Jazz (Movie)


 * Jazz is an Autobot from the Movie continuity family.



First Lieutenant Jazz is one happy-go-lucky Autobot. Good-natured and always able to take things in stride, he provides a decent contrast to the more serious demeanor of Ironhide or Prime himself. He's also a talker, something Ironhide and Prime like to tease him about. He might be the smallest Autobot but he's by no means a coward. His only real complaint is that he always gets stuck fighting the small ones.

Ghosts Of Yesterday
Onboard the Ark, Jazz was the first to detect the Ghost 1's presence, and was later badly damaged in a fight with the Decepticons. After being repaired, he and Ratchet fought together against Barricade.

Titan Magazines
Jazz likes "to keep his bodywork buff" by externalizing his Spark Core forcefield - in the past, that led to him almost being killed when Bonecrusher almost tore out his unprotected Spark. He only survived thanks to fellow Autobot Clocker, who was killed covering his retreat.

When the All Spark was launched, Jazz, Ratchet and Ironhide attempted to distract Megatron from pursuing it. They ended up attacked by Devastator and warped across space by a fold-space weapon.



Jazz ended up on a planet that he dubbed "the Information Highway" - a constantly-morphing world with "the accumulated knowledge of countless alien cultures, condensed into some kind of sensory precipitation". He loved this world and the constant new experiences so much that he deliberately ignored Ratchet's homing beacon, wanting to stay here forever. However, the planet was alive and predatory, and ended up absorbing him into it - he fired off a warning buoy to stop others arriving, and only this led to Ratchet & Ironhide finding where he was and rescuing him.

He doesn't like the war and, as the Information Highway incident shows, has no qualms about deserting if given the opportunity.

Transformers The Game (console)

 * Voice actor: Andrew Kishino

Autobot campaign
Jazz arrived on Earth as part of Optimus Prime's unit, summoned to Earth by Bumblebee. After taking on the form of a Pontiac Solstice, he met up with the other Autobots. His first mission was to distract Sector Seven and law enforcement units, which he did, buying his fellow Autobots time to escape. Jazz was then surrounded by Sector Seven SUVs and Decepticon drones numerous times, requiring Ironhide's help to escape.

He would then make his way to Mission City, where he engaged Starscream, Blackout and two Dreadwing drones. Jazz defeated all four of them, but as he celebrated his great victory, Brawl appeared behind him and punctured Jazz's chest with his claw, extinguishing his spark. Ironhide arrived just in time to witness the killing, swore he'd make Brawl's death slow, and fought through a horde of Decepticon units to destroy him.
 * ''(NOTE: Press left, up, down(2), left, up, right, at the New game menu. The screen will flash to confirm the code was entered correctly. Go to the bonus features, then the Generation 1 option to use a G1-homage deco on Jazz. This does not change his appearance in the Decepticon campaign, however.)

Decepticon campaign
Jazz arrived in Mission City with Sam and Mikaela (taking the role of the destroyed Bumblebee), where he was confronted by Barricade. After a brief chase through the city, Jazz engaged Barricade in battle, where he was defeated with ease.

Transformers: Autobots
Jazz's first appearance is with the other Autobots, meeting in an old junk yard. Setting out into the city, he retrieves a number of Sector Seven vehicles before running into Blackout; after a tedious battle, Blackout runs. Returning to the group, Jazz reports his findings, and is promptly forgotten about until he's unlocked as a playable character.

Transformers: Decepticons
Much like in the movie, Jazz's big scene in Decepticons is his battle with Megatron. At the Hoover Dam, Jazz has set up several automated turrets and Autobot drones around the lower perimeter of the Dam, preventing Megatron from escaping. However, this line of defense only works for so long, since the turrets only fire at air-borne objects. Finally getting up the side of the Dam, Jazz steps in Megatron's path, doing little more than trash talking before Megatron jumps into battle. After a roughly equal fight, Jazz finally falls. Megatron then finishes him off and desecrates his corpse. But Jazz must have been hyper on Energon because taking Jazz over to the Dam, he will jump into the water on his own.

Transformers (2007) film

 * Voice actor: Darius McCrary (English), Taitem Kusunoki (Japanese), Torsten Michaelis (German)



Jazz was part of Optimus Prime's unit, summoned to Earth by Bumblebee after the latter Autobot came to be in the possession of Sam Witwicky. After his protoform crashed through a baseball stadium, he investigated a nearby car dealership and chose a Pontiac Solstice hardtop as his vehicle mode.

Linking up with his fellow Autobots in a deserted alley, Jazz greeted Sam and Mikaela Banes as "little bitches," stating that Earth seems to be a cool place to hang out. He casually sat on the hood of another car while Optimus Prime explained to Sam they learnt Earth's languages through the internet. He then relayed their mission to find the All Spark and explained how his grandfather's glasses were the key to its location.

Soon after, as Sam looked for his grandfather's glasses, the Autobots attempted to assist by clumsily destroying the yard where they went. When it came to hide from the parents, Jazz had the easiest time blending into the shadows due to his small stature.

When Sam and Mikaela were captured by Sector Seven, the Autobots mounted a rescue that saw Optimus Prime tearing the roof off Agent Simmons' vehicle. When the agents attempted to resist, Jazz used a magnet to relieve the humans of their weapons. After Bumblebee was captured by Sector Seven during the retreat, Jazz expressed his desire to rescue him, but was overruled by Optimus Prime, who didn't believe it possible to accomplish this without harming the humans, and so they should let them go.

The next day, after Optimus used his navigation scanner on Archibald Witwicky's glasses, Jazz again commented that they could not leave Bumblebee to die at the hands of Sector Seven, to become a human experiment. Optimus replied that Bumblebee would die in vain if they did not find the All Spark, and when Ironhide asked if the primitive and cruel humans deserved to be saved, Optimus countered by asking if Transformers were so different in the past. Going on to explain what he saw in the humans, Prime declared that if it came to it, he would sacrifice himself to destroy the All Spark - the humans should not pay for Cybertron's mistakes. Inspired by his words, Jazz and the other Autobots rolled out, filled with determination.

On the way to Hoover Dam, the Autobots encountered Bumblebee leading a column of Sector Seven assault vehicles. Jazz and his fellow Autobots applied brakes and did a hard u-turn to join the formation.

Entering Mission City, the human soldiers tried to call for air support from their own forces, only to be attacked by Starscream disguised as a human F-22 fighter. Jazz, oddly, sat in vehicle mode after the explosion which crippled Bumblebee, destroying his legs. When Devastator began shelling the battle site, Jazz led the Autobot charge toward the Decepticon, speeding to the tank in vehicle mode, then transformed and hopped on top of the turret to distract the Decepticon from the humans. As Devastator also transformed, Jazz managed to wreck his left-side rocket launcher pod before being tossed off. He then sped back to the battle, firing at Devastator, while Ratchet sliced of Devastator's left arm.

Jazz then attacked Megatron when he appeared on the scene in order to cover the escape of several fleeing humans, but all he got for his trouble was being blasted by the Decepticon's fusion cannon. As Ironhide and Ratchet escorted Sam and the All Spark to safety, Jazz attempted to buy them some time by taking on Megatron by himself but was completely overmatched. The Decepticon leader tossed him through the air, then landed upon him with the crushing grip of his talons. Valiantly, Jazz fought on to the bitter end as Megatron tore him in two, throwing his pieces to the ground before attacking Optimus Prime.



After being separated from Sam Witwicky, Ratchet hurried to Jazz, but his spark had already faded. In the aftermath of Megatron's defeat, Ironhide somberly handed Optimus Prime Jazz's remains as Ratchet reported that he could not save their comrade. The Autobot leader somewhat half-heartedly eulogized him, and quickly moved on.

Legends Class toys

 * Autobot Jazz (Legends Class, 2007)
 * Japanese name: EZ Collection Jazz




 * A much smaller version of the character, Legends Jazz features limited articulation and detail, along with a much simpler transformation. A rather glaring side-effect of this simplicity, in a desire to mimic the hood chest of the larger toy, is the addition of a second front bumper on the roof of his alt-mode. Whether this means Jazz also includes a second engine to go with this front bumper or an attempt at compensation for a case of police car envy is unknown. Ironically, the smallest version of Jazz is the biggest Legends toy in the movie line. Even bigger than Optimus. This may make up for the Arcee toy being taller than his Deluxe figure.


 * Optimus Prime bonus pack (Costco exclusive multi-pack, 2007)


 * A Costco exclusive special pack of Leader Class Optimus Prime with Legends Class Bumblebee and Autobot Jazz as bonus figures. None of the three toys is changed from their respective original releases.


 * Battle for the Allspark (Toys'R'Us exclusive Legends multi-pack, 2007)




 * A Toys "R" Us exclusive, this six-pack of Legends class figures contains unmodified toys of Optimus Prime, Jazz, Bumblebee, Megatron, Starscream and Barricade.


 * Autobot Jazz vs. Bonecrusher (Legends "Allspark Battles" two-pack, 2008)




 * As part of the AllSpark Battles refresh of the Movie toyline, Legends class Jazz with slightly different deco with more paint for his robot mode chest... but less paint for the vehicle mode hood while the vehicle mode windows are now blue, painted on all sides. He is packed in a versus two-pack with an all-new Legends class figure of Bonecrusher.


 * Battle Jazz vs. Ice Megatron (Legends "Allspark Battles" two-pack, 2008)




 * Once again Legends class Jazz is redecoed, this time in a battle-damaged deco based upon his appearance during the battle in Mission City. Amusingly, like the Deluxe class Final Battle Jazz toy, the "battle damage" can only be seen in robot mode. He comes packed with a redecoed Legends class Megatron toy colored with blue accents.

Deluxe Class toys

 * Autobot Jazz (Deluxe Class, 2007)
 * Japanese ID number: MA-04




 * Jazz transforms into a silver Pontiac Solstice Custom Hardtop. Included is a blaster weapon that elongates into a sniper rifle, which may also be clipped directly onto his rear spoiler when in vehicle mode. In robot mode, the section featuring this same rear spoiler may be kept folded onto his back or worn on either shoulder as a shield. An interesting undocumented feature is a hinge joint located on the bottom of the rifle can attach to the shield's hinge joint, creating three choice weapon configurations: (a) a mounted long range sniper rifle, (b) an ambidextrous shoulder-mounted cannon, or (c) a short range blaster with built-in shield somewhat akin to what has been seen in Jazz's concept art and in the movie itself.


 * As with most of the mainline toys, he features a Automorphing gimmick that is activated by pushing the car roof down onto his back and locking it into place. This raises his head and slides his chest panels into proper position for the robot mode. This feature, like the weaponry mentioned above, is not documented at all, so one must be careful to not press the chest and the back at the same time.


 * Deluxe three-pack (Costco exclusive multi-pack, 2007)


 * This Costco exclusive three-pack contains an unchanged Deluxe Class Autobot Jazz together with equally unchanged Deluxe Class Bonecrusher and Decepticon Brawl toys. It also comes with a nifty poster depicting all three toys in a standoff scene.


 * Deluxe three-pack (multi-pack, UK 2007)


 * This three-pack, which was available at general retail in the United Kingdom, contains an unchanged Deluxe Class Autobot Jazz together with equally unchanged Deluxe Class Protoform Optimus Prime and Decepticon Brawl toys.


 * Autobot Jazz (Target Exclusive Deluxe, 2007)


 * An extensive redeco of Deluxe class Jazz, this Target-exclusive is heavily based on Generation 1 Jazz's Martini Racing scheme. He's lacking in Martini sponsorship for all the obvious reasons, replacing them with his own name. Disco Jazz doesn't need to advertise really, but he does.


 * This figure also features a minor retool of the joint in the forearm. On the initial, mass retail release of Deluxe Jazz, the black hinge-joint was able to slide over slightly as part of the original design. The new version features a shorter joint, which makes it a lot less floppy in robot mode.


 * Final Battle Jazz (Deluxe Class, 2007)
 * Japanese ID number: MA-14




 * An extensive retool of Jazz, modifying his head and most of his legs to give them a broken, battle-scarred appearance. Amusingly, because Hasbro chose to keep his vehicle mode pristine, the rest of his body is undamaged. All the damaged parts have a black and blue deco, representing glowing circuitry and exposed conduits.


 * Jazz comes with a brand new spring-loaded weapon (called a Crescent Cannon on the packaging), partially modeled after the actual weapon Jazz appears with in the film. It can fire a transparent blue projectile and, not unlike his original featured weapon, can be mounted in different configurations: (a) Mounted on his right arm with the Crescent Cannon missile launcher (with the crescent up) facing forward a la the film, or (b) mounted on his left arm with the flip-out rifle barrel pointed forwards (with the crescent down). The cannon can actually be rotated on the connecting peg, allowing the gun to be mounted in either configuration on either arm.


 * Unusual for a regular Deluxe class figure, this version of Jazz is packaged on his card in robot mode, no doubt to highlight the changes to the figure that would not be visible in the vehicle mode.


 * In addition to the retooled forearm joint also found on the Target exclusive "G1 color" Jazz, a running change variant of Final Battle Jazz adds another peg to the Crescent Cannon, thus allowing Jazz to use the weapon in all the different configurations on either arm.


 * In spite of the claim that this is a "final battle" version of Jazz, his torso does not separate easily from his legs.


 * All Spark-Enhanced Autobot Jazz (Target Exclusive Deluxe, 2007)


 * This Target exclusive features the Deluxe Class Jazz in unique cylindrical packaging, with the only difference from his standard release being that key robot mode parts are highlighted by the slavish 'All Spark Blue' color for no other reason than to sell toys.


 * Autobot Jazz (Deluxe Class "Premium Series", 2008)


 * This more movie-accurate version of Jazz sports a shinier coat of silver paint, along with added paint application detail to his robot mode parts.

Fast Action Battlers

 * Ion Blast Autobot Jazz (Fast Action Battler, 2007)


 * Though larger than the standard Deluxe class Jazz, Fast Action Battlers 'Ion Blast' Jazz is a simplified toy with comparatively few parts and detailing. In vehicle mode he's kind of a squat and cutified Pontiac Solstice while in robot mode he bears greater resemblance to Generation 1 depictions of Jazz due to the simple transformation sequence. Amusingly, FAB Jazz's head is mounted on a piece of plastic extending from the roof/windshield piece, just like the Generation 1 toy. His articulation is limited to his shoulders, hips and knees, and has a missile launcher in place of his left hand.


 * This toy was later redecoed into Sonic Shock Smokescreen.

Cyber Slammers

 * Autobot Jazz (Cyber Slammers, 2007)




 * Cyber Slammers Jazz is an amazingly cute Pontiac Solstic that transforms into an amazingly cute Autobot hipster. 'Slam' his robot mode down into car mode and he rolls along, slowly transforming back up into robot mode. Like most Cyber Slammers, Jazz manages to cram most of his vehicle mode's major details into a compact, super-deformed version of that mode.

Robot Replicas

 * Autobot Jazz (Robot Replica, 2007)


 * As part of the Robot Replicas line, this version of Jazz is a non-transforming action figure that utilizes Revoltech-style jointing. The sculpt hews much closer to the movie CGI model than is possible with the full transforming toys, plus the universal jointing of the line allows for his forearm to be replaced with his gattling cannon, or parts from other Robot Replica figures. Jazz's shoulders are actually on the wrong sides of the toy.

Titanium Series

 * Autobot Jazz (3" Robot Masters, 2007)




 * Titanium Jazz is a die-cast metal and plastic figurine, with an accurate sculpt based on the slender CG model owing to the fact he doesn't need to transform. Being a figurine, he only has articulation in his shoulders, neck and waist. Jazz is sculpted with a small handgun that was only featured in concept art early in film developement that still showed Arcee as part of the main cast. Jazz comes with a Movie-style Autobot symbol display stand, as is expected.

Robot Heroes

 * Autobot Jazz vs. Decepticon Frenzy (2007)
 * This pack of cutely sculpted figurines features and oddly brown-coloured Frenzy.


 * Protoform Jazz vs. Decepticon Brawl (2007)


 * This Robot Heroes pack features a cutely murderous figurine of Brawl, and... erm... Protoform Optimus Prime myteriously sold as Jazz.

Unleashed

 * Ratchet and Jazz (2008)


 * The Ratcher and Jazz turnaround is a 3D sculpture of the two characters in both robot mode emerging from rubble and explosions, with a movie-accurate sculpt (compared to the various transforming toys.) The 'turnaround' aspect of these sculptures simply means one can turn the piece around to display a raised-relief of the movie-style Autobot sigil instead.


 * This product's release was cancelled for the US market, but was released in Australia and in Asia.

Trivia



 * The packaging text for the Deluxe Jazz figure refers to his weapon as a "telescoping sword". As ridiculous as this sounds considering this weapon looks like a firearm and can attach to his spoiler in vehicle mode as such, this very idea actually comes from concept drawings of a sword weapon featured on the same concept art that also had Jazz showcasing the short range blaster/shield thingy both featured in the film and included with his Final Battle retool. So, really... not that ridiculous anymore.


 * During the final battle in Mission City, there's a long period where Jazz is not doing anything. He's standing around in vehicle mode when Ironhide notices that the F-22 flying above the city is Starscream, stays in vehicle mode when Ironhide and Bumblebee pick up a Furby delivery truck for cover, stillremains in vehicle mode when Starscream blasts them, and after Sam discovers that Bumblebee has lost his legs, all Jazz does is pull back for a few feet to give Bumblebee space to crawl. In the end, Jazz doesn't really join the battle at all until Brawl shows up.


 * In an earlier draft of the movie script, Megatron was supposed to "consume" the Sparks of Autobots he killed. A remainder of this can be found in the novelization and the IDW comic adaptation of the movie, which both explicitly state that Megatron tears out Jazz's Spark. In the movie itself, however, Megatron simply appears to kill Jazz by ripping him apart at the waist, even though Frenzy was previously able to survive as a detached head. However, a recent rejiggering of Frenzy's biology makes this a moot point.


 * Though it is very brief, Jazz does indeed get a face close-up during the Mission City battle when he is shot by Megatron and falls over in pain, before he is ripped in half.