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Transformers
R1 - America - Paramount Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak and Cameron Murray (22nd October 2007). |
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The Film
 When I first heard that they were going to make a live action version of a beloved childhood cartoon of mine, "Transformers", I was a little dubious on two fronts; firstly would the characters hold up? Secondly would it look any good, having CGI and live action merged together? Because while there are a lot of good examples of blockbusters using CGI to good effect there as many if not more bad examples of it. Now while the teaser trailers and pre-release did much to whet my appetite I was wary of being lulled into a false sense of 'this is going to be awesome' only to be sadly disappointed, this was not to be one of those times. I was pleasantly surprised on both fronts, with the Autobots and Decepticons not looking out of place or fake in all bar one shot, which given the nature of the movie is quite an achievement and the characters are still as radical (that's right, I'm kicking it old school). The interaction between the actors and the transformers were carried out so well that you actually forget that they are talking to a reference marker or other such thing and you fall deeply and quickly into your suspension of disbelief, which is an amazing credit to the actors. The plot is designed to take you back to the beginning, so if you have never seen nor heard of the "Transformers" cartoon (1984-1987) you can still watch this movie and not feel as if you have been robbed of any part of the experience. If you are a huge "Transformers" fan then there are references in the film that will have you chuckling in your seat or high-fiving yourself for getting the reference and thus making you a better person than those who didn't. The story is quite simple, along time ago the Autobots and the Decepticons were warring on their home planet over the All Spark, which somehow gets cast off into space where it travels to Earth (don't we just have the worst luck for that sort of thing happening?, anyhow...) The Decepticons and Autobots set out to find this All Spark Megatron (voiced by Hugo Weaving), leader of the Decepticons wants to use it for evil and Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen), leader of the Autobots wants to use it to rebuild their home planet of Cybertron. Essentially that's the plot where the humans come into it is that a human, in the late 1800's Captain Witwicky (William Morgan Sheppard) inadvertently had a map to the location of the All Spark, which was then passed down to his grandson, Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBeouf) as a family heirloom and thus he gets into a world of trouble with the Decepticons. I can't imagine that it would be easy coming to terms with transforming robots, but then having to come to terms with the fact that half of them want to kill you, now that's got to be rough. The young man charged with the task of coming to terms with this is Sam Witwicky played by LeBeouf to great effect. He has the comic skills to pull off one of the funniest scenes that I have seen in an action movie in a long time. It had everything awkwardness from an over enthusiastic mother, stress from having giant transforming robots outside his window that he was desperately trying to conceal from his parents all the while having a conversation that no man wants the girl of his dreams hearing while she is hiding in his room. Mikaela Banes is the girl of Sam Witwickys dreams and is played by Megan Fox, who not only possesses the looks but also the talent at her craft to engage and sustain the audiences attention past the point of the object of Sam Witwickys desire. With an ensemble cast consisting of John Voight, Rachael Taylor, Anthony Anderson, Tyrese Gibson, Kevin Dunn, John Turturro and Josh Duhamel there are enough solid actors to never make you feel that there is a weak link or an actor who is out of their league. Stylistically, this is a Michael Bay film. Take two parts comedy, add one part attractive love interest, stir loosely into ten parts of stuff being blown up, watch for 143 odd minutes and then garnish with some sweeping camera shots. Was I describing "The Island" (2005), "Bad Boys" (1995) and "Bad Boys II" (2003) or perhaps "Armageddon"? (1998), watch for that reference in the movie, all of the above I think you'll find. That may be a little harsh, but I feel it's fair. I really enjoyed this movie, and it took me back to getting up before school and making sure I was ready in time to catch "Transformers" before heading off to class. I would not hesitate to recommend this film; there is enough comedy in it to keep someone who isn't a huge action movie fan happy and enough action to keep an action fan as happy as a pig in something that pigs would be happy in. This is a movie that will have great repeat viewing appeal and I eagerly await the next installment as I want to know where this story is going to go.
Video
Presented in the film original theatrical ratio of 2.35:1, this anamorphic transfer is about as reference quality as they can come for DVD. The image is incredibly crisp and sharp displaying detail brilliantly. The clean image has no major flaws to speak of and presents the film's color palette brilliantly and with a great vividness to it. Black levels are impeccable and shadow detail remains solid throughout the print. Some minor grain can be seen but it's not considered a fault. The image remains balanced and in pristine condition, which is to be expected from a recent release. As far as DVD transfers go this is a grade A+ material from Paramount and will likely put a smile on the faces of home theater enthusiasts as a disc that can be used to show off their systems. The only things that could be better is a 1080p high-definition image (FYI this film is also released on HD DVD).
Audio
Three audio tracks are included in English Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1 and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 surround. For the purposes of this review I chose to view the film with its original English Dolby Digital 5.1 track and much like the image itself the soundtrack is reference quality as well. While it would have been nice to go DTS for this release or even EX encoded Dolby track this standard 5.1 track does the trick quite well. Dialogue us crystal clear and distortion free but the film's track shines during the many action sequences that display the total aggressiveness of this track. The sound effects of metal hitting metal, gun fire, explosions and flying debris and the multitude of vehicles comes across exceptionally well with great sense of depth and range. The track takes you from ambient and subtle environmental noise all the way to the other end of the speaker taking your speakers for a massive workout including the bass channels which simply blares. Finally the score adds another layer of depth and is the icing on the cake, this 5.1 track is brilliant. Optional subtitles are included in English, French and Spanish.
Extras
DISC ONE: First up we've got a feature-length audio commentary by the film's director Michael Bay. Bay provides an enthusiastic and energetic track and manages to maintain your attention for the entire 143 minutes, a small feat considering he's doing it on his own without any other member of the cast and crew (which would have been nice by the way). He comments on his involvement in the project and how he wasn't originally interested but he changed his mind when he got to know more about the project, on working with Spielberg but mostly remains focused on the production and taking us through his vision for the film and the choices he made for the production from the design of the robots and the use of vehicles to the casting, shooting and stunts throughout the demanding production and also on the special effects and action sequences. He's quite informative and provides a great deal for the fans of the film. This track is certainly worth listening to. DISC TWO: The majority of the extras are housed on this second disc and is broken into three sections; "Our World", "Their War" and "More Than Meets The Eye". "Our World" is a 4-part documentary that has a total runtime of 49 minutes 20 seconds and includes: - "The Story Sparks" takes a look on taking the original "Transformers" format and adapting it for the big screen, on working with toy company Hasbro on re-launching the brand, the writers talks about the genesis of the project and story and about the core of the human element of this film. Bay's involvement is explored and how he worked closely with Hasbro to get a crash course in "Transformers" as we get a look at the action staging for the film. - "Human Allies" focuses on the primary cast of the film. The clip takes us through the casting process and a look at the ensemble talent assembled for this film and what they each brought to the production. You get a sense of what it's like taking part in a Michael Bay film and there's also a decent amount of back-patting. - "I Fight Giant Robots" takes a look at the co-operation with the U.S. Military and the intense amount of training in which some of the cast was put through this includes weapons training, safety training, eating Army rations and living like a solider as well as fighting and moving like a unit as they spend time with an actual training unit. The clip gives us an understanding of the level of preparation of actors were put through for the film as we also get a look at the stunt and action sequences shot with the Military. - "Battleground" takes a look at the location department for the film as they take us through the various locations and sets built for the production and the unique demands and challenges of shooting in those locations such as logistical issues and keeping the production within the United States and working with the same fast crew Bay is used to. "Their War" is the second 4-part documentary and runs for a total of 1 hour 5 minutes 12 seconds and includes: - "Rise of the Robots" This clip covers the history of the toys and animated series as well as launching the series in the U.S. and the changes made to clearly define good guys and bad guys as well as placing a storyline. We also get a look at the fan base of "Transformers" and the online reaction to Bay directing the film and the various creative changes made to the film to give the film a real world feel, also looks at the voice actors cast fore the film as well as building scale versions for on set reference among other things. - "Autobots Roll Out" takes a closer look at the good guys, mainly the practical vehicles used to portray the Autobots in the film and the car sponsorship with GM that made it possible. We get a look at the different vehicles and their characteristics plus we also get a look at the various cars used for fodder to get smashed up and the camera vehicles used on the film in order to get high speed chase and crash shots to put the viewer in the middle of the action and finally we are taken through the process of splitting the bus in half for a major action scene. - "Decepticons Strike" takes a look at the Military vehicles used to portray the Decepticons as well as the Police vehicle, the new character Frenzy and the alien plane that Megatron transforms into and why the concept was changed considering in the animated series he originally transformed into a gun. - "Inside the All Spark" Takes us through the special effects of the film as we get a look at the work that ILM and Digital Domain did for the film in creating the robots from using on set references to design, modeling, animating movement and maneuverability, creating emotion from a robot, the transformations, match moving and rebuilding backgrounds and environments, paint and texture, lighting and finally putting it all together. This really provides grounding in the complexity of the special effects that had to be created for this production. The final section is entitled "More Than Meets the Eye" and includes: - "From Script to Sand: The Scorponock Desert Attack" featurette that runs for 8 minutes 53 seconds this clip is a complete progression of the sequence following it from the script stage to the use of the character, pre-production pre-viz to plan the scene, designing the character in CG, scouting the location, the demands of shooting at the location as well as the various elements used to shoot the scene including pyrotechnics and explosions, stint work including wire work. Then the VFX team takes over and uses the on-set references to finish the scene and add the CG robot in its fully animated form. - "Concepts" runs for 2 minutes 12 seconds and is a reel of production artwork cut to music from the film and includes renderings, character designs and set designs. A series of trailers is also featured on this disc and rounds out the extras, they include: - The film's original teaser trailer 1 which runs for 1 minute 48 seconds. - The film's original theatrical trailer 2 which runs for 2 minutes 13 seconds. - The film's original theatrical trailer 4 which runs for 2 minutes 35 seconds.
Packaging
This 2-disc set is packaged in a clear amaray case that's housed in a plastic slip-cover.
Overall
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