Nov 17 2006
TF Movie Commentary
Sony BMG released the new-and-improved version of “Transformers: The Movie” on November 7th. I pre-ordered my copy from FamilyVideo.com, which is ironic because I still owe the local Family Video about $20 in late fees. Chrissy and I caught this new version at a midnight showing at Botcon in Lexington, Kentucky. They did a really good job with the color remastering and the improved sound effects, and they did something that no one thought could ever be done: they produced a widescreen version.
The two-disc set has lots of extras, but I’ve been watching the movie itself over and over. Sony BMG packaged the widescreen version with two commentary tracks and a pop-up video overlay. So now while I’m feeding Aiden at night and there’s nothing else on TV, I watch the Transformers movie with a new commentary track. The pop-up video track, which Sony calls the “Matrix of Knowledge,” doesn’t really uncover any new information, but it’s cool to watch and adds some fun to a movie that I’ve already seen a dozen times.
The director’s commentary is interesting. Nelshin Shin, the Japanese director (I say this because he is Japanese, not because he directed the Japanese version of the movie), doesn’t speak English very well. He tries, with varied results, to describe how difficult it was for the animators to produce the quality seen. It hurts the ears to listen to. Summing up two hours of Nelson’s ramblings: there are a lot of lines to draw, flashing lights are difficult for animators, there are many hand-painted backgrounds and there are many layers on top of the original drawings.
Flint Dille, who was the final writer for the movie, doesn’t remember a whole lot about the making of the movie, but does offer a lot of insight into how animated movies were made back then. Sue Blu was also on hand to regale us with tales of Arcee’s inner feelings. She only talks when Arcee is onscreen, and only when Arcee is acting maternal with Daniel (which is every scene that Arcee is in). To be honest, I would have preferred an entire track with Flint Dille, but only if he had come prepared with notes and documentation to back up what he was saying.
The second commentary track is the fan commentary. This may seem stupid, but the fans are probably better able to comment on this particular movie than any other person alive today. There’s a British guy, Paul Hitchens, who came armed with a copy of the original script and several pages of notes. He pointed out every discrepancy in exacting detail and pointed out tiny details that I had never seen before. It was like sitting down with a master and being shown an entirely new movie. A few more feedings and I’ll have watched the movie four times since it came in the mail.
Meta-Tags:
Aiden, BMG, Chrissy, Family Video, movies, Transformers
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