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Military Unites With Hollywood on ‘Transformers’
American Forces Press Service ^ | Joe Davidson

Posted on 06/23/2009 5:32:15 PM PDT by SandRat

LOS ANGELES, June 23, 2009 – “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” hits theaters nationwide tomorrow as the culmination of more than a year of Defense Department support, ranging from script and uniform notes to C-17 aerial maneuvers and jumps from the Army's Golden Knights parachute demonstration team.

The first Transformers film released in July 2007 used a variety of Air Force assets. In the latest film, DreamWorks and Paramount studios partnered with all four services to highlight America's military members and combat power on the big screen. Deciding how and why to work with the services was essential in making the film work, producers said.

"There are really a lot of similarities between a military operation and a movie production,” said Army Lt. Col. Greg Bishop, the department’s project officer for the movie. “The mobility of the operation, the logistics and planning required, and the problem-solving skills required to pull the whole thing off are very much alike."

Transformers executive producer and director Michael Bay has worked with military leaders on other films and frequently consults with them to make action sequences in his movies appear more authentic.

"You know the first thing we're going to look at is that if you're going to fight these 32- to 125-foot robots, who else would you fight them with?" Transformers producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura said.

Like its predecessors, the latest Transformers movie uses hundreds of military members from all the services and from throughout the country to make the film feel more realistic.

"I enjoyed being able to walk on the set and there are a hundred real soldiers as opposed to walking on and it’s a hundred actors from Orange County or L.A. in fatigues," said Megan Fox, the film’s female lead actor. "It was just an overall pleasant experience, and I have an immense amount of respect for the soldiers and for our troops."

That realism extends to military equipment as jet fighters roar from the deck of an aircraft carrier to the recoiling sounds of M1-A1 Abrams tanks firing 120-mm rounds at their deceptive and at times overpowering foes.

"What [the military] bring to it is obviously a sense of reality. But for us what is most interesting about it is our interaction with them," di Bonaventura said. "Because you actually get to see these people who have made a life choice and the honesty of that choice comes through each and every time you meet these guys. So, for us, that's the really exciting thing. We get to hang out at the base and see the joy they get out of being a part of us, and you also see us get affected by their level of commitment."

This latest Transformers film shows an extreme example of what the military does in everyday life.

"Though the 'enemy' in this film are alien robots, we strove to make the depiction of operations as realistic and accurate as possible,” said Capt. Bryon McGarry, the Air Force project officer for the movie. “As in real-world operations, we go to 'war' against the Decepticons in the film jointly to achieve coordinated, balanced and devastating results. If they ever came to Earth, we'd be ready for them."

DreamWorks and Paramount pictures have given permission to provide special screenings of “Transformers, Revenge of the Fallen” at bases that provided support for the film and also aboard the USS John C. Stennis.

(Joe Davidson is assigned to The Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base).


TOPICS: Arts/Photography; Military/Veterans; Music/Entertainment; Society
KEYWORDS: hollywood; military; movie; moviereview; transformers

1 posted on 06/23/2009 5:32:16 PM PDT by SandRat
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To: SandRat

Cool! No mention of Warthogs though. :(


2 posted on 06/23/2009 5:36:02 PM PDT by C19fan
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To: C19fan

3 posted on 06/23/2009 5:37:40 PM PDT by Perdogg (Sarah Palin-Jim DeMint 2012 - Liz Cheney for Sec of State - Duncan Hunter SecDef)
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To: SandRat

“hits theaters nationwide tomorrow”

Two days after landing on the internet...


4 posted on 06/23/2009 5:42:18 PM PDT by icwhatudo (For every clinic bombed or burned, 17 to 18 churches are burned down. MSM? MSM?)
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To: SandRat

> “I enjoyed being able to walk on the set and there are a hundred real soldiers as opposed to walking on and it’s a hundred actors from Orange County or L.A. in fatigues,” said Megan Fox, the film’s female lead actor. “It was just an overall pleasant experience, and I have an immense amount of respect for the soldiers and for our troops.”<


5 posted on 06/23/2009 5:43:51 PM PDT by max americana
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To: SandRat

“I enjoyed being able to walk on the set and there are a hundred real soldiers as opposed to walking on and it’s a hundred actors from Orange County or L.A. in fatigues,” said Megan Fox, the film’s female lead actor. “It was just an overall pleasant experience, and I have an immense amount of respect for the soldiers and for our troops.”

Way to go Megan.


6 posted on 06/23/2009 5:47:02 PM PDT by Free Vulcan (No prisoners. No mercy. 2010 awaits.....)
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To: lewisglad

> “I enjoyed being able to walk on the set and there are a hundred real soldiers as opposed to walking on and it’s a hundred actors from Orange County or L.A. in fatigues,” said Megan Fox, the film’s female lead actor. “It was just an overall pleasant experience, and I have an immense amount of respect for the soldiers and for our troops.”<


7 posted on 06/23/2009 5:47:13 PM PDT by Perdogg (Sarah Palin-Jim DeMint 2012 - Liz Cheney for Sec of State - Duncan Hunter SecDef)
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To: max americana

that sounds waaayyyy too intelligent to come out of her.


8 posted on 06/23/2009 5:50:54 PM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: driftdiver

Judging from her past comments, it is. Then again, she was respectful of our soldiers unlike other libtard actors that we know of.


9 posted on 06/23/2009 5:55:39 PM PDT by max americana
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To: max americana

Its certainly an upgrade from her wanting to bargain with the robots to kill all the “white trash, hillbilly, anti-gay, super bible-beating people in Middle America” comment.


10 posted on 06/23/2009 6:00:39 PM PDT by Kandy Atz ("Were we directed from Washington when to sow and when to reap, we should soon want for bread.")
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To: Kandy Atz

You know the saying, even a blind squirrel finds it’s nuts. The squirrel should also be smarter than Megan.

Back to topic: Good for Paramount and Michael Bay to show the movie to our soldiers. I posted a thread that Obama’s face will be in Tranformers as the ‘prez’, (which makes me wanna puke) but that’s the only blip in the movie so far. This is one of those movies where our troops are not some “baby killers’ that the left wants to see..


11 posted on 06/23/2009 6:05:51 PM PDT by max americana
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To: SandRat

Sorry going to skip this movie. Megan Fox thinks Bible believers should be “taken out”. I don’t give my money to fruitcakes.


12 posted on 06/23/2009 6:15:11 PM PDT by ColdSteelTalon (Light is fading to shadow, and casting its shroud over all we have known...)
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