DVD Review: Transformers (Two-Disc Special Edition)

By Jeff Swindoll Oct 15, 2007, 14:45 GMT

From director Michael Bay and executive producer Steven Spielberg comes a thrilling battle between the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons. When their epic struggle comes to Earth, all that stands between the Decepticons and ultimate power is a clue held by young Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf). Unaware that he is mankind’s last chance for survival, Sam and Bumblebee, his robot disguised as a car, are in a heart-pounding race ...more

“More than meets the eye.”

Those toys from the 80s are given a high-octane film from action director Michael Bay, using Steven Spielberg’s money.  The results are pretty good, but some of the actors seem to strive to go over the top instead of staying down to earth.  

The battle between the Autobots and Decepticons was waged on their home planet of Cybertron, until the planet was destroyed in the melee.  During the destruction of their home world, a powerful artifact called the Allspark, a cube of great energy, is hurled into the vast reaches of space. 

In the sands of Qatar, a military base has a helicopter land that was thought to have been shot down, but when the chopper doesn’t respond after landing on the base, it suddenly transforms into a giant robot that commences to destroy the base.  A group of soldiers, led by Captain Lennox (Josh Duhamel), make out across the desert to try and find away to contact the Pentagon to tell them that a new enemy has seemingly come from beyond the stars.

Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBeouf) is looking to buy his first car and he happens upon a yellow Camaro that turns out to be an Autobot named Bumblebee.  Sam’s great grandfather was an arctic explorer, Captain Archibald Witwicky (W. Morgan Sheppard), and one of his artifacts holds the secret location of the Allspark.  Sam is trying to win the affections of Mikaela (the ultra hot Megan Fox) but his seemingly possessed car starts to get in the way. 

At the Pentagon, the secretary of defense John Keller (Jon Voight) has assigned a group of analysts, including Maggie Madsen (the also ultra hot Rachael Taylor), to try and figure out what the strange signal that tried to hack into the military’s main computer was.  All of these stories clash together as the two warring factions of robots bring their war to our planet.

Transformers is Michael Bay’s version of many a fanboy’s favorite cartoon show.  Needless to say when it was found out that Bay was being given the reigns there was a vocal group of fans that made their displeasure known on the Internet. 

Some leaked robot designs only got them into another uproar.  I’ll have to admit to watching the show, playing with the toys, but even though I liked both activities I wouldn’t call myself an uber-fan of the show.  I figure that Hollywood will do what it wants to do and they probably don’t give a hill of beans about what I think about it.  I might also catch a little flack in the Michael Bay department since I tend to like his work. 

Sure it’s not exactly brain surgery, but the man knows how to helm a thrilling action sequence.  Transformers is full of such action. 

Where the film suffered for me was in the acting department (as usual).  A few of the principle actors seem to reach well beyond the film reality and tend to go over the top.  LaBeouf tends to act like a nebbish and almost channels Woody Allen to a degree while Jon Turturro is a little too wacky as an agent of the mysterious Sector 7 organization.  Anthony Anderson as a nutty hacker was a bit the same, he just didn’t bother me as much as those two did. 

The good points are the action, which has some great smash-em-up set pieces, and the robot designs.  They really are wonderful CGI creations and although they’re not exactly like the ones from the cartoons, the designers put some thought into where exactly all the car parts went when the transformation occurs.  Add to that Peter Cullen returning as the voice of Optimus Prime and you’ll even sweeten the deal.  Sure, the film isn’t going to set on the shelf next to Lawrence of Arabia but it’s quite the enjoyable popcorn fueled ride.  

Transformers is presented in anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions and a fullscreen version is available separately.  The film is available in single discs version as well as a more comprehensive two-disc collector’s edition.  The first disc of this set features the film in widescreen with a commentary by director Michael Bay.  Disc two is divided into different sections. 

The first is labeled “Our World” and is divided into Story Sparks, Human Allies, I Fight Giant Robots, and Battleground.  All of these sections can be watched separately or in one 49-minute documentary.  This section covers the production, the actors, and the training that both had to go through for the film.  The next section is “Their War” and is divided into Rise of the Robots, Autobots Roll Out, Decepticons Strike, and Inside the Allspark.  These can also be watched separately or in one 65-minute chunk.  This section focuses on the robots, both in the cartoon and how they changed for the movie, and the stunts. 

The final section, “More Than Meets the Eye,” is a sort’ve catch all for what didn’t fit in the others.  The first is a 9-minute featurette about the desert Skorponok battle and how they accomplished it.  The 2-minute “Concepts” is a section of concept art played to the film’s music and finally there are 6 minutes of trailers (Teaser 1, Theatrical 2, and Theatrical 4 but why not put all the trailers on?).  

Transformers is a good popcorn flick and if you know that going in then you should have a good time.  If you’re going to obsess over the racing stripes that they put on Optimus then you’ll probably only write death threats on the Internet against Bay. 

I did have some problems with the film but I did end up liking it in the end, just pop the corn and turn off your brain.  I’m basing the rating on the two-disc collector’s edition, which adds some great making-of features.  

Transformers (Two-Disc Special Edition) is now available at Amazon. It is available for pre-order at AmazonUK for a Dec. 3rd release. Visit the DVD database for more information.