Michael Bay Trying To Make Up For Transformers 2 ‘Mess’

From losing writers Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman as well as franchise poster girl Megan Fox, to losing appreciation from fans and critics alike with the sequel, Revenge of the Fallen, director Michael Bay has a lot to overcome to make a positive impression with Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

The first step is acceptance and many of the cast of the previous film admit that their second Transformers outing wasn’t very good. Now, director Michael Bay is also continuing to play up the fact that mistakes were made with the last movie and that it was rushed. His goal however, is to make up for all of that with the third chapter in the live-action adaptations of the successful Hasbro toy franchise.

In speaking with LA Times’ Hero Complex, Bay opened up about the Transformers franchise, admitting the failings of his last film, but promising light at the end of the tunnel.

“It was kind of a mess, wasn’t it?… Look, the movie had some good things in it and it was entertaining and it did very well, but it also failed in some key ways. I learned from it. And now with this third movie we’re going back to basics and I absolutely believe this is going to be a much better film than the second one.”

Outside of Optimus Prime getting plenty of screen time to showcase his increased ability to be a robotic bad-ass, there wasn’t much good for me in Revenge of the Fallen. It took the weak and problematic elements of the first Transformers and extended them all, instead of removing them or improving them.

New behind-the-scenes Transformers 3 set photo

A big part of the reason for the failings of the story and visual effects of Revenge of the Fallen had to do with the writer’s strike and strict deadlines to meet Paramount Pictures’ release date. That’s less of an issue with Dark of the Moon and Michael Bay hopes to capitalize on the opportunity.

“I’m still having fun and especially with this movie. Look, we got burned on the last movie. The big thing was the writers strike, it hurt the film and it made it hard on everybody. We had three weeks to get our story and, really, we were going into the movie without a script. It’s tough to do that. It was too big of a movie. There were too many endings or too many things that felt like endings. There was so much animation [in the visual effects postproduction work], too, and we ran out of time. We used the schedule of the first movie for the second movie but on the second one way more labor was needed for the animation. And then it felt like we were writing the script in the edit room, trying to put together a story.”

There were obvious incomplete special effects and in a movie as big as this, based almost solely on the visual spectacle, if they can’t do it right, why bother forcing an early release? Unfortunately, even though the film was far too rushed, with an problematic story and rough special effects, the film (arguably undeservedly) banked over $800 million worldwide at the box office and sold an incredible amount of merchandise for Hasbro.

I don’t like seeing precedents like that set, when it involves a low quality product earning high profit, but we do have something to look forward to with Bay’s third attempt working with the Cybertronian cast.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon is the last Transformers movie that Michael Bay will be working on, and same goes for its star Shia LaBeouf. Because of that, Bay seems determined to turn the series around and end the trilogy with something fans can be happy about and something that won’t detract from moviegoers thinking about seeing Bay’s next movie in a few years time.

Is the third time a charm for Bay and Spielberg?

Steven Spielberg, a producer on the Transformers movies who chose Michael Bay to direct sheds some light on Bay’s motivation and positive attitude in working on Dark of the Moon:

“As the plot thickens in the third installment of ‘Transformers,’ Michael’s work on it feels fresh and energized … with lots of new and inventive ways of turning a page on this franchise.”

I want to believe this but when I think of Spielberg talking Transformers and Michael Bay, I get confusing flashbacks about Bay revealing that Spielberg told him Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was “awesome,” referring to it as his best work yet. I get that critics often don’t side with Bay’s summer popcorn affairs, but Transformers 2 is sitting with a 5.9/10 on IMDB with over 100,000 votes and a nasty 20% on Rotten Tomatoes with an average rating of 3.9/10.

We’ve heard it all before. Spielberg and Bay are saying Dark of the Moon will simply be the best thing since sliced bread, and star Shia LaBeouf is promising that this movie will actually be “good.” But we all have learned and should all know better. This all means nothing until we see otherwise with the final product.

The good news is that the first official teaser trailer for Transformers: Dark of the Moon was actually very cool, but it didn’t show any real footage of the main characters or Autobots/Decepticons. Let’s hope the next theatrical trailer shows us something to excited about.

Ever since the first Transformers, which I actually enjoyed, I’ve been waiting for them to take that formula and knock out the bad parts to bring audiences something special. For everyone’s sake, I hope Bay delivers one of the best films of the summer.

Follow us on Twitter @ rob_keyes and @ screenrant.

Transformers 3 hits theaters July 1st, 2011.

Source: LA Times

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Transformers 3 Characters: Meet The Dreads

Many fans and moviegoers have a love-hate -- maybe more of a like-hate relationship -- with Michael Bay’s live-action adaptation of Transformers. With its sequel, Revenge of the Fallen, it got a lot worse and many of the problems were due to the misuse of the film’s Cybertronian characters.

I’m not referring to the issue of characters following canon, as they don’t need to for a good Transformers movie to be made. It’s because there were so many characters that never spoke, didn’t have a name, and a pair (actually, twins) there were not only very controversial, but met the level of annoyance that only characters such as Jar Jar Binks could attain. From the amount of new toys being added with Transformers: Dark of the Moon, fear is rising that Transformers 3 may be offering more of the same in that department.

While the infamously stereotypical Twins were expected to return for Dark of The Moon, Michael Bay quickly shot down rumors that the vehicles were spotted on set, explaining that The Twins are not back for the third Transformers movie. We later were able to actually see them ourselves through some revealing set photos, so they will be back, likely (and hopefully) to be killed off. They will of course have a different paint job for toy merchandising purposes.

Perhaps stepping in to take the place of the Twins, assuming they do bite the bullet (laser?), there is another set of triplets! We already know about the three well-armed Nascar vehicles known as the Wreckers, and now we’re getting another set. The second triple-threat to be introduced in Transformers: Dark of the Moon are called the “Dreads” and in keeping the tradition, these 3 similar vehicles will also seemingly follow a stereotype in their design. Some images of the Decepticon SUV drones were leaked a while ago, but here are some new images of their toys picked up on by TFormers (hat tip to MovieWeb) which show their robot modes, so see for yourself:

And here’s a video of them chasing the fastest of the Autobots:

Why are they called the “Dreads” and more questionably, why do they literally have dreadlocks? I fear this cannot be good and it makes me wonder what we can expect from the Nascar-bots… Shia, do something please; You Promised.

In all seriousness, there are a ton of new vehicles joining the roster of characters for Dark of the Moon so we’ll keep you updated as we learn more about them. Transformers: Dark of the Moon hits theaters July 1st, 2011 and will be available in 3D.

Follow us on Twitter @ rob_keyes and @ screenrant.

Sources: Yahoo! Japan, DOTM Toys (via TFormers)

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The Making of ‘Transformers: Prime’

With the Transformers Animated cartoon and toyline canceled last year, there left a need for the next Transformers series. The franchise has aired nearly a dozen different series in North America and Japan since it began in 1984 and the next show to take the mantle is Transformers: Prime, another full CG-animated series similar in style to the popular Beast Wars seasons of the late 90s.

Upping the profile of this latest Transformers venture, Prime is bring produced by Hollywood heavyweights Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman, who were writers on the first two Michael Bay Transformers movies. Joining them is veteran cartoon producer Jeff Kline who brought us shows such as the Men in Black series and Dragon Tales. The three put together a comedic ‘Making of’ video which will help you understand Transformers in a different light.

Unlike Transformers Animated, which stands entirely outside of Transformers continuity (even though its premiere featured footage from the original cartoon), Transformers: Prime is based on this year’s successful Transformers video game, War for Cybertron, and the “Transformers: Exodus” novel which tells the official history of the War of Cybertron. To loyal fans of the franchise, the series will feature the voices of Peter Cullen and Frank Welker as Optimus Prime and Megatron respectively, the masters behind the original voices of the 1984 series. Famous voice actor Steve Blum will voice Starscream, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will play Cliffjumper and Jeffrey Combs will provide Ratchet’s voice.

If the talent behind the production and voices of the series aren’t generating enough interest, Transformers: Prime also represents the best of everything toymaker Hasbro has to offer from the toyline and franchise. It is there attempt at grabbing the best parts of the franchise’s convoluted cannon, with elements taken from the Transformers movies, the latest animated cartoon, video game and novel and putting it together in a series and continuity that makes sense.

To see how it was made and what makes it different from the movies and shows of the past, here is the Transformers: Prime Making of Promo:

The best part of the video is how Orci and Kurtzman poke fun at the humor of the Transformers movies, the same movies they chose to step away from to pursue other ventures after the disappointing sequel, Revenge of the Fallen.

And here’s the teaser clip that played at San Diego Comic-Con this summer:

As you can see, Bumblebee is fighting what appears to be Cylon Centurions from Battlestar Galactica.

The series takes place on Earth after the Autobots and Decepticons have been there for a while and features most of the classic and popular characters from previous incarnations. In addition to Optimus and Bumblebee, the Autobots cast will feature Arcee, Ratchet, Cliffjumper and Bulkhead. The Decepticons will be led by Megatron once again, joined by Starscream, Soundwave and an endless supply of “Troopers” (the Cylon Centurions).

Bumblebee, Bulkhead and Arcee in Transformers: Prime

Transformers: Prime airs its premiere episode tomorrow, November 29th on The Hub, the replacement channel of Discovery Kids.

Follow us on Twitter @rob_keyes and @screenrant.

Sources: TFviews, TFW2005

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‘Transformers 3′ Teaser Trailer Coming With ‘Narnia: Dawn Treader’ & ‘TRON: Legacy’

There is new drama regarding the 3D format of Michael Bay’s third entry in the Transformers franchise, entitled Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Yet another movie website recently ran a post claiming that Bay is having trouble working with 3D and that Transformers 3 is suffering as a result.

Bay has yet again responded via his own platforms, and is still maintaining that Transformers 3 was shot in cutting-edge 3D and will look amazing onscreen…as we will soon be able to see for ourselves.

For those with long memories, this Transformers 3 3D issue has popped up and been swatted down about a handful of times since production on the film began. We here at Screen Rant even managed to incur the wrath of Bay for a story we ran on the matter.

By now it’s pointless to continue tossing out conspiracy theories – and more to the point, why argue about this 3D issue when we can judge the first footage from the film within the next couple of weeks?

While swatting down the latest naysayer claims, Michael Bay let this little hint slip about a Transformers: Dark of the Moon teaser trailer:

“…I will give full details of my process and why I liked 3D in the next week right before the Transformers announcement piece comes out on Tron and Narnia.”

For those who aren’t movie buffs eager to see the two films Michael Bay referred to: the next installment in Fox’s Narnia series, Voyage of the Dawn Treader, will be in theaters on December 10th, while Disney’s sci-fi sequel TRON: Legacy will be packing 3D theaters on December 17th. If the Transformers: Dark of the Moon teaser trailer is to be released alongside those two films, we should expect it to debut online (albeit in 2D) anytime within 10 – 14 days from now – at least by my estimation.

Check out the early synopsis for Dark of the Moon below:

In this new movie, the Autobots and Decepticons become involved in a perilous space race between the U.S. and Russia, and once again human Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf)  has to come to the aid of his robot friends. There’s new characters too, including a new villain in the form of Shockwave, a longtime ‘Transformers’ character who rules Cybertron while the Autobots and Decepticons battle it out on Earth.

There will supposedly be a lot of reveals in the film about the intertwined histories of humans and the robots from Cybertron, with the usual big battles and massive explosions you expect from Michael Bay.

Ironically enough, due to all this controversy over the 3D format, what might’ve otherwise been viewed as another lackluster sequel in a so-so franchise is now going to be a lightning rod for scrutiny. Expect hardcore movie fans and Blogosphere reporters alike to put this film under a hi-res microscope – and don’t be surprised when somebody posts a shot-for-shot analysis of the 2D teaser trailer to determine the potential quality of the 3D (or lack thereof) in every frame.

Look for the Transformers 3 teaser trailer in front of The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader on December 10th and TRON: Legacy on December 17th.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon will be in (3D) theaters on July 1, 2011.

Source: Michael Bay Forums

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