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'Transformer' Robots May Appear in Film
AP ^ | ANTHONY BREZNICAN

Posted on 06/12/2003 1:51:03 PM PDT by Sir Gawain

'Transformer' Robots May Appear in Film

 

Jun 12, 11:13 AM (ET)

By ANTHONY BREZNICAN

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The shape-shifting "Transformer" robots from the 1980s may soon be using 20-something nostalgia to fuel a Hollywood movie.

The Hasbro Inc. (HAS) toy company has teamed with the production company Angry Films to create a live-action version of the popular cartoon series that ran from 1984 to 1987, about a group of alien robots who disguise themselves on Earth as common vehicles.

"The basic thing is that if you've been going to the comic-book festivals and seeing all that stuff, the '80s kind of came back last year in a huge way," Angry Films producer Don Murphy said Wednesday.

"We figured the technology had finally caught up to the point where we could actually show an 18-wheel truck turning into a giant robot," added Murphy, who also helped make the upcoming comic book movie "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen."

The story of "The Transformers" centers on a war between two mechanized armies - the heroic Autobots, led by the red tractor-trailer Optimus Prime, and the evil Decepticons, ruled by the gigantic silver gun Megatron. Seeking new sources of energy, both factions crash-land on Earth.

Although the "Transformers" toys have changed over the years - from animal shapes to the current series of futuristic machines - Murphy said the movie would be based on the original lineup.

The 1980s Hasbro toys, which the cartoon helped turn into a money-machine for the company, have recently been reissued by the original Japanese manufacturer, Takara Co. A recent comic book based on "The Transformers" and a DVD of the original cartoon series have also become best sellers.

Murphy and his producing partner, Tom DeSanto, whose credits include "X-Men" and "X2: X-Men United," are still in the early stages of the "Transformers" movie. The project has not yet settled at a studio and no potential release date has been set.

---

On the Net:

http://www.hasbro.com/


TOPICS: Culture/Society
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To: Skywalk
You ARE a freak, er, fan.

Not really I just ordered them when they were avalible.

I have the "Story of Rocky" CD, but I don't have that endless list of yours!

I have the Story of Rocky CD too.

101 posted on 06/12/2003 9:47:57 PM PDT by Paul C. Jesup
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To: Paul C. Jesup
Ah but have you played the "War" track in the background while re-enacting the Drago fight scene with your best friend while drunk?!
102 posted on 06/12/2003 9:55:28 PM PDT by Skywalk
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To: Skywalk
Ah but have you played the "War" track in the background while re-enacting the Drago fight scene with your best friend while drunk?!

Sorry, no. I don't anyone around who are into Roleplaying Games.

103 posted on 06/12/2003 11:20:58 PM PDT by Paul C. Jesup
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To: Paul C. Jesup
If I weren't already green, I'd be turning noticably green with envy right about now. ;)
104 posted on 06/13/2003 12:34:49 AM PDT by Green Knight (Looking forward to seeing Jeb stepping over Hillary's rotting political corpse in '08.)
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To: Sir Gawain
man! how did I miss this topic? I am going to watch my tape of the Transformers movie this weekend now! I LOVE Optimus Prime.
105 posted on 06/13/2003 11:40:53 AM PDT by Charlie OK
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To: Green Knight
If I weren't already green, I'd be turning noticably green with envy right about now. ;)

Don't be enviest. You can find a list of a CD tracks on the web and download them off a p2p program.

'Left Brain, Right Brain', Tic Toc and Legacy are very good techno music track.

Also, Critial Mass (lead-up track to Ground Zero) and Ground Zero are a slightly cheese be good song.

I don't usually recommend downloading MP3s but these Botcon CDs are VERY VERY RARE and VERY hard to find. And they can run around $150.00 to $200.00 PER CD on Ebay.

106 posted on 06/13/2003 5:27:56 PM PDT by Paul C. Jesup
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To: Sir Gawain; Skywalk; Green Knight; Steel Wolf; Future Snake Eater; The Coopster
Everyone just curious. What is you favorite one-liner from the TF Movie.

My favorite one-liner is, Springer saying, "I have better things to do tonight than die."

107 posted on 06/13/2003 5:32:37 PM PDT by Paul C. Jesup
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To: Paul C. Jesup
One of my favorite moments of the movie is when Kup, Hot Rod, and the others are approaching Cybertron when Unicron is attacking. Hot Rod asks him, "Doesn't this remind you of anything?" The usually story-laden veteran just shakes his head in awe at the sight and says, "Nope. I've never seen anything like it." I've always thought that was an interesting moment.

As far as a one-liner goes, I'd have to give that to Galvatron when he first gets back to Cybertron and Starscream's "coronation." Right before Galvatron wastes him he mocks the ceremony, "Coronation, Starscream? This is bad comedy." Gotta love that gravelly-voiced Leonard Nimoy...

108 posted on 06/13/2003 5:38:02 PM PDT by Future Snake Eater (There is no spoon.)
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To: Paul C. Jesup
I haven't seen the movie in ages, but I always loved this exchange, something to the effect of:

Kup (grim) - This reminds me of the time I was on Korusal IV, fighting the savage flying pirhinabots, they had us surrounded just like this, boy was it rough.

Hotrod (hopeful) - Oh, well how did you get out of that one?

Kup (thoughful) - I don't exactly remember, but the casualties were really high.

109 posted on 06/13/2003 5:46:52 PM PDT by Steel Wolf (Stop reading my tag line.)
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To: Skywalk
I'm glad you find such redemption in a cartoon character. Other children find similar validation in the tooth fairy or imaginary friends. However, as they mature, they put away childish things and move on to more flesh-and-blood heros, or better yet, become their own hero. Continuing to live in a sophomoric dreamworld bespeaks a paucity of spirit that is both pathetic and dangerous. It also marks a person who is not quite willing to grow up.

Try not to believe in things that don't exist. That way lies madness.

110 posted on 06/13/2003 5:49:16 PM PDT by IronJack
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To: Steel Wolf
The actual scene was this:

*Several missles being shot at their spaceship*

Hot Rod:They're closing on us.

Kup:Yep, like the shritebots of Dromadon.

Hot Rod:How'd you beat them?

Kup:I'm trying to remember, there were an awful lot of casualties that day. Oh yes, we invented polarities.

111 posted on 06/13/2003 5:51:03 PM PDT by Paul C. Jesup
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To: Steel Wolf
Oh yea, you need to go rent the TF Movie on DVD at your local video rental store.
112 posted on 06/13/2003 5:51:58 PM PDT by Paul C. Jesup
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To: Steel Wolf
One shall stand, one shall fall!
113 posted on 06/13/2003 5:53:00 PM PDT by goodolemr
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To: IronJack
Try not to believe in things that don't exist. That way lies madness.

That is not exactly true. Take a look at the machines and items around your house.

Someone dreamed-up those things, then someone designed them, then someone built them.

Dreams and Science Fiction/Fantasy are more important to our culture than you could possibly imagine.

114 posted on 06/13/2003 5:56:22 PM PDT by Paul C. Jesup
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To: Paul C. Jesup
Favorite lines?

"This is the end of the road, Galvatron!"

Que the Stand Bush song You Got The Touch as Rodimus chucks Galvatron into space.

The fight scene with Prime and Megatron still gives me goosebumps. TF: The Movie was and still is an awesome flick and the soundtrack had many good, original tracks to it. If this new movie gets made, I will see it several times. To the tightwads that dog the TF's...I'm sure there are some idiot libs over at DU that could use some harrassing...give us a break.

Roll out!

115 posted on 06/13/2003 6:09:40 PM PDT by BigBadWolf (You can have your gold and your diamonds too, all I want is a ringdangdoo.)
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To: Paul C. Jesup
Dreams and Science Fiction/Fantasy are more important to our culture than you could possibly imagine.

And this has what to do with a children's cartoon?

Besides, none of those wonderful machines would ever have been anything but a mental whirligig unless someone quit dreaming and picked up a screwdriver. We don't have Optimus Prime to thank for penicillin.

116 posted on 06/13/2003 6:10:16 PM PDT by IronJack
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To: IronJack
And this has what to do with a children's cartoon?

I need to ask, how old are you?

People think the original Star Trek series was childish, but if you go to the local ICU ward of a hospitial, it looks like something out of the medical center in the original Enterprise.

Besides, none of those wonderful machines would ever have been anything but a mental whirligig unless someone quit dreaming and picked up a screwdriver.

Inspiration is a very important thing. First someone dreams or is inspirered by something, then designs it, then builds it.

We don't have Optimus Prime to thank for penicillin.

Stories are originally meant to impart lessons and values to not just children but people in general. Stories are not just meant to entertain.

Fiction stories had been being made since the time BEFORE Homer.

This is not something new.

As fictional characters go, Optimus Prime was a good as it got. He is like a robotic sci-fi version of John (the Duke) Wayne.

117 posted on 06/13/2003 6:25:46 PM PDT by Paul C. Jesup
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To: scourge
as long as it wastes 70000000 democrat dollars that might otherwise go to Hillary! and her ilk
118 posted on 06/13/2003 6:27:23 PM PDT by InvisibleChurch
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To: IronJack
How enlightened of you.

"put away childish things" I'm familiar with this Bible verse, one of the very best.

"Try not to believe in things that don't exist."

Like Jesus? Buddha? Odin? Mohammad?

How do you know that we are not making ourselves heroes based on real-world models like Jefferson, Madison, Todd Beamer, etc?

Heck, I take what I will from any source I can get it. I saw heroic qualities in my father, but also tremendous weakness. Characters in fiction, be it Optimus Prime or Maximus or Superman are not role models to be ashamed of. Many real-life heroes became such because of these characters. Heck, they are just as intimately known to us as Audie Murphy or a firefighter in the WTC. That's not to debase the real-life heroism of these men, but simply point out that aspiring to near-flawless heroism is not something to be ashamed of, and if these stories help that, there's nothing wrong with it.

These stories are important, and just because something is animated(which I assume is the basis of your derision) does not invalidate it.
119 posted on 06/13/2003 6:48:46 PM PDT by Skywalk
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To: Paul C. Jesup
...while at night you secretly watch old Looney Tunes cartoons...

Hey, we grownups watch old Looney Tunes cartoons out in the open and in broad daylight, because they're great entertainment, Junior.

Bugs Bunny rules and can kick any Transformer's or Star Wars character's ass any day of the week, by the way.

120 posted on 06/13/2003 7:02:48 PM PDT by wimpycat ('Nemo me impune lacessit')
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