Transformers 4 Revealed

Discussion in 'Transformers News and Rumors' started by SilverOptimus, Sep 11, 2012.

  1. Baird

    Baird bug-stomper

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    Getting rid of Optimus is a bad move, as he is one of the few things in these films that works.
     
  2. 13 Primes

    13 Primes Well-Known Member

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    eagc7 Told me That, earlier this year the they said Optimus And Bee will return for TF4 :D 

    It would be a Bad move! I would't go see it if Optimus wasn't in it!
     
  3. Voiceroy

    Voiceroy Trans-fo-mahs!

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    Question to NIBMRatchet (if you're reading this):

    Why is "[robot]" in brackets? What did Brian Goldner actually say that his quote was modified as if to clarify that he is referring to robot characters? Was "[robot]" inserted post-event in reporting, or is that word replacing use of some other word?

    Michael Bay was already quoted as saying back in June (by at least two sources) that the movie would include an "all-new cast". At the time fans assumed he was referring to the *human* cast. And the redesign of the robots was mentioned at that time too.

    Since darkhorizons.com picked up on this story and -- in my opinion -- misreported facts, it seems a lot of fans are jumping to conclusions that we will not see any characters we recognize/know/love/hate in TF4.

    Optimus has been redesigned, re-imagined and even re-invented many times since the G1 original. I find it hard to believe Bay and Hasbro will dump all recognizable/identifiable characters from the previous 3 movies just to sell toys and "reboot the franchise".

    A Transformers movie without Optimus Prime would be like making a Doctor Who movie without The Doctor.
     
  4. SilverOptimus

    SilverOptimus Movie News Monster Moderator News Staff

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    I'm happy to answer.

    Yes, the question asked is in a short form so that I have more time to write Brian's answer. The question was directed at the Toy Sales and Brian's answer regarding characters was indeed on Robots. However since Michael Bay mentioned all new human cast, I added "[robots]" part to let our readers know that Brian was indeed referring to a new robot cast.

    Brian did not mention removing old characters. If another website misinterpreted my article, I will not be held responsible for it; for major Entertainment Websites such as Empire and Collider grasped my article correctly and told the general public the news as it is. My responsibility is to serve the Transformers Fan Community. If my news article is interpreted as the way it should be I’m happy with it. It’s nice to see Entertainment Sites taking my article to the general public.

    And now for my own opinion: I’m a Doctor Who fan too. While DW can’t be without The Doctor, same cannot be said for the Transformers Franchise. Transformers CAN exist without Optimus Prime (don’t get me wrong here, I’m a huge fan of the character). Optimus is an iconic (actually the most iconic) character of the franchise but the franchise can be without him or even Bumblebee. Heck, before the Bay movies Bumblebee was not a hugely popular character (he was popular but not this hyped). When it comes to reboots and/or sequels, prequels I observe the very famous “Keep Calm & Carry On” because not matter what we say there’s nothing we can do to change corporate decisions. I enjoy whatever thrown at me because what happens… happen and it couldn’t have happened any other way.
     
    Last edited: Sep 14, 2012
  5. Voiceroy

    Voiceroy Trans-fo-mahs!

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    Thanks for clarifying.

    And as for my comment on Optimus, I was speaking in terms of the movies -- I personally don't believe that a TF movie can be made without including Optimus in some fashion because of the name brand recognition, and also he's a pop culture icon.

    Also, to clarify, Bay never mentioned "humans" specifically in two previous articles from June. He just said the cast would be "all-new" (and "entirely new") and that the robots were being redesigned:

    Michael Bay Talks Transformers 4 - New Cast, Plot And The Budget - Transformers News - TFW2005

    I think we fans just naturally assumed he was referring only to the human cast, and when TFW reported on it they even added "[human?]" as an aside:

    Transformers 4 to be Michael Bay's Last & Feature Robot Cast Redesign - Transformers News - TFW2005
     
  6. Ash from Carolina

    Ash from Carolina Junior Smeghead

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    The general public and kids can be a fickle lot so perhaps the movie designs are just worn out. Maybe it's a look that was exciting for people when it first came out, but the over abundance of parts and the rather limited color choices on the robot modes might have left people feeling like been there done that while the rest of Hollywood was moving on to more exciting design choices. For kids I'm sure it can't help that in Transformers Prime we have the same look for Prime and Bumblebee that we had in the movies.

    I would get excited that maybe Hasbro will learn putting too many Bumblebee and Prime figures per case is a bad idea. But if Hasbro didn't learn anything after the Iron Man toy line then I don't know if Hasbro will learn that people like more than one or two characters.

    While Transformers 4 may have a new human cast I really don't expect much change except for that. Sure it might be new robots, but I'm guessing another parts explosion in the designs and not enough colors so it might as well be the same robots. Another quest for a magical mcguffin since that's the only way the Decepticons can win. And I expect one or two characters will hog the screen because I just can't see Micheal Bay directing a real team movie like the Avengers.
     
  7. SilverOptimus

    SilverOptimus Movie News Monster Moderator News Staff

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    But this time it's not about "Humans". No doubt about what I heard at the conference... this time Brian definitely gave away it's robots. It's only logical.
     
  8. madhatprime

    madhatprime Call me: Ghostprime

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    Transformers 4 - The Beast Wars!!
     
  9. mondo

    mondo Well-Known Member

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    Have there ever been a US series without a version of Optimus?
     
  10. Aernaroth

    Aernaroth <b><font color=blue>I voted for Super_Megatron and Veteran

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    Only if you count Season 3 of G1 and/or Optimus Primal as a separate enough character in BW/BM, and Optimus Prime appeared in both those instances.
     
  11. Autovolt 127

    Autovolt 127 Get In The Titan, Prime!

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    Optimus Prime, Hasbro needs.,

    Bumblebee however they do not need. Plus Smokescreen in Prime is proving the kid appeal character doesn't have to be yellow.
     
  12. UltraAlanMagnus

    UltraAlanMagnus See ya!

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    Can Bumblebee now be voiced by Nolan North?
     
  13. Autovolt 127

    Autovolt 127 Get In The Titan, Prime!

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    That I think has nothing to do with Bumblebee's toys. Though if Bee had a voice maybe it might make him more popular.
     
  14. Apriorion

    Apriorion Well-Known Member

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    The following argument is no good:
    1. In TF: DOTM, there were many of the same characters as the previous movies.
    2. If 1 is true, then the toys had to all be the same as the previous movies.
    4. Thus, all of our toys for DOTM had to be largely the same as TF1 and ROTF.
    5. If 4, then the customers didn't buy the toys because they were all the same.
    6. Therefore, our toy sales dropped off because the customers had all the same toys already of all the same old characters.

    There's so much wrong with this argument, but I'm only going to pick on two illegitimate steps. First, step 2 is false: there was a sizable minority of interesting characters in DOTM that deserved more toys. In fact, I hunted for them (I wasn't always in the loop on TFW2005 at the time): Soundwave, Que, and Dino, in particular. They never came. They certainly lost a lot of sales opportunities given that I'm certain I wasn't the only one looking for these. I even paid through the nose for the Human Alliance version of Soundwave, since I needed that to complete my ideal collection (actually, my wife got it for me for my birthday).

    Second, step 5 is false: it relies on a dubious causal claim: the sameness of characters was the sole cause of our drop in toy sales. Here's a plausible alternative causal explanation: the general suckiness of the toy quality is the explanation. I was pretty disappointed with the quality of plastic and paint schemes. What ever happened to the chrome paint from the '80s? That kind of stuff would really make your toys attractive to collectors. I get that you are also interested in selling stuff to babies, and they don't need chrome details (well, then again, babies like shiny things), but there wasn't enough that was compelling about the toys to make be bust out the wallet. Whatever happened to quality over quantity, anyway? Shortsighted obsession with maximizing profits caused the decline in sales, not characters. Hate to break it to you.
     
  15. trence5

    trence5 Well-Known Member

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    Man, I think I see where you're coming from. ROTF Voyager Optimus was spot-on for his on screen counter-part. I was even interested in Dino, because had that figure been good - I'd have him on my shelf as Sideswipe(what was that Bay said about red not filming well[​IMG][​IMG][​IMG][​IMG]). AS you stated - those toys were hardly found, and the ones that did sell, or at least people kind of wanted - did NOT show up in any of the films (ROTF Mindwipe and HFTD Bludgeon and Banzaitron and DOTM Skyhammer with cross look on their faces).
     
  16. Spunky

    Spunky Well-Known Member

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    I'm sorry, but I hate this movie already! Not because of what it is about. I hate it because it is to blame for why the current iteration of Transformers Prime is ending so early next year and turning into a beast-based series instead. Because Hasbro doesn't want two vehicle-based toylines to compete with eachother in 2014. It is so damn obvious! If it's bad, I don't care. What I do care about is that this movie is going to do to TF Prime what the other movies did to Animated!
     
  17. eagc7

    eagc7 TF Movieverse fan

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    TF4, had nothing to do with Prime ending, PLUS the Beast wars thing is the name of TFP Season 3, so if its true then Beast Hunters is actually the series finale of Prime, look DOTM didnt affected Prime at all, so TF4 is NOT the one to blame
     
  18. SMOG

    SMOG Vocabchampion ArgueTitan

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    I find it strangely galling to read about a bunch of stuffed-shirt executives congratulating themselves over having enough vision to "reinvent" the franchise with "fresh ideas", when the notion of a more expansive cast of new characters is really fundamental to the roots of Transformers. The whole repetitive "5 man team" approach has been getting stale for a decade or more, but any long-term fan could see how the franchise had been losing touch with some of the appeal of the original line. Now we get a bunch of business-lunchers talking like they "fixed" Transformers because it was inherently broken.

    I dunno... maybe all this "reinventing the brand" bluster just has me worried, since so often that kind of talk goes horribly astray if those involved don't really understand what they're working with to begin with.

    zmog
     
  19. Spunky

    Spunky Well-Known Member

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    I don't think Beast Hunters is TFP season 3 per say. Season 3 may lead into or begin Beast Hunters at some point. And even if it is Beast Hunters completely, I still think the huge change in direction for TFP is because TF4 toys are coming out early 2014 and Hasbro doesn't want two similar toylines competing with eachother or one overshadowing the other. Hasbro doesn't want to end Prime per say, but wants to make it different enough from the TF4 toys so as to not compete with them or have kids and fans buy both.
     
  20. Gingerchris

    Gingerchris Telly-headed Tyrant

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    Indeed. Congratulating themselves about fixing something they kinda caused the problem with to begin with. Makes me imagine them going 'We don't know our arse from our elbow but we do know something went wrong with the elbow so we're going to re-invent the elbow to fix it. Erm... the elbow is that thing you shit out of, yes..?'.