Director Michael Bay was interviewed by Moviefone regarding his upcoming movies; Ninja Turtles and Transformers 4. Mr. Bay had lots to say; specifically how he got into the Transformers Franchise in the first place, how he’s leaving it and redesigning old and introducing new robot characters for Transformers 4.
Well it’s more about how you approach these films, like for example, on “Tranformers,” you already have the built in audience.See, I was not a fan of Transformers [at first]. Hasbro was talking about giving me a whole Transformers story, and I’m like, “If I can do this really real. If I can make them believable, I think I could have something here.” I’m not a Hollywood guy. My friends are normal guys. I’ve got this guy from Texas. He’s like, “Mike, that “Transformers” [movie] seems like a dumb idea.” And I’m like, “Yeah, I know, but just give it a second.” And then I showed him the shot of the Scorponoks jumping out of the sand with Tyrese [Gibson] running. He saw that image and he went, “I see what you’re doing.” You’ll always have haters, but the last movie? One-hundred-twenty million people saw that movie. There’s still a lot of fans of that franchise. And I’m a huge Transformers fan now, and I protect that brand.
Yeah, because then you’re limited in what you can do and what you can show.
Yeah. You know there are a couple of historians of Transformers. I would do my designs of the robots and they’re like, “What if you just add a little bit more ears to Optimus?” But they’re really hands off. We’ve redesigned them in “Transformers 4,” and there’s some really cool sh*t in it. I’m literally redesigning every character, top to bottom. There’s a reason why they’re redesigned, but it’s also to keep it new and fresh to me. I think the fans will appreciate some of this new stuff we have in the movie and some of the new characters.
I know when you did “Transformers 3,” you were kind of done…
Yeah, and this is literally a true story. I went to the [Transformers] ride in Universal, and there’s a two-and-a-half-hour line, and you just see all these kids — it’s the most popular ride they’ve had since Jurassic Park — and I’m like… It’s hard to let go of your franchise. You don’t want someone to f*ck it up. So I at least wanted to set it up on some good footing. Because you’re going to get a different kind of director [who is] not going to want to follow in my footsteps. Directors feel very territorial. So they’re going to go to a more inexperienced director. It’s just the way Hollywood works. And I’m thinking, “God, so I’ll redesign it, set it up… Someone’s gonna f*ck this up. This is way too big of a thing.” And I’m looking at all these kids and I’m like, “F*ck, I gotta do one more.” And then I brought Mark [Wahlberg] into it. So now we’ve got a movie star, we’ve got full redesigns. At least it’ll be on good footing.
Read the full interview at Moviefone.
Cleverpseudonym
I just looked up the iron man 3 toys to see how bad they were, and I agree. I'm officially going to start spending my money only on older transformers toys from tfsource.
Ash from Carolina
Well cheap does seem to be Hasbro's new theme given the horrible articulation of the GI Joe drivers and those Iron Man 3 toys that look like they came from the 70's. Since the Dark of the Moon figures didn't go flying off shelves and the Transformers Prime figures will likely end soon with the cartoon I kind of dread what new and exciting ways Hasbro will devise to charge more for cheaper feeling Transformers.
NathanS
Yes. A million times yes. ESPECIALLY Beast Wars.
BenYee
Personal pet theory: the "simplifying" of the character models is due in part to the need for the toys themselves to be simpler than past movie figures to keep costs down. DotM was not a super successful line compared to say, the first movie so they need to be cautious this time out.
KrytenKoro
Almost every claim you have here is laughably wrong. The "old-school fans" make up maybe 10% of the total purchasing power.
Just…just no.
Cleverpseudonym
That's just what I planned to say after seeing some guy say hasbro killed optimus prime because the beast hunters design didn't perfectly live up to his specifications. They say they're done with transformers but next thing you know the haters are back on the forums saying we're not "true fans".
DeathsHead
I nearly choked on my beer and peanuts too. I'd say in the last 10 years, his *cough* 'style' of movie-making has almost defined the place.
DeathsHead
This is how this works in movies :
The director will come to the art department either with some ideas or with a 'show-me-what-you-can do' attitude. They go off and churn out concept work, then present the results and get feedback for changes. Some are discarded, some modified. The final pieces are signed off BY THE DIRECTOR.
How much artistic influence the director in question has on this is defined by their own personal skills, but make no mistake – things look the way they do because the director said 'YES'. The Transformers look the way they do because Mr Bay likes them like that.
Personally speaking, I think the man is a complete artistic void and I wish he'd just STOP making films. However, a bazillion dollar box office says that is sadly never going to happen.
Bogatan
Well you know anyone who dislikes the design will blame Bay personally, so he may as well take the credit too.
General Magnus
Good for them. Now, ask me if I care.
ngnikolaos
Who cares if people don't know it? The fact remains that casual I-go-to-movie-for-the-boom-booms and Optimus-Punisher fans are the only people who like the BayFormers. Critics and people who actually care about plot, solid character development (and humour with SOME quality) think the movies suck.
General Magnus
And RT matters?
Seriously, must be an american thing, cause I can ask ALL of my friends what RT all all I will get is a blank stare, followed by a "What?"
ngnikolaos
Bay, seriously, your latest TF film got a 36% rotten tomatoes rating … and you're worrying about someone f*&*ing it up?
Then again, it *could* go down to 1% …
Whatever, just kill some nameless Decepticons that won't even say one line of dialogue. The fanboys will still call your shitty movie a masterpiece.
NathanS
Ahhh thanks. Yeah what I saw from online reviews the transformations were complex enough to frankly hurt their action figure play value (Characters driving/flying up transforming and then fighting each other type thing seemed like it would hard for even adult to do much less a kid) leaving them better suited for display pieces/acting as puzzles.
Autovolt 127
I really don't like over complicated figures that i can not remember the transformation to, Many of the figures have issues with balance. I just don't have fun with them is all.
Ceasar121
Touche' douche.
Lazerwave
I counted all my Movie Autobot toys and I've got at least 30 to 31 (if I pretend my Prime FE Bulkhead is a movie figure). Let's hope there are lots of new Autobots.
Zherbus
Did Micheal Bay literally just say "I'm not a Hollywood guy."?
Ash from Carolina
While I have absolutely no idea what sort of look they are striving for this time I'm guessing it's not going to be like the Transformers Prime Beast Hunters look. The show is on it's last season so by the time the movie comes out it will have been over for a while. After the trouble of selling Prime and Bumblebee when the movie and cartoon characters looked too much alike I'm guess Hasbro's input would be for something different so kids will have a good reason to buy Prime and Bumblebee all over again.
I'm all for designs that look more solid, armored, and with more color I just don't know that a Transformers Prime look is what the parties involved in the production would want. But there is a chance my guess could be totally wrong.
sh002
Give them solid shelled body structures like G1, Alternators/Binaltech, or designs from Pacific Rim. No more broken glass/piles of metal scraps designs please.