Transformers (2007) | 
 enlarge | Director: Michael Bay
Actors: Shia Labeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, Rachael Taylor
Studio: Dreamworks Home Entertainment
Category: DVD
List Price: £19.99
Buy New: £4.48
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Rating:  145 reviews
Format: Surround Sound, Widescreen, Pal
Languages: English (Subtitled), Danish (Subtitled), Dutch (Subtitled), Finnish (Subtitled), Norwegian (Subtitled), Swedish (Subtitled), English (Original Language)
Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
Region: 2
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 143 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 5.4 x 0.7
EAN: 5051188153236
ASIN: B000MM1HWQ
Theatrical Release Date: July 27, 2007
Release Date: December 3, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Ships from Australia, to the UK! Orders take approximately 2 weeks via Airmail
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review
As sci-fi action blockbusters go, they don't come much bigger than Transformers. Maybe it's because of the subject matter: it's based on a toy line from the 1980s, concerning giant robots from outer space engaged in a civil war that pits the heroic Autobots against the evil Decepticons. They have the ability to disguise themselves as vehicles and other mechanical objects, transforming back into robots when it's time to stomp each other senseless. As a premise, it's rather silly. But it's also very simple, and that's why it works. The heroes are truly heroic: the noble and powerful Autobot leader Optimus Prime is one of the most iconic characters of the 1980s, and getting the original voice actor (Peter Cullen) to give him life was a stroke of genius. The villains, meanwhile, are just plain evil: Decepticon leader Megatron (voiced by Hugo Weaving) is motivated by absolute power, and his soldiers are not above a bit of wanton destruction to achieve their goals. Mix in a bit of mysticism in the form of the Allspark, the source of life for all Transformers, and the result is pure cinematic magic. It's not a perfect film: there are some characters and sub-plots that are unnecessary and which go nowhere, and at almost three hours, it's a lot of movie. But the Transformers themselves, rendered in CGI, have a very realistic size and weight on screen, and look particularly good as they switch from one mode to the other. Moreover, director Michael Bay is smart enough to realise that appealing to kids doesn't mean pandering to them--the cutest robot on screen is a manic little psychotic killer with the apt name Frenzy. The humans in the film, meanwhile, keep the film grounded, whilst never detracting from the real robot stars. Unlike The Matrix trilogy, which tried to be too clever, or The Lord of the Rings films, which were too clever, Transformers is probably the best science fiction epic since the original Star Wars trilogy. --Robert Burrow
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| Customer Reviews:
 Complete surprise September 25, 2007
D. I. Shipley (Gravesend, KENT United Kingdom)
34 out of 45 found this review helpful
I watched Transformers at a late night preview, really just to kill some dead time. I took a view that it would probably be a good time filler, I am not a real fan of the 1980s series but was intrigued by some of the positive reviews that I had read about the film...
What I got instead was the best Action/ Sci Fi film so far this year, filled not only with incredible SFX but great performances from the flesh and blood cast, despite playing second fiddle to the towering robots...
Shia Laboeuf turns in a great performance as Sam, a nerdy lad who has to make the jump to all action hero, saving the world while being under some very frightening fire, indeed.
Aiding and protecting him in this is his car - a clapped out Camaro which is actually one of the good Transformers, a warrior robot called Bumblebee. The relationship between Bumblebee and Laboeuf is both amusing and touching, and the scenes where the car is trying to help Laboeuf get the girl of his dreams are pure class.
The plot sees the good Autobots led by the towering Optimus Prime taking on the evil Decepticons, led by the even larger and very menacing Megatron. Young Sam is in possession of some information which could prove invaluable to either side, and the Decepticons will quite literally use any means possible to obtain this. The Autobots protect Sam, all the while having to take on the Decepticons and a largely incredulous US Army and Air Force.
The action sequences are stunning and watching them in a cinema is like seeing a Terminator film for the first time. Sound and vision are stunning. Characterisation is great, with humour and adult themes nicely spliced between the action and SFX. The SFX themselves represent in my opinion the best use to date of the CGI technology which is seamless in this film.
Transformers is a film that demands to be seen in a cinema and I for one will be treating myself to an encore. As for DVD, I will wait for the forthcoming HD DVD release as I want to be able to see this film again in the best possible picture and sound that home cinema can offer. Anyway congratulations to Michael Bay for pulling this one out of the hat, after the stinker that was The Island.
Overall, extremely enjoyable September 23, 2007
Jiff "OMG A LION!" M (UK)
22 out of 27 found this review helpful
First off let me state I am *NOT* a fan of the 80's Transformers. Even as a kid I never got into it, and the retro factor doesn't work me. I keep reading reviews from die hard fans who slate this for not being 'true to the original'. I have a few things to say to the biased people:
The moment I saw a 30 foot robot turn into a handheld pistol, I would of walked. Some things are acceptable in cartoons, this isn't acceptable in modern films. The cartoon versions would of looked rediculous if they were ported straight into this, and the constant Saturday morning cartoon villain vs hero archetype would NOT have worked. Basically what the old school fans wanted was the original Transformers film from the 80's to have a sequel. Average joe does not want to have to immerse himself in hundreds of hours of cartoons, comics, and toys just to understand a film. Get over it. Like many remakes nowadays, this HAD to evolve, like Spider-Man, X-men, Superman and Batman Begins. It's a 'reinvention' of a classic, not a remake.
Regardless of all of that, I was extremely excited about this film. I have no idea why, I can't explain it. Each trailer did just enough to whet the appetite, without giving away huge chunks of the overall experience (as is often a problem nowadays). With that said, I went into the cinema with low expectations, and was shocked and amazed in the best possible way.
Quick synopsis: the Transformers are a race of advanced robotic life forms from a planet outside of our solar system. They have been struggling with a civil war for thousands of years between two factions: Autobots, led by the heroic Optimus Prime, and the Decepticons, who are headed up by the evil Megatron. Both factions have to come to Earth in search of the Allspark, the cube that creates their form of life. The good guys want to keep it safe and restore their world with it, and the bad guys... well they wanna do bad guys things with it.
Transformers is one of those films you can just enjoy. You don't need to sit down and really think hard, read between the lines, or listen to commentary on the DVD afterward to fully understand. Bottom line - its a double barrel shotgun-o-fun aimed directly at your brain.
The first thing you have to do (and this helps) is suspend belief. At its core, this is quite simply a cartoon transfered and updated for the big screen. The robots have emotions, expressions, and yes, they have eye lids and lips. Not a big deal. I found this to be a bonus, as I loved some of the more comedic scenes involving the Autobots.
The cast is both the films strongest point and its weakest. Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox give excellent performances, whereas some of the scenes with Anthony Anderson and John Turturro are just plain annoying. I don't blame the actors at all, but more the fact that they had these terribly stereotypical roles to fill and had bad dialogue given to them.
Another problem is that this jam packed cast can make it feel like it's taking too many directions at once. You literally jump between scenes involving different sub plots involving Sam and Mikaela (Shia/Megan), the army guys, then to the hackers and the secretary of defense, and then suddenly back to the kids. The end result works, with all of the characters being involved in the final scenes together in some way or form, but it does make for a fairly exhausting track for your mind to stay on.
The robots are simply mind blowing. The CGI involved in this film was handled by ILM, famous for the work on Star Wars, and it shows just how far they've come from the 70's using stop motion techniques. One quote mentioned that 'Ironhide has more working graphical parts on his two cannons than some of the other robots have on their entire body', and it shows. The care and attention to detail is incredible, especially given the fact that these guys had a budget half of Spider-Man 3, which was overall a sub par film by way of effects (and in general, in my opinion).
Michael Bay is notorious for his use of 'big boom' work. He fills his films with as much real carnage as possible, using any excuse to blow stuff up. In this film? It works. Every vehicle shot is 100% real, without the use of added effects. From Humvees being thrown around in explosions to collisions on a highway. Even when the robots are duking it out and smashing up civilization in the process, it looks and feels real.
The only thing I can really complain about is it's length. It is a long film. That's not a problem to me, but I know a lot of people that I could show this film too that would become bored extremely easily during its filler segments. I also have a feeling it could of done with being made even longer, in a way - the robots didn't get as much screen time as the fans would of liked, but I suspect that was Spielbergs influence as producer, as he is all about earth shattering events revolving around a handful of people.
Bottom line? At the very least rent it. I got excited from a franchise I cared very little about, and it's totally turned me into a Transformers fan for life.
And don't get a pirate copy or a downloaded version - this film can only be done justice in full juicy glory of DVD quality. If you have HD capability, I envy you, because I think this may be the ideal film for some serious eyeball candy.
Extra tip: Watch after the credits roll for a sneaky bit of extra footage, leaving the film open for an almost certain sequel.
Transformers redefines what a mega-budget blockbuster looks like September 27, 2007
Jenny J.J.I. (That Lives in Northern Florida)
22 out of 28 found this review helpful
What a movie! Transformers must be one of the best summer flicks of the year. Michael Bay and his team have brought one of my favorite childhood memories to the big screen and blown us all away with the most incredible cartoon adaptation. Though I belong to the Transformers generation (1980's) I was never really hooked up with the franchise and couldn't recall any of the transformers names aside from Opitmus Prime and Megatron if you had asked me. Having seen the trailer I went to see the movie knowing that I was in for some eye candy special effects, but not so sure of the overall story. But as the transformers slogan goes the movie was "more than meets the eye".
Knowing more or less what the main theme of the ever-changing saga of the transformers is, I though this movie had many reasons to turn out silly and have nothing more to offer that visual effects... I mean we are talking about robotic aliens, with human emotions, simplistically separated into a team of goody good autobots and the all-evil deceptions. In a nut shell I thought it would be an fun take on the transformers cartoon and toy line at best... but it's so much more.
It has actually avoided the cheesiness of most "America under attack" movies focusing on the human characters as well as the transformers. Fresh characters presented with a touch of humor that each has his/her own gravity in the story and aren't just fillers to help the plot unfold. Shia LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky does a great job at becoming the underdog we all sympathize for, who ends up becoming the hero (reminding us how we all felt for Peter Parker in the first Spider-man movie). It is action packed from beginning to end but you never get enough of it. The visuals are astonishingly well made not distracting from the movie with thoughts "that looked fake" and besides the effects, there are many scenes with great visual interest. I enjoyed the music and sound effects (especially the transforming ones) and as a hole the movie worked so good.
I for one am not ashamed to admit my excitement over this movie. So Michael Bay, if you're reading this, congratulations, you somehow made a great film with room to spare. And for the sequel that is sure to be in the works, just give us the robots and their humans. They're not only fun, they might just tug a heart-string or two. A must see for all ages and genders, shapes and sizes!
A genuinely mind blowing experience. September 6, 2007
Mr. D. Bell (Northampton, England)
11 out of 15 found this review helpful
If ever there was a perfect marriage of director and subject material then surely this is it. Whilst Michael Bay struggled to cope with some of the depth required in The Island, Transformers is the perfect showcase for his bug budget, mind blowing set pieces.
Story wise, Transformers is total nonsense. Something about a cube called the "all spark" which needs to be found blah blah blah.............................
Lets be honest though, the reason cinemas are packed is to see the Transformers and most importantly, Optimus Prime. Voiced by Peter Cullen (who also provided the voice in the original cartoon) it gives the film a much needed attachment to the original cartoons. This is important as this is pretty much where the comparisons end as so much has had to change to bring the film up to date.
There has been a lot of criticism from fans that "it's not like the original" but if the makers just did CG versions of the original cartoons on screen, it would look ridiculous. The way the new versions move and change is truly mind blowing and the special effects have set a new benchmark in what is achievable in this day and age.
I could go on about how great this film. It's by new means perfect though. As I said the story is nonsense and the acting is OK for a film of this type. Forget all that though because when the action starts it is a mesmerising experience.
The film is arguably too long and, like me, is a bit flabby round the middle, but overall it is something that all fans of action films will be watching repeatedly for years to come. Please hurry up with Transformers 2.
 Rubbish September 6, 2007
vervester
10 out of 36 found this review helpful
This film is so so terrible, it has the worst, cheesiest script you'll ever see. The only good thing about it is Optimus Prime but only because they got back the original voice actor. The Transformers have no personalities, especially the decepticons who have been turned into kiling machines and only speak a handful of lines between them. Although some of the the action scenes are impressive, the final product is a big, big disappointment - it was the robot's idiosyncratic characters that made the show great in the first place!! The first 45 minutes make you feel like you are watching Herbie. Don't believe the hype that this is worth watching - you'd spend your money better elsewhere.
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