Transformers 2: Really?
 

Michael Bay's latest steaming pile of garbage, "Transformers 2", has made $200 million in 5 days. That's on track to demolish recent movies like "Star Trek" and "Up", and put it in the company of classics like "Star Wars", "E.T." and "Spider Man".

Now I work in the film industry, and the success of this trash along with many other similar stories has really been making me question what the point of staying in this industry might be. Is the disconnect between quality films and what the public wants to see really that bad? And worse yet, how do I argue with executives for good story decisions to be made when clearly, shitty story decisions can net them hundreds of millions of dollars?

The public whines out of one side of their mouths that Hollywood is only pumping out crappy movies, but doesn't that same public realize that when they gobble that crap up with the other side of their mouths, they have very literally made it that much harder for us to make any quality films? There are tons of us working in this industry that are very capable of making great films, but there's no way we can do it when "creative" executives with backgrounds in accounting and marketing have successes like this that they can point at in defense of their idiotic demands.

Thanks a lot, jerk-wads. You deserve every shitty movie you get. :mad:

Re: Transformers 2: Really?
 

There is no doubt that this movie, storyline wise is crap. However, I saw it anyway. And the reason I saw it was more because of the over the top special effects. Mainly, I wanted to see big Transformers fighting each other, and I wanted to see it in a theater so it would be really big and sound cool. I had to watch the first one on my 13 inch Macbook, so I wanted to indulge. Sorry.

I agree with you though about the movie industry and everything. I am just saying that I knew this movie was crap going it, but I still went just for the eye candy.

I doubt that many others have this opinion though. My sister and her boyfriend went and saw it at midnight opening day, and came out saying it was such an great movie etc. I equate them, sadly, with being the typical American movie goer, so it is typical that Transformers 2 would break all the records.

Re: Transformers 2: Really?
 

its tough because a lot of people, esp right now, need escapism. and they'll watch anything that remotely promises escapism, even so far as going into it with cash in hand already knowing they'll feel dirty about themselves afterwords.

The movie has a 20% rotten rating at rottentomatoes.com. Of course the nay-sayers include the snobs, but the majority of movie reviewers are every day people who like movies, meaning they are *generally speaking* a close sample space of the population at large. 80% think it sucks. Which means at least 50% of the american ticket purchasers also think it sucks, rounding down for the rubes and the great unwashed. But nothing sucks worse than being unemployed, north korea, global warming, and the fact that there probably is no god afterall. So the warm afterglow of comfort we all felt as a kid watching transformers as a cartoon kicks in and everyone gets in line.

So half of all ticket purchasers are actually enjoying it. 30% of those are basically comic and sci fi whores who would watch whatever bilge comes out of lucas studios. and the other 20% are in love with megan fox. There's actually a sizable interestion on this venn diagram but we're just talking shit so who cares.

so basically my point is that yes: marketing/demographics is perfectly suitable for creating successful movies, financially speaking.

Re: Transformers 2: Really?
 

Shut up Stranglet. :p

Re: Transformers 2: Really?
 

People like robots. People like Megan Fox.

There's a story?

Re: Transformers 2: Really?
 

Sean, I'd like to comment that Sony Pictures comes out with maybe one or two decent movies a year, that I'd want to see, yet they are still making BANK. They seem to make films that are very "safe", and not too risky. Warner Brothers on the other hand seems to consistently put out films that seem less "safe" but still make bank.

For example, Ive been working on Art of War 3, which is a complete crap film. They're spending quite a bit of dough to release it on DVD in many different languages, all over the world. They wouldn't knowingly do this if they thought they wouldn't make money on it. Out there, somewhere in the world, people are just eating this stuff up.

I know people who like very simple movies, and they just don't really read that much into the films. They just kind of go along with them. The best word I can use is, they are simple people.

I guess this means I totally agree with you.

Re: Transformers 2: Really?
 

Sean, what part of the industry do you work in?

I hardly watch any films these days. If it ain't a sequel to something that made a tiny profit, it'll be a modern day adaptation of something or an American version of a decent foreign film.

I never saw the first film and don't intend to see the second one.

Re: Transformers 2: Really?
 

Animated films. Specifically, I'm heading up the story department on a film at Sony Pictures called "Hotel Transylvania", so the director and I spend a lot of time debating story decisions with executives. It's by far the worst part of my job, and the success of crap films like Transformers 2 make it even harder to convince them that we'll be better off with a great story than we'd be with cliches and formulaic story devices. Frankly, it's starting to get to the point where I don't know how much longer executives will feel artistic input is even necessary as a driving force behind creating films any more.

Bless you, Dirty0900.....bless you.

Absolutely. I love Steve Martin, but Pink Panther AND Pink Panther 2? I mean holy crap.....

Re: Transformers 2: Really?
 

Wow... I thought the movie was poorly directed and unnecessarily confusing. I'm glad I saw it on my 13 inch macbook... It would have been intolerable in theaters.

Re: Transformers 2: Really?
 

i must be one of the few who enjoyed the movie for what it is. i was hoping T4 would have been THE blockbuster film this year, but that's a movie that failed on the weight of it trying so hard to be serious.

i think if TF2 had some Stan Bush music playing in some of the fight scenes, my inner 10 year old self would have jizzed pants.