None the less, Hollywood delivered Transformers this past summer with big budget action director, Michael Bay. Depending on your point of view, Director Michael Bay may or may not get a bad rap. Ever since he burst on the scene with the comedy action picture Bad Boys, Bay has been directing over the top Hollywood action pictures. Movies from The Rock, Armageddon to Pearl Harbor have all been commercial hits but critically panned. Say what you like about these movies and their storylines, all these pictures do have one thing in common, they are kick ass action pictures. They never pretend to be anything different other than in your face entertainment. Movies like Pearl Harbor may be weak or cheesy in story, yet the minute the Japanese arrived, the movie is pure action at Hollywood’s best.

Transformers was no exception, I mean lets face it the movie is based on a toy what did you expect? Tranformers is about a war between the Autobots (our allies) and the Decepticons (the bad robots) who arrive on Earth to acquire and control a mystical talisman called the Allspark. The movie centers around high school student Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf), who buys his first car that turns out to be the Autobot Bumblebee. His grandfather’s past also may hold the secret to the location of the Allspark. As Planet Earth is slowly becoming occupied by the Decepticons the Autobots arrive to save the day. Both clans disguised as familiar objects like a semi-truck or a military plane, move freely in the world until they transform to their true menacing robotic-selves. You following this so far?

The movie, although its plot is full of unrealistic scenarios and situations, is treated in a very realistic manner and in turn makes the story work. The cast handles the script beautifully, the special effects are top notch and you are totally drawn into the fantasy. The film has a similar vibe to Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds. Spielberg who is the Executive Producer was the one who pitched this to Bay and seems to have made a perfect choice in the end.

After playing well in the theaters over the summer, Transformers is finally arriving on DVD. The film comes available in either a single or two disc editions. The packaging for the two disc edition is far superior and the second disc is full of in-depth documentaries.

Both editions feature commentary by Michael Bay that expands the entire film and gives great insights on the process of his film making. I’ve always been a fan of commentary and this is a very solid dialog that may or may not change your mind about Bay. Regardless, it’s worth listening to if you are curious about what goes into making a picture like this and Bay is very honest and open yet comes off as smug much of the time.

If you choose to buy the second disc, you will have 3 sets of documentaries to choose from. The first one is called "Our World" and it’s an all-access pass of behind the scenes, interviews and a variety of footage exploring the film from beginning to end. We have the toy makers, to Spielberg’s ideas of the film and everyone involved all the way to the finish product.

"Their War" continues on with more the background of the transformers, from toys to the animated version and then to the idea making it to the big screen. This section also explores the military’s willingly participation with the film as well

The final documentary, M"ore Than Meets The Eye," focuses on the Skorponok desert sand attack sequence in the film, but also includes a chapter on the sketches and designs for the film and the variety of trailers as well.

All three Documentaries are top notched in production and a wealth of material that will keep you busy. If I have any complaints, it’s the fact that this collection has no deleted scenes. Especially since one of the documentaries tease you with at least three different deleted scenes by showing the filming of them. So I know they exist and why they were not included can only mean one thing, yet another DVD release of the film is to come.

So Michael Bay’s Transformers is a great action film that performed way beyond my expectations. As I said, I had doubts about a film based on a toy from 1984. When the film was released this summer it broke the box office records as the highest grossing opening by a non-sequel film. Of course because of this we will get a sequel set to be released in 2009.

So get ready for the sequel by picking up this DVD and experience the great special effect or perhaps just to see Megan Fox and her sexy stomach. Now that really is something worthy of the tagline “More Than Meets The Eye”!

Comments

Tf Written by Guest on 2007-10-15 08:10:33 Transformers rocked

Transformers sucked! Written by Guest on 2007-10-16 11:19:30 I don't have the time or words to waste pooping all over this review, but the Transformers was horrible. It had no story, and the action scenes were loud annoying and repetitve. 4 stars?! You're an idiot.

Written by Guest on 2007-10-19 16:57:48 go easy on him guys, he's a critic it's his job to be critical. Let him do his job

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