I do, but it would take a while to type up, so I'll try to it when I get more time.

 

I agree so much. I love movie Optimus Prime

 

That's why I enjoyed Movie Prime's characterization. You nailed all points. I could go with less of the "[disgruntled noise] I'LL KILL YOU," lines but, nonetheless, I love him. I don't find TFP Optimus too boring like you, however, he was devoid of emotion at times.

 

I like movie Op because he is depicted beyond that for ages 3 and up.
Movie Op is an Op for adults and realists. He carries with him all the honor that we remember from our youths, yet the urgency, decisiveness and- even brutality when necessary- of a warrior leader of an endangered species.

IMO, to depict Optimus- or any Autobot for that matter- any less brutal would be irresponsible. Sure you can be 'compassionate', 'showing mercy' and lenient when you have large numbers of your race but become an species on the verge of extinction? For you and your cause to survive you fight to win and you had better be more fierce and brutal than your opposition.

I see AoE Optimus as broken. But I do NOT see him as flawed.

 

Preach it, brother bellpeppers!

 

I've got to agree to an extent. The only problem is that we rarely see how Optimus is affected by all that's happened to him, since the movies put too much focus on the unnecessary human subplots, and some lines in Age of Extinction - "You defend my family, or die..." - really hurt the character. Hence why I like the G1, Animated, and maybe Prime incarnations a little more...

 

I do have to agree with you on Aligned Optimus, but this isn't really the thread for that.

 

He wasn't really about to kill Grimlock if he and the Dinobots didn't join up; Prime was simply showing his dominance and gave an empty threat in order to let Grimlock know that HE was in charge for the time being.

Pretty much what one has to do with a viscous, and hot-headed brute like Grimlock.

 

Whenever I saw someone threaten to kick someone's ass, I never actually saw their foot make contact with the others' buttocks or his donkey.

 

Bellpeppers has some great points. This is realistically what Optimus would end up having to become.

 

Movie Prime is just a 9/11 revenge fantasy!

 

...What?

I...I don't even know.

 

Hey, man, good for you.  

I may not agree, but good for you to make a post and say it. Even if I don't agree with you, its cool that you said an opinion that isn't very popular (a trend I can see continuing with the site due to recent events). May your love for Movie Prime never falter.   Don't let anyone bring you down for having it.

 

Yeah, I dont really believe that, I was just repeating Galvatron II's ridiculousness.

 

 
...dah fuq...?

 

Seeing as how I didn't even mention that, I see you're just as classy as ever.

Movie Prime is a reactionary revenge fantasy. I mean, that's not really even arguable. He's an endless fountain of alternately myopic or "cool" sounding BS that's presented as profound wisdom and... Well, nonsense, respectively, that would come out of the mouth of a woefully "edgy" 12 year old. Nothing but trite platitudes and a disgusting amount of contempt and total lack of empathy for anyone who doesn't side with him, combined with the fact that the only time he (or any other Autobot) is remotely content in these movies is when they have someone to kill.

And these bizarre caricatures and insulting representations of "real" soldiers have permeated our culture since 9/11. They take charge and brutally destroy that savage other, who hurt them (us) so bad, when none of those lousy bureaucrats will. It's our sadly juvenile, vicarious little way of "getting back".

 

Sorry dude, but it doesn't work that way. If you have that opinion then that's your freedom, but please, don't claim that your opinion isn't arguable. Everyone's opinions are arguable.

Either way, I greatly enjoy Movie Prime. I don't see him as a "reactionary revenge fantasy." In one of Bay's earliest films, The Rock, the antagonist is Frank Hummel, who takes over Alcatraz and gains control of some rockets containing dangerous chemical agents. Hummel was a high-ranking military officer who was pissed about how the men who died under his command weren't given proper burial and other things along that line. While he repents right before he dies, before that he chose to cause the deaths of others and threaten the deaths of many more. Either way, his takeover of Alcatraz and terrorist threats and killing of Marines were not justified.

Prime and the Autobots have been betrayed in far worse ways than Hummel's men were. Sentinel betrayed them and killed on of their own. Despite protecting Earth for a third time in DOTM and defying their former leader in the process to protect humanity, after Chicago Lockdown and the humans start hunting them and melting down their corpses to build their own Transformers. The Creators, Lockdown, and Attinger want the Autobots extinct. Moreover, the human's attempts at building Transformers result in Megatron's rebirth as Galvatron, thus unwittingly threatening their own existence. Prime comes desperately close to giving up on humanity and letting them have the fate they deserve. However, he doesn't fall. He could have killed Joshua and other people when he storms into KSI. While he is rightfully disgusted with what KSI is doing, he ends up leaving rather than harming anyone. He still protects Earth a fourth time from Megatron's army. He kills Attinger to stop him from killing his human friend. He's been, attacked, hurt, and betrayed. He's seen the bodies of his friends desecrated, yet he still ends up protecting humanity.

Hummel and Prime are both characters in Bay films that both felt betrayed. While Prime and the Autobots were betrayed in much worse ways than Hummel and his men ever were, Prime still ended up coming down on the right side of the fence, while Hummel snapped completely. Prime and Hummel are both military commanders who care for their men, but in the end it was Prime who kept his ideals despite what happened to his Autobots.

Prime still shows extreme courage in the face of extreme adversity. He's a hero in my book. That's how I see Movie Prime. Movie Prime would defend you and me if he were real, so I happily defend him.

 

^ Very, very well put!

 

Seeing the qutes of those whome have been put on ignore sucks... but also serves as but a reminder of why they went on ignore to begin with.

 

And I'm sorry, but no. He's a caricature of our modern conception of what a "real" soldier looks like. It's got that post-Viet Nam war imagery and has the characters doing dubious things to the enemy but with that pre-Viet Nam sense of faux propaganda in which the protagonists are lionized as inarguable heroes in a morally clear good/evil binary, and it just does not work. See a million deconstructions of modern FPSs for further clarification.

The thing is, he is fictional. So I can deconstruct him and his actions, compare him to his counterparts, and question his motives at the expense of literally no one. There's no need to be defensive about it.