Right now, I've only watched trailers and TV spots and read the IDW comic adaptation, so maybe there's better info about this in the novelization or the movie proper. What I've been wondering is: Why is a space bridge required to get the lunar Decepticons to Earth, since the previous two films have shown every Cybertronian as being capable of traveling to Earth via transition form, and the distance from the Moon to Earth should also be pretty much nothing for the Decepticon ships. Does anyone have any helpful info on this - or some good speculation, at least?
I think it is more of a strategy thing. Think about it with our telescoped we would be able to see the cons coming and have a little time to create a defense. But when they start To poof out of thin air right in the middle of D.C. then that catches everybody off guard and since they hit you from the inside then out. Maybe I am just over thinking I mean it could be very high energon or gas prices so they are thinking green and conserving energy.
The "conventional" method of protoforming oneself for interstellar journey might have the following weaknesses: - taxing and tiring - time consuming - being aimed at and shot down before landing (since the good guys will be on their guards now after knowing the moon might harbour these 'cons waiting to mobilize)
Might be easier to just chalk it all up to the films can't always make up their minds. At one point it looked like Transformers didn't use space ships at all and then boom we've got a space ship in the second and third movies.
Split Lip is correct, the space bridge is for more than just transporting rank and file troops... But anyway personally I look at as the Decepticons taking advantage of it for strategic reasons. You saw the trailer we had Cons teleporting in landing on busy metropolitan streets, with their only real resistance being a ill-prepared bunch of cops. Now you can either come down in massive ship, which can possibly be detected and shot down, or give your opponents time to prepare themselves and strengthen their defenses. Or you can use the Space Bridge and materialize instantly at your destination, with the space bridge the Cons have the ability to strike anywhere, at any time, making it next to impossible to prepare for or defend against.
Exactly. they're using it for "the element of surprise" on the humans. not to mention they dont have to get up and transform, they can just 'poof' all guns blazing!
Or heck just look at how speed of troop movements has been such an advantage in human culture. When people learned how to ride horses into battle it became a nightmare for forces that could only move forces on foot because the enemy could hit important areas before you could send reinforcements. The invention of trains as a method of troop transport changed warfare. The invention of paratroopers, gliders, and heavy bombers meant you could no longer just defend the ports, bridges, or roads. Helicopters had a huge impact on warfare. So yea if all those inventions made a huge impact on the ways wars are fought then just imagine if you could teleport your troops in and out of areas. That would be insanely hard to defend against like you pointed out.
While I do understand the greater importance of the space bridge later on, I still wonder why the Cons on the Moon wait for it to be functional rather than simply flying the few hundred thousand miles to Earth. The Decepticons made great use of their transition forms in RotF - they were an even greater distance away from Earth than the Moon is (Mars, Jupiter, Narnia, whatever - wherever the Nemesis crashed), and still created much surprise and damage all around the world: tearing up buildings, wrecking streets, even sinking an aircraft carrier. Granted, though, the fact that Cybertronians are now public knowledge and it being likely that NEST could've upped their security by being in conjunction with more international satellites or something could possibly make it more necessary for the enemy to get to the planet's surface more stealthily and quickly. It just sort of gets me concerned that Ehren Kruger's script might've just somehow forgotten about that kind of travel in this film. (Additional note: as it can't be seen if any of the ships actually enter and/or exit the space bridge in the trailers and TV spots, those might've flown to Earth instead.)