Transformers Blu-Ray Review

Rated PG-13 (Intense Sequences of Sci-Fi Action Violence, Brief Sexual Humor, and Language)

Running Time: 2 Hours & 24 Minutes

Cast-

Shia LaBeouf-Sam Witwicky

Megan Fox-Mikaela Banes

Josh Duhamel-Captain William Lennox

Tyrese Gibson-Sergeant Robert Epps

Rachael Taylor-Maggie Madsen

Anthony Anderson-Glen Whitmann

John Turturro-Agent Reggie Simmons

Jon Voight-Defense Secretary John Keller

Michael O'Neill-Tom Banacheck

Kevin Dunn-Ron Witwicky

Julie White-Judy Witwicky

Amaury Nolasco-ACWO Jorge 'Fig' Figueroa

Zack Ward-First Sergeant Donnelly

Bernie Mac-Bobby Bolivia

Peter Cullen (voice)-Optimus Prime

Hugo Weaving (voice)-Megatron

Mark Ryan (voice)-Bumblebee

Darius McCrary (voice)-Jazz

Robert Foxworth (voice)-Ratchet

Jess Harnell (voice)-Ironhide/Barricade

Jimmie Wood (voice)-Bonecrusher

Reno Wilson (voice)-Frenzy

Charlie Adler (voice)-Starscream

Directed by Michael Bay

This picture is a commentary on the awesomeness of America.

Summer movies have gained a reputation for being heavily driven by special effects whose sole purpose is to make money, regardless of what critics think of said movie. No other film epitomizes this than 2007’s “Transformers,” with the sequel, “Revenge of the Fallen” opening in theaters and IMAX tomorrow. Transformers are actually a series of toys created in 1984 by a Japanese toy company called Takara Tomy. Hasbro originally handled distribution in the United States but eventually, brought the entire toy line after Takara gave them sole ownership of the series and copyrights. Takara retained its right to produce and distribute the toys for the Japanese market. Transformers quickly became popular, leading to the creation of various television shows, video games and a full-length animated film but that popularity began to wane until Michael Bay came along. While Bay’s films have certainly raked in millions at the box office with the exception of 2005’s “The Island,” his rather dubious reputation as a filmmaker invoked fears of ‘butchering’ the franchise among hardcore fans, and the radical redesign of many characters didn’t exactly help matters. Available on Blu-Ray since last year, “Transformers” certainly delivers on the spectacle that borders on sensory overload but the story often feels trite with its disparate subplots and the human characters aren’t that interesting to begin with. At the end of the day, this is either a love-it or hate-it film but for me, “Transformers” is merely just average.

After a short narration from Autobot leader Optimus Prime (voice of Peter Cullen) that explains how the war with the Decepticons destroyed their homeworld Cybertron, the film switches to present day Qatar in the Middle East where a U.S. SOCCENT base is tracking an unknown helicopter. The helicopter turns out to be none other than the Decepticon Blackout, who promptly begins to demolish the base in an attempt to hack into the U.S. military network. Captain William Lennox (Josh Duhamel) and Sergeant Robert Epps (Tyrese Gibson) lead a group of survivors but Scorponok burrows underground to follow them. Meanwhile, regular kid Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) is shopping for his first car with his father when he comes upon a faded yellow Chevy Camaro. Sam promptly buys it in an attempt to woo his school crush, Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox) but discovers to his horror that the Camaro is actually Autobot Bumblebee, who transmits a homing signal to his fellow compatriots. Led by Optimus Prime, the group reveals that they are looking for the ‘All-Spark’ and are at war with Megatron (voice of Hugo Weaving), leader of the Decepticons. A map to the location of the All-Spark happens to be etched into the glasses of Sam’s great-great grandfather, who discovered a giant ‘ice man’ buried in the Arctic Circle in 1897. Sam agrees to help the Autobots in a race against time with the Decepticons as the United States military prepare for what seems to be a full-scale alien invasion.

For a movie that is called “Transformers,” the actual Transformers are relegated to supporting characters that end up doing very little until the final thirty minutes of the film. The main plot is your typical coming-of-age story that we’ve seen thousands of times before but Shia LaBeouf’s charismatic and sincere performance makes it work. It's not particularly deep or emotionally involving and the only time that it comes close to that is when Bumblebee is captured by the government. At times, the film’s fragmented storytelling may frustrate viewers as they wonder how the subplot involving the United States military fits into Sam’s predicament but writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman manage to make it come together into a satisfying whole…for the most part. There are a few lingering plot holes involving the All-Spark, the picture’s MacGuffin, as we are led to believe that whoever possesses it wields unlimited power but this idea is thrown out the window when Sam shoves the cube into Megatron’s chest to destroy him. Of course, a film like “Transformers” seems to follow its own logic and scenes such as Frenzy walking nonchalantly through an airbase with Secret Service crawling around or the Autobots milling about in Sam’s backyard begs the question: shouldn’t someone outside the core cast notice giant anthropomorphic robots running around? I mean, they’re pretty hard to miss! Sure, Bay doesn’t want us to take the film too seriously but in reality, it just comes off as distracting. Also, Lennox trying to hide the All-Spark in 'Mission City' (actually Los Angeles) struck me as poor thinking since they know the Decepticons are coming after it so why would they go to a heavily populated area with civilians? The real reason is to have an epic battle but for all its effort to ground the film in reality, this just borders on the absurd. “Transformers” is certainly Bay’s best film to date as he spends a fair amount of time developing the characters, though some only exist mainly to sprout exposition or provide comedy relief but at the end of the day, it’s just an excuse for giant robots to pummel the metal out of each other.

The acting is somewhat mixed but Shia LaBeouf continues to prove that he has the effective screen presence to carry an entire film. His character Sam is your normal, everyday kid who’s excited about getting his first car because this is his ticket to winning the hot girlfriend. It’s a tried-and-true formula for this type of story but Shia manages to bring a maturity to Sam as the film progresses, thanks to his family motto, ‘No sacrifice, no victory.’ Unfortunately, the rest of the cast aren’t given much to do; Megan Fox serves as the obligatory eye candy and the rest of the supporting cast, which includes Josh Duhamel, Rachael Taylor, and Jon Voight, serve to provide exposition so audiences new to Transformers wouldn’t get lost in the shuffle. However John Turturro is rather memorable as the stereotypical, Area 51-like, government official. Turturro never ceases to amaze me thanks to the wide range of different genre’s he’s been involved in, being able to switch from serious to more comedic roles without any effort.

Of course, the real reason to watch “Transformers” is the robots themselves and thanks to Industrial Light & Magic, you’ll see every little gear move with life-like accuracy as they switch between bot and vehicle modes. As actual characters they don’t fare as well and with the exception of Optimus, all of them are just given a name, what their function is and that’s it. As I mentioned before, the robots end up doing very little, with the Decepticons being shortchanged the most as they just suddenly pop up for the final battle! One thing I can say positively is that the special effects are nothing short of astonishing and it was a letdown that they lost the Academy Award to “The Golden Compass.” The action scenes are very much Michael Bay and has his personal, over-the-top touch. Some of them border on sensory overload as you’ll see so many robots shooting and pummeling each other that it all starts to blur together. One of the primary complaints was that viewers had trouble telling who was fighting whom or what faction they belonged to. It was also disappointing that some of the later battles, like the one between Optimus and Megatron, partially take place off-camera, making it feel like a bit of a gyp.

“Transformers” was at the center of the format war between HD DVD and Blu-Ray and was considered to push HD DVD to victory as it was arguably the best looking high definition transfer at the time. When HD DVD was finally phased out and the film arrived on the superior Blu-Ray format in September 2008, the picture quality went beyond reference material. The opening scenes of the film are absolutely breathtaking as we see every drop of sweat on the soldiers gleaming off their pores but where the Blu-Ray really shines is in revealing all the intricacies of the robots and the hard work that was put into bringing them to life. Shadows are rich and inky and all the primary colors of the Autobots leap off the screen. The battles will leave your mouth hanging open as debris flies everywhere, windows shatter, and spent shell casings scatter all over the ground. Audio quality is likewise flawless, the highpoint being Peter Cullen’s booming and authoritative voice of Optimus Prime. When the music swells, you will get chills, especially during the scene when the Autobots crash-land to Earth. Sound effects are everywhere as buildings crumble while machine gun fire splits the air with the robots throwing each other around like rag dolls in the background, resulting in room-shaking thuds. Special features are plentiful with an audio commentary from Bay and three in-depth features on the making of the film, including a history of the Transformers franchise and the special effects involved. “Transformers” may be average but this Blu-Ray is certainly a must-buy as it is an experience you’ll never forget.

Released on July 3, 2007, “Transformers” received a mixed reception from critics, averaging a 57% on Rotten Tomatoes, citing the lack of believable characters but praised that the ‘effects are staggering and the action is exhilarating.’ Made on a surprisingly low budget of $150 million (compared to the $258 million for “Spider-Man 3”), the film earned an impressive $319 million domestic and $708 million worldwide, so a sequel was already a given. For me, “Transformers” at times borders on being plain dumb or absurd but I agree that it is one of the most entertaining movies I’ve seen in a while. The problem is that it never strives to amount to anything more than just robots fighting and that’s a damn shame but what would you expect from a Michael Bay film?

Final Rating: 3 out of 5

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