67 out of 67 people found this review helpful.
Transformers: A good Sci-Fi for the masses
Date of Review: Apr 29, 2008
The Bottom Line: A great summer block buster.
This was a summer blockbuster when it was out last summer. Michael Bay was in charge of running the show and making sure he did not ruin my favorite childhood memory. Did he succeed? Well sort of. He did an admirable job in catering to the general public but he certainly did not cater to the fans. As a fan I would give him 2 out of 5 stars. He could have done better in reinventing the universe. But how about from the perspective of a non-fan. That's different, I would give him 3.78 out of 5 stars. It was a good movie and one I have watch several times. But a great movie that will stand the test of time? I doubt it.
The story and writing. The writing accomplishes its job, it tells the story of a boy and his role in saving the world. There is nothing fancy or earth shattering. No great linguistical metaphors. No awe inspiring speeches. Just a story that works. In a Hollywood where so many of the movie forget to tell a story, a sci-fi movie comes around and tells a pretty good one.
Character Development Character development is not the focus in this movie. I would give it a 3/5. It does just enough to get by. When we need to know something, the movie slows down and tells us that part of the story. The movie constantly shifts gears (pun intended) from action to development so the audience is constantly in the loop. The audience is never left out nor is it assumed that the audience knows what is going on.
The pacing The pacing is good. It goes in ebbs and flows. A little action, story building or character development, action, story, action, character building, action, character, action, story, action, etc, etc, etc, Looking back, there is really only one scene that I can say that I am bored with (see lawn getting dismantled). But other than that scene the rest is paced well.
The acting For a summer blockbuster movie with a bunch of no names in the lead roles, I was really surprised with the acting. I thought it was really good. I have absolutely no complaints, I felt that they were who they pretended to be, a bunch of real people in the real world of today. The other groups of people in the two other side stories also did a good job with the acting. No real complaints
The Special Effects The special effects are awesome. They really made the transformers really come alive. The CG is absolutely breathtaking. I love what they did with Optimus Prime, he looks sharp. His transformation looks wicked. There is also plenty of special effects to keep anyone into action happy. From an army base being blown up to a town being demolished. I don't know how many cars get crushed and blown up, but it feels like hundreds.
One of the complaints I have about the way some of the shots were done is in the fight scenes and transformations. It just isn't all that clear who is winning, has won the fight, or has died. I've had to see it a couple of times to decipher those scenes because they happen so fast. And even then it isn't clear who has dies and who is just severely wounded and could come back in the next movie.
Music The music is classical and powerful. I'm kind of surprised I haven't bought the sound track, probably because I'm into electronica at the moment. I think the composer did a good job.
Replay Value I enjoy watching this movie and have no problem putting on this movie if someone requests it. I'll also probably watch it once a year or so and I'll definitely get it on Blue-Ray in the coming year when I get my player.
DVD Extras Disk 1 has a commentary with Michael Bay that I found interesting. 3/5.
Disk 2 was cool. Basically it interviews the producers, director, actors, and makers of the film. They start from the beginning with Speilberg, talk about the fans, how Bay got involved, and the actual filming. A story of a story. It is long and fairly good for a series of featurettes. If you love extras, you'll love this.
BTW, I think mine is the special edition my in-laws got me from Costco.
There is also easter eggs in disk 2. I suggest you hit all of the arrow keys LLLL,RRRR,UUUU,DDDD. When you highlight an glyph hit enter and you will get some weird clip or the credits. Check every screen.
The players Director: Michael Bay
Writing: Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, John Rogers
Screenplay: Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci
Music: Steve Jablonsky
Yahoo ratings Users: B+
Critics: B-
Rating: PG-13
Running Time:140 minutes
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