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'Transformers': Worst-reviewed $400 million hit?
AP ^ | 06/29/09

Posted on 06/29/2009 4:15:13 PM PDT by Artemis Webb

LOS ANGELES - After just five days, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" is halfway to $400 million domestically, a box-office milestone only eight other movies have reached. If it climbs that high, the "Transformers" sequel will be by far the worst-reviewed movie ever to make the $400 million club.

Critics and mainstream crowds often disagree, but "Revenge of the Fallen" sets a new standard for the gulf between what reviewers and mass audiences like.

The movie pulled in $201.2 million since opening Wednesday, the second-best result for a movie in its first five days, just behind "The Dark Knight" with $203.8 million. Even after its whopping $60.6 million opening day, "Revenge of the Fallen" was packing theaters, a sign that unlike critics, who mostly hated the movie, audiences felt they were getting their money's worth and were giving the flick good word of mouth.

Critics "forget what the goal of the movie was. The goal of the movie is to entertain and have fun," said Rob Moore, vice chairman of Paramount...

(snip)

Most of Hollywood's all-time biggest hits are accompanied by either good or at least passable reviews, and some can be among the year's most-acclaimed, such as this year's "Up" and "Star Trek" and last year's "The Dark Knight," "WALL-E" and "Iron Man."

Not so for the new "Transformers." On Rottentomatoes.com , a Web site that compiles critics' opinions, the sequel had only 38 positive reviews out of 187, a lowly 20 percent rating usually reserved for box-office duds.

The critical drubbing was a new low for "Transformers" director Michael Bay, never a favorite among professional movie reviewers. But he has long been a favorite among fans, scoring hits with the first "Transformers" and such flicks as "Armageddon," "Pearl Harbor," "Bad Boys II" and "The Rock."

(Excerpt) Read more at movies.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: boxoffice; hollywood; moviereview; transformers
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To: Artemis Webb

I’m not gonna defend Armageddon on a reality basis because the whole point of it is not really to show a realistic asteroid colliding with earth, I look at it more as a character study on how people react to a disaster. I get teared up every single time Liv Tyler talks to Bruce Willis for the last time. Music is great, drama is great, effects are great, cinematography is great. It’s a feel good movie. I felt good afterwards. Here’s the kicker, I AM a movie snob. I can tell you why a movie is good or is not good from a variety of perspectives and I know why TF2 is “bad” but I think that is missing the point. It’s like complaining that baseball is not basketball and you are an authority because you are a sports critic. But yeah, if an asteroid the size of Texas was coming at us, just get your house in order.


21 posted on 06/29/2009 4:55:52 PM PDT by Vindibudd
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To: Enough_Deceit

Wow! That is so frakking awesome! My son was at D-M last summer when they filmed at AMARC (the “Boneyard”) and he was psyched when he saw those parts (he watched it on base in Iraq the other day and loved it!! He’s USAF Security Forces) That is so cool. I will have to tell him your story, he’ll get a big kick out of that!!


22 posted on 06/29/2009 4:56:29 PM PDT by visualops (portraits.artlife.us or visit my freeper page)
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To: Artemis Webb
I remember seeing Prizzi's Honor in 1985. It got critical raves and I spent most of the movie counting ceiling panels and praying for a power outage.

LOL! You made me think of the Seinfeld episode where Elaine, who hated The English Patient, is made to see it (again) with her boss (J. Peterman), and ends up yelling at the screen "Die already! !"

23 posted on 06/29/2009 4:56:56 PM PDT by jeffc (They're coming to take me away! Ha-ha, hey-hey, ho-ho!)
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To: DemforBush
"I look at it the same way I looked at Independence Day...

Gawddddd I hated Independence Day too!

Have you seen the trailer for District 9?

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi262144537/

24 posted on 06/29/2009 4:59:33 PM PDT by Artemis Webb
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http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi262144537/


25 posted on 06/29/2009 4:59:52 PM PDT by Artemis Webb
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To: Vindibudd
"But yeah, if an asteroid the size of Texas was coming at us, just get your house in order."

amen

26 posted on 06/29/2009 5:02:34 PM PDT by Artemis Webb
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To: Vaquero
ya know one doesn’t have to get all serious and cerebral to be entertained by a movie....and a lot of time it just gets in the way.

Agreed! Fun movies are often those where you don't have to think about it. I like escapist entertainment... I loved "Starship Troopers" as a movie, though other than some character names and the title, it didn't share too much with the book. And "The Fifth Element" is a total blast to watch! Same with the Harry Potter movies, and THAT'S the one I'm waiting for!

Mark

27 posted on 06/29/2009 5:28:30 PM PDT by MarkL (Do I really look like a guy with a plan?)
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To: MarkL

Transformers 2 was fun BUT I think The Fifth Element was WAYyyyyyy better.


28 posted on 06/29/2009 6:04:40 PM PDT by FreeManWhoCan ("Strange things are afoot at the Circle-K.")
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To: MarkL

Star Trek kicked @$$.

I recommend it.....


29 posted on 06/29/2009 6:10:52 PM PDT by Vaquero ("an armed society is a polite society" Robert A. Heinlein)
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To: Vindibudd
I personally think that a lot of the reviewers are upset about the fact that they hammer Obama in the movie.

They actually name him in one scene, then have one of his personal appointees (robot czar?) attempt to run roughshod over the Autobots and their human allies. In one scene, the pencil-necked geek actually rips the rank insignia off Major Lennox's ACU's.

30 posted on 06/29/2009 6:11:04 PM PDT by Stonewall Jackson (Put your trust in God; but mind to keep your powder dry. - Oliver Cromwell)
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To: Artemis Webb

I didn’t mind Transformers 2. I thought it was decent if too long. If someone doesn’t know what they are getting with Michael Bay by now they will never get it.


31 posted on 06/29/2009 6:16:27 PM PDT by Mr. Blonde (You ever thought about being weird for a living?)
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To: Mr. Blonde

So, how many scenes were there that showed a conversation between more than two people with the camera constantly panning around them over and over and over....?


32 posted on 06/29/2009 6:39:40 PM PDT by RandallFlagg (30-year smoker, E-Cigs helped me quit, and O wants me back smoking again?)
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To: RandallFlagg

Haha. I seem to remember them doing that at least once. Bay may have been showing restraint.


33 posted on 06/29/2009 6:45:15 PM PDT by Mr. Blonde (You ever thought about being weird for a living?)
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To: Woebama
Supposedly Obama’s national security advisor in the film is depicted as a weasal and Obama is portrayed, lightly, as an appeaser. Wonder why the reviewers tried to pan it?

I saw it. Obama's rep WAS a weasel, and an idiot.

They had a couple of ghetto-talking robots, neither of whom could read, and one with a big gold tooth.

The military are depicted as the intensely competent, professional guardians of the United States.

All in all, this movie is so politically incorrect it seems purposefully calculated to make a Leftist's head explode. Do not expect it to be nominated for any Oscars, but DO expect it to do impressively well at the box office.

34 posted on 06/29/2009 6:46:29 PM PDT by PapaBear3625 (The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money -- Thatcher)
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To: max americana

And the Rotten Tomatoes crew eat either bread, pasta or rice with rotten tomatoes! (yeeeeeeeccccchhhh!!!)

Anyway, my cousin likes the ROTF film and will download himself a copy from the ‘net.


35 posted on 07/02/2009 12:09:25 AM PDT by myknowledge (F-22 Raptor: World's Largest Distributor of Sukhoi parts!)
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