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Transformers (film)

Transformers is a 2007 American science fiction action film based on Hasbro's toy line of the same name. It is the first installment in the Transformers film series. The film is directed by Michael Bay from a screenplay by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. It stars Shia LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky, a teenager who gets caught up in a war between the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons, two factions of alien robots who can disguise themselves by transforming into everyday machinery, primarily using the disguise of being vehicles. The Autobots intend to retrieve and use the AllSpark, the powerful artifact that created their robotic race that is on Earth, to rebuild their home planet Cybertron and end the war, while the Decepticons have the intention of using it to build an army by giving life to the machines of Earth. Tyrese Gibson, Josh Duhamel, Anthony Anderson, Megan Fox, Rachael Taylor, John Turturro, and Jon Voight also star, while Peter Cullen and Hugo Weaving voice Optimus Prime and Megatron, respectively.

Don Murphy was initially interested in developing a G.I. Joe film, but then decided to develop a Transformers film after the United States went to war against Iraq in 2003. Murphy and Tom DeSanto developed the project in 2003, and DeSanto wrote a treatment. Steven Spielberg came on board as executive producer the following year, hiring Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman to write the screenplay. The U.S. Armed Forces and General Motors loaned vehicles and aircraft during filming, which saved money for the production and added realism to the battle scenes. Hasbro's promotional campaign for the film included deals with various companies; advertising included a viral marketing campaign, coordinated releases of prequel comic books, toys, and books, as well as product placement deals with companies such as General Motors, Burger King, and eBay.

Transformers premiered on June 10, 2007, at the N Seoul Tower in Seoul, and was released on July 3 in the United States, by Paramount Pictures. The film became the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2007, grossing $709.7 million worldwide, with an estimated 46 million tickets sold in the United States. Critics praised the film for the action sequences, visual effects, and sound design, but criticized the screen time for certain characters and use of product placement. The film won four awards from the Visual Effects Society and was nominated for Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Visual Effects at the 80th Academy Awards.

It was followed by six further films: Revenge of the Fallen (2009), Dark of the Moon (2011), Age of Extinction (2014), The Last Knight (2017), Bumblebee (2018) and Rise of the Beasts (2023).

Plot
The planet Cybertron was ravaged by a civil war between the two Transformer factions, the Autobots led by Optimus Prime and the Decepticons led by Megatron, for the AllSpark, a cube-like object that is the source of all Cybertronian life. The Autobots want to find the AllSpark so they can use it to rebuild Cybertron and end the war, while the Decepticons want to use it to conquer the universe. Megatron found the AllSpark on Earth but crash-landed in the Arctic Circle and was frozen in the ice. Captain Archibald Witwicky and his crew of explorers stumbled upon Megatron in 1897. Captain Witwicky accidentally activates Megatron's navigational system, causing his eyeglasses to be imprinted with the coordinates of the AllSpark's location. Sector 7, a secret U.S. government organization, discovers the AllSpark in the Colorado River and builds the Hoover Dam around it to mask its energy emissions. The still-frozen Megatron is moved into the facility and is reverse engineered to advance human technology.

In the present day, the Decepticons—Blackout, Scorponok, Frenzy, Barricade, Starscream, Bonecrusher and Brawl—have landed on Earth and assumed the disguise of Earth vehicles. Blackout and Scorponok attack the U.S. SOCCENT military base in Qatar and try to hack into the U.S. military network to find the location of Megatron and the AllSpark. Their mission is thwarted when the base staff severs the network cable connections. While Blackout destroys the rest of the base, Captain Lennox, Sergeant Epps, and their small group of survivors with photographic evidence of the robots escape the destruction, only to be pursued by Scorponok, but he is eventually repelled by air strikes. Lennox's team discovers that the only effective weapons against the Transformers' armor are high-heat sabot rounds. After Blackout's failure, Frenzy infiltrates Air Force One to hack into the military network and, in doing so, plants a virus. He finds the map imprinted on Captain Witwicky's glasses, which is owned by his descendant, Sam Witwicky. Frenzy and Barricade begin tracking Sam's location in Los Angeles.

One of the Autobots, Bumblebee, is also on Earth, disguised as a 1976 Chevrolet Camaro, and is bought by Sam while shopping for his first car. Bumblebee helps him woo his crush, Mikaela Banes. Bumblebee leaves at night to transmit a homing beacon to the Autobots, and Sam sees him in robot mode. Barricade confronts Sam and demands Archibald's spectacles, but Bumblebee rescues him and Mikaela. After Bumblebee upgrades his vehicle form by scanning a 2007 Chevrolet Camaro, they rendezvous with the Autobots: Optimus Prime, Jazz, Ironhide, and Ratchet—who have landed on Earth and taken on forms of Earth vehicles as well. Sam, Mikaela, and the Autobots return to Sam's home and obtain the glasses. Soon, agents from Sector 7, led by Seymour Simmons, arrive to arrest Sam and Mikaela, and they capture Bumblebee.

Frenzy, disguised as a mobile phone, secretly accompanies the group to the Hoover Dam and releases Megatron. Locating the AllSpark, Frenzy alerts the other Decepticons. Sam convinces the Sector 7 agents to release Bumblebee so that he can get the AllSpark to Optimus Prime. Frenzy's virus has shut down government communications, but a pair of hackers, Maggie Madsen and Glen Whitmann, manage to establish a signal to the Air Force. The Autobot-human convoy goes to Los Angeles to obtain a radio that will guide the Air Force and secure an extraction for the AllSpark as the Decepticon forces attack the convoy. During the ensuing battle, Brawl, Bonecrusher, Frenzy, Jazz, and Blackout are all killed. Sam manages to ram the AllSpark into Megatron's chest, killing him and destroying the AllSpark. Optimus takes a fragment of the AllSpark from Megatron's corpse but realizes that with its destruction, their homeworld Cybertron cannot be restored. The government decommissions Sector 7 and dumps the corpses of the defeated Decepticons into the Laurentian Abyss. Sam and Mikaela begin a relationship, and Optimus sends a signal to other surviving Autobots, directing them to Earth.

Cast

 * Shia LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky: The young descendant of an Arctic explorer who stumbles upon a big secret that becomes the Earth's final hope.
 * Josh Duhamel as Captain William Lennox: A good and dedicated hardworking leader of the Army Rangers team in Qatar and allies himself with Sam and others.
 * Megan Fox as Mikaela Banes: A classmate of Sam who assists him in his mission by using skills she learned as a juvenile car thief from her convict father.
 * Tyrese Gibson as Sergeant Robert Epps: A U.S. Air Force Combat Controller and technical sergeant of a Special Operations team based at the U.S. SOCCENT base in Qatar and Lennox's best friend. Before Gibson was cast, Ashley Walters was approached for the role but had to turn it down as he had already signed a deal to do a small independent film in the UK.
 * Rachael Taylor as Maggie Madsen: A former NSA data analyst recruited by the U.S. Defense Department.
 * Anthony Anderson as Glen Whitmann: Maggie's hacker friend.
 * John Turturro as Agent Major Seymour Simmons: A special agent of the government agency Sector 7 Advanced Research Division.
 * Jon Voight as John Keller: The U.S. Secretary of Defense.
 * Michael O'Neill as Tom Banachek: Head of Sector 7.
 * Kevin Dunn as Ron Witwicky: Sam's father.
 * Julie White as Judy Witwicky: Sam's mother.
 * Amaury Nolasco as Jorge "Fig" Figueroa: A Special Operations soldier who survives the destruction of the SOCCENT base in Qatar and was also a member of Captain Lennox's team.
 * Zack Ward as First Sergeant Donnelly: A member of Captain Lennox's team.
 * W. Morgan Sheppard as Captain Archibald Witwicky: Sam's great-great-grandfather who accidentally activates Megatron's navigational system while exploring the Arctic Circle.
 * Bernie Mac as Bobby Bolivia: A used car salesman.
 * John Robinson as Miles Lancaster: Sam's best friend.
 * Travis Van Winkle as Trent DeMarco: Mikaela's ex-boyfriend.
 * Glenn Morshower as Colonel Sharp (credited as "SOCCENT sergeant")
 * Sherri Shepherd as Rhonda (IMAX re-release version only)

Voices

 * Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime: The leader of the Autobots who transforms into a blue and red 1994 Peterbilt 379 semi-trailer truck. Cullen had previously voiced Optimus Prime in the original 1980s cartoon and was chosen to reprise his role.
 * Mark Ryan as Bumblebee: The Autobot scout and Sam's new guardian who transforms into a yellow and black Chevrolet Camaro (first a 1976 model and later in the movie a 2007 model).
 * Darius McCrary as Jazz: Optimus's second-in-command who transforms into a silver 2006 Pontiac Solstice.
 * Robert Foxworth as Ratchet: The Autobot medic who transforms into a yellow 2007 search and rescue Hummer H2 ambulance.
 * Jess Harnell as
 * Ironhide: The Autobot weapons expert who transforms into a black 2006 GMC Topkick C4500.
 * Barricade: The Decepticon scout and interrogator who transforms into a black 2007 Saleen S281 police car.
 * Hugo Weaving as Megatron: The leader of the Decepticons who transforms into a silver Cybertronian jet. Frank Welker was considered to reprise his role, but according to the film's DVD commentary, Bay thought his voice did not fit, so Weaving was chosen instead. After Weaving left the role, Welker returned as the voice of Megatron in later sequels.
 * Jim Wood as Bonecrusher: A Decepticon soldier who transforms into a Buffalo H Mine-Protected vehicle.
 * Reno Wilson as Frenzy: The Decepticon hacker and Barricade's minion, who transforms into a PGX Boombox, and later a Nokia 8800. Howard Stern was offered the role but turned it down when his agent talked him out of it.
 * Charlie Adler as Starscream: Megatron's second-in-command who transforms into a Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor. Adler had previously voiced several characters in the original series, most noticeably Silverbolt.

Non-speaking characters

 * Blackout: Megatron's third-in-command who transforms into a MH-53J Pave Low III helicopter.
 * Devastator / Brawl: The Decepticon demolition specialist who transforms into an up-armed M1A1 Abrams tank.
 * Scorponok: A scorpion-like Decepticon and Blackout's minion.

Development
Don Murphy was initially planning a G.I. Joe film adaptation, but when the United States launched the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, Hasbro suggested adapting the Transformers franchise instead. Tom DeSanto joined Murphy because he was a fan of the series. They met with comic book writer Simon Furman, and cited the Generation 1 cartoon and comics as their main influence. They made the Creation Matrix their plot device, though Murphy had it renamed because of the film series The Matrix, but was later used again in the sequel. DeSanto chose to write the treatment from a human point of view to engage the audience, while Murphy wanted it to have a realistic tone, reminiscent of a disaster film. The treatment featured the Autobots Optimus Prime, Ironhide, Jazz, Prowl, Arcee, Ratchet, Wheeljack, and Bumblebee, and the Decepticons Megatron, Starscream, Soundwave, Ravage, Laserbeak, Rumble, Skywarp and Shockwave.

Steven Spielberg, a fan of the comics and toys, signed on as executive producer in 2004. John Rogers wrote the first draft, which pitted four Autobots against four Decepticons, and featured the Ark spaceship. Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, fans of the cartoon, were hired to rewrite the script in February 2005. Spielberg suggested that "a boy and his car" should be the focus. This appealed to Orci and Kurtzman because it conveyed themes of adulthood and responsibility, "the things that a car represents in the United States". The characters of Sam and Mikaela were the sole point of view given in Orci and Kurtzman's first draft. The Transformers had no dialogue, as the producers feared talking robots would look ridiculous. The writers felt that even if it would look silly, not having the robots speak would betray the fanbase. The first draft also had a battle scene in the Grand Canyon. Spielberg read each of Orci and Kurtzman's drafts and gave notes for improvement. The writers remained involved throughout production, adding additional dialogue for the robots during the sound mixing (although none of this was kept in the final film, which ran fifteen minutes shorter than the initial edit). Furman's The Ultimate Guide, published by Dorling Kindersley, remained as a resource to the writers throughout production. Prime Directive was used as a fake working title. This was also the name of Dreamwave Productions' first Transformers comic book.

Michael Bay was asked to direct by Spielberg on July 30, 2005, but he dismissed the film as a "stupid toy movie". Bay admitted that he was skeptical when he was offered to direct. Nonetheless, he wanted to work with Spielberg, and gained a new respect for the concept upon visiting Hasbro. Bay considered the first draft "too kiddie", so he increased the military's role in the story. The writers sought inspiration from G.I. Joe for the soldier characters, being careful not to mix the brands. Orci and Kurtzman were concerned the film could feel like a military recruitment commercial, so they chose to make the military believe nations like Iran were behind the Decepticon attack as well as making the Decepticons primarily military vehicles. Bay based Lennox's struggle to get to the Pentagon phoneline while struggling with an unhelpful operator from a real account he was given by a soldier when working on another film.

Orci and Kurtzman experimented with numerous robots from the franchise, ultimately selecting the characters most popular among the filmmakers to form the final cast. Bay acknowledged that most of the Decepticons were selected before their names or roles were developed, as Hasbro had to start designing the toys. Some of their names were changed because Bay was upset that they had been leaked. Optimus, Megatron, Bumblebee and Starscream were the only characters present in each version of the script. Arcee was a female Transformer introduced by Orci and Kurtzman, but she was cut because they found it difficult to explain robotic gender; Bay also disliked her motorcycle form, which he found too small. An early idea to have the Decepticons simultaneously strike multiple places around the world was also dropped.

Bay said the film cost $145 million and explained "My secret is, I shoot very, very fast." Bay compared his way of working to James Cameron as they both work quickly and serve as their own assistant director. Bay took a 30% reduction in his fee to keep the production in Los Angeles and work with his usual crew. Producers Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Ian Bryce, said the film cost only $150 million, and called it "a bargain" compared to the other tentpole films that summer which cost as much as $300 million. According to Kim Masters of NPR, instead of boasting about how much they had spent the studios did not want to admit to their real budget and risk further cost inflation on other projects, and her Hollywood source said that the budget of Transformers had passed $200 million.

Design
The filmmakers created the size of each robot with the size of their vehicle mode in mind, supporting the Transformer's rationale for their choice of disguise on Earth. The concept of traveling protoforms was developed by Roberto Orci when he wondered why "aliens who moonlight as vehicles need other vehicles to travel". This reflected a desire to move to a more alien look, away from the "blocky" Generation 1 Transformers. Another major influence in the designs was samurai armor, returning full-circle to the Japanese origins of the toy line. The robots also had to look alien, or else they would have resembled other cinematic robots made in the image of man.

A product placement deal with General Motors supplied alternate forms for most of the Autobots, which saved $3 million for the production. GM also provided nearly two hundred cars, most of which were flood damaged or non-salable, destined for destruction in the climactic battle scene. The U.S. Armed Forces provided significant support, enhancing the film's realism: the film features F-22s, F-117s, and V-22 Ospreys, the first time these aircraft were used for a film; soldiers served as extras, and authentic uniforms were provided for the actors. A-10 Thunderbolt IIs and Lockheed AC-130s also appear. Captain Christian Hodge joked that he had to explain to his superiors that the filmmakers wanted to portray most of their aircraft as evil Decepticons: however, he remarked "people love bad guys".

Filming
To save money for the production, Bay reduced his usual fee by 30%. He planned an 83-day shooting schedule, maintaining the required pace by doing more camera set-ups per day than usual. Bay chose to shoot the film in the United States instead of Australia or Canada, allowing him to work with a crew he was familiar with, and who understood his work ethic. A pre-shoot took place on April 19, 2006 and principal photography began three days later at Holloman Air Force Base, which stood in for Qatar. Due to their destruction later in the film by the Decepticon Blackout, the majority of the military structures shown on-screen were not property of Holloman Air Force Base, but were purchased ahead of filming from a private manufacturer of military shelter systems, AKS Military. To film the Scorponok sequence at White Sands Missile Range, a sweep was performed to remove unexploded ordnance before building of a village set could begin; ironically, the village would be blown up. The scene was broken down for the Air battle managers flying aboard the AWACS aircraft, who improvised dialogue as if it were an actual battle.

The company also shot at Hoover Dam and at the Pentagon, the first time since the September 11 attacks that film crews had been allowed at these locations. The external Hoover Dam scenes were shot before tourists arrived daily at 10:00 a.m., with shooting moving inside for the remainder of the day. Production in California was based at Hughes Aircraft at Playa Vista, where the hangar in which Megatron is imprisoned was built. Six weekends were spent in Los Angeles, California shooting the climactic battle, with some elements being shot on the Universal Studios backlot and at Detroit's Michigan Central Station. The crew was allowed to shoot at Griffith Observatory, which was still closed for renovations begun in 2002 and would reopen in November 2006. Filming wrapped on October 4, 2006.

The film has been found to re-use footage from Bay's previous film Pearl Harbor (2001).

Effects
Spielberg encouraged Bay to restrict computer-generated imagery to the robots and background elements in the action sequences. Stunts such as Bonecrusher smashing through a bus were done practically, while cameras were placed into the midst of car crashes and explosions to make it look more exciting. Work on the animatics began in April 2005. Bay indicated that three quarters of the film's effects were made by Industrial Light & Magic, while Digital Domain made the rest, including the Arctic discovery of Megatron; Frenzy's severed head; a vending machine mutated by the Allspark, and the Autobots' protoforms. Many of the animators were big Transformers fans and were given free rein to experiment: a scene where Jazz attacks Brawl is a reference to a scene in Race for the Artifact where Brixler jumps on Skylion.

ILM created computer-generated transformations during six months in 2005, looking at every inch of the car models. Initially the transformations were made to follow the laws of physics, but it did not look exciting enough and was changed to be more fluid. Bay rejected a liquid metal surface for the characters' faces, instead going for a "Rubik's Cube" style of modeling. He wanted numerous mechanical pieces visible so the robots would look more interesting, realistic, dynamic and quick, rather than like lumbering beasts. One such decision was to have the wheels stay on the ground for as long as possible, allowing the robots to cruise around as they changed. Bay instructed the animators to observe footage of two martial artists and numerous martial arts films to make the fights look graceful.

Due to the intricate designs of the Transformers, even the simplest motion of turning a wrist needs 17 visible parts; each of Ironhide's guns are made of ten thousand parts. Bumblebee uses a piece below his face-plate as an eyebrow, pieces in his cheeks swivel to resemble a smile, and all the characters' eyes are designed to dilate and brighten. According to Bay, "The visual effects were so complex it took a staggering 38 hours for ILM to render just one frame of movement"; that meant ILM had to increase their processing facilities. Each rendered piece had to look like real metal, shiny or dull. This was difficult to model because the aged and scarred robots had to transform from clean cars. Close-up shots of the robots were sped up to look "cool", but in wide shots the animation was slowed down to convincingly illustrate a sense of weight. Photographs were taken of each set. These were used as a reference for the lighting environment, which was reproduced within a computer, so the robots would look like they were convincingly moving there. Bay, who has directed numerous car commercials, understood ray tracing was the key to making the robots look real; the CG models would look realistic based on how much of the environment was reflecting on their bodies. Numerous simulations were programmed into the robots, so the animators could focus on animating the particular areas needed for a convincing performance.

Music
Composer Steve Jablonsky, who collaborated with Bay on The Island, scored music for the trailers before work began on the film itself. Recording took place in April 2007, at the Sony Scoring Stage in Culver City, California. The score, including the teaser music, uses six major themes across ninety minutes of music. The Autobots have three themes, one named "Optimus" to represent the wisdom and compassion of the Autobot leader, and another played during their arrival on Earth. The Decepticons have a chanted theme which relies on electronics, unlike most of the score. The AllSpark also has its own theme. Hans Zimmer, Jablonsky's mentor, also helped to compose the score.

Release
Transformers had its worldwide premiere at N Seoul Tower on June 10, 2007. The film's June 27 premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival used a live digital satellite feed to project the film on to a screen. A premiere took place at Rhode Island on June 28, which was a freely available event giving attendees the opportunity to buy tickets for $75 to benefit four charities: the Rhode Island Community Food Bank, the Autism Project of Rhode Island, Adoption Rhode Island, and Hasbro Children's Hospital. The film was released in IMAX on September 21, 2007, with additional footage that had not been included in the general theatrical release.

Marketing
Hasbro's toy line for the film was created over two months in late 2005 and early 2006, in heavy collaboration with the filmmakers. Protoform Optimus Prime and Starscream were released in the United States on May 1, 2007, and the first wave of figures was released on June 2. The line featured characters not in the film, including Arcee. A second wave, titled "AllSpark Power", was set for release late 2007, which consisted of repaints and robotic versions of ordinary vehicles in the film. The toys feature "Automorph Technology", where moving parts of the toy allow other parts to shift automatically. Merchandise for the film earned Hasbro $480 million in 2007.

Deals were made with 200 companies to promote the film in 70 countries. Michael Bay directed tie-in commercials for General Motors, Panasonic, Burger King and PepsiCo, while props – including the Camaro used for Bumblebee and the AllSpark – were put up for charity sale on eBay. A viral marketing alternate reality game was employed through the Sector 7 website, which presented the film and all previous Transformers toys and media as part of a cover-up operation called "Hungry Dragon", perpetrated by a "real life" Sector 7 to hide the existence of genuine Transformers. The site featured several videos presenting "evidence" of Transformers on Earth, including a cameo from the original Bumblebee.

Home media
Transformers was released on DVD and HD DVD on October 16, 2007 in North America. The Wal-Mart edition of the DVD included a shortened animated version of the prequel comic book, titled Transformers: Beginnings and featuring the voices of Ryan, Cullen, and Dunn, as well as Welker as Megatron. The Target copy was packaged with a transforming Optimus Prime DVD case and a prequel comic book about the Decepticons. The DVD sold 8.3 million copies in its first week, making it the fastest-selling DVD of 2007, in North America, and it sold 190,000 copies on HD DVD, which was the biggest debut on the format. The DVDs sold 13.74 million copies, making the film the most popular DVD title of 2007.

The film was released on Blu-ray on September 2, 2008. In the first week, the two-disc edition of the Blu-ray was number one in sales compared to other films on the format. The Blu-ray version accounted for two-thirds of the film's DVD sales that first week, selling the third most in overall DVD sales. On June 16, 2009, Paramount included a sticker on all new Transformers DVDs that contained a code to view exclusive content online from the first film and get a sneak peek at Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The content includes three exclusive clips from Revenge of the Fallen, behind-the-scenes footage from both films, and never-before-seen deleted scenes from the first film. Transformers was released on 4K UHD Blu-Ray on December 5, 2017.

The film grossed $303.7 million in home sales.

Box office
Transformers had the highest per-screen and per-theater gross in 2007 in North America. It was released on July 3, 2007 with 8 p.m. preview screenings on July 2. The United States previews earned $8.8 million and in its first day of general release, it grossed $27.8 million, a record for Tuesday box-office gross until it was broken by The Amazing Spider-Man in 2012. It did, however, break Spider-Man 2's record for the biggest Fourth of July gross, making $29 million. Transformers opened in over 4,050 theaters in North America and grossed $70.5 million in its first weekend, debuting at #1 and amounting to a $155.4 million opening week, giving it the record for the biggest opening week for a non-sequel, surpassing Spider-Man. It would also break other records during its first week, surpassing Planet of the Apes for having the highest non-sequel July opening weekend, War of the Worlds for scoring the highest non-sequel Fourth of July opening weekend, The Passion of the Christ for having the biggest non-sequel Wednesday gross and Independence Day for achieving the largest non-sequel Thursday gross. The opening's gross in the United States was 50% more than what Paramount Pictures had expected. One executive attributed it to word of mouth that explained to parents that "it [was] OK to take the kids". Transformers ended its theatrical run in the United States and Canada with a gross of $319.2 million, making it the third highest-grossing film of 2007 in these regions behind Spider-Man 3 and Shrek the Third. The film sold an estimated 46,402,100 tickets in North America.

The film was released in 10 international markets on June 28, 2007, including Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and the Philippines. Transformers made $29.5 million in its first weekend, topping the box office in 10 countries. It grossed $5.2 million in Malaysia, becoming the most successful film in the country's history. Transformers opened in China on July 11 and became the second highest-grossing foreign film in the country (behind Titanic), making $37.3 million. Its opening there set a record for a foreign language film, making $3 million. The film was officially released in the United Kingdom on July 27, making £8.7 million, and helped contribute to the biggest attendance record ever for that weekend. It was second at the UK box office, behind The Simpsons Movie. In South Korea, Transformers recorded the largest audience for a foreign film in 2007 and the highest foreign revenue of the film.

Worldwide, Transformers was the highest-grossing non-sequel film in 2007 with $709.7 million, making it Bay's fourth highest-grossing film to date, with three of its sequels surpassing it. It was also the fifth highest-grossing film of 2007 worldwide, behind Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Spider-Man 3 and Shrek the Third.

Critical response
Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an approval rating of 57% based on 228 reviews and an average rating of 5.8/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "While believable characters are hard to come by in Transformers, the effects are staggering and the action is exhilarating." On Metacritic, the film has an weighted average score of 61 out of 100 based on 35 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

IGN Todd Gilchrist called it Bay's best film, and "one of the few instances where it's OK to enjoy something for being smart and dumb at the same time, mostly because it's undeniably also a whole lot of fun". The Advertiser Sean Fewster found the visual effects so seamless that "you may come to believe the studio somehow engineered artificial intelligence". The Denver Post Lisa Kennedy praised the depiction of the robots as having "a believably rendered scale and intimacy", and ABC presenter Margaret Pomeranz was surprised "that a complete newcomer to the Transformers phenomenon like myself became involved in the fate of these mega-machines". Ain't It Cool News's Drew McWeeny felt most of the cast grounded the story, and that "it has a real sense of wonder, one of the things that's missing from so much of the big CGI light shows released these days". Author Peter David found it ludicrous fun, and said that "[Bay] manages to hold on to his audience's suspension of disbelief long enough for us to segue into some truly spectacular battle scenes". Roger Ebert gave the film a positive review, giving it 3 stars out of a possible 4, writing: "It's goofy fun with a lot of stuff that blows up real good, and it has the grace not only to realize how preposterous it is, but to make that into an asset."

Response to the human storylines was mixed. The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt liked "how a teen plotline gets tied in to the end of the world", while Empire Ian Nathan praised Shia LaBeouf as "a smart, natural comedian, [who] levels the bluntness of this toy story with an ironic bluster". Ain't It Cool News founder Harry Knowles felt Bay's style conflicted with Spielberg's, arguing the military story only served as a distraction from Sam. James Berardinelli hated the film as he did not connect with the characters in-between the action, which he found tedious. Los Angeles Times' Kenneth Turan found the humans "oddly lifeless, doing little besides marking time until those big toys fill the screen", while ComingSoon.net's Joshua Starnes felt the Transformers were "completely believable, right up to the moment they open their mouths to talk, when they revert to bad cartoon characters". Daily Herald Matt Arado was annoyed that "the Transformers [are] little more than supporting players", and felt the middle act was sluggish. CNN's Tom Charity questioned the idea of a film based on a toy, and felt it would "buzz its youthful demographic [...] but leave the rest of us wondering if Hollywood could possibly aim lower".

General
Transformers fans were initially divided over the film due to the radical redesigns of many characters, although the casting of Peter Cullen was warmly received. USA Today summarized the views of critics and audiences saying "there is general raving about the mechanical heroes and general grumbling about the excessive screen time given to some of the human characters played by Shia LaBeouf, Anthony Anderson, Tyrese Gibson and Jon Voight. Optimus Prime, the leader of the good-guy Autobots, doesn't appear until midway through the film." Transformers comic book writer Simon Furman and Beast Wars script consultant Benson Yee both considered the film to be spectacular fun, although Furman also argued that there were too many human storylines. Yee felt that being the first in a series, the film had to establish much of the fictional universe and therefore did not have time to focus on the Decepticons. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. With audiences under 18 the score rises to "A+", and the film was most popular with children and parents, including older women, and attracted many African American and Latino viewers.

The film created a greater awareness of the franchise and drew in many new fans. Transformers' box office success led to the active development of films based on Voltron and Robotech, as well as a Knight Rider reboot. When filming the sequel, Bay was told by soldiers the film helped their children understand what their work was like, and that many had christened their Buffalos – the vehicle used for Bonecrusher – after various Transformer characters.

After the film's 2009 sequel was titled Revenge of the Fallen, screenwriter Orci was asked if this film would be retitled, just as Star Wars was titled Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope when re-released. He doubted the possibility, but said if it was retitled, he would call it Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye.

Accolades
Entertainment Weekly named Bumblebee as their seventh favorite computer generated character, while The Times listed Optimus Prime's depiction as the thirtieth best film robot, citing his coolness and dangerousness.

Sequels
The second film, Revenge of the Fallen was released June 24, 2009. The third film, Dark of the Moon was released June 29, 2011. The fourth film, Age of Extinction was released June 27, 2014, and the fifth film titled The Last Knight was released on June 21, 2017. Revenge of the Fallen, Dark of the Moon and Age of Extinction were financial successes, while The Last Knight failed at the box office. The sequels have received mostly negative reviews. The sixth film Bumblebee was released on December 21, 2018 to positive reviews. It is the highest-rated film in the Transformers series. The seventh film Rise of the Beasts was released on June 9, 2023 to mixed reviews.

A feature-length animated film titled Transformers One, starring Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry as younger versions of Optimus Prime and Megatron, is scheduled to be released on September 13, 2024.

title: Transformers (film)


text:
Lot 1, Prince Edward Island

Lot 1 is a township in Prince County, Prince Edward Island, Canada created during the 1764–1766 survey of Samuel Holland. It is part of North Parish.

Communities
Incorporated municipalities:

 * St. Felix
 * Tignish
 * Tignish Shore

Civic address communities:

 * Anglo Tignish
 * Ascension
 * Christopher Cross
 * Harper
 * Judes Point
 * Leoville
 * Nail Pond
 * Norway
 * Palmer Road
 * Peterville
 * Pleasant View
 * Seacow Pond
 * Skinners Pond
 * St. Felix
 * St. Peter and St. Paul
 * Tignish
 * Tignish Corner
 * Tignish Shore
 * Waterford

History
The township went through various owners under feudalism when Prince Edward Island was a British colony prior to Canadian Confederation:

 * Sir Philip Stephens, 1st Baronet First Secretary of the Admiralty (1767-1810)
 * In Chancery (1838)
 * Messrs. Palmer and Ed. Cunard, Esq. (1864)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Lot 1, Prince Edward Island


text:
Work Song: Three Views of Frank Lloyd Wright

Work Song: Three Views of Frank Lloyd Wright is a play in three acts by Jeffrey Hatcher and Eric Simonson. It premiered at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater in 2000. The play was commissioned by the Steppenwolf Theatre Company of Chicago.

The play explores the relationship between Wright's personal life and work. The ensemble portrays more than a dozen people who were important in Wright's eventful life. The work is populated by architect Louis Sullivan, friends Ayn Rand and Alexander Woollcott, son John Lloyd Wright, wives Catherine and Olgivanna, and paramour Mamah Cheney.

Productions
Work Song premiered at Milwaukee Repertory Theater's Quadracci Powerhouse Theater in September 2000. Co-author Eric Simonson directed Lee. E. Ernst as Wright.


text:
If I Forget Thee, Oh Earth

"If I Forget Thee, O Earth" is a post-apocalyptic fiction short story by English writer Arthur C. Clarke and first published in 1951 in the magazine Future SF It was subsequently published as part of a short story collection in Expedition to Earth (1953). The title is taken from Psalm 137:5—"If I forget thee, O Jerusalem"—which consists of the writer lamenting over the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian army. The themes in the story exploit the anxieties prevalent at the time regarding nuclear warfare.

The work was well received. Christian Science Monitor reviewer Peter J. Henniker-Heaton wrote: "I do not know of any short story that has moved me more than Arthur C. Clarke's 'If I Forget Thee, Oh Earth'."

Plot summary
"If I Forget Thee, Oh Earth" is the story of Marvin, a child living in a future lunar colony. At the age of ten he is taken outside the complex by his father, driving across the Moon's surface to see a glimpse of the Earth, glowing with lethal radiation. Marvin knows that the planet was made uninhabitable in a nuclear war. His father tells him that the colony is the last vestige of mankind, but that without a goal to strive for it too will die. The ultimate purpose of the human survivors has become to one day reclaim a cleansed Earth, using the ships which stand waiting on the lunar plain. It has taken desperate efforts to save the colony and to maintain confidence that in a far distant future mankind's birthplace can be restored.

Marvin returns with his father to resume their exile without looking back. However he realises that one day he will take his own children to view the dead Earth and give purpose to a further generation.

title: If I Forget Thee, Oh Earth


text:
Edvin Hevonkoski

Edvin Hevonkoski (10 September 1923, Alavus – 8 September 2009, Vaasa) was a Finnish sculptor and contemporary artist who lived his later years in Vaasa.

Hevonkoski's occupation was a sheet-metal worker. In 1982 he was idle and decided to start making sculptures out of various scrap. His first work consisted of sculptures of Aleksis Kivi's Seven Brothers. They have since been followed by over two hundred other sculptures of fictional characters as well as famous persons such as president Tarja Halonen. His sculptures are on display at the art park Edvininpolku, a footpath near his home in Asevelikylä in Vaasa.

title: Edvin Hevonkoski


text:
File:Warrior on the Edge.jpg

Licensing
Cover of the Hawkwind album, "Warrior on the Edge of Time". Alf 01:06, 15 July 2005 (UTC)

title: File:Warrior on the Edge.jpg


text:
User talk:WikiGod~enwiki

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title: User talk:WikiGod~enwiki


text:
Talk:Epoxide

Merge/rewrite?
Why not ditch this article. It's horrible and wrong in most places. I've never heard of the "-epoxy" prefix, (usually "-epoxide" suffix) which is notated in the article as a suffix anyway. Also, no carbocation is generated in basic cleavage reactions.

 * Support merge. I presume by "this article" the previous person means the epoxides article that is to be merged with this one? (The things you refer to are there, not here) Yes, I agree that the Epoxides article is bad- 90 degrees is wrong, the carbocation is wrong with base as you say.  The epoxy prefix is correct, though, or at least I have seen it- and try a Google search for epoxypropane, it's there.  The link to oxirane should stay- but describing it as linked to two methyl groups is horrendous!  THIS article here (epoxide) is rather better, and should form the core of the new article IMHO. Walkerma 01:21, 15 July 2005 (UTC)

 * Yes, sorry, I meant to say "epoxy" suffix... Arg.

Organic chemist to the rescue. I'll keep adding to this page till the basic epoxide chemistry is covered. Don't hesitate to correct my errors.

Can I suggest a diagram at the beginning of an epoxy group? I'm not a chemist, and it took me a good minute of parsing the start of the article to work out that:

0 - C

C

was the characteristic bit of an epoxy. (If I understood it correctly). 129.94.6.30 05:21, 16 August 2005 (UTC)

Another revision? - prune artwork?
The article is obviously the result of an homework assignment for a synthesis class which forced a large number of spacious drawings and a historical review of the kinds of narrowly focused epoxidations studied in universities. There is virtually no mention of the important stuff - nothing on ethylene and propylene oxides, which dominate the market, no real world applications involving the precursors to epoxy resins, no biology, reactions is thin. Choices
 * we could remove some of these images, which damage the readability of current article (the images were shrunk here by 1/3)
 * we could split off an article on "olefin epoxidation," which could collect some of all of these nine images to form an article for that particular specialty,

--Smokefoot (talk) 13:16, 31 July 2015 (UTC)

Nomenclature
This article could do with a sentence saying why the concatenation of these bits of words, epo- and -oxy- has been made, and I can't insert it because I don't know. But it does seem to me an unacceptable omission for an encyclopedia. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Nick Barnett (talk • contribs) 18:22, 31 January 2017 (UTC)

Is this correct?
== Safety == Epoxides are alkylating agents, making many of them highly toxic.

I have never seen epoxies used as alkylating agents. Are we sure this is correct? GRALISTAIR (talk) 21:33, 17 February 2022 (UTC)
 * Epoxides are mainly used as alkylating agents. Kind of the reason they exist (except for EO, which is consumed for glycol)--Smokefoot (talk) 02:35, 18 February 2022 (UTC)
 * Depends. Epichlorohydrin and Ethylene oxide are produced on a huge scale and are alkylating agents, making them carcinogenic - but most readers and even most chemists are unlikely to encounter those compounds. They are more normally encountered as epoxy resins (Araldite to you and me) and I don't think those are toxic much. As ever, trying to define the health effects of a functional group can be tricky. --Project Osprey (talk) 10:11, 18 February 2022 (UTC)
 * I suspect much of this is the difference between epox ide and epox y . One is generally an alkylating agent, the other is not. Epoxide (the group) is part of the precursor for epoxy (hard resin) and its strong alkylating ability is the basis for the chemical reaction that occurs in the curing stage. Most commercial epoxy precursors have a hazard warning on the "resin" part (the epoxide chemical), which one mixes with the "hardener" (nucleophile that gets alkylated by it). DMacks (talk) 20:17, 18 February 2022 (UTC)

title: Talk:Epoxide


text:
Talk:Kidlington

 * whether or not the community would be better served by town status, the change was voted down in a ballot by 98% of the ageing electorate

And what percentage of the non-ageing electorate? =;) There's a serious point there, though: I don't know this place, but if the result was as clear-cut as 98% then, unless almost no younger people voted at all (and if so, that should be mentioned), that group too must have voted heavily against town status. Loganberry (Talk) 01:07, 15 July 2005 (UTC)

 * A major event in the Kidlington Calendar is the annual barge race held thrice yearly.

I'm a Kidlington resident and I've never heard of this, but anyway: is it *annual*, or is it *thrice yearly*? It can't be both! I also come from Kidlington and I have never heard of this "major" event before.

- I've removed the reference to the barge race because of the vague nature of the statement (annual? and does thrice yearly mean three times per year, or does it mean once every three years?). Also, I haven't been able to find anyone who has heard of this. By all means reinstate this section, but it should be more accurately written. In any case, it's hardly a *major* event, because I've lived in Kidlington for more than 10 years and I've never heard of it.

Davee

I have taken out the quotes around the words "village" because Kidlington is for the time being a village, as discussed at length in the article, and I think it over stresses this discussion to the detriment of a useful entry about Kidlington as it is. I agree that one of the interesting things about Kidlington is that it vies for being the largest village in England.

I have changed the word "centre" to "edge" when describing the position of the church. Even today it is definitely right on the edge, having water meadows directly behind it.

I have altered the distance from Oxford to 7 miles (12 km) for accuracy.

I am not sure that the village is expanding in all directions as stated. If people an say here how then I will leave it alone, but otherwise I would propose that that sentence is removed, as Kidlington has not expanded physically at its boundaries in the 20 years I have been here.

"There are as many 18th century (Georgian) buildings as modern houses" This may be true of one road, the one leading up from the Church, Church St, but is not true of the rest of Kidlington. Kidlington stretched up Church St to bits around High St and Oxford Rd and in the early 20th Century much ribbon development occured along the main road. The infill estates behind came subsequently.

"A number of industrial districts and parks" is a bit strong, there is only really one area which is to the North, where there is light industry, the motor park and the offices near the airport.

"It has so far resisted all proposals to become a town" Have there been many? I have heard of the one, which ended in a vote against.

86.3.133.80 07:04, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

I have removed the external links to football clubs and to a residents association as these are no more important than scores of similar associations, clubs and societies that exist in Kidlington. Or should we list them all? I venture to suggest that we should only list those relevant to Kidlington as a geographic and historical entity. People can always go to the place where the associations and clubs are all listed, the Parish Council site. This is listed as an external link.

86.3.134.182 18:23, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

I have re-inserted the reference to Kidlington Football Club. Being the premier football club in the locality and competing in The F.A. Cup, F.A Vase, and F.A. Youth cup as well as many local and regional leagues it is definitely Kidlington’s premier sporting club and therefore deserves a mention. Simon Dickens —Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.109.190.88 (talk) 13:36, 7 May 2009 (UTC)

External links modified
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Tourism
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/residents-baffled-as-chinese-tourists-flock-to-take-selfies-in-humdrum-oxfordshire-village-a3290026.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-36706591

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-36733450 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.110.180.141 (talk) 23:02, 14 July 2016 (UTC)

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text:
Warrior on the Edge of Time

Warrior on the Edge of Time is the fifth studio album by the English rock band Hawkwind. Many of the lyrics are by Michael Moorcock, and the album is loosely based on the concept of Moorcock's novel The Eternal Champion. It was the band's highest-charting studio album on the UK Albums Chart, where it peaked at number 13, and was their third and last album to make the U.S. Billboard chart, where it peaked at number 150. Reviews have been mixed, with Melody Maker panning the album and particularly criticizing the vocal work while the All Music Guide has praised the album for features such as the songwriting. This would also be the last album to feature the band's bassist Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister, who was fired from the band one day before the album's release.

Background
Throughout 1974, Hawkwind heavily toured the UK, Europe and North America with their set being composed predominantly from that year's Hall of the Mountain Grill album. Unusually for them, no new material had been introduced with the exception of some Michael Moorcock poems based on his Elric fictional character, which appeared on the 1974 live album The 1999 Party. In December through to February, the group embarked upon a series of UK dates known as "A Dead Singer" tour after the Moorcock story published in the accompanying tour programme, with support from Dr Feelgood (Wilko Johnson: "Us and Hawkwind were a great bill. We had just been signed by United Artists, Hawkwind's label. UA wanted to give us a little experience in the larger venues. That was where I first met and made friends with Lemmy, who turned out to be a good pal."). ).

Given that the band owed one final single to United Artists to conclude their recording contract, during a mid-tour break they entered Olympic Studios on 5 and 6 January where they recorded Brock's "Kings of Speed" (which featured lyrics written by Moorcock originally intended for inclusion on his New Worlds Fair album), Lemmy's "Motorhead" and House's "Spiral Galaxy". The first two were selected as the A-side and B-side respectively, and the single was released on 7 March.

On resuming their UK tour, Dave Brock expressed disillusionment with the band's popularity commenting that "it's getting to be like a war", preferring his life with his wife Sylvie and their two children on their ten-acre Devon farm, trading under an alias in a community which knew nothing of his association with rock music. He revealed the growing disharmony within the band, "you wouldn't believe some of the scenes that go on backstage. All the fucking rows, people losing their temper." He was particularly critical of Turner on both a musical level ("Some nights I've unplugged my guitar and marched across the stage to sort Nik out. He keeps playing the saxophone when I'm singing and I've told him a thousand times not to do that") and personal level ("Nik's really gullible, you know. He knows so many people and they always used to take him for a ride. It's so easy because he's not very sussed out"). He was also critical of Lemmy listing a catalogue of on-stage problems with him, and he "lives that [Hells Angels] fantasy. It's what he'd like to be, but he can't", but he's "quite a good front man, though". Of the forthcoming Eternal Champion project, Brock revealed that he wanted Arthur Brown for the title role, and it would be "a complete fantasy trip on every level... and if we did it, that would be the end [of Hawkwind]".

The next contract the group signed was a North American deal with Atlantic Records subsidiary Atco Records. With a scheduled North American tour for April and May, "Atlantic... needed an album to co-incide with our visit". For the only time in the 1970s, the group were due to record without having prepared new material in a live environment, which led to concern that "we're going to be really pushed just to get an album together". The band entered Rockfield studios in March, King explaining "we laid all the backing tracks down in about three and a half days. Then, after we had a couple of days off, we went down to Olympic and added bits here and there, dubbed over vocals and mixed it all. That took about three days, and it was finished."

The band "gave [the songs] their debut on two British gigs at Yeovil and Dunstable [12 and 13 April]", then headed to North America for a tour at the end of April into May, during which Paul Rudolph replaced Lemmy. The album was released by ATCO on 9 May and licensed to United Artists for a UK release. The group promoted the album with tours in Germany and France in June, the UK in July and August including headlining the Reading Festival and appearing at Watchfield Free Festival.

At the beginning of the year, Turner, House, Powell and King had contributed to Michael Moorcock & The Deep Fix's New Worlds Fair, which also featured a guest appearance from Brock. In April, Moorcock, House and Turner contributed to the recording of Robert Calvert's Lucky Leif and the Longships, produced by Brian Eno and arranged by Rudolph.

Songs

 * See also the article "Kings of Speed".

The lyrics of "Assault and Battery" quote from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem "A Psalm of Life". The song is a popular live number, being performed occasionally over the years, and has appeared on numerous live albums, sometimes under the title "Lives of Great Men". It was included as part of the live show for The Chronicle of the Black Sword concept, appearing on the album Live Chronicles.

"The Golden Void" segues from "Assault and Battery", and the two songs are often performed live as a pair as on the albums Palace Springs (1991) and Canterbury Fayre 2001. The song is a popular live number, being performed occasionally over the years, and has appeared on numerous live albums, sometimes under the title "Void of Golden Light", as on 1994's The Business Trip.

"The Wizard Blew His Horn", "Standing at the Edge" and "Warriors" are Michael Moorcock poems based on his Eternal Champion literary figure. The poems are recited to atmospheric soundscapes provided by Simon House, and the percussionists Simon King and Alan Powell. The band had been performing them on stage during 1974, versions appearing on The 1999 Party live album.

"Opa-Loka" is an instrumental that features a motorik rhythm and is strongly influenced by the music of Neu!. It was performed live, but when Robert Calvert joined the band at the beginning of 1976, he would recite the poem "Vikings on Mars" over the top of it, the song evolving into "Uncle Sam's on Mars" on the 1979 album PXR5. Powell, who had lived in Florida in 1970, named the piece after the place Opa-Locka.

"The Demented Man" is a Brock number played on acoustic guitar. (Also listed as "The Demented King".)

The lyrics of "Magnu" are based upon Percy Shelley's poem "Hymn of Apollo". The song is a popular live number, being performed occasionally over the years, versions on the albums Choose Your Masques: Collectors Series Volume 2 (1982), The Friday Rock Show Sessions (1986) and Canterbury Fayre 2001. The first six lines of Magnu are nearly word for word identical to a magical chant that appears in an old Slavic folk-tale, "The History Of Prince Slugobyl; Or, The Invisible Knight", used to summon the magical horse, Magu (sic), first published in English translation in 1896 in "Fairy tales of the Slav peasants and herdsmen."

"Spiral Galaxy 28948" is a Simon House instrumental, the title being his date of birth (28 September 1948), except his birthday is actually 29 August 1948 - a typo mixup between '289' and '298'. It was performed live in 1975 after the release of the album, and again during 2001 when House had temporarily rejoined the band, a version appearing on the album Canterbury Fayre 2001.

Cover
The original album sleeve unfolds into a large shield-shape, revealing that the silhouetted Warrior is standing at the edge of an apparently bottomless chasm. The landscape on the other side of the chasm is a mirror image, with another setting sun, a closer inspection of this entire image reveals a helmeted face. The reverse of the cover depicts a bronze shield bearing the 8-rayed emblem of Chaos, as described in Moorcock's books.

Critical reception
Allan Jones in Melody Maker (10 May 1975) was critical in his review of the album despite it being "probably Hawkwind's most professional record" due to the advance in their "technical proficiency", specifically the contributions of Simon House. The compositions are in the "standard Hawkwind traditions of sweeping synthesiser passages contrasting ethereal space with the violence of monotonous bass and rhythm guitar", and of the poems he says "If Moorcock feels qualified to describe any of these pieces as poetry, then that's his problem" and that they are delivered "with all the emotion of Davros being exterminated by renegade Daleks".

Geoff Barton in Sounds assessed it as "includ[ing] most of their traditional characteristics (leaden guitar, ritualistic chanting, wailing moogs, SF lyrics) but in a much more mature and varied setting", and that "Simon House's influence is strongly felt" making it "rather fuller, more interesting than usual".

Band reaction
Michael Moorcock: "Warrior on the Edge of Time was a concept of mine. What Dave tends to do is he says 'Do us a concept' or 'I've got this rough concept, can you work it out?' I do it, then Dave has a different idea and the whole thing shifts away, so that's the way it works. It's a perfectly good way of working – it tends to give Dave a bit of a start or whatever. I was doing a lot of my 'Eternal Champion' stuff on stage, so it seemed automatic to do that because there were so many numbers I could fit into that. I was only in the studio about an hour to do the stuff I did, and it was one of those weird things I didn't get the session fee either."

Lemmy: "The album was a fuck-up from start to finish. That 'Opa-Loka' was a lot of fucking rubbish. I wasn't even on that. That was the drummer's thing, that track... We were kind of complacent anyway. If you have a hit album, you're complacent, and if you have two you really are in trouble. With them, they had four, 'cos they had In Search of Space before me... There's great stuff on all them albums. 'The Golden Void' was a beautiful track, but by then I was well out of favour."

Dave Brock: "There was some good stuff on that album. I think we peaked then, in 1974/75."

Simon King: "I suppose I’m two-thirds happy with this one. For me that’s not bad as I was only half happy with the last one! Warriors is a different musical thing because it’s Simon House’s first real contribution: on Hall of the Mountain Grill he was too new to be able to have that much influence, and now, of course we’ve got Alan as a second drummer, which has meant a lot of changes."

Track listing

 * The Atomhenge edition lists Assault And Battery / The Golden Void as one track.

Musicians

 * Hawkwind
 * Dave Brock – guitar, keyboards, vocals, bass guitar ("Opa-Loka")
 * Nik Turner – saxophone, flute, vocals ("Standing at the Edge", "Dying Seas")
 * Lemmy (Ian Kilmister) – bass guitar, vocals ("Motorhead")
 * Simon House – violin, Mellotron, VCS3, keyboards
 * Simon King – drums, percussions
 * Alan Powell – drums, percussion
 * Additional personnel
 * Michael Moorcock – vocals ("The Wizard Blew His Horn" and "Warriors")

Credits

 * Recorded at Rockfield Studios, March 1975. Produced by Hawkwind, engineered by Dave Charles. Mixed at Olympic Studios, engineered by Phil Chapman and Steve Owen.
 * "Kings of Speed", "Motorhead" and "Spiral Galaxy 28948" recorded at Olympic Studios, 5 and 6 January 1975.
 * Sleeve designed by Eddie Brash (a pseudonym used by Barney Bubbles) and Comte Pierre D'Auvergne (a pseudonym used by Pierre Tubbs).

Release history

 * May 1975: United Artists Records, UAG29766, UK vinyl – original copies came in gatefold foldout sleeve with inner sleeve. Later pressings retained the inner sleeve but had a normal single LP sleeve based on the outer part of the gatefold.
 * May 1975: Atco Records, SD36-115, USA vinyl
 * Jan 1981: Liberty Records, UAG29766, UK vinyl
 * Oct 1992: Dojo Records, DOJOCD84, UK CD
 * May 1993: Griffin Music, 55421 3931-2, USA CD
 * 27 May 2013: Atomhenge (Cherry Red) Records, ATOMCD1035, UK CD.
 * 27 May 2013: Atomhenge (Cherry Red) Records, ATOMCD31037, UK 2CD+DVD.
 * 27 May 2013: Atomhenge (Cherry Red) Records, ATOMBOX1001, UK 2CD+DVD+vinyl.

CD Masters
In a 2011 interview Nigel Reeve, custodian of Hawkwind's United Artists Records archive at EMI, explained that Warrior on the Edge of Time had originally been released on a separate contract with United Artists, and its rights were no longer held by EMI; hence, it was omitted from EMI's remastering and release of Hawkwind's United Artists catalogue in 1996.

The album was released in the UK on CD for the first time in 1992 on the Dojo label, mastered from vinyl. A second version was released in 1993 on the Canadian label Griffin Music, mastered from a first-generation copy of the original master. This master was the Atco tape used for the 1975 North American vinyl release, and included the single mix of "Kings of Speed". The Atco master used by Griffin was originally created at Olympic Studios and didn't have any fades on the tracks. A set of accompanying notes written by Dave Brock in 1975 were used to recreate the original fades when Griffin created its digital master. No EQ was used when the Griffin digital master was created. The transfer was done to match the original vinyl as closely as possible.

In May 2013, Cherry Red reissued the album, along with a new stereo and 5.1 mix by Steven Wilson, on the Atomhenge label managed by Esoteric Recordings. It was also confirmed that the original master tapes were used.

title: Warrior on the Edge of Time


text:
Eadberht of Lindisfarne

Eadberht of Lindisfarne (died 6 May 698), also known as Saint Eadberht, was Bishop of Lindisfarne, England, from 688 until his death on 6 May 698.

Life
After the death of Saint Cuthbert in 687, Wilfrid acted as administrator of the see of Lindisfarne. His brief tenure was confrontational. Eadberht was consecrated bishop of Lindisfarne in 688. He is credited with securing the buildings of St. Finan’s wooden church with lead, making them more durable. He is also notable as having founded the holy shrine of his predecessor Saint Cuthbert on the island of Lindisfarne, a place that was to become a centre of great pilgrimage in later years.

It is said that Eadberht favoured poverty and long periods of solitude and devotion as part of his service in the bishopric. He was known for his great knowledge of scripture and for giving a tenth of everything to the poor. When he died he was buried in the same location from which Cuthbert's body had been exhumed earlier the same year. When the monks withdrew from the Island in 875 Eadberht's relics were eventually moved to Durham.

title: Eadberht of Lindisfarne


text:
Vorobyovy Gory (Moscow Metro)

Vorobyovy Gory (Воробьёвы го́ры, lit. Sparrow Hills) is a Moscow Metro station. It is on the Sokolnicheskaya Line, between Universitet and Sportivnaya stations. Its name originates from a nearby elevated area literally translated as Sparrow Hills.

History
The bridge, which is known as the Luzhniki Metro Bridge, or simply "Metromost", and spans the Moskva River, was originally built in 1958. The architects for the project were M. P. Bubnov, A. S. Markelov, M. F. Markovsky, A. K. Ryzhkov, and B. I. Tkhor. The bridge, hastily built, was plagued by corrosion and seeping water and fell into disrepair. It was deemed structurally unsound by 1984, so the station (at the time called Leninskiye Gory) was "temporarily" closed for repairs and trains were rerouted to temporary bridges alongside. Eighteen years later on December 14, 2002, the newly renovated station was opened to the public once again. As the historic name of Sparrow Hills (Vorobiovy Gory) (renamed Lenin Hills in 1935) was restored in 1999, the station was named in honor of the landmark.

Design
Built into the lower level of a bridge, it is unique in the city. At 282 m in length, the platform is the longest in the system as the station needed to be accessible from both sides of the river. It is also the highest station above ground level at 15 metres (50 ft), though this is less remarkable since all but a handful of Metro stations are underground. Apart from its dimensions, Vorobyovy Gory is also notable in being the only Moscow Metro station with windows.

title: Vorobyovy Gory (Moscow Metro)


text:
John Henry Kerr

Sir John Henry Kerr (31 May 1871 – 8 April 1934) was a colonial governor in British India

Life
John Henry Kerr was born in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland, the elder son (with three daughters), of John Smith Kerr, tea and sugar merchant of Greenock, and his wife, Sarah Ann Bray, elder daughter of Tom Cox Bray, an early settler of Adelaide, South Australia.

Kerr was educated first by Messrs Wren and Gurney, later going to the Glasgow Academy (1885-1887). He attended the University of Glasgow from 1886 to 1888, and in 1890 matriculated at Clare College, Cambridge.

Kerr joined the Indian Civil Service in 1892. He was settlement officer, Bihar (1899); collector of Midnapore (1904); Director of Land Records, Bengal (1905); Deputy Secretary to the Government of India (1907); Revenue Secretary to the Government of India (1911); Chief Secretary to the Government of Bengal (1915); (Finance) member of Lord Zetland's Bengal Executive Council (1921-1922); Governor of Assam (1922-1927); acting Governor of Bengal (1925); Deputy Chairman of the Indian Franchise Committee (1932); retired (193-); "in retirement [he] continued [to be] an esteemed counsellor on Indian Affairs"; publications: Settlement Reports of Saran, and Darbanga; joint-editor, "Rampini's Bengal Tenancy Act".

Sir John was awarded the honours, C.I.E. (1911) and C.S.I (1917). He was created a Knight Commander of the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire (1922), and a Knight Commander of the Most Exalted Order of the Star of India (1922).

His club was the East India United Services. In retirement, he lived at Fairstead, Latchmoor avenue, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, England, and at Orcadia, Kilmacolm, Renfrewshire, Scotland.

He married on 28 January 1898 at Christ Church, Muzaffarpur, Tirhut, Bihar, India, Minnie Julia Wilson, later Lady Kerr, youngest daughter of James Minden Wilson, and Janet McKenzie, of Muzaffarpur, Tirhut, Bihar, India, and granddaughter of the Honourable James Wilson, Chief Judge of Mauritius. They had two sons, the elder of whom, John Minden Kerr, was a brigadier in the British army, and two daughters, the younger of whom was the maternal grandmother of David Russell, classical guitarist.

Sir John died on 8 April 1934 at his residence in Gerrards Cross and was buried in the cemetery at Chalfont St Peter. He was survived by Lady Kerr until January 1957. See obituaries in the London Times

title: John Henry Kerr


text:
User talk:Suzannah

Welcome
Hi and welcome to wikipedia. I hope you like it and decide to stay. Here are some handy links for newcomers. Also you can sign your name on talk pages and vote pages with three tildes like this ~~~, and your name with a time stamp with four like this ~~~~. If you have any questions, ask me on my talk page. Howabout1 Talk to me! 01:09, July 15, 2005 (UTC)
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somehow
somehow i think i would probably recognize who you are. If you want any help or comments in upgrading the article, on OA, I have email enabled on my user page. DGG 00:33, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

title: User talk:Suzannah


text:
Katara (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Katara is a fictional character in the Nickelodeon animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender and its sequel series The Legend of Korra. The character, created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, is voiced by Mae Whitman in the original series and Eva Marie Saint in the sequel series, The Legend of Korra. She is Chief Hakoda and Kya's daughter and Sokka's younger sister. In the 2010 live action film adaptation, she was played by Nicola Peltz, while in the live-action television series adaptation, she is portrayed by Kiawentiio.

Katara is a 14-year-old "waterbender", meaning that she has the ability to control water, ice and blood (also known as bloodbending). At the beginning of the story, she is the only person with such abilities in the Southern Water Tribe, one of two known communities in which waterbending is practiced. She and her older brother, Sokka, discover an "airbender" (one who can manipulate air) named Aang frozen in an iceberg. They free him and accompany him on his quest to defeat the imperialistic Fire Nation and bring peace to the war-torn world. She later earns the title of Master Waterbender from Master Pakku of the Northern Water Tribe.

Katara has appeared in other media, such as trading cards, T-shirts, video games and web comics.

Creation and conception
According to the un-aired pilot episode, Katara's name was originally 'Kya'. Nickelodeon's legal department vetoed the name when they discovered there was already a video game character named Kya, so they had to change it. 'Kanna' was first proposed to replace Kya, but it was used to name her grandmother instead. 'Kya' was later used for Katara's then-unnamed deceased mother. In "The Tales of Ba Sing Se", Katara's name was written as 卡 塔 拉. Kǎ (卡) means to check, block, or card; Tǎ (塔) means pagoda; and Lā (拉) means to pull. The character 'Lā' appears in the first season's finale as the name of the Ocean Spirit, while the character 'Kǎ' also appears in Sokka's name.

Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino originally conceived Aang, Katara, and Sokka as younger characters, but they were all aged-up by two years during development at the insistence of executive producer Eric Coleman, who said that Nickelodeon was not looking for coming-of-age stories. When the show began, Aang went from being 10 years old to 12, Katara from 12 to 14, and Sokka from 13 to 15 years old.

In the commentary of the unaired pilot episode, co-creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino state that Katara's "hair loopies" were intended to hang downward. The idea for her tied-back hair loopies came from Tin House animation director Yoon Young Ki, making it so that her hair was easier to animate.

In "The Women of Avatar: The Last Airbender" special on The Complete Book Three Collection, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko have stated that they envision Katara as the deuteragonist of the series, as well as the "person the story is being told through".

The storylines and characterizations in the first season of the show bible and the animated series are largely the same, but the two significantly diverge afterwards. One major difference being that the relationship between Katara and Aang never turns romantic in the original plan of the series. Aang develops an immediate crush on Katara as soon as he wakes up. However, Katara only ever loves Aang platonically like a younger brother as she never reciprocate his feelings, making the romance entirely one-sided on Aang's part. The bible describes their relationship as "the emotional heart of the show", with Katara considering it "her duty to protect and nurture him", and "Katara appreciates Aang’s gestures, but is not interested in romance. She dotes on him more like a kid she baby-sits rather than a potential love interest." The epilogue of the series concludes with the two going their separate ways; Katara sails off with Sokka and Hakoda to help rebuild the Southern Water Tribe, while Aang flies off with Appa and Momo to search for other Air Nomads living in an unexplored part of the world. Other major differences include Katara developing a crush on Toph (who was originally conceived as a 16 year old boy) in the second season, and Katara and Zuko being imprisoned together by Ozai in the third season.

In the Avatar Extras for "The Avatar Returns" it is stated that "Zuko was originally going to be the love interest for Katara", and in "The Ember Island Players" it is stated that "the creators and writers toyed with the idea of Zuko and Katara falling in love". Co-creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko deny that they ever considered Zuko and Katara getting together, and claim that Katara becoming a couple with Aang was planned from the start. However, these statements are contradicted by writer John O'Bryan, who said that the topic of Zuko and Katara becoming a couple came up a lot in the writer's room. This is corroborated by writer Joshua Hamilton who says that the staff argued about whether Katara should end up with Zuko or Aang. This is further evidenced by M. Night Shyamalan, director of The Last Airbender film, who has stated that during the production of Book Three: Fire, DiMartino and Konietzko were undecided, "At that time they hadn't even decided where things were going to end, even like who Katara was going to end up with." The initial proposal of the series as outlined in the show bible also does not have Katara enter a romantic relationship with anyone, countering the claims that Katara was always intended to end up with Aang.

Personality
Bryan Konietzko has described Katara's personality as "strong", "motherly", "caring", and "righteous". In many situations, Katara appears as a mother figure to Aang, Toph, and Sokka: a role attributed to her mother's death, her tribe's losses to raids, and the departure of many members to war, which required her to assume responsibilities beyond her age. Katara tends to be kind, empathetic, and generous, but is often stubborn or confined by her morals; becomes angry if doubted, insulted, or betrayed; and carries resentment for years on end. Katara has a fear of abandonment; holding a grudge against her father for leaving their family to fight in the war, and is troubled by Aang frequently running away without warning. Katara desires to have someone to "lean on" as Aang, Toph, and Sokka are far less responsible than her and she is burdened with the task of taking care of them. She quickly develops romantic feelings for Jet as he is older, wise, brave, determined, and became the person she could lean on for support. For the majority of the series, Katara mothers Aang, and despite later gaining a little crush on him, views him as a younger brother rather than a love interest. She is aware that Aang has a crush on her, but chooses to ignore it. Katara is conflicted when Aang questions her if she views him as a brother and wants to begin a romantic relationship with her. Bryan Konietzko has described the dynamic between Katara and Aang as "the young kid having a crush on the older girl, and she loves you but like a babysitter, you know, like a little brother or something".

Book One: Water
When Katara was eight years old, her mother, Kya, sacrificed her life during a Fire Nation raid in order to protect Katara, since she was the only waterbender in the southern tribe. Though her interests lay in developing her waterbending skills, she resigned herself to cooking and cleaning duties while her brother, Sokka, trained to become a warrior. Three years later, Katara's father Hakoda, and the other warriors journey to the Earth Kingdom to oppose the Fire Nation, leaving Katara, Sokka, and their grandmother Kanna to look after the tribe.

The events of Avatar: The Last Airbender begins six years later, when Katara and Sokka find Aang in suspended animation and identify him as the Avatar, a messianic figure. To assist the Avatar and to further her mastery of waterbending, Katara joins Aang in his quest to reach the Northern Water Tribe and find a waterbending master, with Sokka alongside them. Upon arrival, Master Pakku refuses her apprenticeship because the customs of the Northern Water Tribe dictate that women cannot learn waterbending as a martial art, but upon noticing Katara's necklace, which he himself gave to Katara's grandmother, he agrees to teach her. Katara having achieved her own expertise, Pakku deems her sufficient to teach Aang.

Book Two: Earth
Katara then accompanies Aang to the Earth Kingdom for him to learn earthbending. At an Earth Kingdom stronghold, General Fong places Katara's life in danger to induce Aang's Avatar State, but achieves only destruction. After the earthbender Toph Beifong joins the group to teach Aang, Katara and Toph initially quarrel but thereafter become friends. In the Earth Kingdom's capital, Katara encounters antagonist Prince Zuko and his sister Princess Azula; during the battle, Aang is injured by Azula's lightning, whereupon Katara takes him to safety and eventually mostly heals his physical wounds.

Book Three: Fire
In a village burdened by the Fire Nation's pollution, Katara disguises herself as the river spirit the Painted Lady in order to help the village. While staying with the semi-reclusive Hama, the protagonists learn she is a waterbender from the Southern Tribe who was imprisoned by the Fire Nation. Later, she offers to teach Katara a waterbending technique called "bloodbending", which enables physical control of animals and humans. When Katara refuses to learn this technique, Hama uses it on Aang and Sokka, forcing Katara to use the technique herself on Hama. When Prince Zuko joins the protagonists after the Invasion fails and gains everyone's trust, he fails to do so with Katara until he assists her in finding the man who was responsible for killing her mother, during the process of which she uses bloodbending. Though deciding not to take her revenge nor forgive, she does come to terms with Zuko and accepts him as her friend.

During the four-part series finale, Katara assists Zuko in preventing Azula from becoming the Fire Lord and battles her, eventually defeating her, and heals Zuko. When the war ends, she is seen in Ba Sing Se with the other protagonists and shares a kiss with Aang, starting a romantic relationship with him.

Book One: Air
In the sequel series The Legend of Korra, Katara, now eighty-five, is one of the three surviving members of the original Team Avatar, along with Zuko and Toph. She is a high-ranking member of the White Lotus and took it upon herself to train Korra in waterbending, becoming the latest in a line of masters to serve as a teacher to multiple Avatars. Katara and Aang are also revealed to have had three children: the non-bender Bumi (who later acquires the ability to airbend), the waterbender Kya, and the airbender Tenzin. She plays a minor role in the first season of the series, only giving Korra her blessing to leave for Republic City to train with Tenzin and attempting to unsuccessfully heal her after she loses her waterbending, earthbending, and firebending abilities to Amon.

Book Two: Spirits
In the second-season premiere "Rebel Spirit", Katara is seen celebrating with her children at the Southern Water Tribe's Glacier Spirits Festival. While together with them, Katara, holding her new grandson Rohan, watches sadly as she notices Kya and Bumi joking at Tenzin's expense. At the end of the episode, Katara implores that Tenzin take his brother and sister with him to the Southern Air Temple, saying that he will enjoy looking back on the time he had to spend with his siblings and that it might be best for the three to visit their father's home together. In "Harmonic Convergence", Katara is seen in her healing hut attending to injured Southern Water Tribe soldiers, and later used healing to keep her granddaughter Jinora's body alive while her soul was trapped in the spirit world. In "Light in the Dark", she is seen listening to Avatar Korra addressing the independent Southern Water Tribe and how she decided to have spirits and human coexist by leaving the spirit portals open.

Book Four: Balance
In the fourth season episode "Korra Alone", Katara aids Korra in healing her body after being poisoned by Zaheer at the end of the third season, enabling her to walk again after being a wheelchair user for over six months.

Abilities
Katara's abilities develop considerably throughout the series. At the outset, she has little control over her waterbending and often loses control in moments of frustration or anger. Thanks to diligent practice, an instruction scroll, and tutelage under a master, her skill improves until she is deemed a master herself. She was chosen to be Korra's master, and taught her waterbending and healing.

Waterbending
Katara is highly skilled in waterbending, which utilizes Chinese martial arts techniques of "internal style" tai chi and Jeet Kune Do; Katara is the only surviving master of "Southern style waterbending" after the 100-year war. The series' creators consulted a professional martial artist in the design of the show's fighting style. Waterbending represents the element of change – a shapeshifter constantly changing forms – and is categorized as the most adaptive or pliable of the "four bending arts". Waterbending emphasizes "softness and breathing" over "hard aggression"; fluid and graceful, acting in concert with the environment; and creating opportunities where none exist. This "flow of energy" allows their defensive maneuvers to translate into focus on control and counter-offenses, turning their opponents' momentum against them. Despite these advantages, waterbending is almost entirely dependent on inertia; it is essential for practitioners to not be rigid, but to be fluid and able to adapt to any situation.

"'Water is the element of change. The people of the Water Tribes are capable of adapting to many things. They have a sense of community and love that holds them together through anything.'"

Katara has demonstrated to be a formidable opponent to her enemies, able to fight on equal terms with Azula and Long Feng; she eventually outmatched the Fire Nation princess to demonstrate the extent of her skill. Katara can use water to cut through objects; summon lashing waves and whips of varying sizes; cover herself with a sheath of water; surf on a length of ice; run and stand on the surface of water; melt and control existing ice; form ice into various shapes; freeze water and objects surrounded by water with little effort; create walls of mist and steam; transform steam into ice; evaporate large amounts of water; or derive a weapon from any moisture including her own perspiration. She can control huge amounts of water at a time, forming huge waves and bubbles of water. On one instance, Katara knocked down the entire Dai Li, Zuko, and Azula while riding atop a giant wave. As with all waterbenders, Katara's powers increase under the influence of a full moon.

Katara demonstrates the ability to levitate and control water-based liquids, as well as pure water, in the episode "The Southern Raiders", wherein Katara bends ink onto a map. She is also seen bending soup (which allows her to cook meals), and bends perfume while battling a smell-dependent monster. In the episode "The Painted Lady," she uses her bending to create a thick fog. Katara also demonstrates the ability to bend sweat and the ability to manipulate mud with Toph, who manipulates the dirt while Katara controls the water.

Healing abilities
Katara is one of the few waterbenders born with the sub-ability of healing injuries or wounds, first demonstrated after she is burned by Aang's first attempt at firebending. She strengthens this ability under the tutelage of the Northern Water Tribe's healer Yagoda. She uses it thereafter to relieve sickness; overcome brainwashing; and heal wounds such as burns and bleeding injuries. Nevertheless, she cannot cure all sicknesses, mend brain damage, or heal internal injuries and birth defects. Using special water she obtained from the Northern Water Tribe's Spirit Shrine, she was able to heal a fatal wound Azula inflicted upon Aang, thus reviving him from death. She speculated that she would be able to use that same water to heal the scar on Zuko's face, but was interrupted before she could do so. By the time of The Legend of Korra, Lin Beifong (Toph's metalbender daughter) claims that she is the best healer in the world.

Bloodbending
Katara knows another waterbending technique known as "bloodbending". She first used this technique in the eighth episode of Book Three. This ability consists in manipulating the water inside a creature's body, leaving the target unable to move or resist in any way. Once she has taken control, she can make it move in any manner she desires. She is only able to bloodbend during a full moon, when her waterbending power is at its peak. Katara was forced to learn bloodbending by Hama, an elderly Water Tribe woman who originally developed the technique and who wanted Katara to learn it for it to be passed on to others. However, Katara abhors this technique and has only used it twice in times of great stress. In later years, she worked to make the practice a criminal offense and ended up banning it in Republic City.

Appearances in other media
Katara's character appeared in the Avatar: The Last Airbender Trading Card Game and three THQ video games including the eponymous video game and Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Burning Earth and Avatar: The Last Airbender – Into the Inferno.

Like Aang, Katara also appeared in Tokyopop's films comic (sometimes referred to as cine-manga).

Nicola Peltz portrayed Katara in the 2010 film adaptation of the series, The Last Airbender, directed by M. Night Shyamalan. The film was universally panned by critics and audiences. Many reviewers cited inconsistencies within the plot and between the screenplay and the source material, as well as the acting, characterization, writing and casting and has been considered to be one of the worst adaptations ever made.

Kiawentiio portrays Katara in the live-action television series adaptation, The Last Airbender. DiMartino and Konietzko were initially announced to be the executive producers and showrunners, but they later left the production citing "creative differences".

Reception
Katara's character has been largely positively received by critics. She was compared by Jade King of The Gamer to Amity Blight in The Owl House, arguing there are similarities between these two characters, despite differences in design and delivery of each character. Hannah Grimes of Comic Book Resources stated that Katara is "rather mature and level-headed" compared to others in Team Avatar, and a "strong addition" for the Team. Amanda Bruce of Screen Rant, called Katara inspirational, and argued she is "built on hope and logic". Rachel Sandell of Collider argued that Katara had one of the "best character arcs" in Avatar: The Last Airbender and a female protagonist not afraid to "admit areas in which she can grow". Tasha Robinson of Syfy has praised Katara's character as "smart, capable" but has also stated that she is "almost a generic anime heroine". Katara's romantic relationship with Aang has also been criticized, with Rachelle Hampton of Slate saying, "For most of the show, Katara is like a mother towards Aang", "The romantic pining is almost entirely one-sided up until that very last scene", and "Katara’s ambivalence aside, that she and Aang end up together is [a] weirdly retrogressive message to send, as though she’s a prize for his persistence and heroism".

title: Katara (Avatar: The Last Airbender)


text:
Talk:Letchworth State Park

Untitled
Small edit; removed redundant second mention of cross-country skiing and added Whitewater Kayaking and Whitewater rafting.--RattBoy 01:11, 15 July 2005 (UTC) ?"'v/'v/

The Portage Viaduct photo
This photo was taken from an active railroad bridge -- the photographer was trespassing at serious possibility of harm to themselves and others looking to recreate the photo (the choice when a train comes is to be hit by a train or jump several hundred feet to one's almost-certain death -- there is no place to escape). I don't believe it should be in this article, let alone the "main art." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.74.59.36 (talk) 17:59, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

 * A little late, but I agree. I've replaced the main photo, and moved the previous image to the article's gallery. Antepenultimate (talk) 17:35, 27 February 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
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 * Added archive http://web.archive.org/web/20070311043132/http://www.cnn.com:80/2006/TRAVEL/DESTINATIONS/08/07/mini.grand.canyon.ap/ to http://www.cnn.com/2006/TRAVEL/DESTINATIONS/08/07/mini.grand.canyon.ap/

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 * Checked the archivelink, it was only an archived "Page Not Found". Antepenultimate (talk) 20:43, 27 February 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20160324231259/https://www.dot.ny.gov/portagevillebridge to https://www.dot.ny.gov/portagevillebridge

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Possible copyvio
So, I think I'm using the copyvio tag wrong, because it blanked most of the page, rather than the section.

However, the section on the '72 flood seems to have been largely lifted from: http://www.letchworthparkhistory.com/flood3.html 38.97.88.240 (talk) 12:10, 3 July 2017 (UTC)

title: Talk:Letchworth State Park


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Haynes Manuals

 This page is an archive of the proposed deletion of the article below. Further comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or on a Votes for Undeletion nomination). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result of the debate was KEEP. Although I voted I have no conflict of interest, since the voting was unanimous and the nomination withdrawn. -Splash 16:37, 13 August 2005 (UTC)

Haynes Manuals
Full contents: Haynes Manuals are a series of vehicle maintenance manuals from the Haynes Publishing Group. This is a one-line stub about manuals on cars - non-notable, uninformative, and unlikely to improve. Harro5 01:11, July 15, 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep and request expansion, in widespread near-Gospel usage in the UK. Gets 62,400 Google hits. Every home-mechanic has one for their current car. -Splash 01:56, 15 July 2005 (UTC)
 * Comment Same status here in my neck of the woods too. This article is severely lacking in current form, sure, but the subject is dominant in their market, apparently worldwide.  That's somehow notable in itself, I'd say.  However, what can be said of Haynes that can't be said of any shop manual?  And what would make an article on shop manuals (as these are called around here) encyclopedic?  I'm abstaining from voting for now, to see how this develops.  Friday 02:23, 15 July 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep and expand. Apart from the UK, there are offices of the company publishing in the US, Australia, France and Sweden. The strong Google presence also indicates notability.Capitalistroadster 04:06, 15 July 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep Certainly notable and certain to improve. Maybe not this week, but Wikipedia isn't working to a deadline, and it should help that I have categorised it. CalJW 09:08, 15 July 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep, famous series (if only regionally), now is a decent article. Morwen - Talk 10:29, 15 July 2005 (UTC)
 * keep obviously. Dunc|☺ 14:22, 15 July 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep, amazed that someone has nominated this for deletion frankly james gibbon  15:58, 15 July 2005 (UTC)
 * Strong keep: Haynes manuals are pretty much the standard for do-it-yourself auto mechanics' manuals. jglc | t | c 17:53, 15 July 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep and mark for expansion. Since the Chilton manuals went downhill in the 1970s and lost their market-leader status, the Haynes manuals have been the most popular and most well-known automotive repair manuals in several nations inclusing the USA, the biggest automotive market.  More practical, substantive effect on people's lives is made by one Haynes edition (e.g. early-to-mid-Nineties Toyota Corolla) than by the entire discography of any pop music diva.  Barno 18:21, 15 July 2005 (UTC)
 * Speedy Keep, given the tremendous expansion since the original VfD, the "unlikely to improve" comment has been thoroughly disabused. Daedalus-Prime 19:52, 15 July 2005 (UTC)
 * keep and take notice Yuckfoo 22:23, 15 July 2005 (UTC)
 * Comment: I started the VfD when the article was like this, but it has obviously greatly improved. The VfD is withdrawn. Harro5 22:47, July 15, 2005 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in an undeletion request). No further edits should be made to this page.