Movie Review - Transformers 4 : Age Of Extinction (spoilers)

[griffin]

Transformers 4
Age of Extinction

Release date 25th June 2014

SPOILERS (seriously, if you haven't seen it yet, don't look beyond the poll)

Synopsis
(to be added when it is seen)


Characters
(to be added as they are known)

Autobots:
-Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen)
-Bumblebee
-Drift (Ken Watanabe)
-Crosshairs (John DiMaggio)
-Hound (John Goodman)
-Ratchet (Robert Foxworth)
-Brains (Reno Wilson)

Dinobots:
-Grimlock
-Strafe
-Slug
-Scorn
-Slash

Decepticons:
-Lockdown (Mark Ryan)
-Galvatron (Frank Welker)
-Stinger
-(Vehicons)
-Wolf-pack

Main Humans:
-Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg)
-Tessa Yeager (Nicola Peltz)
-Lucas (T.J. Miller)
-Harold Attinger (Kelsey Grammer)
-Joshua (Stanley Tucci)
-Shane (Jack Reynor)
-Savoy (Titus Welliver)
-Su Yueming (Bingbing Li)
-Darcy (Sophia Myles)
-Chief of Staff (Thomas Lennon)


Vote in the poll above, and post your thoughts & comments here...
.

[BigTransformerTrev]

Transformers 4
Age of Extinction

Release date 29th June 2011




25th June 2014 ;)

[yoshi594]

omg omg omg they have bender/jake as crosshairs!

[Omega Metro]

omg omg omg they have bender/jake as crosshairs!

Lol, so he must talk then.:D

[griffin]

25th June 2014 ;)

That's what you get for copy-n-paste... :o

[BigTransformerTrev]

That's what you get for copy-n-paste... :o

Don't knock copy and paste - has saved my butt more than once when it comes to report writing time (and has resulted in 'he's' being referred to as 'she's' more than once upon submission) :p;)

[Jinto]

Seeing it at IMAX @6:20. Getting excited. :D

[drahsrebu]

Seen it this morning, I loved it!! Loved the nod to TFA as well. Pretty sad the way ratchet was hunted down. :(
Overall the missus and I really enjoyed the movie, It Does leave you with a few unanswered questions though..

[1AZRAEL1]

Well. It leaves questions unanswered because open for sequels. Loved when Prime said "Autobots Roll Out"

Quite enjoyed it. Will say the feel of it was quite different to the others. But worth it.

[1AZRAEL1]

And no point in waiting after the credits.

And I imagine the fight scene between Op and Grim would be longer in Imax, it felt a lil short.

[Dreadnaught83]

It's was pretty good, loved Lockdown and Crosshairs! Dinobots coulda been in it a bit more, but served their purpose. Also loved Welker being back for Galv!

The humans were the weakest part (literally and metaphorically)! That daughter and boyfriend were lame, Wahlberg, Tucci and Grammer weren't too bad.

Can't wait for sequels!!!

[Holdobot]

Was going to just go for 2D but glad I did the vmax 3D.

Echoing others, would have been nice to see the dinobots earlier but glad they all transform.

Stanley's "Jobesque" portrayal was fun.

Now to decide on what toys to get. I hope they make a mainline version of the garbage truck now.

I little weird that Drift is essentially a triple changer in the movie but glad they have not compromised the Bugatti toy in favour of a triple.

I enjoyed movie and looking forward to seeing where they go for next one.

[colin78]

Awesome Movie! The characters were strong and yet again visually amazing! Loved Tucci in the alley way in China, asking what the chinese translation was...No credit scenes to wait for though and I also noticed there was no mention in the credits about the score being available/released on "blah blah records". Hoping it will come out though cause the score was great!!

[DELTAprime]

So I'll be seeing the movie in the morning, should I expect something better than the past three? Keep in mind every time I see the first movie I think less of it so I have a low opinion of it also.

[Autocon]

What are your reviews of the movie? Some of you have seen it!

Will I be disappointed?

Spoilers allowed

[Raptormesh]

Saw it on IMAX 3D, it was pretty good. Absolutely loved Drift and Hound but the dinobots were a bit...lackluster. Can't wait for a VOY triple changer Drift? (let me know if there won't be one) :D

The humans weren't that annoying this time round, I actually didn't find the girl irritating plus Stanley was great. Lockdown was great as a villian, though can't help but think Galvie was a bit sidelined, probably for the next movie.

Being Bay though, the plot holes were the size of Unicron but I tried to switch my logic mind off for his movies anyway. :p

[Mythirax]

I loved it, I won't post spoilers in here though. As it's probably not the place :D

[Mythirax]

I really enjoyed it. So much more than the first three movies. I found it to be a much more adult movie. The swearing scene with Stanley really gave me a good laugh.

So top marks from me :D Only person I could really pick on would be Jack Reynor. I found he had a very blank face a lot of the time. Like he really didn't give a shit what was going on.

I went in knowing a few extra things though, as a spoiler was posted somewhere it probably shouldn't of been. But in the end it probably helped, as I knew what to expect.

I look forward to going again soon :D

EDIT: I never saw the dancing scene with Bee and Nicola Peltz in the film? So guess that one is going to be a deleted scene.

[Raptormesh]

Yeah Reynor was really forgettable and generic.

[drifand]

A more serious tone than all previous. I have some disappointments but overall is quite alright.

[SkyWarp91]

Best movie since Transformers (2007), only nitpick was holy crap it was long.

[Mythirax]

Best movie since Transformers (2007), only nitpick was holy crap it was long.

Haha, I felt like it went for 30 minutes.

[SkyWarp91]

Haha, I felt like it went for 30 minutes.

The action scenes were amazing no doubt, it was the human scenes that dragged on but then again I enjoyed the cast so much more compared to the last few movies. Really enjoyed Kelsey Grammar, Stanley Tucci and Mark Wahlberg.

[Mythirax]

The action scenes were amazing no doubt, it was the human scenes that dragged on but then again I enjoyed the cast so much more compared to the last few movies. Really enjoyed Kelsey Grammar, Stanley Tucci and Mark Wahlberg.

I think that's what made it even faster for me. As the cast was not only amazing (excluding Reynor), but Marky Mark is one of my all time favorite actors. It was just a shame he didn't punch out any robots :D

[SkyWarp91]

I think that's what made it even faster for me. As the cast was not only amazing (excluding Reynor), but Marky Mark is one of my all time favorite actors. It was just a shame he didn't punch out any robots :D

He did gun down a few though, bad-arse enough in my books :)

[drahsrebu]

I keep thinking about that ratchet scene, I felt pretty sad after that. Poor bot didn't stand a chance :(

[SkyWarp91]

I keep thinking about that ratchet scene, I felt pretty sad after that. Poor bot didn't stand a chance :(



Loved Optimus' reaction and what he does to Kelsey Grammar at the end.

[Jinto]

The Dinobots being sucked up the side of those buildings was equal parts awesome and hilarious. Watching Grimlock flail his tiny arms, I laughed. Great visuals.
I wish we saw a little more Galvatron.

Must resist buying the toys. I can feel my wallet being sucked from my hands as if Lockdown had turned on his tractor beam... I seriously hope there's a Voyager Prime toy in that updated 'knight' style. Did anyone get the gist of that knights/trophy room part of the story? Feels like I missed something.

[Penetrator]

few things that flashed in my brain while in the movie…

-lockdown's alt mode looks excellent. nice car. :)
-where is lockdown from and who does he take orders from? :confused:
-galvatron didn't reallt do much in this movie
-completely left the ending open
-I thought the opening scene surely had something to do with the dinobots, but not a link at all
-optimus was to kill this time round
-So the dinobots were captives and are legendary warriors with no real back story:confused:
-the dinobots cant talk
-optimus killed a human :eek:
-last and biggest ??? optimus can now fly!!?? :eek:


3/5 for plot
5/5 fo visuals

overall 4/5

[drahsrebu]

I want to know the lead up to prime taking that rusty old form. He spoke of an ambush, and where is Dino and sideswipe? Maybe they are still in hiding???
Sooo many unanswered questions

[Jinto]

-optimus was to kill this time round


Lol, yeah Prime was super pi$$ed off this movie. I think it worked better this time though. He actually reacted to his friends dying & hurting for once, so it felt more justified when he's all "I'm going to f#@king kill somebody!" (paraphrasing). :p

That real reaction also made it more in character when he killed that guy. He felt more like a character pushed to breaking point, rather than in the first 3 movies when he just seemed like a nutcase. I like the new movie Prime.

[GoktimusPrime]

Things I liked...
+ Great to hear Frank Welker using his Megatron voice as Galvatron
+ It was kinda neat seeing Galvatron leading an army of Vehicons ;) Having a standard model of Decepticon warrior obviously saves money on rendering, but on the plus side, they did feel like the Vehicons from Transformers Prime. :)
+ This movie has attempted to strike a better balance between human and Transformer exposure. Unlike previous films, the humans aren't robbing the limelight from the Transformers. For the most part, the humans' sub plots ran concurrently with the Transformers', meshing together better than in the other movies.
+ Much better use of humour to punctuate the action. There weren't drawn out awkward moments where awkward humour was used that overtly stalled the narrative.
+ Drift wasn't a munchkin! :D He was as tough as the other Autobots, but he didn't come across as some godly superhero 'bot. In some ways, he's kinda like Drift was in MTMTE (i.e. the corny and almost self-parodying hippie).
+ Lockdown was pretty cool and fairly true to the original character, right down to his "collection" of not only weaponry, but prisoners from various species.
+ One of the human antagonists (Joshua Joyce (Tucci)), actually had some character substance. He starts off being fairly clichéd, but is later rises to the occasion. The other human antagonists though were pretty one-dimensional - although the story does offer a premise as to why they behave that way, making them feel less cartoony than they otherwise could have, so I do acknowledge the effort there,.
+ Human protagonists were more useful!
+ The Chinese Vehicon factory has a big sign that said something like 創造美好(的)未来 ("Creating a Glorious Future"), just as we see everyone evacuating the facility as Galvatron and the Vehicons arise. ;)
+ Hound is a great homage of Bulkhead. Too bad his name's not Bulkhead!

Things that disappointed me...
- Dinobots. None of them speak or even named. Completely shallow and one dimensional characters. They only transform _once_ too; after that, they're pretty much giant robotic dino pets for the Autobots. (-_-)
- The story offers no explanation that I can recall as to WHY the Dinobots even transform into robotic dinosaurs (let alone why Strafe is dicephalous). Uhh... a wizard did it?
- Only four Dinobots appear in the film -- Grimlock, Slug, Scorn and Strafe. Slash, Slog and Snarl are nowhere to be seen.
- There's a scene where the Autobots are squabbling like children and wanting to fight each other... umm... kay... ???
- Drift as a triple changer... the robot barely shows any Bugatti Veyron kibble and no perceptible chopper kibble. So does he just magically morph into a helicopter? How the hell did Hasbro ever approve this if it can't be made into a product? (AFAIK there is no triple changing Drift toy in the works, the only helicopter moded one is a redeco of Skyhammer, but isn't the same kind of chopper in the film. :/
- Not a huge fan of Galvatron and the Vehicons' "scatter-morph" transformation. Although from a story telling POV, I guess it's to show the audience which ones are the man-made Transformers and how they haven't quite perfected the TF's genome (or is it that they've improved on it?). But I prefer to see Transformers part-shifting to transform, not scatter-morphing. It's obviously created design challenges for Hasbro, considering what a freakin' backpack-former Galvatron is.
- Since WHEN did Optimus Prime possess interstellar flight capability in robot mode??? :o Maybe I missed something... maybe it was something he took from Lockdown. I hope so, because if he had the ability this whole time, then there's a lot of other stuff before that otherwise makes NO sense if he could freakin' FLY... without a Jetwing... in freakin' robot mode... wha--??
- Bingbing Li's acting was dreadful.

[Shirokaze]

Really surprised to come on here and see such positive reactions. :eek:

I thought as a movie is was barely watchable. Kept checking my phone to see when it would end :( Maybe I'm too cynical.

[theshape]

yeah didn't think it was that great. Dinobots were nice but dragged too long, plot seemed all over the place.

[doublespy]

Overall I too felt like it could be shorter, can't pinpoint what exactly it is though. I think the pacing was okay.

+Awesome to see the Dinobots in action. They're HUUUGE and all transform, twice
+Decent character development for the 'bots. I particularly like Drift with his, as Gok put it, "self-parodying" humor. AND he's a triple changer!
+Lockdown shines among the robots cast. And I freaking love the little split Lambo logo on his chest.
+Seeing Prime's oldie truckie mode in action makes me appreciate the Evasion mode Optimus figure even more. Such elegant transformation yet staying quite screen-accurate in both modes. Kobayashi you're god like.
+So the seed = the key to Vector Sigma?

-Too much plug-in commercials, a new low even for Transformers
-I don't mind Galvatron's limited screen time, but I'm pretty sure it's one of their money-saving tricks to make the man made robots "morph" rather than actually "transform". I don't wanna pay to see that. and the bots don't transform enough, especially Optimus in his new body.
-even more plot holes and goofs, a new low..

[Paulbot]

Watching the film I thought this is pretty much what I expected and in some cases better than I expected. The new cast was enjoyable, I don't miss Shia but I thought Sophia Myles underused. And the story made general sense although some human motivations were iffy. May have some fridge moments with this film over the next few days.

A few things bugged me during the film. Firstly what's wrong with the perfectly good word "cybertronium"? Secondly why did Drift turn into a helicopter at all (and a stereotype)?

Thirdly: only 1,300 people died in Chicago. Um what? Maybe that redeems the Autobots for their "let the Decepticins destroy the city for a few days before we come out of hiding" action in DOTM, but it doesn't match the body count we should expect. Guess only two people died in Hong Kong in this movie. Right?

And my biggest issue: the mighty morphin prototypes. Every time one of them morphed into robot mode I just didn't care. Save that special effect for some other film, these films have always made a big deal of complicated part shifting transformation sequences. The flowing morphing geometric shapes look like a special effect. It breaks the suspension of disbelief. There's no reason Galvatron, Stinger and the prototypes couldn't have just transformed. It makes more sense that humans could back engineer Transformers rather than create a floating magic morphing metal.

The Dino-Knights were cool and now maybe people will stop complaining that the toys are not biologically accurate since there's no indication their alt modes are meant to be anything but maybe loosely inspired by earth's dinosaurs.

[BigTransformerTrev]

Just got back from watching it in Gold Class with M-Bot and some mates. T'was certainly a Bay flick and I could point out a million flaws but I went into it with an optimistic attitude and just to enjoy it and I did indeed! Good fun and loved the fact it was a bit more gritty :)

[Omega Metro]

It was good. Wouldn't say great. Seemed very rushed. But started off boring. What's with the 2 headed Shockwave?:eek:

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

Really surprised to come on here and see such positive reactions. :eek:

I thought as a movie is was barely watchable. Kept checking my phone to see when it would end :( Maybe I'm too cynical.

Likewise. It was exactly what I was expecting and that isn't a compliment.


The thing that irritated me the most is the whole film felt like a bunch of scenes just slapped together. There was not much in the way of smooth flow from one part to the next. Jumping around China, driving in the city and then suddenly in the desert. The Autobots skiing down mountains yelling "Yay! Prime's here" Where did they come from? Jumping all over the mountains like that is a good way to bring attention to your area.


Prime has some serious issues with revenge and wanting to kill everything, so at least that's consistent with ROTF onwards Prime. Corsswise wasn't very Autobot like at all, wanting to fight Bee and be leader. Wha? Did I miss something?

Other bits:
Lockdown was cool and I liked that he even had a hook hand every now and then although I was never very fond of his human looking face. Drift's freaked me out the most though!
What's this "Legend" Prime suddenly blurts out?
Why does Lockdown have a huge vacuum thing in the bottom of his spaceship and why does he turn it on so early and just float around the city?
Why was the movie so frigging long?
There was so much extra fluff and things that could have been cut or replaced with something relevant that it made it rather hard to enjoy.


Sure the set up for following movies has lots of possibilities (Quintessons, Unicron and much more) but anything that will be done will just be a half assed mess of turd like this movie.

Rather unexpectedly the first two thirds of the movie wasn't bad and I was enjoying it. Then the last part comes along and it's just a mess of poo that ruins the enjoyment I previously had.

Could those Earth Decepticons be called G2?:p

This just goes to show that Bay still has little idea of how to direct a good movie. I certainly won't see it in theatres again and will only buy the bluray if ridiculously cheap. Then I don't think I'd watch it for a while anyway :p

In the end, it wasn't bad. But it certainly wasn't good.

[SkyWarp91]

What's with the 2 headed Shockwave?:eek:

Created using the genetics of the dead Shockwave from the Chicago battle like how no matter KSI tried to make a copy Optimus Prime it always bended towards Megatron?

[Paulbot]

Why does Lockdown have a huge vacuum thing in the bottom of his spaceship and why does he turn it on so early and just float around the city?


That one is actually explained in the film. His ship is one of the "creators" ships that he's claimed for his own. In the flashbacks we see the creators used their seeds to create cybertronium and collect it by sucking it up into their ships.

[Omega Metro]

I actually though Galvatron was great. We now have a great villain once again for TF5.:)
Drift was very annoying.:mad:
And where was Bumblebees dance scene? Was it cut out?:mad:
Please no more silly spaceships.

[SkyWarp91]

This just goes to show that Bay still has little idea of how to direct a good movie.

I don't know about that, he surely likes to direct films with plot-holes so big the movie themselves become black holes, but in his favour those black-holes suck in so much money in the box office :)

From a storytelling point I find his movies can be irritating but from a directing/visual standpoint he's crafted some amazing cinematography that goes to show how much the cast and crew are willing to put in to make some great shots/scenes. To me Bay has a way of making films that have a drug-like effect on the eyes, it's almost hypnotic that it helps push escapism into the viewing experience.

[Raptormesh]

His movies still seemed like a car commercial montage, with explosions as puntuations. Still enjoyed it like a triple choc sundea on frozen vodka.

[SkyWarp91]

Still enjoyed it like a triple choc sundea on frozen vodka.

Must try that someday, sounds dangerously delicious! :)

[lancalot]

love the action scene and sfx are top notch .. But the product placement :eek: was just extremely bad... I don't mind subtle placement of item in the background etc , but when the main character go out of the way to promote it is just ridiculous

[lancalot]

When they were driving in the desert and meeting up , I really thought that were going to go into a secret base inside a mountain like transformer prime style.!! hiding out from the satellite .... but instead they were just camped out... :rolleyes:

[SkyWarp91]

But the product placement :eek: was just extremely bad... I don't mind subtle placement of item in the background etc , but when the main character go out of the way to promote it is just ridiculous

What product placement? Though now I feel like buying some Bud Light, Victoria's Secret Underwear and Oreos

[Mythirax]

So a few friends of mine saw it who love transformers, came out of it absolutely hating it. Nothing but ragging on it all night. They did the same with the previous three. And after each one always say how they won't go back to see another.

What I don't get though is, if you don't like something. If it be Bay, plot holes, problems with the actors, the transformations. What ever it be. Why even go see it? I never understand why movie after movie some people just find it rubbish, yet somehow go back every time.

This post isn't directed at anyone, or me attempting to be rude to people. So I'm sorry if it comes across that way :D

[SkyWarp91]

So a few friends of mine saw it who love transformers, came out of it absolutely hating it. Nothing but ragging on it all night. They did the same with the previous three. And after each one always say how they won't go back to see another.

What I don't get though is, if you don't like something. If it be Bay, plot holes, problems with the actors, the transformations. What ever it be. Why even go see it? I never understand why movie after movie some people just find it rubbish, yet somehow go back every time.

This post isn't directed at anyone, or me attempting to be rude to people. So I'm sorry if it comes across that way :D

Your friends are either masochists or have a love-hate relationship with Michael Bay they don't want to divulge to you. OR BOTH! XD

[ILikeSoundwave]

Loved it! Lockdown was the greatest villain in the movies by far!

Finally a Transformers movie where there was nothing hidden on Earth (or the moon) that no none knew about.:rolleyes:

Couple minor nitpicks, but I did not see the dance scene which was rather disappointing for me.:(

[Defcon]

I rated the movie excellent because overall I enjoyed it more than the previous 2 movies. The main reason is Lockdown, what a great villain. Also the inclusion of the Dinobots, mention of the creators, and Galvatron. Lastly a new human cast.

It had much less cringe worthy humor which was a big plus, however it was replaced with excessive product placement which really is a distraction and useless.

some points already mentioned all negatives!!

- Transformium, oh crap as soon as I heard that, I thought that should be Cybertronium! hopefully someone in the future will correct that.
- The morphing dots shifting effect was terrible
- The new design for Optimus I just don't like it, I prefer the design with all the shifting parts. This new one doesn't seem authentic.
- Optimus flying off into space, what now is he superman or neo from the matrix, I just found this absurd :confused: why didn't he use this ability throughout the movie, I really glad he didn't!!
- The dinobots introduction scene was overly short and happened way to quickly, would of much preferred more depth there. I'm serious it was like the blink of an eye when compared to other far less important scenes in the movie.

[Jinto]

A few things bugged me during the film. Firstly what's wrong with the perfectly good word "cybertronium"?


I was secretly hoping for Transmetal.



Secondly why did Drift turn into a helicopter at all (and a stereotype)?


I don't think Bay can do non-caucasians as anything but stereotypes.



And my biggest issue: the mighty morphin prototypes.

Made me think of Beast Machines every time.

[M-bot]

The most interesting thing for me was the increasing subversiveness of the films. Plenty has been written about the casual sexism and racism of the previous movies, but this film introduced what I think is the first TF film F-bomb and more than a hint of some almost-hentai action towards the main female protagonist, Tessa. Optimus Prime is more homicidal maniac in this film than noble protector. I am increasingly suspicious that Michael Bay is not himself racist or mysoginist or homophobic or a gorehound, but revels in pushing these things into what could (should?) be a family friendly film just to see if he can get away with it. I was reminded of the piece of stand up done by the late George Carlin regarding joking about rape and whether it is ever appropriate, and I wonder if Bay is of much the same opinion.

Regarding the ridiculously OTT, unsubtle and overt product placement, there's a sense of irony there in that the original cartoon was essentially just one big advert to sell the toys.

A very interesting film indeed.

[theshape]

Yeah it was violent. Im surprised how violent the "PG-13" comic book movies are becoming now (not that i mind it).

Prime just shooting that bloke? That is sure to piss off some hardcore Prime fans?

Every Asian character in the film can do martial arts?

[Paulbot]

Lockdown was a star. Did anyone think that his extraction of Ratchet's spark was going to come back later in the film?

There were a few little homages to the original Bay film too I thought. Uncle Bobby B's cousin. Some setting sun problems in the farm showdown scene - I was expecting sudden nighttime but nope daytime again.


Finally a Transformers movie where there was nothing hidden on Earth (or the moon) that no none knew about.:rolleyes:

No, but we did learn that the Transformers' "creators" killed the dinosaurs to make the Transformers (allegedly).


but this film introduced what I think is the first TF film F-bomb and more than a hint of some almost-hentai action towards the main female protagonist, Tessa.

Don't forget Soundwave's tentacles in DOTM.

In a recent episode of the Simpsons Lisa pointed out that a PG-13 word could include one swear. Since she said that I've noticed that's true, they can get away with one f word with out the rating going up (see also the recent X-Men films).

[GoktimusPrime]

Depth?! The Dinobots never even SPOKE! Some of the Constructicons from ROTF had more characterisation than the Dinobots! :eek: I cannot think of anything remotely likable about the Dinobots as characters... they were purely treated as set-pieces.

IMO the appearance of the Dinobots went like this:
"Dinobots, come and help! No? BAD DOGGY! BAD!!"
<repeated.smacking.with.newspaper>
"Giddy-yap! Go get those bad guys! Sick 'em boys! Sick 'em!"
<commanding.whistling>
"Who's a good boy? You're a good boy! Now go return to the wild!"

And I agree with what others have said about the sub-part visual effects. I noticed that quite a few of the transformations were only partially shown. Like when Lockdown first transforms, we hear him transforming off screen, then a shot of the Lamborghini Aventador with a few last panels sliding into place etc. -- it seemed like there were a lot less clear, unobscured and open shots of Transformers showing us their full transformation, which is of course another money-saving measure.

I still don't understand why Optimus Prime can not only fly, but fly into and through space. Even Megatron and Starscream were only able to do that in their jet modes, and Sentinel Prime and the Fallen had to use massive space cruisers. It really felt like a "A wizard did it!" moment. :rolleyes:


Loved it! Lockdown was the greatest villain in the movies by far!
Not that there's much competition in that department. :p
But yeah, I thought Lockdown was well done and actually reasonably faithful to his original namesake, right down to his collection room which the Autobots hijacked. I felt sorry for him when he found out what had happened. :D


Finally a Transformers movie where there was nothing hidden on Earth (or the moon) that no none knew about.:rolleyes:
Except for Transformium deposits. ;)

As for the name not being Cybertronium, I thought the story explained it well enough in terms of it being product name that 'tests well with focus groups.' It would've been strange for humans to refer to it as Cybertronium... however it also would've been neat if the Transformers themselves referred to it as Cybertronium (why not? In the 1st movie the AllSpark kept on switching names from "AllSpark" to "The Cube" ;)). Having said that... why did the humans call Galvatron "Galvatron" when they were desparately attempting to replicate Optimus Prime and not Megatron. :confused: It would've been better if they gave him another name like "Motormaster" (not Nemesis Prime though, considering that they did want to make it a 'consumer friendly' product), and then later when awakening, he would refer to himself as Galvatron.


What I don't get though is, if you don't like something. If it be Bay, plot holes, problems with the actors, the transformations. What ever it be. Why even go see it? I never understand why movie after movie some people just find it rubbish, yet somehow go back every time.

This post isn't directed at anyone, or me attempting to be rude to people. So I'm sorry if it comes across that way :D
Because we don't know if we'll like it or not until we've seen it? ;) And to be fair, I haven't seen any criticisms here that seem unjustified, such as: "Galvatron should've been an orange barreled space cannon!" etc. ;)


I actually though Galvatron was great. We now have a great villain once again for TF5.:)
I felt he was underused. Seemed like he was more of a plot device to animate an army of Vehicons rather than a serious antagonistic contender. Lockdown and Kelsey Grammer's character were the real antagonists in this film IMHO.


Drift was very annoying.:mad:
Yes, but not nearly as annoying as he could have been. :p But he certainly was a more cheesy stereotype than his original namesake. I cringed every time he referred to Optimus Prime as "Sensei." Huh? Since when was Prime ever Drift's teacher or mentor?? It would've made more sense for him to call Prime Shireikan (Commander), which is actually what the Autobots typically call Prime in the Japanese version of the G1 cartoon. If they're concerned about audiences not understanding it, then just call him "Commander" in English (then the Japanese dub can translate it as 'shireikan' and appease the G1 fans there ;)).

Please no more silly spaceships.
The ship made sense for Lockdown though, since the original character did have one (Death's Head).


I was secretly hoping for Transmetal.
I was hoping to see an origin story for the Dinobots that was similar to IDW's in that the Dinobots were originally on prehistoric Earth with proper beast modes, but something happened the tore off their superficial flesh, exposing the robotic dino modes beneath. No such luck. But they didn't seem to offer any explanation that I can recall as to WHY they have saurian-esque alt modes. :confused: Alright, they're ancient legendary knights... so what?


I don't think Bay can do non-caucasians as anything but stereotypes.
Heeey, that's not fair. He did poke fun at the Irish "Lucky Charms" boyfriend. Stereotypes for all! :p


Made me think of Beast Machines every time.
No, Beast Machines wasn't that bad. Yes, they did morph, but they didn't scatter-morph! Oh gawd... you know things aren't good when you make Beast Machines look good. :rolleyes: Speaking of making bad stuff look good, I also feel that purely in terms of visual entertainment, Revenge of the Fallen was better. ROTF has a rubbish story/plot, but is visually quite spectacular. AoE feels like a movie with a sub-par story and somewhat ordinary effects. :/


Prime just shooting that bloke? That is sure to piss off some hardcore Prime fans?
While it was shocking, I can accept that because it was in the middle of combat, and Grammer's character was about to kill Yeager. The fact that he also sanctioned the hunting down and capture of Autobots also didn't help. But he was about to kill Cade, and Prime killed him to save Cade. I find it a far more acceptable act than when he executed Scavenger in cold blood in Revenge of the Fallen. In that scene, Scavenger was a defeated and completely incapacitated combatant -- he was no longer threatening anyone when Prime shot him. Grammer's character on the other hand had a gun pointed at Cade Yeager and was about to kill him. So it wasn't a cold blooded execution, it was a decision that Prime made to save his friend's life.


No, but we did learn that the Transformers' "creators" killed the dinosaurs to make the Transformers (allegedly).
I need to pay more attention to this when I watch the film again. We had several families with young children in the cinema, despite being a nighttime screening on a school night (sigh), including one baby who was making loud noises - so I might have missed the explanation for the Dinobots' alt modes. :o

[M-bot]

And I agree with what others have said about the sub-part visual effects. I noticed that quite a few of the transformations were only partially shown. Like when Lockdown first transforms, we hear him transforming off screen, then a shot of the Lamborghini Aventador with a few last panels sliding into place etc. -- it seemed like there were a lot less clear, unobscured and open shots of Transformers showing us their full transformation, which is of course another money-saving measure.

I'm certain it was a cost saving measure. There's what should be an epic transformation scene, from memory it is in ROTF where Jetfire's body merges with Optimus's and just as it gets going an American flag slowly drifts down between the viewer and the action. I can remember thinking in that part "would someone get the freakin' flag out of the way? I can't see!".

Another example in this film is the first battle between Prime and Lockdown occurs mostly off screen, on the peripheries of a car chase. Wasted opportunity, I thought.

In the directors commentary by Joss Whedon on 'Serentiy' he mentions about the CGI effect shot during the climax costing a certain amount of money for every second it is shown; in order to fit into the film's budget, he had to be cautious how long and how often he lingered on that shot. Bay's choice of shot selection with respect to more costly CGI was a lot more clumsy in this film than previous ones.

[Skullcruncher]

I rated it as a must see (well for anyone who is a fan), my wife really enjoyed it and the goldclass staff said it was awesome when we chatted to them before we went in.

The great
- Dinobots - played their part - didn't want them to speak and they didnt which got my tick of approval.
- Transformation of the human made bots - again awesome as it differentiates them from the 'real' transformers but I can see how the haters will go on about this forever.
- Lockdown was awesome
- Drift - Triple Changer - best thing ever!
- Humans - best effort so far
- Loved it when Bumblebee? mentioned KO's
- Hound was pretty great too, pleased that he made it through the movie.

The odd
- Where did brains go?
- The scene at the beginning, sure they found a dino in the snow, now what did they do with it?
- A couple of scene shifts were a bit too fast for me to take in what exactly happened.

The other
- Far too much product placement
- It made me almost want to buy some movie toys!
- Thank goodness that bumblebee dancing scene got chopped. That was lame as anything.

[Penetrator]

one thing to add...

it may be really interesting in nolan takes up the project instead of bay...

[Sinnertwin]

The most interesting thing for me was the increasing subversiveness of the films. Plenty has been written about the casual sexism and racism of the previous movies, but this film introduced what I think is the first TF film F-bomb and more than a hint of some almost-hentai action towards the main female protagonist, Tessa.

IIRC, Mikaela drops the F bomb (or variation of) during RoTF when the medic is applying the defibrilator to Sam after he got blown up. It's buried under the music & other sounds

[BigTransformerTrev]

I don't even try and compare the movies to other Transformer universes anymore, I just look at it as it's own take on the world and gee it's made me a lot more forgiving. Hence why when Optimus is shooting Fraiser I don't go "Optimus would never do that" because it's kinda interesting to see a take on him where he would.

*Pro's:
*Dinobots looked awesome! Slug and Strafe looked better than I thought they would in particular
*Gritty and much darker than other flicks
*Humans killed - yay!
*First half of flick was really good
*Pissed off Optimus killin' mo-fos!
*Hound was pretty cool - loved it when he shot the alien in the cage!
*Lockdown was awesome!
*Crosshairs was good, Drift wasn't too bad
*Bumblebee was not on screen 10 times more than any other character
*Welker as Galvatron!
*Fights!
*Spaceships!
*Explosions!

Cons:
*Could have cut a half hour out easy
*Too much human stuff as always, when the bald dude nd the asian chick were riding the motorbike was when I hit the wall for tolerating yet another gratuitious human action scenes
*Optimus can suddendly fly at the end?
*Marky Mark says to the bald dude one line on the phone and suddely baldy throws out his whole plan and swaps sides? Too easy
*Would have liked to see the Dinobots come in earlier
*Pre-plan the movies you fools! You have Galvatrons voice for Sentinel Prime, then Megatrons voice for Galvatron. Still cool to hear the voice though
*Not enough of Galvatrons army
*The boyfriend character was pretty useless/one dimensional
*Would have been good to see Drift as a proper triple changer rather than he just changed what his alt-form turned into. Turning from car to copter would have been sweet!


But yeah, you need to look at these movies as a bit of mindless fun and if you can manage it then I thought the movie was very enjoyable :)

[Omega Metro]

For some reason I laughed when Grimlock transformed into a Dino and Drift said something like.......'I was expecting a large car'. :D

I'm watching it again on the weekend so will probably pick up on a few bits and pieces.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

You know, if you changed the impressive computer action to props, these movies would probably be derided as rubbish and at best become quirky cult hits.

Bay's Transformer movies are nothing more than a bad video game with really nice graphics.

[GoktimusPrime]

Yeah, Bumblebee's reference to Stinger as a knockoff made me lol. :D
My issue w/ Drift as a triple changer is the absence of helicopter parts in robot mode. I can accept that these are alien looking robots, but they should have noticable alt mode kibble. All I see are Bugatti Veyron kibble but no chopper kibble. It's as if he transforms into a Bugatti but magically morphs into a helicopter. :/ If you want to do a triple changer, fine... but IMHO I'd rather see kibble from both alt modes to visually remind the audience that he does transform (not morph) into both alt modes.


But yeah, you need to look at these movies as a bit of mindless fun and if you can manage it then I thought the movie was very enjoyable :)
But Transformers deserves so much more respect than that IMO. :o I see no reason why we can't have a live action movie with decent story-telling. JMO

[Mythirax]

For some reason I laughed when Grimlock transformed into a Dino and Drift said something like.......'I was expecting a large car'. :D

Haha yeah, that really cracked me up. I also loved it when T.J Miller said something like "Stranger from the Cornfields" to Jack Reynor :D

[redhot_rodimus]

Were the Dinobots in Lockdown's ship? and Optimus free them right?
the spaceship they stole :)

[ILikeSoundwave]

Were the Dinobots in Lockdown's ship? and Optimus free them right?
the spaceship they stole :)

Yep.

[DELTAprime]

I didn't like it.

The humans ruin it for me. You know what would make a great TF5? Do what IDW did and get rid of the humans, I don't care what Steven "I made Jurassic Park" Spielberg says. It's not a movie about humans! It's a movie about Transformers!

Oh and the treatment of the Autobots is worse than ever. Bay seems to think they are all canon fodder and just keeps killing them. Guess what Bay, it didn't go down well for Hasbro in 1986 and it still doesn't go down well today.

That said I really want to see more of the Quintesson's.

[MayzaPrime]

I like the fact that Bay (well the writers anyway) are killing off the good guys. I think it is actually refreshing for a movie, that pretty much everyone (except Prime and Bee) are not safe. What annoys me is when Transformers don't appear in the next movie with no explanation. Atleast AoE tried to address this by saying that the bots were being hunted and showed Ratchet and Leadfoot all meeting there ends.

I think the movie should be called Transformers Battle of the Repaints. Stinger is basically a clone of Bumblebee, Galvatrons vehicons were clones of each other.

The Human element did annoy me, but no where to the level of RoTF. I liked Mark as Cade, and found him a much better lead than Shia. The over protective Dad did get rather boring however it did make me laugh at the short shorts joke. Nicola was ok, but you can tell Bay was on a thigh gap mission as all shots of Nicola was mostly from behind.

Overall a very enjoyable movie that went to long. But I rate it as one of the best.

I would have loved more Dinobot action, but I think that we will see more in the next movies.

[Mythirax]

I like the fact that Bay (well the writers anyway) are killing off the good guys. I think it is actually refreshing for a movie, that pretty much everyone (except Prime and Bee) are not safe. What annoys me is when Transformers don't appear in the next movie with no explanation. Atleast AoE tried to address this by saying that the bots were being hunted and showed Ratchet and Leadfoot all meeting there ends.

It would of been quite lengthy of them to show every Autobot that was still alive in the previous movies, dying. But doesn't one of the bots at some point in the movie mention they're sure the group of them who are in the movie, actually are the only remaining autobots on earth. So we can presume the rest of them are sadly dead.

I forget which exact point it was at as well, but there was a moment where I thought Bee was actually going to die. I was sort of hoping it would happen. It would of had some good on screen emotion :p

[Omega Metro]

Were the Dinobots in Lockdown's ship? and Optimus free them right?
the spaceship they stole :)

But who/what was the dinosaur frozen in ice at the beginning of the movie?

[Mythirax]

But who/what was the dinosaur frozen in ice at the beginning of the movie?

I think that was just a normal dinosaur or was turned into Transformium or w/e it's called from the seed. It wasn't actually a transformer.

---

Seeming as we only had 4 Dinobots in this movie, I can now see why Slog/Sludge isn't in the G1 SDCC Dinobot set :confused:

[Paulbot]

The Autobots were all unpleasant. I didn't care about any of the new ones with their attitudes. Hound grew on me though but not the other two.

Did it look like Lockdown was extracting Ratchet's spark to anyone else? Thought that might come back later, but since he kept live trophies I guess not.

And when the rally car turned up at the farm could you see the driver? Was sure it was driverless in that first shot (therefore Autobot)


But who/what was the dinosaur frozen in ice at the beginning of the movie?

Just an actual dinosaur turned to metal by a seed but not picked up by the collectors. Also evidence that Cybertronium wasn't a natural element proving that the device offered by Lockdown would do what he says it does. Also foreshadowing of the Dinobots.

[Mythirax]

And when the rally car turned up at the farm could you see the driver? Was sure it was driverless in that first shot (therefore Autobot)

I thought the same thing, so I thought we were about to see Rollbar :D

http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/attach/3/9/4/7/1/Breakout-Battle-Rollbar-car_1403382885.jpg (http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/transformers-movie-toys-products-30/transformers-age-of-extinction-platinum-edition-sets-official-images-180474/)

http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/attach/3/9/4/7/1/Breakout-Battle-Rollbar-bot_1403382885.jpg (http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/transformers-movie-toys-products-30/transformers-age-of-extinction-platinum-edition-sets-official-images-180474/)

[Paulbot]

It was hinted at even when we saw the boyfriend (I still haven't learnt his name) as he said during the chase that he was driving better than he'd ever had before. I thought, yep this will be an autobot then. But no.

[Mythirax]

It was hinted at even when we saw the boyfriend (I still haven't learnt his name) as he said during the chase that he was driving better than he'd ever had before. I thought, yep this will be an autobot then. But no.

Turns out he just liked someone else handling his stick. It made him drive better ;)

[MayzaPrime]

It would of been quite lengthy of them to show every Autobot that was still alive in the previous movies, dying. But doesn't one of the bots at some point in the movie mention they're sure the group of them who are in the movie, actually are the only remaining autobots on earth. So we can presume the rest of them are sadly dead.

I forget which exact point it was at as well, but there was a moment where I thought Bee was actually going to die. I was sort of hoping it would happen. It would of had some good on screen emotion :p

Yeah totally agree... But I would have liked to have seen Sideswipe instead of Leadfoot as Sideswipe has been in 2 movies. I do understand why Leadfoot was there as John DiMaggio voiced him in DoTM.

I really liked Hound, John Goodman did an awesome job! I had a laugh when he called himself a fat arse.

[MayzaPrime]

It was hinted at even when we saw the boyfriend (I still haven't learnt his name) as he said during the chase that he was driving better than he'd ever had before. I thought, yep this will be an autobot then. But no.

It was Mr Surrender or Lucky Charms

[Mythirax]

It was Mr Surrender or Lucky Charms

It did amuse me how he got called a dozen different names, by various characters throughout the movie.

[Raptormesh]

It did amuse me how he got called a dozen different names, by various characters throughout the movie.

They needed to give him a personality.

[jaydisc]

I don't think Bay can do non-caucasians as anything but stereotypes.

THIS!


Lockdown was a star. Did anyone think that his extraction of Ratchet's spark was going to come back later in the film?

YES!

My own thoughts:

Worst GM, Zeiss, Budweiser, Beats, Audi, Victoria's Secret commercial ever!

What a steaming pile of horse manure.

The first two transformations were offscreen! Then that stupid particle effect!! It's "Transformers" FFS!!!

The only redeeming feature of the movie was Lockdown.

I missed all of the dialog when he was putting Prime in the cage though. Creators want you back or something or other. Worth repeating? Or just more vapid, banal rubbish?

[Defcon]

So a few friends of mine saw it who love transformers, came out of it absolutely hating it. Nothing but ragging on it all night. They did the same with the previous three. And after each one always say how they won't go back to see another.

What I don't get though is, if you don't like something. If it be Bay, plot holes, problems with the actors, the transformations. What ever it be. Why even go see it? I never understand why movie after movie some people just find it rubbish, yet somehow go back every time.

This post isn't directed at anyone, or me attempting to be rude to people. So I'm sorry if it comes across that way :D

Im like loving and hating the movies at the same time. I go to see the movie for one Thing,Transformers, nothing else. Maybe thats why people keep going back to see the next one. The carrot for this one was the dinobots, but they come in to late. If it wasn't for Lockdown, the movie would of been shallow. His character is what really made this movie for me. So if they change the director and they should in my opinion, somethings should be different, but the essence of Transformers is what keeps people coming back.

[b1b2]

Thought the story line was ok....... Dinobots didn't appear till very late in the movie.

Movie was nearly 3 hours though.

[Caffinetron]

I liked it, although there are alot of gaps in the movement of the characters in the film and plot lines.
Correct in talking about the rally car not having a driver. Also during the rescan sequences there was no one in the cars/trucks. When BB rescanned and a profile shot of his new mode was shown there was nothing in the car. Next shot was BF and GF sitting in the drivers seat.
Lockdown was superb and WTF with the sudden jet boots on Optimus?
So glad they killed of the clown in the first part of the movie. I don't think i could have put up with his silliness.

I'm really looking forward to a heritage story of the TF in the next film to explain the makers wanting Prime back etc.

[GoktimusPrime]

So glad they killed of the clown in the first part of the movie. I don't think i could have put up with his silliness.
^tru dat. :) He felt like a Ryan Reynolds wannabe, but really not quite succeeding. :o

I'm really looking forward to a heritage story of the TF in the next film to explain the makers wanting Prime back etc.
I hope it ties back to this...
Before time began, there was the Cube. We know not where it comes from, only that it holds the power to create worlds and fill them with life. That is how our race was born.
...and the fanboy in me also hopes that it won't conflict with the concept of multiversal singularities (i.e. utterly ruling out Primus etc.). Though when I take off my fanboy goggles, I couldn't give a pig's bum about multiversal singularities. :p

---------------------------

P.S.: Check out this article...
20 Reasons Why We Did Not Like Transformers 4: Michael Bay Does It Again (http://www.wheninmanila.com/20-reasons-why-we-did-not-like-transformers-4-michael-bay-does-it-again/)
I agree with most of the points here, the only 2 I would dispute would be:

* Optimus Prime saved Tess because her father had saved him and he felt obliged to save his new human friend's daughter. It would be out of character for Optimus Prime to allow an innocent civilian to be killed, no matter how annoying she may be.

* The alien gun is not necessarily Cybertronian. Lockdown's ship had alien captives from other alien species as part of his collection. He would have also collected their weaponry too, so it stands to reason that the alien sword-gun that Cade used was from a human-sized alien. Or possibly from a human-sized Transformer, as not ALL Transformers are gigantic. Frenzy, Reedman and Alice were human sized, while Wheelie, Brains, Ejector and various other appliance-bots were smaller than human sized. So it could possibly be the weapon of a smaller Transformer. Either way, I don't think it's implausible enough to warrant as a flaw in the movie.

[griffin]

Well that was 3 hours I'm never going to get back... :p

The pacing was terrible. The first half was so slow I was checking my watch to see how long I had been sitting there... while the last half had patches that were too fast or rushed in linking action sequences.
Like having Optimus "taming" Grimlock - it was hardly necessary since they were both captives and fellow Knights, and Optimus was able to defeat Grimlock really easily.

Watching Ratchet die was difficult, as he's a doctor, not a soldier... so the same plot element of an early Autobot death could have been achieved with the death of a Wrecker, and just have Ratchet noted as being terminated before the movie.

The acting was as poor as ever, with token female running scared... then acting brave when necessary.

But worst of all (to me) is the morphing of cubes is wrong on so many levels... and ruins the classic definition of transforming. (although technically, it is still a definition of "transforming", in that a change of form doesn't follow just one method... I'm just a traditionalist when it comes to Transformers :p)

Probably the only highlight is the inclusion of Megatron, even if it only felt like it was just setting up his role in the next movie.

[SharkyMcShark]

Mixed feelings. Part of me thinks it was good, most of me realises it was pretty terrible. That said I went when quite ill (I'd organised the tickets so had to be there to pick them up) so it might have coloured my opinion of it.

To summarise before getting into the pros and cons it felt like about two or three movies in one. It should either have done Lockdown bounty hunting Autobots, or Megatron resurrected and the hunt for the McGuffin (Seed).

Pros

+ Lockdown: Head, shoulders and torso above everything else as my favourite thing from this entire series of movies. Odd, because I don't particularly like Boba Fett, but I love what I'm dubbing Robo-Fett. Transforming alien bounty hunter with gunface/integrated Boba Fett helmet whose alt mode is a gunmetal grey Lamborghini? I am ALL over that. I also like that they didn't do what they inevitably do with neutral characters and make him Decepticon aligned or sympathetic. Really really really hope we get a good larger figure of this (are they still doing Human Alliance stuff? That was just about the only size point worth anything in DotM). It was a shame he had to go :(

+ More Transformers character time: I also liked how Bay is cottoning on to the fact that the Transformers should all be characters to. While in certain cases (e.g. Drift - more on that below) the execution was lacking, it was good that you got a solid feel for each of the robot characters.

+ The 'Vehicons' (is that what we're going with?): I didn't actually mind them - the fact that they were all red or white compared to the blue/green/yellow of the protagonists really brought a sense of visual order to the fight scenes. I sort of enjoyed the alternate transformation - granted it was a bit over the top at times with the molecules snaking through the air for ages, but conceptually I wasn't against it.

+ (Relative) lack of crass humour: There's nothing wrong with crass humour, but Bay doesn't do it all well so I was glad that it was mostly absent.


Cons

- Length: About an hour too long. So much filler. Most of the first half of the film, most of what happened on Lockdown's ship, them pointlessly infiltrating the KSI base in America, a bundle of stuff during the Stanley Tucci running with the bomb part of the film.

- Characters: Marky Mark was a caricature of the 'creepily overprotective dad' trope. Tessa was the misogynist cluster**** that most Michael Bay female characters turn out to be. The boyfriend was one dimensional and annoying. I thought Kelsey Grammar was suitably menacing if a bit one note. Stanley Tucci was about the only likeable one but even then he was quite inconsistent - I liked his turn as the remorseful inventor (I actually enjoyed Wahlberg's "you're just like me, an inventor" speech) but during the chase with the seed/bomb he went from that right into zany action-comedy sidekick and comic relief territory. No consistency.

- Drift: Anyone else feel this was verging on/crossing into/firmly racist? Again, on a conceptual level I loved that the Transformers got heaps more screen time but I was getting to the point of cringing with Drift. Did love the "I was expecting a large car" line.


- The plot: All over the place. The film tried to shoehorn too many stories in which led to the different subplots tripping over each other. Allow me to go into some things that I hated about the plot in no particular order.

> Dinobots: Loved their design but the way that they were introduced was (probably) literally the laziest writing I've seen in any film. The escape pod section of the ship just happened to contain the prison, which just happened to contain some Transformer knights, who just happen to be able to save the day, but this isn't mentioned in any way until they're needed to save the day? Ugh.
> Final battle was tonally confusing: Do either a) battle over the McGuffin like the other films or b) the Lockdown/Prime bounty thing. As it was both felt underdone. The Seed half of it just fizzled out with the Dinobots transforming into giant robot knights and posing for a fight on the bridge, with the rest of it being resolved off screen because it was time to wrap up the Lockdown subplot. Terrible.
> Galvatron: Horribly underdone. Again, either do Lockdown's bounty hunting crusade or the resurrected leader of the Decepticons playing the humans to build him a new body. That Lockdown was such a refreshing character for this series basically carried his subplot, but the whole Galvatron thing didn't have nearly enough gravitas associated with it for what it was i.e. the return of the most badass alien warlord in the galaxy. Everyone was just sort of like 'yeah, alright'. There was no "OH SHI-" moment. Also he might as well as have ended the film saying "see you in the sequel".
> Stop teasing an origin story without explaining in any way how it is related: Theoretically the inevitable Transformers 5 should give colour and context to this, but it began to drag in this one.
> Why can Optimus Prime now fly? At what point did he get this ability?
> Why didn't they give the bomb that they were trying to get out of the centre of a busy city to any of the apparently three Autobots who could fly? (Strafe, Drift, Optimus Prime) (I did get perverse enjoyment out of Drift, whose alt modes are the fastest production car ever made and a freaking helicopter, telling Tucci and friends to take the Seed to the edge of the city in an old slow jeep)


Random observations/questions
1. Is everyone else dead now? (I refer to Dino, Sideswipe, Roadbuster, the Twins etc)
2. How long has Optimus Prime had jet boots? What is the point of protoform modes if he can just Iron Man it through space?
3. I enjoy (perversely) the increasingly ridiculous lengths that the writers go to try and negative the ultimately fairly valid point that none of this bad stuff would be happening if the Autobots hadn't come here/would bugger off now. I'm going to for my own amusement assume that one hill over from where the Seed bombs were being dropped was where the Fallen was busy setting up his Sun Harvester, and that was just down the road from where Megatron crashed while chasing the All-Spark.



Overall I'm honestly not sure if it was that much of a better effort than anything else in the series. It was definitely different, that's for sure.

[Mythirax]

I got to admit, I know the new Transformer Movies aren't every ones up of tea. But boy does it shock me the amount of people that really seem to not like them :o

[1AZRAEL1]

I got to admit, I know the new Transformer Movies aren't every ones up of tea. But boy does it shock me the amount of people that really seem to not like them :o

Most of the people who don't like them are Transformers fans. The average movie-goer I speak to did like them.

I for one enjoyed it, and so did my missus.

[Mythirax]

Most of the people who don't like them are Transformers fans. The average movie-goer I speak to did like them.

I for one enjoyed it, and so did my missus.

I guess you're probably right. Great to hear you liked it though.

Always makes me laugh when I look at a site like Rotten Tomato's (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/transformers_age_of_extinction/) with a movie like this. It's amazing to see how different the critics and user reviews score it.

[theshape]

Oh geeze 16% on Rotten tomatoes. I usually find RT is on the money. X-men DOFP was a WAYYYY better film than this was. Good effects, good characters good pacing etc

[Paulbot]

I got to admit, I know the new Transformer Movies aren't every ones up of tea. But boy does it shock me the amount of people that really seem to not like them :o

By this poll's results it's only 1 in 5 who really didn't like it. Not that big a number. There were things I disliked about the movie and most of then are "could have done better" things. Overall I've been thinking about the movie a lot since I saw it and there's plenty to discuss. Once Americans start seeing the film check those boards and you'll probably find more vocal love.

For example of a could have done better. The morphing cubes. Something TF technology can't do, but humans can produce? Unlikely. But it would have made sense that Lockdown and his crew, travelling all over the galaxy, had that ability instead. Keep the effect in the film (if you must) but give it to the characters most likely to have it.

You know what human-built Transformers should have looked like? Diaclone. Imagine if in the 30th anniversary of Transformers we saw a movie with transforming robots that were a bit blocky, had visible seems and looked like the toys that started this all. Have hundreds of these mass produced robots so overwhelming numbers make up for disadvantages in speed and mobility. Give some Diaclone designers a cameo in the lab. And then have Lockdowns morphin crew as the additional threat.

[Skullcruncher]

Most of the people who don't like them are Transformers fans. The average movie-goer I speak to did like them.

I for one enjoyed it, and so did my missus.

Yeah I was talking to a couple of guys in the office this morning, they saw it yesterday and really enjoyed it too. (Like me and my missus).

The fandom do nit pick every little thing. The general population/media poke fun at star wars/trek 'geeks' and with transformers more mainstream since the bay movies I am worried the fandom will simply cause all transformer fans to be labeled in a similar way.

[Omega Metro]

Yeah I was talking to a couple of guys in the office this morning, they saw it yesterday and really enjoyed it too. (Like me and my missus).

The fandom do nit pick every little thing. The general population/media poke fun at star wars/trek 'geeks' and with transformers more mainstream since the bay movies I am worried the fandom will simply cause all transformer fans to be labeled in a similar way.

At the end of the day, I could not give a crap whether the reviews are good or bad. I enjoyed it and that is pretty much all the matters. I felt it was more of a ROTF clone and I actually loved ROTF! :) I don't really have a need to be critical of the plot, actors etc. Like my other 3 TF movies I own on BluRay, I will be watching this a lot more than any of the Avengers, Star Trek, Xmen ones I own........cos I'm a Transformers fan and enjoy them a lot.:)

[Freya]

Watched it last night in Gold Class with the wife, very enjoyable from the start, and feel sad for ratchet, questions unanswered, prime is invincible, get shots twice in the chest, stab in the chest and still can recovery so quick. boyfriend and girlfriend is so lame, then start go getting bored, wife lost interest, sick of all those fireworks its all over the place, and the guys seat next to me is snoring. Not much of Dinobots action and they are weak as well. Lockdown is great in this. overall its ok its just too long.

[Skullcruncher]

At the end of the day, I could not give a crap whether the reviews are good or bad. I enjoyed it and that is pretty much all the matters.

For sure - I will be buying the DVD as well, hopefully there is a couple of extra scenes but I will skip bumblebee dancing. :D

[Omega Metro]

For sure - I will be buying the DVD as well, hopefully there is a couple of extra scenes but I will skip bumblebee dancing. :D

Bumblebee dancing wasn't even in the movie, very annoying:);)

[Sky Shadow]

This was surprisingly watchable. Anything too offensive or idiotic was either not written in or edited out. Lockdown was a strong villain, and Crosshairs showed the beginnings of becoming a future 'big name' in Transformerdom. Clever/a good coincidence that there was a major Lockdown/Ratchet scene at the beginning for anyone familiar with certain other multiversal Lockdowns/Ratchets. I felt nostalgic looking at Prime as a flat-nosed cab. Movie universe Optimus Prime is dark though - I thought it was hilarious that he'd just massacred a bunch of humans at Marky Mark's house and then said he would make an exception to his usual non-human-killing policy by killing Frasier Crane. The lack of Witwickys was an improvement. I couldn't understand why Steve Jobs wanted Galvatron to look like Optimus Prime, and yet chose to call him "Galvatron". I think we can unanimously agree that Galvatron as an individual was a lame villain, although his IDW Scorponok masterplan worked well until the Dinobots came along. Visually, the Hong Kong scenes were beauteous. Compared to watching the previous film, this was an enjoyable three hours.

[Omega Metro]

this was an enjoyable three hours.

Didn't feel like 3 hours. More like 2 hours. But happy with 3 cos I get my moneys worth.:D

[DELTAprime]

Currently it's getting a 31% on Metacritic 15% on Rottentomatos.

If they cut out the humans, I bet it would be getting better reviews. I really feel it's the human parts that let it down.

[Sky Shadow]

How long has Optimus Prime had jet boots? What is the point of protoform modes if he can just Iron Man it through space?

Did anyone else feel like they'd just watched the last episode of The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie show?

OPTIMUS PRIME: I have to go now. My planet needs me.

Note: Optimus died on the way back to his home planet.

[Paulbot]

Optimus Prime is dark though - I thought it was hilarious that he'd just massacred a bunch of humans at Marky Mark's house and then said he would make an exception to his usual non-human-killing policy by killing Frasier Crane.
It's really hard for Transformers to kill humans in this universe. Despitr all the damage they did in Chicago the Decepticons only manage to kill 1300 humans.

[Sky Shadow]

My issue w/ Drift as a triple changer is the absence of helicopter parts in robot mode.

I assumed those things he was wielding were his helicopter blades. I'd love to see e-HOBBY or Million Publishing rerelease G1 Springer in movie Drift colours (as they did for Ironhide, Ratchet, Skids, etc.) Likewise, I now want a G1 Crosshairs (and Pinpointer) in green.

[klystron]

I quite enjoyed this one. More than ROTF, but not as much as DOTM. For me the biggest grievence was the off-screen action, missing transformations, and jarring scene/sequence changes. There was a few times I thought that a couple of minutes of filmed had just been skipped ("did I suddenly just fall asleep and miss a bit?").
Another annoying bit was OP's ability to heal himself. One minute he's off-line/barely functional in a barn, the next he's tearing down a highway with a flashy new alt-mode.
Did not like the molecular morphing thing at all. Smelt of cop-out to me.

The action sequences, while not put together the best, were visually stunning (which is kinda the point of a big-budget, big-screen action movie).

I enjoyed having new human and non-human characters, but didn't really like Crosshairs or LuckyCharms (who was so one dimensional even the other characters couldn't remember his name). Lockdown and Hound were definite highlights (*rushes to Kmart for a Hound figure*). As was Rachet spark extraction (dont cry fanboys - his spark is intact). Glad Scorn made it to the screen too.

Clearly Galvatron was a setup for the next movie. And I chose to think that since he was manipulating the humans, he gave himself that name. (Awesome homage to TFA too, that bit). Although a 'sparkless' TF does not sit well with me.

There was sections that could have been removed (human drivel, rally car scene) in order to fill a bit of TF story (knights/dinobots, where the Autobots had been hiding, etc).

I could have sworn that when OP took the sword (freeing knights scene) that his form altered somewhat. I thought this was were the flight capability came from. (I might have to rewatch that bit...)

I enjoyed the movie (c'mon, TFs on the big screen!) and will watch it again. And again. Reveiws be damned. No more, or less flaws, than any other big action flick. Just perhaps not quite as well paced or edited as some.
3hrs and $11 well spent.

[sifun]

I watched the movie last night

1. Way too long, approximately 2.5 hrs long
2. Pretty much zero character development, story was really all over the place.
3. rehashed action scenes ala transform with humans inside and catch them in the air
4. Better than the last 2 movies
5. Did not like how the dinobots played out-
6. Mark Wahlberg made it more interesting- Thankfully they got rid of shia
7. Human casualty? I liked that.
8. I did not like transformium concept and how galvatron and stinger transform. Also how Galvatron has a mind without a spark.
Galvatron looks way ugly.

9. I think they had a mistake during where mark is showing footage from the drone inside drift (blue veyron car) yet you see him in robot mode in the same scene.
Did not explain how drift is a triple changer-as you never see him change into the Bugatti veyron

10. I liked lockdown, didn't like his face though.

Conclusion:
overall for me it was disappointing as a TF fan and movie goer. I wasn't expecting much and I was still disappointed.
Leaving it open with Galvatron and the creators concept means theres likely more movies coming.
I honestly hope they get rid of Michael Bay and do a proper reboot and start a fresh.

[Raptormesh]

Just wished Drift was a Lexus LFA, that would have been perfect. I guess the next movie will be Robots Fighting in Space.

[Sinnertwin]

It's really hard for Transformers to kill humans in this universe. Despitr all the damage they did in Chicago the Decepticons only manage to kill 1300 humans.

1300? Such an exact number for city wide destruction

[Paulbot]

1300? Such an exact number for city wide destruction

The exact quote was something like "over/around/more than" but the "thirteen hundred" was a spit-take moment for me. Way too low.

But maybe I misheard. Been waiting to see if anyone else comments on this (or when I see the movie again).

[Krayt]

Yeah, Bumblebee's reference to Stinger as a knockoff made me lol. :D
My issue w/ Drift as a triple changer is the absence of helicopter parts in robot mode. I can accept that these are alien looking robots, but they should have noticable alt mode kibble. All I see are Bugatti Veyron kibble but no chopper kibble. It's as if he transforms into a Bugatti but magically morphs into a helicopter. :/ If you want to do a triple changer, fine... but IMHO I'd rather see kibble from both alt modes to visually remind the audience that he does transform (not morph) into both alt modes.


But Transformers deserves so much more respect than that IMO. :o I see no reason why we can't have a live action movie with decent story-telling. JMO

Chopper kibble is there.... Swords are the chopper blades, and when on his back are attached to the main rotor... Then in next shot you still see car wheels on legs and car badging on chest.

[Mythirax]

Did anyone else feel like they'd just watched the last episode of The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie show?

OPTIMUS PRIME: I have to go now. My planet needs me.

Note: Optimus died on the way back to his home planet.

Lmao, I didn't even think of that.

[DELTAprime]

The exact quote was something like "over/around/more than" but the "thirteen hundred" was a spit-take moment for me. Way too low.

But maybe I misheard. Been waiting to see if anyone else comments on this (or when I see the movie again).

Yeah that bothered me when I heard it. If I was a 30 foot tall alien robot with bad ass weaponry I bet I could kill more humans than that.

I think they should have destroyed more buildings than they did in DOTM also and then 5 years after the battle in AOE we should see Chicago still being rebuilt. I really think it should have been 9/11 scale destruction on a wide scale.

[Shirokaze]

Just wished Drift was a Lexus LFA, that would have been perfect.

I found it pretty ironic that they made Drift transform into 2 vehicles that are incapable of drifting. The Bugatti's whole philosophy is grip and downforce.. and a helicopter?

All my problems with the movie have pretty much been covered by everyone else. When I watched it, I tried to put my fanboism aside, be open-minded and view it from the point of view of a general movie-goer. I think this was my downfall, because without the robot fighting eye-candy, there is no substance or structure.

[GoktimusPrime]

Fair about about the Drift chopper blade swords. Never thought of it that way, but it makes sense when I think about it. Still... what about the rest of the helicopter? :confused:

I was hoping that Galvatron would be a whole new character (much like he was in some G1 sources (toy continuity, Ladybird books, Studio OX etc.) instead of a reincarnated Megatron, but to AoE's credit, they did pull it off better than I expected. But it does feel a bit silly that Megatron's has now died twice and been resurrected twice in the film franchise. :o

I really like how they've used Welker to voice him, and Welker is using the G1 Megatron voice. :D As for Welker v. Nimoy, at the time that they created Dark of the Moon, they wouldn't have known that they were going to introduce Galvatron into Age of Extinction. And also keep in mind that Nimoy only voiced Galvatron in TFTM, whereas it was Frank Welker who voiced Galvatron in the G1 TV series. The majority of G1 Galvatron's screen time was actually voiced by Welker. :)


The fandom do nit pick every little thing. The general population/media poke fun at star wars/trek 'geeks' and with transformers more mainstream since the bay movies I am worried the fandom will simply cause all transformer fans to be labeled in a similar way.
There are some criticisms that some fans make towards the franchise which I think is unreasonable; and I'm talking about the "Ruined Forever!" criticisms which are based around "Because it's different from G1!". I don't buy into those criticisms, and I will defend the Bay movies against those who try to make such comments. For example, a few weeks ago I read a post from a guy heavily criticising Age of Extinction for having Optimus Prime ride Grimlock; claiming that "never in four million years would Grimlock ever let anyone ride him." I replied by posting this image (http://starsmedia.ign.com/stars/image/article/847/847909/wheelie-transformers-003_1201323003.jpg). ;)

But I don't think that it's unreasonable for fans to expect basic standards of cinematic story-telling, because fundamentally that is what movies are meant to be... a story-telling medium. Ultimately it all boils down to the justification that an individual is offering behind why they think the movie is good or bad. e.g.
"I loved Age of Extinction because it was just a great ride of a popcorn action flick!"
"I hated Age of Extinction because the story was just rubbish."
^Two opposite opinions whose rationales I would personally agree with. :)
There's no such thing as a right or wrong opinion*, but rather on how that opinion is justified. ;) So far, the majority of opinions about Age of Extinction - both positive and negative - seem to have been well formed opinions. But IMO most fans, especially here on OTCA, tend to offer solid opinions. :cool:


I think this was my downfall, because without the robot fighting eye-candy, there is no substance or structure.
^So true. A good movie should still tell an excellent story, regardless of the quality of its visual effects. Compare the Original Star Wars Trilogy with the Prequel Star Wars Trilogy; the Prequels have superior visual effects to the Original, yet a lot of fans would argue that the Original is the superior set of movies because they have more character-driven stories, while the Prequels are more caricaturised.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/trilogy_zps064b1113.jpg

---------------------------------------------------
*Unless the opinion is based on something that is factually incorrect, e.g. asserting that koalas are bears instead of marsupials etc.

[autobreadticon]

Just finished watching it, it was all right in all honestly will the majority go see it twice in cinema , probarly not, will I own it on bluray no. Strong acting performances, good story line, awful dialogue at times , the flow of the movie for the first half of the movie dragged on sometimes,

[SkyWarp91]

Going to see it again Sunday night, can't wait to get to the last scene where Optimus blasts Fraiser.

Then I'll buy the blu-ray, and watch that scene again and again!

[WeallscreamforStarscream]

OMG SHOOT ME NOW>> actually too late i already watched it.

I understand that they have all been crap and this will be crap too, so i went in watching it as an action flick instead of a TF movie.

Bad CGI, Bad characters, super fast flashy fight scenes that you cant make sense of whats happening, story thinner than flat bread, movie tooooooo long, why is Galvatron a truck and Lockdown the gun that Galvatron should have been?

omg i hate it as a movie.

on the + ... the Dinobots were pretty awesome! and then they were told at the end to go do whatever they wanted on the land?? wtf

[drahsrebu]

Galvatron is a truck because they were trying to copy optimus, this was mentioned in the movie.

[Sky Shadow]

Galvatron is a truck because they were trying to copy optimus, this was mentioned in the movie.

Also, Megatron was a truck in the previous film, and Galvatron was based on/was Megatron.

[tinyJazz]

I finally got to see it on Thursday, and I was not disappointed.

Absolute tripe.

Worst film of the franchise.

I thought ROTF was bad but this is spectacularly bad.

So yeah, pretty much what I expected! ;)

Lockdown/Ryan, Grammer and Tucci were good. Just looked like they were having fun. CGI and VFX top notch as always. Prime's redesign looks fantastic compared to the previous films.

Otherwise, rubbish with no substance and no direction. FAR too long, nothing of value happened to justify that length.

Got a good laugh out of Optimus rocketing into the sunset though. It was so over the top and out of place. :D

[Omega Metro]

We'll I am currently in the cinema waiting for it to start. Should be even better the 2nd time around.:)

[sideswipes brother]

Just saw it. What a pile of Baypoop! :mad::mad::mad:
I LOVE transformers but this was the very first movie EVER i considered walking out on at about the 2 hour mark. The only thing which kept me in my seat was the waiting for the dinobots.

[Robzy]

Haven't seen it yet (to be honest, I had no idea it was even out this week :o:eek: I only found out by accident on facebook). I gotta say, it's interesting how many bad reviews and '1 star out of 5' ratings it's getting. Who knew that Shia was the best thing about this franchise? lol :D The only positive stuff I've read about it was on the US sites by the usual suspects.

Guess I'll save my money from what I'm reading in this thread and elsewhere.

[kurdt_the_goat]

I enjoyed it and think it's probably the best of them, sure a few of the things people have mentioned i agree with, but i just consider them minor niggles overall. Some stuff i don't know why people complain... Drift transforms into a helicopter cause it looks cool and lets them do a cool tower rescue sequence. It's just not worth thinking too deeply about.

What are the gaping plot holes i seem to have missed? All i noticed was that there was pretty much no need for Lockdown to make a deal with the humans if he only wanted Prime? He could have taken on anyone in his way no probs!

Also it seems i'm the only one who liked Prime taking off into space, reminded me of God Ginrai in Masterforce... Along with the finding a truck story being similar. I think they do a pretty good job referencing some obscure parts of TF history like that.

[AJ_Prime]

I really enjoyed the movie too. Lots of nods to the original franchise. Would like to see them explain Drifts character a bit more, ie his history but maybe next movie...

The dinobots being the "knights of Cybertron" explains the knight look of their movie toys.

Plenty of loose ends for further movies to explore. I'd definitely recommend it. Plenty of robot action. Also locking forward to a Zhonda/Stinger toy.

[GoktimusPrime]

Saw this movie for the second time tonight. It was more enjoyable, since I knew what to expect. ;) It is a good action popcorn flick that is visually exciting to watch. :)


What are the gaping plot holes i seem to have missed?
* When Optimus Prime scanned the Western Star truck, he not only acquired a new alt mode but became instantly fixed. Even my Kindergarten-aged daughter noticed this! So why didn't he do this sooner instead of having Cade try and semi-repair him in his barn? He could've just asked Cade to drive his truck to the barn door then scan that. If all the Transformers can do this, why didn't Ratchet scan one of Cemetery Wind's vehicles which could've restored his leg and allowed him to escape.

* Optimus Prime can Superman fly! :eek: I say Superman Fly because it's not just any ordinary flying, he can actually fly into space which requires a massive amount of energy. This is why rockets and shuttles have huge fuel tanks attached to them which break off during take off. Not even Megatron or Starscream seemed able to sustain long range high speed flight in robot mode, only in their jet modes. If Optimus Prime can Super-Fly, then why bother transforming and driving around places in truck mode? It's surely faster and easier to just fly everywhere. We see him driving away from Lockdown and Cemetery Wind... why not just fly away? When Optimus Prime was being dragged up by Lockdown's magnetic device, why didn't he try to fly away (it worked for Strafe, and he was only using winged flight!)? Why did Optimus Prime bother riding Grimlock? Why didn't he fly back as advanced reinforcements? There were just so many moments where he could've moved so much faster with flight rather than rolling or riding to his destinations (or away from enemies). And is this flight ability newly acquired or has he always had it? If it's the latter, then a LOT of other moments in the first three movies retrospectively don't make sense now. Why did Optimus Prime crash on Earth as a protoform asteroid? Why not transform to robot mode and land? Why didn't he fly after the Ark and save Sentinel Prime when it got shot on Cybertron? Why didn't Optimus Prime fly to the moon instead of taking the Xantium? Ratchet could've come along later aboard the Xantium to retrieve Sentinel Prime and the pillars after Prime did a solo recon mission. Why didn't Optimus Prime fly away from Sector 7 forces in TF1 instead of running around in robot mode? All of his fight scenes would've been different if he could've flown -- he wouldn't have needed to sacrificially combine with Jetfire in ROTF nor bothered to even have the Jetwing in DOTM. And the fatal jungle battle might've ended more favourably if he could've flown. It really felt like the writers wanted to have Optimus Prime leave the Earth in order to protect it - which is fair enough - but then realised that they hadn't conceived of an idea of HOW he would actually do this, so they wrote, "Optimus Prime flies into space." It's like one of those, "a wizard did it," moments. :rolleyes:

* I still don't understand why the Knights of Cybertron transform into robotic approximations of dinosaurs. :confused:


All i noticed was that there was pretty much no need for Lockdown to make a deal with the humans if he only wanted Prime? He could have taken on anyone in his way no probs!
It was an alliance of convenience. More hands make light work, and he was essentially enlisting the aid of the CIA and KSI and hunt down Optimus Prime. Lockdown had a job to do, and if siding with some humans can help him get the job done sooner and easier, then why not?

[klystron]

^ Am I the only one that thought OP changed when he drew the sword?
Damn, I must've be wrong on that one...

[Paulbot]

^ Am I the only one that thought OP changed when he drew the sword?
Damn, I must've be wrong on that one...

No, I remember some panel shifting going on as he pulled the sword and I remember anticipating more of an upgrade was about to be seen (but wasn't).

[CBratron]

All the above is why you need to leave your brain at home when you go out to watch these movies.

The WTF moment that stuck most in my mind is after Crosshairs leapt off the gunship he was piloting in Chicago. Bee flew it for a but but at some point the rear gunpod sheared off with the humans inside. This metal pod fell from the sky bounced several times down the street before coming to rest on a car. With no sign of human sized harnesses or any kind of cushioning, they survive and Cade is so unfazed that he proceeds to argue insurance with the car's owner.

[GoktimusPrime]

No, I remember some panel shifting going on as he pulled the sword and I remember anticipating more of an upgrade was about to be seen (but wasn't).
Yes, this is true. When Optimus Prime takes his sword's handle, we immediately see panels forming which makes his robot form look more "knightly," especially the forearms which bear a greater resemblance to gauntlets.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/Transformers/Age%20of%20Extinction/aoe_prime_arms_zps4733d1b3.jpg


All the above is why you need to leave your brain at home when you go out to watch these movies.
Yes, also true, but we shouldn't have to. The Transformers franchise and Transformers fans deserve better than this IMO. :(

[kurdt_the_goat]

* When Optimus Prime scanned the Western Star truck, he not only acquired a new alt mode but became instantly fixed. Even my Kindergarten-aged daughter noticed this! So why didn't he do this sooner instead of having Cade try and semi-repair him in his barn? He could've just asked Cade to drive his truck to the barn door then scan that. If all the Transformers can do this, why didn't Ratchet scan one of Cemetery Wind's vehicles which could've restored his leg and allowed him to escape.

I'll give you this one, tho i'd argue this scenario is more plausible than Cade actually managing to repair him!


* Optimus Prime can Superman fly! :eek: I say Superman Fly because it's not just any ordinary flying, he can actually fly into space which requires a massive amount of energy. This is why rockets and shuttles have huge fuel tanks attached to them which break off during take off. Not even Megatron or Starscream seemed able to sustain long range high speed flight in robot mode, only in their jet modes. If Optimus Prime can Super-Fly, then why bother transforming and driving around places in truck mode? It's surely faster and easier to just fly everywhere. We see him driving away from Lockdown and Cemetery Wind... why not just fly away? When Optimus Prime was being dragged up by Lockdown's magnetic device, why didn't he try to fly away (it worked for Strafe, and he was only using winged flight!)? Why did Optimus Prime bother riding Grimlock? Why didn't he fly back as advanced reinforcements? There were just so many moments where he could've moved so much faster with flight rather than rolling or riding to his destinations (or away from enemies). And is this flight ability newly acquired or has he always had it? If it's the latter, then a LOT of other moments in the first three movies retrospectively don't make sense now. Why did Optimus Prime crash on Earth as a protoform asteroid? Why not transform to robot mode and land? Why didn't he fly after the Ark and save Sentinel Prime when it got shot on Cybertron? Why didn't Optimus Prime fly to the moon instead of taking the Xantium? Ratchet could've come along later aboard the Xantium to retrieve Sentinel Prime and the pillars after Prime did a solo recon mission. Why didn't Optimus Prime fly away from Sector 7 forces in TF1 instead of running around in robot mode? All of his fight scenes would've been different if he could've flown -- he wouldn't have needed to sacrificially combine with Jetfire in ROTF nor bothered to even have the Jetwing in DOTM. And the fatal jungle battle might've ended more favourably if he could've flown. It really felt like the writers wanted to have Optimus Prime leave the Earth in order to protect it - which is fair enough - but then realised that they hadn't conceived of an idea of HOW he would actually do this, so they wrote, "Optimus Prime flies into space." It's like one of those, "a wizard did it," moments. :rolleyes:

Now that's a rant! I dunno, he flies off at the end of the damn movie, after the story is finished, so it's hardly what i'd call a plot hole. They did it for a cool final scene that's different to the other movies. Can't you just assume he found some shit in Lockdown's ship? It's not like they'd drag out the movie (any longer!) to explain something so small. Plus G1 transformers can randomly fly too so why not :P


* I still don't understand why the Knights of Cybertron transform into robotic approximations of dinosaurs. :confused:

I guess the scenario is that they were the first creations (beginning of film) and never changed their form before getting caught at some point? That doesn't explain why Optimus is a knight though. Don't really care though, they could have left out any explanation of who was in the ship i reckon.


It was an alliance of convenience. More hands make light work, and he was essentially enlisting the aid of the CIA and KSI and hunt down Optimus Prime. Lockdown had a job to do, and if siding with some humans can help him get the job done sooner and easier, then why not?

I'll buy that :)

[CBratron]

* When Optimus Prime scanned the Western Star truck, he not only acquired a new alt mode but became instantly fixed. Even my Kindergarten-aged daughter noticed this! So why didn't he do this sooner instead of having Cade try and semi-repair him in his barn? He could've just asked Cade to drive his truck to the barn door then scan that. If all the Transformers can do this, why didn't Ratchet scan one of Cemetery Wind's vehicles which could've restored his leg and allowed him to escape.

I remember that. Wasn't he dying and desperately needed to find the Autobots?

[Magnus]

Just saw it now - I thought it was great!

I was surprised how dark the first half was - I don't like using the d-word, as it seems to be overused these days, but it's appropriate here. I cringed during the Ratchet scene, and given what happened since DotM, with his people being hunted and killed by humans, it's not hard to understand why Optimus was bitter/jaded throughout the movie.

I also liked the fact that it 'hid' its length very well - I find that after two hours, movies can tend to 'drag'.

I found the plot easy enough to follow, and there seemed to be no massively glaring plot holes or inconsistencies. Some bits may need a bit of mental twisting and turning or a second viewing for them to make sense. The fact that it seems like a 'fresh start' without being a reboot is good.

It's kind of interesting how Galvatron is 'soulless' - perhaps it's because he's a copy-paste of Megatron's memories from his severed head, without that extra 'something' from his Spark.

My only real 'disappointment' was there was no climactic battle between Optimus and Galvatron - ostensibly they're saving him for TF5, so I guess it's 'ok' for him to be sidelined in this movie.


When Optimus Prime scanned the Western Star truck, he not only acquired a new alt mode but became instantly fixed. Even my Kindergarten-aged daughter noticed this! So why didn't he do this sooner instead of having Cade try and semi-repair him in his barn? He could've just asked Cade to drive his truck to the barn door then scan that. If all the Transformers can do this, why didn't Ratchet scan one of Cemetery Wind's vehicles which could've restored his leg and allowed him to escape.

For Optimus, perhaps he couldn't regenerate until a certain amount of time passed since coming back online, since he'd been idle/in stasis for a while. He was certainly capable of regenerating by the time he was captured by Lockdown.

As for Ratchet, he was trying to evade pursuers at first, and was then pinned down by fire from multiple directions. Not an ideal time to scan something.


I still don't understand why the Knights of Cybertron transform into robotic approximations of dinosaurs. :confused:


Just because :D Giant robot dinosaurs are awesome - isn't that the whole point of the Dinobots, anyway?

That said, the Knights of Cybertron part should've been expanded upon - I felt like something substantial was missed there. Maybe it'll be clearer the second time around.


Yes, also true, but we shouldn't have to. The Transformers franchise and Transformers fans deserve better than this IMO. :(

Fair point; perhaps it could've been better written, but it seems kind of weird to me that people seem to be expecting Oscar-winning screenplays (ok, being hyperbolic here) for a movie about giant robots based on a toy franchise.

It's a Hollywood summer movie, and it's enjoyable/entertaining to watch (the most important point, in my opinion). I intend to go watch it in cinemas again.

[GoktimusPrime]

Now that's a rant! I dunno, he flies off at the end of the damn movie, after the story is finished, so it's hardly what i'd call a plot hole. They did it for a cool final scene that's different to the other movies. Can't you just assume he found some shit in Lockdown's ship? It's not like they'd drag out the movie (any longer!) to explain something so small.
I don't see how having this happen at the end of the movie make it any more acceptable. The very final act of a story is the conclusion, which is supposed to logically tie in with the rest of the story (introduction>complication>climax>resolution); having any of these elements being disjointed is a sign of poor story telling. Imagine if, at the very last act in Return of the Jedi when we see Luke on Endor while the Rebels are celebrating their victory... after seeing the Force Ghosts of Yoda, Obiwan and Anakin, he then takes out his light sabre, holds it aloft... and uses the Force to FLY like Superman! :eek: Alright, it would look massively cool, but then it throws a massive monkey wrench into the entire story! Conclusions shouldn't do that! Conclusions can be very important, just look at The Sixth Sense. ;)

And actually, aside from the ridiculous flying thing, I liked the basic premise of the conclusion in Age of Extinction -- i.e. that Optimus Prime has realised that there's a bounty on his head placed by the Creators, thus his continued presence on Earth was placing humans and his fellow Autobots in danger from mercenaries like Lockdown. The best way to protect his friends was to leave them, and then find the Creators in order to address the threat directly. I think that this is a really cool idea. I just wish that they'd found a gooderer way of executing this idea, like say cutting to another scene where we see that the Autobots have either repaired Lockdown's ship, or salvaged parts from it to build a new ship, and Optimus pilots it in search for the Creators. It achieves the same story outcome, but in a far more plausible way that doesn't screw up the previous story of the film (and indeed, its prequels!).


Plus G1 transformers can randomly fly too so why not :P
Only in the pilot episodes of the G1 cartoon, after that only the Decepticons could fly in robot mode. They couldn't fly in other G1 media though, e.g. in the G1 comics, characters like Soundwave and Megatron had to transform to their mass-shrunken alt modes and "ride" inside the cockpit of a Seeker in jet mode in order to get about long distances. Also, they couldn't robo-fly into space! They needed to use a Space Bridge or space-faring vessels or space-faring moded TFs (e.g. Omega Supreme, Astrotrain etc.). Megatron didn't fly on his own from Cybertron to Autobot City on Earth in TFTM.

Also, unlike the G1 cartoon, the live action films are written for an older audience, have far more creative freedom (since the toys are based on the film and not vice versa, so the agenda isn't "to sell toys"), and the G1 episodes didn't have a US$165,000,000 budget! :eek: Also, the G1 cartoon was broadcast free-to-air, whereas viewing Age of Extinction requires the price of cinema admission. Okay, I personally did manage to see this movie twice for free, but still -- most people had to buy tickets! :p


I guess the scenario is that they were the first creations (beginning of film) and never changed their form before getting caught at some point?
AFAIK nothing in the film even remotely suggests this. :(
The beginning of the film didn't show the Creators creating the Dinobots or even the Transformers. It showed them Cyberforming Earth which wiped out the dinosaurs. We saw dinosaurs becoming cyber-petrified, like the cyber-petrified dinosaur that they found in the Arctic. They weren't Dinobots though.

And we don't know if Earth was specifically the planet where these Transformers were created from. The movie said that the Creators cyberformed thousands of worlds as they did with prehistoric Earth, in order to build their creations. So saying that they Cyberformed Earth to "make you," may not necessarily have been intended as a literal meaning, but rather saying that they transformed planets such as Earth to create beings such as the Transformers. But if it is literal, then that's just yet another AMAZING freakin' coincidence regarding Earth and the Transformers in this universe! First the Fallen just happens to wage a war against the Primes on Earth, then the AllSpark Cube just happens to crash there after drifting aimlessly through space, then the Ark just happens to crash on Earth's moon after also drifting aimlessly (probably would've crashed on Earth too if the moon hadn't gotten in the way), and now we learn that the Transformers' creators just happened to have chosen Earth for Cyberforming and perhaps Earth was the original birthplace for the Transformers all along??? :confused: What an amazing series of intergalactic flukes! :eek:


I remember that. Wasn't he dying and desperately needed to find the Autobots?
Yup!

Plan A: Scan a new alt mode to initiate instant complete repair, then transform to robot mode and fly off to find surviving Autobots.
Plan B: Let this human try and fix some of you and continue hiding while your fellow Autobots continue to be hunted.

Shoulda gone with Plan A! :p (Kung Pow'd! ;))


For Optimus, perhaps he couldn't regenerate until a certain amount of time passed since coming back online, since he'd been idle/in stasis for a while. He was certainly capable of regenerating by the time he was captured by Lockdown.
Really? Because at the very end of the movie, before flying off, we can still see damage on his body, including a half-snapped off waist plate.


As for Ratchet, he was trying to evade pursuers at first, and was then pinned down by fire from multiple directions. Not an ideal time to scan something.
He could've scanned one of the helicopters and tried to fly away. Okay sure, Lockdown probably would've shot him down and still killed him, but at least he could make an effort!


Just because :D Giant robot dinosaurs are awesome - isn't that the whole point of the Dinobots, anyway?
The original Dinobots had better characterisation than what we got in Age of Extinction. Grimlock was arrogant but brave, eventually learning to become a better leader. Slag is incredibly anti-social and will indiscriminately attack friends and foes when he goes into his Berserker rage (which thankfully rarely happens). Sludge is a simpleton, but is kind of a softie (http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Joy_Meadows). ;) Snarl is a miserable sod, and Swoop is more thoughtful, but haunted by his past. Heck, even the Animated Dinobots had better characterisation, and they were terrible characters! Most of the Transformers in the Bay films are cheesy, one-dimensional, clichéd caricatures, but the Dinobots don't even seem to be that... they're just set pieces! :eek: Massively big accessories for the Autobots. :(

And yes, I know that the Movieverse is not G1, and I'm not saying that I necessarily want the Movieverse Dinobots to be the same as the G1 Dinobots, but I just want SOME sort of characterisation or even caricaturisation!


Fair point; perhaps it could've been better written, but it seems kind of weird to me that people seem to be expecting Oscar-winning screenplays (ok, being hyperbolic here) for a movie about giant robots based on a toy franchise.

It's a Hollywood summer movie, and it's enjoyable/entertaining to watch (the most important point, in my opinion). I intend to go watch it in cinemas again.
Unlike most other TF stories, the movies are NOT based on existing toys, thus they don't have the impetus of "to sell toys." This allows them MUCH greater creative freedom because they're not dictated by Hasbro in terms of what to do with which character, e.g. which characters they have to remove or introduce at certain times etc.

And you can have a movie that offers exciting and thrilling action, and attempts to tell a good story. No, it doesn't have to be a literary award winning script, but it just needs to make a reasonable effort. Look at the Avengers -- that film is quite limited in its story telling capacity because it's dealing with an ensemble cast of characters, but it still manages to tell what is a reasonably decent story considering. Each character has their own individual journey to go on, and these journeys help to drive the story. Each of them are also changed by their experience in the story, which is what makes them proper characters and not shallow caricatures, or worse, set pieces.

[Mythirax]

It's a Hollywood summer movie, and it's enjoyable/entertaining to watch (the most important point, in my opinion). I intend to go watch it in cinemas again.

Totally agree and will be doing the same ;) Can't wait!

[kurdt_the_goat]

I don't see how having this happen at the end of the movie make it any more acceptable. The very final act of a story is the conclusion, which is supposed to logically tie in with the rest of the story (introduction>complication>climax>resolution); having any of these elements being disjointed is a sign of poor story telling. Imagine if, at the very last act in Return of the Jedi when we see Luke on Endor while the Rebels are celebrating their victory... after seeing the Force Ghosts of Yoda, Obiwan and Anakin, he then takes out his light sabre, holds it aloft... and uses the Force to FLY like Superman! :eek: Alright, it would look massively cool, but then it throws a massive monkey wrench into the entire story! Conclusions shouldn't do that! Conclusions can be very important, just look at The Sixth Sense. ;)

The story of the movie is the Humans making Transformers and Lockdown hunting Prime. The conclusion is when Lockdown is killed and Galvatron retreats. The flight has basically nothing to do with it.. it's more like the start of TF5. Regardless, i think my suggestion that he swiped the parts from Lockdown is plausible, or that the sword/upgrade gave him the capability. I agree your Star Wars scenario is borderline ludicrious... but we're talking Transformers not humans. I also think showing Prime going off in space by himself creates a bit more intrigue about the next movie than if he took a space ship. It makes me wonder if they'll start to have some of the space fight scenes like the cartoon did.


Only in the pilot episodes of the G1 cartoon, after that only the Decepticons could fly in robot mode. They couldn't fly in other G1 media though, e.g. in the G1 comics, characters like Soundwave and Megatron had to transform to their mass-shrunken alt modes and "ride" inside the cockpit of a Seeker in jet mode in order to get about long distances. Also, they couldn't robo-fly into space! They needed to use a Space Bridge or space-faring vessels or space-faring moded TFs (e.g. Omega Supreme, Astrotrain etc.). Megatron didn't fly on his own from Cybertron to Autobot City on Earth in TFTM.

Also, unlike the G1 cartoon, the live action films are written for an older audience, have far more creative freedom (since the toys are based on the film and not vice versa, so the agenda isn't "to sell toys"), and the G1 episodes didn't have a US$165,000,000 budget! :eek: Also, the G1 cartoon was broadcast free-to-air, whereas viewing Age of Extinction requires the price of cinema admission. Okay, I personally did manage to see this movie twice for free, but still -- most people had to buy tickets! :p

I only mentioned G1 to suggest that you take the moment a little less seriously. When other elements are nicked from G1 it's usually seen as a good throwback. Who's to say some fans haven't been up in arms about the lack of flight to-date in the live action films? Maybe now those people are really happy! I don't want to get into specifics of G1 but since you did, surely you know in Japanese G1 heaps of them can fly!


AFAIK nothing in the film even remotely suggests this. :(
The beginning of the film didn't show the Creators creating the Dinobots or even the Transformers. It showed them Cyberforming Earth which wiped out the dinosaurs. We saw dinosaurs becoming cyber-petrified, like the cyber-petrified dinosaur that they found in the Arctic. They weren't Dinobots though.

And we don't know if Earth was specifically the planet where these Transformers were created from. The movie said that the Creators cyberformed thousands of worlds as they did with prehistoric Earth, in order to build their creations. So saying that they Cyberformed Earth to "make you," may not necessarily have been intended as a literal meaning, but rather saying that they transformed planets such as Earth to create beings such as the Transformers. But if it is literal, then that's just yet another AMAZING freakin' coincidence regarding Earth and the Transformers in this universe! First the Fallen just happens to wage a war against the Primes on Earth, then the AllSpark Cube just happens to crash there after drifting aimlessly through space, then the Ark just happens to crash on Earth's moon after also drifting aimlessly (probably would've crashed on Earth too if the moon hadn't gotten in the way), and now we learn that the Transformers' creators just happened to have chosen Earth for Cyberforming and perhaps Earth was the original birthplace for the Transformers all along??? :confused: What an amazing series of intergalactic flukes! :eek:

Transformers is so far-fetched in the first place that i think it's basically impossible to avoid the 'amazing freaking coincidence' scenario after being long running and going through so many essentially disparate stories.



Yup!

Plan A: Scan a new alt mode to initiate instant complete repair, then transform to robot mode and fly off to find surviving Autobots.
Plan B: Let this human try and fix some of you and continue hiding while your fellow Autobots continue to be hunted.

Shoulda gone with Plan A! :p (Kung Pow'd! ;))


Maybe Prime's scanning of the new truck was just superficial and he was in part still injured underneath. Ala Bumblebee in Movie 1, his scan of a brand new car doesn't fix his voice (which seems to be quite a long-standing issue now!) Then.... off screen the other Autobots could have repaired him as Prime suggested earlier. I'm pushing it here :P In the cinema, when i saw Prime scan i thought 'lol, oh well i guess that'll do it ...cool, he looks awesome now'





And you can have a movie that offers exciting and thrilling action, and attempts to tell a good story. No, it doesn't have to be a literary award winning script, but it just needs to make a reasonable effort. Look at the Avengers -- that film is quite limited in its story telling capacity because it's dealing with an ensemble cast of characters, but it still manages to tell what is a reasonably decent story considering. Each character has their own individual journey to go on, and these journeys help to drive the story. Each of them are also changed by their experience in the story, which is what makes them proper characters and not shallow caricatures, or worse, set pieces.

I'm not really disagreeing on what you're saying here but can you honestly see how they could possibly expand on every character within space of a single movie? I'd read your fan-flick if you can! There's just too many of them, and i think it's an inherent problem for Transformers; why it's better suited to cartoon or comic format. And that's not even including the multitude of humans they characterize as well!

[Omega Metro]

People! You really need to not think too much about the so called plot holes in the movie. And use your imagination instead.:rolleyes: If you can't make up your own theories/stories, then you shouldn't be collecting Transformers toys. Back in the 80's when I was a kid. I remember playing with my TF's making up my own stories with my Autobots and Decepticon toys. Making missile/gun sounds was great:).
I took my 12 year old step-son to AOE yesterday and he came out thinking it was great.......'Awesome'....was his response when I asked what he thought of it. We got home and about 10 minutes later I could hear gun/missile noises (and other various sound effects) coming from his mouth. Yes, that's right!.........he was using his imagination, whilst playing with his Evasion Optimus and Galvatron. Just as I was when I was his age. :)
He could not give a toss if the plot was silly or nothing related to G1. My kid enjoyed it and made him happy and that is really all this movie needed to be.......and it delivered it in spades!:)

Oh, and he thought Optimus flying into space was great!;)

[Mythirax]

People! You really need to not think too much about the so called plot holes in the movie. And use your imagination instead.:rolleyes: If you can't make up your own theories/stories, then you shouldn't be collecting Transformers toys. Back in the 80's when I was a kid. I remember playing with my TF's making up my own stories with my Autobots and Decepticon toys. Making missile/gun sounds was great:).
I took my 12 year old step-son to AOE yesterday and he came out thinking it was great.......'Awesome'....was his response when I asked what he thought of it. We got home and about 10 minutes later I could hear gun/missile noises (and other various sound effects) coming from his mouth. Yes, that's right!.........he was using his imagination, whilst playing with his Evasion Optimus and Galvatron. Just as I was when I was his age. :)
He could not give a toss if the plot was silly or nothing related to G1. My kid enjoyed it and made him happy and that is really all this movie needed to be.......and it delivered it in spades!:)

Oh, and he thought Optimus flying into space was great!;)

^ That is awesome :D

[GoktimusPrime]

The story of the movie is the Humans making Transformers and Lockdown hunting Prime. The conclusion is when Lockdown is killed and Galvatron retreats.
I agree. And look, Age of Extinction has the second-most coherent story out of the live action films. TF1 still has the most coherent plot, albeit also the most basic. So in terms of story complexity and coherency, I think that Age of Extinction is arguably the best. It's certainly a lot more coherent than Revenge of the Fallen and Dark of the Moon... although that's not hard. :p Having said that, ROTF and DOTM had much more brilliant visual effects. The Constructicons combining into Devastator was an astounding special effects feat. But to be fair, AoE's budget is US$35,000,000 smaller than RotF's. ;)


The flight has basically nothing to do with it.. it's more like the start of TF5.
And that is what I think is the problem with it. It's kinda like the ending of Monty Python and the Holy Grail where King Arthur and his Knights are arrested by the police. But of course, that film was deliberately (and yet brilliantly) silly. :p :D They should be setting up elements for TF5 with things that don't conflict with events of AoE or the previous films, and to their credit, AoE does do this, such as introducing Galvatron (who doesn't do much in this movie, but is still at large as a threat for future sequels), and of course, the Creators. These are all good "sequel seeding" elements that I enjoyed in the film, as they don't go and conflict with anything else in the story.

Even if the Creator element introduces another incredible fluke, it's not contradictory. In fact, one could argue, that the entire reason why all the other stuff happened on Earth was possibly because the world had previously been Cyberformed by the Creators -- thus something about the Earth's "genome" attracted the Cube, the Fallen and ... the Ark? Okay, that last one makes no sense (sounded better in my head until I typed it :p). Yay, Earth! :D


Regardless, i think my suggestion that he swiped the parts from Lockdown is plausible, or that the sword/upgrade gave him the capability.
I was looking out for any evidence of this when I was watching the film for a second time. Optimus Prime's body does physically morph when he takes the sword, mostly in the hands and forearms -- it's possible that his legs might've changed too, but I haven't noticed it on my first two viewings. So either it wasn't shown in the visual narrative, or it was too discreet. This sort of thing needs to be exaggerated or highlighted more for the sake of the audience (much like how Archibald Witwicky's glasses were enlarged to the size of a freakin' bicycle when Optimus Prime scanned the lenses to obtain the Cube's location -- it's silly, but was a necessary cinematic cheat to allow the audience to see the glasses clearly while Prime was holding them). Something simple like a quick shot of his lower legs "armouring up" and then having the jet vents pump out would've sufficed.

But... if this is true, then why didn't Optimus Prime use these jets to fly back to urban Hong Kong instead of riding Grimlock? Why didn't he use these jets to resist Lockdown's gravity device, or at very least, control his ascent to get a clear shot into the device and destroy it (instead of struggling to hold onto that building)?


I agree your Star Wars scenario is borderline ludicrious... but we're talking Transformers not humans.
But the best Transformers stories treat Transformers with the same level of respect as those with humans; e.g. G1 comics, Beast Wars, IDW. Even the G1 cartoon to a certain degree, as well as the better episodes of Animated and TF Prime.


I also think showing Prime going off in space by himself creates a bit more intrigue about the next movie than if he took a space ship. It makes me wonder if they'll start to have some of the space fight scenes like the cartoon did.
I don't doubt that it looks crazy cool. I was half expecting Optimus Prime to smile at the camera (http://www.herogohome.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Superman78FinalSmile.jpg) before pulling away from the Earth. :p ;) I know it's a very visually thrilling moment, but story wise it grates against me. Even my brother-in-law was laughing at this, and he knows nothing about Transformers.


I only mentioned G1 to suggest that you take the moment a little less seriously. When other elements are nicked from G1 it's usually seen as a good throwback. Who's to say some fans haven't been up in arms about the lack of flight to-date in the live action films? Maybe now those people are really happy! I don't want to get into specifics of G1 but since you did, surely you know in Japanese G1 heaps of them can fly!
The Japanese cartoon had a lot of silly moments (Ultra Magnus' final fight w/ Sixshot remains what I consider to be one of the most ludicrous moments in TF history :rolleyes:). But again, it was a cartoon aimed at kids without a US$165000000 budget and had "To Sell Toys" (thus restricting creative freedom). Kaneda Masumi would've been in a rush to off Magnus and make Sixshot look cool in order to showcase the new toy. David Wise's original treatment for The Rebirth was actually pretty cool, but Hasbro instructed him to make changes because it was the final story for the US G1 cartoon and he had to introduce virtually the entire 1987 toyline within those eps (which also had a budget cut and episode length was reduced from 5 to 3 eps). Michael Bay has FAR more creative freedom than any TF writer during G1, and he has acknowledged this in interviews for the previous TF films. And remember that audiences have to pay the price of cinema admission to see this film, whereas G1 was either free-to-air on TV or just $1-2 for a comic book issue.

So considering that this movie is:
* targeting an older audience
* has a massive budget
* has far greater creative freedom
...I am inclined to hold it to a higher standard than G1.


I'm not really disagreeing on what you're saying here but can you honestly see how they could possibly expand on every character within space of a single movie? I'd read your fan-flick if you can! There's just too many of them, and i think it's an inherent problem for Transformers; why it's better suited to cartoon or comic format. And that's not even including the multitude of humans they characterize as well!
That's why I compared it with Avengers, because that movie was also dealing with an ensemble cast. And look, to be fair, Age of Extinction does highlight on each of the Autobots, and Optimus Prime does go on a journey as he deals with his loss of faith in humanity and being consumed by doubt (the latter being reminiscent of his G1 Marvel comic persona). It would've been nice if each of the other Autobots were allowed to go on some kind of "mini-journey" in the film -- again, much like each of the Avengers did. Aside from Optimus Prime, the other Autobots felt like walking clichés -- they were caricatures rather than characters. But IMO being a caricature is better than being a set piece! I would've been more satisfied with the Dinobots if they had even been given that level of superficial caricaturisation (e.g. "Me Grimlock bash brains!"), but we didn't even get that. :( As clichéd as the Autobots are, at least we do know something about their personas -- Bumblebee is an immature hothead, Bulkhead is brave and loyal, Crosshairs is rebellious, and Drift is a wannabe hippie. What do we know about the Dinobots? What makes Grimlock, Slug, Strafe and Scorn so unique or distinct from each other besides their looks and alt modes? The G1 cartoon Dinobots were clichéd caricatures too, but they still had distinct traits. We don't even know why Optimus Prime had to fight Grimlock to win his allegiance. Even something as simple as, "Only the strong may command the Knights!" would've sufficed. Let's face it, the Dinobots had about as much "personality" as the Kaijuu in Pacific Rim (only that they're good guys). :rolleyes:


People! You really need to not think too much about the so called plot holes in the movie. And use your imagination instead.:rolleyes: If you can't make up your own theories/stories, then you shouldn't be collecting Transformers toys. Back in the 80's when I was a kid. I remember playing with my TF's making up my own stories with my Autobots and Decepticon toys. Making missile/gun sounds was great:).
I took my 12 year old step-son to AOE yesterday and he came out thinking it was great.......'Awesome'....was his response when I asked what he thought of it. We got home and about 10 minutes later I could hear gun/missile noises (and other various sound effects) coming from his mouth. Yes, that's right!.........he was using his imagination, whilst playing with his Evasion Optimus and Galvatron. Just as I was when I was his age. :)
He could not give a toss if the plot was silly or nothing related to G1. My kid enjoyed it and made him happy and that is really all this movie needed to be.......and it delivered it in spades!:)

Oh, and he thought Optimus flying into space was great!;)
It sounds like he was enjoying the action rather than the story. And there's no denying that the action in this film was great. And I don't think that the story is without merit either, there are some good elements in it, which I've mentioned before.

Also... why are you referring to your own playing of Transformers in the past tense? I personally still actively play with my toys. I was playing with my Leader Class AoE Optimus Prime in the cinema while watching the film for the second time, and my daughter was playing with Slumblebee alongside me (so we were playing alongside w/ the film). :D

---------------------------------------------------------

Benson Yee has posted a review on BWTF, where he has offered what I consider to be a reasonably balanced and well justified opinion of Age of Extinction. His review does point out several of the film's strengths and weaknesses. :)
http://bwtf.com/articles/aoe

[Polursine]

Saw it late last night. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

Few things though.

Would've liked to have seen a slimmed down (~2 hours 15) version that's a standard release, and the full movie being a director's extended cut or something.

Transformium. Now, I understand that the humans that named it probably didn't know of the term of the actual metal of the Transformers but don't you think if they had Brains in their labs that he would've said something? Now thats its been dubbed as "Transformium" I want an Autobot to approach someone and say "Hang on, it's actually called ___" (since there's some many metals used in Transformers bodies)

I WAS pleased with the amount of dinobot screen time was had. Slug with his raging feet at one point and panicking during the magnet building scene. Scorn latching onto some poor Vehicon and later slipping into the water. More robot action would've been cool. No voices now means that later Grimlock should surprise everyone ala Animated Grimlock by saying "Me Grimlock".

Also pleased at how long Prime stayed in Evasion mode. However, when it came to upgrade time he could've said "Thankyou Cade for all your work. Systems regenerated".

Superman. My explanation is that when he picked up the sword from the ship and went all knight like that he somehow acquired jet boosters. Just would've been nice to find out why now of all times he can fly.


RATCHET NOOO. HE'S A MEDIC. DON'T SHOOT.

[GoktimusPrime]

I quite like how Ben Yee's review points out the merits of the film without having to resorting to the "switch off your brain" or "lower your standards" argument. It points out the merits of the story for what they are and allows them to stand on their own, and is a better way of supporting the strengths of the film IMHO. :D


Transformium. Now, I understand that the humans that named it probably didn't know of the term of the actual metal of the Transformers but don't you think if they had Brains in their labs that he would've said something? Now thats its been dubbed as "Transformium" I want an Autobot to approach someone and say "Hang on, it's actually called ___" (since there's some many metals used in Transformers bodies)
I agree, but I suppose that they didn't want to confuse audience members with two different terms for the same thing. To AoE's credit, we never hear any of the Transformers refer to Cybertronium as "Transformium." Optimus Prime refers to it as something like, "our basic metals."

And it's arguably typical for humans to just name things for what they think it should be called rather than what it should be actually called. e.g. the didgeridoo. The Manggalili word for it as "yidaki." The word 'didgeridoo' is derived from 'dijeridu' which is merely the onomatopoeia for the sound that the instrument makes. So the idea of the English language referring to the Yidaki as a "Didgeridoo" is akin to referring to say a piano as a "Do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do." ;)


Superman. My explanation is that when he picked up the sword from the ship and went all knight like that he somehow acquired jet boosters. Just would've been nice to find out why now of all times he can fly.
Even if he only acquired the ability after "Knight Up!", there were still a few moments where I wonder why he didn't use that ability, such as flying back to Hong Kong or trying to control his ascent towards Lockdown's ship. Or heck, just flying out of the Collection ship... something to visually tell the audience that he has this new ability now.

Revenge of the Fallen did the same thing, really. But it showed how. Jetfire sacrificed himself, Ratchet and Jolt combined his parts with Optimus Prime, and I still get a big buzz when I hear Optimus Prime go, "Let's roll!" before flying off to lay Smack Down(TM) on The Fallen! :D

[Sinnertwin]

Yes, also true, but we shouldn't have to. The Transformers franchise and Transformers fans deserve better than this IMO. :(


Here you go :)
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zz6GL6AFphU

[Paulbot]

So my next question is: worth seeing in 3D?

I saw it 2D but was wondering if there's anything particularly stand out that makes it worth seeing with the 3D glasses. Where are the glasses?!

[Mythirax]

So my next question is: worth seeing in 3D?

I'm one of those people that prefer all movies in 3D. Especially if it has a lot of CGI. So to me I'll always recommend it :D

[GoktimusPrime]

So far I've managed to see it in 2D twice for free, but I do have a 20% off discount voucher for IMAX... so I am considering watching it in 3D... although IMAX tickets are expensive, even with a discount. But the voucher expires soonish and I am on holidays atm so... <wink.wink.nudge.nudge> ;)

[Polursine]

So my next question is: worth seeing in 3D?

I saw it 2D but was wondering if there's anything particularly stand out that makes it worth seeing with the 3D glasses. Where are the glasses?!

Crosshairs parachute scene stands out. Inside Lockdown's ship seems full on. Can't recall much else

[CBratron]

Crosshairs parachute scene stands out. Inside Lockdown's ship seems full on. Can't recall much else

When the rocket goes off in the barn/lab.

[Sky Shadow]

So my next question is: worth seeing in 3D?

I saw it 2D but was wondering if there's anything particularly stand out that makes it worth seeing with the 3D glasses.

I too saw it in 2D, but during the scene with the humans on the wires in the sky, I assumed that had to be for the sake of 3D.

[klystron]

I'm not a massive fan of the whole 3D phenomenon, but this was easily the best 3D cinema movie I have seen.

[Starscream77]

I watched it the other night and enjoyed it for what it is.

What really amazes me is how many TF fans continue to watch Michael Bays TF movies and tear them apart and say what rubbish they are ?!?!. Are you expecting something to change after all his other movies? Clearly if you disliked his past efforts then you almost certainly wouldn't like this so why go and see it? To be able to complain? Makes no sense to me as an adult.

Anyway yes there were cringe moments but I thought Lockdown was brilliant and the new human cast was an improvement. Would have loved to have seen more of the Dino's but I am sure I will in the next one with Galvatrons rise.

As a Bay TF movie I would say 7.5/10
As an academy award nomination it would be 1/10:rolleyes:

[Sinnertwin]

How much screen time did le dinobots have? I haven't seen it yet but i'm not fussed with spoilers either

[Sky Shadow]

Were the Dinobots even named in the film? According to TFwiki, "Strafe is named so not because of trademark reasons, but because the film's two-headed design was considered too great a departure from previous Swoop characters." Really? They didn't think Ironhide or Jetfire or Wheelie or Leadfoot or Soundwave or Sentinel Prime or Topspin or Blackout or Demolishor or any other Bay-movie designs were too much of a departure, but a second head stopped Hasbro calling these toys Swoop? So instead they named them Strafe, who until now has never even been a pteranodon. :rolleyes:


How much screen time did le dinobots have? I haven't seen it yet but i'm not fussed with spoilers either

I'm pretty sure you could miss the first two hours and not miss any Dinobots. They're really just dei ex machina.

[Starscream77]

How much screen time did le dinobots have? I haven't seen it yet but i'm not fussed with spoilers either

I would say around 20 minutes at a guess, they didn't get much at all

[yoshi594]

I watched it the other night and enjoyed it for what it is.

What really amazes me is how many TF fans continue to watch Michael Bays TF movies and tear them apart and say what rubbish they are ?!?!. Are you expecting something to change after all his other movies? Clearly if you disliked his past efforts then you almost certainly wouldn't like this so why go and see it? To be able to complain? Makes no sense to me as an adult.

Anyway yes there were cringe moments but I thought Lockdown was brilliant and the new human cast was an improvement. Would have loved to have seen more of the Dino's but I am sure I will in the next one with Galvatrons rise.

As a Bay TF movie I would say 7.5/10
As an academy award nomination it would be 1/10:rolleyes:

TF1 was surprisingly good. TF2 was marred by the writers strike. I hoped TF3 would improve because there were no excuses that time around. I decided this time round i would wait to skim read reviews and i'm glad I did! but tbh I think i've wasted more time reading the reviews and comments than the length of the movie lol.

This one's going to be direct to dvd for me :P.

[Sinnertwin]

Cheers, boys ;)

Sounds like a classic case of overhyped marketing for 20 minutes of screentime. I thought that they would've had more of a presence considering that dinos are plastered everywhere

[Alpha Supreme]

I quite liked it. I thought the transformers had more screen time and character to distinguish them. The film was a bit long and I thought the human characters weren't as superfluous this time around (glad La Bouf is gone). I feel like things have been set up for more films and the story, while having plenty of holes, was more cohesive. I enjoyed Lockdown as a villain and thought the referencing to the 'creators' was intriguing. I think with the length of the movie things could have been explained better... but I did go into the cinema with low expectations and my low expectations were exceeded. Lastly I was able to avoid the spoilers surrounding ..."XYZ"... which was a little surprise for me. Thought the 3D was good and would like to see it again.

[jazzcomp]

Not a fan of the morphing and tf creation without a spark like many others. I remember the change of a toy to a gun. Just defies logic. I remember the liquid metal from the terminator and it couldn't change to "anything".

It was good to watch though.

[Magnus]

Transformium. Now, I understand that the humans that named it probably didn't know of the term of the actual metal of the Transformers but don't you think if they had Brains in their labs that he would've said something? Now thats its been dubbed as "Transformium" I want an Autobot to approach someone and say "Hang on, it's actually called ___" (since there's some many metals used in Transformers bodies)



I agree, but I suppose that they didn't want to confuse audience members with two different terms for the same thing. To AoE's credit, we never hear any of the Transformers refer to Cybertronium as "Transformium." Optimus Prime refers to it as something like, "our basic metals."

And it's arguably typical for humans to just name things for what they think it should be called rather than what it should be actually called. e.g. the didgeridoo. The Manggalili word for it as "yidaki." The word 'didgeridoo' is derived from 'dijeridu' which is merely the onomatopoeia for the sound that the instrument makes. So the idea of the English language referring to the Yidaki as a "Didgeridoo" is akin to referring to say a piano as a "Do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do." ;)

I think the name transformium was deliberately tongue-in-cheek - there's a line wherein it's stated that the name came from focus group discussions. Then again, perhaps it really was 'just' a reference to Avatar's 'unobtainium'.


Were the Dinobots even named in the film? According to TFwiki, "Strafe is named so not because of trademark reasons, but because the film's two-headed design was considered too great a departure from previous Swoop characters." Really? They didn't think Ironhide or Jetfire or Wheelie or Leadfoot or Soundwave or Sentinel Prime or Topspin or Blackout or Demolishor or any other Bay-movie designs were too much of a departure, but a second head stopped Hasbro calling these toys Swoop? So instead they named them Strafe, who until now has never even been a pteranodon. :rolleyes:

It's not as if names have never been reused before in the franchise. Inferno is an early example.


Not a fan of the morphing and tf creation without a spark like many others. I remember the change of a toy to a gun. Just defies logic. I remember the liquid metal from the terminator and it couldn't change to "anything".

The 'morphing' effect is definitely unusual, but it makes sense from an in-universe perspective: molecules in transformium are capable of separating and reassembling themselves into multiple shapes and distinct objects, so Galvatron and Stinger reconfigure themselves on a microscopic level - think Reedman from RotF, but the individual pieces are even smaller. The 'traditional' Transformers only use this ability when scanning alternate modes for themselves, since they use larger moving parts when transforming.

The T-1000 is different: it uses nanotechnology in a 'matrix' of liquid metal.

[SMHFConvoy]

While I don't regret seeing it I'd have to say this was a really boring movie, none of the characters were interesting enough to care about.

I do hope Bay is finished with this franchise.

[Sky Shadow]

It's not as if names have never been reused before in the franchise. Inferno is an early example.

Yes, and yet Hasbro said they wanted to name him Swoop, but didn't "because the film's two-headed design was considered too great a departure from previous Swoop characters." But they didn't think it was considered too great a departure from previous Strafe characters. Their point does not makes sense.

[yoshi594]

Yes, and yet Hasbro said they wanted to name him Swoop, but didn't "because the film's two-headed design was considered too great a departure from previous Swoop characters." But they didn't think it was considered too great a departure from previous Strafe characters. Their point does not makes sense.

they can change the name whenever they want. Just look at devastator in TF1.

[GoktimusPrime]

What really amazes me is how many TF fans continue to watch Michael Bays TF movies and tear them apart and say what rubbish they are ?!?!. Are you expecting something to change after all his other movies? Clearly if you disliked his past efforts then you almost certainly wouldn't like this so why go and see it? To be able to complain? Makes no sense to me as an adult.
Hope that they'll improve? (and also because I had the chance to see it twice for free :p)

And I think there are notable improvements and merits in Age of Extinction, including:

Greater focus on the Transformers instead of humans
I think this was helped by the fact that the military haven't been given a major role, so it falls directly to the Autobots and their human allies to step up as the primary protagonists for the story. In the previous films, it often felt like the Sam and Army Vs. the Decepticons, guest starring the Autobots as the humans' accessories. :rolleyes: In AoE it really does feel like the Autobots have taken greater central stage than in previous films. There are still a few moments in AoE that are a bit too human-centric for my liking, but overall I think this was better done. And the humans' story mostly ran concurrently with the Transformers' story. Some people have criticised the motorcycle chase scene in Hong Kong as being too human-centric, and sure, it probably could've been a lot shorter (especially when Joyce is stuck in the lift trying to be funny), but overall I think it's getting better.

Far less crude humour
No robot peeing or humping or farting or dangling their janglies! Some of the stuff between Cade and Shane was annoying though ... but on the whole, the crassness was notably toned down compared to previous films. Bay is very hit and miss when it comes to punctuating action with humour, but I felt that this film had less misses than the others.

Plot
Age of Extinction does attempt to elevate Transformers to another level, introducing humans as enemies and off-world alien scifi elements (re: The Creators). It makes some rather interesting socio-political statements, such as individuality vs authority (Cade & Co. vs Cemetery Wind), moral panic/mass hysteria ("Remember Chicago"), ethics (Galvatron and the Decepticons represent what happens when man's dabbling in forces he doesn't understand turns against him), losing and rediscovering faith (Optimus Prime) etc. Age of Extinction also seeds plot elements for sequels, such as:
* Galvatron is still a threat.
* The Dinobots left to their own devices.
* The Creators; whatever their mysterious agenda is, it involved putting a price on Optimus Prime's head, which in turn put the Earth-bound Autobots and the humans in danger. In order to protect them, Optimus Prime has decided to leave Earth (thus any other mercenaries coming after him won't come to Earth) and confront the Creators directly.
This some cool science fiction s*** right there! :D

Story
While Age of Extinction does have quite a few problems with loose ends that should've been resolved (e.g. whatever happened to that last stand that the Autobots and Dinobots were making on the bridge? Prime flies?), it does have a much more coherent storyline than ROTF and DOTM. TF1 is still the most coherent of all the live action films, but it's also the simplest (which is also what makes TF1 the best in this franchise -- it was simple but it worked). Age of Extinction takes Transformers to a higher level of story complexity, which is also what ROTF and DOTM attempted to do, but those movies made a big mess in doing so (especially ROTF). Age of Extinction manages to take the story to that level while still relatively maintaining story cohesion.

Characterisation
The live action movies have long been criticised for lacking character development -- that none of the Transformers ever embark on a journey. They remain constant and never changing in their personas (especially Bumblebee). While this is still true for most of the Transformers in Age of Extinction, there is at least one character who did actually go through the Hero's Journey; Optimus Prime. In the beginning of the film, Optimus Prime is broken, not just in a physical sense, but emotionally and spiritually too. His faith in humanity has been absolutely shattered, leaving him to question the beliefs that he once held true. It is through his experiences in the story with Cade Yeager that Prime gradually comes to grip with his feelings of loss, anger, sadness, disappointment, guilt, shame etc., and once again decides to become humanity's altruistic defender as he was before. But it was certainly an arduous journey. And it's also somewhat reminiscent to G1 Optimus Prime's personality in the Marvel Comics, although he never quite slumped that low, but he was riddled with all "dem feels." ;) Yes, Optimus Prime was a lot darker and brutal in this film, but it was all justified considering what had happened and was happening to him. Some people have criticised Prime for killing a human, but I don't have a problem with this. Attinger was holding a gun to Cade's head and was going to kill him. Prime shot Attinger to save Cade. I find it a LOT more morally acceptable than when Prime executed Scavenger in Revenge of the Fallen (as Scavenger was a mortally wounded, defeated and completely defenceless/helpless combatant who wasn't threatening anyone at the time of his demise, the same cannot be said about Attinger). This is the most character development I have ever seen in any Transformer in the live action films.

Age of Extinction has its good and bad points, but those are some of what I think are the better elements of this film. :cool:

[jazzcomp]

The 'morphing' effect is definitely unusual, but it makes sense from an in-universe perspective: molecules in transformium are capable of separating and reassembling themselves into multiple shapes and distinct objects, so Galvatron and Stinger reconfigure themselves on a microscopic level - think Reedman from RotF, but the individual pieces are even smaller. The 'traditional' Transformers only use this ability when scanning alternate modes for themselves, since they use larger moving parts when transforming.

The T-1000 is different: it uses nanotechnology in a 'matrix' of liquid metal.
It must be Alchemy - Anything can change to anything ;) Unlimited transformations.

Of course, I know the T-1000 is different. :rolleyes:

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

I watched it the other night and enjoyed it for what it is.

What really amazes me is how many TF fans continue to watch Michael Bays TF movies and tear them apart and say what rubbish they are ?!?!. Are you expecting something to change after all his other movies? Clearly if you disliked his past efforts then you almost certainly wouldn't like this so why go and see it? To be able to complain? Makes no sense to me as an adult.

I am expecting something to change.
How do I know how good/bad a film will be unless I go see it? If I don't like it, I have just as much right to say I dislike it as those who say they like it.

While I don't regret seeing it I'd have to say this was a really boring movie, none of the characters were interesting enough to care about.

I do hope Bay is finished with this franchise.
Agreed. I did spend quite a lot of time wondering when the good stuff was going to happen. When it did happen, I wondered why it couldn't have happened sooner.

[SkyWarp91]

Watched it a second time tonight. The writing/plot has matured quite a bit which I found to be very impressive but there's plenty still wrong with the movie - particularly the running time where so much could have been left out to make the experience more concise.

[SharkyMcShark]

Highest grossing movie of 2014, has made more in 4 days than Pacific Rim made in total.

http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140117042848/pacificrim/images/7/7e/I-dont-want-to-live-on-this-planet-anymore.jpg

[Omega Metro]

Highest grossing movie of 2014, has made more in 4 days than Pacific Rim made in total.


Brilliant! Well deserved.:).....roll on TF5!

[The_Damned]

Brilliant! Well deserved.:).....roll on TF5!

i agree.

[Defcon]

I am expecting something to change.
How do I know how good/bad a film will be unless I go see it? If I don't like it, I have just as much right to say I dislike it as those who say they like it.

Agreed. I did spend quite a lot of time wondering when the good stuff was going to happen. When it did happen, I wondered why it couldn't have happened sooner.

Yeah agree with your comments. Fair enough to expect change, but unfortunately the director can't seem to go so far as his signature is all over this movie. Your daughter is a Hot teenager!, "honey your shorts are shrinking", shots between the legs :rolleyes: over indulgent scenes of destruction, the Hong Kong scene with the ship sucking the objects into the air and then dropping them again, repeat and again, and again. It was overly long.

Also when I was watching the movie, about half way through I started to get worried, I was enjoying it, but where are the dinobots? If I had to pick just one criticism, it would be that the dinobots came in to late. It was their inclusion which dragged me into this movie in the first place.

[Jinto]

Highest grossing movie of 2014, has made more in 4 days than Pacific Rim made in total.


Speaking of; that hole in his chest makes galvatron look like a miniature Gypsy Danger. :p

[GoktimusPrime]

That chest hole goes all the way through Galvatron in the film. I'm surprised Optimus Prime never exploited that by putting his arm right through it and attempting some serious grappling. By quite literally penetrating Galvatron's centre of mass, Optimus Prime would easily end that fight in seconds and Galvatron would be majorly screwed.

[griffin]

That chest hole goes all the way through Galvatron in the film. I'm surprised Optimus Prime never exploited that by putting his arm right through it and attempting some serious grappling. By quite literally penetrating Galvatron's centre of mass, Optimus Prime would easily end that fight in seconds and Galvatron would be majorly screwed.

The chest hole cut his old sword in half when he stuck it in there, so I don't think it would be a good idea to stick his hand in there.

(it was probably why Optimus grabbed a new sword later... one that the writer probably wrote in as a significant plot element, but the Director failed to emphasise)

[GoktimusPrime]

The chest hole cut his old sword in half when he stuck it in there, so I don't think it would be a good idea to stick his hand in there.

(it was probably why Optimus grabbed a new sword later... one that the writer probably wrote in as a significant plot element, but the Director failed to emphasise)
DJD'd! :eek: That makes sense though. ;)


On another note, this pretty much describes why I found the Dinobots to be disappointing in this film...
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/Transformers/meme_grimlockcharacter_zps9bc3b852.jpg
I would have accepted them as caricatures. It's what I've come to expect from Bay and it would've been a lot more preferable over seeing them being treated as set pieces. Just simple things like giving them some cheesy dialogue would've made a world of difference in seeing the Dinobots become caricatures rather than set pieces. Like say when Optimus Prime attempts to recruit them, Grimlock could snarl at Prime and say, "Among winners there is no room for the weak! Only the strong may command the Knights of Cybertron!", which then leads into the big smackdown fight.

I hope that they'll be at least portrayed as caricatures in the sequel. Better if they can be characters. Optimus Prime's portrayal in AoE proves that Michael Bay can portray a Transformer as a character. Although considering it's rarity, I'll stick with just hoping for caricaturisation rather than characterisation. :o

Although on a visual level, I was pleased that Grimlock has red eyes in both robot and dino mode. Although Slug, Strafe and Scorn have blue eyes in robot mode but red eyes in dino mode. :/ They really should just put in a greater variety of eye colours in the Transformers regardless of faction (reinforcing the notion that Autobots and Decepticons are political factions, not races - as Jetfire pointed out in ROTF, it's an intensely personal choice).

[Deonasis]

Overall, I guess I liked the movie. The pacing of it is what I disliked the most. Bay's frantic shooting schedule Lockdown was fantastic (Shockwave should have been this badass) and it was a damn shame they killed him. Ratchets death was very sad but very important and in my mind it was the most well done piece of the movie. I liked Prime's empassioned talk with Tucci at KSI about how they are living beings/destruction of Transformers (but I do think they should've destroyed the KSI lab beyond repair). There are plenty more points but I only have internet access via a mobile and typing is way too slow.

[GoktimusPrime]

Some interesting reads:

Eleven Things I Would Like to See in "Transformers 5" (http://bwtf.com/articles/aoe-11a)
Top 10 Plot Points in Disguise (http://theinsightfulpanda.wordpress.com/2014/06/29/transformers-4-age-of-extinction-top-10-plot-points-in-disguise/)
Top 7 Things to Fix (http://theinsightfulpanda.wordpress.com/2014/06/30/transformers-4-age-of-extinction-top-7-things-to-fix/)

[Omega Metro]

Some interesting reads:

Eleven Things I Would Like to See in "Transformers 5" (http://bwtf.com/articles/aoe-11a)
Top 10 Plot Points in Disguise (http://theinsightfulpanda.wordpress.com/2014/06/29/transformers-4-age-of-extinction-top-10-plot-points-in-disguise/)
Top 7 Things to Fix (http://theinsightfulpanda.wordpress.com/2014/06/30/transformers-4-age-of-extinction-top-7-things-to-fix/)

Yep some interesting reads there. Agree AND disagree with a lot of it though.

[5FDP]

Seen it twice in the last week and now that I've had a chance to digest what I saw, I would rank it as the third best live action movie behind the first one and DOTM.

I agree with most comments here regarding Galvatron being a plot device only, the Dinobots not speaking, and Optimus being able to fly. To me, it started out really well but the last hour (or so it felt) just descended into chaos and I left the cinema both times with a raging headache. It should be noted that these were 2D sessions.

I'll probably see it again for a third time - promised to watch it with my nephew when he comes back from OS, but unlike the first movie which I saw 5 times at the movies, I'm not hanging out for it.

[GoktimusPrime]

;) http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/Transformers/superprime_zps55f70dec.jpg :p

[M-bot]

Saw a pretty insightful short examining the visual language of Michael Bay films, aka "Bayhem", including much of what is seen in all of Bay's TF films. About 8:40 long. Worth a watch: https://player.vimeo.com/video/99798626

[Sutton]

Seen it twice in the last week and now that I've had a chance to digest what I saw, I would rank it as the third best live action movie behind the first one and DOTM.


I agree, it's definitely better than ROTF, but still behind #1 and DOTM. Great to see much less forced awkward humour, and lots more dedicated screen time and dialogue for the TF's - now they just have to learn how to give the TF's something interesting to say. They went to the trouble of giving Hound, Crosshairs and Drift decent voice actors, but then gave them horrible lines - I kept waiting for John Goodman to crack me up, and it just didn't happen. Drift came off as a buffoon. And I think they meant for Crosshairs to come off as surly, but they overdid it and instead he came off as an asshole. Lockdown was alright though, except for the 'I don't care' come back. Seriously, it takes months to animate these guys, you can't come up with some witty dialogue for them to say while you're waiting for them to render...?

And why did they have Hound call the humans meatbags when DiMaggio was voicing Crosshairs...? :confused::D

[Sutton]

Oh, and Bumblebee's radio-speech is now almost exclusively voice clips, most of them with the same sound/accent, to the point where he's practically talking anyway? What's the point? Either do the cute radio thing or just give him a voice already.

[Zommael]

Oh, and Bumblebee's radio-speech is now almost exclusively voice clips, most of them with the same sound/accent, to the point where he's practically talking anyway? What's the point? Either do the cute radio thing or just give him a voice already.

I honestly thought they had just cast a voice actor for him. It was very ambiguous as to whether they were meant to be clips or if he was just talking through some sort of synthesiser.

[GoktimusPrime]

Oh, and Bumblebee's radio-speech is now almost exclusively voice clips, most of them with the same sound/accent, to the point where he's practically talking anyway? What's the point? Either do the cute radio thing or just give him a voice already.
Hear hear! :D Sadly with Ratchet gone, there's no chance of seeing his vocal circuits ever being repaired (unless they introduce a new Autobot medic like First Aid, Fixit or Pharma). ;)

I honestly thought they had just cast a voice actor for him. It was very ambiguous as to whether they were meant to be clips or if he was just talking through some sort of synthesiser.
Judging from the fact that noone's credited as being Bumblebee's voice actor, I'd say that it's all just spliced together sound bytes. :( Although arguably better than TF Prime Bumblebee's "digital farts." :rolleyes:

[reillyd]

Just saw, and completely lost.

Was the little hug eyed robot with wheels chasing New Girl/Farm Daughter (on the alien ship) Wheelie from the previous movie? They looked kind of the same.

Did anyone recognise some of the other captured Cybertronians on the ship. Saw a few faces, and there was one I thought might be Starscreams head, but not sure - it was too fast.

What happened to the captives, and their captured sparks Lockdown was collecting? Popped out for a moment and missed that explanation....

Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Is there a novelisation coming out?

[Sky Shadow]

Was the little hug eyed robot with wheels (on the alien ship) Wheelie from the previous movie? They looked kind of the same.

Brains, from the previous movie.

[Paulbot]

I think he meant the drones that took the car to the furnace with their silly comedicaly big eyes.

Given that Brains and Wheelie were last seen going down in a ship in DOTM, it appears only Brains made it (with the nasty leg injury) and was captured from the wreckage.

Also, I guess the Autobots that survived DOTM just ran off without offering to help clean up the mess (or look for missing allies) and leaving it to the government so they'd get all that Transformer tech.

I thought Lockdown had captured Ratchet's spark but I think he just ate it (like Megatron in the first movie novelisation), since he kept his captives whole on the ship.

[GoktimusPrime]

I noticed this the first time I watched this film, but keep forgetting to mention it -- and I'm sure most other people noticed it too, but there's a yellow truck with the Tonka logo printed on the side which appears in the film. :) As most (if not all) of us would know, Tonka is the company that created Gobots (Machine Men) and has since been acquired by Hasbro (where they also made some lines of Transformers aimed at preschoolers like 1-2-3 Transformers etc.). Apparently it's a customised Ford F-250 Super Duty that's known as the "Tonka T-Rex" (https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/t1.0-9/p526x296/10458025_873253379369184_4324237991121371852_n.jpg ), so another reference to the Dinobots' later appearance in the film. :o

And something which griffin pointed out to me before I saw my latest viewing, and I looked out for it -- there's a "TFP Vehicon" car in the scene where we first see Stinger (when Bumblebee, Cade and Shane have infiltrated KSI). I had a look at it, the car isn't an exact duplicate of the TFP Vehicon (as I think that's a fictitious vehicle), but some other kind of car that resembles it and has been painted in the colours of a TFP Vehicon (the dark eggplant colour with purple highlights). It's only on screen for a second, but the homage is there. :)

Also, I noticed that when Li's character is speaking in Chinese, she refers to Transformium as "Transformium" in English, i.e. I hear her saying "Blah blah blah Transformium blah blah blah." IMO it would've been cooler at least for Sinophone audiences if they tried to approximate a Chinese word for "Transformium." The Chinese word for Transformers is 変形金剛 -- I don't know how you say this in Chinese, but in Japanese it's Henkei Kongou, and kinda translates as "Transformation adamantine" (adamantine meaning a super-hard material, which is of course where Marvel got the word 'adamantium' from). This would seem like a cooler translation for "Transformium" to me. Or would the audience not accept it because it's too direct a translation for "Transformers" (and thus be too confusing)? An alternative translation may be 変形合金 (Henkei Goukin), which means "Transformation alloy". <shrugs> I'd be curious to see what the Chinese version of this film decides to translate "Transformium" as (though possibly they may just directly call it 'Transformium' :p). I suspect that the Japanese version will do just that and call it トランスフォーミウム (Toransufoomiumu). It'd be cool if another language version decided to translate it as "Cybertronium" though. :D

I also noticed that Optimus Prime does use his leg jets quite shortly after his Arms Up, including when he first dismounts from Grimlock -- so the film does seem to establish that he does have these jump jets soon after his upgrade. But I still don't understand why it didn't have him using it during more crucial moments such as controlling his ascent towards Lockdown's ship, or especially after he's destroyed the Super Magnet and is seen crashing back down to Earth... surely he could've used those leg jets to try and land more safely! Aaargh...

And someone told me that they saw dinosaurs aboard Lockdown's ship, but I don't recall seeing that, just alien creatures and the DinoKnights. If Lockdown had captured dinosaurs from prehistoric Earth, surely they'd be dead. Those cages didn't seem to have any form of suspended animation. :/ Unless they're alien dinosaurs... or alien ninja turtles. Hrmm... ;)


Brains, from the previous movie.
He's talking about those other robots with the big oogly eyes who Tessa initially kicks away to get out of the car. I don't know what they are, but I don't think they're related to Wheelie in any way.

[Sinnertwin]

I think it's best not to overthink these movies ;) Just switch off, sit back & enjoy.

[SkyWarp91]

Best Scenes:

Autobots Reuniting

Attinger gets blown by Optimus Prime

[Magnus]

Saw it a second time on the weekend, this time in 3D. Things really 'pop' in 3D, with debris and objects flying at the camera adding to the depth perception.

I think it helps to watch it a second time, because even though I had no trouble following the story and characters, there is a lot to take in, such as the fact that the ship was a former exploratory vessel used by the 'Knights' that Lockdown appropriated, and the name of the chamber where Lockdown kept Optimus and the other Knights: the Knights' Terminus (I wasn't able to find anything about it at the Transformers Wiki - is this from a comic, or would it be something new for the movieverse?).

The line in the news montage stating 'thirteen hundred dead' is an excerpt, so it could easily have been 'thirteen hundred dead on the first day of the invasion alone' or something.

I read on another forum that the ship has some Unicron-esque elements to it, namely the mechanical arms used for disposal in the furnace and the circular maw that sucks in metallic objects. Interesting...

[Lord_Zed]

I bit the bullet and saw AOE despite all the terrible reviews, all the way through I was trying to figure out how it could be worse than ROTF and yet I never got there. So after just watching it I can't decide if it's the 2nd best film or the 3rd best film. I'm not sure like would be the correct word, but I didn't hate it either, and I was expecting too. Maybe it's because I lowered my expectations majorly.

Pro's:

Autobots I could actually tell apart who actually do things and had a few lines, and aside from Brains (who is small anyway) none of them vanished half way through the film. Aside from Prime they were all cartoon characters, but that's arguably more than Movie Sideswipe ever was.

3 actors who actually had charisma.

No Shia

Lockdown, first ever interesting live action movie TF villain.

I could actually make out the combatants in several battles

Autobots (aside from Prime) were less blood(energon) thirsty than previous films when fighting.

Prime had a story arc (small as it was).

Less crass humour, no one pulled their pants down

Some interesting threads left open for future films.

US military didn't steal the show.

Less human characters, slightly more robot action

Cons (not the good kind)

Too Long

The last 10-15 minutes made no sense whatsoever.

The walking along the anchor scene.

The Vehicons silly transformations, and yet somehow they can still be pulled apart when in robot mode.

Once again a tow truck saves the day.

The usual Bayisims

Bumblebee (kill him and replace him with Hotshot or Hotrod already)

Neutral:

The Dinobots, they only appeared in a small portion of the film and never spoke and as so were not really characters. On the other hand they never spoke and showed themselves to be total asses. And I kinda liked their design more than I thought I would. The jury on them for me is out till I see if they return in the next film.

[millhouse]

3 actors who actually had charisma.


"I think we found a Transfor-mah!"

And yet still the second best of the Bay movies. I think the first one really nailed the narrative with the whole Americana "boy and his car" idea.

[Omega Metro]

I found AOE to be just a 'mishmash' of the previous 3 movies. Nothing original. :(

[GoktimusPrime]

"I think we found a Transfor-mah!"
Heh, yeah, I did notice that Wahlberg was using his native Boston accent even though Cade Yeager is meant to be Texan. But hey, perhaps Cade was born or raised in Boston/Massachusetts and later moved to Texas... although he would have at very least been a teenager when he moved to Texas since he and Lucas recall bringing their dates to the local run down theatre. Speaking of which, I'm guessing that Lucas must've grown up California before moving to Texas... maybe he and Cade were the two "outsiders" with non-Texan accents at school and became friends (goodness knows that neither seem to have any other redeeming qualities that would make them stand out as buddy material :p). Neither Cade, Tess or Lucas ever spoke with a Southern American accent though. :rolleyes: Even Anna Paquin put on a Southern drawl when she played Rogue in X-Men, despite growing up in New Zealand, brah! ;)

[Paulbot]

As the film started I assumed part of Cade's background was that he worked in robotics (possibly quite successfully given some the company materials around his garage), but after a bunch of robots destroyed Chicago the business failed - the public's newfound hatred and distrust of robots wouldn't be good for business. That would explain why he moved out to Texas despite coming from Boston, but it seems that he was just always a wannabe inventor.

[GoktimusPrime]

Yeah but both Cade and Lucas would've at least spent part of the high school years in Texas, since we see that scene where they enter the abandoned cinema; Lucas asks Cade something like, "Do you remember all the girls that we used to bring here?" and Cade answers with something like, "I only remember one." But yeah, the film sure doesn't give us a whole lot of background detail about Cade... but then again, I guess we don't want any more of the humans' story to be derailing the film away from the Transformers' story (at least, any more than it already does :p).

Oh well, I guess whenever something doesn't make sense in a Transformers film...
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/Transformers/meme_wizard_zps0264fd27.jpg :p

[Joshy]

I bit the bullet and saw AOE despite all the terrible reviews, ..... I'm not sure like would be the correct word, but I didn't hate it either, and I was expecting too. Maybe it's because I lowered my expectations majorly.
.


This.
Before my girlfriend and I went and saw it, both our brothers warned us how bad it was and why were we even bothering to go. So naturally we had very low expectations, were pretty much seeing it just cos you cant not see it and wouldn't you know it we both enjoyed it.

Did what it was originally designed to do... made me want to buy the toys :D

[Omega Metro]

Did what it was originally designed to do... made me want to buy the toys :D

And I'm sure Michael Bay and Hasbro are pleased. Unfortunately, that is all that matters.

[Joshy]

And I'm sure Michael Bay and Hasbro are pleased. Unfortunately, that is all that matters.



Yes and no, don't go much on most of the new ones, much prefer G1/G2.

[Omega Metro]

Yes and no, don't go much on most of the new ones, much prefer G1/G2.

Well, be prepared to be continuously disappointed mate. ;)

[Joshy]

Well, be prepared to be continuously disappointed mate. ;)

Such is life :rolleyes:

[Lord_Zed]

"I think we found a Transfor-mah!"

And yet still the second best of the Bay movies. I think the first one really nailed the narrative with the whole Americana "boy and his car" idea.

The first one in that it actually had a narrative you mean?:p
Since then not so much. I suppose I did kind of like how AOE has a sort of friendship form between Prime and Cade, however that also makes Bumblebee superfluous now as he's no longer the main characters buddy bot, just an annoying childish robot who almost ruins an undercover op with his antics.



This.

Did what it was originally designed to do... made me want to buy the toys :D

I'm almost tempted given they got some established talent to give the Autobots "some" personality this time, but alas the decline in Hasbro's toy quality has me unwilling to risk it.

[i_amtrunks]

I stayed away from everything movie related this time around. I've only just been able to watch tf4 tonight, and I'd only had a few word of mouth review from non tf fan friends who said it was brainless.

Needless to say my expectations were low, as I hadn't enjoyed the previous films much, but the trailers made it look okay.
My lowered expectations were not met.

This is one of the worst films I have ever subjected my eyes and brain to. It was completely flawed. I saw it at the drive in at Blacktown, and it very nearly became the first movie I ever left before the credits.

I have 7 year olds in my class that could throw together a more coherent and interesting plot and well rounded characters than the tripe we were subjected to. Things mostly happen in this film because the script says so. Bay cannot be blamed for these downfalls, they fall to the writers and producers.

What Bay can be blamed for are the awful time jumps in the mostly human centric chase scenes. I like a good car chaser, but in so transformers flick I want to see the transformers changing and fighting as they go, not a crapbox full of humans getting shot at by other humans. There are hundreds, if not thousands of other movies to see that kind of thing. He can also be blamed for the sexist and stereotyped way actors are portrayed and the terrible shot selection that makes trying to follow the "action" very difficult.

For an advertisement that expensive, there sure were a lot of cut corners with the fights and transformations. Too much money spent on explosions and dust to hide the other special effects. The last fight between Prime and Lockdown looked in parts to be claymation, such was the drop in frame rate and quality. Other scenes looked awful, like the tightrope and the dogs.

I have numerous issues and gripes regarding plot holes, length, overuse of humans and all their stupidity, terrible acting, bad animation, boredom, lack of explanations about very much everything, but most of those have been discussed or raised by others.

As I said, I wanted to drive out, but the missus encouraged me to stay, although she was unimpressed by Prime's un Prime like behaviour and by te fact that the Autobots as a unit were mostly nasty little turds, that acting more like bad guys, with their in fighting and wanky behaviours (especially Bumblebee). Her knowledge of tf is the movies and snippets of things, so if it turned her off, I imagine it would have done the same to many parents and casual fans too.

I'd like to know how many millions Kelsey Grammar and Stanley Tucci we're paid to appear in this absolute piece of crap. They were the only two actors (including voice actors, Goodman and DiMaggio both sounded bored) that were decent and nuanced, the rest might as well have been cardboard cutouts. I have never wanted the main cast to be hunted down with extreme prejudice as much as I have in this film. I wanted grammar character to succeed.:rolleyes:

While I liked Lockdown, you could not really mess him up as long as you went with his TF:A persona. Ratchets death was sad and upsetting (as it was intended) but the terrible prehistoric sectin and everything post Ratchets death was a waste of time. Giving more than half a second to each Autobots helped give them some character, too bad that I took them 4 movies to finally get it right. Also too bad we didn't get to see the other robots from tf3, I know they need to sell new toys, but having seemingly new and random characters every movie that are just there with no explanation is lazy.

I came out of this film feeling like I need a sabbatical away from transformers if this is the future direction of the franchise. At the moment, the only thing keeping me loosely hanging onto the brand are the comics. It staggers me that we can get something like MtMtE and this piece of absolute garbage out at the same time with the same general target audience.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

I keep catching bits of it at work and I have one real problem...

Lockdown's bottom.

It's just freakishly toned. And the design is so slender I just seem to think of him as a dude walking around naked...:eek:\

ANother LD point. I remember Bay saying there'd be no mass shifting for TFs in the movie (ignoring the decpticlones here I guess) but LD makes a much bigger robot than I think the car allows for.


As I've had some time to stew on the movie as a whole, I've decided that if this were a movie featuring other robots, let's just call it "Gundam 4, Age of Extinction" for the sake of argument. I would think it's a pile of turds and like trunks, would have left before the end.

The others I managed to find some enjoyment in. This one was just awful. Which is a shame as I actually quite like the start, up to the point Optimus meets with the other Autobots. Then it just goes downhill so far that it makes me forget about the good bit.

Plus I was glad lucas died. Crap acting, one point he is looking around, and looks at 3 people, (looks like one's off screen and yet there is only Cade and the girl there), ANd he was an annoying character. not even remotely funny. Would have like to see Optimus kill that guy too, but Lockdown beat him to it.

[SharkyMcShark]

I'm with Trunks.


I keep catching bits of it at work and I have one real problem...

Lockdown's bottom.

It's just freakishly toned. And the design is so slender I just seem to think of him as a dude walking around naked...:eek:\


I was very much reminded by Lockdown of Splinter Cell's Sam Fisher back when he used to wear the skin tight Navy Seal stuff.

[GoktimusPrime]

I think that Lockdown is somewhat "stretched out" to achieve that height relative to the size of his alt mode, hence the slenderness of his body and tight bottom. ;) I'm also might glad that Lucas was brutally killed. He was such a Ryan Reynolds Wannabe.

[SkyWarp91]

I keep catching bits of it at work and I have one real problem...

Lockdown's bottom.



Stupid Sexy Flanders (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6vPQL_aYfI)

[kup]

I also went in with very low expectations and actually questioning why I was going to watch it despite knowing exactly what we would get since this is Michael Bay.

However I guess a bit of disappointment hit me worse than it should because during the first part of it, I actually begun to think that the movie wasn't that bad and was starting to get into it. I hate the designs but the way Lockdown was first handled and Marky Mark and the human characters were not great but a lot better than Shia and pals. Still way below average but not an abomination like the last two movies have been.

At that point I was actually thinking that perhaps this movie was being treated unfairly but then the Autobots show up in the desert and things begun to deteriorate quickly. I already had a hint that it would be bad as Ratchet's 'getting killed' voice acting was terrible with 'Look at me, I am a getting horribly killed, meh oh well' tone of voice. Why do the Autobots behave like thugs with such shoddy voice acting? It was cringe worthy to have them interact with each other on screen. John Goodman Hound was also goofy as hell and difficult to digest outside of a little kid's movie.

Then the Steve Jobs guy went from a seemingly ruthless amoral corporate character to 'the goofy guy' just because Marky Mark gave him a phone call. WTF?

There is a lot more to list but I am sure it has been brought up by everyone everywhere already as things deteriorated very quickly. Narrative and visual sense went completely out the window, specially in the last 20 minutes. The movie was also too long so the last 40 minutes or so was just an endurance test. I was glad when it was over because by the end, I was bored.

I would say that it's not as terrible as ROTF but it is at least as bad as the previous one despite the human cast being better and an absence of toilet humor. However as the days past, I am disliking it more and more so perhaps it may actually be worse than Dark of the Moon.

Terrible movie and it is really sad that a piece of trash like that can make so much money the fourth time around. For the record, it had already made it's money by the time I saw it so damage was already done.

You know what the sad thing about this will be? It only helps to continue the lowering of the bar when it comes to Hollywood and audience expectations.

[GoktimusPrime]

You know what the sad thing about this will be? It only helps to continue the lowering of the bar when it comes to Hollywood and audience expectations.
^This.

I've been reading a lot of people who attempt to defend this movie with the basic argument of, "just lower your standards," which really isn't a defence at all (although not as bad as the mother of all terrible rebuttals, "haters gonna hate" :rolleyes: -- might as well just say, "I got nothin'." :p). The better defenders are the ones who highlight the actual merits of the film rather than pleading with critics to dumb themselves down. Because of course everything is better if you don't have standards! Maccas is totally nutritionally beneficial if you just lower your expectations of good nutrition. ;)

P.S.: Penny Arcade & Transformium (http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2014/07/14) :D

[kup]

^This.

I've been reading a lot of people who attempt to defend this movie with the basic argument of, "just lower your standards," which really isn't a defence at all (although not as bad as the mother of all terrible rebuttals, "haters gonna hate" :rolleyes: -- might as well just say, "I got nothin'." :p). The better defenders are the ones who highlight the actual merits of the film rather than pleading with critics to dumb themselves down. Because of course everything is better if you don't have standards! Maccas is totally nutritionally beneficial if you just lower your expectations of good nutrition. ;)

P.S.: Penny Arcade & Transformium (http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2014/07/14) :D

Transformium is low on the list of things that offend in this movie. It's kinda how medichlorians got surpassed by much greater nonsense in the prequels than caused a lot more anger.

[Gasaraki]

Finally got the chance to watch it yesterday on a double date with the missus and a couple friend of ours. I've only read a smattering of the comments here, so please excuse me if much of what I saw may be repeated stuff. So... after a day of thinking the movie through and jotting down some thoughts, here's my present view:


Overall, I liked it! I'm not sure if this is a minority opinion - the latter half of the comments here sure seem rather more negative, so perhaps most of the voters who put positive answers haven't posted comments. Like many, I think it is above ROTF (although that's like saying it's better than something you've fished out of your sewage tank) and I also reckon it's above DOTM.

When comparing to the first movie it seems like it's always gonna be behind the 8 ball as the historic impact of the first instalment (establishing TFs in the psyche of countless non-fans in the world) will not be repeated in this generation. I think the technical aspects are at least as good and the effects are better (but we ARE 7 years on). Acting is debatable... but I do favour Mark over Shia as the leading man, and I appreciated the work from the bigger names (Tucci and Grammer).

That's the preamble. To avoid lengthy prose, much of the rest will be in point form.

I liked many of the themes touched upon:
- Autobot faith/trust/respect in humanity
- The central Human and Cybertronian relationship
- Technology getting out of control / biting off more than you can chew
- Xenophobia
- Blind courage

Some highlights:
- Prime - I've read quite a few negative comments about Prime in this movie, but this was one of the things I liked most. Prime has more characterisation in AoE than any of the others (and arguably more than the first 3 put together), and this has worked to endear me to this movie Prime where I never felt like that for the others. He is a different persona here, and one I felt I can relate to more. The only scene in the whole movie that raised goosebumps for me was when he faced off Grimlock... I found it simply awe-inspiring. The line 'makes you wanna die for him' tries to sum it up rather clumsily, but it gets the essence.
- Humour - Much of it was very poorly timed I think, but a few lines were memorable and stuck up above the previous offerings. "What's Chinese for get the f*** outta the way?" comes to mind. And "I was expecting a giant CAR!!" strikes me as rather MtMtE James Roberts :)
- Characters - Many were stereotyped and some were very weak, but I felt they were much less the caricatures that almost exclusively populated the first 3 movies. So, not really highlight, more an improvement.
- Slug - Stuck out to me among the Dinobots, mainly coz I found him cute!! :) The scenes where he scrambles to run in the opposite direction when the giant magnet is pulling him upwards makes me think they motion captured a puppy!

Some lowlights:
- Humour - Again, much was poorly timed/placed. Li Bingbing's "Shiiit!" comes to mind... got a chuckle from me for its badness. Tucci's hiding in a glass box comment was also poor... theatre was dead silent for that.
- Li Bingbing - I am Chinese and all for Chinese getting cast in big dollar productions, but she was (to quote) "Shiiit!". Won't elaborate.
- Plot holes galore... some of the ones that stick to my mind:
-- Prime's scan & renew/heal. I think us fans can rationalise that (he found an energy source to recharge off screen) but my companions were like WTF?
-- Autobots forgetting the reason they stormed KSI just because Tucci interrupts them
-- Lack of surveillance on Lockdown's ship
-- Prime being stuck on a blade for minutes, which then gets pulled out immediately by... a pickup truck!
-- Molecular transformation... makes you invincible (e.g. Galvatron's first battle) or... not.
-- Letting building sized robot dinosaurs run loose!!! What!?!?
-- Prime can fly!! This one was just plain stupid IMO.


So there it is, my preliminary thoughts. In all I think it deserves to be closer to RottenTomatoes audience rating about circa 55% rather than the critic rating in the teens. I will watch it again some day.

[BigTransformerTrev]

I think it's best not to overthink these movies ;) Just switch off, sit back & enjoy.

+1 :D Exactly my sentiments!

[SkyWarp91]

^This.

I've been reading a lot of people who attempt to defend this movie with the basic argument of, "just lower your standards," which really isn't a defence at all (although not as bad as the mother of all terrible rebuttals, "haters gonna hate" :rolleyes: -- might as well just say, "I got nothin'." :p). The better defenders are the ones who highlight the actual merits of the film rather than pleading with critics to dumb themselves down. Because of course everything is better if you don't have standards! Maccas is totally nutritionally beneficial if you just lower your expectations of good nutrition. ;)

P.S.: Penny Arcade & Transformium (http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2014/07/14) :D

I do agree with how defenders shouldn't plead with critics to dumb themselves down, but I don't agree with 'hates gonna hate' being a terrible rebuttal - well at least not in the context that I'm thinking of.

I think 'haters gonna hate' applies really well to this movie - I don't think AoE is a masterpiece but I don't despise it - it's meh. But the amount of backlash that this movie has gotten both on the internet and on the streets means to me that this movie is so notorious that people keep giving it attention, even though it's negative attention it's still attention nonetheless. If people really wanted to 'save' Hollywood instead of complaining about it, they should just ignore the film altogether instead of giving it any attention. I've seen plenty of films/shows of amazing calibre and what's unfortunate - despite my efforts to spread word about them - is that many people don't want to pay attention to them. Only those who were educated enough to critique an art enjoyed them - I think a great way to 'save' Hollywood is to educate the audiences about what is good art and bad art, not just whinging 'HOLLYWOOD SUCKS BECAUSE OF REBOOTS SEQUELS AND TRANSFORMERS AND TMNT AND MICHAEL BAY PUT A WMD IN MY ANUS AND RAPED MY CHILDHOOD'.

Michael Bay knows that his films aren't your traditional run of the mill flicks, he knows that they lack a coherent plot and that the characters are annoying and stereotypical but the fact that he rakes in so much money
means to him he's still a box office success. And with that much money and attention (even though it's mostly hate from his critics) all Bay does is put on a grin and walk off into the sunset one happy chap saying 'Haters gonna hate'. And I respect that about him because he had the balls to make something of himself in life.

[kup]

+1 :D Exactly my sentiments!

That's what I call lowering the bar. Even so, by the end I was so bored I was wanting the movie to end so 'shutting off your brain' doesn't work either, at least not for all.

[Sinnertwin]

^This.

I've been reading a lot of people who attempt to defend this movie with the basic argument of, "just lower your standards," which really isn't a defence at all (although not as bad as the mother of all terrible rebuttals, "haters gonna hate" :rolleyes: -- might as well just say, "I got nothin'." :p). The better defenders are the ones who highlight the actual merits of the film rather than pleading with critics to dumb themselves down. Because of course everything is better if you don't have standards! Maccas is totally nutritionally beneficial if you just lower your expectations of good nutrition. ;)

P.S.: Penny Arcade & Transformium (http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2014/07/14) :D

At the same time, when people start disecting the absolute minutest of details like the corn in Cade's crap was from Arkansas even though the can he ate it from said Michigan (le sigh :rolleyes: Bay knows nothing) & then waffling on & on... well, i just have to balk at that. Everybody should feel free to produce & submit a screenplay that you think the movie should be :)
Anyway, everybody from the lovers to the haters will either buy it or download it to watch at a later date or have in their library, despite all the respective opinions

[Demonac]

Anyway, everybody from the lovers to the haters will either buy it or download it to watch at a later date or have in their library, despite all the respective opinions

That's not true. I will neither buy, nor d/l this movie (I also haven't seen it on the big screen either).

[BigTransformerTrev]

I've been reading a lot of people who attempt to defend this movie with the basic argument of, "just lower your standards," which really isn't a defence at all (although not as bad as the mother of all terrible rebuttals, "haters gonna hate" :rolleyes: -- might as well just say, "I got nothin'." :p). The better defenders are the ones who highlight the actual merits of the film rather than pleading with critics to dumb themselves down. Because of course everything is better if you don't have standards! Maccas is totally nutritionally beneficial if you just lower your expectations of good nutrition. ;)

P.S.: Penny Arcade & Transformium (http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2014/07/14) :D


That's what I call lowering the bar. Even so, by the end I was so bored I was wanting the movie to end so 'shutting off your brain' doesn't work either, at least not for all.


What a load of old bollocks! :mad: While I kinda agree with Goks comments about people who use the defense of 'just lower your standards', choosing to switch your brain off and watch the movie with a relaxed attitude and for a bit of fun isn't 'lowering the bar' or 'lowering your standards'. It's choosing to chill the frag out and enjoy a diversion from the stresses of life for a few hours. It also may be that you decided that there is enough negativity in your life so you are trying to focus on positives and walked out of the movie thinking of all the things you liked instead of obsessing about all the things you didn't.

You wanna slag off the movie - fine - there is a lot to slag off. But don't start attacking people who didn't hate the movie because they didn't go into the flick with the mindset that they were going to discect it to pieces :mad: And don't tell me what I am or am not doing, what the validity of my defense is and that my and others opinions are wrong because we didn't view the movie through the same lenses you did. :mad:

[Omega Metro]

What a load of old bollocks! :mad: While I kinda agree with Goks comments about people who use the defense of 'just lower your standards', choosing to switch your brain off and watch the movie with a relaxed attitude and for a bit of fun isn't 'lowering the bar' or 'lowering your standards'. It's choosing to chill the frag out and enjoy a diversion from the stresses of life for a few hours. It also may be that you decided that there is enough negativity in your life so you are trying to focus on positives and walked out of the movie thinking of all the things you liked instead of obsessing about all the things you didn't.

You wanna slag off the movie - fine - there is a lot to slag off. But don't start attacking people who didn't hate the movie because they didn't go into the flick with the mindset that they were going to discect it to pieces :mad: And don't tell me what I am or am not doing, what the validity of my defense is and that my and others opinions are wrong because we didn't view the movie through the same lenses you did. :mad:

You Sir!....win the thread!:)

[5FDP]

What a load of old bollocks! :mad: While I kinda agree with Goks comments about people who use the defense of 'just lower your standards', choosing to switch your brain off and watch the movie with a relaxed attitude and for a bit of fun isn't 'lowering the bar' or 'lowering your standards'. It's choosing to chill the frag out and enjoy a diversion from the stresses of life for a few hours. It also may be that you decided that there is enough negativity in your life so you are trying to focus on positives and walked out of the movie thinking of all the things you liked instead of obsessing about all the things you didn't.

You wanna slag off the movie - fine - there is a lot to slag off. But don't start attacking people who didn't hate the movie because they didn't go into the flick with the mindset that they were going to discect it to pieces :mad: And don't tell me what I am or am not doing, what the validity of my defense is and that my and others opinions are wrong because we didn't view the movie through the same lenses you did. :mad:

You're wrong.











Sorry, had to be said :p

[BigTransformerTrev]

You Sir!....win the thread!:)

:)


You're wrong.


Sorry, had to be said :p


Smart arse :p;)

[Zommael]

:)




Smart arse :p;)

Haters gonna hate.

[BigTransformerTrev]

I don't really care if you've said positives or negatives or both or neither in regards to the movie. It's your opinion of the flick and you are entitled to it. I've said negatives about the flick myself. What's given me the irrits is that many times someone in this looong thread has said even a simple sentence like that they quite liked the movie others have been jumped up and down on them as if how dare they hold that opinion. The discussion should be kept to people communicating what their personal opinions of the movie were, especially since this is a review thread. Not telling others that their reviews and opinions are flawed or that how they chose to percieve the movie was in error. Debate is fine, even encouraged, but it's been going a lot further than that and that's what I have a problem with.

Simple rule for all - review the movie - not others opinions of it. Makes for a happy online chatting space :)

Anyway - I'm out! Lest I end up writing more about about how people treated others opinions than I wrote about the movie itself, thus becoming a total hypocryte :p

[5FDP]

And for my next post, I'm gonna quote - THE INTERNET! ;) :D :p

[kup]

And for my next post, I'm gonna quote - THE INTERNET! ;) :D :p

https://warosu.org/data/ic/img/0017/25/1399664426231.jpg

:p

[kurdt_the_goat]

Sometimes i'm reminded of my high school English classes whenever a new movie comes out and it gets dissected. I mean, they'd get you to read some book that, in premise, you have absolutely no interest in whatsoever. But it's "well written" and you have to analyse it to the nth degree and try and figure out all the justifications for whatever the author wrote. Even if you may have enjoyed it otherwise, going doing this route of over-analysis ruins every bit of enjoyment you could have gotten. Sure you might find *something* that you think "oh that's clever!" and some enjoyment can come from that. But more often than not you end up tearing it to shreds and forgetting that it's supposed to be something you do to relax and enjoy on a pretty basic level.

The same applies to movies, and i think it only gets worse as you get older and more able to analyse and understand why or why not something was made the way it was. As a kid, i'm pretty sure i enjoyed every movie i ever saw. Recently i caught some Police Academy movies on TV for instance - i fricken loved those movies to death as a kid! But there is no argument that they are for the most part pretty damn lame and devoid of humour (someone's going to say "well no, Michael Winslow!" - and they'd be right :). But as an adult, trying to enjoy those movies is almost impossible. Somehow back then, 7 of the damn things were made! Or even worse movies, like the Nightmare on Elm St or Friday the 13th movies with what, 9 or 10 entries? How did that ever happen!?

But even in terms of blockbusters - i recently watched the Jurassic Park trilogy again and really... they're not that great either. You have plot holes like why the hell can't the T-Rex just smell the damn humans 2 inches from his face? (someone's going to tell me T-Rex can't smell now aren't they). The very premise that humans could at all survive rampaging dinosaurs is pretty much ludicrous, let alone kids for gods sake! But as a child, damn if i didn't just think 'holy shit, dinosaurs! best damn movie i ever saw!' and that was the end of it. And i bet as a kid, i never thought "couldn't that Pterodactyl just fly to the mainland" at the conclusion of Lost World either! What is he, Superman? :D

I think at the end of the day we could all do well to try and regain a little childhood innocence when watching movies these days. Some movies set out to be more than that, and it's great if they deliver completely coherent results, but at the end of the day, they're just movies and aren't going to change your life no matter the significance of any hidden meanings or quality of film-making. So it's ok that not every movie is a flawless masterpiece in that sense, and maybe they are in another - like how Transformers is almost the pinnacle of CG these days; that is an achievement in itself. There's extraordinary creativity and skill that goes into that and it deserves to be respected.

The most recent examples i can think of 'great movies' that i frankly couldn't give a damn about are Life of Pi and Slumdog Millionaire. Incredibly well made movies but hell, i'd rather just watch robots beat the shit out of each other in my free time.

[Sinnertwin]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gyJIg2mAuY

[Omega Metro]

You know what annoys me more? Sharknado is rated 82% compared to AOE at 17% at Rottentomatoes! WTF:eek:
And 47 Ronan is 12% and I thought that was a great movie like AOE.:confused:

P.S .....I don't normally look at reviews/ratings for movies.:D

[kurdt_the_goat]

Any movie with Keanu Reeves is automatically on a new scale with the only rating being "Whoa". Except The Lakehouse, though it gets some points for being about time travel.

http://i.imgur.com/q0n6gZT.jpg

[kup]

Sometimes i'm reminded of my high school English classes whenever a new movie comes out and it gets dissected. I mean, they'd get you to read some book that, in premise, you have absolutely no interest in whatsoever. But it's "well written" and you have to analyse it to the nth degree and try and figure out all the justifications for whatever the author wrote. Even if you may have enjoyed it otherwise, going doing this route of over-analysis ruins every bit of enjoyment you could have gotten. Sure you might find *something* that you think "oh that's clever!" and some enjoyment can come from that. But more often than not you end up tearing it to shreds and forgetting that it's supposed to be something you do to relax and enjoy on a pretty basic level.


I think I have only seen one person here try to dissect the movie. Otherwise people are pretty much giving broad perceptions of how they feel about it regardless of what that may be.

[rocman12]

I went and watched the movie today and i actually enjoyed it! So happy that they changed the human characters! Sam in the previous 3 movies really annoyed me and is the main reason why i didn't like them. Only real complaint is that the Dinobots could of had more movie time!

On a positive note, i took my 6 month old to the movie, i went to the bub session, and when he was awake during the movie, he actually liked it!

[Bidoofdude]

Just saw this today at IMAX, I liked it.

Pros:
+ Ratchet's whole scene and death scene (CRY EVERTIM)
+ The general tone, different from the other 3
+ Better characters, Drift was cool, like most of the Autobot cast
+ Better human characters, not awkward like the past films, Cade Yaeger was a fantastic character
+ No Shia LeBouff
+ Good humour, such as Drift's irony
+ Galvatron's voice- perfect
+ I liked the idea of humans improving upon cybertronian tech with transformium- though the morphing thing makes for bad toys, the concept was great
+ Dinobots being rebellious powerhouses
+ The dinobots being lifted up by Lockdown's ship, especially Slug. Looked cute.
Cons:
- Galvatron and Stinger being invincible with his morphing abilites, then suddenly being able to be slaughtered easily, along with all the vehicons.
- Optimus somehow being able to reformat and fix himself after all the crap about needing the Autobots needing to fix him.
- Bingbing Lee
- The dinobots not talking (though I hope the 5th movie focuses on the dinobots' minds and development as characters)
- The dinobots being big, scary set pieces, rather than characters. You'd think the Knights of Cybertron would be pretty wise and honourable instead of ferocious beasts.
- After a small battle with Optimus, the dinobots just decide to do what he says. The battle should have been longer.


Overall, pretty good film. 7/10 for me. Not perfect, but not a bad film. Better than ROTF and DOTM, but not as good as the 2007 movie. ;)

[Verno]

Better than DOTM, but still a steaming pile of s#!t. Congratulations to all involved :(

[Omega Metro]

And according to wiki, AOE is so far the 33rd top grossing movie of all time! Awesome work Mr Bay!:) can't wait for TF5!

It's now ranked 18th movie of all time! Beating The Dark Knight. It's also over the $1 Billion Mark.:)
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_films

[Sinnertwin]

Just saw this today at IMAX, I liked it.

Pros:
+ Ratchet's whole scene and death scene (CRY EVERTIM)


Is it a full blown, box of Kleenex sob or just a solitary tear slowly making it's way down your cheek?

[llamatron]

Better than DOTM, but still a steaming pile of s#!t. Congratulations to all involved :(

:D

Finally saw this abomination today. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me four times, shame on me?

Optimus magically growing rockets and Poochieing up in to space was the first time I've ever actually been angry at a movie for being so stupid.

[5FDP]

Going to see it again this Saturday. It will be the 3rd time at the cinemas. Much rather see the new Planet of the Apes movie but I promised my nephew that I would see TF 4 with him. Stupid promises.... grumble grumble....


Optimus magically growing rockets and Poochieing up in to space was the first time I've ever actually been angry at a movie for being so stupid.

Yep!

[Verno]

How about Galvatron not having a spark, and yet he's not only alive but able to grant life to others! After all the fuss in ROTF about the Allspark being the only thing that could grant new life, suddenly it doesn't matter!

[Magnus]

How about Galvatron not having a spark, and yet he's not only alive but able to grant life to others! After all the fuss in ROTF about the Allspark being the only thing that could grant new life, suddenly it doesn't matter!

I think that's the difference between a 'true' Transformer and one of the Earth-made drones: while Transformers have Sparks, Galvatron, and by extension the other 'new' Decepticons, don't, so they're all effectively 'zombies' with Decepticon memories, but they don't have that extra 'something' that a Spark provides. Megatron's memories and personality were downloaded from what was left of his head and uploaded into Galvatron, and from there, he spread information/personalities to the other KSI drones.

[GoktimusPrime]

Megatron's memories and personality were downloaded from what was left of his head and uploaded into Galvatron, and from there, he spread information/personalities to the other KSI drones.
We don't even know that. Do the Vehicons even have any form of independent will, or are they merely extensions of Galvatron's will? Megatron did originally have a Spark, so the original source of Galvatron's life (as Megatron) would still be the AllSpark, however it was KSI (albeit manipulated by Galvatron) who resurrected Galvatron in a blasphemous state of undeath. I personally would've preferred to have seen Galvatron as a wholly new and separate entity from Megatron though; much as what he originally was in the original G1 toy bio and Ladybird books, as well as the IDW comics. Bringing Megatron back from the dead again is just ridiculous. Although seeing him manipulate humans into rebuilding him is preferable to just seeing other Decepticons stab him with a Cosmic MacGuffin. :p

[philby]

Crap.
I came out feeling kind of angry. It didn't really seem like a movie, it was more like a series of slow motion crappy staring off into the sunset/look at this shiny car/watch me pose or walk slowly looking away with this gun "this is a moment" press pictures with product placement in between. Drift was fucking stupid. Who are these "legendary warriors", where did they come from, why don't they speak, why should they help Optimus, where do they go afterwards? Who are these Knights and why are they special? why doesn't Optimus just fly with his jetpack feet the whole time, how did they turn out of a corn field onto a gigantic overpass, how did the helicopter lose them etc etc etc.

I just think it was wasted potential :( it could have been so much more! ARGH :mad:

[MayzaPrime]

We don't even know that. Do the Vehicons even have any form of independent will, or are they merely extensions of Galvatron's will? Megatron did originally have a Spark, so the original source of Galvatron's life (as Megatron) would still be the AllSpark, however it was KSI (albeit manipulated by Galvatron) who resurrected Galvatron in a blasphemous state of undeath. I personally would've preferred to have seen Galvatron as a wholly new and separate entity from Megatron though; much as what he originally was in the original G1 toy bio and Ladybird books, as well as the IDW comics. Bringing Megatron back from the dead again is just ridiculous. Although seeing him manipulate humans into rebuilding him is preferable to just seeing other Decepticons stab him with a Cosmic MacGuffin. :p

With the whole Megatron's head in a lab, I thought it was a cool nod to the Animated series... Or it could have been completely unintentional.

[philby]

I honestly thought they had just cast a voice actor for him. It was very ambiguous as to whether they were meant to be clips or if he was just talking through some sort of synthesiser.

they were different sound clips, one of them was john wayne saying "now get out!" and I thought I recognised a couple of other voices at the time but I forgot now.

[Magnus]

With the whole Megatron's head in a lab, I thought it was a cool nod to the Animated series... Or it could have been completely unintentional.

I suspect it was deliberate - Ehren Kruger has been integrating references to previous iterations of Transformers into his scripts.

[5FDP]

Watched the movie again for a third time on the weekend and something weird happened to me. I... think... I... actually... liked... it :confused:

[Sinnertwin]

Watched the movie again for a third time on the weekend and something weird happened to me. I... think... I... actually... liked... it :confused:

Come to your senses, man!
It's a Bay movie! This is a Bay movie bashing thread! Think of what he has done to your childhood! Your childhood!!! Next you'll be saying you want to watch the new TMNT movie too, I suppose...
:p ;)

[GoktimusPrime]

Watched the movie again for a third time on the weekend and something weird happened to me. I... think... I... actually... liked... it :confused:
Cinematic Stockholm Syndrome. :p

[kup]

I just think it was wasted potential :( it could have been so much more! ARGH :mad:

lol, reminds me of 2007 ;)

[Omega Metro]

It's now ranked 18th top grossing movie of all time! Beating The Dark Knight. It's also over the $1 Billion Mark.:)
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_films

[5FDP]

It's now ranked 18th top grossing movie of all time! Beating The Dark Knight. It's also over the $1 Billion Mark.:)
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_films

That right there is proof that audiences don't care about plot or acting performance. The Dark Knight is leap years ahead of TF4 in terms of both.

[Omega Metro]

That right there is proof that audiences don't care about plot or acting performance. The Dark Knight is leap years ahead of TF4 in terms of both.

And I thought Dark Knight was boring, dark, depressing garbage.