I saw all five Transformers movies over the last few days and I'd like to talk about the experience.

[Wintermute_v1legacy]

Maybe Michael Bay is like Nickelback, people on the internet (and those living their lives mostly on the internet) like to hate on him because it's what everyone does, I guess.

I'm pretty sure I haven't seen any Transformers movies after the first one because it's just not my thing, but as far as I can tell, Michael Bay is, at the very least, very good at making bombastic action filled macho movies, and that's great. I love The Rock (the movie, not the actor), Bad Boys and Pearl Harbor, and I'm sure Pearl Harbor is full of historical mistakes, impossible physics and shit, and I don't care, it's a great dumb movie.

 

[PsychedelicDiamond]

Maybe Michael Bay is like Nickelback, people on the internet (and those living their lives mostly on the internet) like to hate on him because it's what everyone does, I guess.

I'm pretty sure I haven't seen any Transformers movies after the first one because it's just not my thing, but as far as I can tell, Michael Bay is, at the very least, very good at making bombastic action filled macho movies, and that's great. I love The Rock (the movie, not the actor), Bad Boys and Pearl Harbor, and I'm sure Pearl Harbor is full of historical mistakes, impossible physics and shit, and I don't care, it's a great dumb movie.

I know I'm being contrarian, and not afraid to admit it, but I think that Michael Bay is one of the greatest currently living american aesthets. Sure, his signature style if one of crushing excess but in a world where the most creative way to film action in american cinema is by drenching it in blue and pink neon light his approach feels more and more like a breath of fresh air. And like many great visual directors, see also Zack Snyder, the Wachowski sisters and Tim Burton, he has a regrettable habit of picking bad scripts but if he has something decent to work with that caters to his strenghts he's nailing it. And then you have something like the Transformers series where he's just composing these gorgeous shots and staging these beautiful action sequence on autopilot. I mean, look at this shit:

https://imgur.com/xSVpo2m

And for what? For a movie about toy robots. Just imagine that talent being used to create something even semi well written, like a Star Wars movie.

 

[Spade Lead]

I genuinely and unironically like the first 4 Transformers movies, and refuse to be ashamed of it or apologize for it. That said, the fifth one wasn't that great, and just felt off for some reason to me.

What people seem to forget is that the whole point of that show and thus the newer movies was "TO SELL TOYS TO KIDS."

Whatever nostalgia you feel for the series is only because you fell for their marketing campaign and somehow grew more attached to a commercial than other people did. I wish they would make more GI Joe movies because even though Channing Tatum is a flaming hypocrite who claims he hated those movies, and regrets doing them, I loved seeing them on the big screen, bringing attention and a return to toy shelves of my favorite childhood franchise. In other words, I feel the same way about GI Joe as the haters do about Transformers, but I loved seeing my childhood return to popularity.

Some people claim that Jazz dying in the first Transformers movie was racist, but he died within the two episode hour long premiere of the 1983 TV show, as well, and that just means it is accurate.

Over all, there is only a few reasons to not enjoy the Michael Bay movies, and they have nothing to do with the quality of the new movies, and entirely with your personal preferences, which are entirely up to you, and there is no wrong or right answer for.

I enjoy them, you may not. Neither of us is wrong, but claiming they are trash because they ruined your childhood is just ludicrous because they were never anything more than commercials for a toy line, and acting like they are some great work of art is overhyping them to the point of ridiculousness

I know I'm being contrarian, and not afraid to admit it, but I think that Michael Bay is one of the greatest currently living american aesthets. Sure, his signature style if one of crushing excess but in a world where the most creative way to film action in american cinema is by drenching it in blue and pink neon light his approach feels more and more like a breath of fresh air. And like many great visual directors, see also Zack Snyder, the Wachowski sisters and Tim Burton, he has a regrettable habit of picking bad scripts but if he has something decent to work with that caters to his strenghts he's nailing it. And then you have something like the Transformers series where he's just composing these gorgeous shots and staging these beautiful action sequence on autopilot. I mean, look at this shit:

https://imgur.com/xSVpo2m

And for what? For a movie about toy robots. Just imagine that talent being used to create something even semi well written, like a Star Wars movie.

I too long for a Michael Bay Star Wars movie, but the way Star Wars is trending, I don't think it will matter unless he gets his own trilogy...

 

[COMaestro]

I've only seen the first two Bay Transformers movies. The first was mediocre at best. The focus was on the human cast far more than it was on the Transformers, who should have been the actual stars of the film. As such, only Optimus and Bumblebee got any kind of characterization, and one of the original cartoon's mainstays, Jazz, was disposed of as if a minor side character*. Still, decent action, obvious product placement, and some good cinematography, which is Bay's strong suit.

Revenge of the Fallen was pure tripe. Just everything about it was terrible. The stupid twin Autobots that I have to assume were black gangsta caricatures, Devastator having the equivalent of testicles and the over-focus on them to make sure the audience didn't miss the "joke", the leg-humping Frenzy, it was all just shit. I mean, this went so far beyond the annoyance that Jar Jar Binks was in Episode 1, something that people felt ruined the movie. No amount of cinematography could save this burning refuse pile for me.

I have no interest in seeing any more of these films after the second one was such a wreck. I can only hope they got better, because it would be damn hard to get any worse.


*

Some people claim that Jazz dying in the first Transformers movie was racist, but he died within the two episode hour long premiere of the 1983 TV show, as well, and that just means it is accurate.

I never thought it was racist myself, just stupid. As for him dying in the 1983 show, I can find nothing at all that supports this claim. The only death listed for Jazz on the TF wiki is from the Bay movie. Considering how many show episodes, movies, and comics the site delved into for the list of deaths that occur, I feel Jazz's death in the premiere of the cartoon would not have been missed, so I think you must be mistaken here.

 

[Spade Lead]

I never thought it was racist myself, just stupid. As for him dying in the 1983 show, I can find nothing at all that supports this claim. The only death listed for Jazz on the TF wiki is from the Bay movie. Considering how many show episodes, movies, and comics the site delved into for the list of deaths that occur, I feel Jazz's death in the premiere of the cartoon would not have been missed, so I think you must be mistaken here.

It was during the one hour premiere when I watched the show (Not the movie) for the first time since I was a child on Netflix in 2011. I think it was on the oil rig, as it collapsed into the sea, but now it has been a long time...

 

[Ogoid]

It was during the one hour premiere when I watched the show (Not the movie) for the first time since I was a child on Netflix in 2011. I think it was on the oil rig, as it collapsed into the sea, but now it has been a long time...

Speaking as a lifelong Generation 1 fan... Jazz doesn't die in that show; in fact he was, along with Cliffjumper and Bumblebee, one of the few 1984 characters to survive the movie. His voice actor, Scatman Crothers, did die between it and the show's third season, which is why he has only a few non-speaking cameos in the latter, but he was alive for the entirety of G1's run.

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

I only saw the first two, and I wish I could fucking forget them.

Unfortunately China loves these piles of dog vommit, so they'll making 'm.

Hey which Transformers movie was it that had the big fight in the middle of a Chinese city, 3 or 4? Its got that bit in it where they take time to show the Chinese military leaders reacting super efficiently to the crisis, that just screamed to me of sucking up to them to Chinas propaganda guys who decide what movies are allowed, whatever they are called. Contrasts heavily with their depiction of Americas government during the series I felt. I even heard there were a whole bunch of extra scenes for the Chinese release that employed a bunch of Chinese actors. It really goes to show how China has Hollywood by the balls I think.

 

[Hawki]

Hey which Transformers movie was it that had the big fight in the middle of a Chinese city, 3 or 4? Its got that bit in it where they take time to show the Chinese military leaders reacting super efficiently to the crisis, that just screamed to me of sucking up to them to Chinas propaganda guys who decide what movies are allowed, whatever they are called. Contrasts heavily with their depiction of Americas government during the series I felt. I even heard there were a whole bunch of extra scenes for the Chinese release that employed a bunch of Chinese actors. It really goes to show how China has Hollywood by the balls I think.

4.

That said, the Transformers films prior to this point could easily be argued to be US propaganda, especially 2 - I mean, it's not as if Egypt has anything to say about US forces arbitrarily rolling out across Egyptian soil to fight robots that are wrecking the pyramids. On the other hand, 4 gets a bit more overt, with some official mentioning "contacting the home land." Bear in mind that this is Hong Kong, which has an iffy relationship with China, so I saw it as a subtle (or not so subtle) jab at those in HK wanting more autonomy. As if to say, "you need China, because you need protection from rampaging robot dinosaurs."

Okay, maybe not that exactly, but you get the idea.

 

[Erttheking]

I watched the first, almost saw the second, and then I just never really had any drive to go back after that, particularly after Bay said that no matter how much people complained they would still watch his movies. Fuck him for that.

 

[PsychedelicDiamond]

I watched the first, almost saw the second, and then I just never really had any drive to go back after that, particularly after Bay said that no matter how much people complained they would still watch his movies. Fuck him for that.

Well, he's not wrong. If people don't enjoy them they might just aswell not watch them. And if they watch them despite not enjoying them, it's not his problem. If he said he was just gonna phone it in because people are gonna watch the movies anyway, sure, then people would have every right to be angry. But it's not like he's not legitimitely trying to make good movies and putting in a lot of effort.

 

[Worgen]

Lindsay Ellis had a really interesting series of vids about the Transformers movies.