Seibertron.com Energon Pub Forums

[Big Grim]

Sounds like you had a blast, Ryan! Musta been a hell of an experience!

[Va'al]

Via ComicBook.com we have an interview with Transformers: The Last Knight cast member Mark Wahlberg, who returns from Age of Extinction as Cade Yaeger, discussing the role that director Michael Bay has created for himself within the franchise - and he does not expect him to leave as he has said a number of times already.

The point he makes though, is probably also tied to the amounts of money made at the box office for Paramount, which may not be the case with this fifth movie, as reported here. Check the relevant point below, and the whole piece here!

While he might be a bit fried at the moment, Wahlberg thinks after some time has passed, Bay won't be so willing to let go.

"So he'll decide that and I would be hard pressed to see him walk away and put it in somebody else's control and care. I mean, that's just the Michael that I know, but you never know, sometimes people decide to move on, so we'll see what happens."

The franchise has been heavily criticized at times, but still manages to bring in signifgant box office receipts. How The Last Knight fares at the box office will likely have some impact on Bay's ultimate decision.

[philswitch engage]

Thanks to our friends at Paramount, Seibertron.com was allowed press access to the US Premiere of the Transformers The Last Knight. The red carpet event took place alongside the Chicago Riverfront alongside the famed Civic Opera House in downtown Chicago, IL. My wife and I were there alongside the rest of the press covering the event. We had two cameras and a couple of cell phones to help us provide as much exclusive content for Seibertron.com as we possibly could. One of our cameras was setup for video and the other for photos. For now, we just have the photos posted of the event and are currently editing the video footage to share with all of you later.


Civic Opera House Building in Chicago, IL


Our press badge


Tickets to the US premiere screening and to the Post Party


Ryan Yzquierdo on the red carpet between MTV Snapchat and Univision's Hoy. We are in front of the Barricade blow-up car.




Hasbro's Transformers Brand Team


Producer Tom DeSanto talking to Seibertron.com


Producer Don Murphy (center) and Executive Producer Mark Vahradian (far left)


Peter Cullen and Frank Welker (voices of Optimus Prime and Megatron respectively)


Producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura


Remi Adeleke (TRF Lieutenant)


Sir Anthony Hopkins signing autographs for fans, alongside Seibertron.com's Ryan Yzquierdo


Sir Anthony Hopkins talking to Seibertron.com's Ryan Yzquierdo


Jerrod Carmichael (Jimmy) talking to Seibertron.com


Santiago_Cabrera (Santos from TRF) talking to Seibertron.com


Juliocesar Chavez gives Seibertron.com 2 thumbs up!


Laura Haddock (Vivian) and Josh Duhamel (Lennox) having fun with fans on the red carpet!


Josh Duhamel (Lennox) talking to Hoy Univision


Isabela Moner (Izabella) strikes a pose for Seibertron.com


Laura Haddock (Vivian) talking to other press.


The stars gathered at the end of the red carpet


Director Michael Bay talks to Seibertron.com for a moment!


Mark Wahlberg (Cade Yaeger) talks to Hoy, checking out Seibertron.com!


Ryan and Lori Yzquierdo inside the Civic Opera House


The cast of Transformers The Last Knight prior to the screening


Ryan Yzquierdo with Producer Tom DeSanto at the Last Knight's after party event. He and I had a great conversation and he completely won me over after he talked to me about Professor X, Magneto, Optimus, Megatron, being a fan in the 80s, the Marvel TF comics, and so on. Even got to talk to him about Jon Bailey's amazing Optimus Prime voice! Tom completely convinced me that he truly is a fan of these properties after talking X-Men and Transformers with me for about 10 minutes.


Ryan Yzquierdo with Ben Montano and John Warden from Hasbro's Transformers Brand Team.

The US Premiere was an absolutely amazing experience, especially for a long time Transformers fan like myself. It was very cool that Paramount let Seibertron.com onto the red carpet alongside regular press such as WGN, ABC, Access Hollywood, Entertainment Tonight, MTV and Univision (to name a few). I wasn't quite prepared to be given access to all of the stars like that, nor had I been on the red carpet of a movie premiere before. It was a massive learning experience and we were figuring things out on the fly!

We got to have some brief one-on-one time with Michael Bay, Josh Duhamel, Anthony Hopkins, Jerrod Carmichael, Isabela Moner, Santiago Cabrera, Peter Cullen, Frank Welker, Remi Adeleke, Juliocesar Chavez, and Tom DeSanto. Unfortunately, due to time constraints at the rushed end of the event, we didn't get to talk to Mark Wahlberg or Laura Haddock but we still managed to get some great pics to share with all of you! All of the stars were very nice and happy to talk to everyone. I was very surprised that they had all of the stars talk to any of the press that wanted to talk to them. I figured we would only be allowed to speak to select stars and didn't think that I'd be getting to shake hands with the likes of Sir Anthony Hopkins!

After the screening of the film, which most of the press did not attend, we headed over to the after party at the Prysm Nightclub. We arrived a little late to the party, which was in full swing, due to seeing the movie. I think Josh Duhamel was one of the few stars that stayed for the film, who was saw briefly the film's showing prior to us leaving for the after party. We only saw Lorenzo Di Bonaventura, Tom DeSanto, Michael Bay, Juliocesar Chavez, Isabela Moner, and the Hasbro Transformers Brand Team at the event though there seemed to be a lot of "big wigs", or something to that effect, along with other Hollywood like people in the packed nightclub, which was closed to the public for the private event (though the club is actually closed on Tuesdays anyway, which I'm assuming is part of the reason why they would choose this club for the evenet). I'm also assuming that a lot of the people that were at the after party were a lot of the "behind-the-scenes" folks that do not get enough recognition for their hard work on these films, such as the writers, artists, costume people, prop people, set designers, etc. It was a lot of fun and the party wrapped up around 2:30am.

I'll share some more thoughts in the topic on our forums. We are still working on putting together a video to share with all of you from our footage of the event.

Thank you again to Paramount for this amazing opportunity. We had a spectacular time! It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime day-to-remember event.

I hope all of you enjoy these pictures!

I hope you realize, Ryan, that this compromises any objectivity this site has in regards to the movies and your opinions of them

[Bumblebee21]

Why does everyone say tlk is the last movie

[william-james88]

I hope you realize, Ryan, that this compromises any objectivity this site has in regards to the movies and your opinions of them

I fail to see how, especially when our site and staff is made up of different people who share different views. If you want to see how different we all are, here is the site's review:

https://www.seibertron.com/transformers ... ise/38634/

Plus, our enjoyment of films are dictated by our tastes, there is no such thing as objectivity, its all subjective to what we like. Heaven's Gate is said to be "objectively good" from a Director of Photography's point of view but I think it sucks balls. We are all being subjective.

Why does everyone say tlk is the last movie

That was said in some marketing material, such as the trailers.

[philswitch engage]

Because the site owner got wined and dined by paramount.

[william-james88]

Because the site owner got wined and dined by paramount.

so what? he can still think the movie sucks, listen to the upcoming podcast to find out Plus, we are a whole team, not just one guy, read out review to find out if we are biased.

[Kurona]

Well there IS such a thing as objectivity, but yes, enjoyment and taste is incredibly subjective.

[WreckerJack]

Also, some of us want to be respectful about disliking the live action films - They have their good points and bad points. I can see their flaws which I sometimes do point out, however I know there are people who like them and with every new movie there are new fans. Imagine you are new to the franchise and you are so exited because "OMG giant robots and cool CGI" and everyone is talking down about the flick that got you here.

If anything seeing the good and the bad is seeing things objectively. To dismiss the bay flicks entirely because of their flaws would be unfair. There are some benefits to these films if you try to keep an open mind:

Great CGI and animation
Action and explosions
Movies bring in new fans
Movies bring old fans back to the community
Movies make money for the franchise (Without the movieverse to fund TFP it would have never happened)
A chance to take your friends to the theater
Cool movie toys
Cool movie merch

I will be the first to say that the live action films have confusing plots and lack substance at times. I wish that more care were taken to represent the characters we know and love. Things could be a lot better. There is nothing wrong with someone voicing their opinions in a way that is polite and constructive regarding these flaws, I am open to that. Maybe if people did that the fans would be heard and we would get flicks that had more story. Until then I am going to enjoy the action and my popcorn.

[G1OPT1MU5PR1M3]

Point blank... the movie is trash, the worst of them all and that's fact. We don't need to TRY and make sense of this or because we are hardcore fans and trying to salvage something good from this movie. Garbage! and im not talking planet junk

[Seibertron]

I hope you realize, Ryan, that this compromises any objectivity this site has in regards to the movies and your opinions of them

LOL! Nah, it doesn't change my opinion at all, nor does it compromise my opinion (nor has anything else that I've been treated to over the past 17 years of running Seibertron.com). At the end of the day, The Last Knight is another installment in the Michael Bay franchise. It still retains most of the same pros and cons that the previous 4 films had so if you're expecting anything radically different, you're probably going to be really disappointed.

Here're my quick thoughts of The Last Knight:

Pros: I liked that the story seemed much more coherent than previous films. It was a much more linear story line that was easier to follow that the films that intertwined multiple stories into one. The special effects looked amazing. I was thrilled at how much screen time the Transformers had. I liked that most of the transformations didn't cheat by happening off screen or behind something. I thought the acting was fairly decent minus a few moments. The absence of sexual humor minus a couple of scenes that I thought were rather funny and would be over my 8 year old daughter's understanding ...

Will write more later ...

[Rodimus Prime]

You got to meet Anthony Hopkins. I'm feeling slight twangs of jealousy right now.

[EvasionModeBumblebee]

Hey guys, I've been staying off the web for the most part to keep away from spoilers for TLK, but I saw this and figured you might want to see it!

[DeadCaL]

Those under 18 at 29% love the movie with an A CinemaScore. If only more of them showed up.

LoL, how dare people not like it more

[WreckerJack]

Hey guys, I've been staying off the web for the most part to keep away from spoilers for TLK, but I saw this and figured you might want to see it!

https://youtu.be/vef62MzS6as

The spoiler thread is here my friend - spoiler-thread-for-transformers-the-last-knight-review-with-spoilers-added-6-20--t109402.php

[EvasionModeBumblebee]

Hey guys, I've been staying off the web for the most part to keep away from spoilers for TLK, but I saw this and figured you might want to see it!

https://youtu.be/vef62MzS6as

The spoiler thread is here my friend - spoiler-thread-for-transformers-the-last-knight-review-with-spoilers-added-6-20--t109402.php

Oh, it's not spoilers, its a video of the Man at Arms people forging Prime's sword from AOE/TLK

[Optimum Supreme]

Mlive.com has written an article on how the filming of The Last Knight has helped the local economy in Michigan. Some of the scenes were filmed at the old Paccard Plant in Detroit and the now abandoned Pontiac Silverdome (The former stadium of the Detroit Lions). Filming in these locations has brought revenue in the form of rentals, transportation, custom props, catering and other supplies sold in Michigan.

It's Packard, not Paccard

And the Silverdome was also the former home of the Pistons not just the Lions.</nitpick>

[WreckerJack]

The guys at Man at Arms have posted an awesome video (see below) about how they hand crafted a replica of Optimus' sword from The Last Knight. The metalworkers in the video show us every step in the making of the sword from drawing it up on the computer, forging the blade, welding all the details on and constructing the sword to the handle itself. Even the blade itself is highly detailed with Cybertronian writing. If you are interested in metal design or just like swords it is a must watch. These men are dedicated to their craft and it shows!

[WreckerJack]

Hey guys, I've been staying off the web for the most part to keep away from spoilers for TLK, but I saw this and figured you might want to see it!

https://youtu.be/vef62MzS6as

The spoiler thread is here my friend - spoiler-thread-for-transformers-the-last-knight-review-with-spoilers-added-6-20--t109402.php

Oh, it's not spoilers, its a video of the Man at Arms people forging Prime's sword from AOE/TLK

Ironically I just found that on youtube and newsed it. I didn't click your link because I didn't wish to be too spoiled. Great minds think alike

[Seibertron]

I hope you realize, Ryan, that this compromises any objectivity this site has in regards to the movies and your opinions of them

LOL! Nah, it doesn't change my opinion at all, nor does it compromise my opinion (nor has anything else that I've been treated to over the past 17 years of running Seibertron.com). At the end of the day, The Last Knight is another installment in the Michael Bay franchise. It still retains most of the same pros and cons that the previous 4 films had so if you're expecting anything radically different, you're probably going to be really disappointed.

Here're my quick thoughts of The Last Knight:

Pros: I liked that the story seemed much more coherent than previous films. It was a much more linear story line that was easier to follow that the films that intertwined multiple stories into one. The special effects looked amazing. I was thrilled at how much screen time the Transformers had. I liked that most of the transformations didn't cheat by happening off screen or behind something. I thought the acting was fairly decent minus a few moments. The absence of sexual humor minus a couple of scenes that I thought were rather funny and would be over my 8 year old daughter's understanding ...

Will write more later ...

And here's the later part. Trying to do work stuff today amidst getting ready to take my whole family and some friends to go see it again tonight, which will be my 3rd time. This time around, we'll be seeing it in 2D, which brings me to my cons.

Pros (continued): The musical score is fantastic, yet again. I have absolutely loved Steve Jablonsky's scores from all 5 movies. Due to his contributions, I have really gotten into movie scores, but absolutely love his work on Transformers. Very talented. Very appropriate music. It's right up my alley for mood setting in a film, and I don't think his scores have garnered enough appreciation. I liked that Bumblebee was (more-or-less) back to his old look, I liked Quintessa, I actually really liked the big "reveal" of the film, I loved Anthony Hopkins (one of my favorite actors) in this film (despite some of my cons with him regarding the script). I really liked Cogman, which I did a complete 180 on since he was initially revealed (if only all of the Transformers were handled in this manner with as much screentime). I liked Megatron and I even liked the "new" Decepticons for the most part. Hound continues to kick ass and be a personal favorite of mine, though I still wish he had been called Bulkhead. I was really impressed with Izabella and Jerrod Carmichael's characters. Carmichael was much better than TJ Miller (who I actually really like in other media such as HBO's Silicon Valley, but didn't care for in AOE). I liked all of the nods to the previous films (though a bit frustrated at some of the retconning). I loved seeing John Turtorro back, though I think the movie could have been rewritten to eliminate his role altogether. I still enjoyed his scenes and liked seeing him with Topspin (small spoiler, sorry!). I also really liked King Arthur and Merlin, and had no idea that Stanley Tucci from AOE played Merlin ... he's a great actor, despite the 2nd half of his performance in AOE (which has more to do with script or directing).

Cons: 3D, but that's not a problem with this movie in particular, just me with 3D in general. More on that below. Too many characters, particularly on the human side, but I'd even argue that there are too many Transformers fighting for screen time as well. Lack of characterization, outside of Cogman. Again, they don't seem to know what to do with the Decepticons, which is really unfortunate. I could do without all of the swearing. Sometimes, it's funny or really appropriate, but it seemed too much. Sir Anthony Hopkins (with an emphasis on the word Sir), probably doesn't go around saying "bitchin'" or the other swear words he said. It strikes me as really out of character for him and for the character he is playing. Not a fan of the Transformers swearing. For a awe-shocking moment, sure, such as Ultra Magnus saying "dammit" in 1986 movie and Bumblebee's one line during the junkyard scene (no spoiler please). The incomplete love story seems odd. I could totally do with an actual real love story happening inbetween the Transformers battles, but it seems more tacked on than anything. While the story was more comprehensive and linear, it still was just too much going on. Instead of real substance, we get more stuff happening to fill in the time. I don't get the purpose of the Transformers are always having been here and having influenced or been a part of so many historical moments. The non-stop action once they get off the submarine, was a bit much. I wish there had been something in there to break up the last third of the movie which was a non-stop onslaught of action, mostly good, but without any breaks to give your eyes and ears a rest.

Due to feelings of disorientation and that wearing the glasses disallows me to get fully sucked into a movie, I'm just not a fan of 3D. I'll never understand why they didn't do 3D screens instead of 3D glasses. There's got to be a reason that you do it with glasses instead, maybe it's a perspective thing or something, I don't know. But after forcing myself to try to enjoy the 3D experience ever since Avatar, I just can't do it anymore. I gave Michael Bay the benefit of the doubt after he assured us in person back in March in his office that the reason for the "uncomfortable" (my word, not his) feelings you get watching 3D is because it wasn't on IMAX or because the bulbs weren't right, or something along those lines. Since I was one of the lucky few who got to see the actual US premiere on an IMAX screen, I'm assuming that would be how they want us all to see it and I actually preferred the RealD 3D showing at the press screening, but I also had one of the best seats in the house (by sheer luck) because I was eye level with the middle of the screen, and we were in one of those awesome 21+ (you can drink a beer) fancy lazy boy electronic reclining seat experiences, which might be the next best thing to watching a movie at home (or it might even be better, depending on your objectives).

I'm sure I have more thoughts to share, both good and bad, but I've got to jet for now. As I said above, at the end of the day, it's another Michael Bay movie. I've seen more of his movies than any other director, love them or hate them. I like his style, I like his vision, it just seems like there's no one higher than him saying "hey man, you've got to rein this in a bit".

Sometimes, less is better. Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should do it.

Where do I rank TLK with the others? I really liked DOTM, so it's more or less a toss up with that one, with the first movie being my favorite. For the time being, I'm ranking TLK as #2 behind the first, but it might be #3 once all of the hype has died down and I've had some real time to process all of this. So in order: #1 TF2007, #2 TLK, #3 DOTM, #4 ROTF, and #5 AOE (yet all of them had things I really liked and didn't like).

Compromised? I don't think so.

[Seibertron]

Hm ... should I have put my review in a different topic? I didn't mean it to turn into my review, but it seems like it started to happen that way.

[Rodimus Prime]

Hm ... should I have put my review in a different topic? I didn't mean it to turn into my review, but it seems like it started to happen that way.

Well, we do have the review thread, which include spoilers, even though your posts didn't:
spoiler-thread-for-transformers-the-last-knight-review-with-spoilers-added-6-20--t109402.php

And personally, I feel bad for you not being able to enjoy 3D, this TF film in particular looked amazing in that format.

[Carnivius_Prime]

Love that sword! I think i seen they'd done other pop culture weapons like my fave sword ever The Sword of Omens from the original ThunderCats. Again things I would buy if I won the lottery

[77Prime84]

Went to see TF:TLK last night.

Sigh. When will this garbage stop?

Given that this franchise is over thirty years old, has had a unified "bible" or continuum in place for some time and has a trove of interesting/diverse/appealing characters to choose from ...

WHY is this junk stil lurching into theatres? Like its predecessors, this movie is shallow, vapid, mindless and far beneath the kind of treatment it deserves.

The film suffers from the same issues as all the rest: a ridiculous premise, infantile dialogue, zero emotional weight and the under-utilization of all the elements listed above. Don't get me wrong - the explosions and over-the-top Bayhem is fine with me. But when it's not pinned to any kind of substantive story, the end result isn't dissimilar to throwing a bunch of sh*t against the wall and hoping something sticks.

We were told that the collaborative "writers room" would lend a new cohesion and/or gravitas to TF: TLK. The best I could say is that they managed to make this thing only slightly less off-putting than the third film.

In my opinion, the best iteration of TF ever was TF: Prime. This was the series I had been waiting for. It struck the perfect balance among all of the elements that make Transformers work: well-paced, cohesive stories; character development, a strong voice cast, amazing visuals and the proper mix of action, adventure and emotional pull. The humans were placed well, too. Story arcs made sense and wrapped up pretty neatly with only a few bumps. No surpise, then, that it was nominated and won several Emmys.

Just imagine the quality of TF: Prime attached to a Bay-sized budget. Think about what that might produce.

If handled properly, Transformers has the potential to reach Star Wars levels of mythic greatness. It's a tremendous vehicle for storytelling and action/adventure in spades.

When will Hasbro get this?

When will we get something better?

[Deadput]

I will say this is the first time my eyes felt tired while watching a Transformers movie in theaters but I did wake up early that day with not much sleep (6 hours).

I also felt dizzy and felt like falling over after it was all over and had to stand but that happens with every movie I've watched in theaters for the past 3-4 years so nothing new there.