TF2 Beat GI Joe for DOD Support

In an article from Stars and Stripes, Transformers 2 "beat" G.I. Joe when it came to securing support from the Department of Defense in terms of volume of assistance in terms of equipment, personnel and sites. It is an interesting article but parsing it the DoD was not playing favorites, Transformers 2 just made greater use of the military possibilities then G.I. Joe, probably due to the greater experience of Bay and his team. The full article is here.

“They wanted MRAPs just at the time Secretary Gates made a decision that emphasis would be placed on getting MRAPs to the combat zone as quickly as possible, so unfortunately we couldn’t help them with that,” Ogilvie said.

That pretty much ended the conversation until much later, when filmmakers asked and received permission to film at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., he said.

Meanwhile, the “Transformers” filmmakers had been allowed to film helicopters, tanks, a submarine and an aircraft carrier, said Philip M. Strub, director of entertainment media.

The disparity does not mean “Transformers” painted a more flattering portrayal of the U.S. military than does “G.I. Joe,” Strub said.

“The difference has less to do — in many respects — with us than the filmmakers,” he said. “I mean I think in the case of ‘G.I. Joe,’ looking back, I think we feel that the filmmakers belatedly realized that we could have provided more support.”

In contrast, Strub persuaded the “Transformers” filmmakers to include the Navy and Marine Corps in their portrayal of the military so that the Defense Department could give them more stuff to use, he said.