Few More Commercial Stills

I had not planned on posting any more stills from the Superbowl commercial but I liked these pictures from the 1080p version so decided why not. Thanks to Nathan for providing them.

The RH400 Constructicon, right before it destroys a few helicoptors. Note the giant wheel behind its head and the attached axels so easy to swing that wheel underneath for increased mobility.


The RH400 is one ugly, but awesome looking Transformer. That wheel is now underneath allowing for on the move destruction.


Awesome freeze, this is what was being filmed back on August 28th at the Queensway Bridge and Shoreline Drive. Who would have though some explosions would turn into something like this? Optimus is about 1/3 its size. The level of detail is amazing.


Megatron holding Sam down (rather gently considering). I like the detail of hieroglyphics on the leg right above Sam's belly.


The 3 Arcees chasing the Decepticon Audi. One pink, one blue, other probably purple. All rather oddly shaped. What ever is planned Transformation wise, I get the feeling it will be astonishing.

Phone Survey Reveals Transformers 2 Plot?

Movie studios often like to poll people about their movies using focus groups, sneak peeks and the like so they can tweak their movies in an attempt to grab the largest audience possible. Apparently this can also use phone surveys where the questions can reveal hints about the movie they are calling about as "Compy" reports below regarding Transformers 2 which confirms many of our guesses on what the plot is about. As usual my comments are on parenthesis.

The plot of TF2:ROTF was told to me recently during a phone survey about upcoming movies.

First off, I love the blog. I usually just look at the photos since I would hate to stumble across spoilers. I hate spoilers. Unfortunately I was told the entire plot of the movie recently when I agreed to take part in a phone survey on upcoming movies. The survey was a week or so ago and I was also asked about the new Terminator movie, Night at the Museum 2 and another Ice Age movie. The survey person asked how likely I was to see these upcoming films, then they played an audio clip that outlined the plot, and then asked if my opinion changed. When they mentioned "TF2: ROTF" I stayed on the line. I wish I hadn't and I'm trying to block the memory.

Here's what I was told:
- Sam and his family attempt to return to a normal life (why parents visiting Paris)
- Sam is in college (see the filming around Princeton)
- Starscream returns to Cybertron to lead the Decepticons (read comic Reign of Starscream or plot summary here)
- He brings an army of Decepticons to Earth (ditto)
- They revive Megatron using a fragment of the All Spark (on going theory, fragment in film confirmed back in September)
- Megatron seeks revenge against Sam, his friends, and family (wouldn't you if they helped kill you?)
- Starscream and the other Decepticons seek to not only take over Earth, but the entire universe
- Optimus Prime assembles an Autobot army to battle to keep the universe free

So there you have it. The Fallen IS Megatron. The revenge is against Sam. Pretty basic.

Thanks,
Compy

More Arcee Toy Pictures

From 52Toys.com via TFW2005 are more images of blue Arcee toy from Transformers 2 toy line. This time the robot transformation has been modified to more match the images from the Transformers 2 commercial from the Superbowl (when Arcee was chasing the Audi). Below are a few images but the full gallery can be found here.

Now I know that Arcee is one or all three of the robots seen during the commercial. Her character, for the movie, remains mostly undefined. All we know is she is in the movie, she has a robot form and that form may or may not be three components. As Master Fwiffo points out, Arcee could be one of three robots, could be the combined name of the three robots (like Devastator is the name of the combined Constructicons), or she is a consciousness spread over three bodies. I am partial to a combo of the last two, which is Arcee is a combiner with a consciousness copied across three separate forms. Thanks to Lady Owl for the link.

More Constructicon Pictures

From TFW2005 are more pictures of the Voyager class Constructicon toy, now transformed to more closely match its look from the Transformers 2 trailer that aired during the Superbowl. Below are a few of the images but you can see the rest by clicking here. Thanks to Cenjor for the link.

Furman: No Dinobots

The writers and director of Transformers already said it and now Simon Furman has told MTV the same thing - there will not be Dinobots in Transformers Revenge of the Fallen.

Simon Furman was a consultant on the first film and has been writing comics for Transformers in the US and UK for about 25 years. He is also the creator of "The Fallen" concept used in comics that may or may not be part of the movie.

“I think that possibility was raised briefly and fairly comprehensively shot down,” said Furman. “Much as I love the Dinobots, I’m glad.”

“The movie-verse feels quite different to me, with its own audience and far more rooted in the real world, and Dinobots wouldn’t necessarily be a great fit. Sure, if they could come up with an appropriate rationale and integral reason for them being in there, fine, but it’d need to be good, otherwise it would all start to verge on the kitsch,” said Furman.

“I think story and character often get submerged in the crash, bang wallop, but who can argue with a $700 million plus box office tally?” said Furman, “What [the film] does best, I think, is make movie Transformers distinct from classic or animated or comic Transformers. It’s very much it’s own entity, and that’s how it should be.”

“What I love is that a new generation of kids is being exposed to Transformers in the way that maybe rivals the original ’80s phenomenon,” said Furman.

Thanks to Chris for the link.

A New Twist on Fallen Concept? (Update 2)

A new post LS2.com (via TFormers) adds an interesting twist to what "The Fallen" may be in the title Transformers Revenge of the Fallen. Currently there are two camps, either it’s a brand new character named "The Fallen" based on a comic book concept from a few years or it is symbolic naming for the return of Megatron (possibly renamed to Galvatron).

According to "-=boM=-", there now might be another potential meaning. BoM was apparently a military extra on the set when filming occurred at Holloman Air Force Base and White Sands in New Mexico around October. A claim supported by pictures from the set. Big spoiler warning for below and note this is completely unverified.

First post by -=boM=-:

"Can't wait...i'm in it as an extra. I am a Navy Seal doing a battle scene against the Decepticons. I filmed out at White Sands and on Hollomans flight line. Filmed for 4 days and had a blast. Tons of pics on my Facebook."

Follow up reply:

I had to chase a bunch of villagers out of the area because the Decepticons were attacking, then had to protect Optimus Prime's body. There were a shitload of us out there.

The food and catering was awesome. A lot of downtime. Just like a deployment.

I did an interview for the DVD. We will see if that is on it too. The asked me a bunch of questions about the military. The autobots are behind me on top of a sand dune. I did a GM plug. They liked that.

Micheal Bay loves the military. I got to speak with him very briefly. He gets so angry on set at the actors but doesn't dare yell or demean the military. It was a trip. He said something to me like do you want a job as a DA (Directors Assistant), I said hell yeah. He was getting pissed at his DA. His DA was like trust me you dont want this job.

I have two closeup shots if they do decide to put them in the movie. One was walking with the camera on the tracks going along with me but at a slower pace. The camera was right on the side of my face following me but at a slower rate. There were two others behind me. The other close up was while I was defending from a corner of a building on one knee. The boom camera went from the ground to over head of us all. I was up front in the scene. The camera came up to my face then began to ascend over the area. It was pretty cool.

Another scene was Optimus getting dropped off by a chinook. I had to run up to the area then stop as Optimus was getting dropped.

Another was with Josh and Tyrese when they argue with The President on the flightline. I am in the background.

As much time as I spent filming (9-10 hours a day for 4 days) I hope I am seen at least once. Hell I'll be happy to be on teh DVD.

If the post above is true then apparently Optimus Prime may possibly fall fighting the Decepticons and maybe return seeking revenge on them. The only problem I have with this idea is "revenge" would be very un-Optimus Prime like. I am inclined to dismiss this idea. However, Prime dying could have possibilities, or it simply could be Prime gets severely injured (commercial shows a possible beat down) and is unconscious requiring an escort during recovery.

Now to support that boM was an extra (but not the Prime plot point), he posted a HUGE gallery of pictures from the set that includes pictures of most of the Autobot vehicle cast including Ratchet, who has been missing from most of the sets leading to speculation that his character dies. Below are just 12 pictures out of 117 that he posted so be sure to go here to view them all.

Images removed per demand from Paramount Pictures.
Update: As read abobe, the Holloman set pics are getting pulled from the web by Paramount. My best guess is the pictures revealed a plot point since the vehicles have been known for a while now and the set itself was featured on ET and Insider. My best, mostly uneducated guess, for the reason behind the cease and desist is the shot of Josh Duhamel, Shia and Megan. In it Josh and Megan's body language seems to be of anguish or concern over a prone Sam, who is wearing a costume that is the same as the burnt and bloody costume from August. I guess this set is where Shia received those injuries for the film.

Update 2: To add fire to the above, according to the Latino Review, boM had initially used the word "corpse" instead of "body" when talking about Optimus. The change was made when a poster noted that they never actually referred to him as dead. Thanks to Ian and Chris for the info.

USA Today Rates Transformers Commercial (Updated)

USA Today did a second by second ad meter that tracks viewers from various demographics as they watched the 52 Superbowl ads. The Doritos crystal ball ad took the top spot with a score of 8.46. Transformers 2 commercial came in 37th with a score of 5.93 not exactly a something to brag about.

The exercise isn't exactly scientific, but going for Transformers is where most of the other ads leveled out quickly, Transformers kept climbing becoming one of the few to touch the fourth row. I have a feeling that if the ad had started straight into Transformer action instead of human character reactions the ad might have taken the top spot.


Update: Other websites ran their own polls and what not to score the Superbowl trailers.

From Richard, MovieTickets.com poll had Transformers on top among the movie related trailers. 83% found the Transformers the most memorable and 23% said it encouraged them to see the movie this summer. The remaining top five was Star Trek (79%), Monsters vs. Aliens (78%), Fast and Furious (77%) and Land of the Lost (75%).

Bloomberg also did its own ranking of the commercials and the Superbowl. As far as ratings, the game had 95.4 million viewers and 42.1% of US homes with TVs making it the second most watch Superbowl ever (last years was #1). According to Tivo, Transformers Revenge of the FAllen trailer was the fifth most watched commercial of the night, "was the first movie trailer to reach top 10 since 2003." Overall, considering the instant awareness the trailer clearly brought to the movie, I am thinking Paramount is pleased with the results of that $3 million commerical. Thanks to Chris for the link.