The first live action movie vs Bumblebee. Which movie did you like better?

 

Bumblebee

 

I'm not a big fan of the movies, but I'm going with Transformers 1. The only thing I liked in Bumblebee was the Cybertron scene.

 

Transformers 07 will always be my favourite

I'm not a fan of the bumblebee movie, not my style or script

 

Bumblebee easily, I liked the 2007 movie but it has so much unnecessary garbage in it

 

Not sure if it's really a fair comparison but I'm looking at this from my first viewing experience of each film. For the 2007 movie, I saw that when I was nine years old and it took my breath away. Versus Bumblebee was when I was 20. Bumblebee was still a good film but it didn't wow me like the 2007 movie did (and still does to this day). 2007 (and ROTF, DOTM) are my G1. Those are what I grew up with and are what I associate with when i think of Transformers. Bumblebee was a great new take on the franchise and I think it made it a bit more approachable for new, younger fans, but for me, 2007 is MY Transformers.

 

Bumblebee

 

On a personal level, Bumblebee for sure. I just prefer the tone, the designs, the visual style, the '80s music, the action choreography, and Knight's overall approach. I do think the 2007 films excels in some ways though. Like, it's a better all-around Transformers film because it features an ensemble cast. It's definitely a different take on Transformers, but it probably still captures the overall vibe of the brand better than Bumblebee does. There's more action and larger stakes. As much as I love Bumblebee, I have to admit it's very light on plot (there's arguably no main plot to the movie). I think Bumblebee is better with characters, but the 2007 movie has a stronger plot (which isn't to say it's fantastic, just better). I also think the 2007 film is more cinematic. I actually like Bay's infamous "orange and blue" color grading, I think it looks cool. Like, if I had the choice between seeing Bumblebee in a theater again or the 2007 film in a theater, I'd actually choose the 2007 film...I think it would be a funner big screen experience.

I think the best Transformers film would be somewhere between the two. Take the strong points of Bumblebee (the good characters, the tighter cinematography/choreography, and the friendlier designs) and use the best parts of the 2007 film (the tighter plot, the ensemble cast, and the better paced action) to patch up the weak points. I'm kind of hoping the next Transformers movie finds this balance.

 

I'd say Bumblebee is a better movie. Even though I enjoy both of them.

 

Bumblebee. 2007 had it's good points and I love it, but Bumblebee is a more engaging movie.

 

They're both pretty much tied for my favorite Transformers movie... but Bumblebee edges out. Less stupid/cringey moments, and I really like Charlie more than Sam and a touch more than Mikaela. I also found Dropkick and Shatter to just be better villains overall. Not only did they have the deception/subterfuge thing the 2007 'Cons had going on, they also both had a lot more personality. And their colors really popped. As in they had some!  

 

2007. It had a bigger robot cast and more action.
I got bored when Bee was driving around with Charlie and toilet papering a house.

 

TF1 has unparalleled nostalgia for me, but that’s all it has. I like it more for what it meant than what it was. Bumblebee was a movie I enjoyed on its own merits, without the novelty of it just being a Transformers movie in live action for the first time.

 

The people have spoken. The 2007 movie won by 2 votes

 

I actually don't know how I feel as a whole.

I think that sums it. Most of the technical stuff in Bumblebee kind of owe to the previous films especially the 2007 movie but Bumblebee was the one that tried putting emphasis on its characters and other matters.

 

Argumentum ad populum

 

The worst I can say about Bumblebee is that some parts mainly in the middle drag and I wish there were more Cybertron stuff. When I first saw TF1 there were already things that were bugging me, like the huge focus on the US military, the way Decepticons were getting offed real easily in the final battle, Sam's obsession with getting laid, BB """"Lubricating"""" on a man, masturbation jokes. I like I like me some juvenile humor but these films don't do a good job with them at all. I think the worst part was when Prime was willing to abandon Bumblebee when he got captured. Him not wanting to harm humans is one thing but the whole "he'll die in vain if we don't accomplish the mission, this is what he would want" bollocks juxtaposed with BB being tortured does not help matters at all

 

I feel like people put too much emphasis on the highlights that people forget how bad some of the worst parts of the first film were. If we go off just the best or the coolest moments in the film, then yes, TF1 will win because it has a larger budget, it's first of its kind, and it's an ensemble film. It's hard for a smaller-scaled character spin-off to compete on the same grounds. In TF1, for the final battle, we have scenes like Prime pulling up to Misson City and saying "Megatron". We can all probably agree it's a great moment, however, once you look at the larger picture, moments like that lasted like 10% of the final battle. The rest of the Mission City battle involved shaky camera and Shia LaBeouf running. The parts where you see Prime and Megs fighting last 10 seconds at a time before it immediately cuts off to something else. People like to say TF1 has better action, but it does not. It has cool action moments and more iconic characters so when you look back at them, you think the entire sequence was just as good, though, it's not the case. I still like TF1, however, Bumblebee is a better film due to it being more coherent overall.

 

Which is kinda sad, really, when a lot of the praise boils down to "it had more robots and more action." Like, is that really a big positive? That it had more style, less substance? There were only three real action scenes in Bumblebee, but they felt so much more important and momentous to the plot.

TF1 definitely gets viewed with rose-tinted glasses. It's honestly downright painful to sit through at times, and I think a lot of the praise comes from watching clips of the fight scenes on Youtube, forgetting all the connecting fluff of bad drama and cringe comedy, as well as some downright awful editing.

 

Transformers 1 did some very interesting things with the franchise. The technological warfare of the Decepticons like Blackout and Frenzy, the multiple human characters showing the slow revelation of the Transformers on earth through different perspectives, the Government cover ups... A lot of really neat ideas seeded in that first movie.

But what TF1 lacked which was in full swing in Bumblebee was heart, genuinely believable emotional connections between characters, and humour that went beyond frat-boy party levels.

Democracy was a mistake.