Am I the only one who liked Revenge of the Fallen and the Twins?

[Donocropolis]

As for the second part, it's best not to think about his whole self sacrificing plan too much.

That goes for almost all the plot points in the Bay movies. I'm glad that they exist, as it pumped a ton of money and interest into the brand that I continue to enjoy the fruits of to this very day, but I have to wonder what it would have been like to have the Transformers movies writing to be at a level similar to, say, the Marvel movies (mostly good. Some great, some middling).

Bumblebee, I thought, was right there.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

I'll always wonder what Bay could have done if they handed him a good script and insisted that he use it, because when it comes to all the technical aspects of translating a script to screen he absolutely knew what he was doing. But these scripts he worked with (when he had them) were just weirdly broken. Screenwriting is hard but come on.

 

[Donocropolis]

I'll always wonder what Bay could have done if they handed him a good script and insisted that he use it, because when it comes to all the technical aspects of translating a script to screen he absolutely knew what he was doing. But these scripts he worked with (when he had them) were just weirdly broken. Screenwriting is hard but come on.

Oh, for sure. He's a hell of a cinematographer, but he literally does not care if what he's putting on screen makes any narrative sense. He just wants a non-stop stream of captivating visuals.

As for screenwriting, I'm always surprised when big budget films have poor writing. I mean, it seems like the one thing that should be able to be acquired on the cheap. There have to be a ton of actually talented writers out there that don't have enough clout to demand large payments, but can put together a 2 to 3 hour story that makes sense.

I suppose it's probably a case of the initial script being decent enough, but by the time all the various executives, producers, director, etc. have their fingers in it, the whole thing just comes apart.

 

[Sabrblade]

Of the five films under Bay's tenure, the first one is the one that most consider to be the most decent or most competently made. But when one takes a good hard look at it, it becomes clear that it really feels like at least two separate films mashed together.

On the one hand, you've got a military intrigue film about the U.S. Army facing an unknown enemy threat that has the Pentagon stumped enough to call in outside help from young analysts and hackers, while a small band of soldiers are on the run for their lives.

And on the other hand, you've got a whimsical coming-of-age film about a boy getting his first car in hopes of impressing the girl he has a crush on, and his car turns out to actually be an extraordinary being from outer space, who helps the boy get the girl and takes them both on a life-changing, whirlwind adventure.

...And somewhere in there, you've got a Transformers film with Autobots and Decepticons coming to Earth from Planet Cybertron and fighting each other over the AllSpark. This was used as the glue that helped tie those other two films together, but still really feels like Bay wanted to make the military intrigue film while Spielberg wanted him to make the coming-of-age film instead. Thus, the end result feels like a mashed-together compromise.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

That probably is exactly what happened. And in all fairness to Bay, his half of that was pretty good.

Come to think of it, if you separate the film into two like that, Bay's is clearly Decepticon-centric and Spielberg's is clearly Autobot-centric. Each half of the movie handled different creative responsibilities with some very clear dividing lines.

You're on to something.

 

[Sabrblade]

That probably is exactly what happened. And in all fairness to Bay, his half of that was pretty good.

Come to think of it, if you separate the film into two like that, Bay's is clearly Decepticon-centric and Spielberg's is clearly Autobot-centric. Each half of the movie handled different creative responsibilities with some very clear dividing lines.

You're on to something.

Truth be told, when I last read the movie's novelization, it was all the military parts in that book that I found to be the more intriguing story while all the Sam Witwitcky stuff was the more boring of the two.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

I haven't read the novelization but I feel that way about the movie. The military stuff is excellent. The hacker stuff... probably would have been fine but it isn't given a fair chance to play out. It's interrupted so the the whole cast can be rushed together for the final act. I do like where it was going.

 

[Sabrblade]

I haven't read the novelization but I feel that way about the movie. The military stuff is excellent. The hacker stuff... probably would have been fine but it isn't given a fair chance to play out. It's interrupted so the the whole cast can be rushed together for the final act. I do like where it was going.

In addition to the hacker stuff, Sector Seven's inclusion also felt really unfinished. They just show up out of nowhere halfway through the movie to interrupt it for a while, only getting things back on track when they're suddenly used to bring all of the separate casts of characters together at Hoover Dam.

Their inclusion might have felt more natural if there had been at least one scene earlier to foreshadow them. Like, when Maggie and Glen are arrested, maybe show Simmons and Banacheck watching their arrest from afar, wearing their suits and sunglasses all mysterious-like. This would make us wonder about who the two of them are, so that when they both show up again later and formally introduce themselves to Sam and John Keller, respectively, the two wouldn't feel as randomly-inserted midway into the movie as they did.

 

[Gridde]

That probably is exactly what happened. And in all fairness to Bay, his half of that was pretty good.

Come to think of it, if you separate the film into two like that, Bay's is clearly Decepticon-centric and Spielberg's is clearly Autobot-centric. Each half of the movie handled different creative responsibilities with some very clear dividing lines.

You're on to something.

Man speaking of this, I'd still love so much to see a movie that really focuses on the Decepticons. Not even as the focal point, but just some actual focus so they feel like fleshed out characters with actual motivations, rather than a bunch of mindless killer drones + moustache-twirling evil leader.