Transformers DVDs Collection

September 1, 2011 by admin
Filed under Animated, Around the Web, Transformers DVDs

Transformers DVDs Review

January 5, 2011 by admin
Filed under Around the Web, Movie, Transformers DVDs

Michael Bay's Transformers DVD Review
By Alex Demattia

FILM REVIEW: "Transformers" is fun. It's the ultimate boys' movie, about giant, intelligent robots who can change in to cars, planes and other vehicles while the good robots and bad robots battle each other with the fate of humanity hanging in the balance. For director Michael Bay, he has finally made a film that has merit, namely because he takes his best technical attributes and applies them to a story that naturally fits his talents. It's no surprise that "Transformers" is also his most successful film to date. Although there are some moments of silliness and American chest-beating which are so common in Bay's films, for the most part, this film manages to do a very good job of delivering a visual spectacle, big action sequences and a story that is just strong enough to hang these elements in place without seeming contrived.

The story is simplicity itself. Sam Witwicky, played with a lot of heart by an enthusiastic Shia LaBeouf, is the average teenager who wants the hottest girl in school but can't figure out how to sell himself. All that changes when he selects his first car (a present from his dad) which turns out to be the Autobot "Bumble Bee". Unwittingly, Sam and his new friend Michaela (Megan Fox) are drawn in to the battle between the Autobots and the Deceptions. Each side is trying to find the All-Spark, a cube which has the power to create life. Sam has the secret to its location scratched on the surface of his grandfather's glasses. The rest of the film is a race to find the All-Spark before the evil Megatron (voiced by an unrecognisable Hugo Weaving) and his Deceptions find it first.

Shia LaBeouf proves to be an effective leading man, giving he's playing a teenager and has to hold our attention whenever the Transformers are not on screen. Megan Fox provides the requisite eye candy as the love interest, but also manages to be feisty and tough, particularly in the action scenes that climax the film. Jon Voight is his usual solid self as the Secretary of Defense. The rest of the ensemble is equally effective, all creating solid, likeable characters which are actually endearing and not irritating as with other Michael Bay films.

The visual rendering of each Transformer on screen is one reason alone to watch this film. Given they are fully computer generated, the amount of detail and care which has been put in by the visual effects team is so astonishing that you would think they were filmed for real. This is no more apparent than in the big action sequences, undoubtedly the film's biggest selling point, where the robots are on display in full sunlight, making astonishing mid-air manoeuvres as they battle each other to the death. There's one sequence where a Decepticon who moves like an ice-skater crashes through a bus before performing a rugby tackle on its opponent that is one of many jaw-dropping sequences, particularly with Bay's use of slow motion.

The flaws in this film stem from Bay's occasional slips back to his over-stylised technique. To be fair, he's actually quite controlled and disciplined with this film, but there are some moments that still have the more unfortunate Bay trademarks stamped all over them. A reference to a Transformer being better than "Armageddon" is cringe-worthy. I guess it's just his style, and Bay deserves points for better focusing his technique in this film, even if he occasionally lapses back to his usual tricks.

"Transformers" is a fun, enjoyable blockbuster that looks fabulous on DVD; despite some silly moments and Bay's usual excessiveness in certain areas, the film will entertain you thoroughly during its entire running time while shaking the floors of your home theatre in the process!

TECHNICAL REVIEW: The presentation of this film on DVD is technical perfection. The picture looks absolutely spectacular, particularly in all the big Michael Bay action sequences. All the images are crisp, clean and clear, with magnificent colours. The audio soundtrack is spot on, and is great to use as a test for how hard to push your surround sound system. A perfect transfer.

EXTRAS REVIEW: The extras package is very extensive, offerring a number of features that cover the making of the film in great detail. On the first disc is the audio commentary from Michael Bay, which is extremely informative, but also gives you an insight in to the man behind some of the most hyper-stylised, hyper-energised and hyper-edited films in recent memory. The second disc contains a wealth of featurettes, split in to three distinct sections. The first is OUR WORLD which has four lengthy documentaries focusing on story development, the casting process, the use of the US Army in the film, and the location selected. The second is THEIR WAR which is again broken up in to four lengthy documentaries focusing on the original Transformers cartoon, the selection of cars for each autobot and the car companies which sponsored the film, a look at the Decepticons and their development, and a look at the incredible visual effects developed by ILM and Digital Domain. The third is MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE, which has featurettes on the Desert Sand attack, concepts for the film and the theatrical trailers. It's an incredible set of detailed and informative extras, making for over three hours of quality additional viewing to the main feature.

BOTTOM LINE: Worth having in the collection.

For the complete, original DVD review, click this link: http://www.allaboutmovies.net/dvdreviewtransformers.htm

Alex DeMattia is the lead DVD reviewer at the film/DVD review web site http://www.allaboutmovies.net

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