'Transformers 3' Casting, Rumors, Pics till release

[Allyn Gibson]

I won tickets at work last week to see this tomorrow night.

Now, I haven't seen the first two films, only the animated film from way back. Total live-action Transformers virgin, here.

The last Michael Bay film I saw was Armageddon, which was so scientifically stupid that it leached away IQ points. So I'm keeping my expectations low. My coworkers tell me not to expect to see Rodimus Prime and Galvatron, but so long as there's robot-on-robot fighting action, Dinobots, and no Junkions I think I'll be okay.

 

[Gepard]

No dinobots, sorry. Although the Ferrari transformer is supposedly named "Dino" after Ferrari's founder's son.

In other news, from fishing through a million squabbling, braindead posts from the infantile rabble over at TFW2005, it sounds like there's a press embargo on reviews of the movie until right before the release...which doesn't fill me with optimism. Bay's right-hand-man Nelson posted a topic full of glowing quotes about DOTM, and it's all standard small-press guys giving extremely generic blurbs that they possibly got paid off to provide. The one real review that's up at RottenTomatoes basically says it's better than ROTF but not as good as the first. Which, since I thought the first was pretty bad too, has me worried.

 

[Whofan]

No Galvatron (Although there was talk of having the modified Megatron from ROTF be called Galvatron) but...

Spoiler: Transformers 3

Leonard Nimoy is the voice of Sentinel Prime, Optimus's mentor/predecessor.

 

[Caliburn24]

A couple reviews for the film are popping up.

Harry over at AICN thinks it is the best Transformers movie so far(and no he's not a reviewer I put much stock in)

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/50176

However, Drew McWeeny(one of my favorite online critics) also thinks it is the best Transformers movie.

http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/motion-...-moon-wraps-up-with-the-best-of-the-franchise

I like that the rumors about Michael Bay having to slow his style down to work in 3D are apparently true.

 

[captcalhoun]

the red Ferrari is Mirage.

the other new Autobots are Wheeljack, Leadfoot, Roadbuster and Topspin as the Wreckers and Silverbolt. Wheeljack's a Mercedes E550, whilst the Wreckers are heavily armed NASCAR racers

 

[davejames]

Cool to finally see Wheeljack show up. I wonder if the things on the side of his head will still flash when he talks.

 

[Captain Craig]

seeing it wednesday!

Despite being on a business trip in Philly I'm seeing this with a local friend and coworker tomorrow night at midnight.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

My snap-reaction to tonight's advance screening.

I haven't seen the first two films, so I went into this film cold. My final paragraph:

I feel like I'm being a lot more critical of the film than it deserves. It's not a ground-breaking or earth-shattering film, and I found it enjoyable on the level that I can enjoy Star Trek: Voyager or Moffat-era Doctor Who — if I turn my brain off and don't think about it, just letting it flow over me on a purely visceral level, not expecting any character work whatsoever, Transformers: Dark of the Moon is positively entertaining.

 

[Dream]

I'll probably see the movie on Wednesday or Thursday.

I put up the discussion/grading topic.

http://www.trekbbs.com/showthread.php?t=144233

 

[Gepard]

My snap-reaction to tonight's advance screening.

I haven't seen the first two films, so I went into this film cold. My final paragraph:

I feel like I'm being a lot more critical of the film than it deserves. It's not a ground-breaking or earth-shattering film, and I found it enjoyable on the level that I can enjoy Star Trek: Voyager or Moffat-era Doctor Who — if I turn my brain off and don't think about it, just letting it flow over me on a purely visceral level, not expecting any character work whatsoever, Transformers: Dark of the Moon is positively entertaining.

I like the comparison to "The End of Time" – that was my first thought when plot leaks appeared a few months back. It sounds more similar than you mentioned, given the spoiler-y nature of the bad guy

Spoiler: Massive fucking spoilers

being Sentinel Prime, former leader of Cybertron and now omnicidal maniac. I've been temped to rename my Sentinel figure Rassilon Prime in his honor.

And it's best not to compare the Bay films to G1; he definitely doing his own thing, and it has no more to do with the originals than Beast Wars had to do with Animated. It's its own continuity.

 

[Goji]

I'm really, really, really glad that the people who dragged me, kicking and screaming, to the first two "Transformers" movies will not be doing so this time. It seems that even they have had enough.

 

[Dream]

I'm really, really, really glad that the people who dragged me, kicking and screaming, to the first two "Transformers" movies will not be doing so this time. It seems that even they have had enough.

I considered not going, but in the end I decided that I didn't want to miss out on HUGE BADASS ROBOTS BEATING THE HELL OUT OF EACH OTHER.

 

[RoJoHen]

My roommate doesn't want to go with me.

 

[T'Baio]

http://www.badassdigest.com/2011/06/28/movie-review-transformers-dark-of-the-moon-is-terrible

If there's any accuracy in that, sounds like more typical Bay shit.

 

[RoJoHen]

I, for one, enjoy typical Bay shit.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

http://www.badassdigest.com/2011/06/28/movie-review-transformers-dark-of-the-moon-is-terrible

If there's any accuracy in that, sounds like more typical Bay shit.

I find myself agreeing with this quote: "There’s no denying the craftsmanship of the final action scenes – as individual sequences – but they don’t add up to anything. There’s no emotional heft, no dramatic gravity, no excitement to them. They’re joyless works of technical perfection devoid of meaning."

There are some good ideas at the heart of the film, maybe nothing earth-shattering, but still, there are some compelling story hooks. But when the movie gets to Chicago, yeah, it's ninety minutes of the Battle of Stalingrad, but with robots, and without any consequence or sacrifice.

I went in, knowing nothing about the Transformers movie-verse, and I came out feeling entertained, though I also find myself agreeing entirely with that review.

It's not quite "typical Bay shit," though. It lacks the jingoistic porn of Armageddon or Pearl Harbor.