Transformers (Movie)


 * ''Transformers is an elaborate cover up in the movie continuity family.



Transformers is a live-action movie released by DreamWorks, with Executive Producer Steven Spielberg and Director Michael Bay. The principal cast members are Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, and Megan Fox, with Peter Cullen and Hugo Weaving as the voices of the Transformers iconic leaders. Character designs and visual effects were created by Industrial Light and Magic, the effects-wizards behind the Star Wars films.

Originally slated to release in the summer of 2006, the film arrived in US theaters on July 3, 2007, and hit UK theaters on July 27 and French theaters on July 25. It was released on June 28, 2007 in Australia and a number of Asian countries, and premiered there on June 12, 2007. Take that, everywhere else. An extended cut of the film featuring footage not in the original was released to IMAX theatres on September 21, 2007.

Main cast
* - Brawl is named "Devastator" in the film itself, but "Brawl" in the toyline and all other supporting media. Plot summaries and such will reflect whichever name is relevant to that being described.

Technical details
Length: 144 min (original theatrical)

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Audio: Dolby Digital / DTS / SDDS

Content Rating:

Short synopsis


The movie features Sam Witwicky, a plucky teenager who just wants a cool car, but gets more than he bargained for. The beater he and his father take home is actually Bumblebee, an alien robot from the planet Cybertron, who plants Sam down in the middle of a civil war between Bumblebee's benevolent Autobot comrades and the evil Decepticons who threaten the galaxy's peace. Both sides are after the All Spark, a mysterious artifact that landed on Earth ten thousand years ago. The approaching robot-against-robot battle is a coming-of-age moment for Sam, who learns the meaning of his family's motto, "No sacrifice, no victory."

Full synopsis
The film begins with the history of Cybertron's destruction at the hands of Megatron, and his quest to obtain the All Spark. Megatron discovers the All Spark on Earth, but crash-lands in the Arctic Circle, becoming frozen in the ice. Captain Archibald Witwicky and his crew of explorers stumble upon Megatron's body in the late 19th century. Megatron's navigational system is unintentionally activated, and Archibald's eye glasses are imprinted with the coordinates to the All Spark's location. Sector Seven, a secret organization of the United States government, discovers the All Spark and builds the Hoover Dam around it to mask its energy signal. The still-frozen Megatron is moved into this facility, and is reverse engineered to further advance human technology.

In the present day, the rest of the Decepticons — Blackout, Scorponok, Frenzy, Barricade, Starscream, Bonecrusher, and Devastator — have already landed on Earth and assumed the disguise of Earth vehicles. Blackout and Scorponok attack the U.S. SOCCENT Forward Operations Base in Qatar in an effort to use the military database to discover the location of Megatron and the All Spark, but they do not succeed. A small group of survivors under Captain William Lennox wander through the desert and are followed by Scorponok. The Autonomous Robotic Organism (shortened to "Autobot") known as Bumblebee is also on Earth, disguised as a 1977 Chevrolet Camaro, and looking for Sam Witwicky, the descendant of Captain Archibald Witwicky. As soon as he locates Sam, the two quickly begin to bond as Bumblebee helps Sam try and woo his crush, Mikaela Banes. Sam is unaware of the fact that Bumblebee is an alien, until he witnesses Bumblebee transform and send out a homing signal for the rest of the Autobots.

At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary John Keller oversees the investigation into the attack in Qatar. After Blackout's failure, Frenzy infiltrates Air Force One and attempts to download the all information relating to "Project Iceman". However, Maggie Madsen, one of the technicians studying the Decepticon infiltration signal, discovers Frenzy's actions and convinces the Pentagon to take down the Defense Network, halting Frenzy's download. When Air Force One makes an emergency landing, Frenzy slips into Barricade, and discusses his discovery of Archibald Witwicky, who has seen their language. Using an internet search, they discover that Sam's glasses will that will lead the Decepticons to the All Spark. Frenzy and Barricade begin tracking Sam's location. Back in Qatar, the army rangers are attacked by Scorponok, who take refugee in a nearby village. Calling the Pentagon and getting air support, they discover that the Decepticons are vulnerable to high heat weaponry such as sabot rounds. Using this information, the soldiers inform the Pentagon that they now have a weapon.

Barricade confronts Sam, demanding Archibald's glasses. Bumblebee, who is following Sam, transforms and battles Barricade. Mikaela, who is also following Sam, is caught in the crossfire, but Bumblebee is able to defeat Barricade, while Mikaela decapitates Frenzy, who is still functioning and hides in Mikaela's purse as her cellphone. Bumblebee takes Sam and Mikaela to rendezvous with the rest of the Autobots. The Autobots—Optimus Prime, Jazz, Ironhide, and Ratchet—land on Earth and take on the forms of several Earth vehicles. They all meet in a dark, secluded alley, transform in front of the two amazed humans, introduce themselves and tell of the reasons they had to come to Earth to Sam and Mikaela. Meanwhile, Maggie made a copy of the intrusion signal and shows it to her friend Glenn Whitmann, who discovers a message with the signal about Sector Seven, Captain Witwicky, and Project Iceman. However, the FBI arrest Glenn and Maggie, who desperately tries to convince them not to go to war with the wrong country.

Sam, Mikaela, and the Autobots then return to Sam's home to retrieve the glasses. However, agents from Sector Seven arrive to take Sam and Mikaela into custody. Reggie Simmons, the agency's director, reveals that Mikaela has a criminal record and threatens Sam with life imprisonment, at which point the Autobots disable the convoy and rescue the teens. During the retreat, Sam and Mikaela are recaptured, and Bumblebee is also apprehended, against the pleas of Sam who assures the agents—to no avail—that he means them no harm. Prime orders the Autobots to let them go, unwilling to use deadly force against the humans. At the Pentagon, a virus Frenzy uploaded during the Air Force One hack causes a global communications blackout, while Keller is finally informed of the Decepticons. After Bumblebee's capture, Optimus uses the glasses locate the All Spark at Hoover Dam, and declares that if they cannot defeat the Decepticons, he will merge the Cube with his spark.

Sam, Mikaela, Keller, Maggie, Glenn, and Lennox's unit are brought to Hoover Dam, where they are shown the frozen Megatron and the All Spark, while Frenzy slips away. Locating the All Spark, he sends out an alert to Starscream, who mobilizes the the rest of the Decepticons. Due to Starscream's attack and Frenzy's sabotage, Megatron begins to revive, and Sam convinces the Sector Seven agents to release Bumblebee so that he can get the All Spark to Optimus Prime. The Decepticons chase the Autobots, who now possess the All Spark, into Mission City.

Glenn, Maggie, Keller, and Simmons manage to contact the Air Force and direct F22s to Mission City. An ensuing battle results in casualties for both sides, including Jazz, who is killed by Megatron, while Bumblebee is crippled in an explosion. As Lennox orders Sam to take the All Spark to a building to be removed from the city, under escort from Ironhide and Ratchet, Megatron and Optimus Prime battle, while the soldiers remain to fight Devastator. Mikaela drags the injured Bumlebee away from the battle with a tow truck, but goes back, with Bumblebee's weapons killing Devastator. Ironhide and Ratchet are incapacitated by Starscream, and Megatron joins the pursuit.

Sam's helicopter is destroyed by Starscream, and Prime challenges Megatron. The battle is fierce and dominated by Megatron. Blackout attempts to assist Megatron, but is killed by Lennox and the Air Force before he can engage. Starscream hides among a raptor squadron, destroying three fighters. Despite this, the Air Force and Lennox's rangers manage to inflict serious damage on Megatron, but he is still functional, and heading toward the Cube. Finally, with both Prime and Megatron weakened, Prime beckons Sam to shove the All Spark into his chest, destroying them both, but Sam instead takes the riskier action of shoving the All Spark into Megatron's chest.

Note: for an extensive synopsis of the battle, see separate article Mission City.

Optimus thanks Sam for his courage and for saving his life, while Bumblebee, who has regained his voice, asks permission to remain with Sam, which is granted. In an attempt to cover up the existence of the Transformers, Sector Seven is disbanded, while the remains of the Decepticons are cast into the Laurentian Abyss. With no other home to go to—Cybertron having been destroyed by Megatron—the Autobots decide to stay on Earth, and Optimus sends out a signal across space in an effort to locate any surviving Autobots, while Sam and Mikaela begin a relationship. Starscream, one of the Decepticons that survived the battle, leaves Earth.

Quotes
"Before time began, there was the Cube. We know not where it comes from, only that it holds the power to create worlds and fill them with life. That was how our race was born. For a time, we lived in harmony, but like all great power, some wanted it for good, others for evil. And so began the war - a war that ravaged our planet until it was consumed by death, and the Cube was lost to the far reaches of space. We scattered across the galaxy, hoping to find it and rebuild our home, searching every star, every world. And just when all hope seemed lost, message of a new discovery drew us to an unknown planet called... Earth. But we were already too late."
 * -- Optimus Prime's opening narration

"Sir, look outside: do you see that man sitting in the green car? That's my dad. Let me tell you a story about a dream, a boy's dream: A man promised to buy his son a car if I brought up three A's and two thousand dollars. I already have the two thousand and two A's. Your B minus? Poof! There goes the dream. Now ask yourself... what would Jesus do?"
 * -- Sam Witwicky negotiates a better mark for his Family Genealogy project

Bobby Bolivia: "What, with the semi-classic nature of the vehicle, slick wheels and custom paint job-" Sam: "The paint's faded!" Bobby: "Y-yeah, but its custom." Sam: "It's custom faded?" Bobby: "Well, it's your first car, I wouldn't expect you to understand. *turns to Ron* Five grand." Ron: "No, not paying over four. Sorry." Bobby: "*turns back to Sam* Kid, c'mon, get out, get out of the car. Sam: "No, no, no, you said cars pick their drivers!" Bobby: "Well sometimes they pick a driver with a cheap-ass father, out of the car."''
 * -- Negotiations over the car at Bolivia's Finest Quality Used Cars and Petting Zoo

(Sam's car leaves in a puff of black smoke) "Wow... you are so cheap." "It's his first car... supposed to be like that."
 * -- Judy Witwicky comments on the car's condition to Ron

"I need a credit card! Hey, where's your wallet?" "Pocket!" *fires gun* "Which pocket?" "My back pocket!" *fires gun* "You got ten back pockets!" "Left cheek! Left cheek! Left cheek!"
 * -- Captain Lennox and Sergeant Epps needing a credit card to call the Pentagon

"The heat's coming!" "What, BRING IT!"
 * -- Lennox and Epps giving the greenlight for Strike Package Bravo to attack Scorponok

Ironhide: "Why are we fighting to save the humans? They're a primitive and violent race." Optimus Prime: "Were we so different? They are a young species, they have much to learn... but I've seen goodness in them. Freedom is the right of all sentient beings... you all know there is only one way to end this war. We must destroy the Cube. If all else fails, I will unite it with the spark in my chest." Ratchet: "That's suicide! The Cube is raw power, it could destroy you both." Optimus Prime: "A necessary sacrifice to bring peace to this planet... we cannot let the humans pay for our mistakes. It's been an honor serving with you all. Autobots, roll out!"
 * -- The Autobots discuss their next move.

"Give me the All Spark, and you may live to be my pet." "I'm never giving you this All Spark!" "Oh, so unwise..."
 * -- Megatron corners Sam on the rooftop.

"Humans don't deserve to live." "They deserve to choose for themselves!" "Then you will die with them! Join them in extinction!"
 * -- Megatron and Optimus Prime while continuing their battle

"With the All Spark gone, we cannot return life to our planet. And fate has yielded its reward, a new world to call... home. We live among its people now, hiding in plain sight. But watching over them in secret... waiting... protecting. I have witnessed their capacity for courage, and though we are worlds apart, like us, there's more to them than meets the eye. I am Optimus Prime, and I send this message to any surviving Autobots taking refuge among the stars: We are here... We are waiting."
 * -- Optimus Prime's closing narration

Production staff



 * Executive Producer: Steven Spielberg
 * Executive Producer: Brian Goldner
 * Director: Michael Bay
 * Producers: Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Ian Bryce, Tom DeSanto, Don Murphy
 * Story by: Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci and John Rogers,
 * Screenwriters: Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci
 * Music by: Steve Jablonsky

Visual effects

 * Visual Effects by: Industrial Light and Magic, Digital Domain
 * Production Designer: Jeff Mann
 * Lead Robot Illustrator: Ben Procter
 * ILM Visual Effects Supervisior: Scott Farrar
 * Art Director: Alex Jaeger

Other editions
The 2007 Transformers film has more than one 'cut.'


 * The worldwide theatrical release was essentially identical all around the world with a few minor exceptions.
 * The film board of Malaysia required Judy Witwicky's masturbation reference be removed. However, no such change has been made and her lines were not omitted from the film.
 * The IMAX edition of the movie features two minutes of additional footage in the form of slightly extended scenes and very brief new scenes. Added material includes the following:
 * Before heading to the lake party, Sam is shown picking Miles up at his house. Miles derides Sam's choice of car colors.
 * After Sam is questioned by the sheriff at the police station, he is given an anti-drug bumper sticker and shown the "This is Your Brain on Drugs" PSA starring Rachel Leigh Cook.
 * After abducting Sam and Mikaela, Agent Simmons uses a device to monitor Sam's pupil dilation while interrogating him in the truck. He also remarks that he has "been there" when it comes to women with criminal records.
 * Upon arriving at Hoover Dam, Simmons remarks colorfully that it is "Area 50". A few minutes later, he lists the nicknames of all the U.S. Presidents to have toured the facility.
 * In Mission City, Lennox acquires short-range radios from a gun-toting, but easily-flattered, pawn shop owner.

Prequel material
Prior to the movie's release IDW Publishing released a four issue limited comic series entitled "Prime Directives", which chronicles the events which bring the Transformers to Earth. An animated version will be featured on the DVD. A novel, Transformers: Ghosts of Yesterday, is about the truth behind humankind's first venture into space and how that event is related to the Transformers' presence on Earth, both past and present.

Since the movie's plot brings the audience into things from Sam's POV, as he learns of not only the Transformers' war but mankind's past history with Cybertronians, the prequel material provides a better handle on the intricate storyline.

It should be noted, however, that some dialogue in the film contradicts the prequel material, specifically pertaining to the years in which the frozen Megatron was moved from the Arctic to Hoover Dam.

Included in a Wal-Mart 2-Disc exclusive of the Movie DVD is a bonus disc entitled Transformers Beginnings a not-really-animated animatic version of IDW's Prime Directives prequel comics, voiced by some of the actors from the movie, the game and a bunch of other people.

Soundtrack
On July 3, 2007, Warner Bros Records released a Transformers soundtrack full of songs from or inspired by the motion picture.


 * 1. "What I've Done" - Linkin Park
 * 2. "Doomsday Clock" - Smashing Pumpkins
 * 3. "This Moment" - Disturbed
 * 4. "Before It's Too Late (Sam and Mikaela's Theme)" aka "Fiction" - Goo Goo Dolls
 * 5. "Pretty Handsome Awkward" - The Used
 * 6. "Passion's Killing Floor" - HIM
 * 7. "What It Feels Like To Be A Ghost?" - Taking Back Sunday
 * 8. "Second To None" - Styles Of Beyond
 * 9. "End Of The World" - Armor For Sleep
 * 10. "Retina and the Sky" - Idiot Pilot
 * 11. "Technical Difficulties" - Julien-K
 * 12. "Transformers Theme" - MuteMath

Score


On October 9, 2007, Warner Bros Records released a Transformers score featuring the instrumental music composed by Steve Jablonsky.


 * 1. Autobots
 * 2. Decepticons
 * 3. The All Spark
 * 4. Deciphering The Signal
 * 5. Frenzy
 * 6. Optimus
 * 7. Bumblebee
 * 8. SOCCENT Attack
 * 9. Sam At The Lake
 * 10. Scorponok
 * 11. Cybertron
 * 12. Arrival To Earth
 * 13. Witwicky
 * 14. Downtown Battle
 * 15. Sector 7
 * 16. Bumblebee Captured
 * 17. You're A Soldier Now
 * 18. Sam On The Roof
 * 19. Optimus Vs. Megatron
 * 20. No Sacrifice, No Victory

DVD release

 * US: October 16th, 2007 (DVD, HD-DVD)
 * Australia: November 1st, 2007 (DVD)
 * United Kingdom: December 3rd, 2007 (DVD)

There are nearly a dozen store exclusive versions and sales premiums of the DVD. They include:
 * Target and HMV UK: transforming Optimus Prime display case.
 * Best Buy: Robot Heroes Cliffjumper and battle-damaged Optimus Prime.
 * Wal-Mart: Transformers Beginnings "animated" prequel material.
 * Borders: "Making Of" book.
 * Circuit City: password unlocking 15 minutes of exclusive online behind-the-scenes featurettes, covering the voice recording sessions, prop construction, stunt work, and early CG tests and animatics.

Reception
The movie set multiple records when it opened, including biggest opening week gross for a non-sequel ($155.4 million), biggest Tuesday release gross ($27.4 million), biggest July 4th gross ($29 million), and the biggest foreign film opening in mainland China ($3 million).

The movie closed domestically on November 8, 2007, during which time it took in $319,071,806. (Domestic gross accounted for $310,578,372 before the IMAX version's release.) As of November 15, 2007, it has earned a worldwide gross of $702,918,603. It currently sits at spot #19 in the "most domestic gross" list of movies, though this listing is not adjusted for inflation. When taking inflation into account, Transformers just ekes in at spot #95.

"I didn’t sleep through it the way I Novocained my way through the awful Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, but by the time it ended, I thought I might have vertigo or whiplash, or both, and I certainly lost more than a few of my remaining I.Q. points."

- Rex Reed

"It's goofy fun with a lot of stuff that blows up real good, and it has the grace not only to realize how preposterous it is, but to make that into an asset."

- Roger Ebert

"But it’s tough to really care about questions like, “Why did that happen?” or even “What’s going on?” when you’re constantly interrupted by “Oh my goodness! Giant robots! Weeee!”"

- Peter Suderman

Critical reception was hit-and-miss, more positive than negative but not by a lot, though it's sometimes hard to tell how many negative reviewers were more interested in criticizing Michael Bay in general over the movie itself. Otherwise, the most common negatives involved it being a generally think-free "spectacle"-style movie; even those who rated the movie positively noted it was a pure "popcorn" movie meant to wow its audience with CGI and explosions rather than make them think (Richard Roper noted in his "thumbs up" review "it has no nutritional value"). Whether one considers that a good or bad thing for a movie and if the movie was enough fun to overcome that is, of course, highly debatable. The other main culprit, again noted by many of the positive reviews, was its long running time, particularly the overly-chaotic, often hard-to-follow final big-bang extended ending action sequence. (Roger Ebert noted that this sequence was what made him give the movie three out of four stars rather than the full four.)

Currently, two sequels are planned, with Shia LaBeouf and Peter Cullen signed for both. Michael Bay, Spielberg, and the two screenwriters have also returned, with pre-production already underway. Filming for TF2 is scheduled to begin in June 2008, for a planned release date of June 2009.

Trivia

 * The Autobot computer generated models consisted of 35,592 total pieces, 7,435,478 polygons, 95,247 rig nodes, and 20,258 texture maps. If laid end to end, the pieces would stretch 3.11 miles.
 * For all the robots combined, there are 60,217 pieces of geometry, 123,509,502 polygons, 144,341 rigging nodes, and 34,215 texture maps.
 * The events of the movie span 4-5 days.
 * The irony of the movie is that neither the Autobots nor the Decepticons were referred to once as Transformers.

Transformer References
The movie contains a number of nods and winks to previous iterations of Transformers, primarily from Generation 1. Some of these were included in direct response to urgings of the fans; others originated with the production crew.
 * The basic story set-up is similar to many iterations of the Generation 1 story -- two warring factions, the noble Autobots and the power-hungry Decepticons, arrive on Earth, having left their devastated home planet, the war-torn mechanical world of Cybertron.
 * Many of the featured Transformers are re-imagined versions of characters from Generation 1. Optimus Prime and Jazz in particular are similar in physical form and characterization to their movie incarnations.  The original versions of Bumblebee, Megatron, Starscream, Ratchet, and Ironhide differ in appearance but fulfill story roles similar to their Movie versions.
 * Though the characters are new, "Frenzy", "Scorponok", "Brawl", "Devastator", "Blackout", "Barricade", and "Bonecrusher" are all names that have been used on Transformer characters before.
 * Blackout's symbiotic relationship with Scorponok originated as an interpretation of Soundwave and his cassette troops. Frenzy's transformation into a portable stereo is likewise an homage to Soundwave's cassette deck alternate form.
 * Sam shares his last name with the main human allies of the Autobots in the original Generation 1 cartoon.
 * The Autobot faction symbol seen on Bumblebee and others is basically unchanged from its Generation 1 appearance.
 * The All Spark takes its name from a concept originally introduced in Beast Machines.
 * Prime references "the spark within my chest". Sparks—the life-force that makes Transformers alive—have been an integral part of Transformers fiction since Beast Wars.
 * In his first appearance, Bumblebee parks next to a yellow Volkswagen Beetle—the alternate form of G1 Bumblebee.
 * Optimus Prime's line "Freedom is the right of all sentient beings" is the quote from his original 1984 bio.
 * Prime's line "...one shall stand; one shall fall" comes from the 1986 animated The Transformers: The Movie.
 * The scene in which Jazz yanks aside Devastator's tank barrel is a direct homage to a similar sequence from TF:TM involving Kup and Blitzwing.
 * The original G1 transformation sound pops up several times during the course of the film, such as Blackout's first conversion sequence (though truth be told it sounds more like it's being broadcast from a loudspeaker.)

Errors

 * Sunset occurs roughly every fifteen minutes.


 * After Bumblebee backs into a corner of the power plant to evade Barricade, there is a close up shot of him spinning his wheels to make his getaway. However, the shot of the wheels spinning is at a different location: the empty warehouse that Bumblebee and Barricade had raced through moments earlier.


 * During the scene where Optimus Prime scans a truck for his new body, the passing truck has what appears to be an Autobot sigil on its grill, but the actual truck that Prime turns into at the end of the scene has a much wider, flatter symbol on the grill, quite possibly a Peterbilt sign.


 * When Simmons replays Sam's "last words" recorded onto his cell phone, it doesn't match what he said in the scene where he actually recorded them.


 * When Lennox arrives as Sam and Mikaela are supposedly strapping Bumblebee with the tow truck's chains, Bumblebee is not actually there. When the shot changes angles to the other side of the truck, Bumblebee is sitting right beside the truck while Sam directs Mikaela to wrap Bumblebee in the chains. When Lennox tells Sam to evacuate the Cube, subsequent camera angles from this side of the truck are actually where Bumblebee was moments earlier, but he's not there again (it is unlikely the angle was meant to be from Bumblebee's perspective). When Sam starts to run off and Mikaela calls him back, Bumblebee is once again clearly not sitting beside the truck. In fact, the space he once occupied has the beige van he crawled out of, earlier in the battle.


 * See also: Mission City.

Not actually an error

 * Sam and Mikaela, as well as Maggie and Glenn arrive at Hoover Dam on the same helicopter despite being from opposite ends of the country. Occasionally cited as an error, it is actually a narrative oversight, as it is likely that Sam and Mikaela were held in custody at a U.S. Air Base while waiting for Maggie and Glen to arrive with Secretary Keller's party by plane, then they all left for Hoover Dam together on the helicopters.