More hype for the Transformers movie

Trying to take advantage of the internet hype that Snakes on a Plane enjoyed, the crew of the new movie Transformers (to be released July 4^th, 2007) has opened a contest to include a fan submitted line into the movie. The winning line will be spoken by the chief robot himself, Optimus Prime. Seems like a great idea, right? Here’s the list of lines:

http://206.220.43.61/primespeaks/votePrime/

Many of them, like “Megatron must be stopped – No matter the cost”, “One shall stand …One shall fall” and “First, we crack the shell, then we crack the nuts inside”, though this one was one of Rumble’s lines (who was ready to stomp Perceptor and Blaster in the com station), are lifted directly from the Transformers animated movie or other movies, “I’ll be back” (Terminator) and “I must break you” (Rocky IV). Others are far too long or would be awkward, in my opinion, for Prime to utter (Would a four million year old, robot truck really say “It’s prime time!” or “Do a barrel roll”? That’s almost as strange as having him say “What-chu takin’ ‘bout, Megatron?” while making a pouty face). But there are a few stand outs that make this thing worth while. Unfortunately, the one line that would have been really easy to put in, the final line in the animated film “‘Til all are one” with all the Autobots, Junkions and humans working together, was left out. Unless, it’s already included in the script.

The submission contest was restricted to US residents only but as far as the voting process is concerned anyone that signed up for the site is eligible.

As for the designs of the new characters being non-congruent to the old series, you have to keep in mind Transformers was created to sell toys to kids and by using the old designs, though they were very good, Hasbro would not be gaining any new buyers. It would just be us old suckers looking to replace our collections with the newer stuff. Kids today wouldn’t want to own an Ironhide figure that’s a mini-van, he has to be a Hummer or an Escalade. Same thing with Optimus Prime, cab-over trucks are out and tough looking semi-trailers are in.

The Transformers webpage can be found here.