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Monday, July 4, 2011

Alleged Recycled Footage Found in 'Transformers 3

Some might say that when you've seen one Michael Bay movie, you've seen them all. Now it's emerged that viewers who recently paid to see the US director's latest blast-fest, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, may actually have been watching rejigged footage from his earlier movie The Island during key scenes.
A video posted on YouTube suggests that elements of two key action scenes were recycled from earlier material used in Bay's 2005 science-fiction movie, which starred Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson. One of the segments in question is almost identical to a section of The Island, except that an enormous Transformer robot has been apparently superimposed on to the action via digital tinkering.

It's not the first time Bay has been accused of borrowing footage from earlier films. In the first Transformers movie, he reportedly purloined a shot of an aircraft carrier from his 2001 film Pearl Harbor. However, Transformers 3 was released amid a wave of hype over the fact it was shot in 3D, rather than being converted in post-production. Experts suggest the recycled scenes could not have been filmed in 3D, so must have been through a conversion process before they were inserted into the final film.

The said scenes involve a high-speed car chase featuring a robot crashing cars. The similarities are seen in a car placement, damage from impacts and flying debris which are all set on the same street background. The robot is believed to be digitally superimposed through CGI.

Interestingly, the 2005 movie starring Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson was not made in 3-D. Thus, the original scenes may have had to be converted post production.

Should the accusation be true, "Dark of the Moon" won't be the first "Transformers" movie which uses recycled footage. The first film had a scene featuring an aircraft carrier which was previously used in "Pearl Harbor". In the original scene, however, there are fighter jets on the ship.

"Transformers: Dark of the Moon" scene in comparison to "The Island" scene

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