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Transformers
#171909 07/07/07 06:47 PM
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Ok, I haven't been to the movie yet, but I've talked to a few friends that have and they said it is one of the best movies of its type in a long time.

I'll probably take my son this weekend and was just curious what you all thought? So far I have not found a review that was negative.


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Re: Transformers
SirQuack #171910 07/07/07 06:59 PM
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My sister went to see it and liked it, and she thought it would be a good movie to show off my system eventually.

I don't really want to stomp all over my nostalgia with Michael Bay's vision, but maybe I'll have to at some point. I'm sure simply watching the old show over again would slap my nostalgia around, anyway.

Re: Transformers
SirQuack #171911 07/07/07 08:00 PM
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Randy,

I am a huuuuge fan of action flicks. I can never get enough. I took my family to see this a few days ago and they absolutely loved it.

While I love action, I don't enjoy quick cutting from one scene to the other and jerky camera motion. I personally am very sensitive to this and I found that it gave me a headache and I had to look away at times.

This and the fact that the LFE could have been a lot better was my only beef. Note that there is some language and there is also one hillarious scene where stimulation of oneself comes up. My 10-year old let me and everyone around me know that he didn't know what that meant so I had some explaining to do during the show to silence him . After the show he kept asking me and my wife why anyone would want to play with that. My teenage daughter couldn't stop laughing and that ticked him off even more. So be prepared because this scene isn't subtle.

BTW, I also saw Live Free or Die Hard and I had a great time. They needed another Hans Gruber in that show though...I didn't find the villain manic enough .

Re: Transformers
Mojo #171912 07/07/07 08:13 PM
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Mojo, sounds like you were sitting to close to the screen. When I watch action movies that are 2.35 Ratio on my 10ft wide screen, I like the back row better so my eyes don't have to dart back and forth so much. The front row is great if the movie does not have to much action...

My kid will be 9 in October, I can see him asking me the same questions, hmmmm, maybe I'll wait before I take him..


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Re: Transformers
Mojo #171913 07/07/07 08:34 PM
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I'm with you, Mojo, I can't stand a lot of fast action close up. Makes it really hard to follow what's happening. I imagine a lot of filmmakers use this technique as a sort of "lots of stuff happening for very little effort" effect. It's like simulating an earthquake by shaking the camera.

Still, I'm excited about the movie and need to talk my sister into letting me take her son to see it.


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Re: Transformers
SirQuack #171914 07/07/07 10:07 PM
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Randy,

I was sitting 3 rows from the back...and it was a big theatre. I always sit far back.

That's right, Sean. Less work for the special fx people.

Re: Transformers
Mojo #171915 07/07/07 10:42 PM
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Me and my son just saw it. We enjoyed it. I liked the humor in the movie (mainly his parents), it was entertaining. Not that it was the best movie ever, seemed a tad bit long in the end with the battle scenes, but that is what the film is supposed to deliver right? It did the Transformers justice. I liked that the voice of Optimus Prime was the same as I remember from the original cartoon back in my day.


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Re: Transformers
SirQuack #171916 07/07/07 11:13 PM
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I want to see it too.

I did see Live Free or Die Hard last night with my wife. Lots of action, and great dry humor from Bruce Willis. It was very fun...


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Re: Transformers
nickbuol #171917 07/07/07 11:22 PM
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Yeah, lots of action and well-filmed too.

You don't need to jiggle the camera and cut to different shots quickly if the special effects aren't digital.

I bet John McLane can take the Decepticons .

Re: Transformers
Mojo #171918 07/13/07 02:23 AM
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For what it was, I absolutely loved the new Transformers movie, and Transformers was my "main" thing from back in the day. I still have many of them somewhere....



Re: Transformers
INANE #171919 07/13/07 02:27 PM
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Ok, I need to know what you all think about me taking my son. I've heard from a few of you that it is inappropriate for children, but then all of us have different definitions on that topic.

He will be 9 in October and probably sees worse on tv primetime after 7pm at night than what is in this movie. I took him to Star Wars III and everyone said "Oh my, I can't believe you would take a kid to that movie."

Just trying to decide if I should take him or not...

Randy


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Re: Transformers
SirQuack #171920 07/13/07 02:34 PM
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The only thing that you may not want to expose him to is the comic scene that I mentioned earlier. It may very well go right over his head. There is nothing graphic in the movie.

Re: Transformers
Mojo #171921 07/13/07 03:09 PM
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Transformers was freaking amazing IMHO. Was highly entertaining and original. Not many movies can boast originality these days.

This will be THE demo disc when it comes out on DVD. I was very disapointed with the sound quality in my theatre. Too much muddy bass...It has been awhile since I have seen an action flick in the theatres, and I must say, my $2500 sound system sounds a whole lot better than their $20,000 system.


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Re: Transformers
Mojo #171922 07/13/07 03:25 PM
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mo, I talked to a few people and tried to describe the scene you told me about, based on my understanding of your description. Nobody could figure out what I was talking about. Then one person said are you talking about when they knocked on the locked door? I said I have no idea as I have not watched the movie yet.

Anyway, they said others may be more sensitive, but that scene is nothing at all to worry about. Heck, he hears worse on the news at 6 when we are eating dinner.


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Re: Transformers
SirQuack #171923 07/13/07 05:10 PM
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I'm taking my 3 and 6 year olds to see it this afternoon, I figure with what's on tv, cartoons and video games they are partially immune to anything in a PG movie.


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Re: Transformers
HomeDad #171924 07/13/07 05:25 PM
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Quote:

I'm taking my 3 and 6 year olds to see it this afternoon, I figure with what's on tv, cartoons and video games they are partially immune to anything in a PG movie.




Just for clarification, it is rated:
"PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action violence, brief sexual humor and language"

My 13 year old daughter saw it. It wasn't her "type" of movie, but she said it was "OK" which means that she'd watch it again. My 8 year old daughter wouldn't care about a movie, and it would actually probably scare her a little bit, but I know younger boys (5 and 6 year olds) who have seen it and loved it.

Here is a breakdown from a site I use from time to time to see what my kids will be exposed to in their movie choices. Their reviews get into the absolute last detail of potential issues for parents, so some of the things below may be a "So what" king of thing, but they list it just to cover their basis.
(Begin lengthly cut/paste)

Positive Elements:
The Witwicky family motto is, "No Sacrifice, No Victory." It was handed down from Sam's great-great-grandfather. Throughout the film this credo is raised as Sam, Mikaela, the Autobots and human soldiers all must make a choice to sacrifice themselves for others around them. When the Autobot leader, Optimus Prime, is chided by his evil counterpart for protecting measly humans, the good 'bot retorts, "Freedom is the right of all sentient beings" and "We cannot let the humans pay for our mistakes." At one point he assures Sam, "I will sacrifice myself to save you." And later, Sam puts his life on the line for the robots as well.

Mikaela talks about her devotion to her father. Captain Lennox speaks passionately about going home to his wife and holding his new baby daughter. Sam records what he thinks may be his last message to his family, speaking of his love for them. Sam's father moves to protect his son when special agents want to grab him, saying, "You're not taking my son!" (The agents arrest everyone.)

Spiritual Content:
Mostly just clichéd expressions: Mom tells Sam, "For the love of God, drive safely." As Sam's car rotates its radio tuning dial, we hear an evangelist say, "Like visitors from heaven. Hallelujah!" When fiery objects crash to Earth, a young man exclaims, "This is a hundred times cooler than Armageddon, I swear to God." After the military base is attacked and destroyed, the Secretary of Defense says, "Our prayers are with the families of these brave men and women."

Sexual Content:
A conversation between Sam and his parents revolves around whether or not he's been masturbating in his room. Sam does have pictures of bikini-clad models on his bedroom wall. And he confesses to having a Busty Beauties magazine under his bed.

A number of girls are dressed in bikinis at a party. Several women (including Mikaela) wear low-cut tops and show cleavage. As Mikaela leans over to look at a car engine, Sam (and the camera) takes a long, close look at her exposed stomach and back. He tricks her into sitting on his lap. And they're shown cuddling on the hood of his car. No surprise, then, that when one of the Autobots scans Sam it reports, "The boy's pheromone levels indicate that he wants to mate with the female."

While Sam fights with a small robot, it rips off his pants. Sam and Mikaela force an agent to strip down to his boxers and then handcuff him to a post. Soldiers shower. (Bare torsos are seen.) And Mikaela laments, "I've got a weakness for hot guys with tight abs and big arms." References are made to "hot" criminals, chagrined virgins and "hos." When Sam mixes up a sentence, the word "ride" takes on a sexual connotation.

Violent Content:
There are many battle scenes, some between humans and transforming robots, some pitting robots against robots. And although much of the violence is broad comic book-style crash-bang action, more than a few of the scenes between Decepticons and military personnel are intense and contain lots of gun and missile fire.

While there is no display of copious blood or open wounds, people are constantly running away from the destruction around them and many are crushed by debris, blown up by bombs, impaled, tossed away by robotic pincers or batted aside by the gigantic mechanical Decepticons. Buildings are demolished, vehicles crushed and roadways crumbled. While chasing Sam and his metallic compatriots, one huge robot rips through a bus on the highway. The vehicle is torn in half and erupts in a ball of flame. (We don't see the unfortunate passengers.) Some of the robots are smashed or broken (one loses its legs) and some are "killed."

A small Decepticon shoots several people with sharp ninja star-like objects. Sam is thrown around and battered by a police car. He smashes into a parked car's windshield. And he flips over his bike's handle bars. Mikaela grabs an electric saw and hacks a small robot into pieces. A guy running from the FBI smashes through a glass door.

Crude or Profane Language:
Transformers contains an unexpectedly high volume of vulgarities, boasting about 10 s-words and four or more uses each of the words "h---," "a--" and "d--n." "M-----f---er" is cut off in mid shout twice. The insult "b--ch" shows up once. There are crude references to urination. And an older woman flips her middle finger to her adult son.

God's name is twice combined with "d--n." "Oh my god" is exclaimed about a dozen times.


Drug and Alcohol Content:
Sam's dad drinks a glass of wine. Sam's dog has a broken leg and Sam gives the animal prescribed pain pills. Later, the police find the pills for "Mojo" in the boy's pocket and ask, "Is this what the kids are taking nowadays?"


Other Negative Elements:
The President of the United States is depicted in a somewhat demeaning light as he asks a flight attendant, "Could you wrangle up some ding-dongs, darlin'?" In fact, many authority figures are stereotypically portrayed as either incompetent or belligerent. A policeman interrogating Sam sees the youth look at his gun and says, "You eyeballing my piece? Go for it. I will bust you up!" And a government agent holds his badge up to Sam and Mikaela, saying, "This is my do-whatever-I-like-and-get-away-with-it badge."

A female computer analyst steals a secret code. A young man screams at his grandmother to shut up. And Sam's dog urinates on a robot's foot, inspiring the huge machine to "urinate" on a man in return.


Conclusion:
As the projectionist dimmed the lights and launched the first reel for a packed-to-capacity prescreening of Transformers, I realized that there were two different people sitting in my seat. No, there wasn't anyone on my lap, it was just two versions of me: The sentimental guy and the critical reviewer sat side-by-side in the same skin, both watching carefully, but through two very different lenses.

My sentimental side remembers his 6-year-old son in the bath, swimming through steamy bubbles, locked in Transformer vs. Batman battles. Brrr-chnkkkkk-cluunk-claaacckk! The boy called out transformation sounds with a focused intensity; the fun echoed down the hallway. Through that memory prism, the movie Transformers is a blast from the past, equivalent to finding a box of old toys in the basement and having its contents come to life with CGI perfection. Shattered cars soar and tumble through the air, buildings shake, lasers blast, and gigantic, weighty metal robots crash, crunch and demolish with more vivid realism than any bathtub imagination could conjure.

The hero robots, soldiers and teens risk everything for the good of all and agree that without sacrifice there can be no victory. The cheesy comic book dialogue and humor dampens the violence and the bad guys are evil but never nasty enough to be really scary. The thundering sound effects rattle your seat and teeth. And the cars and trucks and planes are super cool. (Cool enough to elicit thoughts of possible test drives. Which surely gives auto maker GM product-placement shivers of joy.)

But then my reviewer side clears his throat and brings up the point that we mustn't abandon a level-headed concern with content. For example, Sam's girlfriend works as hard as anyone to save mankind, but she does it while stylishly revealing a great deal of her tanned and toned form. Goofy teen Sam runs around in a baggy T and jeans, but sultry Mikaela's every teenage curve is showcased in skintight, cleavage- and midriff-baring outfits.

Having an adult in authority address Mikaela as "you in the training bra" is at least three or four steps over the line. So is a discussion about Sam's solo sex life. And so are s-words and truncated f-words.


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Re: Transformers
nickbuol #171925 07/13/07 05:35 PM
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Quote:

... when one of the Autobots scans Sam it reports, "The boy's pheromone levels indicate that he wants to mate with the female."




I'm going to put that as an mp3 into my iPhone. Then I can "scan" my patient with the phone and play the mp3. Hilarity ensues.


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Re: Transformers
SirQuack #171926 07/13/07 05:52 PM
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Yep, it's the locked door. I had no issues with my 10 and 13 seeing that. I just wanted you to be aware that you might have to discuss it with your son.

Re: Transformers
nickbuol #171927 07/13/07 06:37 PM
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Nick thanks for the review, Doesn't sound like anything my boys haven't seen , I'll let everyone know our thoughts later today.
P.S. they both loved Ratatouille.


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Re: Transformers
HomeDad #171928 07/14/07 12:18 AM
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The kids and I really enjoyed the movie, nothing offensive or graphic that Imo would keep kids from seeing it, the movie is almost 2 1/2 hours which can be long for the younger ones, but I give it two thumbs way up.


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Re: Transformers
HomeDad #171929 07/14/07 03:23 AM
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Great to hear that they enjoyed it... Again, the point of my posting that review was to put everything, literally, on the table so that there was no question of what was in the movie that might, possibly, be remotely offensive to someone (whether they are 6 or 60 years old). Glad that it was helpful in some way.


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Re: Transformers
nickbuol #179846 10/20/07 09:55 PM
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All right, so I got Transformers on HD DVD in the mail this week, and I finally watched it today. I have to admit, it's a lot of fun. I love the movies that make me appreciate my system even more. \:\)

Re: Transformers
CV #179851 10/20/07 10:41 PM
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Oh, yeah, and Mojo, it was nice to see you in the film. I hope your foot is better.

Re: Transformers
CV #179865 10/21/07 12:25 AM
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Hmmm....do I really want to know what that's about?


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Re: Transformers
CV #179870 10/21/07 02:00 AM
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\:D


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Re: Transformers
CV #179877 10/21/07 02:55 AM
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Ok, Mr. A1400-8. My son filled me in on the joke. No more audio advice for you \:\) .


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Re: Transformers
Mojo #179879 10/21/07 02:59 AM
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can you fill me in? feel free to enclose it in a spoiler tag. ;\)

Re: Transformers
pmbuko #179882 10/21/07 03:21 AM
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Well, apparently he's not convinced by my shifty, beady eyes.


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Re: Transformers
Mojo #179899 10/21/07 05:27 AM
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 Originally Posted By: Mojo
Well, apparently he's not convinced by my shifty, beady eyes.

Yep, they certainly do shift alot.

You should have that checked.


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Re: Transformers
Mojo #179903 10/21/07 05:58 AM
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 Originally Posted By: Mojo
Ok, Mr. A1400-8. My son filled me in on the joke. No more audio advice for you \:\) .


Oh, great, I'll have to be a medic8r and come up with a fake account to get advice from you.

Re: Transformers
nickbuol #179904 10/21/07 06:33 AM
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 Originally Posted By: nickbuol
 Quote:
I'm taking my 3 and 6 year olds to see it this afternoon, I figure with what's on tv, cartoons and video games they are partially immune to anything in a PG movie.


Just for clarification, it is rated:
"PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action violence, brief sexual humor and language"

My 13 year old daughter saw it. It wasn't her "type" of movie, but she said it was "OK" which means that she'd watch it again. My 8 year old daughter wouldn't care about a movie, and it would actually probably scare her a little bit, but I know younger boys (5 and 6 year olds) who have seen it and loved it.

Here is a breakdown from a site I use from time to time to see what my kids will be exposed to in their movie choices. Their reviews get into the absolute last detail of potential issues for parents, so some of the things below may be a "So what" king of thing, but they list it just to cover their basis.
(Begin lengthly cut/paste)

Positive Elements:
The Witwicky family motto is, "No Sacrifice, No Victory." It was handed down from Sam's great-great-grandfather. Throughout the film this credo is raised as Sam, Mikaela, the Autobots and human soldiers all must make a choice to sacrifice themselves for others around them. When the Autobot leader, Optimus Prime, is chided by his evil counterpart for protecting measly humans, the good 'bot retorts, "Freedom is the right of all sentient beings" and "We cannot let the humans pay for our mistakes." At one point he assures Sam, "I will sacrifice myself to save you." And later, Sam puts his life on the line for the robots as well.

Mikaela talks about her devotion to her father. Captain Lennox speaks passionately about going home to his wife and holding his new baby daughter. Sam records what he thinks may be his last message to his family, speaking of his love for them. Sam's father moves to protect his son when special agents want to grab him, saying, "You're not taking my son!" (The agents arrest everyone.)

Spiritual Content:
Mostly just clichéd expressions: Mom tells Sam, "For the love of God, drive safely." As Sam's car rotates its radio tuning dial, we hear an evangelist say, "Like visitors from heaven. Hallelujah!" When fiery objects crash to Earth, a young man exclaims, "This is a hundred times cooler than Armageddon, I swear to God." After the military base is attacked and destroyed, the Secretary of Defense says, "Our prayers are with the families of these brave men and women."

Sexual Content:
A conversation between Sam and his parents revolves around whether or not he's been masturbating in his room. Sam does have pictures of bikini-clad models on his bedroom wall. And he confesses to having a Busty Beauties magazine under his bed.

A number of girls are dressed in bikinis at a party. Several women (including Mikaela) wear low-cut tops and show cleavage. As Mikaela leans over to look at a car engine, Sam (and the camera) takes a long, close look at her exposed stomach and back. He tricks her into sitting on his lap. And they're shown cuddling on the hood of his car. No surprise, then, that when one of the Autobots scans Sam it reports, "The boy's pheromone levels indicate that he wants to mate with the female."

While Sam fights with a small robot, it rips off his pants. Sam and Mikaela force an agent to strip down to his boxers and then handcuff him to a post. Soldiers shower. (Bare torsos are seen.) And Mikaela laments, "I've got a weakness for hot guys with tight abs and big arms." References are made to "hot" criminals, chagrined virgins and "hos." When Sam mixes up a sentence, the word "ride" takes on a sexual connotation.

Violent Content:
There are many battle scenes, some between humans and transforming robots, some pitting robots against robots. And although much of the violence is broad comic book-style crash-bang action, more than a few of the scenes between Decepticons and military personnel are intense and contain lots of gun and missile fire.

While there is no display of copious blood or open wounds, people are constantly running away from the destruction around them and many are crushed by debris, blown up by bombs, impaled, tossed away by robotic pincers or batted aside by the gigantic mechanical Decepticons. Buildings are demolished, vehicles crushed and roadways crumbled. While chasing Sam and his metallic compatriots, one huge robot rips through a bus on the highway. The vehicle is torn in half and erupts in a ball of flame. (We don't see the unfortunate passengers.) Some of the robots are smashed or broken (one loses its legs) and some are "killed."

A small Decepticon shoots several people with sharp ninja star-like objects. Sam is thrown around and battered by a police car. He smashes into a parked car's windshield. And he flips over his bike's handle bars. Mikaela grabs an electric saw and hacks a small robot into pieces. A guy running from the FBI smashes through a glass door.

Crude or Profane Language:
Transformers contains an unexpectedly high volume of vulgarities, boasting about 10 s-words and four or more uses each of the words "h---," "a--" and "d--n." "M-----f---er" is cut off in mid shout twice. The insult "b--ch" shows up once. There are crude references to urination. And an older woman flips her middle finger to her adult son.

God's name is twice combined with "d--n." "Oh my god" is exclaimed about a dozen times.


Drug and Alcohol Content:
Sam's dad drinks a glass of wine. Sam's dog has a broken leg and Sam gives the animal prescribed pain pills. Later, the police find the pills for "Mojo" in the boy's pocket and ask, "Is this what the kids are taking nowadays?"


Other Negative Elements:
The President of the United States is depicted in a somewhat demeaning light as he asks a flight attendant, "Could you wrangle up some ding-dongs, darlin'?" In fact, many authority figures are stereotypically portrayed as either incompetent or belligerent. A policeman interrogating Sam sees the youth look at his gun and says, "You eyeballing my piece? Go for it. I will bust you up!" And a government agent holds his badge up to Sam and Mikaela, saying, "This is my do-whatever-I-like-and-get-away-with-it badge."

A female computer analyst steals a secret code. A young man screams at his grandmother to shut up. And Sam's dog urinates on a robot's foot, inspiring the huge machine to "urinate" on a man in return.


Conclusion:
As the projectionist dimmed the lights and launched the first reel for a packed-to-capacity prescreening of Transformers, I realized that there were two different people sitting in my seat. No, there wasn't anyone on my lap, it was just two versions of me: The sentimental guy and the critical reviewer sat side-by-side in the same skin, both watching carefully, but through two very different lenses.

My sentimental side remembers his 6-year-old son in the bath, swimming through steamy bubbles, locked in Transformer vs. Batman battles. Brrr-chnkkkkk-cluunk-claaacckk! The boy called out transformation sounds with a focused intensity; the fun echoed down the hallway. Through that memory prism, the movie Transformers is a blast from the past, equivalent to finding a box of old toys in the basement and having its contents come to life with CGI perfection. Shattered cars soar and tumble through the air, buildings shake, lasers blast, and gigantic, weighty metal robots crash, crunch and demolish with more vivid realism than any bathtub imagination could conjure.

The hero robots, soldiers and teens risk everything for the good of all and agree that without sacrifice there can be no victory. The cheesy comic book dialogue and humor dampens the violence and the bad guys are evil but never nasty enough to be really scary. The thundering sound effects rattle your seat and teeth. And the cars and trucks and planes are super cool. (Cool enough to elicit thoughts of possible test drives. Which surely gives auto maker GM product-placement shivers of joy.)

But then my reviewer side clears his throat and brings up the point that we mustn't abandon a level-headed concern with content. For example, Sam's girlfriend works as hard as anyone to save mankind, but she does it while stylishly revealing a great deal of her tanned and toned form. Goofy teen Sam runs around in a baggy T and jeans, but sultry Mikaela's every teenage curve is showcased in skintight, cleavage- and midriff-baring outfits.

Having an adult in authority address Mikaela as "you in the training bra" is at least three or four steps over the line. So is a discussion about Sam's solo sex life. And so are s-words and truncated f-words.


wow... some of the points mentioned there are pretty nitpicky. "bare torsos are seen"... Women in bikinis.. OH MY! lol People are so PC now days. Its quite sad. Has anyone else noticed on the movie ratings where they explain why its rated that way things like "some peril" "Smoking scenes" etc.. Its like wtf? Whats next. "fart sequences" "fictitious opinion expression"

*rolleyes*

Last edited by Haoleb; 10/21/07 06:35 AM.
Re: Transformers
Haoleb #179905 10/21/07 07:12 AM
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I agree, Brandon, about how ridiculous some of the rating explanations are. When I was a kid and I wanted to watch a questionable or "R" rated movie, my dad would watch it first and then tell me if it was okay. Also, he'd watch it with me and edit out the scenes he deemed unsuitable.


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Re: Transformers
St_PatGuy #179906 10/21/07 07:13 AM
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Wow, a parent doing the parenting, rather than a ratings board. How outdated. \:\)

Re: Transformers
CV #179907 10/21/07 07:24 AM
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 Originally Posted By: CV
Wow, a parent doing the parenting, rather than a ratings board. How outdated. \:\)


I know. I was constantly complaining to my live-in nanny about that. ;\)


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Re: Transformers
St_PatGuy #179971 10/22/07 01:13 AM
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I think that I DID tell people that the "review" got into every last, even remotely possible, issue that even the most "righteous" person would complain about... I think that I also said that with THAT much detail, it should be easier to determine what you personally do or don't find offensive or appropriate.

Personally, there are movies that are rated PG-13 that I don't let my 13 year old watch. It all depends on why it is PG-13 and whether or not I think that she can handle what is going on, or if I think that it will "de-sensatize" her. She doesn't get bothered by much, but if a movie is about everyone drinking, doing drugs, and swearing in Jr High, then I won't let her see it. There are too many negative influences on kids today that she doesn't need to get it from a movie that those things are "OK"... My younger daughter, who is 8 1/2 years old, gets freaked out at ET when he is dying, so I skip that chapter. That scene didn't bother my oldest daughter when she was 8, but each kid is different, and each parent needs to know what they do or don't think is OK for their kids. The best way is for the parent to spend time WITH the kids watching the movie and skipping scenes if need be, but someone had mearly asked for what caused the PG-13 rating, so I just posted a cut and paste. I never thought that by doing so I would get the negative responses that I did.


Farewell - June 4, 2020
Re: Transformers
nickbuol #179983 10/22/07 02:54 AM
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Nick, I wasn't being negative towards you at all. I was making a comment about the blurbs that go along with movie ratings and how ridiculous they are. From the back of my "Transformers" movie it says, "For intense sequences of sci-fi action violence." For some reason I just find it funny. It could say, "Pretend robots fighting real hard."

What you do for your kids, like my dad did for me--actually watching the movie in question--is awesome. Like Charles pointed out, you're a parent acting like a parent.
Two thumbs up!


***********
"Nothin' up my sleeve. . ." --Bullwinkle J. Moose
Re: Transformers
St_PatGuy #180020 10/22/07 12:47 PM
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Sorry, I was tired when I was typing, and when I saw my entire post quoted and then the comments that came after that, I took it wrong.

Here is another quote that should be branded on every "adult with kids" (can't call them all "parents")

"If you are too busy being their friend, then who is going to be their parent?"

I think that you can be both, but many "adults with kids" are friends only...


Farewell - June 4, 2020
Re: Transformers
nickbuol #180022 10/22/07 01:19 PM
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Kids are coddled and overprotected these days. Long gone are the character-building days of broken bones from falling off play structures built over asphalt, chemistry sets that actually have chemicals that might hurt you, etc.

This editorial on the subject is pretty good.

Re: Transformers
pmbuko #180030 10/22/07 01:47 PM
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Re: Children having much more sheltered and safer lives...

Our summer season started off with the spring thaw bringing in the annual Redmud Bowl. Several days of playing football in a soaking wet grassy field that turned into a big pit of red mud by the end of the first day. Generally followed by several days of small classroom attendance as everyone was out with a cold.

Warmer weather brought the annual old bike cleanup where bicycles that were no longer much good were sacrificed in an acrobatic, ramp jumping event over the lobster wharf into the water. Fo those of you thinking the water made it easy, water landings while still attached to the bike can be very 'hurtful'.

Another popular sport was climbing up spruce trees and rocking them back and forth until they would slingshot you through the air to the next tree. Summer wasn't officially started until my Buddy Daryle broke his left arm from this or some other questionable activity.

Spring thaw also brought in Iceburging season. A section of beach would always melt open in a big semi-circle of open water full of different size ice cakes. Just about every clothesline pole in town was then stolen to pole along the various iceberg battleships that went to war trying to ram the enemy's iceberg hard enough that it would split or it's sailors would fall off.

Wasn't a big risk of drowning or floating out to sea as it was very shallow there, never over your head (much) and if you floated out past where your pole could reach, you eventually reached the solid ice where you could just run around back to shore.

Ya, this was all relatively stupid but we are all still alive today and we kept busy enough that the worst drugs we took were aspirin for the pain.


With great power comes Awesome irresponsibility.
Re: Transformers
Murph #180055 10/22/07 05:49 PM
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I agree w/ the current crop of coddling kids.

Hence I appreciate the "hippie" school that we sent my daughter to. There's not a lot of safety features at the school. If a kid wants to climb a tree and get on the shed, fine. You can climb up as high as you want, the only rule that you have to get down safely yourself. We use that at home too. Works surprisingly well.

The kids could also pretend to shoot each other. BUT ONLY if you asked the other kid if it was OK. Sounds silly but I find it a more cooperative mindset.

Re: Transformers
oldskoolboarder #180061 10/22/07 06:49 PM
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I miss dodgeball!


Farewell - June 4, 2020
Re: Transformers
nickbuol #180072 10/22/07 07:57 PM
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 Quote:
I miss dodgeball!

On rainy days at school we used to play the mean version in the gym, slaughterball!


A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.
Re: Transformers
oldskoolboarder #180121 10/23/07 02:06 AM
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If only wars worked by those rules...

"Hey, you guys mind if I stroll in here and blow you all up?"

"No thanks. Try the market on the other side of town."

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