Transformers Trilogy. Despised or enjoyed?

[shockwing]

^Title, This will determine what forum members think about the movies: not toys, not comics, no other products or media but the movies. Also, if you have something to say, by all means, go ahead. But be nice and avoid arguments about the related topic(s).

This is not meant to cause commotion, just want to know and show what the majority of the members think. So we can stop bringing it up.

End of discussion.

[Stapler]

I enjoy the movie trilogy for what it is. It had it's moments and, while it could have been better, it could have been a lot worse. I think it's been good for the franchise as a whole what with the money and attention it brought Hasbro.

It's been such a success that Hasbro has been able to make a wealth of alternative TF material for those who may not enjoy the movies. We really have it too good to be unhappy with the movies in my humble opinion. :)

[Commandoclone87]

For what they were, I rather enjoyed the movies. Probably because I was expecting the usual summer movie fare and at least got something that tied into my childhood.

That said, while I liked the references to the old series, the script writing could have been much better.

[RageD]

I thought they were entertaining Robot Movies.

Where they transformers movies? No, not really.

They shared the names, but none of the traits, heart or soul that made the franchise great.

I'm happy they do well, but I've always disliked michael bay movies.

[Metrotitan]

They were garbage.

[STI 2NV]

I enjoy the movie trilogy for what it is. It had it's moments and, while it could have been better, it could have been a lot worse. I think it's been good for the franchise as a whole what with the money and attention it brought Hasbro.

It's been such a success that Hasbro has been able to make a wealth of alternative TF material for those who may not enjoy the movies. We really have it too good to be unhappy with the movies in my humble opinion. :)


THIS!!

[Larkhainan]

I'd say enjoyed of the two options but I don't really have a strong sentiment towards the films. I think "hating" them gives them too much credit; they're just summer blockbusters made for the purposes of money. They were enjoyable in that regard but it's plainly obvious film making can do better.

[jjwankenobi]

Hard to be polar about this...

On the one had the Bayverse movies brought the Transformers brand back from limbo spawning the Classics toy line which begat Henkei, Universe, Generations, RTS, Fansproject, etc. IMO, it also helped bring Animated and Prime to the small screen and it created a new generation of TransFans.

On the other hand there's Devastator's Balls, Bumblebee's piss, Prime's uncharacteristicly violent behaviour (ok...that's kinda cool really) and the uneccessary wiggerness of the RotF Twins.

In the end I guess the pros outweigh the cons, especially if you view the Trilogy with a healthy dose of buttery popcorn and a few rum and Cokes with as little thinking as humanly possible.

[jourdo]

Hard to be polar about this...

On the one had the Bayverse movies brought the Transformers brand back from limbo spawning the Classics toy line which begat Henkei, Universe, Generations, RTS, Fansproject, etc. IMO, it also helped bring Animated and Prime to the small screen and it created a new generation of TransFans.

On the other hand there's Devastator's Balls, Bumblebee's piss, Prime's uncharacteristicly violent behaviour (ok...that's kinda cool really) and the uneccessary wiggerness of the RotF Twins.

In the end I guess the pros outweigh the cons, especially if you view the Trilogy with a healthy dose of buttery popcorn and a few rum and Cokes with as little thinking as humanly possible.

Very well said, and I couldn't agree more. Like anything, it had high points and low points. Overall, the highs outweighed the lows. Brainless summer fun was had.

Looking forward to the next set.

[brr-icy]

they were ok, i couldn't vote despised

[justprime]

all in all I didn't mind the movies,.. big picture here it brought beloved characters to life in a lifelike manner,... cutting edge filmation, a great example of what can be done visually to make it an enjoyable movie for all Tf fans and non tf fans alike, personally I would have liked less humans and more bots.

[wedge1021]

They hurt my eyes. I spent the last half of DOTM trying not to fall asleep hoping it would either end soon or that something interesting would happen. I'm glad I didn't really pay to watch - it was the 2nd feature of 2 playing at the drive-in, first of which was Capt America, the one I actually went for.

[alternatorfan]

what are you guys talking about if they transformed in what their cartoon counterparts or the stories they portrayed in the cartoons would of sucked more than the reinvention. awesome movies IMO and can only get better. and this is coming from a long time transformer fan that will be 35 this year alot of years for them to make a movie that makes sense! just like when they were supposed to make a spiderman movie live action but did not accept the technology when they were going to make one and waited and although they changed the story (IE dna infused spider webs instead of web shooters ) turned out cool cause it was spiderman same concept> now amazing spiderman is coming out and can not wait to see the new one!

[Team Jetfire]

I'm right in the middle. Bay has done very good things and very bad things for the franchise.

And while the movies really put transformers on the map, I sometimes feel embaressed for associating myself as a fan of Transformers.

[Tekkamanraiden]

They were entertaining, that's really all that mattered.

[racerguy76]

And while the movies really put transformers on the map, I sometimes feel embaressed for associating myself as a fan of Transformers.


QFT!

[Jove]

I couldn't vote despised, because that is too strong a word. Although the movies took too long to have any character development of the title characters (took until the third movie). I think that was my biggest beef.

Summer movies are not 'big thinking' movies by any stretch, but there was far too much Sam Witwicky for my liking, and not enough talking parts for the transformers.

So if there was a choice for "meh" I would have picked that one. I'll see the next one, in hopes that DotM showed things to come, however.

[Echotransformer]

Enjoyed.

Overall I agree with the comments here...there weren't the best in terms of writing and characters or even pacing, but I certainly don't despise them.

Besides, I still get tingles for a few key scenes:

-Autobot arrival (2007)
-Sam's house where the autobots try to hide (2007)
-City battle (2007)
-Prime falling out of cargo plane (2009)
-forest battle (2009)
-Devastator forming (2009)
-highway scene (2011)

One thing's for sure--the toys rarely measured up, and in terms of overstock and supply, have inflicted misery upon the collecting community as of late. (IMHO)

--Echo

[MaxArel]

I liked the movies for what they were; brainless summer fun. If you went in the theatre thinking it was going to be a masterpiece, four words: directed by Micheal Bay. I knew from the start it was gonna be dumb but awesome. It could have been worse too. And hey, it brought Transformers back on the map (although I can now never say I'm a fan without someone questioning my tastes in life in general because they don't enjoy action movies 'cause they're not artsy enough, quote). To me, the real downsides outside of the movies are the changes they brought: gimmicky shelf-warming toys, overly-violent Optimus, mute Bumblebee and so on (although that latter passes in Prime, mute bee in FoC looks silly 'cause, you know, he has a mouth!).

I liked the movies, seen better ones, seen way worse. They're silly, fun summer action flicks.

[joshimus]

I thought all 3 movies have great moments. Granted I can watch ROTF in an hour by skipping the fat, and moments like that in all 3 movies, as a whole for me it's the moments.
I have more memorable moments than not. Most non-memorable are human related and mudflap/skids.
So for me, I enjoyed what we got and look forward to more. Hopefully a better more intelligent script comes along, but i'm happy with the trilogy's moments that leave me smiling

[Prowl_2009]

Loved what Mr. Bay did with our favorite 80's cartoon, really nothing to complain about.

[Goaliebot]

Love em.

[Slave]

Disapointed.... too much Humans, not enough robot vs robot scenes... and when they had a fight scene... it was all Shaky camera and we werent seeing shit...

[Nightscrabbler]

Good movies should at least make sense... but on top of that they were full of low-brow humour, where every characters appeared to be comedy relief... I would've preferred no Transformers movies to those ones.

[sikkbones]

I loved the first few minutes of the third movie.... u know the extended ass scene.

[Alexander Quinn]

While all three films suffer from extreme "bi-polar ADD randomosity syndrome", I think they're fun and enjoyable. Course, part of me likes "bi-polar ADD randomosity syndrome" infected movies. I have no problem tossing on GI Joe: Rise of Cobra, the Resident Evil movies or the Star Wars Prequels. Shitty stories, all of them, but they still manage to make me smile here and there.

[Shepp]

I overall enjoyed the Bayverse. It just stuck around too long and seemed to hijack time from other parts of the franchise.

Are they cinematic masterpieces? No, but they are fun popcorn movies with BAYSPLOSIONS!

I think that's what lead to their popularity. Not every movie has to be a cinematographer's deeply introspective epic.

I know most of us adult fans of Transformers wanted a movie that was on par with Battlestar Galactica's level of depth, angst, and grittiness. But that would have tanked at the box office.

[Robimus]

I like them a lot. The first was the best but I took a lot of enjoyment from all three.

[The Great Scrotum]

I can only speak for myself when I say that I despised it for all the wrong reasons.
Those being:
- The director did not embrace "us" geeky fans of the source material.
- In a story about good versus evil, there was too much college humor.
- "Conservative" political bias undertones complete with stereotypical presumption.
- Disjointed narrative.
- Hated the robot designs.

[BScorpinok75]

I watched and supported the trilogy as a part of the franchise but it was not to my liking.

[gagagalvatron]

Unequivocally, despised.

There are very few movies that don't have any good moments, so saying that the three movies had bright spots is like saying there are good days when you have cancer. Of course there are, but that doesn't lessen the tragedy.

I like that they brought attention to the brand and got toys made. Other than that, a horrible waste of what could have been.

I really take exception with people saying that they're okay movies because they are brainless summer fun. Movies can be smart and fun. The Avengers is a perfect example of something that many people would have enjoyed anyway even if it were crappy, but can proudly enjoy because it's actually good, too.

Transformers deserves better. The franchise has a rich history and tons of possibility. I am frankly insulted that in three movies there are only a handful of robots that have actual characters, and all of those are trumped by a single episode of Transformers Prime or Beast Wars.

The movies are simply lazy, pandering to least common denominators. The CGI is glorious and I won't pretend I didn't enjoy seeing transformations brought to life on the big screen. I just wanted it to have a brain and a soul. The movies are just one big empty vacuum, second only to the one inside Michael Bay's skull.