Optimus Prime Picture - Right Here, Right Now
That's the Optimus Prime picture that AICN had up. At least until the suits got on their backs.
EDIT: film ick also have the Bumblebee picture now. Yes, the one where he's a robot.
Transformers doesn't have a hope in hell. Largely as Michael Bay is directing - will you look at his track record?
If you don't believe me, you'll see it fail to live up to this Citroen ad all for yourself next summer.
8 comments:
hmmm.. Michael Bay's track record:
(all totals are domestic only)
Bad Boys - $15mil budget, $66mil gross
The Rock - $75mil budget, $134mil gross
Armageddon - $140mil budget, $202mil gross
Pearl Harbor - $135mil budget, $199mil gross
Bad Boys 2 - $130mil budget, $138mil gross
The Island - $120mil budget, $38mil gross
5 out of 6 ain't bad... besides, you can't win 'em all. every now and then, something has to fail. i wouldn't write off Transformers simply because Bay is the director. i would write off any character developement, yeah, but most people don't go see movies for that. they go to be entertained, and that is something Bay does VERY well. you can't argue with the numbers, and the numbers say he makes a profit almost every time.
Wow. Not only did you assume that success could be measured in numbers, you pulled a majority rules argument.
Bay doesn't do anything "every time" except, I suppose, get the film finished and released.
Transformers will be a relatively empty experience, and it will fail to contribute anything significant to cinema. Kurtzman and Orci are probably the most skilled members of the "key crew", but they're so lacking in ambition they won't have scripted anything worth a damn. Again.
There's nothing wrong with entertainment, not at all, but Bay really isn't skilled at constructing it. He may have made a few films that were marketed well and/or got lucky, but they are nothing more than unchallenging, mediocre, workmanlike and big-budget. There's no practical grounds on which his actual film making can be defended, certainly not any "elevated" state.
Other filmmakers about as skilled as Bay include Stephen Sommers, Len Wiseman and Roland Emmerich. Compare them to the likes of, say, James Cameron, Sam Raimi and Bryan Singer - all of whom have delivered big "action adventure" smashes, and Bay starts looking even more sorry.
how else do you measure success when profit is the primary goal? you must come from that school of thought that "show me numbers that say this, and i'll show you numbers that say something else". well that won't work here, bub. we're talking profits. so unless you have some other numbers that say these movies didn't make any profits, face it... you're wrong.
i'm not saying Bay is a great director. i don't like his style either. i don't particularly care for Emmerich or Cameron either. i prefer Ratner's take on how a comic should become a movie over either Singer or Raimi. why? i'm not a comic book fan boi.
the first rule of business is market to the 90%, not the 10%. chances are, especially with Speilberg on the production staff, this will be a half-way decent movie that will draw $100+ mil. this will spawn a sequel or two, which where most comics get more into the story lines because all of the primaries have now been introduced to mainstream who may not know them.
remember that old thing the elders teach us: Don't judge a book by its cover. you've already thrashed the movie because of its director and we haven't even seen a 5 second clip of actual footage...
You've done it again. You've assumed we're talking about profits. You started the chat about profits, not me.
I'm not measuring a film in dollars. That'd be ridiculous.
Bay's track record is not proof - but it IS a clear indicator. Has he suddenly learnt how to be a great craftsman of film?
I mean, really - what are the chances?
dude, those are very bad films.
the end.
michael bay's films are terrible, hence there is a GREAT chance transformers will be pretty bad. the story line is already LAME. sure it will probably be filled with a lot of eye-candy images, but these days, a lot of films rely on that. what ever happened to making a good action film without relying on just the action? michael bay cares about money, not about making a geniune story.
last time i checked, and correct me if im wrong, the directors dont write the stories....as the previous person wrote. but what I do not know is who wrote the story. That is something we must take into consideration. All bay will do is over see editing and watch the actors talk into microphones etc. I still think they should leave the series alone because, I, at least loved transformers the movie and still watch it every so often. just my two cents.
The director is sometimes the writer, sometimes not - a quick look at the credits can (usually) clear that one up.
In the case of Transformers, Bay has been "working with" the writers to make sure he's happy with the film's shape, etc;
But the film is going to fall, really, on his work. If he was an expert at action scenes - like, say, Cameron or Woo or even, these days, Sam Raimi, then we'd be guaranteed the mother of all roller coaster rides.
As he isn't, we're looking forward to a merry go round with broken lights.
Ah well. Michael Bay does what he does and he enjoys it, he has fans and I'm sure he has no trouble sleeping at night.
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