Recently announced from Angolz.com is a black edition Convoy, or better known to us in the States as Optimus Prime.  Takara Tomy, spared no details on this figure as seen in the gallery below.  I especially love that this version of Convoy also features a flip up communicator on the right forearm.  With the title ‘Limited edition’, this version of Convoy has a decent amount of articulation and a handful of accessories such as the Matrix of Leadership, rifle and energon battle axe.  The fact that Megatron’s Walther P38 gun comes as an accessory may have us shaking our head in confusion.  But at the same time may strike a chord and encourage some of us to do some internet digging up a back story.  If I didn’t have an addiction for collecting Transformers as well as urban vinyl before, I do now.  Angolz is selling the limited Edition Convoy for $108 and is available now.

Image Source: Angolz.com

Yeah, you read that correctly. Here’s an interesting little story coming out of THR.com. Turns out that one of the producers on the first Transformers flick, Don Murphy, is a chronic comment troll. He’s notorious for reading through film review blogs and getting angry when people speak the truth about some of the shit that comes out of Hollywood. So one day a few years ago, Murphy was trolling the blogs once again and found a post from comic book artist Eddie Campbell about the flick From Hell. It turns out someone named James Robert Smith wasn’t happy about the production or felt the need to comment (Murphy, by the way was also a producer on From Hell). So while trolling the blog and finding Smith’s comment, Murphy went one step further and did some research. He found out that Smith wasn’t just your average commenter, he was a published author.

Murphy, probably thinking of ways to attack Smith where it hurts, decided to order the book online in hopes of criticizing his work.

But then something interesting happened. Murphy fell in love with the book. Flock is apparently a story about highly intelligent prehistoric birds that defend their Florida habitat from theme park developers. Murphy decided to put down his defenses and offer Smith a movie deal for Flock…

So there you have it, proof that expressing the truth about an opinion can actually lead you to bigger and better things. We just have to make sure that lots and lots of movie producers are out there reading comments.

I’ll kick this off by apologizing for probably about the 10,000th review of this film already out there. If you want to know what everyone is thinking about this flick, it’s probably the easiest thing to find on the Interweb today. So anyways, thanks for clicking this one; and onto the review:

Watching movies in IMAX is just something we’re all going to have to get used to. The main difference with the experience of checking out an IMAX flick is the actual theater. IMAX theaters don’t have as many seats so if you plan on checking out a flick like Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen, make sure to get there early or you’ll be one of those saps in the front row with a sore neck. They start the show off with a, “History of IMAX,” laser light show so everyone in the theater can learn to appreciate what they are about to see. It’s campy, but almost needed if anyone wanted to know why you just dished out the extra few bucks. Also, there are no previews attached to IMAX films yet so your movie will actually start when the ticket says so.

When Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen was first announced, everyone was on the edge of their seat. Fans wanted everything from the set images, to a list of robots that would be in it. The funny thing about all of the hype surrounding the flick was the fact that not a lot of people cared what it was going to be about. Michael Bay promised a sequel to the first which meant nothing more than some insane robot battles, sweaty shots of Megan Fox and a ton of product placement. I say this because if you go into Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen expecting cinematic genius, you’ll be extremely disappointed. This movie is exactly what Bay has promised – exactly.

I’ll chat about the good first, which is obviously the visuals. This flick, like the first, looks amazing. Dreamworks and Michael Bay once again out-did themselves in creating some of the most flawless visual effects I’ve ever seen. The explosions look amazing, the robot battles are detailed and well choreographed and everything from Optimus Prime to the Fallen himself are well designed.

Now, the not-so-good. There are absolutely no surprises with this flick. In fact, I would suggest actually not watching the first Transformers movie before seeing this one because you’ll walk away feeling as though you just paid to watch the same movie twice. There is nothing new about Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen other than a few new characters – none of which are needed. The first big flag is the amount of personality every single robot now has. The beauty of the first was that the Autobots and Decepticons were fighting their own battle and the communication amongst them was kept to a minimum. In the sequel, Bay and the writers decided to give all of the robots personalities which is a huge mistake. Secondly – and I mentioned this above, there are too many useless characters. The core return (Shia LeBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese, John Turturro) but beyond them, it felt as though Bay wanted nothing but comic relief. The new characters – Alice, Leo and a slew of robots, really had no purpose and by the end of the flick just become annoying.

There is no real “story,” to this flick either. When I grab this on Blu-Ray in a few months I can see myself fast-forwarding until the robot battles because I won’t be missing a thing. This isn’t a movie that will have you leaving the theater thinking about what you might have missed – it lacks any surprise, twists, mystery and a story. But come on, who goes to Transformers 2 looking for a good story right?

So that’s all I’m going to say about Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. If you get a chance, check it out in IMAX – it’s worth it. Michael Bay and his crew have done a great job in making something fun to watch. But if you’re a movie fan for reasons beyond eye-candy, this flick won’t satisfy you one bit. Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen is a nothing new and I give it 6 out of 10 Penguins on the flightless bird scale.

Normally when I stumble upon things like this I simply view and enjoy, then send to a few buddies and let it sink it – but after taking a look at these images submitted to Latino Review this morning, I almost feel as though I’d be cheating everyone if I didn’t share. Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen will hit theaters in about a month and the hype is getting to its peak. You’ve seen the trailers, read the robot reports and some people (wink wink) already know the plot.

So what’s left? How about some hi-res imagery of the finished product? Check below for some of the better images circling around and make sure to thank the gang over Latino Review for posting them originally.

I got the heads up on this Ravage 2 gig usb drive just a bit late.  BigBadToyStore.com had a pre-order going on for Soundwave’s most menacing spy.  The company has stopped taking requests for pre-orders some time today.  However, there is a chance some may flake on fulfilling their purchase come September.  So I’d say check back around then.  On a side note, I love how the usb connector becomes Ravage’s torso.

Image Source: OhGizmo! via BigBadToyStore

Linkin Park has been involved in various projects since the release of “Minutes to Midnight” in 2007, which included their first single  “What I’ve Done” featured on the first Transformers movie. For the second film, Linkin Park has scored another song featured on the soundtrack titled “New Divide” for the anticipated summer flick, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”. The song debuted yesterday along with a new 14 second trailer from the film.

Brad posted a message to LP fans on their website yesterday:

More than Meets the Eye

When Michael Bay asked us to contribute music to the newest Transformers movie, we were honored. We felt “What I’ve Done” worked great in the first film, and were eager to provide another song that captured the essence of robots-destroying-other-robots energy. Our only problem: that song didn’t exist.

So over the next seven weeks, we set out on a rather ambitious adventure–to create from scratch a piece of music that would represent not only the band, but a multi-bajillion dollar, worldwide movie franchise. And it wasn’t easy. Though the bones of this particular track materialized swiftly, the devil is almost always in the details.

At the end of the process, and through an amazing amount of teamwork, we completed our journey. The result is four-and-a-half minutes of sonic storytelling–one part classic LP, two parts electro exuberance, and one part mechanical mayhem. We simply call it “New Divide.”

Hope you enjoy.

BBB

I’ve been a fan of LP since day one (1999’s release of Hybrid Theory) and have not been disappointed by any of their work. I’m eager to see what else they have installed for us after “New Divide”. Listen to “New Divide” and preview the new trailer below.

Download link:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/ytumjgyzmjz/New Divide.mp3

“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”.

Just in time for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, is a custom fitted by Jai Cruz.  Prior to seeing Jai’s work, I wasn’t aware of custom 59Fifty’s.  Surrounding the crown are various poses from Optimus Prime from the original cartoon.  The artwork blends so well  with the Los Angeles embroidery that you forget this is an LA Dodgers cap.  This eBay auction ends in roughly 3 days, so if 7 3/8 fitted speaks to you, don’t sleep!  Or if the size don’t fit, at least email Jai to see if he’d pick up some commission work.

Image Source: Strictly Fitteds

But don’t let the title fool you. As per usual next gen system releases (PS3 and XBox 360) the animation and graphics look amazing. Couple that with modern technology’s HD goodness and you’ve got a hell of screen shot for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen the video game. So if you can read between these thin lines you’ll probably notice that I’m a bit of a skeptic – the last game was a bust considering all of the hype. I think we’ve learned to be a little hesitant about a game that looks impressive, but haven’t played.

I’ve gone through the ridiculously self-indulgent press release for the game and it sounds like there will be some game play additions. Most notibly would be a multi-player mode that allows players to challenge online friends to an epic bot battle. But again, my trust with the new Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and the Transformers franchise as a whole is tinkering on the bad side because of Michael Bay. I’m going to wait and see about this one. In the mean time we can all drool over the sharpness of the screenshots. The game is currently being developed by game studio Luxoflux.

The concept behind Oboe is to have all memories, experiences and knowledge passed from your loved ones into the android above.  All of which is held within the sphere Oboe is holding.  I’m wondering if the matrix from Transformers had any influence on designer, Arnauld Deloustal’s concept.  The first thing that popped in my mind when I saw Oboe was Osamu Tezuka’s The Phoenix.  Particularly, the one episode where the main dude, Leon, asks to have his memories swapped into a Rosie from Jetsons like robot.  And I believe his last line to a child was, “I rememember when I was once human…”  If and when this does happen, I wonder how people will embrace the idea.

Image Source: Yanko Design