Transformers live action movie!

[Jake]

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When the REAL transformers come to Earth this is what they'll do to us. :-)

[chernabog_ca]

That looks like a lot of fun, mind you I think I would want a little more ground clearance.

[Kal-el]

For the first time fans of all ages can “become” the heroic and noble leader of the AUTOBOTS. This authentically detailed helmet features three modes: a VOICE CHANGER: make your voice sound like a robot, BATTLE PHRASES: OPTIMUS PRIME speaks key phrases and CONVERSION SOUNDS: press a button to hear OPTIMUS Prime change from truck to robot and back again. The OPTIMUS PRIME VOICE CHANGER HELMET will be available beginning June 2, 2007 for the suggested retail price of $29.99; Ages 5 & up








Movie Leader Optimus Prime
As featured on the cover of ToyFare 116, OPTIMUS PRIME appears in highly detailed robot and Semi tractor mode. Each mode realistically depicts OPTIMUS PRIME as he appears in the film.

In 2007, select figures across Leader, Voyager and Deluxe class feature Automorph Technology that enhances the vehicle to robot conversion of both AUTOBOT and DECEPTICON warriors. Moving one part of the robot or vehicle causes other parts to move, making armor plates and weapons shift automatically. Movie Leader OPTIMUS PRIME also features Advanced Automorph—an automatic conversion that triggers both lights and sounds.

Consumers of all ages can try out the electronic lights and sounds in Leader Class figures on-shelf with a special “Try-Me” window. The package also includes the following details about the struggle between the AUTOBOTS and the DECEPTICONS:

For thousands of years, OPTIMUS PRIME and his AUTOBOTS have traveled through space in search of the AllSpark. For all that time, the AUTOBOT leader has held one goal in mind – to protect the universe from the evil of MEGATRON. For this massive, metal warrior, nothing is more important than freedom; he will sacrifice all for its preservation. He has fought for centuries, modifying his body into an unstoppable war machine, preparing for that day he knows is coming when he and MEGATRON meet for one final battle!

Movie Leader OPTIMUS PRIME will be at retailers near you beginning June, 2, 2007 for a suggested retail price of $39.99; Ages 5 & up.







This fall, Earth’s first line of defense against the DECEPTICONS is here! The ULTIMATE BUMBLEBEE is the most realistic TRANSFORMERS toy ever with amazing detail and special animatronic features that bring the toy to “life.”

In car mode, BUMBLEBEE is an approximately 1/14 scale CAMARO concept with realistic car features. By rolling the vehicle you activate headlights and revving engine sounds. Stopping activates taillights and screeching brakes or crashing sounds

After you manually convert the car to robot mode, BUMBLEBEE stands an impressive 14” tall. With the touch of a button, robotic BUMBLEBEE comes to “life” with speech, music – featuring DEVO’s “Whip It”, battle and conversion sounds and animated head, arms and wings. BUMBLEBEE’s sound detection capabilities enable him to respond to noise, and he can also aim and fire a missile.

Look the ULTIMATE BUMBLEBEE at retail this Fall for the suggested retail price of $89.99; Ages 5 & up.

[redbear]

i am going to have to get that Bumblebee one. i really like the new design of the camaro....

[chernabog_ca]

Looks like I'm going toy shopping this summer. I had the original Optimus Prime voice changer thing when I was a kid.

[Granite]

From SCIFIwire

Director Michael Bay previewed about 25 minutes of his upcoming SF action film Transformers to a crowd of enthusiasts at New York's Toy Fair on Feb. 13, Variety reported. The footage from Paramount and DreamWorks' movie met with approval from the audience of consumer-product executives, toy collectors and fans of the franchise, which is based on Hasbro's revived 1980s toy line.

The preview included four sequences from the movie, featuring plenty of Bay's signature automatic-weapons fire, rumbling car engines and sweaty military dialogue ("Bogey in the weeds, and he's not squawking!"), the trade paper reported.

A brief panel session preceded the footage with Bay, DreamWorks production chief Adam Goodman and Brian Goldner, chief operating officer of Hasbro and an executive producer.

[Kal-el]

And here it is, possible SPOILERS

...The first clip looks like it was from the opening of the film, showing a helicarrier flying over the deserts of Qatar. Inside, we see Josh Duhamel and the men of his unit shooting the sh*t, something about eating gator and a couple laughs from the men's banter. They land at their base and shortly after, an unknown helicopter approaches the base causing all sorts of consternation. (Some of this scene is in the trailer.) The helicopter bears the symbols USAF 4500X, which happens to be those of a copter that was recently shot down, putting the base on high alert. Sure enough, no sooner has the chopper landed that it begins to transform into the robot form of Blackout, which starts attacking everything that moves with huge EMP-like ripples that do huge amounts of damage. A hand rips the computer out of the control center and starts absorbing the military data as they throw everything they can at the deadly creature. At one point, something is jettisoned from Blackout's body (which we'll learn more about during a later scene.) This opening scene was classic Bay with lots of explosions, tanks and helicopters being thrown, and huge amounts of destruction, a bit like being back in Armageddon mode, though some of the early shots seemed to be homages to Apocalypse Now or Top Gun.

As the fighting intensifies, the preview cut to a tranquil outdoor scene with the introduction of Shia LaBeouf's character Sam, hanging with his dorky friend at some sort of lakeside high school gathering and gushing over the fact that "Mikaela" is there. (Amusing aside: I'm not sure, but I think the temp music was the theme from "Six Feet Under.") The two dorks are confronted by a jock who wants to know what they're doing there, and we meet the aforementioned Mikaela, played by the super-hot Megan Fox. (Boy, Shia is one lucky guy to have movies that have him appearing opposite Fox and the equally attractive Sarah Roemer in the thriller Disturbia, which comes out in April.)

When Mikaela gets into a tiff with the jock she's with--he won't let her drive and calls her his "little bunny" suggesting she "hop in the back" (and they say chivalry is dead)--she decides to walk home, and Sam sees an opportunity to give her a ride, prompted by his car radio suddenly playing The Cars' "Drive." He tells his buddy to get out and he tries to be cool as he offers to "ride her home." They drive along and he tries to make small talk with her, but then his car conveniently breaks down at a romantic overlook of the city and he blusters his way through convincing her that he didn't do it on purpose. Apparently, she has some mechanical skills and she has him pop the hood so she could look at the engine, while Sam and we get a good look at Fox's hot bod. (I better be careful what I say because she's probably underage and I probably have furniture older than her.) Sam's pretty shocked that she knows the inside of cars better than him, and she walks off insulted, at which point, the car magically starts back up with "Baby Come Back" playing on its radio, so Sam jumps in and drives after her. If it wasn't obvious by now, it's pretty clear at this point that Sam's rusty, banged-up yellow '70s Camaro is actually Autobot Bumblebee, and though we didn't get to see the transformation, a few telling signs are the black stripped-paint stripes and a bee air freshener with the word "Bee-otch" on it. (That got a couple chuckles.)

The third scene seems to be shortly after this, opening with a middle-aged couple, who we quickly learn are Sam's parents, as they're watching the non-stop news about UFO's and strange occurrences. We cut to Optimus Prime in his truck form (met with great applause), driving down the suburban street followed by Bumblebee in Camaro form and another Autobot, which was probably Ironhide (sorry, I know my cars about as well as I know my Transformers). Sam and Mikaela get out of the Camaro and Sam runs to his house to retrieve something, but his father won't let him in. Sam's obviously freaked out, but even moreso when Bumblebee in robot form peers from around the corner of the house and tries to warn Sam not to let his father see them. We then get our first glimpse of Optimus Prime in his full robot form, but when Sam's Chihuahua pees on the foot of one of the robots, it sees the terrified creature as an attack and aims his guns at him, so Sam has to convince him to back off. Sam gets into the house and begins looking for his "glasses" because that's what the Autobots are seeking. He's soon joined by Mikaela, as she's picked up and placed gently in his room through the window. As she helps him look, we get a humorous scene reminiscent of Shia's relationship with the girl next door in Disturbia, as the Autobots wait outside. During this entire sequence, we get many great close-ups of the Autobots' expressive faces and get to see the range of emotions they're able to express. (A few of the shots weren't quite done, the CG robots were replaced by 2-D animation inserts.)

Suddenly, a line of jeeps with flashing lights drive down the street to the house, and we're introduced to John Turturro's character, an abrasive G-Man who has his men inspect the house, pissing off Sam's mom as they start ripping out her plants. They seem to be looking for the residue of something that will let them know that the robots had been at the house, so Turturro's character takes out a meter that shows that Sam has contacted high doses of this radiation, and he announces that they will have to take Sam with them.

[Kal-el]

A different view of the same footage. SPOILERS

Hundreds of Hasbro executives, as well as a handful of media representatives, packed the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center in New York on Tuesday evening for a special TRANSFORMERS “event” that featured 25 minutes of footage from the pic, scheduled for release on July 4th.

Both director Michael Bay and Dreamworks production president Adam Goodman were on hand for a rather un-spontaneous pre-screening Q&A, during which they both expressed intense enthusiasm about the movie. Goodman noted that Dreamworks has high hopes for TRANSFORMERS as a long-running franchise, and stated that the effects would as groundbreaking as those seen in JURASSIC PARK and THE MATRIX.

Goodman went on to compare what he’s seen of the movie so far to classic, Spielberg-driven pics like BACK TO THE FUTURE and CET3K. Not surprisingly, all of this talk excited the Hasbro folks a great deal, since the tied-in toyline will likely spur soaring revenues.

When asked about how he became involved in the project, Bay said that he initially turned down the opportunity to make, what he called, a “stupid toy movie.” He reconsidered, however, after reflecting on his early days as an underling at Lucasfilm when, after seeing early production art for RAIDERS, he told his friends that “it would suck.” Bay said he called back, took a meeting and subsequently signed on after seeing “some images,” which one can imagine were early animatics of the ‘transformation’ process.

Prior to the screening, Bay noted that the scenes we would see were the ones that were “the most ready,” effects-wise, but that they would include some temp-music and sound, as well as some incomplete effects-work. He went on to say that the most impressive effects will be seen in the last reel of the movie. He called these effects “mind-blowing.”

SEQUENCE ONE

The first sequence involved an intense nighttime air-traffic control situation wherein an unidentified helicopter approaches a U.S. Air Force base in Qatar. After failing to make contact with the aircraft, the base rallies its reinforcements and waits for the copter to land. Once it does, and nobody gets out, the transformation begins. CGI is very strong here, and the crowd reaction echoed that sentiment. The classic “transforming-sound” from the cartoon is heard, albeit briefly, which garnered a lot of laughter and applause. I have a feeling that this sound effect might exist in the temp-version only, since it didn’t last long and was not as slick-sounding as the ‘new and improved’ Skywalker Sound version of the transforming process that could be heard for the majority of the transformation. The helicopter transforms into a very impressive and complex-looking Decepticon that failed to remind me of anything from the classic comic/series. This is to be expected, however, since all of the characters have undergone such an intensive redesign.

The Decepticon commences to unload its blasters on the confused troops, and the results are rather “mind-blowing” indeed. When the Decepticon fires, a massive shockwave emanates, sending tanks and other vehicles flying through the air. The audio here, although ‘incomplete,’ already makes TRANSFORMERS a serious contender for the 2008 Best Sound Oscar. Scene plays out with continued destruction of the USAF base. Upon fading out, the scene drew the most intense applause of the evening.

SEQUENCE TWO

I’m not really sure why they chose this sequence as one of the handful that to be screened for a group of toy executives, since it contained ZERO special effects shots. I imagine they intended it to convey the human element of the picture, which sadly has the potential to rub the core fanbase the wrong way. The sequence involves the dorky Shia LeBouf character and his quest to impress the ‘hot girl,’ played by Megan Fox. The scene moves into Herbie the Love Bug territory, as LeBouf’s car (I’m assuming it’s Bumblebee) begins to react to the situation, “breaking down” and slowly rolling towards the edge of a cliff overlooking a romantic vista of the city below before automatically playing Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing” on the radio. The scene is pure slapstick, and played well with the crowd, who laughed throughout. This will likely happen in the first 30-45 minutes of the movie, before the real fireworks have begun. Shots of Fox leaning over the hood of the car will have fanboys salivating.

SEQUENCE THREE

In the third sequence, the Shia LeBouf character returns to his parents' house and attempts to conceal the three massive Autobots (Prime, Bumblebee and another that I couldn't identify) that have accompanied him. This results in even more slapstick, as the Autobots stomp around in LeBouf's backyard, trampling flower beds and bird baths. It's in this scene where we got to hear the great Peter Cullen as the voice of Prime. It sounded familiar, although Cullen has obviously aged considerably since TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE in 1986. A little more than half of the effects in this sequence were complete -- some of the closeups were still in animatic form. However, the completed effects shots showing the side of Prime's head, which featured a group of continously rotating pistons, were very impressive. A sidenote for TRANSFORMERS fans, Prime's mouth is totally visible in this scene, whereas in the series, it was covered.

It was in this sequence that I (a fan of the series and the 1986 movie) began to grow seriously skeptical. In the TRANSFORMERS texts with which we're all familiar, the Autobots are wise and capable of handling themselves in the human world (except for the episode where they wreak havoc in a museum). Here, they were characterized as clumsy, loveable buffoons in the vein of Pete's Dragon.

Also, it seems like the humor is going to be played up big time in Bay's film. This sequence featured some shennanigans involving a dog that inadvertantly urinates on one of the Autobots, causing it to aim its blasters at the pooch (in a DOOM-esque POV shot) until LeBouf intervenes in a humorous plea for the dog's life.

SEQUENCE FOUR

The lights came up after the third scene, but the event moderator asked Michael Bay's permission to show one more clip. He granted it, which excited the Hasbro folks a great deal. The scene in question is the much-ballyhooed Skorpinok attack - the scene being shot when Quint visited the set in the desert a while back. Scene didn't show us much, CGI wise, that we haven't already seen in the trailer. A lot of the additional shots were incomplete and in 2-D. It's a very intense scene but, as a TRANSFORMERS fan, it left me wondering: "Who the hell is Skorpinok?"

As I mentioned, I'm a BIG fan of the 1986 movie. It's highly underrated and sadly not taken seriously by a lot of people, sci-fi/fantasy fans included. Therefore, it worries me when the scenes I've seen of Bay's film, as well as what I've read about it so far, paint it not as an extension of or re-introduction to the mythology of TRANSFORMERS, but rather as an alien-invasion movie that happens to be called TRANSFORMERS (and conveniently so, for the sake of Hasbro).

Bay's comments regarding his connections to the project generate concern over whether or not he truly respects or even knows about what the franchise is truly all about. Sure, Bay might have signed on solely to make a movie about giant, fighting robots, which is fine. It's just that, when the movie features the moniker of one of the most beloved franchises of all time, it would make sense to consider its origins.

I'm still optimistic, however, since I'm a Michael Bay fan. At this point, it will be hard for me to take this movie seriously as an authentic part of TRANSFORMERS lore. Instead, I will be there on July 4th for the "Michael Bay Giant Fighting Robot Movie." And that's fine, as long as Energon Cubes are mentioned at least once.

[st39.6]

some new carshots
http://www.ioberon.cz/?kat=7&clanek=166
(there are some older pics too..)
sry, after half hour of making source code for this article am really lazy to post single pics, even tho IESB has some more

[st39.6]

cut of the film went to the MPAA and came back with big rated R attached. Not because of sex or language, but because of intense action and violence (awesome!). Shia says Spielberg came to the rescue and went in to argue his point and got it knocked down to a PG-13.

[Granite]

cut of the film went to the MPAA and came back with big rated R attached. Not because of sex or language, but because of intense action and violence (awesome!). Shia says Spielberg came to the rescue and went in to argue his point and got it knocked down to a PG-13.

More indepth story from SCIFIwire on this...

Shia LaBeouf, who stars in Michael Bay's upcoming Transformers movie, told SCI FI Wire that executive producer Steven Spielberg had to appeal a decision by the Motion Picture Association of America to give the film a dreaded R rating. "Spielberg fought back and got the PG-13," LaBeouf said in an interview. "It's just because of the intensity. There are not a lot of breathers. It's like whoosh!"

It's not clear if Bay, the action director known for such adrenalin-pumping movies as Armageddon and The Island, cut anything to get the lower rating. LaBeouf said that an early cut of the film earned an R rating simply because it was so suspenseful. "We went to get our MPAA rating, and this movie is for the masses, and we got an R rating because of the tension," LaBeouf said. He added: "Not because of the curse words or nudity, but for sheer intensity. It's aneurysm-inducing."...

...LaBeouf said that Transformers' computer graphics are out of this world. "No one has ever seen animation like this," he said, adding that the technical people at the visual-effects company Industrial Light & Magic were astounded about the amount of CG they had to do. "The people at ILM said this is the most intense graphics in the history of the company," he said. "Everyone says they did some pretty magical and wild things. Just Megatron's arm has 15,000 moving pieces that all converge like [a] Rubik's Cube. And add to that Michael Bay's chase scenes? And then you have two 40-foot machines on the 405 [freeway] boxing. It's nuts! It's never been done like that. It will be fun to see what happens."...

[Mithrandir01]

Every news about it makes me more curious. I like this feeling. "Like whoosh!". Interesting.

[st39.6]

[wirm]

wow, that last picture is really nice

[st39.6]

yeah, it blows my sox off
One more reason to see Transformers on BIG screen