Originally Posted by cupcake jesus

Why is Bumblebee a Camaro and not a VW? I'll give you one guess.

Originally Posted by Defiant1

I don't quite get what you mean. Megatron crash landed on Earth and remained in his native Cybertronian form until he was thawed out. He simply didn't bother to adopt a Terran alternate form.

Originally Posted by cupcake jesus

This is a reviews thread, so I'm not threadcrapping when I say: I saw the film yesterday, and it is terrible. The Starship Troopers and Men in Black could have been cut out entirely and not missed. The racial stereotyping was disgusting. The product placement offensive. Did HP pay for placement in the first hour, and Apple in the second? Who could forget the memorable XBox and Mountain Dew robots? Why is Bumblebee a Camaro and not a VW? I'll give you one guess.

The filmmakers insulted my intelligence at every turn, and made no effort for a non-fan to enjoy the film. Why bother with science, if logic is thrown out the window? There isn't nearly enough material in any of those vehicles to create these robots, and why, if the organism inhabits the technology of the era, is Megatron a fighter jet, and not a steam engine or tall ship? And if he was trapped in the ice and discovered there (wasn't really clear on this), why isn't he bronze, iron, or stone? Why does Optimus Prime change height based on situation?

I liked LeBouf in general, and enjoyed the one scene where he sees the Bumblebee robot for the first time. There was a Close Encounters/E.T. sense of wonder there, but by that time, the audience knows exactly what's going on, so there's no sense of disorientation. I also liked that Bumblebee had to "talk" using the available technology. I also thought that the kid from Elephant was charming.

I imagine that if there was no nostalgia attached to the brand, nobody would like this movie.

cheers,

-the Jesus

Originally Posted by whoopdido

What racial stereotypes exactly?

Originally Posted by Defiant1

Simple. VW refused the producers from using their car. What did you want them to do? GM stepped up and voila, Bumblebee's a Camaro.

Originally Posted by Alvis

Sorry, I can't read through 22 pages to find this. How come Bumblebee can suddenly talk at the end?

Originally Posted by Patman

It could have been a combo of Ratchet's zap, and Bumblebee dealing with the AllSpark.

Originally Posted by Draven

I pointed out in the initial Transformers thread that they didn't have to use the character of Bumblebee at all. When VW turned them down, they could have easily made him a different character (like Sunstreak) or invented a completely new character. No one needed Bumblebee to be in the movie.

Let's not kid ourselves, the only reason he was a Camaro was for product placement purposes.

Originally Posted by exharrison

They wanted Bumblebee because he is well-known and popular. They could have used Hot Rod but probably wanted to save his character for later. He was a Camaro because he couldn't be VW and they could stick with the same brand of cars and it is a car that a high school kid might want.

Originally Posted by dan30oly

I really liked the movie, but if your biggest gripe with the movie is that Bumblebee was a freakin' Camaro (yes, it was product placement, but there are few blockbusters that don't have that these days), then you should feel very happy with the movie.

If you really want something to grip about revolving around the bumblebee character here's this: How did Bernie Mac sell the car to the Whitwickys' without any kind of title or ownership papers???

Originally Posted by dan30oly

I really liked the movie, but if your biggest gripe with the movie is that Bumblebee was a freakin' Camaro (yes, it was product placement, but there are few blockbusters that don't have that these days), then you should feel very happy with the movie.

If you really want something to grip about revolving around the bumblebee character here's this: How did Bernie Mac sell the car to the Whitwickys' without any kind of title or ownership papers???

Originally Posted by Doc MacGyver

I said it before in this thread (and managed to avoid getting castrated) but I actually prefer the movie Bumblebee to the cartoon. Though I would love to see Hot Rod turn up. I know a lot of people hated him, but he was second only to Optimus when I was little. What kind of car would he be though? I could definitely see him being a late model Dodge Charger - Daytona variant, if we're sticking with the American muscle car theme. That big-ass spoiler across his back would be reminiscent of his cartoon look.


-Doc

Originally Posted by Mr. Cinema

Transformers continues to rake in the money, proving what a fun, popular film it is with audiences across the nation.

US total: $262.9+ million
foreign: $190.6+ million
total: $453.6+ million

The film still hasn't opened in the UK or Japan markets. It's well on its way to passing the $300 million mark here. Excellent news!

Originally Posted by exharrison

He would probably be a Corvette so that they can keep it a GM product.?

Originally Posted by exharrison

I think he was referring to the issue of the titles. Did the Witwicky's take the car with no papers or did Bernie Mac produce some papers in the back office?

Originally Posted by ME

That lot was the definition of "shady." I just figured he'd done many below-the-radar, less-than-legal sales in the past and had a way of manufacturing said documents.

Originally Posted by Doc MacGyver

Sunstreak's a corvette already. If you want to use the 'vette, just go with the character that already is one. Besides, the 'vette is a little girly for Hot Rod.

Originally Posted by Alvis

Sorry, I can't read through 22 pages to find this. How come Bumblebee can suddenly talk at the end?

Originally Posted by Doc MacGyver

No worries! As to what GM car I would make Hot Rod... I don't know. I can't really think of any (other than the Camaro, ironically) that would fit him... If they still made the Firebird it would work. They'll have more money for the sequel, why not more endoresements? Optimus wasn't GM, so it doesn't necessarily have to exclusively GM. I'm still going with the Daytona.

-Doc

Originally Posted by mikehunt

and what did he say. for some reason that bit of dialog had so little volume that I didn't make out what he said