What's your opinion on, Live action TF movies & movie toys.

[Sparky Prime]

One of my problems with Sam is that he's anything but average, he's portrayed as being an average kid and then he gets everything to go his way and he avoids all the falling rocks at just the right time and he magically knows exactly how to save the day despite no training, no knowledge, no skill even -- that's not a good character, that's not an average joe character, and to have him play it as such is really annoying, IMO. And that's the first film, the second film there's no excuse at all for what he goes through. Hell, the only reason he gets any traction in the first film is because his GRANDPA was in the right place at the right time - how much more bullshit is that?

It's the being portrayed as an average kid part that matters. The getting lucky saving the world stuff obviously is the simplicity of movie magic, but that doesn't mean he's supposed to be anything beyond average.

I'm not sure what you mean by there being no excuse for what he goes through in the second film... Getting information from an Allspark fragment zapped into his brain isn't a reason?

If we assume that there's Decepticons running around on Earth, which the second movie says is a pretty safe assumption, then it's entirely likely that one or two of 'em might be a little bit cross with the kid that took out their leader. In that case, it's probably not a bad idea to have Bumblebee around.

Given how the Decepticons view humans, I don't see any of them going out of their way to kill Sam just for revenge. Heck, they sent their weakest spy (who ends up captured and switching sides) just to keep an eye on him in case something interesting happened.

But we're getting away from the point here. Clearly the Autobots had some free time on their hands when they weren't dealing with Decepticons. I'm just saying it would have been nice to see them trying to figure out their own way to save Cybertron.

[138 Scourge]

If we assume that there's Decepticons running around on Earth, which the second movie says is a pretty safe assumption, then it's entirely likely that one or two of 'em might be a little bit cross with the kid that took out their leader. In that case, it's probably not a bad idea to have Bumblebee around.

Given how the Decepticons view humans, I don't see any of them going out of their way to kill Sam just for revenge. Heck, they sent their weakest spy (who ends up captured and switching sides) just to keep an eye on him in case something interesting happened.

Yeah, that's entirely true. But as to why the Autobots MIGHT have had Bumblebee protecting Sam, "revenge-happy 'Cons" isn't that bad an excuse. If nothing else, being the kid that took out the leader of a giant robot alien space empire puts Sam at being more than the average chump by the end of the first movie. But then, like I said, the real reason that Bumblebee's hanging with Sam between the first two movies is just 'cause he wanted to. Screw rebuilding Cybertron, I'm kicking it with this kid instead.

As to why the other Autobots aren't interested in rebuilding...no idea, man? Maybe they don't think it can be done? Megatron thinks it can be done in the third movie, but he's got a massive headwound and bugs chewing on his brain. He's probably not thinking all that clearly.

I don't recall,do the Autobots even say anything about saving Cybertron before the Allspark's destroyed?

[Sparky Prime]

But as to why the Autobots MIGHT have had Bumblebee protecting Sam, "revenge-happy 'Cons" isn't that bad an excuse. If nothing else, being the kid that took out the leader of a giant robot alien space empire puts Sam at being more than the average chump by the end of the first movie.

Yeah, if nothing else, that is true.

As to why the other Autobots aren't interested in rebuilding...no idea, man? Maybe they don't think it can be done? Megatron thinks it can be done in the third movie, but he's got a massive headwound and bugs chewing on his brain. He's probably not thinking all that clearly.

The headwound had nothing to do with it. Remember, the plan to enslave Earth to rebuild Cybertron was apparently set up thousands(?) of years ago when the Ark left Cybertron between Sentinel and Megatron. And the Allspark and Sun-Harvester are said to be ways to restore Cybertron.

If all it would take is hard work to rebuild Cybertron, I don't see why the Autobots couldn't figure out some way to do it.

I don't recall,do the Autobots even say anything about saving Cybertron before the Allspark's destroyed?

Optimus mentions at the end of the first film that without the Allspark they cannot restore life to Cybertron. Before the Allspark was destroyed though... I can't recall them saying anything other than they need to keep it out of Decepticon hands.

Unless you go by the comics... In which case they mention they need the Allspark to repopulate Cybertron when they meet Sam.

[JediTricks]

If we assume that there's Decepticons running around on Earth, which the second movie says is a pretty safe assumption, then it's entirely likely that one or two of 'em might be a little bit cross with the kid that took out their leader. In that case, it's probably not a bad idea to have Bumblebee around.

There are 7 billion humans on the planet, the Decepticons think of them as insects, does it really seem likely that they're going to be able to track ONE guy down while hiding and running, and with no true gain gathered from the action should they succeed?

It's the being portrayed as an average kid part that matters. The getting lucky saving the world stuff obviously is the simplicity of movie magic, but that doesn't mean he's supposed to be anything beyond average.

I'm not sure what you mean by there being no excuse for what he goes through in the second film... Getting information from an Allspark fragment zapped into his brain isn't a reason?

It's not "movie magic" after a while, it's just shitty writing. In the first movie, the lengths he goes to with the Allspark are extreme, he survives a hellish onslaught from the Decepticons without ANY help from the Autobots for a very long time - he doesn't even have military training, and he's clearly not physically that strong, so the idea that he's average goes right out the window.

In the second movie though, on top of all the other crazy shit he goes through and survives, he fucking DIES and it doesn't stop him. He doesn't just die though, he dies and goes to AUTOBOT HEAVEN WHERE THE PRIMES TELL HIM HE'S THE SHIZNIT AND IT'S ALWAYS BEEN HIS DESTINY TO CONTROL THE MATRIX!!! That is not average. It's just not.

Given how the Decepticons view humans, I don't see any of them going out of their way to kill Sam just for revenge. Heck, they sent their weakest spy (who ends up captured and switching sides) just to keep an eye on him in case something interesting happened.

I agree, and had this post been on page 3 instead of 4, I wouldn't have even bothered to have typed my reply at the top of this post.

But we're getting away from the point here. Clearly the Autobots had some free time on their hands when they weren't dealing with Decepticons. I'm just saying it would have been nice to see them trying to figure out their own way to save Cybertron.

I thought the first film made it clear that without the Allspark, Cybertron was an entirely dead world. What's to save then?

Given how the Decepticons view humans, I don't see any of them going out of their way to kill Sam just for revenge. Heck, they sent their weakest spy (who ends up captured and switching sides) just to keep an eye on him in case something interesting happened.

They don't have a lot of resources, and look at how poorly they handled Shanghai -- I think they could have used an extra hand.

[Sparky Prime]

It's not "movie magic" after a while, it's just shitty writing. In the first movie, the lengths he goes to with the Allspark are extreme, he survives a hellish onslaught from the Decepticons without ANY help from the Autobots for a very long time - he doesn't even have military training, and he's clearly not physically that strong, so the idea that he's average goes right out the window.

In the second movie though, on top of all the other crazy shit he goes through and survives, he fucking DIES and it doesn't stop him. He doesn't just die though, he dies and goes to AUTOBOT HEAVEN WHERE THE PRIMES TELL HIM HE'S THE SHIZNIT AND IT'S ALWAYS BEEN HIS DESTINY TO CONTROL THE MATRIX!!! That is not average. It's just not.

Still, what you're talking about here is all the "action movie" stuff. None of that would happen in the real world, and that's where suspension of disbelief is supposed to kick in. Granted, it might not be the best writing, but it's exciting to watch. Sam is nothing more than average, while the action in movies calls for some extraordinary situations.

I thought the first film made it clear that without the Allspark, Cybertron was an entirely dead world. What's to save then?

The Fallen mentioned in the second film the Allspark's energy/knowledge cannot be destroyed, that it can only be transformed - as we see with Sam spouting out Cybertronian knowledge after the fragment zapped him in the second film. And then, while the movie itself doesn't mention it, adaptations refer to the Allspark having transferred from Sam to the Matrix of Leadership.

And regardless of that, the Decepticons are shown desperately fighting to rebuild Cybertron by harvesting the Sun's energy or enslaving Earth in the second and third films respectively, despite not having the Allspark. Why else would they do that unless it was still possible to restore Cybertron?

[JediTricks]

Still, what you're talking about here is all the "action movie" stuff. None of that would happen in the real world, and that's where suspension of disbelief is supposed to kick in. Granted, it might not be the best writing, but it's exciting to watch. Sam is nothing more than average, while the action in movies calls for some extraordinary situations.

I cannot think of another significant action/adventure movie this vapid with its protagonist. Maybe that new-coke Trek movie where Kirk's character is all shorthand-driven from a previous cinematic universe's Kirk, but that doesn't really help as Fake Kirk in Fake Trek was awful. Bruce Wayne starts with the personality to learn the skills to become Batman, Indiana Jones has skills and experience when we meet him, Ellen Ripley has drive and the personality to survive and save humanity from the alien threat, Neo has a baseline understanding of the digital workings of his world even if at first he's unconscious of it, the Ghostbusters have drive and training and technical know-how (and then they hire Winston, who has what it takes to follow orders to get paid), John McClaine is a trained cop driven to save his loved ones and often takes a beating when his training and instincts don't fully match up to the situations; even the previous Michael Bay films I've seen - all of which have blatantly shallow characters - have skills and personalities to get them both into and later out of their stories; hell, Mutt Williams had personal investment to get him into the story and then had training and education to help him get through and that Indiana Jones film was the worst. These aren't brilliant cinema, they're just regular popcorn action films.

It's only big budget corporate junk lately that has had the gall to cram terribly-written, shallow, hollow, 1-dimensional characters like Sam at the audience and then force the barest of reasons to get them to be the heroes. Who is Sam without his grandpa's glasses? He's not a loyal friend, he's not particularly smart or clever on his own, he's not charismatic, he's not athletic, he's not stalwart or noble; he's just a sleazy dickbag of an average slacker kid trying to scam his way into a nice car that'll get him laid - that's it. He doesn't bother to get a real job to earn money for that car, he expects his dad to buy him a car; he doesn't even sacrifice anything of personal value to him to get said car, he just sells family heirlooms. He doesn't show any drive to be successful in school, he phone it in with smarm and expects that'll carry him to a good grade.

Sam is an empty nothing of a character. If not for putting a remarkably good photo of his grandpa's glasses on ebay, he never would have been thrust into the world of the Transformers. He would have continued on his mediocre way, leeching off his parents' upper-middle-class wealth to get him into a college above community level, then gotten a job selling bunko insurance to old ladies with a side business of selling online penny stocks, he would have driven away any buddies and girlfriends eventually falling into an "epic" bar that had enough skanks to pick up every few weeks, then he would have fathered a brat with one of the skanks but never visited the kid or paid child support, and around 50 he would have bought a very used Corvette convertible and then had a heart attack doing coke and light party drugs. That's all Sam seemed to be without the events of the movie, an average soulless slacker with shallow aspirations but no real skills or personality to get him anywhere near the top.

That of course predisposes the claim that the 2nd movie makes where the Prime Gods in Robot Heaven tell Sam he's always been destined to be part of the Autobot structure and lead humanity into that fold. The idea that Sam is predestined from the moment we meet him to die and become Autobot Jesus is ludicrous, if he hadn't found his grandpa's glasses in the attic, or not sprung for the high-res ebay image, he'd never have been targeted by both Autobot and Decepticon scouts to begin with (if his grandpa hadn't survived in the arctic, for that matter, this would be moot, but we can assume that his grandpa's adventures in the arctic in some small way shaped who his father was and thus even smaller ways who Sam is - the grandson of a crazy kook explorer, as far as he sees it).

Using chance as the primary motivation to move the story forward is a lazy way of writing, and since Sam's entire character arc in the first 2 movies (I haven't seen the 3rd) is all up to chance, right down to his finding the damned Allspark shard in clothes for no reason, it doesn't fare well for an audience who is meant to identify with the protagonist. Would anyone else have survived the onslaught at Giza or have been stepped on, or crushed by a random boulder, or shot, or captured, or not survived death? And yet Sam does all these things without a lick of skill or talent, he's the non-playable character in the video game who jumps exactly right from platform to platform and yet your guy, who is at least as good as him, never manages to pull off that perfect combo on the first try because you weren't programmed by the designers to get it right for no external reason.

The Fallen mentioned in the second film the Allspark's energy/knowledge cannot be destroyed, that it can only be transformed - as we see with Sam spouting out Cybertronian knowledge after the fragment zapped him in the second film. And then, while the movie itself doesn't mention it, adaptations refer to the Allspark having transferred from Sam to the Matrix of Leadership.

And regardless of that, the Decepticons are shown desperately fighting to rebuild Cybertron by harvesting the Sun's energy or enslaving Earth in the second and third films respectively, despite not having the Allspark. Why else would they do that unless it was still possible to restore Cybertron?

I don't remember The Fallen's mission being stated as clearly as reviving Cybertron. And adaptations are often just retconning missing elements from their films. The Fallen could just as easily have wanted that Star Harvester power for his personal use, or to destroy the planet which wronged him before, or to start anew on a different world he could populate himself. Then again, nothing in ROTF made any damned sense anyway, and lots contradicted the first movie.

[Sparky Prime]

I cannot think of another significant action/adventure movie this vapid with its protagonist.

There are plenty of movies with these types of characters. How about Danny Madigan in "Last Action Hero"? Itself a movie that points out how ridiculously over the top action movies can be, even for people that have training by the way. And then there's Helen Tasker in "True Lies". Or John Conner in any Terminator movies aside from 'Salvation'. Barbara Wilson (Batgirl) in "Batman and Robin". Anakin Skywalker in "The Phantom Menence". Sure he has his pod racing experience and is strong with the Force, but with out any Jedi training or starfighter experience he gets extremely lucky during the final fight of the film. Heck, even Jar Jar Binks who is inexplicably named general of the Gungan army despite having zero experience or skill bumbles his way through the battle. Luke Skywalker in "A New Hope" is awfully lucky having only a few lessons from Obi Wan and little pilot experience. And unless political school on Naboo involves combat training, I doubt Padme would really know what to do in a combat situation, yet she seems capable of handling herself. Even something like Spider-Man, still being so new to his powers, I doubt he'd realistically be that effective at crime fighting right off the bat.

It's only big budget corporate junk lately that has had the gall to cram terribly-written, shallow, hollow, 1-dimensional characters like Sam at the audience and then force the barest of reasons to get them to be the heroes. Who is Sam without his grandpa's glasses? He's not a loyal friend, he's not particularly smart or clever on his own, he's not charismatic, he's not athletic, he's not stalwart or noble; he's just a sleazy dickbag of an average slacker kid trying to scam his way into a nice car that'll get him laid - that's it. He doesn't bother to get a real job to earn money for that car, he expects his dad to buy him a car; he doesn't even sacrifice anything of personal value to him to get said car, he just sells family heirlooms. He doesn't show any drive to be successful in school, he phone it in with smarm and expects that'll carry him to a good grade.

There are plenty of bad movies out there, and they are not all big budget corporate movies at that.

Anyway, I agree with you he's not that well written of a character and he's very shallow as he only one thing on his mind in the first movie, but there is a bit more too him than I think you're giving credit for. Such as, he does show some drive to be successful in school. He did have to get the grades in order for his parents to help him afford the car (as I recall Sam had to pay half, which I doubt he got all of just by peddling family heirlooms) and he was able to somehow get into an Ivy League College on his own merits.

And adaptations are often just retconning missing elements from their films.

The comic adaptation and novels are actually normally based on early drafts of the script.

The Fallen could just as easily have wanted that Star Harvester power for his personal use, or to destroy the planet which wronged him before, or to start anew on a different world he could populate himself. Then again, nothing in ROTF made any damned sense anyway, and lots contradicted the first movie.

The Fallen didn't care about Earth. He intended on destroying it either way by harvesting the Sun's energy. Granted the movie wasn't that clear on what he intended to do with that energy, but what else would he do with it at that point? He was already said to be the most powerful in the Dynasty of Primes, and the only thing he feared was another Prime killing him. And the Decepticons really didn't show any interest in making another planet their home. Otherwise why not just conquer Earth? They seemed to have the resources for that already. They'd mentioned Megatron wanted the Allspark for conquest in the first place, but really all we saw was them trying to do was restore Cybertron.

[Onslaught Six]

Prime makes it pretty clear in the first film that the AllSpark is pretty much the only hope they have of saving Cybertron. Frankly, given the fact that we *never ever* see anyone go to the damn planet *at any point* *in any of the three films* I'm going on a hunch here that the entire damn thing is uninhabitable. The only reason the AllSpark is important (besides it apparently keeping their entire history on it somehow) is that it contains the ability to restore Cybertron's power and give life to new TFs; Megatron intends to use that 'wrongly' to create his army of soulless killing machines and conquer the universe. Which would probably include Earth!

Another reason the Autobots might want to keep Bumblebee around Sam (or at least "allow" him to if the choice is ultimately Bumblebee's) is because Sam could be a target. Even if the motive isn't "REVENGE FOR MEGATRON'S DEATH!" then if nothing else, the Decepticons are 'aware' that Sam exists and he's good friends with the Autobots--if they attack him, they could lure the Autobots out into a trap. If Sam was alone, all they'd have to do is find him and kidnap him, and then Prime would be eating out of Megatron's hand. (Or Starscream's or The Fallen's or whoever's.)

It's the superhero secret identity thing, Peter Parker doesn't tell anyone he's Spiderman because as soon as a villain finds out, the first thing he's going to do is kidnap Mary Jane. (In fact, that's exactly what happens in the live action movie! Norman Osborn figures it out all on his own from that arm cut of Peter's, and the very first thing he does is leave and kidnap Mary Jane.) Hell, that even happens to Sam in the third movie--Soundwave kidnaps Carly specifically so they can lure Sam, and by default the Autobots, into Chicago.

There are 7 billion humans on the planet, the Decepticons think of them as insects, does it really seem likely that they're going to be able to track ONE guy down while hiding and running, and with no true gain gathered from the action should they succeed?

They did it pretty damn well in the second movie.

In the second movie though, on top of all the other crazy shit he goes through and survives, he fucking DIES and it doesn't stop him. He doesn't just die though, he dies and goes to AUTOBOT HEAVEN WHERE THE PRIMES TELL HIM HE'S THE SHIZNIT AND IT'S ALWAYS BEEN HIS DESTINY TO CONTROL THE MATRIX!!! That is not average. It's just not.

THAT was really dumb, and I chalk that up more to Michael Bayifying the second film's script more than anything else.

He doesn't bother to get a real job to earn money for that car, he expects his dad to buy him a car; he doesn't even sacrifice anything of personal value to him to get said car, he just sells family heirlooms.

"My dad said bring home 3 As and $2000. I got the $2000 and I got two As." Sam says this to his teacher giving him a B-. Sam obviously got the $2000 from somewhere, and at the beginning of the movie it's clear he hasn't sold even a fraction of the crap he's got from his family, so if you ask me he probably had a part-time job somewhere.

It's possible that early draft ideas were for Sam to kind of be this unlikable slacker kid who expects everything to be handed to him, and then it does but it's way more than he bargained for, and then somewhere along the line that got lost (because it's Michael Bay and EVERYTHING gets lost when it's Michael Bay) and we ended up with what we got. But the idea of a human character who expects everything to be handed to him, and then when it is, it's a crazy amount of responsibility and comes with a load of alien robot war bullshit, he wants out, is actually interesting! (That is a really poorly written sentence.)

Unfortunately Sam gets shouldered on some bad tacked-on movie DESTINYYYYY shit and that sucks, but if you ignore that he's almost sort of interesting. And in the third film, a small amount of his stuff is actually wholly justified. I have a friend who graduated college five years ago, and it took him almost that long to get a shitty factory job. It's difficult to have one set of people say, "You're good at this, go get a job" and another set say, "You're not good enough for this job." Imagine how Sam must've felt after he helps save the world a couple times.

Although, I know, it's the whole "Sam helps save the world a couple times," thing that sucks. And it just gets worse in the third film. I rewatched the 2007 film once a few years back and suddenly realized something--with the exception of Bonecrusher, no Decepticon is killed by an Autobot. The humans do it all. And THAT'S a fundamental problem with the films as Transformers movies. In TFTM, Daniel Witwicky doesn't jump into the battle to stop Megatron from shooting Optimus Prime, Hot Rod does. Daniel doesn't stop the Junkions from killing the Autobots, Hot Rod and the Dinobots and Weird Al do. All Daniel does is stop Spike and Bumblebee and some other guys from being dropped into Unicron's stomach acid. And he just about fucks that up.

Even something like Spider-Man, still being so new to his powers, I doubt he'd realistically be that effective at crime fighting right off the bat.

The thing with Spiderman though is that he's got superpowers, which instantly make him good at stuff. Improved reflexes, spider sense (which I'm sure helps a LOT; the Spiderman 2 video game made watching Spidey's head blink practically essential to combat), and super strength (which I'm sure also makes him more resilient to basic thugs) all contribute.

and he was able to somehow get into an Ivy League College on his own merits.

No. ROTF makes it very clear that Sam's college is being paid for by the government to keep him quiet about the giant alien robot war happening on the planet. Sam is just the kind of smarmy manipulator to go, "Well, hey, it's gotta be Princeton. You guys don't send me there, and Optimus Prime shows up on NBC, CNN and The Colbert Report with exclusive interviews all by next Tuesday."

Wow, holy shit, does that last line sound like it's actually from the movies! It's even got the hipster cred semi-obscure cable TV show reference!

and the only thing he feared was another Prime killing him.

I still don't know why since all Prime did was punch the shit out of him and Mortal Kombat Fatality him. (Although some of the adaptations take care of that nicely, like the ones where Prime 'opens up a black hole and throws The Fallen into it.')

[Sparky Prime]

Prime makes it pretty clear in the first film that the AllSpark is pretty much the only hope they have of saving Cybertron. Frankly, given the fact that we *never ever* see anyone go to the damn planet *at any point* *in any of the three films* I'm going on a hunch here that the entire damn thing is uninhabitable.

There is no reason for anyone to go to Cybertron in any of the movies, everything they're fighting for has been on Earth. As such there is absolutely nothing to indicate the habitability of Cybertron. And for the Transformers I don't see what exactly would define what would be required for something to be habitable to them anyway. They can survive in the vacuum of space for crying out loud.

And again, the other movies make it apparent the Decepticons still believe they can rebuild Cybertron even with out the Allspark.

then if nothing else, the Decepticons are 'aware' that Sam exists and he's good friends with the Autobots--if they attack him, they could lure the Autobots out into a trap. If Sam was alone, all they'd have to do is find him and kidnap him, and then Prime would be eating out of Megatron's hand. (Or Starscream's or The Fallen's or whoever's.)

Sam is not special in this regard. The Autobots would go out of their way to protect humans regardless of how well they know them personally.

Hell, that even happens to Sam in the third movie--Soundwave kidnaps Carly specifically so they can lure Sam, and by default the Autobots, into Chicago.

You do remember Sentinel Prime had given the humans an ultimatum to force the Autobots off the planet and then Starscream blew up their space ship by that point in the movie right? The point of kidnapping Carly was to get Sam to work for the Decepticons, not to lure anyone to Chicago. In fact, the Decepticons wanted to keep everyone *out* of Chicago.

They did it pretty damn well in the second movie.

Considering The Fallen made a global announcement demanding if anyone found Sam to turn him over to them... They weren't doing that great of a job themselves.

The thing with Spiderman though is that he's got superpowers, which instantly make him good at stuff. Improved reflexes, spider sense (which I'm sure helps a LOT; the Spiderman 2 video game made watching Spidey's head blink practically essential to combat), and super strength (which I'm sure also makes him more resilient to basic thugs) all contribute.

Getting super powers doesn't instantly make someone good at something, which is actually somewhat shown in the Spider-Man movie. Like when he first tries web slinging, he face plants right into the side of a building, which he almost does again when he goes after Uncle Ben's killer. And they show he has to practice to hit a target with his webbing. He's clearly not used to his powers yet and then all of a sudden he's a pro at fighting crime? I don't think so.

No. ROTF makes it very clear that Sam's college is being paid for by the government to keep him quiet about the giant alien robot war happening on the planet.

The government paying for it =/= getting him admittance.

And as a point of interest, an earlier draft of the script explained the Allspark information downloaded into his brain helped to get him a scholarship rather than the government paying for it, which is how it is still explained in the novel/comic adaptation.

I still don't know why since all Prime did was punch the shit out of him and Mortal Kombat Fatality him. (Although some of the adaptations take care of that nicely, like the ones where Prime 'opens up a black hole and throws The Fallen into it.')

Yeah, it would have made more sense if Optimus could do something only a Prime could do to defeat him rather than just ripping out his spark.

[Onslaught Six]

Prime makes it pretty clear in the first film that the AllSpark is pretty much the only hope they have of saving Cybertron. Frankly, given the fact that we *never ever* see anyone go to the damn planet *at any point* *in any of the three films* I'm going on a hunch here that the entire damn thing is uninhabitable.

There is no reason for anyone to go to Cybertron in any of the movies, everything they're fighting for has been on Earth. As such there is absolutely nothing to indicate the habitability of Cybertron. And for the Transformers I don't see what exactly would define what would be required for something to be habitable to them anyway. They can survive in the vacuum of space for crying out loud.

It could very well be that Optimus Prime considers Earth the Autobots' new home, and to hell with the unrebuildable Cybertron. His repeated narrations at the end of every movie as an open invitation for other Autobots to come there seems to indicate so.

And again, the other movies make it apparent the Decepticons still believe they can rebuild Cybertron even with out the Allspark.

They do, but then, they knew about the sun harvesters and that the Ark pillars were still there. I'm not sure what Megatron and Sentinel's plan was with the last one though--bring Cybertron to Earth and...crash it into the planet?

Sam is not special in this regard. The Autobots would go out of their way to protect humans regardless of how well they know them personally.

Or at least you believe they would! It's interesting to note that in the films themselves, we never actually see an Autobot save a human that they don't already know. Prime tells the Autobots not to hurt the Sector Seven dudes in the first movie, but after that the only interaction with humans who aren't central characters seems to be when the Autobots are 'threatening terrorists' for a few seconds in DOTM.

Seriously, through the entire movie trilogy, no Autobot goes out of his way to save a human that isn't Sam, Mikaela/Carly, any other human character they interact heavily with (Simmons, Leo, etc.) or an Army/NEST guy. Not once!

You do remember Sentinel Prime had given the humans an ultimatum to force the Autobots off the planet and then Starscream blew up their space ship by that point in the movie right? The point of kidnapping Carly was to get Sam to work for the Decepticons, not to lure anyone to Chicago. In fact, the Decepticons wanted to keep everyone *out* of Chicago.

And the point in getting Sam to work with the Decepticons was...to lure the Autobots into giving them information. They used Sam to try and get information out of the Autobots; they kidnapped Carly and enslaved (basically) Sam in order to do that. Sure, it didn't work, but hey.

Considering The Fallen made a global announcement demanding if anyone found Sam to turn him over to them... They weren't doing that great of a job themselves.

I was talking more about earlier in the movie, when they used a Pretender to infiltrate Sam's school, and then just happened to have Grindor pick up the car that Sam and his friends were in.

Getting super powers doesn't instantly make someone good at something, which is actually somewhat shown in the Spider-Man movie. Like when he first tries web slinging, he face plants right into the side of a building, which he almost does again when he goes after Uncle Ben's killer. And they show he has to practice to hit a target with his webbing. He's clearly not used to his powers yet and then all of a sudden he's a pro at fighting crime? I don't think so.

Obviously there's a time skip in there! Like the amount of time it might take for him to get a better costume. Considering Peter is in high school at the beginning of the movie and in at least his freshman year at college by the end, there's at least a period of six months the movie takes place over. Even if we assume Peter has a part-time job in the summer between graduation and moving into his and Harry's apartment (or even during that period), that still leaves all of Peter's time when he isn't working to practice being a crimefighter...or actually just doing so.

The government paying for it =/= getting him admittance.

And as a point of interest, an earlier draft of the script explained the Allspark information downloaded into his brain helped to get him a scholarship rather than the government paying for it, which is how it is still explained in the novel/comic adaptation.

I'm sure the government could pull some strings to get him into the college. Unfortunately, the world is run by money, and if the government hands Princeton a big fat grant in exchange for allowing one measly slacker kid attendence? You can bet they'd take that.

The "Allspark supergenius" thing is kind of hokey but at least explains it and is consistent with the rest of the film, although how it's supposed to work when Sam only first becomes supergeniusy when he touches the Allspark shard he finds is still a mess. But it's ROTF, nothing makes sense in it.