I’ve seen all the Michael Bay films, so I don’t know anything about the Transformers other than what I have picked up from Phelous’ review of Transformers (G1), a top 20 list of the funniest/dumbest moments from G1, and a top 20 list of the funniest/dumbest moments from Headmasters.
That means I know that the Transformers movie that this song was used in had kids crying in the theater because it killed off a lot of the characters they loved from the series, which is funny since IMDb tells me Optimus Prime is gone in the latest one.
I know that there is a fictional Middle Eastern country in the Transformers universe called Carbombya. Why?
Also, Sea Spray falls in love with a mermaid, and jumps into a magic pool to transform into a merman.
As for the video, there are some ties to Michael Bay. One of the directors, John Beug, who was the senior vice president of video production for Warner Bros. Records said the following about Bay in the book I Want My MTV:
John Beug: Michael Bay did a couple of videos for me. I don’t think I was particularly encouraging to his career, shall we say. He did a Chicago video, and I told him I wasn’t blown away by his talent, which he reminded me of at the Pearl Harbor premiere ten years later.
There’s a sad tie between Beug and that particular movie, but you can look that up yourself.
Here are some of my favorite quotes from I Want My MTV about Michael Bay thanks to Juliana Roberts, Joni Sighvatsson, and Jeff Ayeroff:
Juliana Roberts [A music-video, film, and TV producer. She was a producer for Propaganda Film’s hard rock division, The Foundry]: Michael kind of worshipped David Fincher. We’d always crack up, because Michael would follow David around the Propaganda offices.
Joni Sighvatsson [A movie producer and a cofounder of Propaganda Films]: Fincher and Bay became adversaries. It wasn’t spoken, but it created a great deal of tension. Fincher was sophisticated. He was inspired by great photographers such as Robert Frank and Horst P. Horst. Bay was a technical genius like Fincher, but he had the mind of a teenager. His sensibility was juvenile.
Jeff Ayeroff [Was a creative director of Warner Bros. Records and the cochairman of Virgin Records America]: Michael Bay was known as “the little Fincher.” They said, “He’s not as artistic, but he’s got drive. He’s gonna chew through everything.” He did the Divinyls’ “I Touch Myself” for me at Virgin. He was an ego-fucking-maniac.
There are some kinder ones in there too. But I figured that if I didn’t know about his relationship with Fincher before this section of the book, then there had to be others out there that don’t either.
Personally, I can’t stand Michael Bay because he clearly has a lot of talent, but for some reason has decided not to use it…most of the time.
The video was also directed by Reynaldo Villalobos who is an accomplished cinematographer.
The video was produced by both John Beug and Kim Dempster. Dempster produced at least nine music videos, including four of them for David Fincher. She also directed the movie Marmalade (2004).
I will have my review of Michael Bay’s latest explosiotravaganza, but until I get that up here’s my favorite scene from the best film made about the Hasbro toys that were more than meets the eye.
On a side note, any kid who grew up during the 80’s would’ve seen or have heard of this animated film. Whether they were scarred for life would depend on how much the Transformers had become part of their day-to-day life. This scene actually shows Optimus Prime at his most badass while remaining a robotic avatar of the John Wayne ideal. Live-action Optimus Prime this one is not and never would be. The live-action version has become somewhat problematic as an onscreen hero and I shall expand more on that in the review.
For now, just enjoy….”One shall stand. One shall fall.”
So, I saw Transformers: Age of Extinction this weekend. I know, I know. I’ve become part of the problem and not the solution. For that I am sorry.
My road to redemption begins today with this post of the greatest superhero theme song ever made. It’s Optimus Prime’s theme song from the best Transformers film. Live-action it is not, but the animated film which came out during the mid-80’s.
Stan Bush pretty much made his career on this hit single which remains a nostalgic favorite of the 80’s crowd. This is a song which kids of my generation sung over and over right up to now and we don’t see ourselves stopping anytime soon.
Without further ado, here’s “The Touch”.
The Touch
You’ve got the touch, you’ve got the power. Yeah.
After all is said and done, you never walk, you never run, you’re a winner. You got the moves, you know the streets, break the rules, take the heat, you’re nobody’s fool. You’re at your best when the going gets rough, You’ve been put to the test but it’s never enough.
You got the the touch, you got the power. When all hell’s breaking loose, you’ll be right in the eye of the storm. You got the heart, you got the motion. You know that when things get too tough, you got the touch.
You never bend, you never break, you seem to know just what it takes. You’re a fighter It’s in the blood, it’s in the will, it’s in the mighty hands of steel. When you’re standin your ground. And you never get hit when you’re back’s to the wall gonna fight till the end and you’re taking it all.
You got the touch, you got the power, when all hell’s breaking loose, you’ll be right in the eye of the storm. You got the heart, you got the motion. You know that when things get too tough, you got the touch.
You’re fighting fire with fire. You know you got the touch.
You’re at your best when the going gets rough, you’ve been put to the test but it’s never enough. You got the touch, you got the power. Yeah.
Through the Shattered Lens 