Five New DOTM Toys Video Reviews

Peaugh has posted five more Transformers: Dark of the Moon toy line video reviews. Below are his reviews of deluxes Jolt (probably not in the movie), Ratchet, Sideswipe and Barricade (still unknown if in movie). Also tossed in Cyberverse Preview Optimus Prime. All four deluxes are new molds, smaller in size to account for the MechTech weapons and keep prices the same. Sideswipe is a convertible complete with seats and to my eyes is one of the best Transformers revealed yet with fantastic looking robot and vehicle modes (no surprise as he was a great toy for ROTF too). If don't like the dull gray, it is almost a guarantee a repaint is coming later. Ratchet just has never interested me but if you like the character and his toys, this one will make a solid addition. Jolt is just ok and probably a future peg warmer. Barricade remains ugly.

Deluxe Jolt Review and Power-Up Prime Followup

Peaugh has posted a video review of Deluxe Jolt who has a blink or you miss it moment in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (helped provide the electrical power for Prime/Jetfire merge). Speaking of the merge, he has also provides an update to his Power-Up Prime review that suggests an alternate configuration for the Prime/Jetfire combo.

Deluxe Jolt Bio

It’s been over a month since seen anything new about Jolt the GM Volt that barely appeared in Revenge of the Fallen (blink and you would have missed him). From TFW2005, here is an image of Deluxe Jolt's card back that includes his bio.

Deluxe Jolt Bio

Jolt loves to cause trouble, more than one group of Decepticons has watched in confusion as Jolt, all alone, raced around them in circles, taunting them. They're not used to Autobots acting crazy. Little do they know that it really is just an act - part of a plan to lure his enemies in close where he can deliver a crippling blow with his electro-whips.

Deluxe Jolt, Scorponok Pictures

KOToys has posted two new galleries for Deluxe Jolt and Stalker Scorponok that also compares to toys to others characters in the Revenge of the Fallen toy line. Jolt actually isn't that bad looking and a shame he isn't part of the initial release wave. As for Scorponok, he is simply a black and white repaint of the first movie version. Below are a few pictures of each and the links to the galleries. Thanks to Katie for the link.

Deluxe Jolt | Deluxe Scorponok

First Look at Ice Cream Truck Twins, Deluxe Jolt, Arcee and Others (Updated)

Nearly a year ago was the first sighting of a pink and white ice cream truck on the Bethlehem, PA shoot for Transformers 2. The day after I published the call sheets that included the description "Ice Cream truck chases R8 thru alleys. Crashes. Splits in two. Twins fight." the speculation began. Since then repeated sightings (video) at Bethlehem and California (here, here, and here) has only fueled it. Thanks to the find from TFW2005's "Heat Guy" on Wal-Mart's website, we now know that the ice cream truck is an early form of the Twins. The toy will be a deluxe class toy, I think both in one package.

In addition, Wal-Mart's site includes the first images Deluxe Blaze Master (alt mode Channel 7 copter), Deluxe Jolt (Chevy Volt), Deluxe Arcee (with side car that becomes blaster), Deluxe Swerve (repaint of Sideswipe), and Deluxe Dead End (repaint of Sideways). It is unknown if Blaze Master is a movie character. Jolt and Arcee are confirmed in the movie and of course the repaints are not. Thanks to "217" for the link.



Update: The TFW2005 thread has added additional pics that show off the alt mode for the figures, that I added above. Also included the Jetfire pictures (I think Leader class but not sure) since first good look at his modes. Thanks to 217 for the heads-up.

Eight Constructicons In Transformers 2?

Two new articles on USA Today and Yahoo! Movies suggest that Transformers 2 will feature a total of eight Constructicons, seven of which will form Devastator. The articles are part of a first look at some of the Transformers 2 robotic cast. This would be the first official word on many of the characters that we figured out over time between set and toy pictures but news to the general public. One change is Wheelie is being officially cast as a Decepticon and the addition of "The Doctor" also called Scalpel according to the Hasbro toy packaging and has the alt mode of a microscope. Below are excerpts.

Ravage and Soundwave
"In the spirit of 'more than meets the eye,' Ravage isn't just lethal because of his sharp teeth," says screenwriter Alex Kurtzman. "There's actually another skill set Ravage has that didn't exist before, so there's going to be a surprise for fans." ...his role will be similar to the 1980s cartoon and Hasbro toy — the ultimate spy.

Ravage doesn't turn into anything. But Soundwave will appear, again serving as an evil communications expert but this time in the form of an orbiting space satellite.

And Ravage, as before, won't speak like the other Transformers. "We wanted to stay true to the idea that Decepticons who take visual clues from beasts maintain that," says Orci. "It would be strange to have a talking jaguar, or a scorpion with an English accent."

Insecticons
"We have big guys, some little guys. We have a lot of littler ones, too. Little weirder ones," Bay says. Like the Insecticons, which were giant bugs in the original series and Hasbro toy line, but are now tiny creepy-crawly infiltrators.

Jetfire
As in the original, this fighter plane crash-landed on Earth a long time ago, and he will become a reformed Decepticon now fighting for the humans. His alternate form is the SR-71 Blackbird, the outdated but still-sleek Cold War spy plane.

"He's old, craggy, forgetful ... doesn't work very well. Can't transform very well, because he's very geriatric. They get stuck with him a lot," Bay says. "He knows the plan of the bad guys, but he forgets all the good parts of the plan."

The Twins
"Some of the junior Transformers are just dumb," Bay says with a laugh. "But it's great for kids because they're like the Little Engine That Could. They're (screw)-ups, but they get really heroic at the end."

Arcee
Arcee is the only female and turns up as Megan Fox's hot-pink motorcycle. Co-screenwriters Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci say she was in an early draft of the first movie. "But we felt we needed to win the audience over before asking for that suspension of disbelief: a feminine alien robot," Kurtzman says.

The Fallen
The Fallen is an ancient robot, sort of the Transformers' version of Lucifer. He's one of the original robot aliens, and his defiance and arrogance led to his banishment into another dimension. The screenwriters say that The Fallen holds the key to life on both Earth and Cybertron, the Transformers' home planet.

The Doctor
A smaller, but no less malevolent Decepticon is known as The Doctor — a spider-like droid that transforms into various implements of torture and has a not-so-nice encounter with star Shia LaBeouf.

Devastator
These seven robots — Scavenger, Scrapper, Hightower, Longhaul, Rampage, Overload and Mixmaster — transform into construction machinery, but also link up with one another to form one gigantic robot stomper named Devastator.

"He's made of vehicles designed to build, and he turns into is someone who loves to destroy," Orci says. "He is an agent of absolute chaos."

"Spielberg saw it and said, 'This is (expletive) awesome!' " Bay says, and adds: "It's always nice when you can make him swear."

Missing from the list is Megatron, who Bay has already verified is returning. Of interest is the bit about Devastator merging with seven Constructicons, one of which is not Demolisher (the one wheeled guy in the trailer busting through a bridge).

The 2009 Toy Fair pictures and display along with the preview on The Today Show suggested that the toy was a combination of six constructions:
     Demolishor - red O&K/Terex RH400 Hydrolic Mining Excavator (torso)
     Scrapper - yellow Caterpillar 992G Front Loader (right arm)
     Long Haul - green Caterpillar 773B Dump Truck (right leg)
     Mix Master - silver Mack Cement Mixer (head)
     High Tower - yellow Kobelco CK2500 Truss Crane (left arm)
     Rampage - yellow Caterpillar D9L Bulldozer (left leg)

Apparently this is wrong. Instead of Demolisher we have the addition of Scavenger and Overload whose alt modes remain unknown. Suffice it to say I am a bit confused. Either the Toy Fair displays were missing two Constructicons (why do that when the Fairs purpose is to sell a line to vendors?) or USA Today and co have some of their information confused ("The Doctor" vs Scalpel). I guess things will get cleared up a bit more once the toys get released.

Thanks to all the site readers for sending in the links.

Update:As pointed out in the comments, the Toy Fair pictures did show one of the toys with the word "SCVNGR" which even then was identified as Scavenger but dismissed as an error or early production model. Clearly, instead there are two variations of the Hydraulic Mining Excavator as part of the Constructions. One is Demolisher seen early in the film (and now I assume meets a bad end) and the other is Scavenger which helps form the torso of Devastator.

Best guess for Overload is the Komatsu HD465-7 Articulated Dump Truck TFW2005's source provided way back in October. The other six were right so small leap to assume the last is correct too. My best guess in this scenario is Overload is the lower torso that the legs connect to and Scavenger is the upper that the arms and Mixmaster attach to.

Update 2: Oops got my construction vehicles confused. Probably going to do that a few times with the Constructicons.

Autobots At Auto Show Videos

Last week GM debut its fleet of Autobots to the public at the 2009 Chicago Auto Show giving us a good close look at the Chevy Trax (Mudflap), Beat (Skids), Camaro (BB), Volt (Jolt) and Corvette Stingray (Sideswipe). We already got a look at some galleries, but now thanks to Schoop77 here are some videos to go with them.

Direct links: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Chicago Auto Show Galleries

The other day the GM held a press conference at the Detroit Auto Show that officially revealed the concept cars and their movie names for Transformers 2 to the public. Now there are two huge galleries the cars on display at the show. Also below, for those that missed it, is the movie related commercial that was put together to highlight the vehicles. Thanks to blog fans for the YouTube link and Chris for the gallery link.

Galleries: Jalopnik | TFW2005

FAB Megatron and Jolt Video Reviews

Via TFormers, Mike and peaugh are back with a video reviews of the Fast Action Battler Megatron and Jolt the Volt.

More toy reviews related to Transformers 2 can be found here including Ransack.

Autobot Names Confirmed (Updated w/ Video)

GM held a press conference today at the Detroit Auto Show and official revealed the 4 concept cars and their character names that were used in the movie. A sneak peak video/commercial that shows off the cars as used in the movie is here.

Five Chevrolet-based characters – including four all-new characters – are featured in the new film set to open in the United States on June 26. All of them are at the Chevrolet display. The four new movie characters include:

SIDESWIPE – a stylized Corvette vision concept vehicle
SKIDS and MUDFLAP – twin AUTOBOTS® based on Chevy's Beat (a concept that will go into production as the Chevy Spark in 2011) and Trax concepts
JOLT – an AUTOBOT-based on Chevy's upcoming Volt extended-range electric vehicle
BUMBLEBEE™, the heroic AUTOBOT based on Chevrolet's Camaro concept from the first "Transformers" movie, returns with a high-performance attitude. Joining the vehicles on stage will be BUMBLEBEE in his AUTOBOT form, standing almost 17 feet (5.2 meters) tall and 13 feet (4 meters) wide.

"Chevrolet is thrilled to again be part of one of the most anticipated movies in years," said Ed Peper, GM North America vice president, Chevrolet. "‘Transformers' gives us a great opportunity to connect with young people on their terms, with a dynamic, environmentally friendly image. The new characters represent the change going on in Chevy showrooms. From the exciting Camaro, the 21st century sports car, to the game-changing Volt, there's more than meets the eye at Chevrolet today."

Directed by Michael Bay, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" sees the AUTOBOTS confront a new threat from DECEPTICONS® bent on avenging their earlier defeat on Earth. The new AUTOBOT characters in their current Chevy-based form square off against new, tougher foes determined to rule the universe.

Pictures of the Corvette Stingray Concept and Camaro Concept can be found here or a video here. Thanks to Dave for the link.

Update: Via the14thrider blog, below is the video (or YouTube) that was shown by GM. Yep it is essentially a car commecial...but a commercial using movie footage.

A New Twist on Fallen Concept? (Update 2)

A new post LS2.com (via TFormers) adds an interesting twist to what "The Fallen" may be in the title Transformers Revenge of the Fallen. Currently there are two camps, either it’s a brand new character named "The Fallen" based on a comic book concept from a few years or it is symbolic naming for the return of Megatron (possibly renamed to Galvatron).

According to "-=boM=-", there now might be another potential meaning. BoM was apparently a military extra on the set when filming occurred at Holloman Air Force Base and White Sands in New Mexico around October. A claim supported by pictures from the set. Big spoiler warning for below and note this is completely unverified.

First post by -=boM=-:

"Can't wait...i'm in it as an extra. I am a Navy Seal doing a battle scene against the Decepticons. I filmed out at White Sands and on Hollomans flight line. Filmed for 4 days and had a blast. Tons of pics on my Facebook."

Follow up reply:

I had to chase a bunch of villagers out of the area because the Decepticons were attacking, then had to protect Optimus Prime's body. There were a shitload of us out there.

The food and catering was awesome. A lot of downtime. Just like a deployment.

I did an interview for the DVD. We will see if that is on it too. The asked me a bunch of questions about the military. The autobots are behind me on top of a sand dune. I did a GM plug. They liked that.

Micheal Bay loves the military. I got to speak with him very briefly. He gets so angry on set at the actors but doesn't dare yell or demean the military. It was a trip. He said something to me like do you want a job as a DA (Directors Assistant), I said hell yeah. He was getting pissed at his DA. His DA was like trust me you dont want this job.

I have two closeup shots if they do decide to put them in the movie. One was walking with the camera on the tracks going along with me but at a slower pace. The camera was right on the side of my face following me but at a slower rate. There were two others behind me. The other close up was while I was defending from a corner of a building on one knee. The boom camera went from the ground to over head of us all. I was up front in the scene. The camera came up to my face then began to ascend over the area. It was pretty cool.

Another scene was Optimus getting dropped off by a chinook. I had to run up to the area then stop as Optimus was getting dropped.

Another was with Josh and Tyrese when they argue with The President on the flightline. I am in the background.

As much time as I spent filming (9-10 hours a day for 4 days) I hope I am seen at least once. Hell I'll be happy to be on teh DVD.

If the post above is true then apparently Optimus Prime may possibly fall fighting the Decepticons and maybe return seeking revenge on them. The only problem I have with this idea is "revenge" would be very un-Optimus Prime like. I am inclined to dismiss this idea. However, Prime dying could have possibilities, or it simply could be Prime gets severely injured (commercial shows a possible beat down) and is unconscious requiring an escort during recovery.

Now to support that boM was an extra (but not the Prime plot point), he posted a HUGE gallery of pictures from the set that includes pictures of most of the Autobot vehicle cast including Ratchet, who has been missing from most of the sets leading to speculation that his character dies. Below are just 12 pictures out of 117 that he posted so be sure to go here to view them all.

Images removed per demand from Paramount Pictures.
Update: As read abobe, the Holloman set pics are getting pulled from the web by Paramount. My best guess is the pictures revealed a plot point since the vehicles have been known for a while now and the set itself was featured on ET and Insider. My best, mostly uneducated guess, for the reason behind the cease and desist is the shot of Josh Duhamel, Shia and Megan. In it Josh and Megan's body language seems to be of anguish or concern over a prone Sam, who is wearing a costume that is the same as the burnt and bloody costume from August. I guess this set is where Shia received those injuries for the film.

Update 2: To add fire to the above, according to the Latino Review, boM had initially used the word "corpse" instead of "body" when talking about Optimus. The change was made when a poster noted that they never actually referred to him as dead. Thanks to Ian and Chris for the info.

Jolt Video and More Constructicon Toy Pictures

The toy pictures and such keep coming. For those thinking "who cares about toys!", the reason is hey we like toys and the toys provide hints on the movie characters and their design. They are basically plastic spoiler alerts.

First up is a video review of Jolt the Volt Fast Action Battler brought to you by the same person that did the great Audi R8 review.


More Construction RH400 pictures have popped up that show off the vehicle mode and head, still no confirmation of character name of if this is 1 of many. Below are a few pictures, the full gallery is here.

More Ask Orci Q&As

Roberto Orci has returned to TFW2005's Orci Q&A Thread and provided some comments Transformers 2. The questions run all over the place from the Superbowl trailer, story beats, and characters like Jolt the Volt. As usual my comments are in parenthesis. Thanks to Gregory for the heads-up.

if you could choose any Transformers for TF3, who would they be (Transformers from TF1 and ROTF don’t count) and why?
Unicron. For scale's sake. (Keep in mind this is an off the cuff answer, not "proof" of what TF3 will be about. There doesn't even exist a TF3 script at this time.)

what are you working on right now? Writing bot lines for the voice actors? How's the film shaping up? Looking good? Has your mind been blown?
Bay has been kind enough to show us some scenes so we can have a second chance at some of the dialogue now that we know what footage we have. I think it is going well, but there is still much work to do between now and June. But Michael hit it out of the park again.

what do you think us fans will be most pleased with in the sequel?
I think the fans will like the seriousness with which the Transformers mythology is treated, and the closer characterizations of some of the main Transformers.

Will it be as revealing as the trailer for the first film? Is it going to give away lots of money shots?
There are so many "money" shots in this movie that a 20 minute trailer couldn't give them all away.

was the Chevy Volt TF kind of shoved into the film by GM and not really in the script?
Yes, we had to figure it out last minute, but everything was running at a hectic pace because of the writer's strike. It was no problem, though, because the Volt is truly unique, and actually fit well onto our existing Autobot team. (Never understood why GM tried to deny this as clearly their 2010 car marketing stragedy hinges on the Volt.)

do you have any idea if the Super Bowl trailer is going to be a 30 sec one or possibly a 60 to 90 sec one?
Don't know if that's been decided yet. We have both lengths ready to go! (Considering every 30 seconds costs $3 million, that is going to be one expensive trialer).

I know you mentioned that all the Decepticons will be military vehicles. Will any of the Autobots be a military vehicle?
I meant, in the first movie, we decided they would all be military vehicles. A Little more variety this time. (The Audi, Constructicons, etc already indicate that the Decepticons are not all military this time.)

out of all the scenes you've seen would you say the Decepticons have good enough screen time?
i don't know yet, but it's looking like yes.

Is there something worth mentioning that this second movie is lacking or weaker than the first one?
might be a few minutes longer, which in our minds is a weakness. You may not agree. (As long as the extra time is Transformer related and not human characters related, length is good.)

I'm almost positive about this but, did Michael request more detail and realism than before for all robots?
Yes. ILM, as a result of all the R&D of the first movie is able to do much more this time in terms of detail and movement. (So basically be prepared to be even more impressed.)

when will the actors go into the studios and do some recording
Doing it little by little. Already had a few sessions.

What made you want to put a pretender in this movie.
You'll see. It fits the story.

How late into production was the Chevy Volt/Jolt added? Was it during filming, or right after the strike when you guys had to jam out a script? And... since he was added so late, does he fit organically into the movie?
No, we put him in before production started, during the mad dash to get a shooting draft ready. But we always knew we WANTED to put him in from early on when we saw the design and realized it was a truly unique car. We just had to convince Michael that he could fit organically into the team and be as cool as the others. (Yeah I really can't argue that the Volt is a neat looking car, the only question is will it be a neat Transformer.)

Many More Pics of FAB Jolt, Megatron

The-Arker.com has posted many pictures of the Fast Action Battler Megatron and Jolt
(the Volt). Below are a few pictures but rather then mirror them all, here is Megatron's gallery and Jolt's gallery.