Why ‘Giant Fucking Robots’ Just Isn’t Enough (or How Michael Bay Ruined The Transformers Theme)
My newfound respect for Michael Bay has ended, and it only took one day.
Let me just preface this by saying that I don’t really have an emotional attachment to the Transformers theme song and I certainly don’t think tinkering with it is treading on holy ground. Having said that, I AM interested in the constant shifting of opinions and lowering of standards in regards to Michael Bay’s upcoming opus. With the overwhelmingly positive reactions towards the final Transformers trailer and recently released YouTube clip, Bay’s tribute to everyone’s favourite cartoon series has pretty much won the battle before it’s even began. Although some of the footage has been visually impressive, it seems as though some stubborn die-hard supporters have simply lowered their standards to the point at which this movie can do nothing other then satisfy. The naysayers are always met with the stock answer ‘Hey, all I want is giant fucking robots fighting each other!’, to which I’d have to reply… Really? That’s all it takes? Let me just say I don’t believe that for a second, however, it seems many folks have truly talked themselves into believing that this is all it takes to make a film like Transformers a success. Well I’m sorry friends, but you’re wrong. A blockbuster movie doesn’t get an automatic pass based on effects and action alone. Just because it’s supposed to be fun doesn’t mean you shouldn’t expect it to be good. If that were the case, then you’d all have a copy of Robot Jox alphabetically filed right next to Raiders of the Lost Ark in your DVD collections. But alas, it takes more than just special effects to make a great film. (This isn’t a slam against Stuart Gordon or Robot Jox.)
For me, many things must come together to make a film special, and yes, visual effects is one of them. But so is story, performance, dialogue, sound effects and so on. There are many great blockbuster popcorn films that have surpassed my expectations by combining fun action with quality filmmaking and intelligent storytelling. Spider-Man 2, Star Wars, the Indiana Jones films, Jurassic Park, X2… all great films that have succesfully combined special effects and explosions with great characters, solid acting, and amazing stories. Another important, and often abused, element of filmmaking is music. I don’t know how many times a movie has been soured by horribly misplaced modern rock music (Daredevil) or dated pop songs (Shrek). Having said that, based on Michael Bay’s hairstyle, fine choice of leather and rebellious ‘tude, I wasn’t surprised when I heard Linkin Park in the Transformers trailer. I’m also not surprised by the idea of a revised Transformers theme, but sometimes just knowing something is coming makes it all the more painful once it actually arrives. AICN has just posted a link to an MP3 which supposedly features the updated Transformers theme, and official or not, I have to say it’s HORRIBLE. I mean ‘Limp Bizkit’s Mission Impossible Theme’ horrible. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying this will make or break the film. This is simply a reminder that there’s MANY things that must come together to create a great film, and in my books, Bay just lost one point. Follow the link below and check it out for yourself.
» Related Link: AICN: A Bayified Transformers Theme
Comments (17)
This is laughable… It’s even worse than the punkrock featured in TMNT. And definitely WAY worse than the Limp Bizkit theme, which was listenable in instrumental form.
Posted by Henrik on June 7th, 2007wow. i mean wow. i mean when it started it didnt seem so bad, its what you’d expect from a modern Transformers theme, but then the Linkin Park rapper guy starts going.
But it is kind of funny at the same time. Its a lame kind of funny, like when the Simpsons parodied a Zorro movie and the end credits theme was a Zorro Rap.
Posted by Goon on June 7th, 2007I was under the impression that they changed Bumblebee’s name for the film. If that’s true, wouldn’t that immediately disqualify this song from being real since it mentions the name Bumblebee?
Posted by Rian on June 7th, 2007I never heard anything about them changing his name. I heard he doesn’t talk in the movie though, I wonder if that’s what you’re thinking.
Posted by Sean on June 7th, 2007I’m sure I heard somewhere that they were going to change his name because Bumblebee sounded too childish. I’m not saying it’s true, but I’m sure I read that somewhere. As for whether or not he talks, haven’t we heard a brief sample of his voice in one of the promos? Check out this clip, and listen right after Shia says “You’re my guardian?”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OFci6A-oK4
Posted by Rian on June 7th, 2007All I’ve ever said about keeping to the original movie and series is that they should use some of the original music. They could update it slightly maybe change the low budget synths to full orchestration but damn it if it’s Limp Bizkit bad I’m hesitant to even listen. The soundtrack to the Transformers Motion Picture is the best thing about it and if the live action is filled with Neu Metal that’s a bloody shame. Expected but still sad.
Posted by Ian on June 7th, 2007If this is the theme, I doubt this will be the opening theme. Im sure it will be some orchestra score in the beginning Im sure this song will be the closing credits. Just like they did for MI2. Fans need to realize that it wont be the cartoon. Grab some popcorn sit back and enjoy!
Posted by Dave on June 7th, 2007yes, that is awful, but i doubt it will be in the actual movie, sector 7 is just packed with stuff that is tf related but won’t be in the movie!
Posted by bert belgium on June 7th, 2007Damn that was horrible, but I am not really surprised. Bay and company have taken a ton of chances with the way the transformers looks and sounds. All the fanboys get all pissy at every little change, but when they actually see it, they shut up.
Anyway, this could mean that they don’t care about the music. Will Transformers sound epic? Doubt it.
As a huge fan of The Transformers, I really would of liked the movie to have a composer like John Williams doing the score, but there are a lot of great composers out there they could of hired.
Just like Michael Bay appearing at “On the Lot”, Transformer’s winning an MTV award, and actors doing all the press/talkshow interviews, this song will have its own music video as a way to promote the movie even more, but I could totally be wrong.
Posted by Primal on June 8th, 2007in my personal experience, Linkin Park song ruined Miami Vice for me and even had a bad influence on my perception of the other music in that movie (including Mogwai’s) . God I hate’em!
Posted by Davidchili on June 8th, 2007It started off great but some parts are cringy. Ir will be end credit music so it’s ok.
Posted by Robert(wolf) on June 8th, 2007I only got through half of the song because hearing it made my dog go absolute apeshit and start biting at my chair.
Posted by Nuno on June 8th, 2007Here’s the soundtrack track listing:
http://music.ign.com/articles/794/794821p1.html
Where’s Stan Bush??
Posted by Sean on June 8th, 2007I prefer Stan Bush to this pathetic bullshit. At least if they released a Stan Bush (or Stan Bush-esque) soundtrack today they would come off as having some sort of taste. At this point it’s just catering at every level possible.
Posted by Henrik on June 8th, 2007Yeah that’s really bad. This version of theme by Black Lab seems to be the best one for the movie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcQuXAf0cKc
Posted by Jennifer on June 17th, 2007I heard that theme a little while ago… and agreed, it’s terrible, but it actually didn’t play in the movie. They use “What I’ve Done”, Linkin Park’s new single to close out the movie(not great but it works…). The revised theme doesn’t show up anywhere in the movie.
Posted by Brian on July 7th, 2007Leave a Reply