Activision has released two more images to tease their upcoming downloadable content pack for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen The Video Game. One is G1 Optimus Prime in all his classic glory and the other is the movie version of Soundwave, apparently sporting a color scheme close to his Generation 1 counterpart. Considering Soundwave has an alt mode of a jet, I imagine his play will be nearly identical to Starscream. The DLC is supposed to come out in the next month or so for the XBox 360 and Playstation 3, cost not yet released.
From Peaugh, here is the video review of Human Alliance Sideswipe with Sergeant Epps. Also links to both his updates, one to show off the "battle mask" feature and the other the spinning blades feature. Overall, the figure is essentially a larger version of the Deluxe class toy with many similar features and transformation but with a lot more kibble in back to deal with. If you liked the Deluxe version, you will probably like this one. If you had not yet bought Deluxe Sideswipe wait and get this one instead.
Not a whole lot on the Transformers front so here are some links and images of cool Transformer customizations. In some cases they are toys created from scratch and in others they take an existing toy and just tweak it, often adding spectacularly paint jobs to the toy creating a new and fantastic look.
Probably one of the more prolific customizers is FrenzyRumble whose paint jobs can almost look as good as their CGI counterpart as you can see with Megatron and Optimus Prime (click links for gallery). His work isn't limited to just those two. His website includes many more customizations such as Shockwave (base toy familiar but blanking on line), Galvatron, the Protectobots, and many more. I would post a few more pics and links but his flash only website doesn't make linkage impossible so instead click here to check out his work. A Peaugh video review of his work for Powerglide is below.
An example of from scratch work is MMC-01 Knight Morpher Commander that is based on IDW's Hearts of Steel miniseries from 2006 that re-imagined the Transformers as coming to Earth during the Industrial Revolution. Optimus Prime's alt mode was a locomotive and as you can the result is a pretty sweet looking design that I posted about early this year. Now that custom design is getting produced on a scale so that a Transfan can own for around $80 US. The picture to the left is a prototype picture but the final version is expected to be assembled and fully painted Transformable figure that is estimated to be released in October. To view the full gallery, click here.
It's show time in Charlotte for the National Impala Club host their 29th Annual International Convention! The show brought together local Impala owners and enthusiast traveling from across the country. It was truly amazing to have gathered together Impala years ranging from 1958 to 1970.
The five day event started with a traditional "Meet and Greet," and continued throughout the week with various activities for the passionate owners of these beautiful classics. The N.I.A members had the opportunity to participate in Day at the Dragway, Cruise and Picnic Dinner, Judging Event, Awards Banquet and more!
There are a couple classic models not normally present in cruise-ins or car show events, and that would be the Chevrolet Impala. The '69 Impala SS 427 Convertible is a fantastic classic, and it was exciting to see one at this event.
Congratulations to the N.I.A staff for organizing a great event! If you're interested in becoming a member please click on www.nationalimpala.com.
From the minds of Jester and Jolin who brought us some great fan made Transformers concept designs, below is a concept trailer they put together as if doing a GI Joe movie. I figure many will find it interesting considering that the G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra is coming out next Friday.
Hey guys, this is a concept trailer I put together for a project me and Jolin were working on a couple years ago. I won't get into the specifics for obvious reasons. It was a tight deadline and we pretty much had three days to put this together from scratch. Enough time has passed for us to be able to share this. So here's a brief glimpse at what direction the GIJOE film could have taken but sadly did not. I guess it's sort of a concept trailer / animated storyboard / character roll call.
Last Friday was Hasbro's Transformers Panel at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con. The details have been previousily posted but now below are links to video of the preview of their 2010 plans for the states for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Animated and various exclusives. In addition, click here for links to video to an additional 18 panels from the convention.
One of the fun aspects of the comic book conventions is the costumes and the San Diego Comic Con 2009 is no exception. As you can see below, Jalopnik found one of the best with a detailed movie version Bumblebee costume that is quite awesome. Below are a few pictures with the full gallery here.
The Rusting Carcass has posted a long interview with Bob Budiansky, an editor and writer for Marvel Comics back in the 80s. His name probably doesn't mean much too many but he is essentially the "father" of the Generation One Transformers that we know and love and helped create the foundation for all that has followed these 25 years. With a few exceptions, fan favorites such as Megatron, the Dinobots, Sideswipe, Shockwave and more all were named and defined under his pen as he created the initial Tech Specs on the boxes and devised their back-story and personalities that were used in the cartoon series and US Transformers comics from then on (but not always exactly followed of course).
Click here to read the full interview as he attempts to recount how he became involved with Transformers, how some of the names were created (Megaton + Tron = Megatron), and more. (via TFormers)
Update: Actuals are in for Transformers 2. Nothing really budged much. Domestic weekend gross was $8.1M ($379.2M total), international $6.3M ($412.3M total) bringing worldwide gross to date total to $791.5. Chart below updated accordingly. HP6's worldwide total is $625.3M, at this rate it will surpass TF2's total by end of this weekend.
The weekend estimates are in and while Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen continues its inevitable drop down the box office top 10, it did manage to meet a new milestone by surpassing The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the Kings and Spider-Man 2 to enter the top 10 in the All Time Domestic Box Office with a US estimated total of $379.1 million. Next on that list is Star Wars Episode III ($380.3M) which it will likely pass either when the actuals come in or Monday. After that is Spider-Man ($403.7M). Sadly I doubt the movie will track higher then 8th as 7th place belongs to Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest ($423.3M).
As for the weekend estimates, G-Force took first ($32.2M), Harry Potter 6 was second ($30.0M), The Ugly Truth was third ($27.0M), Orphan fourth ($12.8M), Ice Age 3 fifth ($8.2M) and Transformers 2 was sixth with $8 million. Harry Potter's huge 61.5% drop pretty much seals the deal that Transformers 2 will remain the top movie of the year in the United States but its international totals are simply outstanding at $405.3 million (which doesn't even include this weekend yet), which took only 12 days to reach versus TF2's 33 days. This brings HP6's worldwide total to $627.1 million so still on track for a billion dollar total. Revenge of the Fallen's worldwide total is $785.1 million and may cross the $800 million threshold by Tuesday.
At the San Diego Comic-Con Sideshow Collectibles showed of its upcoming projects and news that they acquired the license to create products from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. As part of that they are creating a highly detailed 20'' Optimus Prime maquette based off the CGI model created for the movie. A video showing some of their early work on the project can be found here. No release date or pricing released.
Sideshow popped up on my radar years ago with their fantastic Lord of the Rings products. They have since then expanded to a wide range of stuff that is amazing to look at but expensive to buy as they are geared to the high end collector. It wouldn't surprise me if this one lands in the $300 plus price range. Thanks to Luis for the link.
Below is a video review of EZ Collection aka Legends Devastator that is currently a Japan exclusive. Amazingly enough this isn't a Peaugh review. It shows off the seven Constructions individual vehicle and robot modes and the combined Devastator mode. Fantastic review that shows off what appears to be a fantastic addition to the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen toy line. Thanks to RY for the link.
The afternoon started with a Meet and Greet host by the Autobarn located in Concord, NC. The Autobarn has a wide array of classic car inventory including a gorgeous 1957 Fairlane 500 Retractable Hardtop. Find your dream classic at http://www.autobarnclassiccars.com/.
After visiting the Autobarn it was time to cruise through Union St. to downtown Concord. The downtown venue is a great place to park your classic while enjoying the sights and sounds of rumbling classics creeping down Union St. The local merchants are welcoming to classic car enthusiast, and enjoy the benefits of seeing plenty of beautiful classic cars. The trees drape over Union St., and provide welcoming cool shade for spectators and classics alike!
The downtown venue with the organization from the staff really make this Cruise-In the place to be every forth Saturday of the month! Please visit www.concorddowntown.com/cruisingdc/ for additional information!
Despite being months away, new hints are coming out about plans for the Blu-ray release of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen according to Home Media Magazine.
In addition, Best Buy has already posted a pre-order page for a ROTF Blu-ray Gift set that appears to include an Optimus Prime bust for $49.99. If not interested in that, Amazon has their pre-order page for the Blu-ray edition and two-disc DVD edition up.
“It will have a lot of additional things,” [ROTF producer Lorenzo] di Bonaventura said. “There are a lot of scenes we weren’t able to fully incorporate, and we’re going to make it as exciting as we can for the fans.” Some of that extra footage did find its way into theaters, in the IMAX cut.
Bay admits the process of putting together a big budget special effects movie leaves little time to consider the film’s home video afterlife. In fact, he says he didn’t even bother watching any of the major robot battle sequences as they were being created. “I didn’t want to see it during the process because I wanted to be surprised in the theater,” Bay says.
We’re going to do a special IMAX skew where it’ll open up for those scenes,” Bay says. “You can see top to bottom.”
This is something the Blu-ray Edition of the Dark Knight did. I am guessing that during IMAX scenes the screen will essentially switch (but smoothly) from a widescreen like aspect ratio to a full screen view like was done in the IMAX theatres.
TakaraTomy has released official images of the alternate version of Revenge of the Fallen Leader class Optimus Prime that is currently being released in Japan only. The images, from TFW2005, show a modified paint job with outlines on the flames, metallic silver instead of gray, chromed bumper and new gun. Personally I would be really surprised if this isn't released as an exclusive to Target or Wal-Mart by the end of the year. Overall this is a pretty sweet looking figure.
The second full day of the San Diego Comic-con has ended and bit more Transformers related information here and there.
IDW Publishing Panel Discussion of upcoming plans for the GI Joe and Transformers comic books. I hope that includes ending the excessive story decompression writing style.
- GI Joe and Transformers available digitally and on iTunes (appears to be 99 cent iPhone app for each issue) - Rise of Cobra: Snake Eyes written by actor Ray Park who plays him in the movie (also was Darth Maul and Toad in X-Men). - Revenge of the Fallen stories will continue with Tales of the Fallen miniseries with issue 3 and 4 involving a fight between Jetfire and The Fallen (I am guessing both survive the confrontation). - All Hail Megatron continues with issue 15 (focused on Perceptor and Kup) and issue 16 (Bumblebee and Spike). Why they just don't call them Spotlight issues or better yet just start a "Tales of the Autobots" and "Tales of the Decepticons" series to make it simple for readers (and trade collecting) is beyond me. - The Transformers: first ongoing series (before was really a series of mini-series) in a while written by Mike Costa and art by Don Figueroa. Starts in November. - Transformers: Bumblebee: four issue mini-series focused on the character "between a rock and a hard place with his own friends." Starts in December. - Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers: Another mini-series that takes place in space and "foreshadows upcoming events in the ongoing series". Written by Nick Roche. Starts in January. - No GI Joe/Transformers crossover planned. - Transformers: The 13, announced last year, has been shelved but might return as a different version (probably result of the Primes shrinking down to about 7 total in the movie).
Transformers: Nefarious Six issue miniseries written by Simon Furman, art by Carlos Magno. Takes place in movie universe and focuses on "a new organization with ‘nefarious’ designs on the robots in disguise. Their technology gives them a tactical advantage not yet seen in the films.” Will be released in early 2010.
Marvel Crossovers Click link for images of new toys for the line, sadly most are repaints. Hulk (bulldozer), Punisher (Hummer, Cap America repaint), Human Torch (repaint of previous figure), X-Force Wolverine (repaint of original figure).
Star Wars Crossovers Click the link for images of new toys for the line, mostly repaints. Includes Battle Droid Commander (Armored Assault Tank), Clone Pilot (V-Wing Starfighter), Anakin Skywalker (The Twilight), Wit Fisto (Jedi Starfighter), Plo Koon (Jedi Starfighter), and the Y-Wing Pilot (Y-Wing). This line has had so many repaints it’s hard to even remember what the originals were.
Last, just because I like it, the test footage shown at SDCC from Tron Legacy that keeps the Tron look but makes it more realistic looking.
On Adam Carolla's podcast show for Tuesday, he discussed the recent controversy regarding the Twins and their "racist" behavior. Not really interested in re-hashing that regardless of what size you fall on but did find Adam and Kevin's Hench take amusing.
To hear that segment of the podcast, click here. Then click "Listen Now", in the list choose "Adam and Kevin Hench". Once the podcast starts, use the scrollbar below the football field to go to the 27:43 mark. It goes for about three minutes. Thanks to Ian for the heads-up.
From Tech Radar, another article that gets into the technical challenges of creating the visual effects in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen by Industrial Light & Magic and Digitial Domain. Few snippets below, the full article is here.
With animators often facing complicated 500-frame shots with three robots, Benza cast his staff according to their skill sets. "Some animators were interested in animating particular scenes, so I'd shift things around to give them a chance to do those shots," he says. "Specialists in animal behaviour would get the Ravage shots because he was a cat-based Decepticon. Others were specialists in dialogue and acting performances."
To create these performances, team members were aided by a rigging system developed by ILM for the previous movie, through which they could choose what parts of the model to connect. "An animator can animate any individual part or any groups of parts," Benza says. In addition, a new system provided the animators with a little procedural help on the more complex shots.
To make matters more complex, Devastator is so big and has so many parts that the animation crew couldn't treat him as a single asset. "When we tried to load the entire model in high res, it would grind the machines to a halt," Benza says. "We had two machines fail trying to work with him. One literally smoked. We don't know for sure if it was a direct result of working with this character, but it certainly did get overloaded – and fried."
"We designed the first version of the fight not knowing how it would be used in the movie, with Bumblebee and the cop car robot from the first movie, Barricade," says Benza. "Michael Bay liked how tight the edit was and the brutality when Bumblebee tears the limbs off, so he found a place for the fight in the movie and substituted a different robot [Rampage]."
The first full day of the San Diego Comic Con has ended and as expected it brought news of Hasbro's Transformer plans but sadly nothing about Transformers 3. Probably the "biggest" news for movie fans is the third Arcee vehicle officially has a name Flare-up which will be released eventually but the three do not combine. Below is a link to galleries and info from the day.
Encore #16 and #17 Gallery This refers to Japan exclusive re-release of Generation One toys which for collectors is conveniently numbered (something Hasbro needs to do). Encore #16 is release of Bruticus, a combiner comprised of five Decepticons. Encore #17 is Cassettes Big Mission Volume 2 which is second volume of three that re-releases all of Soundwave's and Blaster's cassette figures. Notice another aspect of Japan Transformers releases that Hasbro should copy - fantastic packaging that can be re-used for easy displaying.
SDCC Preview Night and More Two large galleries that shows off Hasbro's booth. Includes Bumblebee vehicle from the movie, Masterpiece Skywarp (future Wal-Mart exclusive), most of the Revenge of the Fallen toy line, and more.
Hasbro's Transformers Panel During its panel on Thursday, Hasbro revealed some of its plans with Transformers through to 2010 involving Transformers Animated, new Revenge of the Fallen toys and exclusives. 142 picture gallery for below toys here.Read More »
For those wondering, the "Masterpiece" line is a Japan exclusive from Takara that re-creates classic Generation One characters at a larger size and a great deal more detail with often very complex transformations. The two released stateside were Optimus Prime and Starscream as Wal-Mart exclusives.
Earlier this year MP-08 Grimlock was released (Peaugh's video review below) and came with apron, necktie, tray, glasses and transfer device (based on the cartoon moments). Now TakaraTomy has announced they are re-releasing the toy and replacing the accessories and calling it MP-08x King Grimlock as he will come with a crown and new packaging. Takara uses a numbering scheme for all their various Transformers lines, something Hasbro should copy as it encourages a collector's mentality which is only good for business and makes it easier for fans to track what they have or need. As the picture shows, the result is pretty cool looking. For those that already purchased the toy, an unofficial "Upgrade Kit" is in the works. King Grimlock is apparently a Toy Hobby exclusive so the cost will be $150 or more.Read More »
Below are links to more concept art created for Transformers and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen to go with previousposts. Found by Waveride.
Production Illustration - few ideas for the Nemesis and a Constructicon Storyboards - Several sketches for Ratchet, Sideswipe and more. Paul Ozzimo - Unable to enter the site but the slideshow on the home page shows some images. James Clyne - Art from the first movie, might have posted before but can't hurt to see again. Tim Flattery - 15 images from the artist that I believe are for the first movie.
A few months ago it was revealed that Chevrolet was going to release a special edition Camaro style like Bumblebee from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Chevy has now made that official with a press release that describes some of the Transformer specific flourishes they have added to the car. Sadly the one most probably want, large Autobot symbol in middle of the steering column, does not seem to be one of them. For more pictures of the special edition Camaro click here.
Chevrolet announces the 2010 Camaro TRANSFORMERS Special Edition
DETROIT - Fans of the new Camaro and the blockbuster TRANSFORMERS movies can now combine their love of the car and the films with the Chevrolet Camaro TRANSFORMERS Special Edition announced today at Comic-Con in San Diego.
"When the first TRANSFORMERS movie was setting box office records, we had countless customers asking to purchase the 'BUMBLEBEE' Camaro," said Karen Rafferty, product marketing director, Chevrolet. "Now, they can buy one with the new Camaro TRANSFORMERS Special Edition. Streets all over North America will be buzzing in no time."
Features such as an EPA-rated 29 highway mpg on the V6-powered Camaro, Bluetooth phone connectivity, USB connectivity, XM Satellite Radio and OnStar combined with TRANSFORMERS design cues add to the car's status as a 21st century sports car.
Lexus is finally joining the ranks of automakers with a retractable convertible that seats four people. Bumper2Bumpertv has a look at how the company is positioning the ISC.
In an interview with Transformers producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura (who is promoting G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra) he discussed some of the possibilities for Transformers 3 with Rotten Tomatoes including Paramount possibly moving forward without Michael Bay, criticism for the movie and Unicron.
So based on the box office returns, are you guys already talking about Transformers 3? Lorenzo di Bonaventura: We've started talking about it now. We're debating the right time for it.
Did the harsh critical reception for Transformers 2 surprise you? LdB: The first one took a pretty big drubbing too -- that's what people forget. There's something about [director] Michael [Bay] that the critics just want to have at him. I think in a funny way it worked for the movie. I think people are fed up with critics. I think in a way it's making people contrarian. I think it was in this case, because a lot of people came up to us and said, "fuck the critics." I don't normally get that - you don't normally get people coming up to you and talking about the reviews - they normally just want to talk about the movie. But that was a point for a lot of those fans. It was fascinating - there's a major disconnect going on between the fans and the audience.
How do you feel about the criticism levelled against Skids and Mudflap being racist stereotypes? LdB: Everybody has to put their own lens on these things. The intention was certainly not how some people perceived it... I'll put it that way. We didn't think of it that way, and we certainly didn't set out to offend anybody. I've been involved in a lot of movies that people have seen things in them that we didn't intend. I did a movie called Executive Decision a long time ago, and we were picketed by the Arab Americans and American Muslims saying we portrayed Islam incorrectly. And we were sort of like 'Well we don't see a lot of African-Americans or White people or Chinese people taking over airplanes in the sky', but we got into that conversation, and then you start to see their point. But they have a prism that they are looking at it through.
There's been talk of Michael Bay not returning for Transformers 3, so would you be prepared to make one of these movies without him? LdB: As the producer I'd certainly love to see him back. I can't imagine Transformers without him. I guess the studio will see it sometime as such a big asset that they are forced to do it, but Michael has never intimated anything like that - the timing is the big question for him, not whether he is going to do it or not.
Yesterday Ryan Church's Revenge of the Fallen concept art was found online and now Josh Nizzi's is up for our enjoyment on his website. Josh Nizzi has done covers for IDW's Transformers comics and first popped up on our radars with his concept art for Long Haul that got the attention of Michael Bay. He has posted many images he did as part of the prep work for Transformers 2 that includes designs for Megatron, Jetfire, Power Up Optimus Prime, head designs and much more. Below are a few of the images but it’s worth checking out the full gallery here.
Concept artist for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Ryan Church has posted some of his art work for the movie on his website that is truly beautiful to look at. The images depict moments from the desert battle (Palm Dale Quarry), the aircraft carrier sinking, interior of the Harvester, images of the Nemesis and more. It shows how much the art can inform on the final work as some of the images match the movie almost exactly while others show what was planned versus what the final product became through the many months of production. Below are a few images with the full gallery here. (via io9.com)
A "Burning" repaint of Voyager class The Fallen may be in the works for release later in the year. First introduced at Botcon last year, the toy is a homage to Generation One version of the character that was introduced in the Dreamwave comics five or so years ago and noted for always being on fire. It is assumed that the G1 is what planted the seeds for the movie version even though the two have little in common beyond their names. Exactly details on the release of the toy is unknown.
Thanks to the movies, Transformers is growing ever more popular in China as the characters are being more frequently used to promote various products. Revenge of the Fallen is highest grossing movie ever in the country surpassing Titanic. To the right is a homemade VW Jetta used by a Beijing mall to promote a new movie theatre. The full gallery can be found here. Thanks to Robert for the link.
From the article:
The Chinese fascination, perhaps better called an obsession, with all things Transformers has not yet reached its peak. The release of the second Transformers movie in China has only served to make the Transformers stronger than before in the PRC, which has resulted in various Autobots doing lucrative product sponsorship on various products from male skin care products to kids cereal. Some companies have run with the Transformers success to push their own business, Citroen for example used a dancing robot to push its new Citroen C4, and then there’s the Beijing mall that used their own home made VW Jetta bot to garner publicity for their own recently opened movie theatre.
The actual numbers are in and sadly Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs has taking Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen as the top movie of the year internationally with an overseas total of $430.9 million to TF2's $396.6 million. However, this position will not hold as it appears that Harry Potter and Half Blood Prince is well on its way to reaching a billion dollars.
HP6's first five days of release in the states came to $158.0 million and overseas was a record breaking $236 million making it the highest grossing foreign opening ever beating Spider-Man 3's $230.5 million. As I indicated before, if the movie maintains its popularity overseas, odds are very high it could become the fifth movie to surpass the billion dollar mark, something that Transformers 2 is not going to achieve.
Speaking of Revenge of the Fallen, the final weekend numbers is third place with $13.7 million estimate was accurate bringing its domestic total to $363.8 million and ranking it 13th in the all time top grossing movies chart (88th if adjust for inflation). Overseas sales came to $13.5 for an overseas total of $396.6 bringing its worldwide total to $760.4 million. At this rate the movie should pass the $800 million mark by the end of the week.
The EZ Collection Devastator gallery for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has popped up online that provides close-up look at the seven vehicles and their alt modes. Each individual robot is similar in size and detail as the other Legends class line and currently limited to a Japan only release or at least nothing for the States or Europe has been announced. The combined Devastator mode is about the size of Deluxe Skids and actually looks surprising good. Below are select images with the full gallery here.
Activision has released two more images to tease their upcoming downloadable content pack for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen The Video Game. One is G1 Optimus Prime in all his classic glory and the other is the movie version of Soundwave, apparently sporting a color scheme close to his Generation 1 counterpart. Considering Soundwave has an alt mode of a jet, I imagine his play will be nearly identical to Starscream. The DLC is supposed to come out in the next month or so for the XBox 360 and Playstation 3, cost not yet released.
