excellent, must see
good, see if you can
average
disappointing, avoid it
Rank 1 - New or Inactive
Gave in and just watched it, and must admit it was awesome! really enjoyed it easily the best of the 3 movies.
Love Lazerbeak, Megatron And basically everything!
Can't wait for the dvd release
Only downside i can see is that now that ive seen the movie i have the urge to buy the toys, even thought i promised my self i wouldn't
Maybe just get some leader class figures
Rank 3 - Basic Member
Just saw it again today for the 2nd time and I enjoyed it much more than the original screening. When watching it this time I had to keep reminding myself that I can't expect this movie to have a real deep storyline and characters, but instead to expect an action masterpiece. It's Bay's biggest action piece yet, and the level of destruction was just amazing - maybe enough to soften the scars of his bad editing.
Rank 1 - New or Inactive
I really enjoyed this movie. Great action/fight sequences, great visual and sound effects. Just what i want in an action film. It could have been trimmed/shortened a bit but otherwise can't wait for it on Blu-Ray.
A few things i would change.
- Shockwave was way under-used IMO. His pet worm did more damage then him and the movie should have showed him slaying a few autobots and human to show he means business.
- More emotion needed in the final movie. I would have liked to see some more main characters getting knocked off. It would have left the audience wondering if this was gonna be a happy-ending movie. Just killing off Ironhide was not enough.
- Laserbeak........i didn't like him. Bay tried to make him comical as well as deadly. He looked like a cross between a vulture, a pteradactyl and ossie ostrich. I would of preferred if he didn't talk at all like Ravage, and was somehow a part of Soundwave. ie, built into Soundwave's chest or back, as Scorponok was to Blackout.
- Not everyone reads the comics to understand where half the characters from the last film have gone. Show Jolt/other Autobots getting killed by Shockwave/other decepticons in a flashback or at the start of the film.
Far from a perfect film, but a fun film.
Rank 8 - Deluxe Member
It was OK...not great, not terrible, not good, not bad. I'd give it 2s out of 5.
Pros
- Laserbeak was actually pretty cool. I hope we get a toy for him that turns into an actual something instead of the pseudo-hoverjet thing.
- The comic relief duo was surprisingly bearable. And actually did something useful.
- No Retard Twins.
- Shia was less annoying than usual.
- More robot screen-time, though it was still overly human-centric for my liking.
- The watch-scorpion-thingy was cool. I wants a Scout/Cyberverse-class toy.
- Rosie What's-her-name is remarkably watchable, making the fact she's really only there as eye candy rather more forgiveable.
- Sentinel Prime was actually really badass, and mostly fairly well characterised to boot.
- Soundwave was pretty badass. And tentacle-y.
- Nice use of existing toys' vehicle-modes in the NEST base. Not-Brawn looked awesome and I would have liked to see him as a TF. Same for Not-Skyhammer.
- The moon landing thing was a nice idea, and the guest appearances were pretty good. Bill O'Reilly FTW! Bay as the cameraman was pretty good too.
- Dutch had some good lines. The Russian bar scene was pretty cool.
- John Malkovich is awesome. Turturro is far more bearable than before.
- The black guy wasn't the first to die.
- My brother-in-law really liked it.
Cons
- It's basically a 80-90 minute no-brainer action movie - not necessarily a bad thing - stretched out into a 2 & 1/2 hour epic. While on paper it should be Epic, the pacing is really weak and makes watching the whole thing in a single sitting a trial of endurance. Not helped by having to wear 3D glasses when most of the scenes don't really make much effective use of it.
- USA! USA! USA! Get that illegal nuclear facility in that coincidentally Middle Eastern country Autobots! For FREEDOM!
- Sentinel Prime - stole the show, right up until "Optimus, NO!" just before his death. A more resigned or regretful ending after watching his beloved Cybertron destroyed due in part to his actions (and those of his predecessor) would have been, well, in character. As it was, the whole patriot/needs of the many bit was really undercut, and whoops, he was just a bad guy after all.
- While I'm on the topic, remember that bit in The Ultimate Doom where Optimus agonizes over whether to bring Cybertron to Earth over the Space Bridge, or keep Earth safe but destroy his home planet? Remember how he mentions it being his home and how he has friends there? How he's obviously really conflicted between his desire to protect Earth and his love for his homeworld? Yep?
Now, remember how Jazz is torn in half in the first Bay movie and after the battle's over Movie Optimus is all like, Jazz who? Oh well, them's the breaks, time heals all wounds and it's been like five minutes already. Guess which characterisation crops up here?
Yep. Not even a seconds indecision over dooming his own freaking planet to a fiery implodery doom, or a seconds mourning for his now-destroyed home world after the fact. Cybertron? Oh yeah, I think I was created and raised and spent almost my whole millions-of-years-long existence there once or something. Whatever happened to that place anyway?
But then, he does make a big deal about how Earth is his home and the humans are totally cool, they've only tried kicking us off the planet twice over the past 3 years and totally lied to us for years on end about our greatest leader evar and some tech that could supposedly save our planet being on their moon after all, so maybe that's it. Hey, check out this sweet sunset, isn't this planet just so peaceful? Except for all those illegal nuclear plants anyway...
- Hey, I haven't seen Ironhide lately, I hope he didn't get killed by my mentor or anything. If anyone sees my old friend tell him I said hi. Huh? Que who?
- Carly - great ass, glimmers of what could be spunky character in the vein of her namesake, and even possible acting ability from Rosie HW, but in the end relegated to just great ass.
- On a related note, Mikaela/Megan Fox's absence doesn't get much attention or explanation. Oops, they broke up, here's a new girlfriend, c'est la vie. After the big deal made over Sam and Mikaela's relationship in the first two it's kind of, well, cheap.
- Shia is still whiny and annoying.
- Starscream's death - terrible, pointless, unnecessary. From cries of 'It's Starscream!' from the Autobots in the first movie to "Ow, my eye, I'll hop around like a headless chicken while some human sticks a bomb in my head" in DotM. Will Animated Starscream please come and tell this guy what to do when some flightless hero-type attaches himself to you with a line?
- Shockwave - could have been awesome, was just a heavy grunt with a pet sandworm. Didn't kill anyone, had barely any dialogue besides incoherently roaring (presumbaly logical incoherent roaring), didn't transform and in the end got taken down pretty easily by OP for such a purported scary big bad. Again, Animated and the old-school G1 comics do this character far more justice.
- I'm-a Dino, I'm-a gonna win. Listen-a my funny accent, 'cos that's-a all I got. Did-a you know I can turn invisible? No? Neither did I, which is why-a I didn't!
- Hey guys, you know the way we're all being attacked by a Decepticon and/or giant drill-monster-tentacle-thing in this precariously tilting skyscraper? You remember those awesome handheld human pistol-sized space-weapons and climbing gloves that Autobot scientist guy gave us a few minutes ago? Let's not use them and just jump out of this window and slide down this plate glass and shoot out the windows below us instead, it'll look way more dramatic and chances are only one or two of us will fall to our doom.
- After the Autobots being exiled and Cybertron half-summoned and then destroyed, the ending is really abrupt. It feels like the writers just got bored and decided to finish up and go home - Optimus Prime kills them all: The End. What makes this especially bad is it tries to do way too much (Moon landing, Sentinel's Faustian pact, Earth under Decepticon control, exiled Autobots, Shockwave is scary, oh and here's Cybertron brought to Earth), when a simpler and cleaner plot with more attention paid to character development and plot resolution would have served far better.
Despite the long list of Cons VS Pros, it's actually an OK action flick, or at least would be if it wasn't SO DAMN LONG.
Rank 8 - Deluxe Member
okay i just saw it for the 2nd time in 3D and found really really really really boring, almost felt like walking out and as me and my brother were walking out he thought about doing the same thing.
Think i might of actually enjoy the ROTF more but overall i think im just going to wipe the 2nd and 3rd movies from my mind and just keep with the first. When i have kids i wont even tell them there is a 2nd and 3rd movie.
Dont get me wrong there were some cool bits but not enough.
Rank 8 - Deluxe Member
Highlander'd!Originally Posted by loophole
Note: I'm not a fan of Highlander and don't know much about the franchise (other than the fact that the voice actor for BW Inferno and BM Thrust was in the TV series) -- but I've met a lot of fans who deny the existence of the sequels (especially Highlander 2)
Also, for those who've noticed the plethora of Star Trek/Spock references in DotM, I think there may have been at least one more semi-reference that didn't make the final cut. In #2 of the comic adaptation, Sentinel Prime says to Optimus Prime, "You are - and always have been - the bravest warrior I have ever known."; now is it just me, or does this seem to be a paraphrase of Spock's line "I have been and always shall be, your friend."
It's a not a direct quote, but it seems to carry the same spirit in a more subtle way. <insert.comment.about.Michael.Bay.and.subtlety>
Rank 8 - Deluxe Member
Highlander'd!
Note: I'm not a fan of Highlander and don't know much about the franchise (other than the fact that the voice actor for BW Inferno and BM Thrust was in the TV series) -- but I've met a lot of fans who deny the existence of the sequels (especially Highlander 2)
Also, for those who've noticed the plethora of Star Trek/Spock references in DotM, I think there may have been at least one more semi-reference that didn't make the final cut. In #2 of the comic adaptation, Sentinel Prime says to Optimus Prime, "You are - and always have been - the bravest warrior I have ever known."; now is it just me, or does this seem to be a paraphrase of Spock's line "I have been and always shall be, your friend."
It's a not a direct quote, but it seems to carry the same spirit in a more subtle way. <insert.comment.about.Michael.Bay.and.subtlety>
they loved there spock references didnt they
Rank 8 - Deluxe Member
Props for seeing it a second time, I was clawing at the chair in front of me begging for it to end and that was just the first time (the guy that was sitting there is bald now).
I certainly think RotF is a much better film compared to DotM. After a non-stop barrage of action in the last 60+ minutes of his latest brain cell eliminator, not one scene could come close to the far more focused RotF action scenes with Ravage infiltrating the military base, the forest battle, the chase and eventual killing of Sideways, the discovery of Demolishor (must mention: the bass from those concrete pylons as they hit the ground is ****ing awesome if you've got a nice sub). RotF got boring when they reached the desert but before that it was actually pretty entertaining and some of the action was inspiring stuff. There was more humour in RotF too, sure it didn't have Bobby B and the Devastator 'balls' were pathetic but there were a few chuckles in there that I found were completely missing from "I'm too serious for my own good" DotM. Brains and Wheelie were good though I'll give them that.
While I'm having another rant, not sure if anyone's touched on this yet but did the music also really grate on anyone else's nerves?? That militaristic try hard epic excuse for sine waves totally killed any possibility of mood building, atmosphere, tension...Anything!!
Rank 10 - Admin
The movie must be doing well though, despite what some are saying about it. Its had two weekends, almost two weeks, and I was surprised to see both daytime sessions at the Sydney IMAX were sold out before the first session had even started.
With TF2 I just showed up and bought a ticket on the day (and the theatre was half empty - TF1 was even emptier), but lucky I had a look at the pre-booking page on Wednesday when I planned my day-trip... or else I would have shown up to the theatre to find I wouldn't be seeing the movie. I wasn't planning to pre-book, but in checking to make sure the session was happening (I wasn't going to book a flight until I was sure a session was on that day), I had to go through the booking process... which led me to a seating chart that was already over half filled. I couldn't believe it - four days out, and it was one of three sessions on the second weekend. After the last two movies on IMAX, I never thought it would still be this popular after two weeks.
And I was surprised it was in 3D as well... which I am find that the eyes seem to adapt to it within an hour or so, in that it doesn't look as 'spectacularly' 3D as it does at the start of the movie when you first put on the glasses.
(I ended up being seated next to a young kid who musta never been to an IMAX theatre before, because when he sat down, he was looking all around and then took several photos of the screen and theatre on his phone)
One error I half noticed before, but looked for it this time - when the parent first arrive to see Sam, they have their car parked on the road behind their bus, but later when they offer to take him to his interviews, it's up on a trailer attached to the bus (which would make more sense, but someone musta forgotten the trailer in the earlier shots, or it wouldn't fit on that part of the street, or something).
And Simmons saying that there are only 9 Autobots is an error, as he would know that Wheelie is an Autobot, and in the on-screen Movie universe, Brains would be an Autobot because there was no suggestion he was ever anything else (it was only in the comic written around the movie script, that had him as a Decepticon). That gives us Optimus, Bumblebee, Ratchet, Sideswipe, Wheeljack/Q, Mirage/Dino, Topspin, Roadbuster, Leadfoot (which were never named in the movie), Brains and Wheelie... which gives us 11 Autobots that boarded the Xanthium.
And I still don't get the dialogue between Megatron and Sentinel just before the spacebridge is activated in Chicago. Megatron tells Sentinel that soon they will be able to restore Cybertron together (as equal partners), but then Sentinel tears off part of his head in anger as if Megatron said that Sentinel was working for him or beneath him. I think the dialogue and animation of that scene was done in two parts - Megatron's line and then Sentinel's hostile response - with one being done after a script change, resulting in a scene that didn't make any sense.
And does anyone feel that some parts of the movie have been cropped, compared to the trailers? Like in the final battle scene when Optimus flies in and starts carving up the Decepticons before killing Shockwave... in the Trailer, the shot isn't as close up, in that you can see the whole Decepticons being sliced up. In the movie you don't see their heads and legs... it's the type of shot used to hide animation flaws or overlay flaws, but we'd seen the whole picture on the Trailer, so why the zoomed-in edit I wonder.
That's four times for me now... and I might see it again, but probably only if someone else wanted to see it.
Rank 8 - Deluxe Member
If you want to make a trip to Melbourne, you might convince me to go and see it with you.
But it has to be at the Astor on the 29th (playing with Thor). :P
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