Transformers Movie Review

I have an 07 Mustang GT and love it to death. But I do agree, the concept version was kickas$. I think the back-end is what really makes it. The front is still very similar and I do prefer it with the foglights as opposed to without. They should have kept the back the same though.

 

Bad news..

I headed over to CamaroZ28.com, hoping to get more info. The good news is I got more info. The bad news is the more info.

Here's what they are saying for the move to production:

-Car will be narrower. Concept is 78" or so, and previous Camaro was 74", so the new car will be narrower
-Car will be taller. A few inches at least, because the concept was super low (most feel it will be the roofline that will be raised up - which totally changes the sleek appearance of the car with it's almost slit-like windows)
-Concept dash is gone. So the retro orange-glow gauges in the center console will not make it to production, nor will the "turbine" style speedo/tach
-Will have "normal" wheels. The concept has 21" in front, 22" in back. Production will likely have 18"
-Will not be as low. Too bad - BMW makes the cars look low by tucking the tires up under the fenders and leaving the same amount of shock travel. Why can't US car companies figure this out?

So from what I have seen, it looks like the Camaro is not going to make it to production with all of the concept goodness intact. Too bad. Furthermore, it looks like the V6 version will be coming out at the very end of the 2008 calendar year as a 2009 model. The SS/Z28 (V8 versions) will likely not come out for about 12-16 months later. So it will be calendar year 2010 before you can get a V8 Camaro.

By that time, the movie will be forgotten, and people will lose interest in buying a neutered Camaro that is a shadow of the concept version.

 

I have driven the new mustangs and really like the way the drive. I just felt like the styling was too "smoothed out" from the concept car. I agree with you that the front is extremely close to the concept, but from the B-pillars back is where the production car falls short. There is too much distance from the top of the rear wheel well to the b-pillar....it looks to "thick" along the sides from the doors back. Also the rear end looks WAY better on the concept.

 

That's what I was afraid of. I fail to understand why other companies (Chrysler, europeans) can manage to have production vehicles look extremely close to their concepts, but for some reason GM screws it up 99% of the time. So what if the concept is 78" wide...why NOT build the production one that wide? Why NOT make a cool dash? Why NOT tuck the wheels in tight in a "BMW-esque" fashion as you described, and have the car sit low with small fender-tire gaps? I can understand not putting 22's on a production car, but otherwise it sounds as if they are trying as hard as possible to screw this up.

But what I can not fathom, not for the life of me, is why in the by-damn-hell they would release only the V6 version and then wait over a FREAKING YEAR to produce the Z28?? Talk about a fizzling sloppy fart of a way to introduce a new car. A V8 should be available from day ONE. I guess they want to make sure everyone understands the new Camaro is a sissy-girly-grocery-getter, and make certain it is ingrained in the public's mind as such before they think about allowing it to look like a tire-shredding performance icon. God forbid.

But back to the original point of this thread, Transformers is a fun, enjoyable movie. And it looks like your last chance to see the new Camaro as it should be, before GM screws it up. So run out to your local theater, buy some popcorn, and enjoy it!

 

i saw the movie last night.....the most amazing movies ever, the fighting scene's are just crazy, i loved it. the good thing about transformer when it becomes popular is that nobody will succeed in copying it in real life like they did with the fast and the furious trilogy's

 

I have a turquoise Decepticon sticker in the rear window on the XJR.

I own a mint G1 Devastator, Megatron, and Starscream.

I saw it Mon night, Wed AM, and will IMAX it on Sun most likely.

The torrent finishes downloading in 70min.

I liked it a great deal, but then again, I'm 30 and grew up with the Transformers franchise since the mid-80's in addition to technology in general. My appreciation of the movie is going to transcend someone going in without understanding the history of how corny and spectacular the cartoons can be at times.

Going into Transformers without knowing much about it is like an Atheist going to see Passion of the Christ. I wouldn't expect you to think that it's a very good movie and to nitpick it to death.

It's meant to be entertaining, not life changing. Lighten up folks!

 

yea. only StarScream survived. he's 2nd in power, behind Megatron. so i supposed i part 2, he'd bring more Decepticons to earth.

 

I don't think you can reasonably assume people who were not thrilled with the movie are just not really fans. On the contrary, I would submit that the most die-hard fans will probably forgive a lot of things to sustain their love of the transformers franchise. Some other franchises have made a very successful transition to the big screen - such as Batman and the original Spiderman movie.

From a movie quality standpoint - *every single* movie that people consider to be good, has a good plot line and good character development. Those are the two items most noticeably missing from this movie. Underlying quality was traded for eye-candy and while it makes for good special effects, it makes it a visually stunning movie that isn't very gripping or good from a critical standpoint.

That's fine - plenty of movies with tons of $$$ spent on CGI (ie Last Action Hero, Waterworld) that just aren't very good movies. But they are worth watching for the effects - same with Transformers. Worth watching for the effects, but not a movie people will be thinking about a few years from now, and definitely could have been a LOT better.

 

i'm 30 too, same deal, and my summation is exactly as i said at the start of the thread... excellent movie for it's entertainment value, but there's too many frustrating elements for it to be a great movie overall.

take for comparison another high-cgi action movie, hell, one from a decade ago... Starship Troopers. that is great entertainment, the plot is good enough to enjoy, and the characters are worth following. not only that, the action scenes are more satisfying as you can see what's going on, there's less of the smoke-and-mirrors that's prevalent in Transformers. and what astonishes me is that the cgi suspension of disbelief still stands up better than most movies today.

what it's done for me though is quicken my enthusiasm for the Transformers idea again and i giggle like a schoolgirl when i think of the noise they make when changing. it's more about my imagination for it all than the movie itself.

 

If there was plot development and characters, it would've been a ****ty Transformers movie...

 

I don't quite know where to start in a reply..

This is a predominately CGI movie based on a cartoon. A motherload of elements from the original cartoon, including the original movies based on it, are in this film.

Many may begrudgingly forgive the abundance of GM vehicles replacing old forms and the absence of Frank Welker, items surely towards the top of litany of unrest from die hard fans. Even the most opinionated critics should recognize how much content made it into the film, over 20 years later.

What is it that made you walk out of the theater and expect something more adult oriented and thought provoking beyond making you think back to the last time you heard Prime say something witty to Ironhide? Or Megatron say something exasporated to Starscream?

You thought the humor was cheap and tacky, I say go watch some of the old stuff and the antics of the characters. I would have died in my seat had they played "The Touch" during the last major fight scene.

These are not new characters, they are extensions of the same characters. A person's experience with the franchise brings a whole different meaning to the film, from the Camaro's door smacking into the old Bumblebee form and Megatron telling Starscream "You fail me yet again" and Devastator being tough as nails.

The movie you want Transformers and the sequels to be will never exist. A remake of this caliber receiving a negative review will without question make me consider the source and I would expect a similiar discussion after the new Indiana Jones film comes out next year.

How does it feel being one of the only people in a theater not having a good time? I'm kidding, I'm kidding! hehe

 

Ash, I think they will make some changes for the next one. Scenes where both jets change and take off, Blackout attacking the forward staging base, the chase scene with Barricade and Bumblebee were fantastic. Got wood? Scenes where you're watching humans blasting away at a target that isn't visible felt like filler definitely less desirable.

I was giddy. My buddy thought it was awesome and I thought he was just saying that for my benefit until he explained he got the chills when he heard Peter Cullen's voice as Prime after all these years. I did end up seeing it again this afternoon. Did you hear the remake of the theme? Not bad.

 

I just came back from seeing it. I liked it. Even all of the perennial Michael Bay haters should find at least some interest in this movie...

 

Some props for sale. http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZpremiereprops7

 

I went to Toys R US looking for some figures. All they had left was Starscream, none of the Autobots were left. Everyone got to the good ones. I was able to get Blackout from Target before the little kids saw it, but I really want BumbleBee now so I have my Stang and Camaro.

Yes, I am 22... but it's fun to feel like a kid again.