I grew up on G1. I love it to bits. I thoroughly enjoy the Japanese follow ons, especially Masterforce. Beast Wars and Beast Machines were excellent. Prime Kicks ass. The Unicron trilogy were okay...

Point is that with all the different versions of transformers, on screen and in comics, I don't get the 'Bay destroyed my childhood' sentiment.

I really like the films, AOE is the best so far for me. Even ROTF has some rewatch value (just)!

 

Bayformers are the evil that lurks in the hearts of young men lol

 

I like 1 and 2 just fine. They entertained me.

Did not like TF 3. I did not find it entertaining.

Going to see 4 prolly in 2 weeks. I'd go sooner, but the person I want to go with doesn't like big crowds. I don't much care for them either...

 

I just saw AoE today, and I was searching around the internet for other people's opinions and I stumbled upon this thread. I'm a huge G1 fan, and I have a distaste for Bay-formers, but I've always tried to get to a deeper understanding of my distaste than "it's just not G1." The fact is, that's not even my problem with it. G1, RiD, Armada, Animated, Prime... they're all pretty much reinventions of the same story. The only huge outlier among them is Bayformers. I can get behind the changes in origin story, I can get behind the human centric story lines. That's not what bothers me.

To me, the Transformers is about a fundamental Japanese aesthetic. They wouldn't exist without Japan. And, to me, Bay-formers is the Transformers stripped of all the underlying Japanese essence. I'm usually good at coming up with an appropriate analogy, but I can't really think of one here. Try to imagine in your mind what a Michael Bay take on Voltron, Robotech, or Evangeleon would look like. Since G.I. Joe is inherantly American, I think Michael Bay would be more suited to do those films instead.

Like I said, G1, RiD, Armada, Animated... they're all different depictions of roughly the same story. And from one series to another, the characters are recognizable. I can show you Optimus', Bumblebee's, Megatron's, and Starscream's face from any one of them and you would instantly know who they are. But the movies piss on all of that. Optimus' face comes kind of close, but Bumblebee's? Megatron's? Starscream isn't even identifyable. And to me, there's no excuse for that. It's just Bay being Bay, making things different for the sake of being differenct. Supposedly, that's "artistic." Would the general audience really have cared if at least those faces looked similar to the reference material they came from?

And finally, I can't stand the one-dimensional stereotyped depictions of character personalities, with the human-etched faces that are supposed to help the audiance connect and empathize with the characters. Hound and Drift were the worst examples of this yet. A samurai with a thick asian accent? A cigar smoking "fat" robot with a beard? (I wasn't all that thrilled when IDW did the cigar thing with Kup, but at least they explained it.) And the worst crime of all, the E.T.-ification of Bumblebee by removing his ability to speak. Why does Bay feel the need to dumb the Transformers down for the audience? Why can't any of them besides Prime have any depth?

So after all this bitching, you're probably wondering: Why did you go to see the movie at all? I guess my only answer is it's like watching a train wreck; you can't look away. And I'll admit that they're still fairly entertaining as far as movies go. They're just horrible Transformer stories. I'd be behind them if they were some movie about transforming robots totally unrelated to the Transformers, but clearly that's not the case. And this is in a day and age where movies like The Avengers have no problems staying relatively close to the source material, building up the depth of several characters simultaneously, and being extremely successful at the box office. If they can do it, what's Bay's excuse?

 

So welcome to the site but the whole head thing. Prime Bumblebee head looks like a cartoon version of the movie same with Megatron. So you can't say you can tell who face it is when they are basically simplified versions.

 

...Hmmm...It's been a while since I watched the TFTM with commentary, but wasn't it a Japanese guy that designed the Optimus Prime that we got in TFTM? Also, wasn't it Americans that came up with the animation models for G1?

 

I don't know about the movie part, but it was indeed americans who came up with the character models for all of western g1, beast wars, and armada, aimated, and prime. Energon and cybertron were more mixed.

 

I'm all about G1 and only G1 but don't hate the movies per se. I DO however hate the character designs, I've hated them ever since the first reveals. I understand some design changes needed to be made for the sake of "realism" but they by and large just look ******ed. To me they look less like robots and more like organic aliens, and that's my biggest issue. Ugly and stupid. Call me closed minded but it's how I feel.

 

i am a g1 fan. and i think the first 3 films are great theatrically, terrible on dvd. idk about the fourth one yet. but i enjoyed the hell out of it.

but i do not see a lot of re-watchablity with these. the fourth one was the only one that actually felt like a transformers' film to me. the rest felt like humans with robot guest stars.

i do find that each of them are getting better though.

 

I like G1, grew up with G1, and like Bay’s take on Transformers too, much more so with the arrival of AOE.

 

This is a tough topic with all the criticism and generalizations of G1 fans.

I'm 31, G1 fan via season 3, and I'm not a fan of the original 3 movies. However, I think AoE is a decent, watchable movie and a significant improvement over the others. However, my bias stems from comparing these movies to movies I enjoy. Which isn't fair, Bay is making crazy, fast-pace action movies for a younger crowd.

As I age, my movie preferences change. I prefer drama action with significant character development, rich atmospheres, and smart/intelligent dialog. Not that Transformers can't accomplish this but lets face it, Mr. Bay is not Scorsese but he gets the job done.

Did Bay destroy my childhood? I'd disagree, he made it possible to reconnect with my childhood with more merchandise and mainstream attention than ever before.

 

im not quite in that age range yet, but i am a g1-fan in and out. and i love these movies. cant wait til the next one

 

The movies are okay. Let's face it, we need these movies. They are beneficial to all of us, good or bad as they may be. These movies make it possible for new transformers toylines and comics. It makes it viable for third party toy companies to bring out some fabulous stuff and for transformers conventions to get bigger and better in scale.

Love them or hate them, we all need these movies to bring in the next generation of fans and keep the transformers machine going at full strength.

 

I am a G1 fan, and quite frankly I can't stand the movies. No, I don't think they raped my childhood or any of that BS. I don't come on here and complain about them either. I went to the theatre and watched the first one. Since then I have not watched any other in the theatres. I'm not going to make a dent in the money machine, but I refuse to throw money at what I believe is a sub par reiteration of the brand. Things like name slaps, and name changes bother me. Certain iconic aspects lost in translation because people want something new or fresh. I'm a fan of Optimus having his windshields on his chest, to me it's the equivalent of the "S" on Superman or the bat on Batman. What if in the avengers movie Captain America was named Tony Stark, Hawkeye was named Nick Fury..... They're only names right? Naming a TF after a car brand creator was a little absurd to me. Sorry for using two comic book references but for the most part they're established franchises with a decent amount of history. I'm not bitter about it, and yes I do believe the movies are a shot in the arm for the brand. Just it feels like a lot was let go with the franchise when the movies were made. Maybe when the next reboot comes around we'll see a little more faithful translation to the brand. If a franchise has the history and the lore to merit a movie, then why not be faithful to it. If you enjoy the movies then good, I can respect that. I'm just waiting patiently to see my rendition of TF's on the big screen

 

I'm 35 and Transformers was my favourite show in the 80s. I quite like then,ore complex and mechanical upgrades but the movies have been huge dissappointments.

Cheesy comedy, awful human characters (Shia LeBoeuf and Agent Simmons stand out as the pinnacle of ****), too much emphasis on the humans, forced and rushed story lines (when they were searching for that thing in Egypt in RotF, I was cringing big time).

Also, I think the whole Transformium/morphing into different alt modes is lame.

The battles have been well made, though, and I like the tie ins with the Moon landing, Chernobyl, etc.

But the movies did revive my interest in Transformers which is a good thing.

 

In the hands of a competent writer/director, they'd be great. I'm cool with a lot of the "modern" changes, and I know i don't know all of the characters from the other shows so I'm cool with that, but the execution of the stories just sucks. That being said, I did enjoy the fourth one once it got rolling.
I'm an X-Men fan, I understand squeezing decades of continuity with numerous characters and trying to make sense of it without losing the audience. Bay could take lessons from Singer.

 

I just turned 35 and have been a fan since the first airing of the first episode. As far as the movies go... I really enjoy them.

Near the end of G1, when the cartoon was being repeated for the 6th year with only 3 years of episodes, you could see the popularity going away. As a teen I lost interested, but that seemed fine because there was nothing going on. When RID came around, I bought a Optimus and was thrilled to see Transformers back since I didn't pay much attention to Beast Wars. Then, during the AEC years, I watched the shows but as a young adult, I could see the issues the shows had but I was just happy to see Transformers on TV doing their thing for better or worse. When classics came around I got onto this site and started collecting toys, and the 2007 movie came. Now, again, I could see flaws, but seeing my heroes from childhood on the big screen, and having EVERYONE finally start talking about Transformers and acknowledging them, it was nothing I could have imagined before it actually happened.

So, yeah, I would imagine most G1 fans have probably seen the ups and downs of the Transformers universe and accept the movies as they are. It's never going to be the perfect Transformers Universe, but what is? I just know that the 5-12 year old me comes out when I see Optimus or Megatron or BB or Grimlock thunder onto the big screen all these years later. What G1 fan didn't swell up a little hearing Peter Cullen as Optimus narrating at the beginning of the 2007 movie?

 

Im ONLY 38 , and im a huge G1 fan. But im also a huge Bayformes fan. Also love Animated and Prime and when I get round to the rest im sure i'll love em too.

I grew up with G1 and watched it until Beast wars started but as a young kid I couldn't get into it. Years passed and as an adult rejoiced as The 2007 movie was announced!

4 Bayformers movies later and having caught up with Animated and Prime im happy with my TF life so far. Have to catch up with more universes, such as Beast wars, Beast machines, Armada etc but ive loved everything I've experienced.

I thank the Bay movies for making Transformers a house hold name again.
Also thankful that I've been able to introduce my wife and young girls to the 2007 movie, Prime and Animated.

 

This guy gets it ^

I am only 23 but I was introduced to Transformers through G1. I love it but "bay-formers," as people call them, are a way to reconnect to the characters and adventures I enjoyed as a child/teenager. :3

The movies are flawed but I enjoy them and think they are fun.

 

I prefer my giant robots big and blocky, not scrawny and spiky.

Does that answer your question?