Big Picture Big Sound

The Film

I was admittedly skeptical when I first heard about Transformers being turned into a live action film. The Japanese toy franchise that was licensed by Hasbro and turned into a cartoon for U.S. television was hugely successful in the early- to mid-80's. I remember as an adolescent watching Transformers on the local television station after school and playing with the toys at home and on the school bus. It's such an iconic part of so many male's lives that bringing it to the big screen can quickly turn into a disaster. In fact, the very thought of turning a line of toys into a big-budget Hollywood film just screams "run in the other direction!"

Director Michael Bay, the unofficial king of Hollywood action films, took on the challenge laid down by producer Steven Spielberg to bring the Transformers franchise to the screen in a live action film and his effort certainly paid off financially. But, does it succeed on an artistic level? Well, yes and no. There's no arguing that as a special effects driven action film, Transformers does not disappoint. The CG work is downright amazing; even though you are watching sentient beings that transform from devices running the gamut from cell phones to decked out Mustangs into walking, talking, fully armed robots, the fluidity and realism of the visual effects helps induce the suspension of disbelief that is necessary for any film of this ilk.

Of course, no film can survive on its special effects alone, so Transformers comes with just enough of a storyline to prop up the main event. The plot, almost as silly as an episode of the 1980's cartoon, revolves around the alien race of robots that have come to Earth from the planet Cybertron, which was destroyed by Megatron (voiced by Hugo Weaving) during a civil war. The evil Decepticons, led by Megatron, and the benevolent Autobots, led by Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen), have come to Earth seeking a device known as the Allspark that created their race, endowing them with sentience. For the Decepticons, their purpose is to use the device to endow all the mechanical devices on Earth with sentience and enslave the humans, while the Autobots seek the device to rebuild their home planet.

The coordinates to the device's location on Earth have ended up in the possession of a teenager named Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf), in the form of a pair of eyeglasses passed down from Witwicky family ancestor, Captain Archibald Witwicky (William Morgan Sheppard). Captain Witwicky discovered the frozen Megatron in the Arctic Circle in 1857, where the leader of the Decepticons crash-landed upon coming to Earth seeking the Allspark. When the Captain accidentally engaged Megatron's navigational system, it imprinted the coordinates on his eyeglasses, unbeknownst to the Captain. Back in the present, both the Autobots and the Decepticons must find Sam Witwicky  -- now caught in the middle of the battle between the Autobots and Decepticons -- to gain the coordinates to the Allspark, which is being hidden by a secret government agency known as Sector 7 who built the Hoover Dam around the device to hide its emissions and took Megatron to that same facility where they have been using him to advance human technology through reverse engineering.

So, the story is a "battle of good versus evil" scenario, where the fate of the entire planet is at stake. It's nothing new to Hollywood films; it seems at least one film with this same basic premise comes out every year. Even with its clumsy plot that begs for major suspensions of disbelief, Transformers is an adrenaline rush that is relentless in its action, so anyone seeking a thrill will surely enjoy this film. The one annoyance with the story, however, is Michael Bay's militaristic obsession. Anyone who has followed Bay's films knows the man seemingly has a fetish with all things U.S. military, so much so that when he does a film, the military is so willing to oblige him with their cooperation that they hardly hesitated when he wanted use military aircraft as the "bad guys", the Decepticons, in this very film.  But Bay sometimes gets overbearing and near jingoistic with his "rah rah, go army, go USA, lets save the world!" bent. With those things aside, Transformers is about as good as one could expect for a live action film taken from a toy franchise and children's cartoon. Bay strips away most of the more ridiculous elements of Transformers and makes something a little edgier for a contemporary audience. If you go in expecting a masterpiece of cinema, you may be let down, but if you go into Transformers looking to be entertained by technical prowess, then you won't be disappointed.


The Picture

The hyper-stylized vision of Michael Bay's Transformers comes to Blu-ray in a 2.35:1 1080/24 high definition AVC/MPEG-4 video encoding. The film's look is hardly based in the real world -- blown out contrasts, insanely deep blacks, heavy color filtration and weird saturation. The transfer captures the look of the pristine source effortlessly. The overemphasized saturation in some places does impart a less than natural look to flesh tones, which are more orange than they should be, but that is the original intent of the filmmaker. Blacks are solid and consistent with great shadow details and only in the brightest scenes such as the film's final battle in the city streets does contrast become a bit harsh. Grain is apparent throughout and some scenes are grainier than others, but this is never a distraction. The detail captured in this transfer is amazing, from the sparkling paint jobs of the Autobots to the fine textures of clothing and skin, the transfer is sharp as a tack.

The most amazing aspect of Transformers is the complete lack of compression artifacts when you consider the sheer volume of fast-motion CG effects-laden scenes the film contains. The final battle scene in particular is a relentless study of quick motion, explosions, and nonstop edits. Not once is there any evidence of  macroblocking, posterization, or any other intrusive artifacts. Transformers on BD is ready made reference material for your home theater.

The Sound

Offering the options of English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks, Transformers' audio mix is pure reference quality material that matches the level of the video transfer in every way. The lossless TrueHD mix is perfectly balanced with wide dynamics, thunderous low frequencies and awash with ambience in the surrounds that holds the mix together. All manner of discrete sound effects from bullets and explosions, to screeching tires and the roaring sounds of jet engines make their ways around the room for an engulfing sound experience that never drowns out the clear, full dialogue in the mix's center channel. The film's musical score and soundtrack is weighty and expansive, rising when needed but, again, never getting in the way of the dialogue. The sound effects sound as natural as can be, and given the relentless amount of gunfire and explosions, it is a wonder that they never become fatiguing nor sound too sharp.

The Extras

Transformers comes to Blu-ray with a heavy dose of supplemental materials that both explore the history of the classic Transformers brand and the making of this live action film. Spread across the release's two discs, all the bonus video materials are in high definition, which is always a plus, and the release is BonusView and BD-Live enabled for those of you with Profile 1.1 (BonusView) or Profile 2.0 (BonusView & BD-Live) Blu-ray players.

The extras available on this release are:

Disc 1:

• Commentary by director Michael Bay
• Transformers Heads Up Display -- This BonusView feature provides picture-in-picture commentaries by the cast and filmmakers with behind-the-scenes looks at the filming of scenes, visual effects work and castings. In addition, a pop-up trivia track also plays while this feature is turned on.
• BD-Live -- Download exclusive online content using your BD-Live enabled Blu-ray player

Disc 2:

• Our World (1.78:1/high definition) -- A series of behind-the scenes featurettes focusing on the cast and crew:
  • The Story Sparks -- Michael Bay discusses the evolution of bringing the Transformers franchise to the big screen.
  • Human Allies -- The actors from Transformers are profiled in this featurette through interviews and discussion with the producers about casting.
  • I Fight Giant Robots -- Michael Bay and the crew discuss working closely with the military for the filming of Transformers.
  • Battleground -- A behind-the-scenes look at the on-location filming at Hoover Dam.
• Their War (1.78:1/high definition) -- A series of behind the scenes featurettes focusing on the Transformers franchise and their adaptation to this live action film:
  • Rise of the Robots  -- A brief history of the Transformers toys by Takara in Japan, and how they were licensed by Hasbro in the U.S. and eventually turned into a cartoon.
  • Autobots Roll Out -- This looks at the numerous automobiles used as the Transformers characters in the film through cooperation with General Motors.
  • Decepticons Strike -- The features the military aircrafts used as the Decepticons in the film.
  • Inside the Allspark -- The featurette profiles the excellent CGI work done on Transformers by ILM and Digital Domain.
  • Transformers Tech Inspector
• More Than Meets the Eye (1.78:1/high definition):
  • From Script to Sand: The Skorponok Desert Attack -- A look at the concept designs, animatics and storyboard sketches for the Skorponok Desert Attack scene.
  • Concepts -- A montage of Transformers concept art with musical accompaniment.
  • Trailers -- Two original theatrical trailers and one teaser trailer for Transformers.

Final Thoughts

Transformers is a spectacle of visual and sound effects that will allow you to turn off your mind and enter an alternate reality of sentient robots and sleek automobiles. The film doesn't necessarily seek to capture the feeling of the original animated series, but the essence is still there. This BD release should move right to the top of anyone's list of reference quality material, offering a nearly flawless workout for any home theater setup's display and sound system.

Where to Buy

• Transformers on Blu-ray Disc (Amazon.com)

Product Details

• Actors: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, Rachael Taylor (II)
• Director: Michael Bay
• Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Audio/Languages: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, French & Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish
• Region: ABC (All Regions)
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rating: PG-13
• Studio: Paramount
• Blu-ray Disc Release Date: September 2, 2008
• Run Time: 143 minutes
• List Price: $39.99
• Extras:
• Disc 1:
  
  • Commentary by Director Michael Bay
  • Transformers Heads Up Display
    
    • View Transformers like never before with picture-in-picture behind-the-scenes information and more.
  • BD-Live Features
    
    • Exclusive online content!
• Disc 2:
  • Our World -- HD
    • Explore the world of Transformers through interviews with the cast and crew, stunt training footage and exclusive access to the on-set locations.
  • Their War -- HD
    • Learn more about Autobots and Decepticons with exclusive access to production design, military advisors and digital special effects.
  • More Than Meets the Eye -- HD
    • Experience an in-depth featurette on the making of Skorponok Desert Attack scene, concept boards, and theatrical trailers.