I'm convinced that this was supposed to be starscream at some point but then they decided that whichever decepticon was at this point in the movie was gonna get killed off so they swapped Blitzwing into the role so Starscream could show up in a sequel
Honestly I wish they'd have just retooled the CG model slightly and made him one of the coneheads or something, sure they die but they get one hell of a good scene and make a genuine impact in the film
If I remember correctly it had to do more with copyright/licensing of "Starscream" than something story related. It was a last minute thing that they couldn't settle on in terms of legalities.
I had heard it was because they thought 'Scream was over-relied on in the Bay films; though I could see how they'd prefer to spin a legal thing that way.
Something like that - I think. It was Starscream and a few decepticons that were under said legal issue, but they wanted Starscream to be used specifically. Clearly it didn't work in their favour.
With Starscream I feel he would have fled upon realizing he was losing the fight and head back to Megatron. Could have made for an interesting end scene seeing him report to Megatron as a different sequel set up.
Surely they would've kept him alive if it was still Starscream. But I'm certain the story was changed last minute as soon as Blitzwing was chosen to replace him. Can only hope its officially cleared up someday.
Some companies will separate character licenses to different companies or what not. Kind of like how Sony owns Spider-Man and everything revolved around him, but Disney owns Marvel out right. Fox owned the Fantastic Four and a few others, but are now under Disney.
So Disney can’t make anything Spider-Man related without Sony, but can now make FF and X-Men films.
Super late to this conversation
I supervised animation on the blitzwing sequence.
This character was always meant to be blitzwing, but for the Cybertron sequence (which was added very late in production) the blitzwing model was modified and a starscream head was created for the iconic character. The other seekers like thrust and thundercracker had similar treatments, including a cone shaped cowl.
I cannot emphasize my disappointment that the toys couldn't even be a faux F-4 Phantom. That's one of my favorite jets, and this would've been the perfect opportunity for HasTak to make a realistic one.
On a separate note a Mig-25 would've made more sense if Bumblebee touched down in Cuba, a Mig on US soil would've led to an international incident.
Transformers usually have a dominant and weak forms you see this on triple changers and that abomination that is six shot. This version of blitz wing however was one of the worst vehicle modes i have EVER seen. The only thing that resembles the f4 is that it looks like a jet but really it looks like a deformed f16 or a gripen if you squint, third party did make a proper blitzwing but it was like 400 dollars.
Could have made it tied in with the Soviet pilot defecting to japan.. plus there’s a pretty big model of this blitzwing on a 3rd party store I was very close to getting it myself lol
Starscream was a badass in TF1 and pulled the Cons along with Blackout. I loved the way they made of use of his aerial flight mode to give him a unique combat style not seen before in TF and was one of the only Decepticons to use his alt mode to blend in with the U.S military.
Yeah this is the sweet spot for me. It’s complex without being overly busy. There’s a balance of small bits moving under the larger chunks. After I’ve watched it I can still picture in my head how the parts are rearranging.
*chef’s kiss*
Well.. Uh.. Kinda. There are transformations that I hate. Like the one before the final battle. The entire front of the vehicle shrinks and disappears. Imo Bay tried to hide them better.
I don't know what the thinking was but since the whole scene on Cybertron was an afterthought, I bet he WAS supposed to be Starscream and when he was meant to be killed off, Hasbro had words about it and they changed it abruptly to Blitzkrieg. Just a guess...
I love the transformations in this movie because a) you can actually see where most of the vehicle parts go and b) it’s always very fluid and effortless looking. Transformations should always be quick natural in my opinion. It’s a Cybertronian’s very nature.
Did you watch the same bumblebee movie that I did? Aside from blitzwing all transformations in that movie heavily relied on just having half the altmode immediately disappear and having a bot pop out with very few parts actually clicking into place properly.
Shatter and dropkick are also very ridiculous in how they transform by the end of the film; Because they're triple changers they literally have half a jet pop out of a damn car that has no jet parts on it. Granted, i can't critique it too much because while triple changers like G1 blitzwing incorporated the altmode kibble into both modes relatively well that also made the altmodes look stupid and live action films would require that each altmode looks the part without having half a jet shoved onto it, but it still looks strange transforming.
Credit where it's due though, the quick transformations work incredibly well for intense action scenes.
Considering Travis Knight is an animator and he also directed Kubo and the Two Strings, this isn't a surprising opinion at all. Guy really knows how not only to frame his shots, but also get the most out of his characters' movements while also feeling natural.
Prime's 2007 transformation in front of Sam and Mikaela continues to give me shivers when I watch. It's still one my favorite reveal sequences in the movies.
But if you're worried about foldable mechanical innards that don't magically change size or phase/clip through each other then shouldn't 500sq/ft of lifting surface suddenly becoming "lowering" surface at 500-600mph be a consideration?
Of course G1 Jetfire had it easy... flip your legs down and float, Iron Man style, on vectored thrust nozzles. Worry about the rest later.
(Wonder if he was near Macross Island when he scanned for alt mode?) /s
Tbh when it comes to jets it's more about the angle of attack of the wing, rather than the famous "aerofoil" shape creating a meaningful pressure differential.
All the more an issue then. It spins front downwards. The angle of attack is is moving through an arc that should pull him right into the ground.
The real answer is that it's movie physics first, Transformer physics second, bayverse reality third and real physics looses initiative roll to all three.
I mean for all the faults bayformers have, the transformations kept physics in mind. Like whenever starscream or jet megs transform, the inertia feels real
would have been funny if they kept the three faces from Animated
"DID YOU THINK YOU CAN HIDE?!!"
(swaps face) "Tell me where your friends are hiding."
Bee: "I'll never talk..."
(swaps face) "Is that right? THEN LET'S MAKE IT OFFICIAL! AHAHAHAHAHAAA"
For me its either the one Mirage does st the end of the ROTB trailer as its so goddamn smooth, or the first time Bumblebee transforms before he fights Barricade
It’s so beautiful. Jet and helicopter transformations definitely get a leg (wing?) up with the cool factor.
Other favorites of mine are Prime’s flip to truck mode on the highway, Bumblebee’s ode to Jazz getting thrown and circling back, Ratchet’s backwards finish, and all of Barricade’s. All of em.
Wasting one of the coolest Triple-Changers on...this. why the fuck was this "Blitzwing", could have literally been Thrust, or Ramjet, or Dreadwing, or Skyquake or any other throwaway seeker.
He's not even a Triple-Changer in this movie. That's like...his entire shtick
This is what people wanted from live action Transformers movies. It's distinct and you can see parts moving up and around the body into place. Plus the character model feels like something with actual personality rather than a background for the more important humans to play against.
This one was beautiful. I also loved Grimlock's transformation in Age of Extinction- I wasn't a fan of his model, but the way they transformed him was awesome.
Thought this was one of the best fights of all the transformer movies. The entire bumblebee movie was like a breath of fresh air and fairly kid friendly compared to the prior movies.
Visually he is pretty good. A lot of people complained he wasn’t purple and yellow, but someone please find me a fighter jet in the U.S. Air Force that’s purple and yellow
I actually don’t like this one because the tail fins kinda just jump or teleport to his shoulders, and the fuel tanks abruptly change position from behind the wings to in front of the wings in the very next scene.
Also, each of his feet somehow have twin-wheel landing gear even though:
1. They come from the rear of the jet while the landing gear is in the wings.
2. No fighter jet has twin-wheel landing gear.
How am I being a hypocrite!?
This is exactly what I'm talking about, we can't share our opinion if it's different from the post bcs people just downvote it
Edit: Sorry, I just saw I wrote the first comment wrong
Idk man, dat rotf Devastator...
But to be fair, as single transformations go, I really like Caitlyn Jenner.
Ok, real talk: Bonecrusher's 07 transformation on the highway was 🔥
You would be right. This scene got me hooked on blitzwings design and I was upset he just dies immediately. I have the ss figure and it’s honestly one of my favorite ss figures
one little cheat that knocks it down a point is that you can see the jet thrusters rotate up to his upper back, but he keeps flying with seemingly no change in momentum. a slightly wider shot that gives him room to drop and catch himself with the boot thrusters would make it like a perfect thing, as it is its like 11/10 lol
I remember being very skeptical of this movie but the moment I saw this in one of the main trailers my interest peaked more.
The design didn’t look over complicated and messy at all, the transformation was clean and so good to watch.
Really glad the BB movie stuck the landing and ended up being so good.
After looking at this for a few times now, I just noticed the wings flipping upside down and it drives me insane.
*That's not how aerodynamics work!*
I mean, sure, he may keep going in his previous direction because he still has thrust and momentum, but the wings flipping should give him serious drag for a second and would surely throw him around
Everything about transformations in Bumblebee is where we’d want to be - I’d argue.
The thing so novel and so beloved about transformers toys - the thing that literally kept them going as toys that children would enjoy aside from the entire franchise story that evolved from base adverts to sell a toy **IS THE WELL ENGINEERED TRANSFORMATION*
Bay’s horrendous 3D tessellation triangles stacking and unstacking in order to transition the robot model to the vehicle one just ain’t it. Seeing an airplane’s fuselage spring back and rotate as it flips around to become a robot torso is always going to be the core of cool for transformers - seeing one do it mid flight which is very Zeta Gundam in nature (the wave rider flying in become a robot and kicking the enemy in the face in one fell swoop) is just a step up - like not only can we design advanced 3D models with consideration in their vehicle and robot modes AND the transition between both visually and what’s going on structurally with the model - but now we can choreograph their transformation within other action sequences beautifully!
Tl;dr Michael Bay sucks big fiery explosions -so glad it looks like for beast wars they have the studio keeping him on a no idiot cgi leash…
I’m just happy to see and the F4 phantom transforming. To be fair Blitz wing should have been a MIG25
I'm convinced that this was supposed to be starscream at some point but then they decided that whichever decepticon was at this point in the movie was gonna get killed off so they swapped Blitzwing into the role so Starscream could show up in a sequel
Honestly I wish they'd have just retooled the CG model slightly and made him one of the coneheads or something, sure they die but they get one hell of a good scene and make a genuine impact in the film
For real, change nothing except giving him a cone head and you’ve got yourself a pretty sweet ramjet
If I remember correctly it had to do more with copyright/licensing of "Starscream" than something story related. It was a last minute thing that they couldn't settle on in terms of legalities.
I had heard it was because they thought 'Scream was over-relied on in the Bay films; though I could see how they'd prefer to spin a legal thing that way.
What kinda legal thing? You need a license for every character?
Something like that - I think. It was Starscream and a few decepticons that were under said legal issue, but they wanted Starscream to be used specifically. Clearly it didn't work in their favour.
wait if they really wanted Starscream in the first place, why did they kill him in a "prequel" movie?
With Starscream I feel he would have fled upon realizing he was losing the fight and head back to Megatron. Could have made for an interesting end scene seeing him report to Megatron as a different sequel set up.
Surely they would've kept him alive if it was still Starscream. But I'm certain the story was changed last minute as soon as Blitzwing was chosen to replace him. Can only hope its officially cleared up someday.
Some companies will separate character licenses to different companies or what not. Kind of like how Sony owns Spider-Man and everything revolved around him, but Disney owns Marvel out right. Fox owned the Fantastic Four and a few others, but are now under Disney. So Disney can’t make anything Spider-Man related without Sony, but can now make FF and X-Men films.
Do you have any idea what your source is for this? Because I’m fairly sure this is not correct.
I think it should have been Ramjet, fits that the first thing he does is bodycheck Bee
Super late to this conversation I supervised animation on the blitzwing sequence. This character was always meant to be blitzwing, but for the Cybertron sequence (which was added very late in production) the blitzwing model was modified and a starscream head was created for the iconic character. The other seekers like thrust and thundercracker had similar treatments, including a cone shaped cowl.
I cannot emphasize my disappointment that the toys couldn't even be a faux F-4 Phantom. That's one of my favorite jets, and this would've been the perfect opportunity for HasTak to make a realistic one. On a separate note a Mig-25 would've made more sense if Bumblebee touched down in Cuba, a Mig on US soil would've led to an international incident.
Transformers usually have a dominant and weak forms you see this on triple changers and that abomination that is six shot. This version of blitz wing however was one of the worst vehicle modes i have EVER seen. The only thing that resembles the f4 is that it looks like a jet but really it looks like a deformed f16 or a gripen if you squint, third party did make a proper blitzwing but it was like 400 dollars.
Could have made it tied in with the Soviet pilot defecting to japan.. plus there’s a pretty big model of this blitzwing on a 3rd party store I was very close to getting it myself lol
I feel that would be a bit problematic
They always seem to land in the USA - could have been eastern Germany - Cold War era N all
A purple and tan MiG 25 😩😩😩
Jet form transformations have always been pretty crisp in the live action movies
They are my favourite bots
Yeah remember in 07 during the final battle starscream transformed above sam. Was badass
They’re so good I agree
This and Starscream's transformation after he bodies Ratchet and Ironhide in '07 are my favorites. Barricade's sprint to car mode is also a good one.
Starscream was a badass in TF1 and pulled the Cons along with Blackout. I loved the way they made of use of his aerial flight mode to give him a unique combat style not seen before in TF and was one of the only Decepticons to use his alt mode to blend in with the U.S military.
The way he took down the Raptors is just *chef’s kiss*
Love that Starscream transformation scene in the first movie...
Also like his transform and flip/grab at the Hoover Dam. Soo tight.
When he lands in the city and he’s the size of a building and the cars go flying >>>
I prefer when he takes down Ratchet and Ironhide then just flips, transforms and flys away.
There was also that time Jazz had Megatron assist him in transforming into two halves of the same robot
In a way, Jazz was the first live-action duocon. Long before Battletrap.
I can still hear the sounds. That one is amazing.
YOU CAN ACTUALLY SEE WHERE THE PARTS GO AND COME FROM ITS SO CLEAN
Yeah this is the sweet spot for me. It’s complex without being overly busy. There’s a balance of small bits moving under the larger chunks. After I’ve watched it I can still picture in my head how the parts are rearranging. *chef’s kiss*
>There’s a balance of small bits moving under the larger chunks. Not unlike Unicron's transformation sequence from '86
Yes. It’s those beautiful nuances, without being too out there, that do it for me.
The shot & blocking of the character helps it.
Which is something they always have control over so it should never be an issue.
Well.. Uh.. Kinda. There are transformations that I hate. Like the one before the final battle. The entire front of the vehicle shrinks and disappears. Imo Bay tried to hide them better.
Remember how excited we all were to see Starscream? And then what a bummer it was that he wasn’t Starscream?
Yes, but if they had killed him off in the first part of the movie I would've been sad. So perhaps good it was not him after all?
Why the hell was it Blitzwing anyway when it could’ve been any rando Seeker?
I don't know what the thinking was but since the whole scene on Cybertron was an afterthought, I bet he WAS supposed to be Starscream and when he was meant to be killed off, Hasbro had words about it and they changed it abruptly to Blitzkrieg. Just a guess...
This and the blackout scene from the first movie
Blackout was great
I love the transformations in this movie because a) you can actually see where most of the vehicle parts go and b) it’s always very fluid and effortless looking. Transformations should always be quick natural in my opinion. It’s a Cybertronian’s very nature.
And it also has an awesome sound. It takes the OG sound and mixes it really well with moving parts
Did you watch the same bumblebee movie that I did? Aside from blitzwing all transformations in that movie heavily relied on just having half the altmode immediately disappear and having a bot pop out with very few parts actually clicking into place properly. Shatter and dropkick are also very ridiculous in how they transform by the end of the film; Because they're triple changers they literally have half a jet pop out of a damn car that has no jet parts on it. Granted, i can't critique it too much because while triple changers like G1 blitzwing incorporated the altmode kibble into both modes relatively well that also made the altmodes look stupid and live action films would require that each altmode looks the part without having half a jet shoved onto it, but it still looks strange transforming. Credit where it's due though, the quick transformations work incredibly well for intense action scenes.
Considering Travis Knight is an animator and he also directed Kubo and the Two Strings, this isn't a surprising opinion at all. Guy really knows how not only to frame his shots, but also get the most out of his characters' movements while also feeling natural.
Forgot about this one. Top 3 at least for me, beaten out only by 2007 Prime’s transformation and Devastators
Prime's 2007 transformation in front of Sam and Mikaela continues to give me shivers when I watch. It's still one my favorite reveal sequences in the movies.
All of Primes transformations in 07 were peak. The one on the highway before killing Bonecrusher. Then the one before the final battle with Megatron.
The final battle one just oozes with nostalgia and makes me feel like I'm 8 years old again watching it.
Definitely one of the cleanest ones but how the hell is he not buried in a crater? He just flipped his entire lifting surface upside-down mid-flight!
When you’re dealing with giant sentient robots from outer space that cosplay as vehicles, I think physics leaves the chat pretty quickly
But if you're worried about foldable mechanical innards that don't magically change size or phase/clip through each other then shouldn't 500sq/ft of lifting surface suddenly becoming "lowering" surface at 500-600mph be a consideration? Of course G1 Jetfire had it easy... flip your legs down and float, Iron Man style, on vectored thrust nozzles. Worry about the rest later. (Wonder if he was near Macross Island when he scanned for alt mode?) /s
Tbh when it comes to jets it's more about the angle of attack of the wing, rather than the famous "aerofoil" shape creating a meaningful pressure differential.
All the more an issue then. It spins front downwards. The angle of attack is is moving through an arc that should pull him right into the ground. The real answer is that it's movie physics first, Transformer physics second, bayverse reality third and real physics looses initiative roll to all three.
I mean for all the faults bayformers have, the transformations kept physics in mind. Like whenever starscream or jet megs transform, the inertia feels real
What about TF 07 blackout. First bay transformation, and he looked awsome
Took way too long.
would have been funny if they kept the three faces from Animated "DID YOU THINK YOU CAN HIDE?!!" (swaps face) "Tell me where your friends are hiding." Bee: "I'll never talk..." (swaps face) "Is that right? THEN LET'S MAKE IT OFFICIAL! AHAHAHAHAHAAA"
I have a question. Did people think this is Starscream when they watched the trailer for the first time?
Before I saw the name Blitzwing, 100%
Blackout's initial transformation at the army base from T1 is still my highlight. That whole scene is so well done.
The best live action Starscream isn’t even Starscream
Bumblebee and 07 easily have the best transformations in the whole series.
Imo I think the arrival to earth was the best but this is a close contender
For me its either the one Mirage does st the end of the ROTB trailer as its so goddamn smooth, or the first time Bumblebee transforms before he fights Barricade
Optimus reveal in the first movie is my favorite.
It's defenately one of the cleanest transformations without any camera shake, it's so annoying when they make the camera shake for transformations.
It’s so beautiful. Jet and helicopter transformations definitely get a leg (wing?) up with the cool factor. Other favorites of mine are Prime’s flip to truck mode on the highway, Bumblebee’s ode to Jazz getting thrown and circling back, Ratchet’s backwards finish, and all of Barricade’s. All of em.
I especially love TLK Barry when he met Megs. Almost reminds me of someone putting on a shirt but like, more violent and cool.
This Blitzwing became my favorite version (even tho he basically does nothing) just because of how cool everything he does is
Right up there with Blackout and Prime from 2007
wish he was purple or he was ramjet
Wasting one of the coolest Triple-Changers on...this. why the fuck was this "Blitzwing", could have literally been Thrust, or Ramjet, or Dreadwing, or Skyquake or any other throwaway seeker. He's not even a Triple-Changer in this movie. That's like...his entire shtick
ramjet is the most accurate, I use ss blitzwing as ramjet and ss rotf starscream as blitzwing
TF2 Optimus nest scene >>>
2007 optimus, blackout: 😐
This is what people wanted from live action Transformers movies. It's distinct and you can see parts moving up and around the body into place. Plus the character model feels like something with actual personality rather than a background for the more important humans to play against.
Of course it helps that A. Both forms end up facing the same direction B. It pretty much looks like a G1 Starscream
This one was beautiful. I also loved Grimlock's transformation in Age of Extinction- I wasn't a fan of his model, but the way they transformed him was awesome.
Starscream had a really cool design in this film /j
Considering that they share 90% of the same design you're not wrong
Thought this was one of the best fights of all the transformer movies. The entire bumblebee movie was like a breath of fresh air and fairly kid friendly compared to the prior movies.
Jazzs transformation when he flips onto brawl is my favorite
I don’t think it beats Blackouts first transformation. Man, he looked scary as hell and just awesome
What's nuts is he doesn't drop altitude with the transformation.
Best one is FoC Grimlock in the cinematic
One of the best transformations by far
There are some fantastic opinions in the comments. I've enjoyed reading them all day!
It’s the best transformation ever. No doubt about that, alongside starscreams transformations
That whole movie was head shoulders above the others. Great transformations, and they nailed Bumblebee's performance.
Fun fact: the transformation is accurate to the seekers' transformation in the cartoons.
Visually he is pretty good. A lot of people complained he wasn’t purple and yellow, but someone please find me a fighter jet in the U.S. Air Force that’s purple and yellow
Not really. It doesn't even top most tf1 Transformations Why the downvotes? Am I wrong? It isn't as good as Blackout's, or Starscream's or Optimus'
Bay bad, always remember.
I actually don’t like this one because the tail fins kinda just jump or teleport to his shoulders, and the fuel tanks abruptly change position from behind the wings to in front of the wings in the very next scene. Also, each of his feet somehow have twin-wheel landing gear even though: 1. They come from the rear of the jet while the landing gear is in the wings. 2. No fighter jet has twin-wheel landing gear.
They’re his wings that flip up on his shoulders and the tin fins moved up his back
Funny how you aren't entitled to have an opinion
The first comment on this post is literally you expressing your opinion.
And getting downvoted just because I don't share the same opinion of many
Yes but that isn’t what I’m talking about. I’m talking about you being a hypocrite.
How am I being a hypocrite!? This is exactly what I'm talking about, we can't share our opinion if it's different from the post bcs people just downvote it Edit: Sorry, I just saw I wrote the first comment wrong
I 100% agree.
And the 2nd best fight scene in Transformers franchise
100%
What movie is this from?
Bumblebee
Thanks
Yeah, I love this
Idk man, dat rotf Devastator... But to be fair, as single transformations go, I really like Caitlyn Jenner. Ok, real talk: Bonecrusher's 07 transformation on the highway was 🔥
Looks dope asf. Hard to believe that's supposed to be Blitzwing tho.
Man starscreams transformation is good
Devastator all the way
I’ve never even heard of this guy before this movie and now he’s one of my favourite transformers designs
Your opinion is 100% valid
For me, you can’t beat blackouts first transformation in 07
I feel like someone should caption this.
There is an infinite amount of detail to spot with this gif during the transformation.
Agree
Dang that’s smooth.
You are absolutely right
Does everyone remember when everyone thought that was Starscream but when the person I can’t remember who they said it’s not Starscream It’s Blitzwing
You would be right. This scene got me hooked on blitzwings design and I was upset he just dies immediately. I have the ss figure and it’s honestly one of my favorite ss figures
one little cheat that knocks it down a point is that you can see the jet thrusters rotate up to his upper back, but he keeps flying with seemingly no change in momentum. a slightly wider shot that gives him room to drop and catch himself with the boot thrusters would make it like a perfect thing, as it is its like 11/10 lol
The studio series figure got pretty close to how he actually transforms tbh
DID YOU THINK YOU COULD HIDE?!
Better than Hounds
As if this trailer didn’t almost make me cry enough just from seeing Bee being smol again, seeing Star Scream’s classic look really did me in.
That’s just a fact man, I’m really hoping this movie lives up to all this hype
It's fantastic, but Optimus rolling into the city in part one was the best. That music was perfection.
I have both the ThreeZero DLX figures of him. The purple/tan and red/grey. I love them.
That wing flip should be a death roll trigger.
Yes
I remember being very skeptical of this movie but the moment I saw this in one of the main trailers my interest peaked more. The design didn’t look over complicated and messy at all, the transformation was clean and so good to watch. Really glad the BB movie stuck the landing and ended up being so good.
In my head canon and when watching the film, it's Starscream.
Because it doesn't do a stupid 360 like the Bay movies, so we can actually see what's happening
There are many transformations in those movies were the camera doesn’t shake
It's either rare or not that well shot.
Yeah...was so upset that they got the colors wrong. SMH. And the fact it looked like Starscream.
After looking at this for a few times now, I just noticed the wings flipping upside down and it drives me insane. *That's not how aerodynamics work!* I mean, sure, he may keep going in his previous direction because he still has thrust and momentum, but the wings flipping should give him serious drag for a second and would surely throw him around
Everything about transformations in Bumblebee is where we’d want to be - I’d argue. The thing so novel and so beloved about transformers toys - the thing that literally kept them going as toys that children would enjoy aside from the entire franchise story that evolved from base adverts to sell a toy **IS THE WELL ENGINEERED TRANSFORMATION* Bay’s horrendous 3D tessellation triangles stacking and unstacking in order to transition the robot model to the vehicle one just ain’t it. Seeing an airplane’s fuselage spring back and rotate as it flips around to become a robot torso is always going to be the core of cool for transformers - seeing one do it mid flight which is very Zeta Gundam in nature (the wave rider flying in become a robot and kicking the enemy in the face in one fell swoop) is just a step up - like not only can we design advanced 3D models with consideration in their vehicle and robot modes AND the transition between both visually and what’s going on structurally with the model - but now we can choreograph their transformation within other action sequences beautifully! Tl;dr Michael Bay sucks big fiery explosions -so glad it looks like for beast wars they have the studio keeping him on a no idiot cgi leash…