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List Price: $19.99 | | Label: Dreamworks Video
Salesrank: 7101
Released: October 16, 2007 |
| Our Price: $12.87 |
| Used Price: $3.27 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
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 against an enemy unlike anything anyone has seen before. It’s the incredible, breath-taking film spectacular that USA Today says "will appeal to the kid in all of us."
Description of Transformers (Two-Disc Special Edition):
"I bought a car. Turned out to be an alien robot. Who knew?" deadpans Sam Witwicky, hero and human heart of Michael Bay's rollicking robot-smackdown fest, Transformers. Witwicky (the sweetly nerdy Shia LaBeouf, channeling a young John Cusack) is the perfect counterpoint to the nearly nonstop exhilarating action. The plot is simple: an alien civil war (the Autobots vs. the evil Decepticons) has spilled onto Earth, and young Sam is caught in the fray by his newly purchased souped-up Camaro. Which has a mind--and identity, as a noble-warrior robot named Bumblebee--of its own. The effects, especially the mind-blowing transformations of the robots into their earthly forms and back again, are stellar.
Fans of the earlier film and TV series will be thrilled at this cutting-edge incarnation, but this version should please all fans of high-adrenaline action. Director Bay gleefully salts the movie with homages to pop-culture touchstones like Raiders of the Lost Ark, King Kong, and the early technothriller WarGames. The actors, though clearly all supporting those kickass robots, are uniformly on-target, including the dashing Josh Duhamel as a U.S. Army sergeant fighting an enemy he never anticipated; Jon Voight, as a tough yet sympathetic Secretary of Defense in over his head; and John Turturro, whose special agent manages to be confidently unctuous, even stripped to his undies. But the film belongs to Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, and the dastardly Megatron--and the wicked stunts they collide in all over the globe. Long live Transformers! --A.T. Hurley
On the DVD
The special edition of Transformers is packed with extras (and more than a few product placements for Hasbro). The entire second disc is devoted to featurettes on aspects of making the technical tour-de-force--and the land mines involved in tinkering with a beloved '80s franchise. Executive producer Steven Spielberg is very much a part of the proceedings, from his introductory comments ("I think everybody likes the idea of taking something you're familiar with and turning it into something you're not so familiar with--like an 18-wheeler become Optimus Prime") to mentions of his films that influenced this one, like E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Director Michael Bay is brash and entertaining as he talks about his initial reluctance to take on the project, his indoctrination at "Transformers U" at Hasbro, and his enthusiasm for guerrilla-style action filmmaking. Star Shia LaBoeuf says, "He is the sickest action director" out there, and there's plenty of evidence here to support that. Other great highlights include features on how key scenes were shot, including the heart-pounding desert battle and the shootout in the streets of downtown L.A.--adrenaline-pumping stuff, even without the Transformers CGI'd in. --A.T. Hurley
More Than Meets the Eye
The Original Movie | 
Transformers Mania | 
The Soundtrack |
Transformers Image Gallery (click for larger image)
Transformers (Two-Disc Special Edition) Reviews:
Transfomers (Two-Disc Special Edition) 
2009-12-21 - I have enjoyed this movie since seeing it first at the theaters. If you like the Transformers, you will like this one. BumbleBee is my favorite.
Will buy the Transformer II movie, after a few months.
These movies grow on you.
More Than Meets the Eye? You Betchya! 
2009-12-19 - It is called the All Spark. Powerful. Incredible. Able to create robotic life and destroy it just as quickly.
On Cybertron, a planet far, far away, a war arose when a robot named Megatron, leader of the Decepticons, wanted the power of the All Spark for himself. Optimus Prime and his band of Autobots rose up against him and their battle destroyed their homeworld, sending the cube-shaped All Spark into space.
Lost.
The Autobots and Decepticons scoured the galaxy looking for it, knowing that whoever found it first would be the victor and would decide the fate of not just one world, but the universe.
The All Spark found its way to Earth, but not before Megatron tracked it there. It landed in the Arctic, and Megatron was frozen there until found later on by Captain Witwicky, explorer.
Decades later, his grandson, Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf), needs a car and after visiting a used-car dealer ends up coming home with an old Chevy Camaro. Little does he know the car is more than meets the eye and lurking beneath its yellow shell is an Autobot named Bumblebee. It's not long till Sam finds out and is thrust into a robotic world where two teams of giant robots compete to find the All Spark.
Joining Sam is his high school crush, Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox), whom reluctantly is dragged on this journey with him but soon finds herself getting interested in this guy who she barely knew existed.
It's robot vs robot in this giant epic of good vs evil, fireballs, bullets and vehicles that are more than meets the eye.
What can I say? When I heard they were taking the Transformers from my childhood and lifting them from the cartoon to "real life," I was ecstatic. I was also concerned because I knew it'd take a crazy amount of CGI to make it happen, and not just any CGI either--good CGI. The last thing I wanted was for a bunch of cartoony robots with rubbery parts dominating the screen.
Boy, was I shocked when I saw Bumblebee transform and tower over all, shining his spotlight into the sky, or when Optimus Prime showed up and that glorious digital transformation sound roared and he stood proud, huge and detailed.
This stuff was real, and it looked like the makers of this movie actually made real Autobots and Decepticons to make it happen.
Good times.
Storywise, yeah, I liked it. The alien invasion thing worked. Very well done. Same with the notion that, unlike the cartoons (from what I recall), the Autobots had a vow of secrecy to keep themselves hidden from the humans while they searched for the All Spark.
Shia LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky was funny, same with Kevin Dunn as his father.
The story also bodes well for a sequel, which has now come and gone, with more stories in the works. If you're going to go epic, like Transformers did, you're going to need more than one. Last I heard, they're doing 5 or 6 of these things. Me? I'm all for it. I go into these things expecting a good time and not some life-altering film where, years later, I look back and see it as a turning point for me. Transformers is just that: a good time, and one that tickled my inner fanboy.
More than meets the eye? You betchya!
A.P. Fuchs
Transformers
2009-12-18 - Being a big Transformers fan,the movie was excellent. The special effects are the best in any movie to date. Michael Bay is the man.
Awesome Movie! Reminiscent of Indepence Day
2009-12-17 - Overall I liked the movie, the special effects were mind blowing.
The stars were good looking, Megan and the other blonde were too good.
As a kid of the 80s, I think they did a real good job on Transformers.
However, this movie is eerily similar to Independence Day.
The scary bio-suite scene in ID4 vs the Tail scene in TF. both make u jump in your seat.
Will Smith (soldier) lost in the desert in ID4 vs Army men lost in the desert in TF.
Vivica A Fox drivin a big truck to help out in ID4 vs Megan Fox drivin a big tow truck to help out in TF.
Sending a virus to the mothership in ID4 vs Virus sent to Defense computers in TF.
Classififed secret project on UFO/Aliens in Area 51 in ID4 vs Classified secret project on Cube/Alien Bot in Sector 7 in TF.
The list goes on and on! But still Transformers is done well and is like an updated version.
Surprinsingly entertaining
2009-12-15 - Talk about beating the odds. Transformers was a movie, based on a cartoon, based on a line of toys. One minute two robots are fighting, the next their...a tape player? There is no way this movie should work. Yet it does. It's very funny, the action is great, and the story is, well, its watchable. The most important aspect of this movie is that its entertaining. I was entertained from beginning to end, and more than happy to give it another watch. I don't want to reveal the jokes or surprises, but I was surprised by how much fun the movie was. Plus it helps that the blu ray is one of the best, if not the best, pictures clarity out on blu ray. When you watch it, its like you're there, or watching it through a live lens. Each gear is detailed, every piece of rubble flies, and every explosion in a clarity that makes you worry you might be a victim of the next accident. While I know it isn't Shakespeare, I will say it was a very entertaining experience, with an amazingly gorgeous picture. Recommended for action fans.
