Autobots...roll out! (Transformers (DVD))

Member Name: chilipepper27

Product:	Transformers (DVD)
Date:	21/10/07 (83 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A fantastic action packed film

Disadvantages: none

~About the film~

The 1980's cult hit cartoon 'Transformers', has finally been brought to the big screen in 2007. Directed by Michael Bay and executive producer Steven Spielberg, this is a highly anticipated movie that in my book, definitely lives up to expectation. Starring Shia Labeouf as Sam, Megan Fox as Mikaela, Jon Voight as John Keller the Secretary of Defence, Josh Duhamel as Captain Lennox, Tyrese Gibson as TSgt Robert Eps, and features the Voices of Hugo Weaving (Megatron), and the original voice of Optimus Prime, Peter Cullen.
The run time is 143 mins and its rated 12+.


~The Transformers~

The Autobots: (the good guys)

Optimus Prime, a Peterbilt truck and the leader of the Autobots.
Bumblebee, a 1976 Chevrolet Camaro and Sam's protector.
Ironhide, a GMC Top kick pick up truck and weapons specialist.
Ratchet, a Search and Rescue Hummer H2 and medical officer
Jazz, a Pontiac Solstice sports car and Optimus's second in command

The Deceptacons: (the bad guys)

Megatron, a Cybertronian Jet and leader of the Deceptacons.
Starscream, an F22 Raptor Jet and second in command.
Scorponok, the only Deceptacon to keep its original alien form.
Blackout, a Military Helicopter.
Barricade, a Saleen Mustang Police car.
Bonecrusher, a Buffalo H mine protected vehicle.
Devastator, a highly modified tank.
Frenzy, a CD player/mobile phone.

~Synopsis~

The story begins with an insight into 'the Cube' or the allspark as it's called, and how it is needed to save the planet 'Cybertron' but became lost in space. Cybertron is home of the Autonomous robotic life form, Autobot's (the good guys) for short, and the Deceptacons (the bad guys), which are two races of alien robots, who have waged war, and in doing so have destroyed their planet. The only way to bring life back to Cybertron is the allspark (or 'the cube'), but if the allspark fell into the wrong hands i.e.; Megatrons, he would use it to build an army of evil and take over the universe.

Megatron, (the leader of the Deceptacons), set out to find the allspark, which had landed on an unknown planet named Earth. The allspark was kept secret for hundreds of years by Sector 7, a secret United States government organisation, who built the Hoover Damn around it to hide the massive energy fields given off , and to keep it hidden and secret. But Megatron crash landed in the Arctic Circle on his quest to find it and became Frozen in ice.

Then in 1887 an explorer named Captain Archibald Witwicky, accidentally found Megatron (the Ice Man) and whilst taking a closer look, unintentionally activated his navigation system by accident, and as it blasted out it hit Captain Witwickys glasses and unbeknownst to him, made an imprint of the co-ordinates to the whereabouts of the allspark. The 'Ice Man', as he called him was hushed up by Sector7 and Witwicky was labelled insane…….

Present day at a U.S military airbase in Qatar, and we find the Deceptacons have landed, hiding in plain sight and are about to make their presence felt….and not in a good way!
But there's hope in the form of the Autobots, who are also making their way to Earth, to try and locate the allspark.
But a teenage boy named Sam (who unknowingly has the co-ordinates to it,) suddenly finds himself in the centre of the war between good and evil, and soon the fate of the world is in his hands…...

~My thoughts~

A real rollercoaster of a film, that I only wish was longer. But non the less a really well made film with great special effects, and the music throughout the film works well too. The Transformers were really well designed and the actors were perfect for the roles they played.
When I first watched this film, I walked out of the movies thinking that I was Optimus Prime! It's brilliant, my son couldn't stop talking about it for days (He still thinks he's Optimus Prime!) And needless to say that every Transformers toy going will be added on his Christmas list this year!

But this film is not just for the boys or die hard Transformer fans, it's an all-rounder, with lots of humour, a bit of a love story, some sadness, loads of excitement and really awesome fight scenes. The budget for the film was $145 million, Michael Bay actually cut his fee by 30% to keep the film under budget, but I would have liked to have seen a lot more from the Transformers, because what we do see of them is amazing.

It was voted 'best movie you haven't seen yet' at the MTV movie awards, and Entertainment weekly actually named Bumblebee as 'the 4th most convincing computer generated character'. Which I totally agree with, he was definitely one of my favourite characters! The Transformers have been updated and changed quite a bit from some of the original designs - even some of the names have changed, (Optimus is very much the same - which is a good thing) but I think mostly the changes were for the better.
Definitely one to see!

~Bonus features~

The special features on the disc include audio commentary by Michael Bay and 'the story sparks', in which Steven Spielberg speaks about his love for the franchise and how the early concepts came to life, plus other insights into how certain parts of the film were made.
But it depends which version you buy, the two disc special edition is jam packed full of many more fantastic features than the single disc DVD.
And if you watch this movie and enjoy it, then you will be glad to hear that Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg have signed on for two more sequels (2009), along with the other actors…I can't wait!

Thanks for reading.

Summary: This is a fantastic film that can be watched over again.