GEN. 1
GEN. 2
Jazz
AARON ARCHER: “The G1 version of Jazz transformed into a Porsche race car, complete with number and sponsor decals. For the flick, we kept him sporty, but went with a Pontiac Solstice.”
GEN. 1
GEN. 2
Bumblebee
AARON ARCHER: “Michael Bay and the writers wanted to make Bumblebee cool and relevant, so they went with a concept Camaro instead of a Volkswagen Beetle. But he’s still got the yellow paint job and the same head shape from the ’80s.”
GEN. 1
GEN. 2
Optimus Prime
AARON ARCHER: “Since
Optimus is the hero, we remained loyal to his original design—he’s a
truck, his chest is red [accented with flames], and his head is the
same. But in order to make it believable that a thirtysomething-foot
robot could physically manipulate itself from the vehicle’s parts, we
used a long-nose truck instead of a short nose. The toy’s just a
scaled-down replica.”
GEN. 1
GEN. 2
Starscream
AARON ARCHER: “We
upgraded Starscream from an F-15 to and F-22 fighter jet, so we took
him a little further away from his G1 roots. The robot looks much
different too. We figured we could get away with some reinvention since
he doesn’t get a lot of on-screen time.”
GEN. 1
GEN. 2
Megatron
AARON ARCHER: “Megatron
is way different. For a movie about a space invasion we basically had
to design the scariest robot ever. He also transforms into an alien
jet, cause you can’t have your villain transforming into a tiny pistol!”