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Did Michael Bay Recycle Pearl Harbor Footage into Transformers?

slashfilm.com — You might recognize one or two of these shots from Transformers, because it ’s likely that Michael Bay recycled them from his other films - w/pics.

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  • jewdiknight, on 10/11/2007, -9/+235I really don't have much of a problem with this. By recycling this one shot, he saved more money that went to awesome robot transforming scenes.
    • TheTaoOfBill, on 10/11/2007, -0/+50Programmers do this all the time. Why spend time and energy creating a whole new program when you can make minor changes to a similar program. Very logical and efficient way to work.
    • swiftekho, on 10/11/2007, -2/+33I feel bad for the guy who went back and was like... OH MY GAWD SAME SHOTS!
    • MOJIRA, on 05/17/2008, -4/+10No, "by recycling this one shot" he saved more money for the studio. There's nothing that says the money he saved went back into the film. Michael bay is the director AND producer, so at times he might choose to save money at the sake of artistic value (wait, I forgot this is Transformers... artistic value.. lol).
      • Supurcell, on 10/11/2007, -2/+12From the beginning, the epic Transformers saga has been about artfully telling a story. A story about robots from another world going incognito on the planet Earth. Why do they hide? What are they hiding from? These are the questions the series explores. Questions that we all must ask our inner robot. Maybe someday the Autobots and Decepticons will be able to shed their disguises, and so will we.

        Oh yeah. It was also about selling toys.
      • potofgravy, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1Well he did make Transformers on a fairly cheap budget when you consider how it looks in the end.

        The film came out looking much better than it cost to make, it was still like.. 150 million or something ridiculous though.
      • BelXul, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1I thought Spieldberg was the producer.
    • razor150, on 10/11/2007, -0/+11It might be stock footage, so you could possibly see that shot in other movies as well.
    • WhiteUnit, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1There seems to be many differences in the foremost ship as far as equipment. The background however looks exactly the same. Maybe theres just more than meets the eye?
    • GawtMilk, on 10/11/2007, -2/+9I think the thought process that went through Michael Bay's mind was, "I'll get away with this because no one in their right mind would go back and watch Pearl Harbour".
  • sjbdallas, on 10/11/2007, -7/+58No problem with this at all. It makes sense to recycle footage in the digital age anyway. We recycle code and images in the computer world, why not recycle footage. It's not an exact copy anyway as he did some other stuff with it.
    • bebop717, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6Oh this is a slippery slope for directors. First this, and next they will be shooting in non sequential order. We must stop them now!
    • BelXul, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1Um, I should probably.... On second thought, never mind.
  • PhoenixAvatar2, on 10/11/2007, -3/+55No biggie, happens all the time. There's some recycled footage in Spider-Man, in the sequence that goes by as Peter is transformed into Spidey.
    • studge, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6That's a bit of a different concept. The Spidey scenes are flashbacks - which Sam Raimi employs in a lot of his movies (as do most directors when working with sequels), see: Evil Dead 2 & 3 and the Darkman movies.
  • jmpeagle, on 10/11/2007, -3/+79nice catch, but doesn't take away from the film
  • AzraDarkness, on 10/11/2007, -1/+13They are recycled, look at the clouds in the sky...but who cares!
    Its Transformers! Its a movie!
  • otero1, on 10/11/2007, -5/+32WHOOPTY FREAKIN DOO! :)
    • Traiklin, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2that was the first thing that came to mind.

      he used already made scenes from one of his earlier movies for this one to save time, money & energy....so what? the movie still kicked ass and was paced about as good as it could be for the setup.
    • arcangelgabriel, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Couldn't agree more...
  • luddep, on 10/11/2007, -2/+65It's still got big ass transforming robots.. so who cares?
  • thenoise, on 10/11/2007, -2/+3um, so what?
  • Mischa, on 10/11/2007, -4/+24This movie destroys my fear of it sucking hard.

    When Optimus rolls up for the for time i almost cried and yelled at the same time.

    The redesigns are no where near as bad as I thought they would be. I am a hard core G1 fan, and can quote the cartoon movie from beginning to end.

    Probably the greatest movie of my life (so far.)
    • joel8x, on 10/11/2007, -0/+8Are you that guy who works at Mooby's?
    • marathonguy, on 10/11/2007, -2/+7Maybe when you are old enough to drive you can get out and see some more movies.
  • Jackel003, on 10/11/2007, -12/+9Who cares? It seems like everyone is always trying to attack Michael Bay for something. "OMG HE RECYCLED FOOTAGE, LETS BASH HIM FOR THIS!!!!"
  • phunlee, on 10/11/2007, -6/+2arrgh. this thing better be good. or else, i won't see it twice. :(
    • Mischa, on 10/11/2007, -4/+3I'm going to see this movie every day for the rest of my life.
    • KMartSheriff, on 10/11/2007, -3/+4It didn't quite live up to the hype.


      /Await getting dugg down
    • mike81890, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I liked it.
      On the pro side it had giant robots and one of the hottest women I have seen in years (Megan Fox)
      On the con side there was one or two continuity issues... not a big deal at all

      oh yeah... and the giant robots. awesome
  • BobbyMC, on 07/21/2008, -3/+34Reusing your own shot to save money on your new movie ain't *****. The striking similarities of the pictures is interesting, but it ain't got ***** on the Kimba/Simba conspiracy.

    http://www.kimbawlion.com/rant2.htm
    • schmik07, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4wow - that is an interesting article!

      Good find.
  • hockachu, on 10/11/2007, -5/+10Wordpress dies again.
    http://duggmirror.com/movies/Did_Michael_Bay_Recycle_Pearl_Harbor_Footage_into_Transformers/
  • hockachu, on 10/11/2007, -13/+2Wordpress dies again.
    http://duggmirror.com/movies/Did_Michael_Bay_Recycle_Pearl_Harbor_Footage_into_Transformers/
  • xcheats, on 10/11/2007, -7/+1http://www.duggmirror.com
  • SourWorm, on 10/11/2007, -2/+15Recycling is good for the environment, mmmkay.
  • Disease, on 10/11/2007, -4/+2lol bootleg
  • noctum17, on 10/11/2007, -5/+3Nerd alert!
  • biosonic, on 10/11/2007, -2/+7There seems to be a common response and I agree with it, big deal. I have read some bad reviews stating the plot was too shallow or outrageous, and the humans had empty roles and drab characterization. I think the plot and characters are just fine, and if you are looking for something else, don't bash Michael Bay for not making transformers into it. It was supposed to be transforming robot action non-stop and that's what we got. My new all time favorite movie to date. *daydreams*
    • Arkonnan, on 10/11/2007, -1/+8> I have read some bad reviews stating the plot was too shallow or outrageous, and the humans had empty roles and drab characterization.

      A lot of people, especially old school fans, have unrealistic expectations of what the movie should be. They forget that this is based on a child's cartoon. It's the same problem the Star Wars fanatics had when the prequels came out. They grew up, expecting their favourite childhood movie to grow up with them. They forgot that the franchise was always meant to appeal to a younger audience and sell toys.

      I mean, c'mon. This is a Michael Bay film. He's not exactly known for his engaging character development. It's not meant to provoke deep philosophical discussion. It's about big robots blowing ***** up. Going into it with those expectations, I had a great time. You and I both seem to have enjoyed the movie for what it is, not for what we might have wanted it to be.
      • Captj, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1You beat me to it. I was about to say juuuust about the exact same thing.
  • det0r, on 10/11/2007, -1/+11I have to agree with the comments, who cares if he recycled the footage, they obviously did several other things to keep the costs to a minimum (such as not using big name actors who cost $20m each). It was an amazing movie, full credit to Michael Bay.
  • empressofmetal, on 10/11/2007, -0/+20Hey, I'm fine with it too, no batching Michael Bay here. I just thought it was a really cool catch. If it saves money and time, why not? They're both his films and it's not like this HAD TO BE new footage here. It's only seconds long and not a major part of the story.

    With that said ... TRANSFORMERS WAS AWESOME.
  • ECas123, on 10/11/2007, -0/+11Sargent more Japanese fighters coming close
    Thats no Japanese fighter...ITS STARSCREAM!!!
  • blacklilyninja, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4who cares
  • plankman, on 10/11/2007, -3/+6I loved the scene where the aircraft carrier transformed into a giant robot and started swatting the Japanese planes from the sky. Awesomeness!
    • Gramage, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Gotta feel sorry for Japan. Seems every three days a giant *something* is ruining their *****.
  • robdiggity, on 10/11/2007, -2/+13"Did Michael Bay Recycle Pearl Harbor Footage into Transformers?"

    Answer: Yes.
  • Depthfunction, on 10/11/2007, -6/+38Meh. Isn't that what you are supposed to do with garbage--recycle it?
  • brombie, on 10/11/2007, -4/+5When I read the headline, I was thinking of the scene where the hero is running across a rooftop holding a flare while destruction reigns around him. Yeah, you've seen in it The Rock and you'll see it again (in a much senseless context) in Transformers.

    I'll give the movie a marginal thumbs up. I enjoyed it but it's certainly far from perfect. RottenTomatoes' 60% is about right. Set your expectation accordingly.
    • jguy584, on 10/11/2007, -3/+2I agree.
      The transformers where 9/10, CG and everything was great.
      However the rest of the movie was seriously lacking, depth, detail, etc etc.
    • KMartSheriff, on 10/11/2007, -4/+1The action was great, but the plot (and acting from a few characters) lacked a lot.
    • thegreathal, on 10/11/2007, -1/+0Yeah this is my thread too. Some actors carried it and the CG was awesome, but did you guys notice that the battles weren't really followable? If they were, it would be great, but otherwise the lack of intelligence hurt, sorry. So it balances out.
  • loopyloopy, on 10/11/2007, -3/+4i'm not sure i've seen any other Michael Bay films, but i saw this and didnt really know what to expect.

    Did anyone else notice all the (what i thought were very) obvious mistakes (ie bad editing) throughout the film? Is this normal an accepted for Michael Bay films?
  • blitzer, on 10/11/2007, -4/+3One could say he transformed it...



    no?
  • lostradamus, on 10/11/2007, -8/+3Taken from one bad movie, put into another.
  • halosniper7, on 10/11/2007, -8/+2i saw transformers at 8 yesterday-im seeing it Thursday and next week.

    the only problem i had was bonecrusher died in under a minute.
  • CurlyHayami, on 10/11/2007, -2/+9Nonetheless man, that film was the best thing I've seen in theaters since Episode III-WHOO! Epic.
    • KMartSheriff, on 10/11/2007, -6/+3Dugg down for liking Episode III.
  • o0adam0o, on 10/11/2007, -2/+6*mental note: dont browse any transformers related articles on digg, too many spoilers*
  • ssjdoob, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7Yeah, best movie I've seen in a LONG time. I kept saying, "It was so good" the whole way home. As far as reusing that little bit of film. Who cares? I used to watch Voltron when I was little and I think about half of the show was identical to every other show! I still watched it.
  • fatfreddyscat, on 10/11/2007, -1/+0Site es broken for me
  • crichton101, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Interesting, but film makers do this all the time. Every time you see a movie, all those establishing shots of cities or mountains, or really any sort of location establishing shots are usually stock footage.
  • djphatjive, on 10/11/2007, -2/+2Te MPAA is going to be going after his ass.
  • drunkinbda, on 10/11/2007, -4/+2Best movie ever. for one thing ive NEVER heard people clap at the end of a movie (as i did tonight), secondly ive never come out of a movie wantign to go bad in to see it again while still in the theater... far surpassed what i expected.

    as for reusing the bit of film...i was unaware that there were NUCLEAR carriers used in pearl harbour??!! i think if the one photo was supposedly copied from pearl harbour..the bigger problem (and title of this digg story) should be "WTF a NUCLEAR carrier during WW2??? ZOMG"

    i call it fake or the focus should be more on historical inaccuracies of pearl harbour..
  • latinjones, on 10/11/2007, -5/+4Is Michael Bay a giant douche? Yes. I haven't seen the movie yet so I don't want to criticize, but I really wish somebody else would have been given his job...

    Michael Bay is a douche.
  • agimat, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Unless I'll see Ben Affleck being chased around by Japanese zeroes in that footage then its all fine.

  • Darthcactaur, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1He didn't 'recycle' images from Pearl Harbor the 'Transformed' them!
  • taybay, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1Uhoh, he transformed a scene in transformers!

    Ok, bad joke. Sorry. XD
  • loopyloopy, on 10/11/2007, -5/+2I guess i needed to be drunk.

    I wanted to like this movie, but couldn't. It could've been so much better. The transformers themselves looked great but i found myself bored during the action scenes too often. no OMFG moments. I could overlook the editing and the stupid plot if the action was cool.
  • SpongeBad, on 10/11/2007, -3/+6Is it really recycling if nobody ever saw the footage in the first place?
    • gbro, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Similarly:

      If a michael bay movie is shown in a cinema and no-one is there to watch it is it still terrible?
  • CompIsMyRx, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6Doesn't matter. All of Transformers the series was basically recycled footage.
  • xSEED, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1damn i seen so much fat people at the movies last night. lots of heavy breathing over the movie from them be tired
  • loopyloopy, on 10/11/2007, -2/+3i guess i needed to be 12
  • gbro, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2My favourite part was when the Autobots transformed into a bumbling comedy troupe. Another good part was when the Nerd got the Hot Girl who was previously dating the Jock who didn't respect her.

    Did I say "good"? I meant...
  • boocher, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I really don't think this is such a big deal. The film was still very good whether this was reused or not (it does look like it was reused). Programmers reuse code and its good when they do. He obviously still made the shot different.
    • gbro, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I knew I'd seen that While loop somewhere before!
  • Sheff, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1It's good that he recycled. We all need to do our part to save the Earth.
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