Transformers (2007)

A long time ago, far away on the planet of Cybertron, a war was being waged between the noble Autobots (led by the wise Optimus Prime) and the devious Decepticons (commanded by the dreaded Megatron) for control over the Allspark, a mystical talisman that would grant unlimited power to whoever possessed it. The Autobots managed to smuggle the Allspark off the planet, but Megatron blasted off in search of it. He eventually tracked it to the planet of Earth (circa 1850), but his reckless desire for power sent him right into the Arctic Ocean, and the sheer cold forced him into a paralyzed state. His body was later found by Captain Archibald Witwicky, and before going into a comatose state Megatron used the last of his energy to engrave a map, showing the location of the Allspark, into the Captain's glasses, and send a transmission to Cybertron. He is then carted away by the Captain's ship. Hilarity ensues as a century later, Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBeouf) buys his first car. To his shock, he discovers that it is not a camero, but Bumblebee, an Autobot in disguise who is there to protect Sam, the Captain's glasses and the map carved on them. But Bumblebee is not the only Transformer to have arrived on Earth - in the desert of Qatar, the Decepticons Blackout and Scorponok attack a U.S. military base, causing the Pentagon to send their special Sector Seven agents to capture all "specimens of this alien race," and Sam along with his girlfriend Mikaela (the aptly named Megan Fox) find themselves in the middle of a grand battle between the Autobots and the Decepticons, stretching from Hoover Dam all the way to Los Angeles. Meanwhile, within the depths of Hoover Dam, the cryogenically stored form of Megatron awakens...


Trivia: Producer Don Murphy decided, after listening to feedback from Transformers fans, to use the voices from the "Transformers" (TV cartoon series). Veteran voice actors Peter Cullen and Frank Welker, who provided the voices for the iconic Transformer leaders Optimus Prime (Cullen) and Megatron (Welker), were auditioned personally by director Michael Bay, who feared that their aged voices would be noticeable. Cullen was confirmed to reprise his role, but Welker's voice was too light for Megatron's new beastly look, and so Hugo Weaving took the role of Megatron. However, Welker reprises his role as Megatron in Transformers: The Game. Bumblebee's original alternate mode in "Transformers" was a Volkswagen Beetle, but this was altered to a 1977/2009 Chevrolet Camaro (against Don Murphy's wishes). This was because Michael Bay felt that the Camaro held a more friendly quality than the Beetle, and he wanted to avoid comparisons with Herbie the Love Bug. As a tribute to the series, a yellow Volkswagen Beetle appears next to him at the car shop (and as a joke Bumblebee damages it!). The Decepticons were to have more dialogue in the film, but most of their lines were cut out to keep them mysterious (screenwriter Roberto Orci reasoned that the more a villain talks, the less threatening they are). To please the fans, though, Megatron's classic berating of Starscream ("You have failed me yet again, Starscream...") from "Transformers" was put in the film. Sometimes, the camera was kept in a bulletproof glass box while shooting, due to the intense nature of the stunts. Shia LaBeouf quipped, "The camera's in a bullet-proof box, but what about me?" Optimus Prime is composed of 10,108 pieces. The Decepticons outnumber the Autobots eight to five. This was a deliberate move by the writers to emphasize the Autobots' teamwork, and the threat the Decepticons pose to the world. As that there were no running 2009 model Camaros, Bumblebee was actually created by Saleen inc. The same tuner that created Barricade. Working with the Pontiac GTO along with data and wheelbase drawings of the 2009 Camaro provided by GM, Saleen cobbled together, from the floorboards up, a running "Camaro" in just 30 days.


If you noticed my labels below, I have a new one (HD) that is because for Christmas I got myself an HD TV and an HD DVD player (Whoo Hoo!) so I watched this in High Definition. The ultimate toys for a movie buff. Anyway, back to the movie. It was really short of plot. I mean there was a lot of plot but it was pretty thin. And if you are going to have a Transformer movie, show the Transformers, not the whimpy Shia LeBeouf (although that meant that you got to see a lot Megan Fox, which is a VERY good thing, an uberhot woman who knows cars AND has a bad girl streak?). And they also have a beautiful analyst (Rachel Taylor) at the DoD that figures it all out. Um...Anyway, they also try to add humor into the mix. Why does every retro 70's TV show that is made into a movie have to have added humor inserted? I mean, yes, i was funny to watch the Autobots trying to hide from Sam's parents (who never seemed to look out any of their windows) but it took a little away from the character of Optimus Prime. Have some of the others give you the humor, leave Optimus out of it. There is also said to be a lot of religious overtones in the movie, good vs. evil, Opitmus as a savior like figure spouting grandios phrases to brainwash our kids or something like that. I guess I could see it a little but i was nowhere near what I thought it would be and I don't think people give kids enough credit. Kids are smart too. They can figure this stuff out on their own, it's just a freaking movie people.