Bay Says IMAX Cut of Transformers 2 is Slightly Longer

Published by Jeff Leins on: June 8th, 2009

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen premiered last night in Tokyo, Japan.  In attendance were Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Tyrese Gibson, Josh Duhamel, and of course director Michael Bay, who took to the stage after the screening to answer questions from excited fans.  If you’re big on spoiling the movie before it comes out, check out this reaction from a viewer.  Overall, the very early buzz is the sequel is better than the first, but I think that goes without saying.

Before the premiere, Bay wrote about the post-production experience on his website, humbly titled MichaelBay.com.  He complimented his hardworking staff who worked tirelessly to complete the final edit in time, saying the movie was “almost finished” and he only needed to approve “the last few effects shots.”  He continued by saying the robots are more detailed and you can really feel empathy for each of the 42 different robots.

Then Bay touted the IMAX experience for his 2 hour-24 minute movie.  He shot four scenes using the 70mm camera and much like The Dark Knight, the action will fill the screen for those sections.  The director claims there has never been a 4k rendered animation shot on full 70mm film, so the visuals will be worth the premium pricing.  In addition, he said he “created a slightly longer cut with more robot fighting” exclusively for IMAX showings.  Make sure you see it in a real massive IMAX theater though and not the new “fake IMAX.”  Tickets went on sale last Friday, June 5.

Michael Bay concludes his blog post by writing, “Haters beware.” Either he’s turning into Kanye West or the Hollywood director is dictating to a 14-year-old girl.  I hope that becomes his new catch phrase.

The full update (in his words) is below:

Hey everyone,

In Japan today. After a month and half seven days a week most days going till midnight me and my crew have just about finished Transformers. I have never seen such a level of dedication from every crew member in a movie before.

Even today after the press in Japan and right before the premiere tonight, I have to sneak out to a digital house to approve the last few effect shots.

It has been a long hard road, but really fun one to travel. What you will notice that is strikingly different than Transformers 1, is the level of animation detail. The robot characters (42 in all), you really can feel empathy for them. What is also very different is the sheer scale of the movie. We have been very tight holding back much of the best imagery in commercials and trailers.

The way to see this movie is on IMAX. Never before has there been 4k rendered character animation shot on full IMAX 70 mm film. This is a first and the results are stunning. You will see Optimus Prime in a few shots where he is actually perfectly to scale on the IMAX 50 foot tall screens.

For IMAX, I created a slightly longer cut with more robot fighting. Four scenes were shot on IMAX cameras so the screen will fill the full IMAX screen for these scenes.

Haters beware.

Michael