Just got back from watching the Transformers with Yanni. To be honest, I really don't think I could have watched this movie and enjoyed it as much as I did with anyone but Yanni. See we both grew up watching and playing with the Transformers. We've had countless arguments about them , with them and because of them.
So what did I think of the movie? First off, this isn't a movie for everyone. Not everyone is going to appreciate the whole idea of transforming robots. If you're a guy in your mid to late 20s this movie was made for you and me. Classic lines like:
You've failed me once again Starscream.
Echo straight out of the cartoons we would watch on a Saturday morning. The story was adequate in that it chugged along and there was something there in-between the awe-inspiring action scenes. I don't usually get like this, but this movie was all about the robots, transforming and kicking the shit out of each other.
Forget the bullshit attempts at humour, I swear that asshole who tried to write the American Pie riff needs to be taken outside and given a good kicking. It had absolutely no place in this movie. I'm sure it was some toss-jockey producer saying that they need more humour in the movie. Some of the humour was done well, like with Bubblebee and his great music choices at the beginning of the movie.
Can someone explain the relevance of the Australian chick and the fat man? Comic relief and what exactly? Easily the most REDUNDANT characters I've ever seen in any movie. Also I've got to say that John Turturro's role was a tad bit annoying. I love John (Big Lebowski being his crowning achievement as far as I'm concerned) but what the hell was this role all about?
Anywho, enough about the peripheral characters, lets concentrate on the stars of this movie, namely the Autobots. It's great how they explained the whole morphing into cars and whatnot, that was very nicely done. What I didn't really care for was the whole product placement within the actual fekking movie. Was it really necessary to have the whole Ebay thing? Or every car being a GMC? Or what about Nokia being Japanese as well? Or the Pepto Bismol? I mean seriously great chunks of this movie was nothing more than one big advert.
However all of that disappeared, the second you saw Bubblebee transform into the newly supped up version of himself. Or Optimus Prime transforming for the first time. Starscream and Megatron transforming in mid air, combined with the sound effects and the music is enough to make you forget about all the short comings of the movie, because basically they COMPLETELY kicked it out of the whole theatre. I've never seen anything like that. It was meant to be larger than life and the effects delivered every step of the way.
Bring on the sequel.
It really was a great movie. Though I fit your description of the ideal audience, I'm sure that it was enjoyed by a much broader audience, especially with some of the more recently produced Transformers animated series.
As for the product placement, it initially got on my nerves long before the movie was even released, but I actually didn't mind it after seeing the film. Such product placement (if you would call it that) only serves to make the film more realistic. Real brands make a realistic world that we can relate to. You have to admit that the film would have felt a little bit less realistic if Sam was auctioning his Grandfather's glasses on "ReBay", if the Autobots transformed into prototype-ish cars from "Global Motors", if the cell phone was from "Sky Tech", or if Glenn had been sitting across from a bottle of "Pink Bismuth".
Now, it would be a completely different story if Sam had said something like, "Sure, Optimus, I'll help you save the world! But first, I need to drink an ice-cold Pepsi! Mmmm, that sure is good, and with the extra caffeine and guaranine in Pepsi X Energy Cola, I feel like I have the strength to take on Megatron by myself!" Now that's product placement!
Anywho, enough rambling! It's an awesome movie with some amazingly realistic Transformers, and it's time to go watch it again!
It was a pretty good movie, despite it's corny jokes and one liners. Special effects kicked ass and it was quite entertaining. Hopefully the sequel will be just as good.
And don't forget the new SP track in there ;) Doomsday Clock rocked it out when Bumblebee was getting towed by the hot Samantha Fox!! :D
Josh, I definitely noticed the song, but I wasn't 100% sure as it was just the music, but I was like, hang on a minute, I know that song (only just mind you but still). Cool to know you heard the same thing :)
Blogroll Dive: 7/16/07...
Here are the highlights from today’s Blogroll dive:
Michael discussed “the military voice in games”.
Khaled reviewed Transformers.
Joen shared more project management tips and techniques.
Sarah posted details on an upcoming chamber m...
i agree wit all the advertising. It got old fast, but regardless i love transformers and always have always will, so to me the movie was fuckn perfect.
GO TRANSFORMERS!
Good lord I hated this movie. I hated just about ever second of it. If I was watching this at home I would of turned off, I almost walked out of the movie but couldn't do it after paying $10 to get in.
Sure the special effects were good, but whenever a transformer was fighting it just looked like a huge pile of metal rolling around and you have no idea what was happening. Overall big disappointment.
Amen brother! I think they did everything they possibly could without trying to cram too much into it (like Mortal Kombat Annhialation). I thought the two main characters were pretty good. The kid was funny enough and the chick was soooooo freaking hot. Real easy on the eyes. And after a while you weren't really paying attention to the humans, anyway. Except for maybe her. I counted, less than ten minutes into the movie ( actually 8 mins and 36 secs., I got the DVD, shhhh) Blackout transforms and starts kicking the shit out of everything. No boring half hour of explanations. Explain it on the way to the next action sequence, that's what I say. I think Starscream's scenes by themselves were enough to justify the price of the movie ticket. And that big ass war at the end with ironhide dodging missles in slow motion. I ain't seen nothing like that since the matrix and the robots looked soooo fucking real it was disturbing. Steven Speilberg is a monster. Bring on the next one and the next one and the next one. It's like the x men and spiderman movies, as long as the stories stay fresh and they keep the action coming correct (as michael bay and his boy jerry bruckheimer always do) They'll make millions.....I mean millions more.