Transformers Reactions Thread - No spoilers until July 4th

tim31 · Post by **tim31** » 2007-07-03 10:50am

Exactly.

Was I the only person that expected Prime to make the sacrifice and take Megatron with him? Because as soon as Megatron bit it, I said inside, 'ohhh... franchise.'

Galvatron will return

Rommie2006 · Post by **Rommie2006** » 2007-07-03 10:53am

Ford Prefect wrote:
Rommie2006 wrote:Scorponok - Ok, I admit he took quite a beating before burrowing into the sand.
Quite a beating? He shrugged off fire from the 30mm GAU-8 (a highly effective anti-tank weapon), then whatever missiles the A-10s were carrying (Hellfire?) and finally took noticeable damage from a Spooky gunship's 105mm howitzer firing discarding sabot penetrators. That's one hell of a beating.

Starscream - F-22 don't have much armor. It's easy to knock them out if you are a highly maneuverable transformer.
While they're not exactly flying tanks, you have to give Starscream some kudos for taking apart a squadron of the USAF's most advanced and capable air superiority fighters. They might have been in a bad position (ie. close combat), but there's no denying that Starscream outflew them, and the F-22 is a very agile plane. Plus you can't ignore how Starscream basically ignored the missile hit he took - though admittedly that was probably a Sidewinder, which only has ~10 kilogram warhead.

Blackout - Yet he got blasted by a *hand weapon*, admittedly under his vulnerable area in between the legs. Blackout only managed to destroy the base due to the element of surprise. If all the tanks in the base were properly manned, coupled with a few attack helicopters, I reckon that concentrated firepower would damage him.
It's not exactly like the ballbusting he took was what took him down; more like the AMRAAM spam, intended to hit the weakest parts of his armour. And of course concentrated firepower would damage him - they're tough, and they appear to regenerate given time, but they're not invincible. The problem here is that Blackout's firepower is impressive as well. The tanks could have been crewed and moving, but that wouldn't save them from being thrown about like I would my MAtchbox cars.

Megatron, ironically went down went the F-22 swarmed him.
He was somewhat staggered by the barrage of missiles into his back, and by this time had been duking it out with Prime for some time. Prime, he took a hit from a cannon with enough power to throw him bodily into the side of a building. Beyond being mildly inconvenienced, the Raptors managed diddly squat.

If you take a look at Devastator (the tank), we see that he is not immune to human hand weapons. Sure, he doesn't take much damage (not until Bubblebee starts shooting), but he does not shrug it off as if nothing happened. I bet if under concentrated firepower of a couple of tanks, he would go down quickly.
Yes, he does shrug it off as if nothing happened. Yes, the bizarrely super-hot rounds (usually fired from 40mm weapons) were damaging him, yet again, it was the Autobots that were doing the damage worth noting. A few little craters in his armour isn't exactly going to worry the 60+ ton Decepticon.

My point is that concentrated firepower seems to be capable of downing any Transformer.

Apart from Blackout, the best the humans managed against a Decepticon was when they managed to scare off Scorponok, who wasn't exactly very large.

The problem is that all of them are quite agile and maneuverable, getting them to stand still will be an issue.
Several were ridiculously agile ("Hi, I'm Ironhide and I'm going to flip out like a ninja"), but the biggest problem was their complete electronic superiority.

All the Decepticons considered, only Scorponok I would say took a serious pounding. However, we do see that Decepticons stagger when hit by human weaponry, and they do take some (albeit not severe) damage. Note that only conventional weapons were deployed. What if the human forces had amassed a mass strike or deploy nuclear weapons against the Decepticons instead?

Somehow as an advanced sci-fi race, I would expect the transformers to be able to withstand "puny" nuclear weapons, but I have my doubts... Which is why I felt that the humans could "handle" the Decepticons, given the right conditions and sufficient military hardware.

Kamakazie Sith · Post by **Kamakazie Sith** » 2007-07-03 11:13am

Ford Prefect wrote: He was somewhat staggered by the barrage of missiles into his back, and by this time had been duking it out with Prime for some time. Prime, he took a hit from a cannon with enough power to throw him bodily into the side of a building. Beyond being mildly inconvenienced, the Raptors managed diddly squat.

Hmm I thought the barrage of missiles managed to take Megatron's leg.

DarkSilver · Post by **DarkSilver** » 2007-07-03 02:41pm

Rommie2006 wrote: All the Decepticons considered, only Scorponok I would say took a serious pounding. However, we do see that Decepticons stagger when hit by human weaponry, and they do take some (albeit not severe) damage. Note that only conventional weapons were deployed. What if the human forces had amassed a mass strike or deploy nuclear weapons against the Decepticons instead?

Somehow as an advanced sci-fi race, I would expect the transformers to be able to withstand "puny" nuclear weapons, but I have my doubts... Which is why I felt that the humans could "handle" the Decepticons, given the right conditions and sufficient military hardware.

Doubtful that they'd be able to withstand nuclear assault, a single nuclear missle in the Dreamwave GenOne comics, for instance, managed to severely damage Superion and knock him offline.

If They can take out a GenOne Gestault (whose is second in armor only to the City Transformers like Metroplex and Trypticon) with a nuclear armed ICBM, I think the other TF's would be pretty well screwed by one.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2007-07-03 03:16pm

I didn't see anything wrong with the amount of human firepower it took to take down the individual Decepticons; they neither seemed too weak nor too strong. It almost strikes me as if Rommie expected them to be nigh invincible...

NeoGoomba · Post by **NeoGoomba** » 2007-07-03 04:54pm

DarkSilver wrote: Doubtful that they'd be able to withstand nuclear assault, a single nuclear missle in the Dreamwave GenOne comics, for instance, managed to severely damage Superion and knock him offline.

If They can take out a GenOne Gestault (whose is second in armor only to the City Transformers like Metroplex and Trypticon) with a nuclear armed ICBM, I think the other TF's would be pretty well screwed by one.

To be fair, compared to other combiners, Superion is a sissy. The Seekers were able to blow him apart (IE into the Aerobots) with a single missle strike.

tim31 · Post by **tim31** » 2007-07-03 07:58pm

They had a lot of teething problems with Superion. Like all new tech, I suppose

Icehawk · Post by **Icehawk** » 2007-07-03 08:21pm

Overall pretty well done, the dialogue wasnt as cheesy as expected (although it had its moments, just about all dialogue with the S7 agent(s) really annoyed me) and the action and visual effects were great and the actors played their parts well. Overall I would give it a 7.5/10

What I didnt really like about it was the fact it seemed to be perpetually on Speed and there wasnt any decent cool down time, all the dialogue was nearly always overly fast paced and or somewhat frantic when there were numerous parts it didnt need to be.

Also, this is probably a minor thing or maybe im reading too much into it but was I the only one who's Ignorant Biblical Wank alarm went off when it was revealed that the All Spark, the deus ex machina device seemingly responsible for the conception of the entire transformers race, was dated to be a mere 10,000 years old? Werent the transformers supposed to be from a civilization many MILLIONS of years old? It may have been just a quick line of dialogue but it almost seemed like a subtle cookie toss to creationists or other bible thumper types to me.

Schuyler Colfax · Post by **Schuyler Colfax** » 2007-07-03 08:31pm

Well I just got back from seeing it and this what I have to say about it.
Shit getting blown up + Excellent action sequences + just the right amount of comedy + Megan Fox as eye-candy = One hell of a film.
Loved it.

NeoGoomba · Post by **NeoGoomba** » 2007-07-03 08:53pm

tim31 wrote:They had a lot of teething problems with Superion. Like all new tech, I suppose

Yeah, that and they put a transformer with a fear of heights as the leader of the team itself.

Yes, thats right. A robot. That turns into a jet. That is afraid of heights.

DarkSilver · Post by **DarkSilver** » 2007-07-03 08:59pm

NeoGoomba wrote:
tim31 wrote:They had a lot of teething problems with Superion. Like all new tech, I suppose
Yeah, that and they put a transformer with a fear of heights as the leader of the team itself.

Yes, thats right. A robot. That turns into a jet. That is afraid of heights.

That's because he was (in the cartoon) rebuilt from a Low altitude transport shuttle, while the others were built from higher altitude vehicles.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2007-07-03 08:59pm

Icehawk wrote:Also, this is probably a minor thing or maybe im reading too much into it but was I the only one who's Ignorant Biblical Wank alarm went off when it was revealed that the All Spark, the deus ex machina device seemingly responsible for the conception of the entire transformers race, was dated to be a mere 10,000 years old?

IIRC, I believe that was how long the Allspark was said to have been lost/on Earth, which is also how long Megatron had been trapped within the Arctic Circle.

So Cybertronian civilisation and many of the Transformers in the live-action film universe could still be millions of years old.

Zed Snardbody · Post by **Zed Snardbody** » 2007-07-03 09:41pm

It was an orgy of violence with a fair bit of humor and a hottie.

God bless you director man!

I loved the air strike bit in the beginning.

"Ok, we're going to throw a-10's at it, and well, lets call in a spooky for good measure.""

Ford Prefect · Post by **Ford Prefect** » 2007-07-03 09:46pm

Kamakazie Sith wrote:Hmm I thought the barrage of missiles managed to take Megatron's leg.

Then perhaps I was mistaken. I remember him stumbling forward, but considering that his equal (Prime), took a considerably larger hit and got over it almost instantly, I'd be surprised.

IIRC, I believe that was how long the Allspark was said to have been lost/on Earth, which is also how long Megatron had been trapped within the Arctic Circle.

Now that I do remember. Ten thousand years is how long it had been on earth. I would doubt some pro-Creationist subtlety, considering the earlier disparaging 'what would Jesus do?' that I cracked up at.

TrekWarsie · Post by **TrekWarsie** » 2007-07-03 10:06pm

Also, if I remember correctly, wasn't one of the Raptors that fired at Megatron Starscream? If so, his missiles may have been more powerful than those on the F-22's.

Old Plympto · Post by **Old Plympto** » 2007-07-03 10:22pm

TrekWarsie wrote:Also, if I remember correctly, wasn't one of the Raptors that fired at Megatron Starscream? If so, his missiles may have been more powerful than those on the F-22's.

That didn't occur to me at all.

But it actually makes perfect sense.

Ford Prefect · Post by **Ford Prefect** » 2007-07-03 10:25pm

Old Plympto wrote:
TrekWarsie wrote:Also, if I remember correctly, wasn't one of the Raptors that fired at Megatron Starscream? If so, his missiles may have been more powerful than those on the F-22's.
That didn't occur to me at all.

But it actually makes perfect sense.

Whoa. Whoa. Fucking Starscream getting his traitor act on in a way so subtle we didn't even realise? That would be awesome. He may have also had a hand in nailling Blackout as well, seeing that Blackout was incredibly pro-Megatron.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2007-07-03 11:44pm

Perhaps it will be elaborated upon in the sequel via flashbacks.

About the bitching of human weaponry: Weren't they utilizing anti-tank weapons against the Decepticons?

The rounds that were being fired at Scorponok that finally drove him off would slice through modern tank armor like butter.

Ford Prefect · Post by **Ford Prefect** » 2007-07-03 11:50pm

DPDarkPrimus wrote:About the bitching of human weaponry: Weren't they utilizing anti-tank weapons against the Decepticons?

The rounds that were being fired at Scorponok that finally drove him off would slice through modern tank armor like butter.

Every weapon shown to do damage tended to be fairly heavy duty; 40mm discarding sabot with inexplicable super-hot properties was the lightest.

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2007-07-04 12:50am

Transformers is concentrated win

Kamakazie Sith · Post by **Kamakazie Sith** » 2007-07-04 01:32am

Ford Prefect wrote:
Old Plympto wrote:
TrekWarsie wrote:Also, if I remember correctly, wasn't one of the Raptors that fired at Megatron Starscream? If so, his missiles may have been more powerful than those on the F-22's.
That didn't occur to me at all.

But it actually makes perfect sense.
Whoa. Whoa. Fucking Starscream getting his traitor act on in a way so subtle we didn't even realise? That would be awesome. He may have also had a hand in nailling Blackout as well, seeing that Blackout was incredibly pro-Megatron.

If wikipedia is to be believed then that is what happened. Interesting...

Dark Hellion · Post by **Dark Hellion** » 2007-07-04 02:07am

Just got back... my first impression, besides the fact that I definitely am going to force my girlfriend to go see it with me when she is in town. Don't worry ladies, I bought her pearl earrings for her birthday (her birthstone) and will give her a very nice birthday dinner as well.

Pros:
Visceral fight scenes. No play act fighting, 100000000% ass kicking.
My childhood's little dignity is still intact.
Hot girls, Anthony Anderson, mustache man. Hopefully enough said.

Cons:
Too much slow-mo, although to be expected from Bay.

Not cheesy enough. The original movie used so much cheese to pull at heartstrings, and so many cheesy cinematic effects. I missed it. Transformers needs a bit of cheese. The movie was too good.

I didn't like how Megatron was defeated. It felt cheap. The conflict from the original movie was more dramatic, even if less visceral. Optimus Prime goes into the battle fully expecting to be severly injured or die. It isn't about that to him, as he states "Megatron must be stopped, no matter the cost." When he mentions cost, he isn't speaking of his troops, but of himself. Optimus's almost sickening heroism was not quite captured, although Optimus was well represented in the new movie.

Where is the Touch? Where is the power? If all hell was breaking loose, would any of the new Transformers be riding the eye of the storm? I can't help but feel sad about no inclusion of this song, even if as a fan throw-in in the credits.

SylasGaunt · Post by **SylasGaunt** » 2007-07-04 02:13am

Just got back from seeing it.

1.) Blackout's opening assault on the Qatar base is full of awesome.
2.) Automatic +2 points for including a spooky.
3.) I love the idea that Starscream was one of the F-22s that fired on megatron.
4.) Frenzy seriously needs to lay off the caffeine.

I had a blast at the movie, especially the SecDef acknowledging that the Sector 7 moron.. was a moron.

I also liked the fact that the humans had to toss out a helluva lot of firepower to take down any of the Decepticons (and I wonder about those super-hot 40mm Sabots.. the ones that there happen to be quite a few of at Sector 7 and if there isn't a little cybertronian enhancement going on there).

The Allspark is also a BAD thing to have in a city. Especially around vending machines.

SylasGaunt · Post by **SylasGaunt** » 2007-07-04 02:22am

Oh and I'd like to add I didn't have any trouble keeping track of who was who in the final battle since all the autobots had wildly varying color schemes to help tell them apart in addition to design differences while the decepticons were all just very different from each other.

Blackout is also officially my favorite of the lot, I just love his design.. the fact he can launch out a giant killer robot scorpion is a plus to.

Bug-Eyed Earl · Post by **Bug-Eyed Earl** » 2007-07-04 02:47am

Well, there are a few hints that Starscream fired on Megatron:

1. He sounded insincere when he said "I live to serve you." Duh, I know that's an obvious one. But a big rule regarding screenwriting is that if you set up something like that you have to pay it off.

2. During the Scorponok battle and in the city, the soldiers had to "laze the target" I'm pretty sure they were about to do it with Megatron when Blackout landed and they had to focus on him. But they never got to actually do it, and IIRC they never got to do it to Blackout.

3. Bay made sure we saw Starscream perched on the roof at least twice just sitting back and watching.