Slog - Comments on Robots in Disguise http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise I went back and forth about whether or not I should post this, but it has been haunting me (much as it haunted Megan Seling on Line Out) and so to Slog I go on Independence Day. I went to see the Transformers movie at Cinerama on opening night. I was curious. I don't know why, I just was. I never liked Transformers as a kid (even 9-year-olds can tell when they're being cheated), and am not interested in cars or airplanes as an adult. I do like robots from outer space though, particularly when they're trying to take over... Copyright 2008 Wed, 04 Jul 2007 14:00:45 -0800 Fri, 06 Jul 2007 05:13:48 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by ecce homo Megadouche...


Most of the people at the movie probably weren't even alive when that lame cartoon and stupid toys were so popular.

Oh...and the "Go-bots" were first.

]]> ecce homo http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c757808 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c757808 Arts Wed, 04 Jul 2007 15:00:12 -0800 Comment by Brandon H I always loved the cartoons, especially the Beast Wars series that came out when I was in Jr. High. I had the original die cast optimus prime, but lost it long ago.

Yeah, the propaganda was thick as molasses, the love story was moronic and distracted from my fantasizing about Shia Lebouf naked with his ankles on my shoulders, and Jon Voight was an idiot and a bad actor, but I still enjoyed the movie. Does that make me a bad person?

]]> Brandon H http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c757830 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c757830 Arts Wed, 04 Jul 2007 15:45:52 -0800 Comment by Leeeeeroy nnnnJankinnnnzz Nelson! That Hasbro thing has me peeved! I hate corporate bullsit as much as the next guy but we can't say corproate Jap[an hasn't done some wonderful things for us. Take Mego toys for example.

They need to drop a shout out to Mego Toys and Microman and not Hasbro. Here's why...

Seriously, everyone who reads this, go youtube microman and acroyear, then listen to the music backdropping the comercial. It is better than any Transformer movie could possibly be. And that movie looks amazing, I think.
MI-CRU-No-MAAAAANNNNN!!!!

]]> Leeeeeroy nnnnJankinnnnzz http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c757836 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c757836 Arts Wed, 04 Jul 2007 16:11:40 -0800 Comment by jacicita Perhaps the best part is he got other people to pay for it.

]]> jacicita http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c757846 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c757846 Arts Wed, 04 Jul 2007 16:47:52 -0800 Comment by who The movie sucked? wow shocking. And it had a bunch of product placements & big corp tie-ins? No fucking way? Seriously folks, what do you expect?

]]> who http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c757849 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c757849 Arts Wed, 04 Jul 2007 17:06:46 -0800 Comment by misrule People, people - this is a Michael fucking [b][i]BAY[/b][/i] movie; off course it's a shit-filled Twinkie - what do you expect?

]]> misrule http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c757855 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c757855 Arts Wed, 04 Jul 2007 17:32:30 -0800 Comment by ben I liked GI Joe figures...Maybe Ill change my name to Snake Eyes...

]]> ben http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c757871 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c757871 Arts Wed, 04 Jul 2007 18:26:33 -0800 Comment by Original Monique I loved the movie, I thought it kicked ass. But then again I loved the cartoon. I loved the throw-back lines to the cartoon:

"You failed me again Starscream..."

LOLZ! Seriously, I thought the product placement was fairly mild. I went in thinking I was going to hate it, but damn it truly blew me away. I am going to definitely see it again. And, come on! you had to stay to see the Autobots come out and start kicking ass. You left too early. ;)

]]> Original Monique http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c757884 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c757884 Arts Wed, 04 Jul 2007 19:06:17 -0800 Comment by Roger Williams Poor Sean - he's simply too sophisticated for the entertainment of the masses. I'm sure he sniffed all the way home and settled down with some appropriately obscure and complex book or record he pretends to enjoy only so that people don't think he's a rube.

]]> Roger Williams http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c757931 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c757931 Arts Wed, 04 Jul 2007 21:38:14 -0800 Comment by el Rutherford How could you people not like this movie? Oh yeah, cause there was no horse fukkin.

]]> el Rutherford http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c758010 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c758010 Arts Thu, 05 Jul 2007 08:21:12 -0800 Comment by CodyBolt I also enjoyed it but I didn't go in expecting to see something thought provoking and intelligent. I just hope that the dinobots are in the sequel! "ME GRIMLOCK, KICK BUTT!"

]]> CodyBolt http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c758012 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c758012 Arts Thu, 05 Jul 2007 08:21:31 -0800 Comment by torrentprime Yeah, I've seen and hated many a product placement filled POS, but this movie, for all of its flaws (most notably the flower garden scene that was 3x as long as it should have been), was one of the best popcorn flicks I have ever seen. And I say this a child of the 80s who had the Transformers Who's Who book memorized: I loved those robots and cartoons and storylines, and since we were too poor to afford the damn things, my love for it was purely based on the concepts.
One of the best summer movies in years. Most of the reviews I've read seem to be focused too much on their own agendas (anti-corporate, "product placement is bad", "merchandising motivations corrupt the movie irredeemably", etc) rather than enjoying a movie that channeled tons of 80s joy ("One shall stand; one shall fall").

My God. Fantastic Four II was 10x worse on product placement alone; let's hate on that for awhile instead of harshing on an 80s-IP-concept-turned-movie that actually got it right for a change.

]]> torrentprime http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c758047 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c758047 Arts Thu, 05 Jul 2007 09:32:20 -0800 Comment by Original Andrew I loved Transformers when I was a little kid, and I was excited when I read that a new film version would be produced, though my expectations lowered significantly when I learned that epilepsy-inducing Michael Bay was directing it. Then the early reviews came in and proclaimed it better than expected. Eeep, they were so wrong.

Shia LaBouf did a decent job with what he had; he basically was the lead in the film after all. But seriously, having been a teenage boy myself, I know they can’t all be so dumb and horny. The first third of the film, the alleged “character development,” was just painful.

The most disturbing part of the film was the portrayal of the US Government. We first meet Josh Duhamel and his Army team in Qatar, presumably just returned from our conquest and occupation of Iraq. Was this supposed to be a parallel with the Decepticons invasion of Earth? Then there’s Jon Voight doing a pitch perfect Southern Asshole Secretary of Defense, which caused me to giggle quite a bit ‘cause I couldn’t stop thinking about Midnight Cowboy. Even our moron Fuhrer, Bush II, makes a cameo and mindlessly orders Ding Dongs from a flight attendant during a crisis.

The Pentagon comes off as a dark and sinister place with charcoal colored walls and personality free FBI drones and secret agents that twice kidnap people out of their homes and threaten to disappear our heroes down a legal black hole prison with no charges or trial. And by the way, the government has been lying to us everyday for the last 80 years. This begs the ultimate question:

Who are we supposed to root for - the robots or the neo-fascist humans? Neither? Both?

The Special FX were incredible and set a new standard for CGI/live action integration, though the fight scenes were twice as long as they should have been, and how the hell did they end up in downtown LA? It makes me long for what could have been in the hands of a talented director and screenwriter.

]]> Original Andrew http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c758065 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c758065 Arts Thu, 05 Jul 2007 09:48:33 -0800 Comment by Eurotrash I also walked out about half way into it. One of the worst pieces of shit ever.

]]> Eurotrash http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c758085 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c758085 Arts Thu, 05 Jul 2007 10:03:47 -0800 Comment by Eurotrash I also walked out about half way into it. One of the worst pieces of shit ever.

]]> Eurotrash http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c758086 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c758086 Arts Thu, 05 Jul 2007 10:03:50 -0800 Comment by switzerblog Did no one catch on that the government humans WERE the bad guys? That the movie was openly mocking George Bush? Sean, product placement does not fascism make. Seriously, lighten up a bit.

]]> switzerblog http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c758134 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c758134 Arts Thu, 05 Jul 2007 10:41:35 -0800 Comment by Original Andrew switzerblog @ 16,

Uh yeah, see my post right above yours @ 13.

Question: Was it an intentionally dark yet accurate portrayal of the inept fascist US Guvmit, or just random Michael Bay hackery?

]]> Original Andrew http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c758206 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c758206 Arts Thu, 05 Jul 2007 11:30:48 -0800 Comment by Big Sven I've seen it twice in the last 48 hours- first at the same Cinerama show as Sean, then yesterday w/ my wife and kids. I never got into Transformers as a kid- Voltron seemed waaaaay more badass.

Different movies work on different levels. As far as mindless, fun, escapist summer entertainment, Transformers works better than "Independence Day", or "Lost in Space" or any of the other recent summer SF movies. It's aimed at the perpetual adolescent in the same way that "Superman" and "The Road Warrior" were.I would place it over any of the recent "Star Wars" trilogy, which aim at the same audience but fail.

My six year old loved it. If you don't want to see movies aimed at six year olds, don't go see movies aimed at six year olds.

]]> Big Sven http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c758331 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c758331 Arts Thu, 05 Jul 2007 13:34:12 -0800 Comment by Jordyn The best movie about a robot from space is Iron Giant.

]]> Jordyn http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c758686 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c758686 Arts Thu, 05 Jul 2007 19:00:50 -0800 Comment by Anderson Great work, keep it up.....

]]> Anderson http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c758862 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/07/robots_in_disguise#c758862 Arts Fri, 06 Jul 2007 05:13:48 -0800