Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - Grading & Discussion

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by Agent Richard07, Jun 17, 2009.

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Grade the movie...

  1. Excellent

    10.2%
  2. Above Average

    21.6%
  3. Average

    28.4%
  4. Below Average

    17.0%
  5. Poor

    22.7%
  1. Hartzilla2007

    Hartzilla2007 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Basically there Transformers with either a human altmode (Autobots) or some freaky mutant altmode (Decepticons), also its what the Decepticon terminator chick was.
     
  2. captcalhoun

    captcalhoun Admiral Admiral

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    not quite...

    Pretenders are Transformers that have an outer 'shell' that they can use. originally, it was a flesh shell that was either human looking - but like 35' tall - or a monsterous creature for the Autobots and 'cons (as Hart said), but later Pretenders also had animal shells (the so-called Pretender Beasts), vehicles (the Pretender Vehicles), or even a shell that could transform and the Ultra Pretenders had two shells.

    Alice was a 'tribute' to the Pretenders, but since she actually transformed from flesh and blood to a robot, she wasn't a Pretender per se.

    http://transformers.wikia.com/wiki/Pretenders
     
  3. God Magnus

    God Magnus Commodore Commodore

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    It can be argued that Alice is much closer to the Japanese interpretation of Pretenders. Whereas in the US and Europe Pretenders had "outer shells" with a robot inside acting as an independent unit, in Japan the Pretenders were human sized and looked human in every way (down to civilian clothing) but when the needed to they would "become" the robot rather than split open and reveal one.
     
  4. Aurian

    Aurian Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Saw the movie yesterday, and it was average... not bad, but not fantastic.. my twinsister actually left to catch a train since she could not finish watching it lol
     
  5. Marie1

    Marie1 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Cool, guys!! Thanks (and thanks for the link!)
     
  6. IcecreamLtDan

    IcecreamLtDan Captain Captain

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    Having been to this museum numerous times, I can shed some light on this. While technically, it is the air and space museum, it's actually the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. It's adjacent to Washington Dulles international airport and is close enough that calling it Washington D.C. is understandable, it's only a few miles away. They obviously filmed the interior shots in the museum itself, it's exactly how it appears in the movie. Of course, last I checked, the SR-71 is still very much there. One difference that stood out to me though, I don't remember a bathroom being at the entrance to the area where the space shuttle Enterprise is. Of course, I may be wrong on that. This museum is basically a satellite museum of the Smithsonian air and space museum that is in downtown Washington.

    Also, there is no desert outside that end door. There is no aircraft graveyard out there also. There's actually probably not enough room to put one there, the museum is located between the flight path of the two runways. It's been since the late 80's since I've been to Davis-Monthan AFB, but it appears the graveyard shots are from there. I noticed the C-130 in the background had Pope AFB markings, that's only relevant to me as Pope was located in Fayetteville, N.C. where I'm from and was closed just a few years ago.

     
  7. Hober Mallow

    Hober Mallow Commodore Commodore

    I have to say, of all the Transformers origin stories, I think I like the G1 cartoon version the least -- even less than the Bay movie backstory. In the original comic, the Transformers were created by Primus, who was a giant good robot god from another dimension battling the evil god Unicron. If I remember right, they each crashed into an asteroid. They fused with each asteroid, and Unicron got his planet alt mode while Primus became Cybertron. The purpose of the Transformers was the battle Unicron.

    In the cartoon, the Transformers were simply products created by an evil group of five-faced tentacled aliens called Quintessons. They were built on Cybertron, the Quintessons' robot factory. The Decepticons were military hardware, the Autobots consumer goods. They revolted and drove the Quints off Cybertron, then the military robots decided to conquer all.

    Even the movie backstory of the TFs -- what we know of it so far -- is better than having goofy-looking evil aliens being their creators. I'm a TF fan from childhood, but as far as I'm concerned, the less of the cartoon backstory they use, the better.

    Re: Pretenders, this was probably the second dumbest gimick of the G1 era. The backstory of the Pretenders for the toys (they never appeared on the cartoon) was that they needed to disguise themselves as humans. The only problem is that they hide inside these super fat 50' tall human shells, so it kinda made no sense. The one cool thing about the Pretenders is that they included newer versions of older characters that were no longer available in stores like Jazz, Bumblebee, and Grimlock.

    The dumbest of all, backstory-wise, has to be the Action Masters. They were Transformers that didn't transform into anything. While they were pretty cool looking figures, and more poseable than most regular figures, the backstory made even less sense than the Pretenders' backstory. On the commercial, Optimus Prime has assembled his troops and announced that to win the war against the Decepticons, "We must give up the art of transforming." Say whah? Why don't we just give up our weapons while we're at it, Optimus? Hasbro wasn't putting a tremendous amount of thought into that last line of G1 products.

    EDIT: To those who were offended by the twins, evidently Orci and Kurtzman share your pain.

     
    Last edited: Jul 12, 2009
  8. Trekker4747

    Trekker4747 Boldly going... Premium Member

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    IIRC, however, the exterior they show of the museum they go to is of the A&SM in "downtown" DC.
     
  9. God Magnus

    God Magnus Commodore Commodore

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    Actually, in the toy line the backstory for Action Masters is that Energon has become almost completely exhausted and the Transformers had to find a new power source. The new power source was called Nucleon. It never ran out, but it forced all the transformation systems in a Cybertronian's body to become reactors to keep the Nucleon going. The side effect however was the loss of transformation ability. The commercial just put that dramatic spin on it with Prime asking "Who will join me?!" etc.

    In the comic book, Nucleon was an experimental energy source said to have miraculous abilities. Only a select few Transformers used it including Grimlock, who used it to bring the Dinobots back to life.
     
  10. Hartzilla2007

    Hartzilla2007 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Well they do appear in one of the Japanese G1 cartoons.
     
  11. IcecreamLtDan

    IcecreamLtDan Captain Captain

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    That may be true in some scenes, however some of them are indeed the outside of the Udvar-Hazy center as you can clearly see the "control tower" display they have, as well as the sculpture on the sidewalk between the parking lots, when they are all in the parking lot before entering the museum. I'd have to watch it again, which is not in my plans, to see if any of the other shots prior to them going in are from the downtown museum.

    http://www.nasm.si.edu/imagedetail.cfm?imageID=350
     
  12. payndz201

    payndz201 Commodore Commodore

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    Since Bay misplaces entire countries (hello, Israel!) and seemingly has Sam and Mikaela make a detour - on foot - to Karnak (300 miles south of the Pyramids), having DC directly abut Arizona is pretty much par for the course.
     
  13. IcecreamLtDan

    IcecreamLtDan Captain Captain

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    :techman:
     
  14. romulus

    romulus Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I know I'm late and sorry for bumping.

    The movie was OK but damn was Optimus Prime cruel in this one. Scraping other robots face off, making comments like you fall and I rise...

    The Autobots seemed just as cruel to the Decepticons. Taking pleasure in killing their enemies, these guys are supposed to be the same species (I think that can be said about these robots).

    I know it's just a movie but most stories are said to have a "moral" right. What was it in this one? From a robot's prospective no side would seem better IMO. They both don't give each other much mercy and hate each other like they where not "related/brothers."

    Maybe it's something about war (and especially a very long one) is hell?
     
  15. Hermiod

    Hermiod Admiral Admiral

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    ^Nah, it's just, once again, an example of how badly pretty much everyone involved in the production of this film understands the subject material.

    Both sides are just grey, indistinct robots. There's very little to tell them apart other than what badge they wear - and one of them wears the other side's.

    It's been announced in the last couple of days that the video game for this will be getting downloadable content in the shape of extra characters. One of those is G1 Starscream. I've seen a screenshot and the difference is like night and day. The character design is distinct, it has a certain amount of personality.

    Only the racial stereotype twins (Mudflap and Skids) and Prime seem to have any kind of distinct personality about them.
     
  16. Marie1

    Marie1 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Well, at the point of TF2- the Autobots are fighting to keep the Decepticons from getting something that will make them unstoppable- so they may have to get dirty... plus their cranky because a lot of people aren't grateful for the help... as usual.
     
  17. captcalhoun

    captcalhoun Admiral Admiral

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    um, watch the animated 86 movie.

    "You, who are without mercy, no beg for it? I tought you were made of sterner stuff, Megatron."

    says Prime just as he's about to shoot the battered Megatron who's ass he just whupped. is that so different to Bay Prime who executes Demolishor and kills The Fallen?
     
  18. God Magnus

    God Magnus Commodore Commodore

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    Yep. And also read some of the G1 and G2 comic books where war was brutal. Robots got wrecked and torn up left and right. The 80's series was a product of its time and frankly couldn't show characters getting killed left and right for a variety of reasons. The 86 movie released them from those constraints (while also being a tool to pave the way for all new toys). The way this movie portrayed the war is consistent with several past portrayals, and the way I'd expect a war between two factions lasting millions of years to be.
     
  19. romulus

    romulus Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I guess I don't remember the 86 movie that well. I do remember it being more violent than the cartoon, but I don't remember thinking both side could be cruel. Not sure about the other stuff you're talking about. I only watched the cartoons and the movie.
     
  20. Captain Craig

    Captain Craig Vice Admiral Admiral

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    ^^^^^^
    The '86 movie was brutal and very fatal for a number of bots/cons on both sides.
    I just rewatched it a few nights ago. It still holds up well, imo, considering when it was made.