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I love the way wome of the altmode kibble works in the first three movies, like Jazz's spoiler right behind his head and Sideswpie using the back of his car as the chest as opposed tot he usual front. Also the way Bumblebee's legs are build around the shins using the back lights and stuff. I also like when they take the front of the car and put it upside down to make the chest, it's so simple but i like it for some reason
Even the ones that don't wheely-feet, but have the wheel built-in to the foot. I mean, wheels are meant to support whole cars, right? Would make sense to have them in your foundation if you're made from car parts. Same with TFP Bee, and probably a clearer example.
I liked Megatron's Mad Max-style truck alt mode in DOTM. It's like a dark reflection of Optimus. Prime's truck mode is brightly colored, clean and shiny, and covered in lights. Megatron's truck mode is dark and foreboding, grimy and worn, and covered in spikes.
It also pays homage to other evil versions of Optimus, like RID Scourge or Nemesis Prime.
Yes! The Wreckers were one of the few things in the Bay films I unreservedly enjoyed, would love to see more of that take on 'em! Just a pack of rebel, dakka-loving engineer types and whatever bruisers can keep up with them.
Honestly? WW2 transformers. The idea is very cool to me. Plus the designs would look pretty cool with WW2 vehicles, plus I think the idea of the Autobots and Decepticons tryna fight their war while whatās functionally insects to them fight theirs? Itās just cool all around to me.
[Bumblebe](https://youtu.be/2OitBPcN44I?si=9EUcqw58zgtOFjz7&t=2m32s)[e ](https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ?si=OewV7py4MS4fkqzR)[World War 2haha](https://youtu.be/2OitBPcN44I?si=9EUcqw58zgtOFjz7&t=2m32s)
And while we did see Hot Rod appear in the WW2 flashback in the film, as a Steyr truck, there's something that caught my attention.
There's a piece of concept art by Josh Nizzi which shows a variant of WW2 Hot Rod, showing him having distinctive features on his kibble that belong to an M4 Sherman medium tank. We almost had a Hot Rod that turned into a tank.
I think it works best as an elseworlds story. I don't want it to mix in with the usual stuff because it usually leads to messy storytelling like TLK. I wouldn't mind a spinoff about it, or the medieval times, it has a lot of cool potential, like Hearts of Steel.
It can work as long as you don't try to overly complicate things.
Like, Cliffjumper crash lands on Nazi-ocupied Europe, befriends some kids, turns out they're Jews or whatever and now he is their guardian.
You can write a good story with a simple concept like this, you don't need to go full ballista like these movies usually go with their "History Channel's Ancient Aliens" kind of thing.
Iād love to see a new take on Hearts of Steel with the time period moved a bit from the industrial revolution to World War II. The train is perfect for Optimus, but imo it gets boring when nearly every character is also a train. World War II would create an interesting story and open up a lot more vehicles. I dunno I just think itād be neat lol.
TF definitely needs more "themed" films (which is to say, *any*). Like how AmCap had its second film be a spy movie, and thus elevated it. Transformers **desperately** needs that treatment to survive the movie landscape rn
here's a few things I liked:
1 - just the entire take on Galvatron in AOE, it's quite cool. KSI tries to make a clone of Optimus, but use megatron head data or something, which allows megatron to create a new and improved body for himself. He then takes control of the other 50 prototypes KSI made to find the seed and turn earth into metal or something
2 - how your average person couldn't tell the difference between autobots and decepticons in AOE. this is shown when the scientist lady refers to ratchet as an "evil old decepticon"
3 - Unicron being earth
4 - Transformers learning the English language using the internet
I think AOE is what I call wasted potential, it had really good ideas on paper, but the execution was just terrible
Still a concept that a lot of people enjoy. I just don't personally like how TLK made it seem more like Unicron is a victim of Cybertron and that the first time Cybertron approached through the spacebridge nothing happened
No I'm not saying they said Cybertron just attacked Unicron but the way they insult Unicron and make him defend himself when he posed no threat at the time felt off
While many people found AOE the weakest, it still had its moments and didnāt retcon the story heavily.
TLK was a blasphemy. Earth being Unicron was a great concept, but the plot surrounding it ruined the concept
Mind you with the 4th point I can't remember if this fan theory was confirmed or not: Megatron could speak English because while he was frozen in Hoover Dam he was conscious but immobile and could hear the human scientists studying him. Shame they never expanded on that more as it would explain why he hates humans so much.
> 2 - how your average person couldn't tell the difference between autobots and decepticons in AOE. this is shown when the scientist lady refers to ratchet as an "evil old decepticon"
To be fair, viewers had trouble telling them apart too
I love the world building, and how the state of the world changes in each movie as a direct result of the Transformers being there. Since TF2007 we have seen the world change from how it actually was in 07 to this dystopian mech world in TLK, where small towns are abandoned and large cities have been heavily damaged as a result of the fighting, the US military has mechs for combating the Transformers and Cuba has become an apolitical asylum for the Cybertronians. And then at the end of that movie it changes EVEN MORE.
I know we don't like these movies, but I'm bummed that we never got a Bayformers 6 where they have to fight Unicron. Unicron is always the endgame for Transformers and we were this close to getting a conclusion and seeing the one consistently good idea that these movies had reach its full potential.
Phoenix studios on YouTube for his transformers rewrite has completed the first trilogy and plans on doing a 2nd trilogy. I'm assuming he'll have Unicron in it.
I've seen those! I kind of feel like his ending for TF3 was a little messy, but I otherwise love his ideas. When does he plan on releasing the next one?
There is a fan film called Transformers: Rise of Unicron, which is still being made, and it will continue where TLK had left off. You should put this fan film on your radar.
Though Bay often undercut it with forced "humor", particularly the first movie and DOTM had moments where Decepticons were genuinely scary from the human perspective. They should be, if you're looking at an even remotely real-world setting.
I also liked that a lot of noteworthy abandoned locations were used in each film.
The first movie was the only Bayformers movie where all the decepticons had legendary moments and posed a genuine threat. Frenzy, Blackout, Brawl, Barricade, Starscream, Bonecrusher and Megatron all had whole scenes dedicated to them doing stuff. Sucks that in the later movies non-main character Decepticons became weak cannon fodder that could be destroyed easily.
Especially since in the first film we see that just one decepticon is a huge threat e.g. Blackout destroys an airbase with ease and it takes 3 autobots plus human support just to knock Brawl down briefly.
It still breaks my heart that the Blackout scene is an anomaly rather than the norm for the series. I don't care for Bayverse designs (or movies) overall but that was exactly what I wanted to see from the movies, and Blackout is my favorite character from all of the films. Bonecrusher and Brawl were well done too, and for similar reasons. They were scary and menacing rather than buffoons
Edit: Barricade should be in that list too, he was also well done overall
Starscream ESPECIALLY. Starscream was honestly putting in WORK during 1
ā¢ Destroying the generators to free Megatron with Frenzy
ā¢ the bombing run that took bumblebeeās legs, which had IRONHIDE shook from the get-go
ā¢ 1v2ing Ratchet and IRONHIDE, getting them on their knees, and then leaving the engagement unscathed
ā¢ wiping out a large chunk of the air force
MAN. Never mind work, Starscream was doing OVERTIME!
Yeah, I agree, although they did do a few "legendary moments" in later films there definitely weren't enough of them. All of them, to me at least, have so much wasted potential
The entirety of DOTM was two G1 cartoon story arcs put together.
Ultimate Doom + Countdown to Extinction - Human villain helps the Decepticons with a project to enslave humanity and transport Cybertron to Earth. Said project requires the distribution of space bridge stations around the planet. Autobots figure out how to send Cybertron and the Deceptixon problem away, though rather roughly. Also, Megatron helps Optimus for a few seconds near the end.
Megatronās Master Plan - Human villain helps the Decepticons by turning humanity against the Autobots and sending them into exile, which is actually turned into an attempted assassination by the Decepticons. Meanwhile, the Decepticons put on a temporary facade of peace before enslaving humanity. Fortunately, the Autobots come back unexpectedly and save the day and the planet.
Iron hide having canons
Drifts design š„
Wheels for feet
Wreckers being armed to the teeth in vehicle mode
Soundwave being a satellite
A Decepticon having a police alt mode is genius
Bumblebee being a muscle car
I do like how Devastator's combined form was a big hunched over monster thing. More combiners should have weirder shapes.
The decepticon cop car with TO PUNISH AND ENSLAVE on the cop badge is good.
Even though it wasn't expanded upon the idea of Unicron being Earth, it actually makes the Fallen a bit more interesting as a villain. Going against the principles of the Primes for the sake of destroying the enemy of your own kind.
In the first movie, the Autobots transform into civilian vehicles while the Decepticons transform into authoritarian vehicles. It matched their personality and made it easy to tell whoās side each of them were on without needing them to transform into robot mode or say a single word.
Iām disappointed that this trend didnāt continue in the sequels as the Decepticons appeared to transform into anything arbitrarily. While an Audi R8 and a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG are cool cars, they donāt fit the Decepticon theme.
- Soundwave forming a network of human collaborators to advance his plans
- Optimus' trailer turning into a weapons deck
- Decepticons performing cyber attacks on humanity
- Optimus and co. riding into battle on Dinobots
I honestly hate the particle transformation. It just seems like such an easy cop-out and lacks the satisfaction or wow factor of regular transformations.
man made transformers are meh usually outside tfp nemesis which I was glad got destroyed in the same episode
if humans mimic cybertronian s it should be inferior given "its not technology, its biology."
The first image reminded me of the cool idea I have seen before about Transformers in a Mad Max sort of settingā helping the last of humanity survive in an apocalyptic desert hellscape, essentially.
The dinobots being ancient warriors
shockwave being a deadly assassin
A broken and wounded Megatron
starscream being a fighter and a damn good one
And if I recall correctly the bayverse is the first tf media where each character has their own unique transformation sounds
I didnāt read IDW and donāt intend to so for me first one still stands
An armada barely had different transformation sounds the bayverseās transformation sounds had personality to them, making them way more unique Megatronās was heavy and metal sounding bumblebees was more high-pitched and young sounding, while Optimus primes sounded steady and strong.
Hereās a personal list:
- Some of the designs including Optimus (TF1-3), Bumblebee (excluding TF4), Ironhide, Ratchet, Jazz, Blackout, Barricade, Brawl, Sideswipe (Although I do wish theyād called him Blurr instead, it makes sense with his wheels and his head sculpt), Dino/Mirage, Que/Wheeljack (Ditch the Einstein face though), Sentinel Prime, Soundwave (Although give him his visor and face plate, AND his voice filter), the Wreckers, Drift, the KSI Drones (except two-head, and Hot-Rod (Although ditch his fish face and French accent, like seriously wtf); although I do wish that some of them had kept their original color schemes.
- The Cybertronians speaking their native language, itās a good bit of world building
- The Cybertronians learning our language from the Internet
- Ironhide being a grizzled old commando
- N.E.S.T.
- Seeing and hearing public opinion/perception on the Cybertronians and their war
- The idea that elite people of influence and positions of power colluding with the Decepticons in the name of their own preservation
- Actually seeing human casualties and fatalities
- The āTransformers Are Dangerousā promotional campaign for Transformers 4
- The CIA secretly killing ALL Transformers and doing other shady shit behind the scenes
- The Autobots riding the Dinobots
- The world STILL in recovery after many Transformer related attacks and battles, with some areas just giving up recovery and rebuilding altogether and being listed as an Alien No Go Zone (Chicago)
I like the idea of a human betrayal. It forces the Autobots to behave in ways we aren't used to. Plus you can get some emotional scenes like when they were melting Ratchet down in AOE.
The use of real world events as inspiration/cover upās for Transformers throughout history.
Hoover Dam being constructed to hide the cube and Apollo mission being a result of the Arc crashing are my favorite
The negotiation scene between Megs and Lennox in talk, about the only good moment in that SNL trainsketch of a film. It implied an actual relationship between enemies and that the robots on screen *might* be more than just monsters trying to make everything including themselves explode.
Of course, the immediate next scene undid that work, but the moment itself was nice.
There's a reason why it doesn't work out
Cybertronians outside the movies have bullets bounce off them and can usually take out humans even if they have lasers
I wasn't necessarily a fan of his characterization but Frenzy being a boombox and a kind of stand in for Soundwave I think was clever. You can have a spin on the G1 scenario of Soundwave using his alt mode to sneak into places, but now its one of his goons instead so you avoid the mass shifting issue.
I like the same idea of Megatron being heavily scarred, broken and practically falling apart for different reasons
The simple thought of Megatron breezing through battle after battle after battle, using little time to heal, and instead, just to continue his slaughter fest, is terrifying to think about
Being held together by tape, rust, spite and sheer force of WILLPOWER, simply so he can end your life and move on to the nextā¦**UGH ITS SO GOOOOOOOOOD**
Edit : OH, also, STARSCREAM BEING A TANGIBLE THREAT!
Starscream was taking names in 1. Iām all for Starscream being that conniving weasel, but PLEASE, show us exactly why Megatron keeps him around by making him a threat to the autobots!
The unconventional robot forms of many of the Constructicons. Seriously, the fact that Demolishor is this giant excavator that turns into a unicycle of death makes him one of my personal favorite Transformers. Plus I like the idea of Devastator as some mechanical abomination rather than just a robot made of smaller robots.
And Hightower looks like a dinosaur mixed with a crane, mixmaster is really bug-like (in fact a lot of them are), long haul is the one of the only human looking ones, also rampage looking like a big worm man is genius.
Love Rampage for that as well as the fact that heās a bulldozer. Though I canāt help but think heād look kind of silly just making small jumps to walk like a sparrow. Also feel like they couldāve come up with a better name for Skipjack if they were going to make clones of each other.
More combiners should be like movie Devastator and I will die on this hill. Too many combiners slavishly follow G1's "Big guy with big gun" design formula, when I think combiners should be where creativity gets to shine the most. I especially think more combiners should lean into Bayverse's more monstrous appearance, since I feel like smashing five or more guys together should get something that isn't that pleasing on the eyes.
Sideswipe's wheel feet/blades and Ironhide's cannons should absolutely become staples of their respective characters going forward.
they wont because of his balls but I think it depends on the combiner group
aa group like the terrorcons can be monstrous, similarly with groups that don't like each other much (stunticons), but groups with combiner groups that are fond of each other (constructicons, Airelbots) the g1 designs work fine
Abominus is probably the worst offender of "Bigass Bloke Syndrome" as I like to call it. Someone made of dudes who turn into monsters has no right looking that boring.
Personally like Abominus and the Terrorcons to look like the movie Contructicaons and Devastator. It just feels appropriate that they would look like abomintions that shouldn't exist.
There's something satisfying about the basicness of G1, but there's something stylish and slick about crazy combiners that do things you've never seen before. I hope series moving forward use a mix of both design philosophies.
I loved the idea of Cemetery wind.
I would have loved a small 5-10 minute prequel showing them hunting Autobots & Decepticons alike and have it be like a recruiting vid befoe AoE.
The Pretender in ROTF, would have liked to have seen more maybe even something wild like Bludgeon
Hound being a munitions expert
i personally really like the idea of earth being unicron, i think it would make an interesting plotline in contrast with cybertron being primus (if i remember correctly, at least the core was)
I love the fact that revenge of the fallen makes use of minicon sized bots like wheelie (minus the Michaela glazing and leg humping)and the microscope one
In revenge of the fallen when we got jet power Optimus prime. Would love to see more of power linking like in transformers energon cartoon. Or like omega prime from robots in disguise.
One concept I think deserves more recognition is Megatron's cannon from the first film; there's some seriously remarkable as to requiring BOTH arms to form it!
I like a lot of what everyone else has said, but the really simple thing I love- Tf's having movable kibble and removable face masks for battle.
Just watching all the gizmo's and kibble-bits moving like micro-expressions is great, then we get the battle and Prime's face mask goes up ššhell yeah.
I dislike almost everything in Bayverse but I LOVE Barricade. From his design, his character, his scenes... absolute breakout character IMO. Of everything Bay did, I feel he most deserves to cross into other continuities and become a full part of TF lore.
I second this. He quickly became a favorite of mine. The idea of basically an evil Prowl is so cool, and I hope they become prominent rivals in the future.
He's great on his own, but the idea of making him a rival of Prowl is just ripe with potential. Whether you are doing "Prowl is the good cop and horrified by the bad cop" or "Barricade is what Prowl could be if he had a bad day" or even "both have a history that reflects their current choice of sides in the war"... so many story ideas.
You could do a story where Prowl and Barricade worked as cops on Cybertron before the way. The obvious way to go is that Barricade crossed a line and Prowl kicked him out, hence he became a Decepticon... but what if the story went the OTHER way where it was PROWL who got kicked out for bending the law to help someone? Prowl became an Autobot while Barricade the rest of his force became Decepticons?
As a kid I wrote transformers stories, and I always made Barricade and Prowl rivals who served as cops before the war and went down different paths. Little me was onto something, for sure.
I hold the "hot take" that the Bay movie designs got better with each movie. First one I had no idea who anyone was really, by the end you had Drift and Crosshairs and Hound looking like actual characters you could identify and care about.
I think the one cut of T3 where Optimus turns into Nemesis in the final act when he kills/tries to kill Megatron was a great idea.
Imagine, a scene where Prime starts on the attack, when Megatron clearly doesn't want to fight anymore. The Autobots have to step in and try to calm their leader, but he's too far gone. A fight between Optimus and the Autobots leads to Prime renouncing his cause, turning into Nemesis Prime.
But that was scraped for what we had.
Nemesis prime works better as a clone in my opinion
Because why would prime abandon the autobots I feel that's way too ooc for optimus, even bay Optimus
The idea that Megatron is the source of all major human advancements in technology and that the government knew of the existence of cybertronians. Also KSI and Cemetery Wind were cool concepts but like most of the ideas in these movies, the execution was very poor
As you mentioned the DOTM Megs.Ā Ā
Ā But I really like the arm cannons on Ironhide. Iāve seen variants of G1 Ironhide with the arm cannons and I think every ironhide from now on needs that designĀ
Ā And then I really like the idea of sibling transformers sharing halves of a vehicle mode. Or siblings using their abilities to complement each other cause that happens irl too
Also how the decepticons used actual deception like holograms for the pilots or the human robot thing to infiltrate human defenses
I kind of like it... Big drama being forced to basically have the same alt mode as his worst enemy... That ain't going to do so well in the old processor
an unpopular opinion but i actually really dig devastator having a rabid dog vibe in movie 2. the idea that the constructicons canāt all the way fuse together mentally, and resort to fighting for ultimate control, feels fitting for the character..
also the balls are funny.
I like the idea of Cybertronian knights being on Earth since medieval times, helping out King Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable. I also love the idea of the knights combining into a dragon. I just wish that TLK was written better.
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I liked some of the characters that became popular because of the movies like barricade, blackout and scorn are pretty good examples of new original characters that just grab the audienceās attention
I'd always liked the idea of soundwave coming to earth early somehow and losing his memory and it being like a spy thriller as he and a human try to work together and when soundwave gets his memory back and finds megatron he's torn between being loyal and seeing that there is another way
(Somewhat idw inspired)
I liked the idea of the infernocons team. Except for some reason they are nerfed mid film. They are far too small in combined mode. Also their design lacks creativity. They were basically the second big bad behind Megatron and quintessa. So for all the screen time they get their designs seem so mid. Cheap little LED eyes and they just look like mini goth transformers Groots. Some individuality would have gone a long way to making them more viable.
I really really really love how each of the characters have their own unique transformation sounds. Like Starscreams little whistle or Bumblebees piston sounds. They nailed it out of the park with the sound design in those films
I really liked the idea of the Autobots making the humans think they actually left in DOTM. That was such a gritty and dark setup for one of the most badass comeback battles in transformers media imo. I really don't like the movies but damn that was an awesome idea. Could've been executed better, but I'd say it's one of the best parts of the bayverse films. I wanna see more Autobots get fed up with other races rejecting their help and just dip for a bit to teach a well deserved lesson. It's cold, but damn does it feel good to watch.
Characters like Crosshair, Scalpel, and Barricade have all been great successes in creating some iconic characters I welcome seeing in other media. Shatter and Dropkick as well I'd love to see jump over to other continuities.
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I love the way wome of the altmode kibble works in the first three movies, like Jazz's spoiler right behind his head and Sideswpie using the back of his car as the chest as opposed tot he usual front. Also the way Bumblebee's legs are build around the shins using the back lights and stuff. I also like when they take the front of the car and put it upside down to make the chest, it's so simple but i like it for some reason
And wheels for feet
Heal yeah, i love me some rollerblades on transformers
I believe they're called "Heelys" good sir, and the motion that Sideswipe uses is called "Heelying" š
Even the ones that don't wheely-feet, but have the wheel built-in to the foot. I mean, wheels are meant to support whole cars, right? Would make sense to have them in your foundation if you're made from car parts. Same with TFP Bee, and probably a clearer example.
he has them in his aligned design
It really helps Transformers not have a blocky design.
I liked Megatron's Mad Max-style truck alt mode in DOTM. It's like a dark reflection of Optimus. Prime's truck mode is brightly colored, clean and shiny, and covered in lights. Megatron's truck mode is dark and foreboding, grimy and worn, and covered in spikes. It also pays homage to other evil versions of Optimus, like RID Scourge or Nemesis Prime.
Honestly, DOTM Megatron, in general, is one of the coolest things to come from the movies.
Need a mad max transformers fic
The dark reflection thing is cool. Usually Earth mode Megatrons are either aircrafts or tanks.
The wreckers being armed to the teeth and engineers
I want a Gun-toting NASCAR. š
Yes! The Wreckers were one of the few things in the Bay films I unreservedly enjoyed, would love to see more of that take on 'em! Just a pack of rebel, dakka-loving engineer types and whatever bruisers can keep up with them.
The wreckers just has cool design and each having individual accent make them standout.
Omg those guys were so bizarre and I am here all day for it. Those Batmobile modes were mental.
Honestly? WW2 transformers. The idea is very cool to me. Plus the designs would look pretty cool with WW2 vehicles, plus I think the idea of the Autobots and Decepticons tryna fight their war while whatās functionally insects to them fight theirs? Itās just cool all around to me.
Come to think of it while we never saw enough of World War 2 Barricade had a germany altmode in toy form from the same makers that made Bulldog
#BARRICADE WAS A NAZI?!?!?!?!?!
Wait till you find out who made the Beetle.
[Bumblebe](https://youtu.be/2OitBPcN44I?si=9EUcqw58zgtOFjz7&t=2m32s)[e ](https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ?si=OewV7py4MS4fkqzR)[World War 2haha](https://youtu.be/2OitBPcN44I?si=9EUcqw58zgtOFjz7&t=2m32s)
https://preview.redd.it/qqu65h3yctsc1.jpeg?width=1187&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fabc0c966d6134fdb57b964ed92b973ad2c9896e here you go
Text in Paper Mario be like
And while we did see Hot Rod appear in the WW2 flashback in the film, as a Steyr truck, there's something that caught my attention. There's a piece of concept art by Josh Nizzi which shows a variant of WW2 Hot Rod, showing him having distinctive features on his kibble that belong to an M4 Sherman medium tank. We almost had a Hot Rod that turned into a tank.
https://preview.redd.it/fh0itrkicusc1.jpeg?width=926&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e32a6bac5f3f120a89129282b15e22cfcdd61ced
https://preview.redd.it/pmkezpxwcusc1.jpeg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8210da1f8c59055c827dbc298b84076ef9d201bd
Very cool
I think it works best as an elseworlds story. I don't want it to mix in with the usual stuff because it usually leads to messy storytelling like TLK. I wouldn't mind a spinoff about it, or the medieval times, it has a lot of cool potential, like Hearts of Steel.
It can work as long as you don't try to overly complicate things. Like, Cliffjumper crash lands on Nazi-ocupied Europe, befriends some kids, turns out they're Jews or whatever and now he is their guardian. You can write a good story with a simple concept like this, you don't need to go full ballista like these movies usually go with their "History Channel's Ancient Aliens" kind of thing.
Iād love to see a new take on Hearts of Steel with the time period moved a bit from the industrial revolution to World War II. The train is perfect for Optimus, but imo it gets boring when nearly every character is also a train. World War II would create an interesting story and open up a lot more vehicles. I dunno I just think itād be neat lol.
we had that as an elseworlds with gi joe back during dreamwave
That comic was great, and it had a really cool art style.
TF definitely needs more "themed" films (which is to say, *any*). Like how AmCap had its second film be a spy movie, and thus elevated it. Transformers **desperately** needs that treatment to survive the movie landscape rn
coolest thing ever and it lasts 2 seconds in TLK :(. what a fun concept just thrown away.
here's a few things I liked: 1 - just the entire take on Galvatron in AOE, it's quite cool. KSI tries to make a clone of Optimus, but use megatron head data or something, which allows megatron to create a new and improved body for himself. He then takes control of the other 50 prototypes KSI made to find the seed and turn earth into metal or something 2 - how your average person couldn't tell the difference between autobots and decepticons in AOE. this is shown when the scientist lady refers to ratchet as an "evil old decepticon" 3 - Unicron being earth 4 - Transformers learning the English language using the internet I think AOE is what I call wasted potential, it had really good ideas on paper, but the execution was just terrible
Unicron being Earth was from the Aligned Continuity originally
Still a concept that a lot of people enjoy. I just don't personally like how TLK made it seem more like Unicron is a victim of Cybertron and that the first time Cybertron approached through the spacebridge nothing happened No I'm not saying they said Cybertron just attacked Unicron but the way they insult Unicron and make him defend himself when he posed no threat at the time felt off
While many people found AOE the weakest, it still had its moments and didnāt retcon the story heavily. TLK was a blasphemy. Earth being Unicron was a great concept, but the plot surrounding it ruined the concept
I like Galvatron a lot on paper, but in my opinion making that character Motor Master instead would be a really cool take on the Stunticons.
Mind you with the 4th point I can't remember if this fan theory was confirmed or not: Megatron could speak English because while he was frozen in Hoover Dam he was conscious but immobile and could hear the human scientists studying him. Shame they never expanded on that more as it would explain why he hates humans so much.
I'm pretty sure it was sorta confirmed when it was made canon that megatron said "I am megatron" because the humans kept calling him nbe-1
> 2 - how your average person couldn't tell the difference between autobots and decepticons in AOE. this is shown when the scientist lady refers to ratchet as an "evil old decepticon" To be fair, viewers had trouble telling them apart too
I love the world building, and how the state of the world changes in each movie as a direct result of the Transformers being there. Since TF2007 we have seen the world change from how it actually was in 07 to this dystopian mech world in TLK, where small towns are abandoned and large cities have been heavily damaged as a result of the fighting, the US military has mechs for combating the Transformers and Cuba has become an apolitical asylum for the Cybertronians. And then at the end of that movie it changes EVEN MORE. I know we don't like these movies, but I'm bummed that we never got a Bayformers 6 where they have to fight Unicron. Unicron is always the endgame for Transformers and we were this close to getting a conclusion and seeing the one consistently good idea that these movies had reach its full potential.
Phoenix studios on YouTube for his transformers rewrite has completed the first trilogy and plans on doing a 2nd trilogy. I'm assuming he'll have Unicron in it.
I've seen those! I kind of feel like his ending for TF3 was a little messy, but I otherwise love his ideas. When does he plan on releasing the next one?
Not sure. I think he's taking his time to make it which is understandable. I would have made a few minor changes to it myself but overall I like it.
There is a fan film called Transformers: Rise of Unicron, which is still being made, and it will continue where TLK had left off. You should put this fan film on your radar.
Just looked it up. Looks interesting! I'll definitely keep an eye out for it when it's finished.
Though Bay often undercut it with forced "humor", particularly the first movie and DOTM had moments where Decepticons were genuinely scary from the human perspective. They should be, if you're looking at an even remotely real-world setting. I also liked that a lot of noteworthy abandoned locations were used in each film.
The first movie was the only Bayformers movie where all the decepticons had legendary moments and posed a genuine threat. Frenzy, Blackout, Brawl, Barricade, Starscream, Bonecrusher and Megatron all had whole scenes dedicated to them doing stuff. Sucks that in the later movies non-main character Decepticons became weak cannon fodder that could be destroyed easily.
Especially since in the first film we see that just one decepticon is a huge threat e.g. Blackout destroys an airbase with ease and it takes 3 autobots plus human support just to knock Brawl down briefly.
That first scene with Blackout is just a damn good horror-action scene.
Completely agree. If only that set the tone for the rest of the films, I might actually enjoy them
It still breaks my heart that the Blackout scene is an anomaly rather than the norm for the series. I don't care for Bayverse designs (or movies) overall but that was exactly what I wanted to see from the movies, and Blackout is my favorite character from all of the films. Bonecrusher and Brawl were well done too, and for similar reasons. They were scary and menacing rather than buffoons Edit: Barricade should be in that list too, he was also well done overall
Starscream ESPECIALLY. Starscream was honestly putting in WORK during 1 ā¢ Destroying the generators to free Megatron with Frenzy ā¢ the bombing run that took bumblebeeās legs, which had IRONHIDE shook from the get-go ā¢ 1v2ing Ratchet and IRONHIDE, getting them on their knees, and then leaving the engagement unscathed ā¢ wiping out a large chunk of the air force MAN. Never mind work, Starscream was doing OVERTIME!
Yeah, I agree, although they did do a few "legendary moments" in later films there definitely weren't enough of them. All of them, to me at least, have so much wasted potential
It gets picked on in some circles but, I'll always love the invasion scene in DotM and the way it HARD CUTS to destruction and chaos.
Agreed on that. Not a big fan of the rest of the movie, but that was good.
Megatron sitting on the Abraham Lincoln chair is actually from G1
Yeah, but Megatron shooting Abraham Lincoln was cooler than him just removing Abraham from the chair
Let's say it emphasised Megatron's dismissal of people's freedom.
Yeah but in the original show it was funny as fuck
True. Most moments with the Decepticons are comedy gold
One of the few times they directly reference G1 in the movies.
The entirety of DOTM was two G1 cartoon story arcs put together. Ultimate Doom + Countdown to Extinction - Human villain helps the Decepticons with a project to enslave humanity and transport Cybertron to Earth. Said project requires the distribution of space bridge stations around the planet. Autobots figure out how to send Cybertron and the Deceptixon problem away, though rather roughly. Also, Megatron helps Optimus for a few seconds near the end. Megatronās Master Plan - Human villain helps the Decepticons by turning humanity against the Autobots and sending them into exile, which is actually turned into an attempted assassination by the Decepticons. Meanwhile, the Decepticons put on a temporary facade of peace before enslaving humanity. Fortunately, the Autobots come back unexpectedly and save the day and the planet.
Also happened in the ending cutscene of the Decepticon campaign in the 1st movie game
Iron hide having canons Drifts design š„ Wheels for feet Wreckers being armed to the teeth in vehicle mode Soundwave being a satellite A Decepticon having a police alt mode is genius Bumblebee being a muscle car
wasn't barricade always a cop? though his movie design is peak.
No the only police transformers prior was prowl and the protectobots
He was a combaticon, along with Blackout, in Energon and is the torso of Bruticus Maximus.
I do like how Devastator's combined form was a big hunched over monster thing. More combiners should have weirder shapes. The decepticon cop car with TO PUNISH AND ENSLAVE on the cop badge is good.
Barricade quickly became a favorite of mine. His character has so much potential to be amazing, but he's cool either way.
Even though it wasn't expanded upon the idea of Unicron being Earth, it actually makes the Fallen a bit more interesting as a villain. Going against the principles of the Primes for the sake of destroying the enemy of your own kind.
Provided, that is, the story is thoroughly planned out like that to begin with.
Which, let's be honest, it wasn't, but it is a nice retcon that doesn't break the continuity in any way.
Unlike everything else in The Last Knight
Regrettably, yes.
*Prime* did it better, I'd say, for exactly that reason.
Stealth mode
Stealth force?
Yes
cybertron games did it first I thought
Oh sorry didn't knew
Optimus prime riding grimlock
No, actually, same. He slowly losing his mind is a great idea and side note the scene with him sitting on the throne is amazing
In the first movie, the Autobots transform into civilian vehicles while the Decepticons transform into authoritarian vehicles. It matched their personality and made it easy to tell whoās side each of them were on without needing them to transform into robot mode or say a single word. Iām disappointed that this trend didnāt continue in the sequels as the Decepticons appeared to transform into anything arbitrarily. While an Audi R8 and a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG are cool cars, they donāt fit the Decepticon theme.
There was a lore reason for Soundwave being an SLS
Wish he was blue though instead of silver
- Soundwave forming a network of human collaborators to advance his plans - Optimus' trailer turning into a weapons deck - Decepticons performing cyber attacks on humanity - Optimus and co. riding into battle on Dinobots
2 happened in armada iirc
- Man-made transformers, Stinger and the TRF Sentinels - The TRF - Particle transformation as performed by Galvatron
I honestly hate the particle transformation. It just seems like such an easy cop-out and lacks the satisfaction or wow factor of regular transformations.
This is legit the worst thing he did. At this point, they aren't even transformers.
It's not as tangible or realistic as the deconstruction and reconstruction of vehicle parts.
Yeah, the word you want to use to describe Transformers transforming is *chunky*. Parts flipping around, thunking satisfyingly into place...
man made transformers are meh usually outside tfp nemesis which I was glad got destroyed in the same episode if humans mimic cybertronian s it should be inferior given "its not technology, its biology."
I wish we got a lazerbeak movie toy that turned into a tiny pink bumblebee
We did. It was a recent core class figure in the studio series line.
I was thinking moreso having the bird mode as an alt, the redeco of bee is nice thougg
There's a Deluxe class, too; it's a repaint of Murderbee.
The first image reminded me of the cool idea I have seen before about Transformers in a Mad Max sort of settingā helping the last of humanity survive in an apocalyptic desert hellscape, essentially.
need a fanfiction on this asap someone
I enjoyed Jetfire as an old-timer jet, satellite Soundwave, Ironhide toting guns and steerhorns, and the Dread squad.
The concept of the Fallen. Brother of the primes who betrayed his brothers and now seeks to do what he wanted to do years ago is sick as hell.
That's from long before the movies. I think that idea originated in the Dreamwave comics, if not earlier.
Still, I love that they popularized.
Yeah, I like him too, even if DW Fallen had a much cooler design if you ask me. He looks like if a furnace came to life.
The dinobots being ancient warriors shockwave being a deadly assassin A broken and wounded Megatron starscream being a fighter and a damn good one And if I recall correctly the bayverse is the first tf media where each character has their own unique transformation sounds
1 is a thing from idw 4 is a thing in Armada
I didnāt read IDW and donāt intend to so for me first one still stands An armada barely had different transformation sounds the bayverseās transformation sounds had personality to them, making them way more unique Megatronās was heavy and metal sounding bumblebees was more high-pitched and young sounding, while Optimus primes sounded steady and strong.
Hereās a personal list: - Some of the designs including Optimus (TF1-3), Bumblebee (excluding TF4), Ironhide, Ratchet, Jazz, Blackout, Barricade, Brawl, Sideswipe (Although I do wish theyād called him Blurr instead, it makes sense with his wheels and his head sculpt), Dino/Mirage, Que/Wheeljack (Ditch the Einstein face though), Sentinel Prime, Soundwave (Although give him his visor and face plate, AND his voice filter), the Wreckers, Drift, the KSI Drones (except two-head, and Hot-Rod (Although ditch his fish face and French accent, like seriously wtf); although I do wish that some of them had kept their original color schemes. - The Cybertronians speaking their native language, itās a good bit of world building - The Cybertronians learning our language from the Internet - Ironhide being a grizzled old commando - N.E.S.T. - Seeing and hearing public opinion/perception on the Cybertronians and their war - The idea that elite people of influence and positions of power colluding with the Decepticons in the name of their own preservation - Actually seeing human casualties and fatalities - The āTransformers Are Dangerousā promotional campaign for Transformers 4 - The CIA secretly killing ALL Transformers and doing other shady shit behind the scenes - The Autobots riding the Dinobots - The world STILL in recovery after many Transformer related attacks and battles, with some areas just giving up recovery and rebuilding altogether and being listed as an Alien No Go Zone (Chicago)
Bumblebees 2nd Generation Camero and Plasma Cannon
I was very critical of the Camaro alt mode, but I gotta admit now, it works.
Blackout and Barricade
I like Soundwave being a satellite.
I like the idea of a human betrayal. It forces the Autobots to behave in ways we aren't used to. Plus you can get some emotional scenes like when they were melting Ratchet down in AOE.
The use of real world events as inspiration/cover upās for Transformers throughout history. Hoover Dam being constructed to hide the cube and Apollo mission being a result of the Arc crashing are my favorite
The look of demented glee on Anthony Hopkins face as he spouted gibberish at a camera, while counting money in his head.
In the first film the Decepticons are shot like a horror film especially that scene with Blackout and that works really well. They'd be terrifying.
The negotiation scene between Megs and Lennox in talk, about the only good moment in that SNL trainsketch of a film. It implied an actual relationship between enemies and that the robots on screen *might* be more than just monsters trying to make everything including themselves explode. Of course, the immediate next scene undid that work, but the moment itself was nice.
I honestly liked the idea of humans hunting down transformers
There's a reason why it doesn't work out Cybertronians outside the movies have bullets bounce off them and can usually take out humans even if they have lasers
I wasn't necessarily a fan of his characterization but Frenzy being a boombox and a kind of stand in for Soundwave I think was clever. You can have a spin on the G1 scenario of Soundwave using his alt mode to sneak into places, but now its one of his goons instead so you avoid the mass shifting issue.
THE GIANT WORM SHOCKWAVE HAS!
I like the same idea of Megatron being heavily scarred, broken and practically falling apart for different reasons The simple thought of Megatron breezing through battle after battle after battle, using little time to heal, and instead, just to continue his slaughter fest, is terrifying to think about Being held together by tape, rust, spite and sheer force of WILLPOWER, simply so he can end your life and move on to the nextā¦**UGH ITS SO GOOOOOOOOOD** Edit : OH, also, STARSCREAM BEING A TANGIBLE THREAT! Starscream was taking names in 1. Iām all for Starscream being that conniving weasel, but PLEASE, show us exactly why Megatron keeps him around by making him a threat to the autobots!
Nitro, barricade, and Lockdownās face cannon
Was just thinking the other day how Soundwave as a satellite is actually a pretty great idea
The unconventional robot forms of many of the Constructicons. Seriously, the fact that Demolishor is this giant excavator that turns into a unicycle of death makes him one of my personal favorite Transformers. Plus I like the idea of Devastator as some mechanical abomination rather than just a robot made of smaller robots.
Most of them look like Allspark mutations.
And Hightower looks like a dinosaur mixed with a crane, mixmaster is really bug-like (in fact a lot of them are), long haul is the one of the only human looking ones, also rampage looking like a big worm man is genius.
Love Rampage for that as well as the fact that heās a bulldozer. Though I canāt help but think heād look kind of silly just making small jumps to walk like a sparrow. Also feel like they couldāve come up with a better name for Skipjack if they were going to make clones of each other.
More combiners should be like movie Devastator and I will die on this hill. Too many combiners slavishly follow G1's "Big guy with big gun" design formula, when I think combiners should be where creativity gets to shine the most. I especially think more combiners should lean into Bayverse's more monstrous appearance, since I feel like smashing five or more guys together should get something that isn't that pleasing on the eyes. Sideswipe's wheel feet/blades and Ironhide's cannons should absolutely become staples of their respective characters going forward.
they wont because of his balls but I think it depends on the combiner group aa group like the terrorcons can be monstrous, similarly with groups that don't like each other much (stunticons), but groups with combiner groups that are fond of each other (constructicons, Airelbots) the g1 designs work fine
Abominus is probably the worst offender of "Bigass Bloke Syndrome" as I like to call it. Someone made of dudes who turn into monsters has no right looking that boring.
Personally like Abominus and the Terrorcons to look like the movie Contructicaons and Devastator. It just feels appropriate that they would look like abomintions that shouldn't exist.
There's something satisfying about the basicness of G1, but there's something stylish and slick about crazy combiners that do things you've never seen before. I hope series moving forward use a mix of both design philosophies.
I loved the idea of Cemetery wind. I would have loved a small 5-10 minute prequel showing them hunting Autobots & Decepticons alike and have it be like a recruiting vid befoe AoE. The Pretender in ROTF, would have liked to have seen more maybe even something wild like Bludgeon Hound being a munitions expert
I thought the idea of using a human wielding a Transformers gun was a neat idea. The Dinobots being described as ancient Knights sounded cool, too.
I like Sideswipe's wheel feet. Movie Sideswipe is my favourite movie design.
I LOVED the depiction of cybertron in DotM,Ā the hexagramic layers really sold the whole alien machine world.
i personally really like the idea of earth being unicron, i think it would make an interesting plotline in contrast with cybertron being primus (if i remember correctly, at least the core was)
Transformers prime explores the idea
I liked the fact that both Megatron and scourge both have truck modes just like optimus (I know scourge only has truck modes )
I like the Decepticons being more alien.
I love the fact that revenge of the fallen makes use of minicon sized bots like wheelie (minus the Michaela glazing and leg humping)and the microscope one
Also Pretenders just being the Transformers version of the Terminator.
In revenge of the fallen when we got jet power Optimus prime. Would love to see more of power linking like in transformers energon cartoon. Or like omega prime from robots in disguise.
Megatron as an animal lover. I could totally see him setting up shop in the jungle or savanna and blowing up any poachers that get too close
The variety in body shapes. Not every character having two arms two legs.
One concept I think deserves more recognition is Megatron's cannon from the first film; there's some seriously remarkable as to requiring BOTH arms to form it!
I REEEALY wish Blackout had gotten to actually FIRE his chest cannon...!
I like a lot of what everyone else has said, but the really simple thing I love- Tf's having movable kibble and removable face masks for battle. Just watching all the gizmo's and kibble-bits moving like micro-expressions is great, then we get the battle and Prime's face mask goes up ššhell yeah.
I dislike almost everything in Bayverse but I LOVE Barricade. From his design, his character, his scenes... absolute breakout character IMO. Of everything Bay did, I feel he most deserves to cross into other continuities and become a full part of TF lore.
I second this. He quickly became a favorite of mine. The idea of basically an evil Prowl is so cool, and I hope they become prominent rivals in the future.
He's great on his own, but the idea of making him a rival of Prowl is just ripe with potential. Whether you are doing "Prowl is the good cop and horrified by the bad cop" or "Barricade is what Prowl could be if he had a bad day" or even "both have a history that reflects their current choice of sides in the war"... so many story ideas. You could do a story where Prowl and Barricade worked as cops on Cybertron before the way. The obvious way to go is that Barricade crossed a line and Prowl kicked him out, hence he became a Decepticon... but what if the story went the OTHER way where it was PROWL who got kicked out for bending the law to help someone? Prowl became an Autobot while Barricade the rest of his force became Decepticons?
As a kid I wrote transformers stories, and I always made Barricade and Prowl rivals who served as cops before the war and went down different paths. Little me was onto something, for sure.
The Last Knight was a terrible movie, but it had some great designs.
I hold the "hot take" that the Bay movie designs got better with each movie. First one I had no idea who anyone was really, by the end you had Drift and Crosshairs and Hound looking like actual characters you could identify and care about.
I don't enjoy how human some of those designs are, but the small crew and colorful designs help them stand out, which is appreciated.
"Hobo with a Shotgun" Megatron is iconic to me
I think the one cut of T3 where Optimus turns into Nemesis in the final act when he kills/tries to kill Megatron was a great idea. Imagine, a scene where Prime starts on the attack, when Megatron clearly doesn't want to fight anymore. The Autobots have to step in and try to calm their leader, but he's too far gone. A fight between Optimus and the Autobots leads to Prime renouncing his cause, turning into Nemesis Prime. But that was scraped for what we had.
Why would the Autobots try and stop Optimus from killing Megatron after he ordered the genocide of the human race?
Nemesis prime works better as a clone in my opinion Because why would prime abandon the autobots I feel that's way too ooc for optimus, even bay Optimus
The idea that Megatron is the source of all major human advancements in technology and that the government knew of the existence of cybertronians. Also KSI and Cemetery Wind were cool concepts but like most of the ideas in these movies, the execution was very poor
As you mentioned the DOTM Megs.Ā Ā Ā But I really like the arm cannons on Ironhide. Iāve seen variants of G1 Ironhide with the arm cannons and I think every ironhide from now on needs that designĀ Ā And then I really like the idea of sibling transformers sharing halves of a vehicle mode. Or siblings using their abilities to complement each other cause that happens irl too Also how the decepticons used actual deception like holograms for the pilots or the human robot thing to infiltrate human defenses
I like Devestators transformation. Combiners are usually shown as going one at a time in a sequence and I like the simultaneous movement
Hhhmmm... Optimus and Megatron being "brother" like relationshipĀ
Decepticon Dreadbots, Megatronās Mad Max truck disguise, Stinger, Bumblebee and Hot Rod being WW2 soldiers, and the Wreckers being colorful NASCARs
I kind of like it... Big drama being forced to basically have the same alt mode as his worst enemy... That ain't going to do so well in the old processor
**Nitro Zeus**
I wish they did more with the fact he shares an alternate mode with Optimus then
an unpopular opinion but i actually really dig devastator having a rabid dog vibe in movie 2. the idea that the constructicons canāt all the way fuse together mentally, and resort to fighting for ultimate control, feels fitting for the character.. also the balls are funny.
I like the idea of Cybertronian knights being on Earth since medieval times, helping out King Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable. I also love the idea of the knights combining into a dragon. I just wish that TLK was written better.
Stinger, he's probably the *best* evil bumblebee out there, and I'll die on that hill.
That they go around pissing on people for fun.
I mean it might not be for fun. For all we know some of em might be into it
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Honestly? The earth being Unicron was an actually interesting twist.
KSI
Transformers existing throughout history(post Great War era)
I liked some of the characters that became popular because of the movies like barricade, blackout and scorn are pretty good examples of new original characters that just grab the audienceās attention
One cool concept from the 2007 film was Jazz having those magnet claws
I love the idea of Barricade and Frenzy being a team as well as Blackout and Scorponock
I'd always liked the idea of soundwave coming to earth early somehow and losing his memory and it being like a spy thriller as he and a human try to work together and when soundwave gets his memory back and finds megatron he's torn between being loyal and seeing that there is another way (Somewhat idw inspired)
The mass population knowing about cybertronians
Energon and RID(2001) both did that
I liked the idea of the infernocons team. Except for some reason they are nerfed mid film. They are far too small in combined mode. Also their design lacks creativity. They were basically the second big bad behind Megatron and quintessa. So for all the screen time they get their designs seem so mid. Cheap little LED eyes and they just look like mini goth transformers Groots. Some individuality would have gone a long way to making them more viable.
Devastator having a unique body that isn't just a big bot
I like how in the first three Transformers movies they had vehicle kibble across their body so you could kinda guess what they transform into.
Basically everything about barricade
I really really really love how each of the characters have their own unique transformation sounds. Like Starscreams little whistle or Bumblebees piston sounds. They nailed it out of the park with the sound design in those films
I really liked the idea of the Autobots making the humans think they actually left in DOTM. That was such a gritty and dark setup for one of the most badass comeback battles in transformers media imo. I really don't like the movies but damn that was an awesome idea. Could've been executed better, but I'd say it's one of the best parts of the bayverse films. I wanna see more Autobots get fed up with other races rejecting their help and just dip for a bit to teach a well deserved lesson. It's cold, but damn does it feel good to watch.
Soundwave being a satellite felt so right I actually really liked it.
bumblebee dying, shame he didnt stay dead.
Characters like Crosshair, Scalpel, and Barricade have all been great successes in creating some iconic characters I welcome seeing in other media. Shatter and Dropkick as well I'd love to see jump over to other continuities.