How would these films change by setting them in the 1980s, say circa 1984 or so? This is a hypothesis as to what would a non-contemporary setting do for the series, and not like over-faithfulness to G1. So to start with, it would have been in the style of Spielberg’s retro adventure fantasies, INDIANA JONES and BACK TO THE FUTURE being key examples, as well as perhaps MBay’s own historical fantasy PEARL HARBOR (I refuse to call it an accurate depiction of the event, but the action is just as edgy and frantic as in the TFilms). The result would likely be something like WATCHMEN, but with robots instead of heroes. This, while distancing some audiences who wanted it tailored to today’s times, would also find appeal as a fantasy adventure. The world, a Cold War but pre-9/11 era, was innocent, less crowded and more closed-off and private. Arguably more peaceful... In terms of publicity, the battles/invasions should probably be easier to cover up; with no Internet and only some newspapers back then, it should be easy enough to silence witnesses, clean away the mess, remove evidence, and reduce word of mouth. The technology back then was not as developed as it is today. We all know how PCs, servers, modems and the like work and every man on the street possesses at least one cellphone, but back then it was mostly analogue, radios and landlines. Besides, tech that is considered functional today would be seen as fantastic and near-mystic back then (NORAD, military/TV satellites). This would make the Transformers, a race of sentient organic robots, stand out further and make them more alien. In regards to the human-involvement factor, I’d call NEST a more successful element of the Movieverse: a classified strikeforce of military soldiers allied with the Autobots –in addition to having a pain-in-the-butt bureaucrat like Galloway sticking around there’d also be someone like PRIME’s Agent Fowler to assist (or even keeping Simmons around for that matter). I’m uncertain on the civilians, but I guess Witwicky and his girl/family would be ordinary nice guys (Tobey Maguire SPIDER-MAN nice) rather than the edgy near-parody characters of 2007. The kind of civilians whom, when all hell breaks loose they’ll be right in the eye of the storm and rise to the occasion to stand alongside the Autobots to defend their world. The Transformer designs would remain about the same (they were a major game-changer and money-maker after all). So would MOST of the alternate modes: e.g. there were no Buffalo/Hummer/Solstice vehicles, or Raptor jets back then. There would probably have been more functional disguises rather than the stylish automobiles just off the line (only Jazz deserves to have a smoking hot alternate mode IMO). I was born in 1987, so I have a dim idea how a 1980s setting might work, but if anyone else from that era has any ideas they’re welcome to share them and (if/where necessary) correct me.
Consdering the director little would probably have changed except the altmodes and a few culture references, still would have had the same splosions and potty jokes.
why would they want to increase the cost of the films by needing time period accurate props AND ridiculously expensive cgi and pyrotechnics?
Well, iirc, indiana jones and pearl harbour are set around WWII, not the 80's... You make it sound like the 80's were 100 years ago... anyway, I don't think it's a good ideia, firstly bc we have enough stereotypes without bay having to stereotype the whole 80's, secondly, it would make the movie a period piece (and even more expensive) , and there's absolutely no need for that and lastly, the 80's were boooooooring
You mean stuff that was only in the movie for ten minutes? That isn't as comparable to a full length movie and the various props and set pieces they would need. Not to mention cutting out car sponsorships with the latest model of... I dunno. The Reliant Robin?
A few short scenes, mainly indoors and close shots instead of the huge landscape spectacle action sequences that were shown later in present day. Doing these 60s scenes was likely a lot easier than doing an entire movie set in the 80s, and even then there were errors, such as the launch building, cars used, how the apollo rocket worked, etc.
Yes please. At least, the concept itself is really cool to think about. For a reboot, maybe. I believe the likes of Nacht and Ash came up with some amazing ideas/concepts for a Cold War-era Transformers film. But I don't really see the need to have had the live-action movies start out in the 1980s.
I don't really see the point. I mean the Ironman movies, don't place in the 60's, and Batman Begins doesn't begin with the 40's. Most live action versions of the comic book/carton movies tend to take place in the year that they debut in, not the year of origin.
Perhaps it's the inner conspiracy theorist in me, but I like this. The "Robots in Disguise" angle isn't explored enough and has the makings for a good scifi thriller.
I was a teen in the 80's so I don't know if I really want to be reminded of some of the stuff I wore back then. So costume changes, older alt modes, and some slang that kids today might need a translation for. Plus no pictures back then meant ripping the film out of someone's camera, so the technology will seem a bit strange to people never used it. As nice as the 80's is for a G1 nod it just doesn't seem like the most interesting setting for a Transformers movies. The 50's with the hot rod culture might be a fun setting for Transformers. World War II seems like a nice setting as well since the robots could disguise their war as part of ours and some insanely cool machines for the bots to turn into. Definitely like the idea of re-imagined being a chance to go with the robots in disguise thing. Just so much cool tension that could be put into the film if they could really go after that feeling of never knowing what machine might a Transformer.
I wouldn't mind. Not setting it in the present means the movie can't date as it's technically a period piece. And reducing the humans' technology back to 1980s levels would certainly make the TF more of a threat. But live-action TF movies are costly to make as it is and this would add an extra level of cost and also remove the abiility to whore out the movie to present day companies for product placement unless they were already around in the 80s. If cost was no issue then I'd be all for it.
I do too. I watched Super 8 and was taken back to the time I was a kid. Abrams just got so much right in his portrayl of a small town circs 1979 / 1980. Now, take that alien / monster movie and replace it with transforming robots, and you will have a very interesting movie.
When I first watched Super 8, that's all I could think of, actually. Taking that exact same story/film (more or less), and replacing 'alien monster' with 'alien robots'.
