Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Transformers: Dark of the Moon is the third installment of the Transformers film trilogy scheduled to be released on June 29, 2011. Though there was some debate over if it be released in 2012, this is what Michael Bay has posted: "Well its official: We have a great Transformers 3 story. The release date is now July 1st 2011. Not 2012." He said this before the release date changed. Bay has stated that this will be the last film in the series.

Synopsis
The movie opens, telling the story of the war that the Transformers fought on their homeplanet, Cybertron, and also how Neill Armstrong finds the legendary Autobot spaceship, the Ark, on the Moon, which has crash-landed there with a secret and very important load: Hundreds of Pillars, that are to be used to open a Space Bridge.

Being dumped by Mikaela Banes Sam meets a girl, Carly Spencer, on his visit in the White House, being given a medal for his help saving the world twice. Sam falls in love with Carly, and they move in together. He tries hard to find a new job, so Carly helps him, giving him an oppurtunity to work under her own boss, Dylan. On the first day of his job, Sam meets his co-worker, Jerry Wang, who tells him about the Decepticons plan. Wang returns to his office, where his computer screen transforms into Laserbeak. He is thrown out through the window, and dies.

Sam then meets up with former Sector 7 (now 8) agent, Simmons, who takes him to some people that turns out to be working for the Decepticons, including Dylan who later takes Carly hostage.

Sam has a fight with Carly about responsibility and safety, but he says he needs to help save the world and she drives off.

The Autobots, figuring out that humans have held a secret about their race for a long time, travel to the Moon and finds a few of the Pillars and the pilot of the spaceship, Sentinel Prime, the Prime before Optimus, and the former leader of the Autobots. They bring the Pillars and Sentinel back to Earth, resurrecting him with the Matrix of Leadership, which Optimus now carries in his chest. The Autobots then learn of the Decepticons plans as they see old images of the surface of the Moon. Something on the images, believed by the humans to be markings made by vehicles, are in fact all the Pillars. In over 50 years the Decepticons have planned to use the Pillars to bring back their homeworld. It turns out that Sentinel is a traitor. He had made a deal with Megatron, the leader of the Decepticons, being forced to bring him the Pillars. Sentinel blows up the interior of the N.E.S.T. base and starts killing humans, and then Ironhide. He then flees, meeting Megatron and giving him the last remaining Pillars, Sentinel then uses them to transport an army of Decepticons and Cybertronian spaceships hidden in the Moon to Earth.

The Autobots are blamed for all of this and are to travel away from Earth with a specially designed space shuttle, but Starscream takes it down from space before it has time to escape Earth's atmosphere.

The Decepticons attack the city of Chicago. They seal off the entire city and prevent any aircraft or UAVs from getting anywhere near the city. N.E.S.T. tries to infiltrate the city but their drones are continuously shot down. Sam, Epps and his N.E.S.T. buddies try to enter the city on foot but they are attacked by a Decepticon piloting a small ship. Jest as the fighter is about to deliver the final shot the Autobots appear and intervene, rescuing them from the Decepticon. Optimus explains that they in fact never were aboard the shuttle, but rather in the first booster that detached from the shuttle. Sam asks Bumblebee if he can fly the ship, and he isn't too sure of himself, but after some time, he gets the hang of it. They fly off to Dylan's apartment and save Carly from him. Meanwhile the Autobots are fighting back the Decepticons and Sentinel Prime, who have placed the Pillars all over the world, releasing them, starting the process of Cybertron’s teleportation to Earth. Cybertron then appears in the atmosphere.

The two Autobots, Wheelie and Brains sabotage the largest of the spaceships, sending it crashing down into water below, killing themselves in the process. On top of a building in Chicago, Sentinel throws off Megatron, telling him that he wanted his homeworld back, but Megatron won't rule it. Sam manages to the control Pillar near the streets, but he is attacked by Dylan who tries to stop him. Sam throws Dylan into the Pillar, killing him in a burst of a electricity. Bumblebee destroys the Pillar by jumping into it and smashing it to pieces in the process, sending Cybertron back through the Space Bridge in thousands of pieces. Carly finds Megatron sitting up a wall, and she starts telling him how he'll be under Sentinel's control if he doesn't rise up to where he believes he should be, ready to take over control of Cybertron. Optimus appears, attacking Sentinel, but loses an arm in the fight. Soon, Megatron saves Optimus by shooting Sentinel in the back, believing Carly's tactful mind game. Megatron has Sentinel on the verge of death when he asks Optimus "What would you be without me?" To which Optimus replies, "Time to find out" and an axe to the face. Optimus rips off Megatrons head and slams it to the ground, revealing the large slice in the middle of it. He then turns to Sentinel and disregards all of his pleas for mercy with the claim that Sentinel hadn't betrayed him or the Autobots, but rather himself. With that, he fires Sentinel once in the chest and Sentinel turns towards the camera, then he fires the kill shot to Sentinel's back.

The movie ends with the Autobots accepting that they might never return to Cybertron, and accepting Earth as their new home.

Errors

 * Why didn't NEST go underwater just like Navy SEAL? If the NEST soldiers aren't good at diving, at least they can get a underwater vehicle to ship them into the city.


 * Sentinel Prime can speak English right after being revived?


 * Sam was put on a "list" by the FBI, and the record stays even though he got a medal from the president.


 * Wouldn't it be much more efficient to have Transformers rebuilding Cybertron instead of humans?


 * Why didn't Sam just take off his equipment when he is swung by Starscream?


 * One of the characters had said of expressing disapproval of putting away 9 Autobots into a spaceship to leave the Earth. This is wrong. There are 11 Autobots excluding Ironhide who was killed and Sentinel Prime who turns out to be a traitor against them.


 * Considering how Starscream "swings" Sam and the force he uses, Sam's arm should be broken.


 * Why doesn't Optimus Prime just use his blade to cut off the cables when he is tangled?


 * Autobots Jolt, Mudflap, Skids, Arcee, Chromia, and Elita-1 were all absent from the film.

Continuity errors

 * So, a bunch of the Decepticons just stay on the moon instead of coming to Earth to support their leader in the last two battles?

Transformers references

 * The whole second part of the plot is a references to the The Transformers first season finale "The Ultimate Doom".
 * This time, the Decepticons have a human helper, too.


 * The Ark is a reference to the ship with the same name in the Generation One.
 * There is a scene featuring the Ark that referencing the classic view of the Ark in The Transformers.


 * The brand of Sam's car is Datsun, which produced the Datsun Fairlady Z (280 ZX), the vehicle mode for Prowl, Bluestreak, and Smokescreen.


 * Driller's appearance resemble the Dweller.


 * This isn't the first time the Autobots were forced by the Decepticons to ride a ship to leave the Earth which the Decepticons secretly planned to destroy with the Autobots inside but the Autobots used an illusion to trick the Decepticons to return for battle.


 * Leonard Nimoy, who voiced Galvatron in The Transformers: The Movie, once more acts as a villain.


 * The Cosmic Rust is used as a weapon by Sentinel Prime.


 * Megatron destroyed Abraham Lincoln's statue out of its chair so he could sit there, much like his Generation One counterpart did in the episode "Atlantis, Arise!".
 * He also does this if you complete the game as the Decepticons in the first video game for the first live action movie.


 * Near the end of the final battle, Bumblebee transforms with the classic transforming sound.


 * Like his Generation One counterpart, Sentinel Prime is the predecessor of Optimus Prime.
 * Sentinel Prime got killed off just like his Generation One counterpart.

Real-world references

 * When Brains and Wheelie are watching Star Trek: The Original Series, the screen features Mr. Spock, portrayed by Leonard Nimoy who voices Sentinel Prime. They comment that it is "the one where Spock loses it", possibly a subtle nod to Sentinel's role in the movie.


 * Sentinel Prime says "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." The voice actor said the same line in the 1982 film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan as Mr. Spock. However in that movie, Nimoy's character dies a hero.


 * The final battle taking place on a bridge, with the protagonist's arm being cut off might be a reference to the final showdown of the 1980 film Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.


 * The final battle featuring blade battle with the line "There can be only one" may be a reference to the 1986 film Highlander.


 * Que's name may be a reference to Mr. Q from James Bond novels and films. Que also gives weapons to NEST soldiers while explaining the advantages and abilities for the weapons much like Q does for James Bond.

Trivia

 * The story is officially great. Um, okay then!


 * The filming has dealt with many accidents and disasters, such as Bumblebee Camaro totalled by a police vehicle and an extra's horrible accident after which the filmmakers were sued. Obviously, Someone doesn't want the film to be finished. Curse you, Unicron!


 * They spent too much time on Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, and not the Transformers or plot!