Bah!

 

I agree with you OP! I'm not that big on the plain aesthetic that so many adore, no offense. Movie OP's design just screams Leader to me, and gives off a sense of a warrior who's been in many battles.

 

I see a leg and a few limbs. Either way, I don't see how they'd be able to transform without some kind of exoskeleton for the vehicle parts to wrap around. It's not explicitly stated but I believe it's naturally implied. Plus, you can tell that Prime's legs don't 'transform'; they're already there and pieces start shifting towards them.

 

Thats interesting

 

This is for the original trilogy by the way. There's clearly a lot of cheating and mass-shifting going on in the last two movies.

 

While there are a lot of Prime designs I've liked over the years G1 still remains my favorite. Just something about simple and I like that his robot mode has so much color to it.

But movie designs I'd definitely have to go with Prime as the best. Enough of the classic elements that you instantly know who it is before he can say I am Optimus Prime. At the same time you get all sorts of cool little details that you are only going to get in live action. Being able to pick out the parts was a fun element to the early design.

Not really a fan of the flames though because that seems like a design element that better fits other characters. You expect someone like Hot Rod to have flames but seeing Prime with a flame design would be like watching an old John Wayne movie and he shows up with flames painted on his horse.

 

I wasn't used to the flames at first and wished Optimus would be plain red/blue, but I believe the design makes it work.

The red flames on blue make a good contrast, and it sort of suits Optimus's character: He's all tranquil and peaceful (blue) then he gets pissed and he's on fire.

 

Movie Optimus' design is fantastic. It manages to capture so many qualities just in physical appearance: really heroic proportions, badass-ness, striking colors, and a kind of regal, majestic look that none of the other designs have (nor should they have - except Sentinel!). Whenever you get a full transformation of this guy, especially with humans in the shot to give a sense of scale or perspective, it feels magical.

 

Certainly better than "Knight" Optimus.

 

I feel there's a good halfway point between the two, though it will take a far more talented man than I to bring such a design to life.

 

I don't think that they utilise an exoskeleton, I always imagined that unlike the toys they literally dismantle completely and form the vehicle so that you won't see the arms or legs hidden somewhere, they form them as they transform.

 

Creative,authentic and non traditional design. After a decade. This design still grows in me. Simply timeless.

 

That's what i always assumed too. There is no "skeleton" that the vehicle parts form around, rather the entirety of the robot is reconfigured into the vehicle, hiding any aspects of the robot. I think one of the movie novels (The Veiled Threat if i remember right), Optimus mentions that his species can mimic something "almost to the molecular level". This could also be an in-universe explanation for why none of the character have a set transformation scheme, for example Optimus' transformation in the OP's post has his feet/calves be formed of the truck sleeper cab, whereas this is not the case in most of his transformations. Also in some scenes Bumblebee's hood, dispite forming part of his torso, is seen sorta "slorping" out of the car as he transforms to vehicle mode.

But to get back to the point of the post i would say Optimus' design (at least in the original Trilogy) is one of the most unique takes on the character for sure.

 

Last Knight Optimus may be my favorite design for him ever. With that said, the iconic G1 design is like the Superman costume, altered, updated, modernized... and still never surpassed.

 

Every now and again, I stop and look at Prime's movie design and I never walk away unhappy. It's the little things that get me, like the trailer hitch at the base of the spine. That in particular always manages to put a smile on my face, though I can't say quite why.

 

Yeah, his first movie design is badass. I've been watching TF1 and ROTF clips online and I just love the way he looks rendered photo realistically. The truck kibble and attention to detail is exquisite. He looks like a truck stood up and come to life,with everything placed logically and natrally. It's brilliant.

I like the flames because, aside form just adding visual interest and allowing for a logical mix of red and blue on the cab, it's something I could see Prime just not getting or caring about. At least not at first. He just happened to get a truck with flames as his alt mode, he didn't choose them, and he's not so self-centered as to go out of his way to change something so unimportant to him. The truck mode is just an alt mode to him.

It's why the AOE design again doesn't do it much for me. I like the AOE alt mode as a standalone vehicle, but considering the truck he scanned, Opitmus deliberately added all this flair on his own which is just... odd for someone like him. I could even see him adding the flames out of nostalgia, like maybe they grew on him or they just has sentimental value as an aspect of his first Earth mode, but why go for the copious chrome and lining and sextuple smokestacks and stuff? Even ignoring the flames, the Western Star just screams "Rodimus" to me. Then again, I always thought the first movie truck was flawless as an Optimus Prime alt mode, so what do I know.

 

I've always loved it. It's very dramatic, dynamic...it's Optimus Prime fully-realized as a live-action Transformer for the big screen. It's iconic. I just hate to see it go away along with Michael Bay...

Perhaps they could do a mix of the original G1 design and the first film model...I think ILM finally realized, as evident in the last two films that, considering Transformers' metamorphosizing nature, they can intuitively compose a much more solid-looking, humanoid form than they initially proposed in the first film or two.

 

All three basic design types mentioned here are great in their own ways: G1, 2007-RotF-DotM, and AoE-TLK. I don't understand the hate for any of them. G1 is iconic for its age, the second was a new look for a new medium, and the third was a redesign for a new direction the movies took after DotM.

 

Agree with you. This was my favourite Optimus Prime design too.

As you mentioned, I also hate the exaggerated proportions (big chin, broad shoulders, big chest with narrow waist, etc) that tend to be the look in most cartoons.

 

Sentinel Prime's design is what I'd consider better.