There’s a lot of stuff you can criticize Michael Bay for over his career, but there’s never been a moment where you can say he’s disgraced a hero to an entire nation with one of his films — even Pearl Harbor. This time around it has to do with his latest addition to the Transformers franchise during filming in England. The problem isn’t issues with the Transformers or legions of angry fanboys finally taking to the fields to fight for their childhoods, instead, it has to do with the birthplace of Winston Churchill.
Blenheim Palace has been popular for film productions in recent years, welcoming James Bond and the latest Mission Impossible into the area. The difference for them was they didn’t plaster the place with Nazi icons all over, something which doesn’t sit well with the people in England according to The Hollywood Reporter. The Sun posted photos of the set, showing it transformed into a den of Nazis and SS look-alikes:
According to the publication, actors dressed in SS uniforms marched up to the palace with Nazi artillery on Wednesday evening while shooting the Michael Bay-directed film. Churchill is buried less than a mile away at St. Martin’s Church, Bladon.
“I know its a film, but it’s symbolically disrespectful to Churchill. He will be turning in his grave,” Colonel Richard Kemp, the ex-commander of British forces in Afghanistan, told The Sun.
Tony Hayes of the Veteran’s Association UK also spoke with Variety, calling it a “total disgrace” and noting that the production could’ve used CGI to add the iconography in later.
There's gonna be Nazi Transformers in The Last Knight?
— (Eric) (@TheEski64) September 23, 2016
Churchill is famous for his fiery speeches and leadership during the grim early days of World War II and The Blitz, so it’s easy to see why folks would be extra sensitive about this production decision. Other folks away from the UK seem to just be confused about the current direction the film is taking storywise:
So confirmed for Transformers 5:
– King Arthur and Merlin
– Nazis
– Mini-Dinobots
– Anthony Hopkins
What the hell is this movie?!— Tyler James (@TJOmega) September 23, 2016
If Indiana Jones has proven anything, you can’t really go wrong with fighting Nazis. I doubt we’ll see any Transformers battling Nazi hordes anytime soon, but this does hint that we’re due for another bloated, extended Transformers film. And it will likely make another billion dollars.
(Via The Hollywood Reporter / The Sun / Variety)
