People can say what they want about the first two Transformers films and director Michael Bay, but the man knows how to take an iconic toy from the '80s and turn it into an over-the-top action film.
I'm not saying the film's dialogue or story were always top notch, nor was the inclusion of robots no one has ever heard of (or cares to see on the screen again *cough twins cough*) but you can't tell me the IMAX version of the forest fight scene between Optimus Prime and the Decepticons wasn't one of the coolest fight scenes in the past 10 years.
Even though it's probably going to be full of inappropriate robot-on-human scenes and the dialogue and "humor" will sound like it came from a direct-to-DVD B-film, there is little doubt that Transformers 3 will dominate at the box office next summer.
I know it's hard to believe that; even with Megan Fox leaving the cast and being replaced by Rosie Huntington-Whiteley the film still has a chance of success, but for some reason fans care more about the robots than they do the humans - go figure!
Ever since Transformers 3 began shooting in the very public financial district of Chicago, amateur videographers and photographers have been flooding the Internet with every little thing they see - even if it's just a couple of cars driving off down the street.
Paramount and Viacom tried to have some of these videos pulled from YouTube claiming copyright infringement, they even flagged us incorrectly, but as YouTube investigates each occurrence they are reposting the videos as appropriate. Score one for the little guy I suppose.
Recently a gentleman walking along the streets grabbed a neat little video of a security "protecting" a parking lot where a few of the mighty robots are being stored during the shoot. This is apparently something that can be done with your shirt partially un-tucked...but I digress.
Everyone knows the semi-truck is Optimus Prime with his trailer attached, but the name of the military transport vehicle has many people scratching their heads. The Transformers Live Action Movie Blog seems to think the unnamed vehicle is Rodimus Prime, while the security guard is under the impression it is Sentinel Prime. Our own Mike Eisenberg just happens to reside in Chicago and has seen this vehicle up close and says it's black on the front and red on the sides and has all the necessary equipment to function as a fire truck.
After we put all that information together it still begs the question: who could this mysterious Autobot be? I have my own opinions on who the big fella is (and I'm going to discuss those) but first let's talk about the other two names being thrown around.