Transformers: Age Of Extinction Becomes The Highest Grossing Movie Of 2014

Discussion in 'Transformers News and Rumors' started by SilverOptimus, Dec 24, 2014.

  1. TheSoundwave

    TheSoundwave Bounty Hunter

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    I definitely agree with this statement. It seems like whenever people try to defend Bay's films, the excuse is always "well, at least it was good for the franchise", or "it brought in new fans". My question: did it really? Bay threw out most of the classic, iconic elements that helped make the franchise what it is, and he made it a near-plotless, dumb summer blockbuster that isn't even appropriate for the target audience (kids) to watch. Is this good for the franchise?

    Furthermore, most people I talk to either dislike these movies, or just don't care about them, or maybe sometimes they like them, but aren't deep fans. I have yet to meet someone who's become a deep fan because of Bay's movies. I don't think these movies have brought in as many fans as people like to think. Raise awareness to the franchise? Yes. Make money for it? Yes. But there's a difference between making Transformers well liked, and making it well known, and Bay has only succeeded in doing the latter. I'm sure he has made fans, but I think he's also turned a lot of people off too.

    In some ways, I feel that Bay is giving this franchise a bad name, I might as well stop using the word Transformers for a while because all people will think of is Bay's movies. That's certainly not good for fans. I say it would have been better if these movies hadn't been made, even if the franchise might have been a bit smaller.
     
  2. NotRamjet97

    NotRamjet97 Well-Known Member

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    Had it not been for the movies, Transformers would just be another cheesy 80s cartoon like He-Man. It went above that and is now a much more memorable franchise.

    I'd rather remember Transformers for the movies than the G1 'toon.
     
  3. kaijuguy19

    kaijuguy19 Keyblade Wielder

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    When I hear things like "Bay took out many iconic elements of the franchise and wrecked them straying far from it's source!" I have to ask what iconic elements do they mean? If they mean by G1 standerds then I'm sorry but the series that came after like Beast Wars,Beast Machines,RID Unicron trilogy did drastic changes too way before the movies came to exist. Also believe or not I know people who greatly enjoy the movies for what they offer and it's a fact that it bring bring a lot of new fans to it which some of my friends were. Saying things would be much better if the movies never existed is subjective because how do we know it would be better? How do we know if the franchise would still have things like IDW's MTMTE or things like TFA and TFP running up? Also how do we know if the brand wouldn't suffer from the ecnomic problems and for all we know might have suffered worse from it had it not been for the movies?

    Also for the people who think the Bay movies gave the franchise a bad name I also have to ask was the franchise well liked or as well known by the media before the movies? Because I doubt it wouldn't make a difference even if the movies didn't exist because most of the media would still be thinking about the franchise as a silly kid's thing with robots that turn into outlandish stuff and only think about the G1 show and not series like BW.
     
  4. TheSoundwave

    TheSoundwave Bounty Hunter

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    I don't know about that. That all depends on your perspective. Kids still love the original cartoon, it's not a cheesy 80s cartoon to them. Adults who grew up with it love it because of the nostalgia factor. I'd say the only people who view it as a "another cheesy 80s cartoon" are teenagers and young adults who haven't grown up with it. And that's pretty much the only group who likes the films (not even always then). Also, is there any honor in graduating from "another cheesy 80s cartoon" to "another dumb summer blockbuster"?
     
  5. LegendAntihero

    LegendAntihero Banned

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    I don't find either the original cartoon or movies great but this is true for me also
     
  6. TheSoundwave

    TheSoundwave Bounty Hunter

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    I don't want to get into all the source material stuff, because it's been discussed too many times, and everyone has a different opinion on it.

    IDW's comic, I don't know about because I've never gotten into it.

    TFA, sure, it would just lack Bay's movie influence.

    TFP, sure. The whole "Aligned" idea has been in the works for a long time, and I think TFP would be different, but it would still exist.

    I'm sure the franchise would be smaller, with a smaller budget, but it would probably still be around. The unicron trilogy was pretty popular with kids, and the franchise was going pretty strong before Bay came along. I think the only difference would be less brand recognition (with the older crowd), and no bay influence, but other than that, it would be the same.

    It wasn't quite as well known, no, but contrary to what some people think, it wasn't a tiny, unknown franchise either. Even before the movies, most people knew a little bit about it, and most people had probably played with a toy at least once. Also, almost everyone I talk to (whos not a Transformer fan) can't remember the character's names, so is it even making elements of the franchise more well known? I think bay is only making the name 'Transformers" well known.
    I think Transformers was decently well liked before. It's never been a masterpiece, but it still isn't. Again, it's just graduated from "another 80s cartoon" to "another dumb blockbuster", and that's not Shakespeare.
     
  7. Decepticons

    Decepticons B∆K. Bug-a-Boo Ghost.

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    I legitimately think Dawn of the Planets of the Apes should have won because, DAMN, but whatever. Nice.
     
  8. NotRamjet97

    NotRamjet97 Well-Known Member

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    So, if someone's a fan of the movies, like me, does that mean I'm not a fan?
     
  9. kaijuguy19

    kaijuguy19 Keyblade Wielder

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    Ok fair enough on that part.

    Actually Animated was created as an alternate way to make up for the movie should it bombed so even if the movie did do horribly Animated would still have of the movie influences like the Allspark. Same with Prime in a manner of speaking.

    As for the brand being the same it might be that way for a while but how do we know it wouldn't later on suffer from being so small due to economic changes even going as far as to mail out exclusive toys out to collectors like Mattel does with He-Man? for all we know it could eventually be on life support just as much as how other brands like G-I Joe and He-Man are suffering from right now.

    Valid point on the franchise not exactly being very lesser known but still it's a fact that the movies did catch the attention of people everywhere because they helped push back the brand into the public eye since the G1 days. Also I'm aware that the brand isn't in Shakespeare status and the movies didn't change that but again more people are now more aware of the franchise since the G1 era then before the movies came out.
     
  10. EnergonWaffles

    EnergonWaffles Autobot's Head Chef Veteran

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    You're not a fan of what the other person is a fan of, which some people mistake as not being a fan at all. :/
     
  11. TheSoundwave

    TheSoundwave Bounty Hunter

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    Sure you're a fan. There's really no criteria for being a 'fan' of something, it usually just means you get more into it than the average viewer. But as I said before, people can like something without being a fan.
     
  12. Supertron

    Supertron TV Troper

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    I'm not the movies biggest fan, but even I consider this a good thing. More money is always good. Highest of 2014 can't be a bad thing, if you ask me.

    Secondly, there's a lot of crap and bile in this thread, from both sides. Still, I'm more annoyed by the people who treat this as something awful than the people who actually like the movies, even if I agree with them about the movies not being too great.

    So why are you saying who is or is not a fan if there's no criteria? You're saying anyone can be a fan, but you started by saying Chinese people who go see the movies aren't fans?
     
  13. MasterZero

    MasterZero Taking a Break

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    Haven't you said people who don't like G1 Transformers aren't real fans?
     
  14. TheSoundwave

    TheSoundwave Bounty Hunter

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    Anyone can be a fan (if they want to be), but not everyone who enjoys a movie is necessarily a fan. I enjoy Frozen, but I wouldn't call myself a Frozen fan. As I said in an earlier post, I'm sure there are plenty of Chinese Transformers fans, but it's not like every person in China is a deep fan of the franchise, any more than all Americans are fans.

    I don't recall saying that specifically, I think what I said was that they should 'respect' G1 (as in be aware of the franchise's origins). I was referring more to people who jump on the Transformers bandwagon whenever it gets popular and call themselves 'fans', but then forget about it when it's not 'hip' anymore. Most of the time they learn nothing about the franchise, and are just trying to be cool. Just a good rule of thumb, if someone doesn't know which version of Transformers came first, or anything about it, 99 percent of the time they're probably either not a fan, or don't have access to the Internet.
     
  15. Supertron

    Supertron TV Troper

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    Of course not.

    So are people who only like one version of Transformers not fans?
     
  16. Ash from Carolina

    Ash from Carolina Junior Smeghead

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    I don't know is it really more memorable now?

    Doesn't seem like many movie quotes are floating around in pop culture. It seems like when movies have a big pop culture impact then people use quotes like "I'll be back", "We're going to need a bigger boat", or "You'll shoot your eye out".

    Movie toys only seem to sell when the movie is out. Just kind of seems like if there was a huge demand for movie figures all the time then Hasbro would be taking advantage of that demand.

    Outside of your fellow Transformers fan do you hear people talk about the Transformers films when trailers aren't running for one of the films?

    It seems like the movies can gather a lot of attention when the films are in theaters or just released on DVD but the general public moves on to the next big film and kind of forgets about Transformers. While the Transformers movies have made money it doesn't feel like our franchise has the same sort of timeless cultural impact that a franchise like Star Wars has.
     
  17. SpinalCord

    SpinalCord Banned

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    Neither G1 or the movies define the franchise... there are PLENTY of other stories that have happened between the two. Nothing else is like G1, and nothing else is like to movies, so the films didn't really change the storytelling much as far as the cartoons are concerned, and TransFormers hasn't been a "cheesy '80s cartoon" since the '80s.

    Do I think people whom are just fans of the movies are "true fans"? No. A true fan IMO likes the franchise in it's entirety more-or-less... so haters of the movies are therefore also being selective and not "true fans" in my eyes.
    I hate G1 and the movies, and I really only like Beast Wars/II/Neo/Machines/Expanded Universe, as well as the RID and MTMTE comics plus Animated, Prime, and Car Robots... hate the Unicron Trilogy. So I don't consider myself a "true fan" of the TransFormers franchise in general, but I do think of myself as a "true fan" and completest of Beast Wars.
    I think it's perfectly okay to pick and choose select stories in a franchise this old and rich... I think liking everything would be close to impossible at this point. Fans that are only a fan of the movies are just as much fans as geewuners. We have a large and broad demographic that spans the 30 years of this franchise. I think really arguing about it and pointing fingers and slinging insults around is silly and quite honestly bullshit.
     
  18. Frognal

    Frognal Prodigal Son Returned

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    Awful movie makes an awful lot of money. Nothing new. I'm more pissed off that they wasted so much of the toy line on shelf warming garbage.
     
  19. TheSoundwave

    TheSoundwave Bounty Hunter

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    I don't quite understand what you mean here...

    No, it's just that 'true fans' tend to learn more about the franchise than people who only watch it once and enjoy it. If someone watches AoE and enjoys it, but doesn't get care to get online and learn about the rest of the franchise, odds are they don't consider themselves a fan. Or if someone watches AoE, but doesn't watch the 2007 film, they're probably not really a movieverse fan.
     
  20. Supertron

    Supertron TV Troper

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    I mean, Chinese people and Americans aren't any different.