As for some problems in the story that made it a bad script, here's two points just off the top of my head... What was the point of taking the Allspark to "Mission City", other than to have the final climatic battle of the film take place in a city, endangering millions of people for no reason? Orci and Kurtzman seem to do that a lot with the scripts that they write, where they'll do something simply because it'd look cool, but really not have any explanation behind it for the story. Or how about when Sam explains Megatron's plan is to use the Allspark to turn Earth's technology into an army? Even if Sam is just making that assumption (because how would he know Megatron's plans?), it doesn't make sense. Sam knows all to well at that point of the film Megatron was discovered by his great-great grandfather in 1897. Not to mention, Simmons said much of their modern technology was backwards engineered from Megatron while they kept him on ice. What Earth technology would Megatron have had to transform into an army in the 19th century? If you actually go back through the story, you'll certainly find more problems with the script.
I was curious about some of this stuff and how it actually played in the original script. Which I have! And which is way better than the actual movie. I remember 86 and I reading this months before the actual film came out and being really really excited.
Here's a link:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ywwrok53qx106 ... t.pdf?dl=0
ven if Sam is just making that assumption (because how would he know Megatron's plans?), it doesn't make sense. Sam knows all to well at that point of the film Megatron was discovered by his great-great grandfather in 1897. Not to mention, Simmons said much of their modern technology was backwards engineered from Megatron while they kept him on ice. What Earth technology would Megatron have had to transform into an army in the 19th century? If you actually go back through the story, you'll certainly find more problems with the script.
Yeah, that's still there. Nothing better. Maybe if I go back a little further, or a little later...
Aha! During Megatron and Starscream's initial conversation, Starscream's line is, "We are ready to transform the machines." So this is definitely Megatron's plan. (How much that makes sense with the whole 1920s thing is still up for debate.)
Also, I went back, during Prime and Sam's initial meeting (page 62) he definitely says that Megatron's plan is to use the Allspark to convert random technology into Decepticons. So...yeah. Sam knows that because Prime tells him, in the script. Must've got cut or rewritten--Orci and Kurtzman have a bad habit of throwing shit in and then cutting or rewriting parts but not fixing the loose ends.
As for some problems in the story that made it a bad script, here's two points just off the top of my head... What was the point of taking the Allspark to "Mission City", other than to have the final climatic battle of the film take place in a city, endangering millions of people for no reason?
I'm reading the relevant parts of the script now (around page 94) and there really isn't any true justification given for why they go to the city--although presumably, it's like right there. The focus really seems to be more on getting the Allspark (Energon Cube in the script) out of the dam and away from Megatron. Considering that the other Autobots just join Bumblebee and the S7 dudes on the highway, I think the implication is more like Mission City is just a coincidental battleground--they were trying to get away and there was a city right there.
I have less problems with this concept than other people do.
Man, reading this script is great and actually shows that with a better director or editor, even TF07 would be a fantastic film. There's numerous callbacks and things that tie together that make a lot more sense--for example, the throwaway football tryout gag from the finished film pops back up in the end sequence where Sam is running from Megatron while holding the Allspark, and that's kind of brilliant.
Prime also outright tells Sam to shove the Allspark into Megatron's spark--a contrast from the movie where he wants Sam to sacrifice Prime to destroy it, but which will obviously leave Megatron pissed off that the Allspark is gone AND with no Optimus Prime to kick his ass later. That part of logic DID always bug me, and it's funny to see that in this script, it wasn't even a problem.
(There is also a reference earlier to "mutant Witwicky gene" which says something that someone involved with this script was more on the pulse of the fandom than you would imagine. And there's also that awesome Chinese language joke that got cut. Also, Prime's "my bad" line seems like it was added as a response to Sam saying it a few lines earlier in the script, and then they cut Sam saying it, so Prime just gets it from nowhere. Ugh.)
So yeah, I guess there's not really any better explanations for those bits. The script is still slightly better though!