Optimus Prime in Tsim Sha Tsui for the Hong Kong Premiere…

Sometimes you happen to be at the right place at the right time and today was one of those days for me. Discovering there was a giant Optimus Prime in Tsim Sha Tsui for the world premiere (happening here in Hong Kong tomorrow) I decided to grab the camera and race out the door, jump on the Star Ferry from Wan Chai (before it is destroyed) and take a wander around the promenade to see what is actually going on.

Unfortunately, Optimus isn’t as big as I had expected, and due to the red carpet event that will be taking place around him you can’t get very close. In the background of the photo above you can see the Wan Chai Convention Centre … It will be destroyed in the movie according to the trailers and TV spots it has been in.

Here he is from the water. As you can see he is standing on the upper deck of the promenade viewing area in front of the Cultural Centre and Clock Tower in Tsim Sha Tsui.

A little closer this time, as seen from the TST Star Ferry terminal…

He doesn’t look too bad from the back, which you can only see if you’re on the water…

From this side he kind of looks like he has ski boots on. Can’t help but wonder if he’s setting the fashion trend for next season on the slopes…

From the front looks pretty badass with his face plate down. I also note the strategic placement of the sword to cover up those annoying blue plates (the ones that all the mums on the planet and quite a few fanboys are complaining about) on his lower torso.

And from his other side you can see the detail behind the sword… including the blue plating…

And a few close ups perhaps? Optimus with the Bank of China building in the background… according to the trailers it won’t be standing for much longer.

At this point I have to confess I had to use a lot of zooming in to get these pictures. These are taken to the limit of my zoom capabilities – that’s how far away he was from the general public.

In reality, this was the absolute closest anyone outside of the staff working on the Premiere could get.

Even the media was stuck behind the barriers with us common-folk. 

And those close up face on shots? This is as close as I could get as a large chunk of the promenade was blocked off to prepare for the premiere.

Speaking of…

Here’s the red carpet. It doesn’t look like there will be much access to the stars before they ascend the stairs away from the locals as behind me is a road for public transport.

I confess I was disappointed Optimus wasn’t accessible. I had kind of hoped that because hardly anyone in Hong Kong has been given tickets to attend the event (seems to be mostly people and media from out of town) they might have a few things we “locals” COULD see easily. Alas it doesn’t seem to be. I am a little confused as to how this is actually a world premiere when people in Hong Kong can’t go AND they didn’t bring the star and face of the movie – Optimus a.k.a Peter Cullen – (or any of the US voice actors) out here for it.

Optimus Prime does look pretty awesome with the Hong Kong skyscrapers in the background.

As much as it was sad not to get close up access I’m pretty sure Optimus won’t be on the Tsim Sha Tsui promenade for long after the premiere so I’m glad I was spontaneous and just went on out there to see the big guy…

Wanna see more pictures? Check out my flickr album… 

 

What do you think of Optimus’ appearance for the premiere in Hong Kong?