Is a Transformers movie still commercially viable?

Brave Maximus · Post by **Brave Maximus** » Thu Aug 07, 2003 11:41 pm

ok, compared to BW\BM yes
But it is better than G1 - esp if you take the mythos away from it.

And I do think we'll get a good one eventually. ESP if they leave Aeon

Plasmodium · Post by **Plasmodium** » Thu Aug 07, 2003 11:44 pm

You really think well get another GOOD TF series?

Seriously, I cant see that happening, not with producers these days just trying to make money off of toys and such. Get Mainframe back in the mix, THEN well have some good ****. The problem is, they currently have too many projects going on, and if they did start another TF show, what would they do with it?

Brave Maximus · Post by **Brave Maximus** » Thu Aug 07, 2003 11:48 pm

I'd love to see going back to G1 personally and maybe the movie will spark that.

There was a big space between 1987 and 2005

Plasmodium · Post by **Plasmodium** » Thu Aug 07, 2003 11:50 pm

Id like to see that as well, if Mainframe did a G1 type remake thing, Id be satisfied, and might actually make G1 better (!).

Brave Maximus · Post by **Brave Maximus** » Thu Aug 07, 2003 11:52 pm

would be hard to make it worse honnestly
the writing was very sloppy. as was the animation

But I wasn't inlove with Mainframes G1 modles from BW\BM (granted they wern't the main focus)

I'd love to see traditional cell animation, but the level of say Gundam Seed or something like that

Plasmodium · Post by **Plasmodium** » Fri Aug 08, 2003 12:41 am

Hm, seems most people are into the traditional style of animation..

While that would be ok, I prefer CG. Doesnt matter I suppose, as long as Mainframe did it.

Brave Maximus · Post by **Brave Maximus** » Fri Aug 08, 2003 12:43 am

actually what I'm thinking of is a nice blend of Cell and CGI animation

Post by **Hound** » Fri Aug 08, 2003 2:45 am

Plas you're nuts, RiD was a successful cartoon. It did well. It was better than the original by far. That cartoon along with the toyline's success brought the line out of a slump. Transformers is bigger and more successful now than it ever was with Beast Wars.

2 conventions set for next year, 3 new toylines, a movie, and a new cartoon series. Transformers is far from dead dude. Take a look around, it's probably more successful now than it's ever been.

Brave Maximus · Post by **Brave Maximus** » Fri Aug 08, 2003 2:49 am

Ummmm hound - 4 toy lines next year. Not counting all the stuff Takara;s turning out

But you're right (except you have to admit the Armada cartoon is pretty bad)

Post by **Hound** » Fri Aug 08, 2003 3:10 am

Originally posted by Brave Maximus
Ummmm hound - 4 toy lines next year. Not counting all the stuff Takara;s turning out

But you're right (except you have to admit the Armada cartoon is pretty bad)

Only 3 new ones though and I can't comment on Armada as I haven't watched anything but the very first episode...

Brave Maximus · Post by **Brave Maximus** » Fri Aug 08, 2003 3:11 am

yeah, universe is all repaints, but still a seperate toy line, that is doing ok, as they can't keep them on the shelves.

Plasmodium · Post by **Plasmodium** » Fri Aug 08, 2003 3:32 am

Originally posted by Hound
Plas you're nuts, RiD was a successful cartoon. It did well. It was better than the original by far. That cartoon along with the toyline's success brought the line out of a slump. Transformers is bigger and more successful now than it ever was with Beast Wars.

2 conventions set for next year, 3 new toylines, a movie, and a new cartoon series. Transformers is far from dead dude. Take a look around, it's probably more successful now than it's ever been.

Not dead in your opinion. I can guarantee you that the movie will be a flop. RiD was not a big hit imo, sure the toys were great, but Im not talking about the toys, because they will always be popular. Im talking about the shows themselves. Armada is pos, face it, the movie will be pos too. I await the day when there is a good tf show on TV again, that I will actually be interested in. I cant believe I dled Rid..what was wrong with me.

Quality over quantity my friend. I dont care if there is 9846 conventions next year and 306 toy lines introduced. Im more interested in seeing good stories on tv. Thats just me though.

angloconvoy · Post by **angloconvoy** » Fri Aug 08, 2003 8:32 am

That's highly opinoinated stuff there Plas. Have you got any slightly more objective reasoning, cos panning stuff you don't like isn't enough to carry an argument. I personally quite enjoyed RID, and find much of the original series (watching as an adult) lacking in both animation and plot. I'm not going to argue that BW was the best show to come from the franchise but even that had its low points (mostly due to hasbro's interference I know). And I've seen enough of armada to know that its an entertaining enough show to park the kids in front of, but not much more (though, I've heard it picks up later in the series). My reasons for feeling the movie might die on its arse aren't based on subjective opinions of how I feel about the current incarnations of the franchise, rather than on past experience of these kinds of movies.

That said, I am both willing and hoping to be proven wrong, as the dreamwave screw ups (not paying that much for their comics) and lesser toons such as armada have seen my interest in tfs waning recently

Post by **Hound** » Fri Aug 08, 2003 2:43 pm

Success isn't measured on people's opinions and certainly not on yours Plas. The franchise isn't dead and if we were measuring it by that standard then Transformers wasn't "alive" til a couple episodes into Beast Wars and died with the last episode of that series.

Do I expect the movie to be successful? No. I'm going to see it with low expectations, I find that more often than not I'm pleasently surprised when I do.

Do I think that the Armada cartoon is good? No, I've heard about it and when I watch it it will be for no other reason than to have seen it, same reason I sat through Beast Machines.

As for RiD, that series was better than the original. I have yet to read an arguement that goes beyond the shallowness of "I don't like it when they yell out their attacks". The show had better animation and better stories.

If you want to talk about quality, let's talk about quality then...

Brave Maximus · Post by **Brave Maximus** » Fri Aug 08, 2003 3:10 pm

My biggest Qualm with RID and Armada is the fact that no face plates move (yes it makes translation and dubbing easier). Just slightly boring in RID when you watch x-brawn, prowl and Optimus talk with only head shots.

I do hope they rectify that for the movie. Then we'll at least know when Optimus is talking.

Would you (as fans) like to see toy accurate or cartoon acurate heads\faces?

Dead Man Wade · Post by **Dead Man Wade** » Fri Aug 08, 2003 7:00 pm

Originally posted by Plasmodium
You really think well get another GOOD TF series?

Seriously, I cant see that happening, not with producers these days just trying to make money off of toys and such.

okay, correct me if i'm wrong, but isn't that the way it's been since the very beginning? unfortunately, the type of people in charge haven't really changed all that much in the last twenty years.

take beast wars for example. there were new character models every season, not because it furthered the story line, but because it meant there was more merchandise to sell.

Originally posted by Brave Maximus
actually what I'm thinking of is a nice blend of Cell and CGI animation

like what they're doing with the new spider-man series on mtv?

Brave Maximus · Post by **Brave Maximus** » Fri Aug 08, 2003 7:05 pm

That's done by mainframe - I thought it would be compleatly CGI

Ummmm As I said, best example I can think of would be Gundam Seed. Or stuff like Macross Zero. Sad part is I can't think of a North Am produced show that uses it.

Armorwind · Post by **Armorwind** » Sat Aug 09, 2003 1:00 am

First off, Transformers is certainly not dead. If that were so, then why would we be hear in this message board talking about how commercially viable the TF movie will be when it comes out (not if, when. Also, why would Hasbro be spending its time and money producing shows and toys (even re-issues) on a show that didn't give them any profits. In business, if a product gives you enough profit, then it isn't dead, in fact it is far from it.

Now, I wasn't too much of an RID fan at first, but with the later episodes, I began to like it a lot. And, truth be told, the longer the time I haven't seen an episode of it, the more I want to. Also, we really can't compare RID to G1 so much. For its time, G1 had excellent animation, except for the fact of a few errors every once in awhile. Now, after fifteen years, of course the animation will be better. Also, with RID, Hasbro was able to learn from its experiences from both G1 and BW/BM, so they could make a better series. But, still, I'll probably always like G1 more than RID simply because it is the original, though RID was a pretty good series.

Plus, Armada is getting really good, you have to admit that. The more the show progresses, the better it seems to get and the more concepts they add.

Vin Ghostal · Post by **Vin Ghostal** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 3:24 pm

Agreed. Transformers is certainly not dead, but the bigger question is whether the film will be able to succeed where the 1986 effort failed. I think it will be a marginal success; the fact that Transformers have hung around for this long and are enjoying such great success of late tells me that there are enough casual observers out there to make a TF film work - it's not going to rake in $50 million, but I think we're not giving the general population enough credit in terms of interest.

Armorwind · Post by **Armorwind** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 6:56 pm

There's certainly one factor that Transformers has (or rather doesn't have) now; the fact that they are not dealing with a G1 TV Series or a Toy line that is distributing brand new items. Now, you really have more room to play around with the plot than before. Plus, a CG Live Action movie certainly will look more impressive and intriguing the an animated movie.