make it the best film? Maybe the best Transformers film? Well definitely the MOST Transformers film.
If people wanted a whole film that was like the beginning of the Bumblebee movie, this is not far from it. The art style is a bit different, but aside from that your wishes come true. And it's even more brutal and violent than that Bumblebee opening. You know what, I'll say this: Transformers One is as brutal and violent as any Michael Bay film. The big difference here though is that those responsible for the brutality are the villains and not Optimus Prime.
Overall, the second trailer gives you a good idea of what is to be expected in the film, with a progression of D-16 and Orion Pax starting as miners and then ending up "evolving" twice in the film to finally end up as Megatron and Optimus Prime. And that is both a positive and a negative.
Positive-wise, it means the film accomplishes its mission of telling an origin story for not just these characters but for their factions too within just one hour and a half. Negative-wise, it means a lot of story beats are rushed. Optimus goes from a guy who doesn't really respect the rules to the Optimus Prime we know in a few days while Megatron also goes through a significant change in parallel. So take that as you wish. I personally would have wanted more time spent on this, but I also recognize how efficient the story telling is to convey all this in a short movie for all ages.
The conflict at hand was presented in a new way and is probably the best aspect of the movie. The writers found a very clever way for Orion Pax' and D-16's views and outlooks on their world to be completely changed and it's in how they react to these revelations that we see how they go on different paths, which are familiar to any Transformers fans. It's almost maddening how this "kids film" is more mature, lore heavy, and has more depth than any of the live action films.
I mention Orion Pax and D-16 a lot because the movie really does revolve around them. Bumblebee and Elita are more one dimensional but to be faire though, we've never had two compelling character arcs in a Transformers movie ever. And while less main, Bumblebee and Elita are a fine addition to the mix. Believe it or not, Bumblebee's more humoristic personality is explained as a product of his environment and the "Badassitron" line actually has a payoff. Generally, I didn't care for the humour but it didn't take away any enjoyment of the film for me; you could easily move on from what didn't land. I also want to mention Jon Hamm's Sentinel Prime who was an excellent version of the character and the bot that surprised me most. Oh and Steve Buscemi as Starscream worked well, even though he doesn't change his voice much.
In terms of animation, this is peak Transformers. I really loved seeing the characters use their alt modes as part of their fighting styles and specific moves, like converting just some parts to use them offensively and then converting back. As a longtime Transformers fan, this was a beauty to behold.
Speaking more about the plot and characters would dive into spoiler territory so I will end the review here by saying that this is a great Transformers film, probably the best, and I encourage all Transformers fans to give it a watch.
It gets 4 golden Rodimus stickers out of 5. While great overall there were some story beats that were too rushed for me, especially in the third act, and I felt that did take away some enjoyment.
We thank Supreme Convoy for the thumbnail
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Posted by Blastback on September 15th, 2024 @ 9:47pm CDT
And which producer was banned? Was it Murphy?
Posted by Sabrblade on September 15th, 2024 @ 9:50pm CDT
You ever read the initial reactions to Beast Wars that people had on ATT back in 1996? Madness. Absolute madness. And even throughout the show's run did some still whine that it wasn't like G1. Even when Starscream guest-starred and the Ark was found, it still wasn't enough for these people.-Kanrabat- wrote:william-james88 wrote:-Kanrabat- wrote:Sabrblade wrote:The way I see it, after seeing the movie for myself, the fans most likely to dislike this movie are those who feel strongly that The Transformers should be only ever be one particular way that should never be deviated from in their minds. Those with more open minds who are more accepting of different versions and different interpretations should easily be able to find this movie enjoyable.
I wasn't around when the original Bay 2007 movie was revealed and released. (I came back to the fandom only after ROTF.)
The shitshow in the forums must have been GLORIOUS.
lol, it was. It even got to the point that the owner of this site banned one of the producers.
Oh God, too bad I missed it.
Combing through old ATT posts, I found one where the user was asking why Rhinox brought Optimus Primal back to life in "Coming of the Fuzors" instead of bringing back the spark of a G1 Autobot like Optimus Prime or Ironhide. Like, seriously? Why wouldn't Rhinox want to bring back one of his best friends? This person really was so hellbent on seeing more G1 characters come back in Beast Wars that he'd rather the show had forsaken its lead protagonist in favor of GEEWUN fan service.
And then there were the outlandish initial reactions (or "overreactions") to Beast Machines, which still continue to crop up every now and then to this day.
Posted by Blastback on September 15th, 2024 @ 9:59pm CDT
Sabrblade wrote:You ever read the initial reactions to Beast Wars that people had on ATT back in 1996? Madness. Absolute madness. And even throughout the show's run did some still whine that it wasn't like G1. Even when Starscream guest-starred and the Ark was found, it still wasn't enough for these people.-Kanrabat- wrote:william-james88 wrote:-Kanrabat- wrote:Sabrblade wrote:The way I see it, after seeing the movie for myself, the fans most likely to dislike this movie are those who feel strongly that The Transformers should be only ever be one particular way that should never be deviated from in their minds. Those with more open minds who are more accepting of different versions and different interpretations should easily be able to find this movie enjoyable.
I wasn't around when the original Bay 2007 movie was revealed and released. (I came back to the fandom only after ROTF.)
The shitshow in the forums must have been GLORIOUS.
lol, it was. It even got to the point that the owner of this site banned one of the producers.
Oh God, too bad I missed it.
Combing through old ATT posts, I found one where the user was asking why Rhinox brought Optimus Primal back to life in "Coming of the Fuzors" instead of bringing back the spark of a G1 Autobot like Optimus Prime or Ironhide. Like, seriously? Why wouldn't Rhinox want to bring back one of his best friends? This person really was so hellbent on seeing more G1 characters come back in Beast Wars that he'd rather the show had forsaken its lead protagonist in favor of GEEWUN fan service.
And then there were the outlandish initial reactions (or "overreactions") to Beast Machines, which still continue to crop up every now and then to this day.
Some of that stuff is wild. I get not liking something, and certainly you have a right to critisise, (I didn't like the way Beast Machines handled Rhinox for example) but yeah. LIke the whole thing where people insist that that one writer said real hero's don't use guns, despite the fact that that's not what he said. Madness.
Posted by -Kanrabat- on September 15th, 2024 @ 10:08pm CDT
Sabrblade wrote:And then there were the outlandish initial reactions (or "overreactions") to Beast Machines, which still continue to crop up every now and then to this day.
As a casual fan, I was already used to the concept of multiple universes in TF for some time when I finally watched BW.
I found Beast Machines so bizarre and unnatural. Especially because for some reasons, the captured Megatron instantly conquered and transformed Cybertron so quickly and radically. As a direct sequel to Beast Wars, Beast Machines simply does not work.
But as its own closed universe, any and all plot holes become non-existent and everything works.
WFC already did some multiverse storytelling (I still have top see it( but I really want to see a series where Classic G1 bots meet and clashes with their Bayverse counterparts. And I mean the first trilogy Bayverse.
Posted by Sabrblade on September 15th, 2024 @ 10:16pm CDT
Wait, what?-Kanrabat- wrote:WFC already did some multiverse storytelling
Posted by -Kanrabat- on September 15th, 2024 @ 10:19pm CDT
Sabrblade wrote:Wait, what?-Kanrabat- wrote:WFC already did some multiverse storytelling
"G1" and BW got mixed in the same universe, or rather, the same time period.
It's not really "multiverse", but it's kinda it.
A genuine "multiverse" story would be if Legacy got an anime.
Posted by Sabrblade on September 15th, 2024 @ 10:27pm CDT
That was just time travel, just like in the old Beast Wars cartoon.-Kanrabat- wrote:Sabrblade wrote:Wait, what?-Kanrabat- wrote:WFC already did some multiverse storytelling
"G1" and BW got mixed in the same universe, or rather, the same time period.
It's not really "multiverse", but it's kinda it.
Posted by SkyFire Prime on September 15th, 2024 @ 11:23pm CDT
Posted by Sabrblade on September 15th, 2024 @ 11:25pm CDT
https://twitter.com/BlokeesOfficial/status/1835505030201586162
They're "Death Trackers".
Posted by cloudballoon on September 16th, 2024 @ 1:31am CDT
'86 will still be the most beloved of TF media, nothing can unseat my love for the voice casts and hand-drawn animation. But if TF:1 can unseat BBM & '07 for either #2/3, I couldn't be happier. Right off the bat I thought TF:1 was the right direction to take the franchise forward. With animation as the "bread and better" main events and standalone "character spotlight" movies like the BBM as supplemental side projects ( think Star Wars Sequels & the Rouge One/Solo movies as parallel).
I'm not even looking at '86 with rose-colored glasses of nostalgia. I didn't grow up with much access to G1 TV (and had 2 toys: Grimlock & Slag) & never saw the '86 movie until the 30th anniversary DVD came out. the '07 Bay movie was the came back to the franchise point and sinced I catch up on everything except the Japenese ones (thanks, YouTube, Tubi & Netflix... er... maybe not Netflix, LOL) for TV shows (still going through IDW, no access to Marvel/Dreamwave on the comics).
Posted by -Kanrabat- on September 16th, 2024 @ 4:43am CDT
Sabrblade wrote:That was just time travel, just like in the old Beast Wars cartoon.-Kanrabat- wrote:Sabrblade wrote:Wait, what?-Kanrabat- wrote:WFC already did some multiverse storytelling
"G1" and BW got mixed in the same universe, or rather, the same time period.
It's not really "multiverse", but it's kinda it.
Oh?
Because inside the cover of a Siege Select set (Space trooper or something) there was a map of all the planets and the "Beast planet" was one of them.
It is semantics but when one is travelling through space at ludicrous speed, they also time-travel. It's science.
Posted by ScottyP on September 16th, 2024 @ 7:27am CDT
The score and music have like 2 or 3 short cool parts and are otherwise entirely forgettable. To be fair to Brian Tyler, he was probably asked to make a score of Generic Drama Strings, but it feels like a missed opportunity to elevate a good movie even further. The end credits song was easily the most memorable thing.
Since it isn't on the internet for me to validate my ears, was the music during Alpha Trion's exposition dump about the Primes a riff on Jablonsky's score from RotF? It sounded familiar but this isn't an area where I trust myself to be correct.
Posted by william-james88 on September 16th, 2024 @ 9:04am CDT
ScottyP wrote:4.5/5 feels right. I might have gone with 4, but this is fine. It was a fun movie and imo, did its job of being a kids movie extremely well.
The score and music have like 2 or 3 short cool parts and are otherwise entirely forgettable. To be fair to Brian Tyler, he was probably asked to make a score of Generic Drama Strings, but it feels like a missed opportunity to elevate a good movie even further. The end credits song was easily the most memorable thing.
Since it isn't on the internet for me to validate my ears, was the music during Alpha Trion's exposition dump about the Primes a riff on Jablonsky's score from RotF? It sounded familiar but this isn't an area where I trust myself to be correct.
Yeah I was between 4 and 4.5. The score was definitely weak, I agree, nothing too memorable. People say they heard the score from the Prime show but I didn't. And I didn't hear Jablonksy score, but to be fair the only thing I think I'd recognize would be his Arrival track.
Blastback wrote:I'm liking what I'm hearing, er reading. Looking foward to seeing it.
And which producer was banned? Was it Murphy?
I think so, but am not 100% sure. This was before my time here.
Posted by Sabrblade on September 16th, 2024 @ 10:43am CDT
Don't know what that is, but the WFC cartoon went with the old "Maximals and Predacons travel back in time from Cybertron in the far future" that Beast Wars originally did. Guess you really do need to watch it, so that, if nothing else, you can know what all really happens in it and can form your own opinion of it (or, to also use it as a point of reference for how not to make a Transformers series whenever someone comes along and says they want "no humor" in Transformers).-Kanrabat- wrote:Sabrblade wrote:That was just time travel, just like in the old Beast Wars cartoon.-Kanrabat- wrote:Sabrblade wrote:Wait, what?-Kanrabat- wrote:WFC already did some multiverse storytelling
"G1" and BW got mixed in the same universe, or rather, the same time period.
It's not really "multiverse", but it's kinda it.
Oh?
Because inside the cover of a Siege Select set (Space trooper or something) there was a map of all the planets and the "Beast planet" was one of them.
Posted by Supreme Convoy on September 16th, 2024 @ 11:20am CDT
william-james88 wrote:Supreme Convoy wrote:I thought Transformers One was fun!
I was basically that Rick Dalton meme throughout the movie.
Amazing, using that for the review cover.
Ha! Glad folks like it.
Posted by ScottyP on September 16th, 2024 @ 12:26pm CDT
Yep, it was Murphy. Ancient history!william-james88 wrote:Blastback wrote:I'm liking what I'm hearing, er reading. Looking foward to seeing it.
And which producer was banned? Was it Murphy?
I think so, but am not 100% sure. This was before my time here.
Posted by Sabrblade on September 17th, 2024 @ 9:10am CDT
Posted by #1 Signal Lancer fan on September 17th, 2024 @ 10:32am CDT
I guess Sentinel Prime's role in this movie could be a big tell given what we know about his character from DotM.
Posted by Sabrblade on September 17th, 2024 @ 10:57am CDT
This will be easier to discuss once everyone has seen the movie, but for now I can say for certain that this movie is impossible to fit with either ROTF or DOTM. A sequel could potentially tie it back in with the 2007 movie at the very least, and possibly with Bumblebee and ROTB, but it's completely irreconcilable with the sequel films.#1 Signal Lancer fan wrote:Do we know one way or another at this point if this is in-continuity with the live action movies? My guess would be it's not, but I haven't been able to find a confirmed answer online.
I guess Sentinel Prime's role in this movie could be a big tell given what we know about his character from DotM.
Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura keeps giving conflicting information about this movie's relation to the live-action movies. For the longest time he kept saying it was a prequel to the live-action films, but then in a September 12 article on ComicBook.com, he said "I think it'd be really hard and complicated to have a direct link [to the live-action movies]," and "You want to do something different, and you also see where it can be successful. I think that's where the two universes help each other. You can see what works, and you can do that in either one. The fun of it for me, as a filmmaker, is keeping them separate."
This makes TF One sound like a separate continuity altogether. BUT THEN, in an article on ScreenRant that was published today, this was stated:
Screen Rant: Is Transformers One considered a prequel to the recent movies of Bumblebee and Rise of the Beast or the original live-action film starting in 2007? Or is it something completely, entirely new?
Lorenzo di Bonaventura: It obviously exists beforehand. I think we figured it out. It was like 300 million years before the first Michael Bay movie, so if that's a prequel, that's a prequel. But we're really following the lore about where it starts, and so we really just think about it as the beginning of the story. The origin, yes, but literally the beginning of the thing that we've all come to appreciate.
Make up you mind, Lorenzo!
At the moment, the 2007 movie seems to occupy two separate timelines: a "Sequel continuity" (2007 + ROTF to TLK) and a "Prequel continuity" (2007 + BB & ROTB), with TLK being the problematic one keeping all seven films from fitting together neatly.
Depending on what future developments are made by later movies, we could end up with any of the following situations:
- The films could continue on their respective paths with the current status quo of the live-action sequels, the live-action prequels, and TF One and its sequels all remaining separate from each other (this option feels the most likely to happen).
- A TF One sequel could work to reconnect it back with the 2007 movie and its two prequels, while remaining distinct from the live-action Sequel Continuity.
- A new live-action movie could jump through hoops to try and reconcile Bumblebee and ROTB with the live-action sequel movies, TLK included, leaving TF One and its sequels unable to reconnect with any of the live-action films at all.
- A combination of the second and third options, which would mean 2007, Bumblebee, and ROTB would occupy two timelines, one with the sequels (BB-ROTB-2007-ROTF-DOTM-AOE-TLK) and one with TF One (One-BB-ROTB-2007). This, however, is the messiest option, so we can only hope that this option does not happen.
Posted by ScottyP on September 17th, 2024 @ 12:16pm CDT
DotM is the one big major problem. Without giving anything away, there are two major points of conflict, and one of those is even still a big issue even taking the continuity loosely and in broad strokes.#1 Signal Lancer fan wrote:Do we know one way or another at this point if this is in-continuity with the live action movies? My guess would be it's not, but I haven't been able to find a confirmed answer online.
I guess Sentinel Prime's role in this movie could be a big tell given what we know about his character from DotM.
If you really dive into the details, TF One is its own thing right now. Probably has more in common with Aligned continuity than anything, but also borrows ideas from G1, Cybertron/Galaxy Force and others.
In other words, it's like Bumblebee and RotB. If you want it to count, don't think too hard about it (or at all, the producers didn't) and ignore one major thing with "eh something else happens later that we don't know about yet". If you don't want it to be in continuity, ok, you can assume it isn't and it won't impact your enjoyment.
Posted by #1 Signal Lancer fan on September 17th, 2024 @ 2:18pm CDT
ScottyP wrote:but also borrows ideas from G1, Cybertron/Galaxy Force and others.
The Cybertron/Galaxy Force bit is exciting. While I recognize how flawed it is, Cybertron is one of my favorite Transformers cartoons.
Posted by Sabrblade on September 17th, 2024 @ 4:10pm CDT
Having seen the movie myself, I'm honestly not quite sure what Scotty is referring to, specifically, in regards to the movie borrowing from Cybertron. Sure, there might be something in there, but I don't recall anything major from it being in the movie.#1 Signal Lancer fan wrote:ScottyP wrote:but also borrows ideas from G1, Cybertron/Galaxy Force and others.
The Cybertron/Galaxy Force bit is exciting. While I recognize how flawed it is, Cybertron is one of my favorite Transformers cartoons.
Posted by ScottyP on September 17th, 2024 @ 4:16pm CDT
It is very quick, temper expectations Signal Lancer! Sabr - Big Primus robot mode for Cybertron is what I was alluding to.Sabrblade wrote:Having seen the movie myself, I'm honestly not quite sure what Scotty is referring to, specifically, in regards to the movie borrowing from Cybertron. Sure, there might be something in there, but I don't recall anything major from it being in the movie.#1 Signal Lancer fan wrote:ScottyP wrote:but also borrows ideas from G1, Cybertron/Galaxy Force and others.
The Cybertron/Galaxy Force bit is exciting. While I recognize how flawed it is, Cybertron is one of my favorite Transformers cartoons.
Posted by Sabrblade on September 17th, 2024 @ 4:20pm CDT
Oh, that. Yeah, I can see that as a Cybertron reference.ScottyP wrote:It is very quick, temper expectations Signal Lancer! Sabr - Big Primus robot mode for Cybertron is what I was alluding to.Sabrblade wrote:Having seen the movie myself, I'm honestly not quite sure what Scotty is referring to, specifically, in regards to the movie borrowing from Cybertron. Sure, there might be something in there, but I don't recall anything major from it being in the movie.#1 Signal Lancer fan wrote:ScottyP wrote:but also borrows ideas from G1, Cybertron/Galaxy Force and others.
The Cybertron/Galaxy Force bit is exciting. While I recognize how flawed it is, Cybertron is one of my favorite Transformers cartoons.
Posted by Sabrblade on September 17th, 2024 @ 4:57pm CDT
Posted by First-Aid on September 17th, 2024 @ 5:07pm CDT
Sabrblade wrote:On a different note, Paramount has uploaded one final trailer for TF One:
I think I peed myself a little....
Posted by Sabrblade on September 17th, 2024 @ 5:29pm CDT
Then you'd better do some beverage fasting on the day you go see the movie. Having seen it myself, you won't wanna take a potty break during it.First-Aid wrote:I think I peed myself a little....
Posted by Rodimus Prime on September 18th, 2024 @ 2:09pm CDT
The visuals are great, but the music was $hit. Nonetheless, I'm excited to see it.First-Aid wrote:Sabrblade wrote:On a different note, Paramount has uploaded one final trailer for TF One:
I think I peed myself a little....
And Sabrblade, as for your separate continuities theory, it doesn't work. The 2007 movie can't be a part of both. It exists, and if the sequels don't add up with the prequels, there has to be a cut off point. Personally, I think RoTB is the one that doesn't belong. Bumblebee could be worked as a prequel, especially if there was another one that was set in the 90s that connected it to the 2007 film. Instead we got the utter failure that was RoTB.
As for the sequels, if there was 1 more to finish the 2nd trilogy, maybe they could all be put in line together, despite TLK's failure as well.
Posted by william-james88 on September 18th, 2024 @ 2:24pm CDT
#1 Signal Lancer fan wrote:Do we know one way or another at this point if this is in-continuity with the live action movies?
It's not. As others have said, there are events here that are truly impossible to remedy with the live action films. Even TLK can still be explained with the other live action films if they want to now that the writers gave us the transwarp key that can be found throughout space and time (meaning Unicron can co exist as an entity trying to destroy earth while also being hidden within the earth).
But TF One cannot. The concept of the Primes from both continuities is just too different to reconcile.
Sabrblade wrote:On a different note, Paramount has uploaded one final trailer for TF One:
Very weird that they are asking D-16 where Optimus Prime is.
Sabrblade wrote:Oh, that. Yeah, I can see that as a Cybertron reference.
There's another reference to a Cybertron character's design. vector prime
Posted by #1 Signal Lancer fan on September 18th, 2024 @ 2:31pm CDT
Rodimus Prime wrote:Personally, I think RoTB is the one that doesn't belong. Bumblebee could be worked as a prequel, especially if there was another one that was set in the 90s that connected it to the 2007 film. Instead we got the utter failure that was RoTB.
Bumblebee doesn't work all that well with the 2007 film, and its sequels, either.
The most notable inconsistencies:
- The film establishes that Bumblebee first arrived on Earth in 1987, when TLK had him arriving much sooner.
- Neither the Autobots or Decepticons are aware of or searching for the Allspark on Earth. Sector 7 also implies that they are meeting the Transformers for the first time, but they should already have Megatron in custody.
- Optimus Prime and the other Autobots arrive on Earth at the end of the movie, and Optimus has scanned an Earth vehicle, which contradicts him arriving in 2007 and scanning a different Earth vehicle. TLK also depicts Optimus as having been on Earth way earlier than the 80s, as far back as 1815.
So, to make Bumblebee, the 2007 movie, and TLK fit, the Autobots would need to have:
- Arrived on Earth way in the past and left at some point prior to 1987
- Return in 1987, unaware of the Allspark's presence
- Leave Earth again in the 20 years between Bumblebee and 2007 (Other than Bumblebee, he can stay. But he needs to scan a different Camaro by 2007).
- Discover the Allspark and Megatron are, coincidentally, on Earth this whole time and return to Earth.
Posted by Sabrblade on September 18th, 2024 @ 2:34pm CDT
Counterpoint: the Beast Wars and Beast Machines cartoons exist within multiple continuities. You got the 3H/Fun Pub BW universe, the Japanese G1 cartoon universe, the Dreamwave G1 comics universe, the 2006 IDW BW comics universe, Fun Pub's Wings Universe, and possibly even the Devil's Due G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers continuity.Rodimus Prime wrote:And Sabrblade, as for your separate continuities theory, it doesn't work. The 2007 movie can't be a part of both.
Posted by william-james88 on September 18th, 2024 @ 2:37pm CDT
I lay all that out so that you understand how significant the lower budget for Transformers One is. Deadline has published that the budget is a very modest $75 Million. That is by far the lowest production budget ever for a Transformers movie distributed by Paramount. And that's before accounting for any inflation.
This means that it will take a lot less tickets sales to render the film profitable. If this low cost does indeed lead to a high profit, this could be the future of the franchise, theatrically speaking. We will keep an eye out on the gross of the film in the weeks to come and keep you in the know.
Posted by Sabrblade on September 18th, 2024 @ 2:40pm CDT
That can easily be chalked up to its existence on Earth having not been detected there yet.#1 Signal Lancer fan wrote:- Neither the Autobots or Decepticons are aware of or searching for the Allspark on Earth.
There was a deleted scene from the movie that showed that they did already have Megatron in their custody, which would mean that not every member of Sector 7 was aware of that, with only the higher-ups in Sector 7 knowing and keeping Megatron classified need-to-know intel.#1 Signal Lancer fan wrote:Sector 7 also implies that they are meeting the Transformers for the first time, but they should already have Megatron in custody.
There's still time between ROTB and 2007 for the Autobots (sans Bumblebee) to leave Earth and discard their Earth altmodes in the interim. We just need another movie to provide both a means and a reason for them to leave.#1 Signal Lancer fan wrote:- Optimus Prime and the other Autobots arrive on Earth at the end of the movie, and Optimus has scanned an Earth vehicle, which contradicts him arriving in 2007 and scanning a different Earth vehicle.
Both the directors of BB and ROTB have stated their intentions to at least keep the 2007 movie in mind, but not so much its sequels.
These films are no stranger to such coincidences, as the first five films made Earth coincidentally be:#1 Signal Lancer fan wrote:- Discover the Allspark and Megatron are, coincidentally, on Earth this whole time and return to Earth.
- The planet that the AllSpark and Megatron happened to land on.
- The planet that The Fallen's star harvester happened to be built on.
- The planet that Megatron and Sentinel Prime happened to agree to conquer and enslave when they made their deal with each other long ago.
- The planet the Creators happened to drop a Seed on in prehistoric times.
- The planet the Guardian Knights happened to bring the Staff of Merlin to and hide there.
Posted by william-james88 on September 18th, 2024 @ 2:41pm CDT
#1 Signal Lancer fan wrote:So, to make Bumblebee, the 2007 movie, and TLK fit, the Autobots would need to have:
- Arrived on Earth way in the past and left at some point prior to 1987
- Return in 1987, unaware of the Allspark's presence
- Leave Earth again in the 20 years between Bumblebee and 2007 (Other than Bumblebee, he can stay. But he needs to scan a different Camaro by 2007).
- Discover the Allspark and Megatron are, coincidentally, on Earth this whole time and return to Earth.
This proves that all those films can indeed work together. It's super contrived (which was your point) but it still can work.
And then we have ROTB with Unicron which derails everthing. BUT it also gives us the transwarp key that can be plucked from any previous time and eventually be used to defeat unicron by having him get trapped by sending him back billions of years ago into our earth as it is forming.
Once again, super contrived, but not impossible.
Posted by kurthy on September 18th, 2024 @ 3:37pm CDT
Posted by #1 Signal Lancer fan on September 18th, 2024 @ 3:42pm CDT
william-james88 wrote: If this low cost does indeed lead to a high profit, this could be the future of the franchise, theatrically speaking.
I haven't seen the movie yet, but I've been hoping this for a while now. I've seen a lot of people say that this is one of the best things to come out of the franchise in a while, and even though I haven't seen it, its not hard to see why.
1. It's character-driven and the Transformers are fleshed-out, dynamic characters. This is a big complaint a lot of people, myself included, have had with many of the live action films
2. It's family friendly, but not geared primarily towards children. Yes, Transformers is a franchise with a lot of appeal to kids, but it also has a lot of adult fans. This feels like the first project since Animated that is geared towards both audience simultaneously, rather than being aimed at kids (Earthspark, Cyberverse, RID 2015) or aimed at more mature audiences (Prime, WFC Trilogy, live action movies).
As someone who has felt starved for good Transformers media (comics excluded) since Prime ended, I hope this movie is successful enough for Hasbro and Paramount to lean into.
Posted by #1 Signal Lancer fan on September 18th, 2024 @ 3:45pm CDT
Sabrblade wrote:These films are no stranger to such coincidences, as the first five films made Earth coincidentally be:
- The planet that the AllSpark and Megatron happened to land on.
- The planet that The Fallen's star harvester happened to be built on.
- The planet that Megatron and Sentinel Prime happened to agree to conquer and enslave when they made their deal with each other long ago.
- The planet the Creators happened to drop a Seed on in prehistoric times.
- The planet the Guardian Knights happened to bring the Staff of Merlin to and hide there.
When you spell it all out like that, that's a lot of coincidence.
Given the whole "Earth is Unicron" plot element of TLK, I wonder if there could be some sort of "Cybertronians are drawn to Earth because of Unicron" explanation
Posted by chuckdawg1999 on September 18th, 2024 @ 4:22pm CDT
Posted by Glyph on September 18th, 2024 @ 4:31pm CDT
I can leave the obsessive continuity gap-filling to the Star Wars guys (OK, and the Japanese G1 guys, I suppose), and not get bothered at all that things look like they should fit together until you examine a single detail. *twitch*
--ETA--
#1 Signal Lancer Fan wrote:I haven't seen the movie yet, but I've been hoping this for a while now. I've seen a lot of people say that this is one of the best things to come out of the franchise in a while, and even though I haven't seen it, its not hard to see why.william-james88 wrote:If this low cost does indeed lead to a high profit, this could be the future of the franchise, theatrically speaking.
TBH I hope this too. Good animation isn't cheap, but it's cheaper than ILM VFX and does help to ground the films in the family-friendly bracket where I tend to find on-screen TF works best, rather than trying to take itself way too seriously as a big-budget action thriller. (Yes, yes, animation is a medium, not a genre; I'm making allowances for Hollywood thinking. And there's space for serious stories too, but I feel comics are a better home for those.)
If TF:One does well and sets up a future of well-produced animated TF films, I'll be a happy camper.
Posted by First-Aid on September 18th, 2024 @ 5:18pm CDT
chuckdawg1999 wrote:It's all one giant Multiverse that will culminate in a giant crossover that will see the Transformers evolve into Go-Bots.
...and fight Thanos!
Posted by cloudballoon on September 18th, 2024 @ 5:43pm CDT
So it's good news that the early reviews seems to indicate it's a great movie and the buzz & hype around it seems like a thing too.
My only concern about it is that the Bot designs aren't great. Too same-y with OP, Megs, Elita-1 as main cast along with all the miner types (see the Iacon race scene & Blokees model kits). I like Bee, Alpha Trion & Sentinel though. So I hope the toy sales go well for Hasbro so the company can turn things around. Really widh TF:1 can help with the franchise's longevity.
I never really cared for Bay style action "spectacle" in the first place, non-sense Bay-bay-bay-plosions!!! is just not stimulating to me (that said, it's still better then Superheroes fights - when punches & kicks that cause massive environmental damage means nothing to the heroes/villain physically, I feel nothing.) and combine THAT with non-sense plot and unlikeable characters, I'm just not interested to experience it in the theatre and only worth a rental.
For live-action, I only love BBM, and that's because it gives me that '80's E.T. vibe that Spielberg was great at. '07 was OK because of its shock & awe value of what a live-action TF can be and deserves massive credit for it. But without that rose-colored glasses of nostalgia, it was just an OK blockbuster with nothing to love on repeat viewings.
So if Paramount learns any lessons, I hope it's that develop the Animation side as the main events, and the live action as side projects (go smaller, focus on plots).
Posted by Rodimus Prime on September 18th, 2024 @ 5:44pm CDT
Yeah and it's a non-linear mess. For most of us fans it's probably acceptable because we're used to it, but try to explain it to the average moviegoer who just wants to watch all relevant parts of the story. It's confusing.Sabrblade wrote:Counterpoint: the Beast Wars and Beast Machines cartoons exist within multiple continuities. You got the 3H/Fun Pub BW universe, the Japanese G1 cartoon universe, the Dreamwave G1 comics universe, the 2006 IDW BW comics universe, Fun Pub's Wings Universe, and possibly even the Devil's Due G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers continuity.Rodimus Prime wrote:And Sabrblade, as for your separate continuities theory, it doesn't work. The 2007 movie can't be a part of both.
As for Bee being here during WW2 in TLK and showing up in 1987 afterwards for "the 1st time" it would be easy to explain it with transwarp technology in a sequel to Bumblebee if we had gotten a capable story from a creative team that cared about the franchise instead of what we got with RoTB.
Posted by chuckdawg1999 on September 18th, 2024 @ 6:06pm CDT
First-Aid wrote:chuckdawg1999 wrote:It's all one giant Multiverse that will culminate in a giant crossover that will see the Transformers evolve into Go-Bots.
...and fight Thanos!
Well, that's all they have. Kang or Doom would make more sense.
Posted by Sabrblade on September 18th, 2024 @ 6:31pm CDT
Without spoiling anything, there is an in-story reason for that.cloudballoon wrote:My only concern about it is that the Bot designs aren't great. Too same-y with OP, Megs, Elita-1 as main cast along with all the miner types (see the Iacon race scene & Blokees model kits).
Funnily enough, that "80's E.T. vibe" is the reason we got radio-speak Bumblebee in the first place. Spielberg wanted recapture the magic of E.T. by having Bumblebee be the human leads alien sidekick who doesn't speak much, like how E.T. was. In fact, Spielberg originally wanted none of the Transformers to speak at all, which is why most of the Decepticons' dialogue in that movie is in a subtitled alien language. For once, this is a case where Spielberg did not have a good idea.cloudballoon wrote:For live-action, I only love BBM, and that's because it gives me that '80's E.T. vibe that Spielberg was great at.
Yep, all because multiple disparate parties want to play in the same sandbox but not with each other.Rodimus Prime wrote:Yeah and it's a non-linear mess. For most of us fans it's probably acceptable because we're used to it, but try to explain it to the average moviegoer who just wants to watch all relevant parts of the story. It's confusing.Sabrblade wrote:Counterpoint: the Beast Wars and Beast Machines cartoons exist within multiple continuities. You got the 3H/Fun Pub BW universe, the Japanese G1 cartoon universe, the Dreamwave G1 comics universe, the 2006 IDW BW comics universe, Fun Pub's Wings Universe, and possibly even the Devil's Due G.I. Joe vs. the Transformers continuity.Rodimus Prime wrote:And Sabrblade, as for your separate continuities theory, it doesn't work. The 2007 movie can't be a part of both.
The same thing also happened with the first three movies, leading them to occupy multiple continuities too. 2007/ROTF/DOTM exist in a main movie universe with AOE and TLK, in an expanded universe with the IDW movie comics/the "Ghosts of Yesterday" novel/"The Veiled Threat" novel/the Cyber Missions web cartoon/the Classified novel trilogy/and a few other things, and in a UK-original expanded universe with the comics published in Titan Magazine plus AOE again.
Posted by Glyph on September 18th, 2024 @ 7:10pm CDT
chuckdawg1999 wrote:Well, that's all they have. Kang or Doom would make more sense.First-Aid wrote:...and fight Thanos!chuckdawg1999 wrote:It's all one giant Multiverse that will culminate in a giant crossover that will see the Transformers evolve into Go-Bots.
I guess we still need Disney to buy Hasbro so that we can get Circuit Breaker back, re-release issue #3 and finally settle Unicron vs Galactus...
Rodimus Prime wrote:Yeah and it's a non-linear mess. For most of us fans it's probably acceptable because we're used to it, but try to explain it to the average moviegoer who just wants to watch all relevant parts of the story. It's confusing.
"So this movie calls back to these other things, you can watch them if you want to get the references but you don't need to, it's not really a series, they're all just kinda doing their own thing. Don't worry about it."
Posted by cloudballoon on September 18th, 2024 @ 7:38pm CDT
Sabrblade wrote:Without spoiling anything, there is an in-story reason for that.cloudballoon wrote:My only concern about it is that the Bot designs aren't great. Too same-y with OP, Megs, Elita-1 as main cast along with all the miner types (see the Iacon race scene & Blokees model kits).
One of the trailer said "they were brothers" so my guess is that they're functionist miners and made the same along with many others, and they're in a lower cast so that's why when Elita-1 saw OP & Megs in the Iacon race she was so surprised & excited and called on all miners (sort of brethens?) to watch the race. That's my guest.
Note that I'm not saying the designs are BAD, the never-skipped-legs-day design is a problem and I'm OK with it really, it's just that I want a lot more body variations on a shelf. That's why the toy buying urge might be dampened for me on this toyline.
But Bee is a winner. I said it before that this is the best looking Bee ever for me.
Still, I haven't looked forward to a TF movie as TF:1 since '07.
Posted by Sabrblade on September 18th, 2024 @ 11:52pm CDT
IDW's last reprint volumes of the Marvel G1 comics included issue #3 in all its Symbiote Spidey glory, and remastered to boot.Glyph wrote:chuckdawg1999 wrote:Well, that's all they have. Kang or Doom would make more sense.First-Aid wrote:...and fight Thanos!chuckdawg1999 wrote:It's all one giant Multiverse that will culminate in a giant crossover that will see the Transformers evolve into Go-Bots.
I guess we still need Disney to buy Hasbro so that we can get Circuit Breaker back, re-release issue #3 and finally settle Unicron vs Galactus...
Without spoiling anything, that's just a reference to their friendship. The Aligned backstory lore that's become the standard backstory lore for several modern versions of Transformers fiction established Optimus and Megatron as former friends who were once as close as brothers before falling out and becoming sworn enemies. It stemmed from a line spoken by Optimus in the 2007 movie after Megatron was killed by Sam shoving the AllSpark in his chest: "You left me no choice, brother." Then the Prime cartoon had Optimus describe Megatron as "someone I once considered a brother". It's less literal siblings and more of a close bond of friendship.cloudballoon wrote:One of the trailer said "they were brothers"
cloudballoon wrote:it's just that I want a lot more body variations on a shelf.
Posted by Sabrblade on September 19th, 2024 @ 12:51am CDT
This, I feel, stems from the fact that it's an animated Hollywood movie in general. Historically, animated Hollywood films have tended to be kept under 2 hours in length, as it seems there's still a belief in Hollywood that "casual moviegoers won't want to sit through a 2-hour cartoon", rooted in that age-old belief that live-action is better than animation because "live-action is for adults/matured audiences while animation is for children/losers/stupid people".william-james88 wrote:Positive-wise, it means the film accomplishes its mission of telling an origin story for not just these characters but for their factions too within just one hour and a half. Negative-wise, it means a lot of story beats are rushed. Optimus goes from a guy who doesn't really respect the rules to the Optimus Prime we know in a few days while Megatron also goes through a significant change in parallel. So take that as you wish. I personally would have wanted more time spent on this, but I also recognize how efficient the story telling is to convey all this in a short movie for all ages.
Looking at Wikipedia's list of longest animated films, the vast majority of films on the list are Asian in origin (Japan, China, Russia, India), and of the films listed as exceeding 2 hours in length, only seven are from the United States. And of those seven, four of them are independent movies. Of the remaining three, two of them weren't fully animated films, as Ralph Bakshi's Lord of the Rings used a hybrid of animation with live-action rotoscoping, while Disney's Fantasia had plenty of live-action segments interspersed between its animated short segments. This leaves only one US film on that list that was completely animated and longer than two hours, that being Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which was itself a big gamble of a film leaving itself on such a massive cliffhanger, but which it could better pull off after having had such a successful preceding Spider-Verse film to help boost its own chances of success.
So, Transformers One being an animated Hollywood film was always gonna have an uphill battle in making its runtime be as long as it could be.
Posted by Big Grim on September 19th, 2024 @ 5:54am CDT
#1 Signal Lancer fan wrote:As someone who has felt starved for good Transformers media (comics excluded) since Prime ended, I hope this movie is successful enough for Hasbro and Paramount to lean into.
Gods, I miss Prime. I don't understand why these shows aren't easy to get on Blu-Ray. I prefer a physical copy of stuff like this because when they disappear from streamers (as Prime has) there's no means of watching it. (It's why I want a boxset of netflix Voltron as well.).
Lookin' forward to ONE. While I will probably always prefer the IDW version of Pax the cop and Megatron the Miner come revolutionary, I will always welcome new ideas. I learnt my lesson after watching Beast Wars years (and years and YEARS!) ago thanks to AlexKingdom and finding that it was *gasp* GOOD?!?
~ Grim
Posted by william-james88 on September 19th, 2024 @ 9:42am CDT
Big Grim wrote:Gods, I miss Prime. I don't understand why these shows aren't easy to get on Blu-Ray. I prefer a physical copy of stuff like this because when they disappear from streamers (as Prime has) there's no means of watching it. (It's why I want a boxset of netflix Voltron as well.).
Lookin' forward to ONE. While I will probably always prefer the IDW version of Pax the cop and Megatron the Miner come revolutionary, I will always welcome new ideas. I learnt my lesson after watching Beast Wars years (and years and YEARS!) ago thanks to AlexKingdom and finding that it was *gasp* GOOD?!?
~ Grim
No joke, of all TF content, the one that feels most similar to this film is the Prime show. Very much for kids, but with lots of nice lore for longtime fans.
I do find it cute how the film has a predictable twist for adults but something that could be mindblowing for a 6-8 year old.