Empire Magazine Feb 2007 Article

The current issue of Empire Magazine, February 2007 on news stands now, has a preview of Transformers. The cover image had been released previously. The article is by Chris Hewitt.

The highlights:
- The article is based on the interviews and press that was allowed on set back in August for the filming in Los Angeles for the last act of the film.
- The McGuffin is called the Energon Cube in the article but online sources have said that has since changed to the Allspark.
- All of the major studios passed on Transformers the first time until DeSanto and Don Murphy was able to get Dreamworks to bit.
- Little bit about how fandom didn't like the choice of Michael Bay as director but the producers feeling he was one of the few directors in Hollywood with the experience to handle a movie on the scale of Transformers.
- Bumblebee will have the most screen time in the movie.
- The Empire cover image was put together by ILM and movie producers just for the article.
- Megatron's alt mode is based upon a prototype fighter plane The Razor.
- The leaked images are "just the tip of the iceberg" according to producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura.
- The original G1 designs where not used because in tests they "looked silly".
- Scenes in movie include the opening fight with Scorponok, attack on Air Force One and a freeway chase/robot fight.
- Desanto: "you have to be invested in the characters...It's gotta be character-driven, and Michael Bay realizes that." As long as he doesn't short shift the action and focuses on the human character to much, I agree with that.
- However the human relationships will be given of focus as "have to use your time with the Transformers every carefully because it costs millions of dollars every time you're playing around with these giant things talking and emoting!" says di Bonaventura.

The article doesn't really cover anything that hasn't already been released online but it still will probably kick up some discussion. I am in agreement that the original G1 designs couldn't be used but I am still not sold on the updated versions either. I think a large part of that is the bug faces the Transformers are sporting as I don't really understand the motivations behind that. At the very least seeing how the emote will be interesting to see and probably not going to be easy for ILM to pull off. Thanks to Thontor for the pics.