Also, the original Starscream is apparently dead.

Doh! I didn't know that.

I love me some Transformers! Definitely gotta see it...especially if Cullen and Welker take the helm. Did anyone go to BotCon? Cullen said that he would jump at the chance if they asked him to return to the role that made him famous.

And they should make Megatron a Triple Changer: So he can be a tank/gun and make everyone happy :)

Yeah...Chris Latta (Best known for Starscream and Cobra Commander, and more aptly known as the original VA for Moe the Bartender on the Simpsons) died in the mid 90s. 94 I believe.

Didn't they make Optimus Prime a fire truck in the most recent incarnation of the series? (He even had this cool transformation in which he could use the ladder contraption as a cannon.) If this is the case, the producers may just be trying to use an Optimus younger viewers will recognize.

Seems that Tappy was right; Steve Jablonsky is indeed signed to score. He recently recorded music for a teaser trailer, according to soundtrack.net.

Optimus Prime can't be a fire truck. I mean I won't bitch and moan if he is, but I don't think it'd look nearly as cool as a fucking big rig.

They did indeed. It was actually done a lot like the original Optimus in that the front part was the standard robot, which looked a little like G1 Optimus, but then you can add on the back half (equivalent to the cargo area) to turn him into a bigger robot. I think it could even go on to combine with Ultra Magnus to form Omega Prime or something.

Yeah, here you go:
http://www.opimage.co.uk/u/OmagnusPr...us_Prime_1.jpg

Still not as cool as the original G1 though.

Teaser trailer is online...
http://www.transformersmovie.com/

They threw it up on the site early after the teaser was leaked on YouTube. Pretty much a teaser in every sense of the word with the only Transformer seen being a brief, darkened shot of a Decepticon and it's shadow on Mars.

That really was a teaser in every way, we have to wait a year for the film :( that makes me want it now. And not even a proper transformation in sight :(

Ok, can any of you nerds here recommend a good Optimus Prime toy to buy.

http://www.tfsource.com/Reissues/THS...X02-Convoy.htm

Is this good.

Oh, this is it.

http://www.tfsource.com/Reissues/MP-...iece-Prime.htm

Normally I wouldn't buy stuff like that, especially when its a $120, but hey, its Prime, so I did. Go for the bottom one, also, the Ultra Magnus one looks awesome as well. They can transform, but they look much better in robot form.

Also, the boxes they come in transform into a trailer. They're a bitch though, I broke mine trying to do it.

Fuck that teaser. Seriously, they at least should have had the transforming sound effect in it somewhere. That was totally Megatron at the end. He looks like the original toy (does that mean they made him turn into a gun after all?). Why were the Decepticons on Mars 4 years before they come to Earth? Damn it, Bay is fucking it up isn't he? That's not the way I remember it!

Also, the teaser seems to have been removed from the official site for now (probably because of server overload), but I can still find it on Youtube: Youtube TF movie teaser (that's the right one right?). Now I need a hi res version to make a few gifs from...



In a related matter, the Titanium series toys should be out soon. War Within Megatron and Prime FTW.

God damn, the teaser is taking so long to load. Balls to my crappy computer!

Y'know, I actually don't think the thought of the TFs being on Mars is a bad idea. More believable than being stuck under a mountain for a couple million years, then being woken up when it erupts. To be honest, that concept DID always seem a little far-fetched.

And GOOD GOD. Short as that was, that was sweet. Grr, they better release another trailer sometim in the near future. God, this is like Advent Chidren all over again.

*Cringe* Okay, okay, bad comparison. Trying not to jinx it now.

Hm, is there anywhere that has this for actual download?

Um...did you even WATCH the original Transformers? EVERYTHING about the show was far-fetched. That's what made it awesome. 30 foot tall Megatron transformed into a tiny hand gun, Soundwave transformed into a boom box, hell, even the act of transforming is pretty rediculous. I'm starting to get worried because Bay is changing stuff that doesn't need to be changed, it was perfetly fine the way it was.

I heard rumors that Optimus Prime may actually transform into a Ferrari.

Of course Megatron will transform into a Pink DS.

Banned from thread.

I love how they didn't even hide the fact that that was not even Mars' atmosphere. They could've at least digitally altered it a rust color with no clouds. Other than that nitpick, I want to see it.

Nitpickers are hilarious.

"Bumblebee is a camaro! That's terrible!"
"Soundwave may be a digital music player!"
"The teaser trailer that usually has absolutely fuck all to do with the actual movie has a scene on Mars!"
"They're changing things that don't need to be changed!"

Yeah, maybe they are. But they are also changing things that don't have to stay the same. Bumblebee not being a Volkswagon will NOT change the character. He'll just look prettier. (By the way, they wanted to have him as a bug but VW said no).

It makes perfect fucking sense for Soundwave to be a mp3 player. If the whole premise of transforming is to be able to hide amongst the humans, why would he transform into a 25 year old peice of technology? A boom box worked fine the 80s. Everyone had one. Now everyone has iPod's.

The Mars thing. Are people actually bitching that a teaser trailer had a scene in which they showed a bot on Mars? Really? Is that all you have to complain about? Did Spider-Man have a scene in which he foils a bank robbers' helicopter by trapping it between buildings? No. But it was in the teaser. Did the Hulk have that scene of him destroying his house like in the teaser? No. What makes you so damn certain that the movie will actually HAVE anything to do with Mars?

Worse case scenario, it does. Then what? The Autobots/Decepticons stopped on Mars to check the planet out before they came to earth. Or maybe instead of crash landing on Earth and being buried under a mountain, they crash landed on Mars and found there to be nothing there. So they came on over. I highly doubt that the movie is actually going to say that they CAME from Mars.

None of these changes detract from the story. None of them are horrible changes either. They didn't make Optimus an Ice Cream Van. They didn't make Starscream a scooter, or Jazz a Decepticon. They didn't kill off Hot Rod.

The movie will be different from the cartoon. It has to be. If you want the same fucking movie go watch the 1986 Transformers Movie.

And then come bitch about how they killed Prime.

As far as teasers go, it wasn't too bad. At least it showed us a glimpse of a plotline.
I'm not too happy with the way the logos "transformed", at least I hope it's not an example of how they will do the actual transformations in the movie. Transforming should be with big, structered pieces that makes sense in a way, not just "exploding" in a million pieces and then miraculously merge into a new form.

Mobius, I think you should stop comparing the movie to the G1 cartoon. They will not be the same thing. The pure basics like the characters (hopefully), Autobots, Decepticons and their leaders will be the same, but the rest will obviously be recreated from scratch, to accomodate newcomers and to avoid the hassle of having to sort out 20 years of established continuity just to please the hardcore fans.
A good example would be the comic Transfomers: Infiltration by IDW: Same characters, same planet but different alternate mode and background. It works, more or less.
As for "mass-shifting", I think they've already said that it won't happen. They clearly want to go for the "realistic" approach when it comes to transforming and their alternate modes. Besides, appart from G1, I don't think any other incarnation of the Transformers has used mass-shifting since then.

As far as I'm concerned, the only things that really matter are a good storyline, characters that are true to their originals and lots of robot/transforming action. Having Cullen and Welker reprise their roles would be nice for nostalgic reasons, but they are not irreplacable.

Edit: damned Acid, you beat me too it :D

Why not compare the movie to G1 continuity since that's what the film is BASED ON? They're not supposed to be recreating things from scratch, just modernizing it a bit. Yes, I read Infiltration too. It's not a bad comic, but I liked Dreamwave's runs better. Why? Because they focused on what made G1 so great, not trying to retell things in a semi-feasible way.


Look, I'm not too upset about the Mars thing, and I'm not nitpicking (LOL, blue skies). I'm just a tad alarmed because this is supposed to be based on G1, and it doesn't seem like Bay is going to any effort to show us that. It seems almost like he's trying to make it very differnt from G1. Maybe the review of the leaked script on TFW2005 was right, maybe it will be a good film for casual movie goers, but will lack that Transformers spirit and will be a let-down for G1 fans. That's just the impression I'm getting. I realize things need to change in order to modernize it and make it and more realistic, but Bay sure could be catering to the fans a bit more. Just because fans are salivating at the idea of seeing realistic Transformers on the big screen doesn't mean Bay automatically has us in his pocket. I'm sure it will be an entertaining film with cool Transformers moments, but will it really be Transformers?

That's why I'm having as low as expectations as possible. :D

Given the director and Hasbro's sole need to sell their toys/repaints for the next years, I think that was a given. Money has to be made but with as little risk as possible, so why feel the need to try to please both the hardcore fans and the newbies? I don't know how it's like in the States but exposure to G1 in Europe is nil, the only thing they show here are the new shows like Energon or Cybertron. The last time I saw G1 on TV was 10 years ago. Which means their main target audience couldn' care less if Prime's a firetruck or Megatron a tank.

I am not trying to defend the apparent route this movie's going to take, but there's no use in tearing apart the movie on it's faults, no matter how true they may be. Besides, it's still too early to see how it's going to turn out anyway.

Have no fear, none of the footage from the "teaser"/announcement will actually appear in the movie, and no, the Transformers are NOT martians ;) They're still good-ol' cybertronians :D

Also, the teaser bits with the rover from the teaser were shot by Michael Bay in a total of 45mins ;) So, thankfully, it seems he's focusing on more important aspects (i.e. the actual movie ;))

(Btw, the Wales reference actually relates to a site created by some fans, which has subsequently been causing trouble for the production crew - i.e. Illegally posting copyrighted images [and in this case even illegally trying to release the "announcement" a couple of days early], Tricking people into to thinking that it is the real official site, Attempting to make money from the site by trying to sell the domain name to Paramount, Causing interforum flamewars, etc etc... These people happened to Welsh :p )


This teaser is meant to function as an "announcement" to the general public that there is a Transformers movie on its way. It is much like the first Spiderman trailer with the bank robbers and two towers in that regards :p

Hopefully they'll have a proper teaser trailer ready once production/shooting finishes (I'm hoping that such a teaser will come out in Sept/Oct... but realistically I'd be guessing that it'd be released closer to Dec/Jan)

Oh, and as for the Mars sky being blue, we can blame NASA for the confusion :p ...

• http://mars-news.de/color/blue.html
• http://www.libertythink.com/totalinf...n/BlueMars.htm
• http://mars-news.de/life/
• http://webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/14C.html

As for the Beagle-2... well... okay, that was a bit of a factual "oops", but in the end I don't think it mattters, since it won't actually appear in the movie :p

ZOMG, BUMBLEBEE!

Looks more like Hot Shot.

http://www.decepticon-matrix.com/tfg...otShot_400.jpg

Not that it's a bad thing, as the original design just looks a bit wimpy these days. But I do hope there will be more casing around the joint areas.

Hot Shot....bah! I can't stand these new Transformers series. It all went downhill after Beast Machines. Anyway, I don't really know what to make of the image. I can't really tell if it's supposed to be fully transformed or in mid-transformation. The engine block is a nice touch though.

Yeah, that image is something that made the people at Paramount Legal very very unhappy a couple of weeks ago. They went on a spree and hunted down all the sites they could find with it up on, and proceeded to pull the pics down :p (they even went so far as to pull down a movie blogger's entire site... which caused a bit of anger and angst... oh well :p )

The pic was taken at the Hoover Dam shoot. Too bad they couldn't have gotten a more frontal shot of the head :p

In any case, it's clear they're going for a look closer to the Alternators/Binaltech toy line for this movie

Apparently this BB that you see is what is called a "non-shootable"... In other words a scale reference model (if you look closely you can see that the model is far from refined... the hydraulics underneath BB to make him move are clearly visible, and you can also see bits of steel scaffolding around his shoulders [look at the big discs closest to the engine block] and elsewhere... the original image was higher res, which made these things a little easier to see :p)

Apparently (according to Michael Bay) the actual CGI models are even MORE detailed than the non-shootable :D

Anyway, Nelson from MB.com explained the concept of a "non-shootable" pretty well, using a scene from Bad Boys 2 for illustration: