An ancient struggle between two Cybertronian races, the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons, comes to Earth, with a clue to the ultimate power held by a teenager.
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Sam Witwicky leaves the Autobots behind for a normal life. But when his mind is filled with cryptic symbols, the Decepticons target him and he is dragged back into the Transformers' war.
Autobots must escape sight from a bounty hunter who has taken control of the human serendipity: Unexpectedly, Optimus Prime and his remaining gang turn to a mechanic, his daughter, and her back street racing boyfriend for help.
The powerful but arrogant god Thor is cast out of Asgard to live amongst humans in Midgard (Earth), where he soon becomes one of their finest defenders.
Director:
Kenneth Branagh
Stars:
Chris Hemsworth,
Anthony Hopkins,
Natalie Portman
Earth's mightiest heroes must come together and learn to fight as a team if they are to stop the mischievous Loki and his alien army from enslaving humanity.
Director:
Joss Whedon
Stars:
Robert Downey Jr.,
Chris Evans,
Scarlett Johansson
A new theme park, built on the original site of Jurassic Park, creates a genetically modified hybrid dinosaur, which escapes containment and goes on a killing spree.
Director:
Colin Trevorrow
Stars:
Chris Pratt,
Bryce Dallas Howard,
Ty Simpkins
Steve Rogers, a rejected military soldier transforms into Captain America after taking a dose of a "Super-Soldier serum". But being Captain America comes at a price as he attempts to take down a war monger and a terrorist organization.
Director:
Joe Johnston
Stars:
Chris Evans,
Hugo Weaving,
Samuel L. Jackson
When Dr. Jane Foster gets cursed with a powerful entity known as the Aether, Thor is heralded of the cosmic event known as the Convergence and the genocidal Dark Elves.
Director:
Alan Taylor
Stars:
Chris Hemsworth,
Natalie Portman,
Tom Hiddleston
When Tony Stark and Bruce Banner try to jump-start a dormant peacekeeping program called Ultron, things go horribly wrong and it's up to Earth's mightiest heroes to stop the villainous Ultron from enacting his terrible plan.
Director:
Joss Whedon
Stars:
Robert Downey Jr.,
Chris Evans,
Mark Ruffalo
With the world now aware of his identity as Iron Man, Tony Stark must contend with both his declining health and a vengeful mad man with ties to his father's legacy.
Director:
Jon Favreau
Stars:
Robert Downey Jr.,
Mickey Rourke,
Gwyneth Paltrow
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A long time ago, far away on the planet of Cybertron, a war is being waged between the noble Autobots (led by the wise Optimus Prime) and the devious Decepticons (commanded by the dreaded Megatron) for control over the Allspark, a mystical talisman that would grant unlimited power to whoever possesses it. The Autobots managed to smuggle the Allspark off the planet, but Megatron blasts off in search of it. He eventually tracks it to the planet of Earth (circa 1850), but his reckless desire for power sends him right into the Arctic Ocean, and the sheer cold forces him into a paralyzed state. His body is later found by Captain Archibald Witwicky, but before going into a comatose state Megatron uses the last of his energy to engrave into the Captain's glasses a map showing the location of the Allspark, and to send a transmission to Cybertron. Megatron is then carried away aboard the Captain's ship. A century later, Captain Witwicky's grandson Sam Witwicky (nicknamed Spike by his friends) ... Written by
Q. Leo Rahman
The Decepticons were to have more dialogue in the film, but most of their lines were cut out, to keep them mysterious (screenwriter Roberto Orci reasoned that the more a villain talks, the less threatening they are). To please the fans, though, Megatron's classic berating of Starscream ("You fail me yet again, Starscream...") was put in the film. See more »
Goofs
As Bumblebee did not belong to the caryard there would be no pink slip for the sale. Bobby Bolivia may not be above underhanded tactics. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Optimus Prime:
Before time began, there was the Cube. We know not where it comes from, only that it holds the power to create worlds and fill them with life. That is how our race was born. For a time, we lived in harmony. But like all great power, some wanted it for good, others for evil. And so began the war. A war that ravaged our planet until it was consumed by death, and the Cube was lost to the far reaches of space. We scattered across the galaxy, hoping to find it and rebuild our home. ...
[...] See more »
Crazy Credits
When the DreamWorks and Paramount logos appear, they are accompanied by a series of robotic sounds. See more »
Battle Without Honor or Humanity
Written & Performed by Tomoyasu Hotei
Courtesy of IRC2 Corporation/Toshiba EMI Limited
Under license from EMI Film & Television Music See more »
Transformers is a very mixed bag. There are great things about it and there are some not-so-great things about it...
The good:
The visual effects. Perhaps the best special effects I've ever seen
in a movie. The transformations are amazing not to mention super-awesome. The CGI fits in seamlessly with the live action and it's easy to forget how logistically difficult a lot of it would have been to film.
The sound design. The sound effects complement the action perfectly
making everything twice as exciting. Probably less acknowledged is the alien atmosphere created by some of the score which heightens the tension very effectively and probably without the majority of the audience noticing.
Shia LeBeouf. Without him the movie wouldn't be nearly as engaging.
He has natural comic timing and is probably second to none in expressing disbelief of the "holy crap, there's a giant alien robot transforming in front of me" variety.
The humour. Transformers is funnier than most good comedies which I
was not expecting in the least. The transformers themselves are often funnier than they are impressive.
The Decepticons. Man are they cool. The opening scene is particularly
kick-arse.
The bad:
Megan Fox. If hot means "can't act and doesn't weigh much" then yes,
she's very hot. It's not a good sign if you want one of the main characters to die or at least get out of the way and stop trying to act. Her performance just seemed very shallow and probably wasn't helped by her dialogue.
The script. Although the overall storyline is good, some of the
dialogue is terrible. Too much of the film is spent on mumbo jumbo technical explanations the audience just doesn't care about. The less serious parts of the script work very well though.
Michael Bay. Although some of the action scenes are very well put
together and the humorous parts are timed very well, Bay can't help but ruin some of the scenes with unnecessarily flashy editing and over the top drama accompanied by none-too-subtle dramatic music. It's not that Michael Bay's style is too loud, it's that it's too clichéd.
The music. Nothing new here (other than the alien sounding parts).
Practically rips of Batman Begins and is otherwise forgettable. The music should enhance the film by bringing out interesting themes or emotions, not force feeding us the drama we can plainly see on the screen in super slow motion.
The ugly:
Megatron. He's ugly. And super cool.
So, my verdict? The good outweighs the bad pretty comfortably. If you took out the bad you might even have a classic on your hands. Instead you get revolutionary action scenes and some great comedy with Michael Bay's unique brand of mediocre directing sprinkled throughout.
687 of 1,220 people found this review helpful.
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Transformers is a very mixed bag. There are great things about it and there are some not-so-great things about it...
The good:
- The visual effects. Perhaps the best special effects I've ever seen
in a movie. The transformations are amazing not to mention super-awesome. The CGI fits in seamlessly with the live action and it's easy to forget how logistically difficult a lot of it would have been to film.- The sound design. The sound effects complement the action perfectly
making everything twice as exciting. Probably less acknowledged is the alien atmosphere created by some of the score which heightens the tension very effectively and probably without the majority of the audience noticing.- Shia LeBeouf. Without him the movie wouldn't be nearly as engaging.
He has natural comic timing and is probably second to none in expressing disbelief of the "holy crap, there's a giant alien robot transforming in front of me" variety.- The humour. Transformers is funnier than most good comedies which I
was not expecting in the least. The transformers themselves are often funnier than they are impressive.- The Decepticons. Man are they cool. The opening scene is particularly
kick-arse.The bad:
- Megan Fox. If hot means "can't act and doesn't weigh much" then yes,
she's very hot. It's not a good sign if you want one of the main characters to die or at least get out of the way and stop trying to act. Her performance just seemed very shallow and probably wasn't helped by her dialogue.- The script. Although the overall storyline is good, some of the
dialogue is terrible. Too much of the film is spent on mumbo jumbo technical explanations the audience just doesn't care about. The less serious parts of the script work very well though.- Michael Bay. Although some of the action scenes are very well put
together and the humorous parts are timed very well, Bay can't help but ruin some of the scenes with unnecessarily flashy editing and over the top drama accompanied by none-too-subtle dramatic music. It's not that Michael Bay's style is too loud, it's that it's too clichéd.- The music. Nothing new here (other than the alien sounding parts).
Practically rips of Batman Begins and is otherwise forgettable. The music should enhance the film by bringing out interesting themes or emotions, not force feeding us the drama we can plainly see on the screen in super slow motion.The ugly:
So, my verdict? The good outweighs the bad pretty comfortably. If you took out the bad you might even have a classic on your hands. Instead you get revolutionary action scenes and some great comedy with Michael Bay's unique brand of mediocre directing sprinkled throughout.