TRANSFORMERS Review

Great. Thanks for ruining that for me.
But then again I thought Bad Boys 2 was entertaining and The Island was the best thing he's ever done. I was hoping that he was on some kind of winning streak.
I pretty much knew that the human characters were going to be the central of the story and I completely understand why. How can you make a movie with robots without shutting the audience out or it being too far fetched for them. How would you make a conversation scene with robots? How would you build their character? The audience, i.e. folks who have either never seen Transformers or doesn't give a rats ass about it, doesn't buy in to Robots having some sort of dialog or personality. It's also very hard to give a robot a personality. Is it a joker? Cynical? A hard ass? Make a slightest mistake and you end up making it just like the source material, a kids cartoon. The audience wants bad ass robots who don't say much but rather kick all the more ass.
I'm sure that if this does well enough we will get a sequel that will focus more on the robots, aka robot fighting.

Sure, but you don't really expect some average joe on the street to see the trailers and go for ANY other reason than big robots fighting eachother, do you? I mean, come on.

It's a summer movie.

It's based on a line of toys.

It's Michael Bay.

As much as his movies bite ass, they're at least never boring.

I hope I disagree with The Visitor when I see it, because there's nothing more disappointing than a summer popcorn action that ends up being boring...

Bad Boys 2 is one of the most brilliant action movies EVER made. If you don't realize this, I really think you should find another job.

BAD BOYS 2 is the greatest blood-thirsty fascist slapstick comedy ever made.

The Visitor:

You are completely right. I will give credit to Michael Bay for consistently making expensive movies and leading army of crew members and actors in making these action films. It is not easy to be a leader of men in an ultra-stressful environment in which your job is to deliver a profit-making blockbuster every time you are on a director's chair.

However, as a filmmaker and as an artist, Michael Bay is no better than a porn director. Predictable MTV-style editing and camera shaking from left to right, up and down, shots cutting and jumping all around, and cliche-character development. Bay should be banned.

jandrew and Adam need to be immediately neutered.

Take this review with barely a grain of salt. That's what I'm doing. We're in the midst of the Summer movie season, and most everything has been disappointing. I'm looking for a big spectacle of a movie, with good CG and shit blowing up. Michael Bay never disappoints in that regard. What, did you expect Shakespeare?

Case -

What, you think there's an even better slapstick comedy made by bloodthirsty fascists out there?

Don't hold out on us, man!

Interestingly, I've anticipated only Spider-Man 3 and Secret Sunshine more than this. The first teaser trailer made me gasp. This is review-proof, although "boring" is one thing that worries me quite a bit.

Complaining about a Michael Bay movie having fast editing and cardboard cut out characters is like saying the characters in a woody allen movie talk too much.

Bay clearly has a style that he's ran with since bad boys, feel free to skip the film and watch any number of films out there made by directors who know about subtilty and depth. Summer action movies are for the most part mindless entertainment, anything ontop of that is a bonus.

As long as there's no random musical sequence half way through I'm happy.

"Freedom is the right of all sentient beings" is a famous line from the cartoon. No need to drag George W. Bush into it.

I agree with Rahat. Boring? Ouch!

I just finished writing my comment on the first transformer review (the positive one, a few posts down) and then suddenly I see this! Bummer, as I tend to trust The Visitor...

How can you not mention super hottie on the rise Megan Fox?!?That woman just screams sex and she alone is worth seeing this for.

Yeah, I thought it was a terrible movie. Crushingly stupid, with an inane plot, the worst dialogue in many a year and cardboard characters.

I appreciate it is a film for little kids, but so are the Pixar films and they seem to have no trouble being intelligent. Since when did blockbusters have to be moronic?

hmm boring? This contradicts everything put on Rotten Tomatoes right now. If there is anything in common with all the reviews out right now, it is not boring.

This review is crap dont listen to it.

This movie rocks, its awesome. Believe what you read everywhere else.

Obviously this movie didnt do it for this poster but I feel sad for them they missed having a good time watching this movie as I did. But the great thing about movies is that their subjectional so you can make up your mind..

Dont let this ruin anyones expectations for the movie.. You will enjoy it, I promise.

unfortunately...this isn't the great movie i was hoping it to be.

*beware spoilers*

Continuity issues, Autobots pissing on humans humorusly(which made me almost want to leave), blurry fight scenes, and HORRIBLE dialog. The comic edge they tried to give the movie fails miserably.

It pains me to see such a great franchise of my youth fail to meet expectations(AS IT WILL! This review is going to be just one of many to come I feel).

-But yes. Megan Fox is definately worth watching this movie for if anything. Daaaamn.

I dont think any more is worth watching just for the eye candy..

I thought the same thing about Fantastic Four 1 to see Jessica Alba in a tight lyrca suit would be enough but sadly this was not enough to make the movie worthwhile..

You can go see Megan Fox right now on the Internet without paying $12 bucks to go watch this movie.

Also in my previous comments I meant to say movies are subjective.. not subjectional. I am not even sure if thats even a word

and sorry for the double post

Calvin,

Thank you.

if you get bored, you can always play count the product placement

Just for the record...Bad Boys 2 was a horrible disaster. Are we to believe that two cops from Miami can take on the whole Guantanamo Army with a few friends and get out alive. Michael Bay is an egotistical action director with too much money and not enough knowledge about film history. But, what do you expect from someone that got his start directing music videos for the likes of Donnie Osmond and Wilson Phillips? I loved Transformers as a kid and rememeber being in awe with the cartoon movie, especially when you hear a kids cartoon speak brutality and words like, "Damn." So, I'll keep that memory and maybe buy the bootleg of the Michael Bay disaster-piece from a homeless guy on the corner.

If a movie sucks then it sucks.No need to make excuses like "Oh it's a summer blockbuster"

I'm sure he went it to it expecting a summer blockbuster and just got a pos film.

All I really needed to see was Tyrese in the trailer screaming "Bring it!" and the main character's "It's a robot, must be Japanese" and I knew there was little hope.

There are only two possible explanations for jandrew's love of Bad Boys 2.

1) He has at some point in the past undergone a lobotomy.
2) He has never seen any other action movie except Bad Boys 2.

Visitor, your review sucks. Seriously, if you want to sound like a smart-ass, quoting what's-his-face about "new brutalism" then go write a thesis paper. Man, this is twitch, not an application form for a master's degree.
Concerning your opinion about the Transformers movie, well, why don't you just keep it to yourself. You obviously can't appreciate a movie that was simply made to entertain and not to be analyzed for film class.

"Believe what you read everywhere else."

What I've read everywhere else are wildly split reviews. Some love it, some hate it. So how am I supposed to believe what I've read everywhere else?!?!?!?!

I think someone sent the link to this review to Michael Bay's immediate family members. :-D

Ah well, GI Joe as a cartoon was hella better then Transformers anyways.

great review! i really don't think you should let a film off the hook because it was 'simply made to entertain'.

By far the best cinema experience this year! The movie rocks! End of story!

Blah,

Bad Boys 2 has MORE action in just one of it's racist, homoerotic, TOENAILS from a cadaver filled with ecstasy, dumped from a druglord's Hearst, fleeing Martin Lawrence and Will Smith in a Cadillac stolen from Dan Marino, than you'll ever know in your feeble film viewing life.

xo

lol, yo guys.. anyone would think you are debating whether military action against Iran for proliferation of nuclear weapons!

THe whole point of a review is to post your opinion about a movie. Bagging someone for doing that shows either a very low intellect or an argumentative streak that no-one likes.

Thanks to the posters of their opinions.. haven't seen the film yet, still will but go in with a lowered expectation having grown up with the FIRST and BEST cartoon series of Transformers in the early 80's.

I would agree that some movies are made purely for entertainments sake and therefore should escape a lot of the ire of citics..but at the same time to critique a director who is paid mega dollars is par for the course!

i live in australia and saw the movie on friday it rocked forget this review its a pile of crap. sit down and enjoy ureself u won't be bored trust me.

I went to see the movie yesterday, pre-release.

Man! What a utter piece of garbage that was! I feel mentally raped. The word BASE has gotten a new meaning. The weirdest thing that struck me was the openly blatant racism. Add to that the consitently juvenile jokes / racist? humor that made all the W.O.W. nerds screech in happiness, and made me want to puncture my tympanum whilst burning my eyes out.

But the most annoying part was ofcourse the LACK of action (REALLY!!!). I wouldn't have believed it myself if someone told me BEFORE I went to this movie. The trailer REALLY is all there is, the rest is 2 hours of mental rape made by Bay and Spielberg. Just like the author I went in, HOPING that I would be engraced with a funny action movie with some cool effects. The signs where there, I chose to ignore them. I paid the price in 2 long hours of a movie almost as bad as the hulk.

The UNJUSTIFIABLE army recruitment propaganda. They have a lot of nerve in hollywood still making pro neo-con / army movie such as this in these times of unjust wars and failing US. policies / economy. Riefenstahl would have turned in her grave and cried.

This pathetic piece of garbage instantly reminded me of dr. strangelove, idiocricy, a brave new world. Futile warnings from a time already long gone. Welcome to oblivion.

Love this movie..the best movie so far i have seen this year!!

MAN WHAT ARE YOU FOOLS TALKING ABOUT! this movie rocked, i just got out of the cinema like an hour ago and it's the first time in a long time i've left the cinema on a true high.. i got into my 180sx and was kinda wishing for it to transform into some kickass robot and start talking to me lol!

awsome movie! heaps of action, and i don't think it was all that racist.. i'm from australia maybe i don't pick up on all the "racial stereotypes" you guys are babbling on about, if there's one movie you go and checkout on the big screen, this should be it!!

cheers,
Mik

Fantastic. I had to walk out on this movie, only to come home and read mostly praising reviews.

Kudos to you sane person.

Sir, I would really question whether you're proffessional enough to review this movie. In my view you are plain "BIAS" on Michael Bay rather on the movie itself.
Please also consider that "TRANSFORMERS" are based on japan original anime, so do not blame on the story line created.

I hope you can review more proffessionally in the future rather than being bias.

i agree w/ edwin- this review argued the point that "michael bay sucks", "all of michael bay's movies suck", and the reviewer mistook actual quotes from the cartoon as political humor/jabs at george w (?). no real reasoning behind anything it seems other than a personal bias or dislike of the director. my $0.02.

I aint seen this film yet as I have to wait til the 28th fer UK release, and these reviews do not bode well, at all. I have never been looking forward to a film so much in my life, and that was the first review I've read, not so much a review, but more of a general slating of Michael Bay! I was expecting a review! The film is about cars n trucks turning into big robots from another planet?!? WTF were you expecting? If you wanna impress someone with your quotations n witty critique style do it somewhere else. This film is gonna rock!!

Congratulations. We've managed to make discussion over a CARTOON turned movie political. Honestly, I haven't seen the movie, I have no idea whether it sucks or not. But, seriously, you used a review of Transformers to make a political jab at George W., and then spent half the article flaming the director because of OTHER movies. I did see the preview and thought the special effects were superb. Regardless... With movies based on comics you have to expect 3 things:
1. Damned good special effects
2. Under par acting (regardless of the acting calibur)
the scripts usually prohibit it, and oh yeah... IT USED TO BE COMIC

3. Lots and lots of cliches.... usually steming from the era of the original comic/ cartoon (anyone remember the political climate of the '80's)

But that doesn't mean I haven't found these movies enjoyable. They are what they are, and they shouldn't pretend to be anything else.

This year in sequels has been an utter disappointment. It will at least be refreshing to have something new in front of my eyes.

I saw a preview of Transformers this past Thursday. I went in with some preconceptions such as how good can a movie based on a late 80's cartoon actually be? Especially considering that it was going to be live action.

Michael Bay films have always been "Just OK" to me. But lets face it, I didn't come to see a Michael Bay film, I came to see Transformers. The movie could have been directed by Rob Reiner and I would still have seen the movie because it's Transformers. Well curiosity DID NOT kill this cat.

I can't say enough of how well the movie works. The special effects are what you would expect from a movie made these days. There are some moments that leave you saying "Cool!!!", but it didn't grab me by the balls like the first time I saw the Matrix and Bullet Time. The action is tremendously fast paced which could leave some movies goers missing out, but that's what DVD's is for.

I came to see robots and I saw robots in all of their transforming glory. I thought the movie did a great job of taking an old childhood idea and transforming it into the present. This movie wasn't meant to win Oscars but to keep you on the edge of your seat. That's exactly where I was.

Given the crap that has come out this year, this movie was more than a pleasure to watch. Even for a second time.

I have to say that I mostly agree with the reviewer. I grew up with Transformers, and understand that you can generally only expect so much from a teen movie based on a kid's toy line. It was fun and I enjoyed it, but realised afterwards there were many things relating to the story line, acting, dialogue, and editing of the film that could have made it much much better. The CGI eye candy however is amazing, so it definitely delivered on that front.

Having said that, and leaving the various merits of Michael Bay's directing style aside, there are certain things that I did expect from a Tranformers movie of this 'teen action' genre. And that is as people have already mentioned, big cool looking robots transforming and exciting action showing the robots fighting. What was delivered was often too fast to take in, too far away or too close. The unrelenting pace of it all eventually forces you to switch your brain off and to stop trying to make sense of it. When I got to that point, I realised that even though I was enjoying the thrill, my brain was actually bored by it all.

Perhaps there were some technical challenges to trying to frame the action of the robots into a human sized environment. Some times it succeeded at that but often it struggled to come across.

Yes there are some great looking action shots, but the action was very blurry and I experienced the feeling of not being able to actually tell what I was looking at many times. The camera shots were so fast and so close up during the fight scenes that it was just a blurry smoky mess, you really don't get to see what robots are doing what to whom while they are fighting.

Basically, there needed to be less humans and more robots. More action, but at a pace that allows it to be seen and enjoyed. Personally I think the movie would have benefited from showing more of the Transformers away from Earth, out in deep space, to make more of their alien/otherwordly origins and perhaps add a little more mystery to the movie. I will watch it again, but when it comes out on DVD so I can enjoy it on a smaller screen and in my own time.

Perhaps that's their trick to make people purchase the movie more than once? I would say definitely go along and enjoy it for what it is, but I can't help feeling that even within the boundaries of it's genre it could have been a lot more.

Since the beggining of this year I´ve been following closely every aspect of this movie and I must say that the previews are splendid.
Almost nobody in the world will see this flick till july 4, and in other countries several days later.
Let´s put the things in perspective:it is very probably the actual movie is a piece of boring scum, but probably not.
I ran into this page almost by accident, and most of the visitors are trying to be objebtive.
I am mexican and live in a city called Puebla and I´m totally agree on how bad Michael Bay can be as a director.
Con air is stupid and boring, Bad Boys 1&2 are the worst of the low,Armaggedon is plain dumb, Pearl Harbor is insulting for all the world starting with the Americans, and The Iland waste two dam good actors.
I agree with all acid Critics so far(I am myself one of you) but you are failing to realise something very important: behind michael Bay in all of his prior films it was pulling the strings a bastard called JERRY BRUCHHEIMER.He´s the real guilty of those movies sucked, he even in several interviews have declared:"I would not go to see one of my own movies"
Concerning the so called "racial Issue" if there exists I´ll simply ignore it.
I don´t know why you people get so carried away by those factors in a movie whose main subjet are giant-alien robots that burn down entire cities.
I only have one advise for those who didn´t like the film: wath it once again and well talk later.

I suppose I'm no longer a child (and my geek-cred is straining...)

The film is like a fireworks show, all pyrotechnics (of the highest order), but no even a single brain cell in its big fat robot head. The movie was written by 8 year olds for eight-year olds. I'm trying to get around the fact that this much money and military hardware and state of the art (absolutely!) CGI (and compositing that is 100% perfect) was spent on something will all the depth of a burger king place-mat.

The fact that I couldn't get behind the movie despite the mind-blowing effects and camera/CGI co-ordination says a) That my inner child has finally conceded defeat and b) that I can no longer claim geek status.

Or to put slighlty more smug (I tried to resist, but failed) -- I grew up and got some taste...

8 Year Olds Dude.

uummm i saw the movie and it kicked ass.The guy that does this review is a retarded comunist that doesnt like action and hot chicks.Again it kicked ass !!!

I too grew up with Transformers. And though I did not expect a movie worthy of an academy award I did have hopes. Unfortunately they were dashed.

The CGI is absolutely incredible. The quality of the animations and transformations is without a doubt among the best I have ever seen. The CGI animators definately earned their pay. However, Michael Bay gave himself far too much leeway in "his interpretation" of just what Transformers are and mean. You almost can't tell them apart, except as vehicles, and their Roboticized style is far too Hollywood and far too little actual Transformer.

The story, being about giant robots, really had (a) far too few of them and (b) far too little legitemate and meaningful screen time. Yes it is true that the human element of this movie is in fact 90 percent of the movie. I thought Transformers was supposed to be about Robots. The transformers, however, actually manage to play a supporting role in their own movie.

I found very little soul in the movie. Almost none actually. It can be argued that a movie based upon an 80's toy line and simplistic cartoon should by nature lack soul. But that's not really the case. 1980's Transformers did in fact have its own "allspark". It wasn't Shakespeare, no, but there was something compelling and interesting about the robots and their plight. There is very little to this movie beyond glitz. Yes it was probably intended to be a summer action blockbuster, and that alone, but its a shame because the spirit of Transformers could have been maintained. This movie's action sequences would have greatly benefitted from some soul.

Michael Bay certainly didn't grow up with Transformers. So there is no real use blaming him for not "getting it". But it is unfortunate that the franchise didn't benefit from the direction of someone who did.

Transformers could have been a great generational movie. It could have satisfied both action lovers unfamiliar and uncaring of the genre and those of us who grew up with the Autobots and Decepticons, and though we are now in our thirties have never quite let go. Because for us, letting go of Transformers is letting go of our childhoods.

And that really would be more tragic then a bad movie based upon it.

Wow, first sorry for my bad english!
who is this guy who did this review??? I never read such a reatarded comment as the one i just read from the reviews about one of the best movie that ever came out yet. Of course like an other guy said it is not shakespeare but who would have expected that unless a retarded person?? Come on this a movie that will keep your attention from the begining to the end. No action he said??? well i must not know what action means because for me it was a non stop action!!!! Speaking about stereotype? if they are perfectly well place why not? Giving human to much places inside the movie? why not if what they say are well chose. PLEASE PEOPLE YOU MUST SEE THE MOVIE WITHOUT READING THIS REVIEWS IT IS REALLY A MOST TO SEE. And i'm not even a fan of transformers i went to see it because i had friend that asked me to go with them. I'M going to see it again tomorow! PLease guys common! when you put a review about a movie be sure to be in perfect mind condition before doing it!"

For someone that seems to believe they have a worthy review that consists only of slamming Michael Bay, trying to say that George W. had anything to do with this movie, and whining about fast action, you sure can't write. Maybe next time you should re-read what you write and then submit your biased review with fewer grammatical errors.

You guys are all morons, honestly. This is why a hack like Bay gets ass-loads of money to make empty movies with bloated budgets, cause there are way more clueless idiots out there than otherwise. It doesn't have to be Shakespeare to be good, kids, but what Bay did to this movie, what he does to all his movies, is hollow out all of the substantial and compelling parts of the story and shine it up real nice. I know a lot of you argue that it's supposed to be just about big robots kicking ass; but what's sad about it is that a good director could have had epic battles, robots as main characters that relate just fine to the audience, and a tight coherent plot line. Not to mention character designs that aren't both laughable and sacrilegious at the same time. Somebody gimme $150 million and I'll remake it (and don't cry, but it would take place in the 80's).

dude( the vistor) get a life if you dont like, then jus simply DON'T WATCH, your probably some ex-director that never made it big so thats why you talk sh*&t; about other great films and this is just the beginning of the transformers saga, there were some errors that cuold of been better but THEY CAN improve in the next movie , we also had to see the humans point of view so don't talk sh!t, Bay is an Awasome director with great films that every1 find amazing, your the only one in your stupid-hate world that jus likes to talk. DON'T LISTEN TO THIS HATER, WATCH THE FILM ITS GREAT FUNNY AND HARDCOR ACTION. ohh and another thing, if your so confident about your review and how right you are POST YOUR NAME ASS%OLE !! WHAT YOU AFRAID OF MR. CRITIC

This reviewer is retarded. Do you know how hard is to please millions of fans of all ages. In the theater I was there were full families from newborns to old people with gray hair. And all of them got off their seats to clap in many secuences of the movie.

If you dont like michael bay its your problem. but dont hate review a movie that is so difficult to do. For your information. Everyone is going to see the movie anyways and even those who said it was a bad movie (including yourself) will go to see it again or probably will buy the DVD.

I saw this movie last night, and all I can say is that everyone should just see to come out of it with their own opinion. I thought that for a movie made on a cartoon from 20+ years ago, it did a great job. Was the movie perfect, of course not. I thought that some of the action scenes towards the end moved very fast, and at times was hard to follow. The screen jumped around back and forth a bit much. I also thought that the Decepticons should have had more lines as well. But it was an enjoyable movie, pretty much exactly as I expected it. I'm 31 years old and grew up on Transformers. Sure its a little bit dorky, but what do you expect from a movie with machines from another planet that turn into huge indestructable robots? They(directors and writers) took what the cartoon was about, and just built around that. Autobots, more worried about the people then themselves, and Decepticons looking for absolute power. I don't think the original reviewer sat down and thought about where the cartoon came from. You can't please everyone, but I thought it did the franchise justice.

I just wanna say that i have been watching all the transformers TV shows for years from Generation 1 to Beast Wars to Transformers Armada, and like most critics people have to learn to stop disecting movies down to the last frame. Instead of actually watching the frames, why don't they just pay attention to the plot line, whether it be good or bad. I like the fact that Bay left us fans wanting more, that makes for typical commercialism, so he could make another one.

I mean Megatron always had that deceptful voice with a sense of Charisma, and Class..Hugo Weaving had that.

Nothing could have been better than to bring back the Peter Cullen to do the main voice...atleast Bay knew that he couldnt replace that voice.

Im tired of people saying that it was nothing but a Promo for GM. Each Autobot fit their Car characteristic perfectly, so what if they were all GM cars...i like fords and GM cars.. atleast they weren't some honda or some foreign piece of shit.

I mean sure they did do some replacements like Frenzy being the entire boombox instead of being a tape....plus replaceing Soundwave...but honestly how many cassete tapes do you still see around anyway.

As for the Action scenes...they were great...fuck the seconds on the frame, Bay had you at the end of your seat the whole time. Starting with Blackout destroying the Base to the car chase between Bumblebee and Barricade, which was my favorite i might add.

The humans had to be in the movie to help move the movie along. I don't know if the Visitor remembers characters like Spike, Sparkplug, and Daniel(from the first movie) they helped move the TV show around.

For the people who wanted to look just like the 80's WAKE UP!!! if you actually paid attention to the movie it had many relevances to the original series you just weren't paying attention because your too busy criticizing something you couldn't do. I saw a couple of parts that were even taken out of the last movie that were ones i liked.

I am not a Michael Bay fan, and true that some of his movies weren't the most well written, but you must remember Steven Speilberg was also behind the curtain and im sure he put some of his advice in. He made many movies that caught our eye real well.

To the ones who did not like the movie, you all must remember that any movie involving Sci Fi Fiction always gets its fair share of Criticism b/c its not Star Wars, Jurassic Park, or King Kong, but that is b/c we always imagine it as something else. Sure if i was given millions of dollars to make a movie about Transformers i would have done some things different, but don't bust on Bay b/c your own Childhood fantasy wasn't made, just ask for your refund. Theres Millions of different fans out there whos childhood renditions of Transformers would have been different, But let me ask you this Instead of seeing a Saleen Mustang chasing the camaro...think about how it would look to see the Mustang chasing a little Bug....not as intense if you ask me. As a lifelong transformer fan and nerd, i will just say this DREAMWORKS's rendition of Transformers was damn good.

Now that i have bored you with my Comment...right after you have been apparently bored by this non-boring movie...i hope you can sleep tonite knowing that no director will ever get your rendition of Transformers perfect. So next time you go to a movie, instead of Criticizing it, JUST WATCH THE FUCKING MOVIE...

Excellent review, couldn't be more dead-on.

I'm not a huge movie fan, infact I never even knew who Bay was until I went over to IMDB and saw people defending him.

This movie was trash.

I do disagree with the statements about Bad Boys 2 though, I thought it was good :P

He is right. I saw the movie last night and the only good part is the robots and how well they are animated / designed.

I don't want to see a little kid whine about robots destroying the yard when he's getting an artifact in his bedroom that could save mankind. Get the artifact and stop whining about grass. These are massive 20 ton creatures, what do they have to be scared of wether his parents see them or not? Most of all, they shouldn't even care what parents are!

The movie had too much emphasis on army heroism and this little nerd that doesn't know how to run but yet can save the world. Couple that with the Bourne Identity kind of camera action to hide that there's really no action going on, and you have a big flop!

There was so much potential with this movie, and at times you see a glimpse of it, but he completly missed the mark.

I will not add or trash someone else's comments as everyone is entitled to give their own review.

Firstly; before the movie even started, you could feel the crowd was "all for" the show. After the previews, and the beginging of the actual movie, the audience had gotton up and gave the movie a pre-standing ovation. I've never wittnessed this before in my life.

For me, this movie up-held what my childhood ideals were about "Transformers". Yes, a SCI-FI flick based on toys in the 80's, was everything I was expecting and more.

The sex appeal was a bonus and is appealing to both genders. For a SCI-FI movie, the acting was brillant with referrences I won't spoil in here - but comedy at its best! Many times I can recall where the entire theatre was laughing out loud and cheering.

Now, as for the transformers. I'm glad Bay didn't waste time building character relationships between the Deceptacons, because for those who know the cartoon all know their story. Let's face it, the good guys usually win anyways and is what everyone is hoping for to win. So the Auto Bots, what can I say. I thought Bay did a great job overall! The character building phase was priceless! especially at the boy's house!

Overall a 98% rating for me.

The 2% is accountable for the fuck up on Brawl's name and the fact that there too much advertising going on in the movie. But, that's today society in a nutshell.

Went into this with lowered expectations. I'm a huge fan of the original cartoon (was 6yrs old) and am a 'fanboy' for it. I realized they needed to change some of the canon for it to work in 2007 instead of 1984. I knew Megatron would not be a gun, that the robots would not truely look like themselves. I was prepared for the worst.

What i got was one hell of an amazing movie that i thoroughly enjoyed and left completely satisfied with what i saw. I guess most of it stems from my devotion of Optimus. Bringing Peter Cullen in to voice him was so obvious and brought back every feeling i had for his courage and sence of honour.

Are the Michael Bay quirks in this movie? Yes... but compared to past flicks he toned it down. The military propoganda, id be the first to say its way overdone in all his past films to the point of ridiculousness. But it works for THIS movie and the Decepticons still make short work of the military in short order. The set peices worked.

For those of you who came into the movie looking to hate it simply because its Bay, why'd you waste your money. I went in knowing it wasn't going to be 1984. I came out thinking this is the best movie i've seen since Pirates 1.

PS-i cannot remember the last time i left a movie theater with people massively clapping at the end of a film. It happened last night. So im sure im not alone in this.

For anyone interested, there is some further interesting discussion about the film here...

http://www.flickfilosopher.com/blog/2007/07/transformers_review.html

This movie fucking ROX, I was blown away by it. Ive been a transformers fan since I could see and i went into this movie expecting it to bomb and be crap. But it didnt.

this movie starts off as a fast paced action fandango and doesnt stop. The author of this review is obviously a 400 pound uber geek who is pissed because his favorite transformer wasnt in the movie and likes to bash Micheal Bay because he secretly wants to sleep with him.

This movie is awesome. Best movie Ever. The combat sequences between the transformers was so pimp i think i creamed my pants. Nothing like watching Prime transform while bombing down the highway at 100mph and start scrapping with decepticons. Awesome.

best quote ever:

Jazz: "You want a piece of me?!"
Megatron: "No.. I want TWO (rips jazz in half)"

soooo wikkid.

Slapstick comedy has always been a part of transformers. Obviously this review author has never watched transformers if he thinks jokes about lubricant and engine parts are out of place.

anyway see the movie it was great.

to the author, Quit life your a waste of space.

The animation/cg was extremely good. The story was shite. Don't tell me about the director and his 'interpretation', I don't care who made it or what I should expect from them. All I should have to expect is a good movie.

How do you make transformers boring? How was it even possible to ruin it? Spend the money on the homeless instead of making sequels.

BTW, not everything is about politics people.

Someone please tell me that was just a bad dream! This is a classic case where 3 hours could have been cut short to 1 and a half. The story was a complete disgrace the action made me dizzy. Who's the idiot that keeps allowing hard to follow CG graphics into movies with horrible story lines????? QUIT I say!

this review sucks. Tranformers was great and so was Bad Boys 2. Enjoyed every minute of it. Best movie EVER!!!!

My opinion...the abridged version...
Review was fairly accurate, leave out the politics, Bay bashing and "who gives a fuck new brutalism" quotes...
Megan Fox is hot. Period.
The acting sucked ass.
Not enough transforming for a movie called "Transformers"
Forget the cartoon, this is Transformers in name only.
Not completely boring, but I did not worry about missing anything when I left to take a piss.
The human acting was cartoon like..like Scooby Doo characters...movie probably would've been decent if it was cell shaded...
Hasbro will make billions on the licensing and revived Transformer Toy sales.
OK, which was it? The longest US Army recruitment ad or General Motors commercial....ever?

I can respect everyone's right to an opinion. If you like the movie great, if you hate the movie great. You are entitled to your opinion. But please put things in perspective.... this movie is based on a line of toys and a cartoon.... What do you expect SHAKESPEARE? People really take themselves too seriously these days, it's meant for entertainment, and leave it at that. It wasn't meant to change your life or make you a better person. It's for entertainment. Think back to the original cartoon, was the dialogue thought provoking and deep? If you anwer Yes... don't go see the movie... If you answered No... go see it. It's alot of fun.

IF YOU LOVE STUPID DUMBED DOWN MOVIES ...YOU WILL LOVE THIS ONE!!!!!!

Main critisisms:
--Terrible action scenes
--To many humans not enough machines
--Dumbed down plot nothing exciting(i could think of several cartoon episodes which were better)
--Dumbed acting and even dumber robots of whom we rarely ever saw doing anything intelligent or "sentient" to deserve their existence

These days movie makers just take the name of a really old and good cartoon/movie franchise and then "guess" what would make it better..completely ignoring what actually happens in the book or in the original version .

So go on support the cuurent trend in making dumb movies!!i don't know how much more you guys can take but i'm not wasting my money on more crap like this just coz of the name.

Like most reviewers, I do not think that you have the bravery to claim a movie was good, fun, and entertaining. I believe that Transformers did just that for me, and I look forward to the next.

Thank you Michael Bay.

-Kreg

I found a website like movie poop shoot! seriously, this movie was great, your all a bunch of tards that probably dont even remember the original cartoon. This movie was right on the money, great story, great effects, great acting...

Have fun in your moms basements losers!

I thought the movie was entertaining the the humor was pretty darn funny. The special effects were amazing. I grew up with transformers and I have to tell you , I am not all too dissappointed. 3 1/2 stars out of 5!!!!!!!

The reviewer obviously did NOT watch the movie and is full of crap. Twitchfilm, please fire this hater because he made the credibility of your website extremely low in my eyes and in the eyes of everyone else. I will never take any reviews from this website into account ever again.

What is happening to Hollywood? I spent most of my childhood in the movie theaters getting lost in adventures and coming out wanting my life to be just as exciting as what I had just witnessed on the silver screen. When I saw the previews to this film I was excited. I thought to myself, "Finally! A movie that is going to have lots of cool, fun adventure!" By the time I got to about 30 minutes from the finish I just wanted it to end as quickly as possible so I could return to my boring life and do something more worthwhile.

This film was so depressingly horrible! Here are some of the things that just made me want to bang my head against the wall - a main character that stutters and mumbles so badly its annoying - the robots can transform so quickly into the cars they can do it while in mid-jump (which was very cool), yet it takes them ages to transform back into robots (except for the jet) - a ridiculously stupid group of agents called Sector 7 - the over usage of someone grandly announcing that "what you are about to see is "highly classified"" - soldiers using handheld radios that they just pickup from some store and are astonishingly able to communicate with jet fighter pilots (magically knowing their call signs???) - that ridiculously long and mind-bogglingly annoying scene where Sam goes back home to look for the glasses where he has a "who can speak more loudly and more frantic" contest with his parents while the Autobots try not to be seen in the backyard - reconfiguring a computer to hook up to ancient commo equipment so that the "SEC DEF" can send a morse code message to some Air Force tower to scramble the jets - and a drive from Hoover Dam to downtown Los Angeles that somehow takes like no time at all (when anyone who has lived in that area and has actually driven that distance knows it would take about 5 hours to get just to the outskirts of Los Angeles and then another 2 hours to get through the traffic to downtown).

Oh, the list goes on and on and I'm not normally the kind of guy that picks movies apart. I for one think that Michael Bay should receive some sort of punishment for ruining what had the promise to be a very impressive movie (take away his right to produce anything for a decade or something like that).

I find it funny how the original review (The Visitor) is more focused on anti- Michael Bay, Anti-Bush. The reviews is boring and full of fud as it is more an outcry of personal opinion on real life people than it is on the actual movie itself.

(1) It is a movie based on a cartoon for little kids. The key word here is LITTLE KIDS. Little kids like to be entertained and do not need 45 minutes of background dialog to "establish characters and plot" they want action. Period. Know your market. The target market is NOT 30 year old wash ups who still live in the basement of their parent's house trying to relive their child hood memories of "more than meets the eye". They are targeting a "mainstream" all age market who want to see a funny, action packed, entertaining summer flick. They succeeded in doing exactly that. It is a very entertaining movie and worth to see as long as your not some wannabe film director who is "looking for their view of cineamatic genius". We are talking Transformers here not a documentary on the life span of the dung beetle.
(2) The original review is biased because it is glaring apparent how the original review spends most of it's time telling us how action scenes "should be". Bah. The "shaky action" is a trend that is being used lately in movies. Why? it works for what they wanted to achieve. How do we know it works? Look at the movies that contain the "shaky action" shots and then look at how much money they have made. Then look at the movies who spend 45 minutes with filler character development (boring) in an action movie and you will see most of those are on the "flop" list. In other words "The Visitor's" opinion of cinema style directing contradicts the end goal. PROFIT. Michael Bay makes a profit. How? Proceeds. And that can determine what the average joe likes or dislikes because if they don't like it they wouldn't pay to see it.
(3) The movie itself is a good movie. Worth the money to see. Worth the money to buy when it comes out on DVD. It is a summer movie action flick, simply put. It is designed to entertain you from beginning to end whether it is "robot fighting" or slap-stick comedy, it doesn't have any moments that drag. It flows rather well.

The original review by "The Visitor" is a good example of what happens when a person tends to take personal views, and opinions and lets them influence their professional opinion. This review is more of a soap box platform form for Michael Bay bashing and Bush bashing and doesn't focus on the real substance of the topic. The Movie itself.

In other words the worst thing about the Movie is this review itself. Chock full of personal outcry and angst and slap full of fud and filler. half the review is full of uneeded "character development" about how Michael Bay sucks and how Bad BOys II sucks and how Pro-Bush The Visitor feels this movie is when he forgot to actually WATCH the original cartoon and realize that phrase is from the ORGINAL CARTOON.

I think in the future The Visitor should quit wasting people's time with unwanted and worthless "character development" and fud and actually try to write a comprehensive REVIEW of the actual movie. Here let me simplify it.

TRANSFORMERS - THE MOVIE SUMMARY
The special effects are top notch and seemless.
The actions scenes are well thought out and "realistic".
The comedy is a good way to entertain people in between the action parts of the movie.
They left room to film a sequel (which is nice).
The movie is very entertaining for a SCIENCE FICTION action summer movie.
The voices are very close to the originals for the characters.
THe one disappointment for die hard fans may be that Hellscream wasn't in the movie.

In closing I would highly recommend seeing the movie for yourself and get your own opinion then listen to the advice of someone who thinks a review should be based mainly on who the director is and is contradictary is saying things like "bad character development and needs more robot fighting". If the robots are fighting all the time how can any character development take place? Who cares if Michael Bay directed it? Who cares about Bad Boys II? This is Transformers. Did the Vistor see Will Smith anywhere in this movie?

Bah another 5 minutes on the internet wasted on yet another "reviewer" whos poltical and personal opinions are more discussed then the actual movie.

I give "The Visitor" two thumbs down. He wasted too much time trying to "develop his character" of the Evil Michael Bay and his previous movies, a cut and paste quote of another person's opinion of the new style of "action shots" and taking un researched jabs at thinking this movie is influenced by the "bush administration".

I would suggest next time before actually seeing the movie forgot your personal grievances about a director, or your political stance and actually watch the damn movie then talk about the MOVIE since that is the topic instead of giving us paragraphs of why in YOUR OPINION Michael Bay and George Bush are "EVIL". Also do a little more research on "phrases" in movies and see if they are "historic (as in this case) and not influenced by current events.

PS: You may feel Michael Bay is terrible but each of his movies has grossed millions and he was sought out to direct this one. Also you failed to mention Steven Spielberg completely in your review. Bad Character development. A leading person that influenced this movie and not even a mention. Tsk Tsk.

Try finding another venue to express your personal dislikes next time. A review was wanted, not a soapbox tempertantrum of why all movies by Michael Bay are terrible. If you wish to waste the review talking about Michael Bay then just write a review on Michael Bay.

Bah, fud.

Good Summer Action Flick. If you are looking to be entertained this is the movie. If you are looking for 2 hours of "artsy fartsy" directing and monotone character development this movie is not for your. If you are wanting 2 hours of non-stop CGI cartoon "robot fighting" this movie is not for you. If you are looking for political stances in a movie this one is NOT for you.

Simply put it is a Sci-Fi Summer action flick that keeps a good pace throughout and worth the money if you go in with NO EXPECTATIONS.

First off, no movie will ever be as good as the original cartoon it is made after. If you walked into this movie expecting it to be exactly like the cartoon then just stick to the cartoon. Also as far as the action, if Bay had made this movie action packed all of the haters out there would have loved it but would you care for the next one? The ending obviously reveals there is more to come, this was just a start. And what an awsome start. I am sure the next movie will have all of the action packed scenes everyone is bitching weren't in this movie. So just take the movie for what it is, a great modern CG movie, and watch it develop. I'm sure when the next one comes out all of you whiners will change your minds.

Big. Ass. Robots. Fighting. Each. Other. What more do you f'n need?

Some little things that I liked about the film:

The way they had the Autobots riding around in convoys and hanging out in groups as cars was straight up old-school Transformers. It used to crack me up how they rode around as "vehicles" for no particular reason at all; the only reason was so they could transform every episode. I think everyone that watched this show as a kid knows what I mean. The only thing missing is the horrid 80's jazz/funk/metal background music that played when the camera would pan around. Maybe Bay should bust that out for the sequel, lol.
The transformations were better that I expected; hearing the old-school sound effects was a great touch.

A mustang chasing a camaro and then BOTH transforming into big ass robots and fighting each other = the baddest film in some years in terms of action. Can't wait to watch this in HD as the projector was kind of crappy at the place I went to.

I couldn't even remember what Prime's voice sounded like until I heard Mr. Cullen speak for the first time. Instant nostalgia.

One teensy weensy gripe...I wish that some of the bots didn't die so soon...I wanted to see some of them in the sequel!!(you already know they're making another one).

WHY WAS THIS MOVIE NOT MADE FOR IMAX???? DO YOU KNOW HOW CRAZY THE SCALE WOULD HAVE BEEN ON THAT SCREEN???

Overall, this movie WAS NOT boring. Any lull in action just made the action sequences better when they appeared. I've never seen so many people walking out of the theater with looks of genuine satisfaction on their faces...even people ages 50 and up were gushing about how exciting it was. And the applause thing, it happened THROUGHOUT the film, not just at the end. If you are going to gain a deeper understanding of a world where humans and robots (big ass, badass robots) could possibly coexist, don't waste your time. You'll save seats for those of us that are down for some good ol' mindless entertainment.

Transformers was a brilliant piece of story telling. It may not have worked well as an intellectual piece on the surface but what was running deeper was a set of strongly interconnected ideologies signified by myriad signs. Almost every shot, every character, every interaction, everything rang as being purposefully and deliberately crafted. There is some intelligence in its design. I'm surprised many more people haven't picked up on this. I would highly encourage a formal critique and analysis of this film.

I saw it last night and really enjoyed it. Not boring at all, as some have said. There was room for improvement in some areas(Sam's parents were annoying, the hackers in the movie were totally forgettable) but overall it brought back fond memories of watching the cartoon as a kid and was alot of fun. The robots had personality, the main human characters were fine, and Megan Fox is wonderful eye candy. Anyone complaining that the transformers were to stylized and not close enough to the original is a baboon. This is a live action movie, people. If Optimus had obvious windshield wipers across his chest it would have looked ridiculous. And if Megatron had transformed into a big gun...oh my. What works in a cartoon doesn't necessarily work on the big screen. Overall, 2 thumbs up for me and I wasn't expecting a whole lot before I saw it. I was pleasantly surprised.

My six year old grandson thought it was fantastic. I was bored to tears. Of course, even as a Saturday morning cartoon Transformers was boring and without much merit. Just don't go expecting a great Sci Fi movie.

Parents, be prepared to explain to your small children what masturbation is, after the mother in the movie asks her son if he is masturbating. I'm sure someone behind this movie thought that would be funny, but I don't think alot of parents will be laughing.
Other then that idiotic line in the movie, the movie wasn't too bad, but not great.

I have to agree that this movie is snore inducing in a really desperate to please morons sort of way. I read an interview with Micheal bay that featured him ranting about how funny he is and how he refuses to stick to the original script and how he is known for making his movies funny. He actully made reference to the masterbation joke from the "film". I have to say that any one who finds humor in the movie is either under the age of 13 or just your average schlub who doesn't really mature mentaly past the age of 13. THis movie is called Transformers but you hardly get a sneak peak of any transformers aside from bumblebee who comes off more like a pet to SPike than an Autobot. I enjoyed some of the muddled action scenes and piss poor battle choreaography, but over all I left thinking..."Nothing really happened in this movie and it took almost three hours to NOT go anywhere". "More than meets the eye?" More like "Not much to meet the eyes". I want to like the movie really I do. I mean the changes made in the design of the robots is actualy great. but damn it. What is this world coming to when movies like this are the standard and people like Micheal Bay are at the top of thier fields.

First off , transformers was action packed. Anybody who says otherwise must be blind or high. That was easily the movie of the summer beating the crap out of shrek 3 spiderman aka mj and pete parker's love story, and pirates 3. I thought michael bay did an awesome job with a hard to direct sci-fi film. Don't listen to these people! Instead, see the movie and judge for yourselves. I can say that whether you followed the cartoon or not, you will definately be entertained.

This movie was BEYOND stupid. Story was horrible. NO action. Retarded lines. Messed up robot names and generations as well as Transformers lore. HORRIBLE flick!

I cannot agree with your review. I felt like I was "At the Movies", 1st time in a LONG time! Went with a lot of friends, place of packed and e had a wonderful time!

Audience was into the film, good time for all. As many said before me, it is a shame you did not have a good time. All movies made do not have to have "Meaning" or "a Message". Sometimes you just go to forgot and have fun and Transformers did it spot on!

You need to lighten up "The Visitor", the world is a nasty place at the moment, just go to a movie and TRY to enjoy the ride.

Cheers!

I seen it again and its even better.the visitor blows. really hes expecting to much that has no place in the film in the first place .the only thing that didnt have enough development in the movie where he decepticon,in my opinion this movie is one of the best action sci- fi movies since terminator2.really some people just need to turn off their brain and enjoy.i think micheal bay brought a child hood dream to life. he used enough elements from the cartoons to satisfy transformers fans but some how developed it better to suit realism with few minor changes .the only changes he made that i didnt like where devestator being a tank and not a fleet of constrution vechicles built together like mega zord.and bumble bee was a comaro instead of a vw bug although a yellow vw bug is right next to the comaro in the used car lot seen.i guess the gm product placement was the reason for that.overall this movie makes you feel like a kid again and i think it takes a very good movie to bring you back there. thanks micheal bay!.....vistor lighten the fuck up.

man this movie was fuckin badass i dont know what the other guys are thinking but i was blown away. ive already seen it twice and i still want to see it again

ps
bad boys 2 is the greatest movie ever

for all these people saying the movie is pro bush.you should watch the scence where a faceless president asks for hos-hos as he hides behind his red socks not really grasping whats going on.makes the guy look like an idot just like you know who.

Pros:

Awesome fight sequences, amazing CG

Cons: Everything else

- Goofy, boring dialogue
- Cheesy one-liners "You are a soldier now!" "I am glad I got in the car"
- Cliche boy gets girl
- Terrible acting by most of the human characters
- Tons of product placements (I think I counted 16)
+ iMac
+ Citigroup
+ Hummer H2
+ Pontiac Solstice
+ The Army
+ The Airforce
+ Xbox
+ Mountain Dew
+ iPod
+ Nokia
+ Mustang
+ eBay
+ GMC TopKick
+ Nerf
+ Furby
+ The Redskins

This movie was a bore. I fell asleep 6-7 times throughout the movie, particularly during the action sequences. The humor, if you would be so kind as to call it that, fell terribly flat and was only able to elicit only the smallest of chuckles. Don't waste your time.

This movie rocks! Enjoy the movie! Why talk crap about the director? Why not just watch the movie and see through CGI's what you imagined before when we are still kids that cars will turn into robots! It did! Thats it!

How much credibility does a person have criticisizing a movie when he admits he was sleeping 6-7 times? Dude, if you don't stop what you're doing to yourself you'll not only go blind but you'll have to shave your palms too.

The movie was awesome. True Transformer fans (of the 80's) this movie is for you. Go see some kick-ass action then buy the DVD.

A.C.T.I.O.N...not comedy, nor drama, nor philisophical, nor historical, nor romantic. Action action action...This site was visited once by me and the last. The reviewer has no credibility. All too obvious. All too political and all too convenient. I bet his review would have been worse if this was in the fall of 2008. BDS. I think the reviewer will know what I mean when I say BDS. BDS...no doubt about it. Heck I'd even bet the reviewer is a fan of Sheehan. If so, that it explains everything. Good Riddens Twitchfilm.net....you lost me forever...and all my friends.

I watched this movie and it made me want more! Transformers 2, 3, 4..... Visitor, u are stupid! I wonder what your going to say when you watch "The Simpsons the movie".... hmmmm... I bet you will talk shit about the director? the characters, i assume are political for you? Wake up man!

cut the crap people!

Box office numbers will speak for themself and they are gonna be massive!

Transformers rule!

first for the visitor and his review did you actually see any of the transformers cartoons?! the part about all sentients right for freedom being from bush? are you that blind ? Optimus Prime sais that throughout the cartoon series. and if you don't know that it's evidence enough for me you are not the person to wright a review about this movie.

for those others saying that it did not live up to your expectations, simple matter, you got older while the "story" did not go watch star wars 4, 5, 6 and try to compare that to the image you had when you first seen the trilogy

Honest review of the "MOVIE" transformers. I took both myself and my kids(4-9)last night to see Transformers.I had read a few reviews before going and everything i had read stipulated that this was a good flick.Upon seeing this movie, i personally agree. Maybe alot of the "enjoyment" factor is based on previous expectations and or experiences, such as the 80's tv show and or the animated movie. I must say that at 39 i just missed out on the "transformer" era in it's headay or i just didn't pay attention and never saw the animated movie.So i went in with no "expectations" and little comparative.I feel like it's important people understand where i was coming from.My kids of course had no clue about transformers before the film. That expelled...we all thought it ROCKED! As another reviewer suggested..it is subjecttive so basically it boils down to just that.If your a diehard fan (i am not..see above)you could nick pick this movie to death based on your "expectations" from your experience with the series and i understand that.If your a movie "guy" and things like storyline and plot and camera angles and depth matter..you too can find fault. but,if your just an "average" movie going person who is looking for a great movie experience filled with one-liners,action,and some good music than this may just be a movie for you.Withhold judgement and try to go in with an open mind and just enjoy this movie for what it really is.Like an old pair of jeans..a little worn, and possibly frayed yet still the the most comfortable pair you have.Go..get lost in it..and enjoy the comfort of a great summer flick.

To the poster re: watching Star Wars 4/5/6 and comparing it to when I was a kid. Yep done that a million times and the original movies just keep getting better and better. The story itself keeps getting better the older I get and each time you watch it you find new layers to the story, many of which I perhaps only understood instinctively rather than intellectually as a kid. With Star Wars you can switch off your brain and enjoy the ride, or you can leave your brain on and there is actually something there.

So I would say that yes you CAN expect some depth from a kids summer movie. There was plenty of rubbish as well, but there was a hell of a lot of thoughtful and exciting kids TV shows and movies when I grew up in the late 70's and early 80's. I feel sorry for slightly younger generations of kids that have grown up during the 90's and 'naughties' with such lowered expectations that they don't even think or realise that they deserve to have more. Box office results have nothing whatsoever to do with the quality of a movie. In this day and age it all too often simply tells you how successful a director is in appealing to the lowest common denominator in an audience, which in this case is some fancy graphics and some mediocre zit jokes.

I saw Star Wars EP4 at the pictures when I was seven and was totally blown away. Maybe kids will be blown away by Transformers too, but mark my words, when they grow up (assuming their mental capacity will mature as well, but perhaps that isn't a given) and they go back to see Transformers again, they aren't going to find much to explore apart from the eye candy.

This is not a personal dig, I respect your opinion, but I honestly don't think that this Transformer's movie can be even remotely compared to the stories that are being told in Star Wars. Fancy CGI sure, but there is no way this Transformers movie will ever be seriously rated next to the Star Wars movies.

*sigh*

I'm afraid all the responses to this review make another reviewer's point crystal clear:

"Based on the evidence of his new movie, "Transformers," Bay is 14 and living in his parent's basement, which is well-stocked with action figures, videogames, a dog-eared copy of Maxim with cover girl Megan Fox, and enough Red Bull to send him to the moon."
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_6281260

I read all the incensed 14 yr old responses to The Visitor and it just makes me more sure Sean Means is correct.

I wasn't hoping for *much*... maybe a movie as pretty as Lost In Space and smarter then Independance Day or Alien v. Predator.

Unfortunately it sounds like it didn't even live up to those low expectations.

I have loved transformers since I was like 5. I was skeptical about this as Mr. Bay was involved, and knew that it would most likely have plenty of military recruiting and GM advertising going on.. but I went hoping the robot fights would distract me from the cheezy one-liners and blatant militarism.

Well it didn't. The robots weren't in robot mode as much as in the cartoons, so it REALLY looked like a two hour car commercial. There were a lot of allusions to the current conflict in the middle east and how "losing isn't an option" and playing up U.S. soldiers as the good guys.

Who would have thought the Autobots would have defeated the Decepticons with a platoon from the Middle East. I mean did the army and GM freaking write this movie? Hot chicks on cars in the sunset. Helicopters flying through sunsets. Man the sun sets a lot in this film.

I went in expecting the worse, and yet the movie managed to be even worse than I was dreading. If only they could cut everything else out but the scenes involving the transformers fighting and maybe I'd watch it again...

Thanks fucking sheeple movie goers, for applausing the 15 min long national guard commercial that ran ahead of time as well..

Cheers Jason, I have to agree with the sheeple comment. The fact that most comments from any one who liked the movie on a whole included words like "ROCKED" and "Owned" speaks volumes about the kind of Simpsons worshipping, super consumer mindless rabble that wrote them. Some one even said "First off , transformers was action packed. Anybody who says otherwise must be blind or high." I sincerely hope that I never visit the part of the world that people like you are allowed to shuffle around making rediculous statements like that. I'm moving to an island where I needn't worry about being disappointed by blockbuster movies falling on their figuratives faces and idiots praising them.

When i left this movie i felt pregnant... It was just so awful. They should forbid Bay to make any other movie. My beloved transformers were turned into boring wuss robots. I was expecting very little ever since i found out bay was directing, but i didn't even get that. They should just re-shoot the whole darn thing... I just cant find the words to say how disappointed i am...

Theorn you're a loser and stay at your island...

"You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things!" Yes, that's Shakespeare, and no, that movie was no Shakespeare. It wasn't even on the level of Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. My six year old loved the movie though. He had to wake me up several times as I was snoring too loudly.
Man, what were you guys doing in the 80's anyway? Masturbating? I don't even remember the Transformers. I guess I was outside playing baseball or nailing the cute girl down the street.
You blocks, you stones! How can you possibly defend the indefensible? That was the worst movie I've seen in quite some time. I mean I wasn't expecting much, and I even got a little bit excited for the first ten minutes of the film, but come on. No amount of weaponry was going to kill those things, but one of the brave villagers is out with his trusty six shooter firing away. The audience laughed during parts of the movie that were not even supposed to be funny. You blocks, you stones! Be gone! Run to your houses (parents' basement) fall upon your knees, Pray to your gods (Bay) to intermit the plague.

i disagree with most of you. Transformers was a fantastic film. Are you guys going to the movies for fun or what. Thie film was a fun ride the whole way through. And whoever it was on this post whinig about the part when the autobot pissed on that guy, you are way too uptight. Stick to movies like License to wed or rattatoulle. If you are not a prude like most of the people posting here, then you'll love it. Go to the movies to have fun not sit there with your nose in the air.

"Freedom is the right of every sentient being" may be Bush-friendly, but it was put in because it was a direct quote from the cartoon. Please get your facts straight before you give a poor review on what you really don't know anything about.

Reading a lot of the previous posts (not all, most gave me a headache), there sure is no shortage of idiocy around here.

Transformers is a big, dumb, funny, action-packed, beautiful, Summer popcorn film. The negativity is not warranted. The movie's a blast.

Why does it suck? Too much humans? Too few robots? 'Cause Michael Bay is isht?!!!!

First of all the battle is on earth, remember the original series... It's also on earth? In the original series and movie there are dialogues in order to establish a reference!!!!!!

I've been to the release and must say i was suprised by the fact that the story has such involvement of the original series. I have the impression this is only an introduction to a line of movies, look at marvell comics.

I must admit that the first action sequence, "the airbase", was disappointing according to trailers, teasers and whatever. Looking at the story-line it was perfect, unknown invasion; powerless; humans are inferieur;... It has impact.

Based on the acting skills, it was imposing due to the fact that actors had small sequences on blue screens. Knowing that upcoming releases are for 80% blue screen motions. The actors gave their best, according to their skills, and deserve their props.

Nevertheless, this movie has too much complicated action sequences to follow on the big screen. So I think it's important to (second) view this in on a smaller screen.
For example:
Sam running around with the cube, suddenly he gets in touch with all sorts of gizmos. Before you know it there is as a green soda-stand shooting up humans for no reason. In this sequence you see Ironhyde flying by shooting, Starscream coming over and so long.
Almost no one noticed it but after a second trial and it was like "woohw that's funny".
There are lots of details lost on big screen...

I think it's important to watch the movie with a minor trail to the past and an open mind to the future.

some of you guys are total nurds i mean you are 30-40 years old and you still remember some of the lines from the first series thats realy sad. but i have to say it was "ok" it was good in some parts but needed a lot of improvement.

The Visitor....your review of Transformers is probably one of the WORST reviews I have ever read. You have NO balance, obviously do not know what you are talking about, and in the midst of that here is an angst-ridden rant that has less to do with the movie itself than your own vague dis-satisfaction (with whatever...you emo).

From your writing:

"Transformers is mind-numbingly boring, consisting largely of many, many minutes of annoying humans talking and talking and talking and … yes, you wish the Autobots would just break their self-imposed rule of not killing humans and just pulverize these puny beings on screen"

Really? Are human characters, reacting in very human ways annoying? This movie is about authority, and when you see the humans on screen scurrying around, implementing increasingly official upon official military/government actions and precautions, it does not seem far-fetched, but rather pretty accurate of the way humans are.

We are opportunistic, smart as individuals yet dumb as a race, and violent. We want power to compensate for our glaring weaknesses, and every powerful nation in the world is constantly on edge in a power struggle to gain dominance.

Were there cheap shots as the Chinese, Russians, etc? Perhaps, but you don't know your history. The Chinese invaded Asia MANY tims (to control the Eurasian continent), the Russians had launch-ready nukes in Cuba aimed at US cities (for what, show-and-tell?), and Iran is threatening its rise as a nuclear power. These are real threats and any unknown military strike on the US would first be assumed to be from one of these super-powers.

"Freedom is the right of all sentient beings" is NOT a pro-Bush statement! Fool, this is from the original TV series. Bay actually mocks Bush's inattentiveness (in the red socks scene) where during the military crisis, he asks for a ding-dong and is doing nothing (this is an accurate, yet cartoonish look at fucking Dubya).

It is clear that you are a cine-snob. You accuse Michael Bay of having no talent and should have nothing to do with movies, or "cinema" as I'm sure you'd like to refer it, and yet, people FLOCK to see these summer blockbusters year after year, and MANY of these are directed by Michael Bay. Are you trying to imply that millions of people, from all over the world are too stupid to appreciate "real" cinema and are deluding themselves when they say they enjoyed themselves?

Movies are for entertainment. You take this movie out of context (did I fucking go to see this movie cause I wanted to learn something about life?). Indie movies with soft centres and intricate character development have their place. This deserves its own place as well./ It was great but needed some backtracking from trying to appeal to the young (toy-buying crowd), and more substantial action climaxes (transformers should be harder to kill, or deaths should have more dramatic appeal).

Buddy, if this is your job (or if you hope that someone will one day pay you for this kind of thing), you will not last and not make a good living.

Your Boorman quotes are out of place and lack style. This is NOT new brutalism, OR, >99% of modern filmmaking is - editing as the tool for storytelling. Choose. Not all classic cinema has stood the test of time, nor should it. Why is something classic automatically superior?

If the movie is exciting, then it is. If it is entertaining (It is) then it is worth the ticket price. It has been long since I have felt like I was actually going to a true movie experience, from the teaser trailers, to the hawt* female lead, to the ever-heightening action and FUCKING COOL and DETAILED transforming sequences which simultaneously satisfied my childhood dream of seeing this in live (CG) action and yet had me wanting more (nice job).

Boy, grow up...listen to dre's advice and LIGHTEN UP.

And to anyone reading this:

GO WATCH THE FUCKING MOVIE WITHOUT A SNOBBY ATTITUDE and you will enjoy yourself. Don't disappoint yourself for missing this summer jewel while it is still hot.

Comon you guys. Stop trying to defend this movie. It's a piece of crap of the darkest kind.

I went to the cinema to see some transformers, cause thats what it says on the fucking title.. TRANSFORMERS!!! And in the teasers and trailers and many many posters they promise you TRANSFORMERS. And when you go to collect you get some humans with their fears and there emotions and whatever. WTF!! If i wanted that i would go see Casablanca 2 or something.

The review writer is right. How is it possible that anyone can manage to make a boring movie about transformers? But that is what has happened. I almost slipped into a deep coma the first hour. After the first hour Optimus Prime FINALLY (there must be a god after all)appeared. After 90 MINUTES we saw Megatron appearing fully on screen for the first time.

Check the title Bay!! It says TRANSFORMERS and TRANSFORMERS is about a battle between autobots and decepticons. That being the case, you CANNOT introduce Megatron and gang after 90 fucking minutes in a movie that is called transformers. Is that so hard to understand?? Did you NOT finish kinder garten????

This movie should have been called "the greatness of humans" or "our great military" or "about a heroic boy". Or maybe "crystine 2" the story about a boy and his car continues... But for heavens sake not transformers, cause the movie is not about transformers.

I watched the movie twice just to be sure. And there's no doubt about it... It really sucks as a transformers movie. The plot should have been simple.. Transformers crashland on earth. Megatron sees potential in this planet and tries to enslave everybody. Human armies are crushed, cities are destroyed. The autobots are earths final hope. Theres a big clash between autobots and decepticons. The autobots are initially defeated. Then Starscream backstabs Megatron and the decepticons are weakened and Prime comes and saves the day. And the only humans in the movie are the ones who are stepped upon or the ones who get blown away. Simple but affective. There was no reason for Bay to try to re-invent the wheel. The moron doesn't have the brains to do so anyways.

And so we have a movie in our hands that is called transformers, but tells the story of a boy and soldiers. Its just sad... Just so sad.

I have to disagree with all negative reviews about this film. First of all, I have been a huge fan of this series since forever and believe me I was very skeptical going into it because lets face it this is the movie of our generation. I was immediately taken by the action of the movie, first, the movie opens with Prime speaking about the war on his world and not long after we see Blackout, the evil decepticon moving towards the airforce base, not fast, not slow but perfect speed with utter confidance knowing that no human can stand in his way. He moves through the suns dreamy image landing on the airforce base and thats when we hear the best movie sound ever...the transformation from helicopter to decepticon. Of course there must be a story and human character development. Why not develop Sams character or bumblebees character, the friendhip between them is perfect. I also thought that the music was perfect for the movie, watching the autobots speed from space into earth with symphonic music in the background made the whole scene seem majestic rather then forced. The only thing I did not like about the movie was Jon Turturos character, I did feel he was overused but that quickly disappeared when Megatron arrived on screen and the crazy battle truly began between autobot and decepticon. I understand that there was a lot of action at the end of the movie and that to some people it seemed garbled but what the hell do you think would happen if 8 massive robots were fighting in a city with streets that arent that wide? I'm sure it would seem quite chaotic. Michael Bay succeeded in my eyes, he stays true to the transformers humour and best of all my favorite character Optimus Prime, he most definetely gives Prime the leadership and Friendship skills that he has in the cartoon. Michael Bay even makes a light reference to Primes Matrix in the film another detail that in my mind gives this movie an A-

I'm no movie critic. But I'm 32 and grew up as a young kid loving the tv show, the movie and the toys. So you could say I'm a Transformers fan. I thought the movie was great, transformers have been at war for millions of years.... Of course they're gonna fight through out the whole movie. That's what they've always done, and that's what they'll always do. The movie was exactly what I expected it to be. Robots battling. So what are people expecting? A love story? Im my wife and I's opinion someone more believable as a teenage girl should have been cast as Sams love interest. Yeah she's only 21 but she looked a heck of a lot more mature then that... No one looked like that when I was in 11th grade in my school???? In our opinion the Australian girl and her should have been switched. Other then that, great movie and I will be buying the dvd.

ok all of you guys, tranfromers was a dumb movie. i love action but lets face it this movie is mostly talk with 2 minutes of fighting for every hour of poor acting/humor and just pain boring parts. the only people who defend this movie a people who mostly had boaring a dull lifes who wanted to remember the countless hours they spent in frount of a TV watching a sucky cartoon. and to those people who wrote this movie will change your life (here or on other reviwes). my life was changed i was 18 bucks poorer and 3 long boaring hours older. i advise anyone who is lucky enough to read this before wasting 3 hours of there life to not watch this large let down of a action movie.

It was a bs love story as a true fan of the cartoon i was let down a chance 4 a big budget special effects money maker. It was always about the war not a geek boy meets hot girl.come on people the effects were always going 2 b good the storyline was bollocks wow his car turns out 2 bumblebee pfff lame the autobots ship crash landing 2 earth wld have been better

This article summed up my thoughts on the movie completely.

If you want to make a movie that will appeal to the average Joe who doesnt give a rat's ass about transformers, THINK UP A NEW IDEA ASSHOLE. Staying halfway true to the original movie [ABOUT THE ROBOTS] and following a story that didnt suck ass would have pleased me rather than this repetitive, mind numbing piece of america's army shit.

Fantastic movie. Action packed, and exciting. I hope to see it become more ruthless in future movies if they plan on it. I think it would be better if the bad guys were more evil. Was hard sometimes not to cheer them on because they were so cool. Felt like I should hate the Decepticons but i didnt, just like the Autobots more. But all in all it was way better than i thought it would be. Going to see it again and buy it dvd for sure.

i saw the movie and it was great...probably because I was not expecting anything because of all these false reviews!!

To those of you stating it was difficult for you to follow the action...do you play video games at all? I don't see how you are interested in this movie if you aren't involved, even slightly, in the gaming industry. I followed the scene perfectly. The theater I saw it in play it on a digital projector...maybe that helped?
$12 for a movie? Man, tickets for my girlfriend and I were $13.
I thought the movie was very good. Did anyone besides me catch some of the references to the original cartoon? Bumblebee was on the lot next to a VW Bug during the car shopping scene. Jazz passed a Porsche dealership before he picked the Solstice. Optimus breaking out the sword to put Bonecrusher to rest.
To the poster who spoke of the garden scene. Put yourself in the shoes of a HS kid who just got his driver's license. Yeah, the fate of the world is in your room somewhere, but you are still thinking about yourself and sex. His thoughts were about getting grounded, a process that would be brought about by disturbing his parents to the point they'd come up to investigate. I can see it.
Though I liked the movie, I wasn't without my own criticisms. I thought Starscream had too big of balls. He was a pansy and a conniver in the series, and I felt he showed a little too much leadership in this movie.
Final thoughts...
Use your own mind and make your own opinions. Nothing you do will ever be praised 100% by others. I felt the movie was true to form, and was very entertained and taken back. I will go see this again, and I will buy this when it comes out on DVD/Blueray. Also, I have a 6 hr. video recorded from 1986 if anyone has a means of transferring it to digital. :)

Ive not seen the film yet so I cant pass judgement on your entire review. But I will say that for starters if you had even the slightest bit of knowledge about your subject you should know that “Freedom is the right of all sentient beings” has been Optimus Prime's motto since Transformers began and isnt a 'Bush-friendly line'...

For those of you who disliked the movie, all I can say is that if you go into the movie with the premature negative attitude you obviously did, of course you're going to dislike it and be overly critical. I've seen it twice now and actually enjoyed it more the second time I saw it. The action glimpses of the autobots fighting early on in the movie only serve to build suspense, and quite frankly, the humour was great. Many of you will be able to relate. The tone of this movie is much lighter than many of you may expect going to see it, and so if you're into darker movies you may be a little disappointed. However, an appropriate amount of character developement and comedy combined with great action make this movie a two thumbs up for me.

Also, bad boys too kicks butt. If you can't appreciate the humour in it, then you should go work night shift in a grave yard somewhere you poor, manically depressed individual.

I saw this movie at a matinee with kids as young as 3 years old. I always think about famlies discussing the movie on the way home. This car ride would have included the topic of masturbation and urinating on someone you don't like. The scenes in question were totally unrelated to the plot. When you look at some of the other slapstick comedy of the film which only a 6 year old could appreciate (like John Toturro's underwear) you ask yourself who is this movie supposed to be targeted at?

It seemed like I was watching 4 different movies. . .

1. A cool Sci-fi Geekfest - the Transformers themselves are great in robot form (as vehicles their a little too "pimp my ride") and I
liked the fights - with the exception of a human being able to kill a robot by placing an objet in the robots chest with nothing but his (the human's) bare hands.

2. A blacksploitive minstral show where Bernie Mack refers to to his mother as "Mammy" and black people communicate by sreaming at each other and run the second they see the police. Is this 2007 or 1907? Not to mention the only transformer to die is the one who downloaded an African American personality off the internet.

3. A very boring military disater movie. The "realism" of the soldiers as characters who miss their wives and babies they've never seen . . . blah blah blah. This subplot disappears for huge sections of the film only to come back lamer and less believable. Our military would get its ass kicked by the transformers end of story.

4. A Power Rangers TV episode. John Toturro's perfomance was like nails on a chalkboard and I think even the Power Rangers crowd found his character completely unbelievable. The autobots also become kindergarten charicatures of themselves when they speak to the humans.

All in all this movie is a letdown. I told my wife that I thought a high school kid could have made a better movie just by cutting the footage differently and getting rid of about 20 minutes of lackluster comedy, stupid bathroom humor and sentimental bullshit. chatter.

What ever happened to the dignity of film?

People are right to criticize producers and directors for ignoring film history and going for pure, mindless entertainment. Films are multi-multi-million dollar creative projects that are stored forever as records of human cultural history. Something like that is worthy of a little attention and quality, and shouldn't be reduced to the level of "money maker" and nothing more.

It's a lie that money-makers have to be awful, and I could site a dozen film references to prove it. Anyone who defends shallow, insulting movies has only a shallow appreciation for cinema and is someone who blindly accepts the "consumer culture" forcing it's way into art.

There's more to life than entertainment and possession, and all things but greed are worthy of dignity.

The kids who were an avid fan of the original cartoon on tv and still are today are grown ups now and I think not expecting another movie with such continually shallow stories. Well what can you expect, the cartoon series itself was really intended for young and tender minds and so is the movie.

I just wanted to address one thing. I have seen alot of comments in here about parents having to explain to their younger children about masturbating and peeing on people. The movie is rated PG-13. If parents took children who were under 13 to this movie and was upset about the before mentioned scenes it is their own damn fault. They were forewarned. I thought those parts of the movie were funny as hell. I guess not everyone has the same sense of humor.

Oh yeah! If any of you have a problem with the US or its Military Force go live somewhere else!!! All Bay did was bring the movie into our time. If you people watched the news you would see there is fighting still going on in Iraq. And besides that let's be realistic, did you honestly think massive ass robots were going to just walk around in a big ass city and the military was just gonna s0it back and watch? I mean really people use your heads.

Some interesting comments here. Allow me to respond.

1. Just because I don't find value in vapid portrayals of real life military heroes doesn't mean I am anti-military. I used to teach on an Army base and many of my fromer students are still in the Middle East or have returned with injuries, horror stories and nightmares. I thank them and their comrades for their service.

I am not opposed to responsible war films. I love films like Blackhawk Down, Letters fro Iwo Jima and Flags of Our Fathers. In my opinion, war is not action/adventure or a good time at the movies. I have a problem with portraying real life military situations as part of a big video game.

The main thrust of my comments were directed at the unravelling military subplots. The soldiers start out as fairly realistic but end up as video game extras. What happened to the soldiers wife and baby after the second act? I turned away for a second and my wife told me I missed the scene where the guy saw his baby.

Also aren't we past the "love it or leave it" stage of debating war and art with war as the subject matter, in 2007 America? The miltary and the government are made up of human beings they make mistakes and sometimes use poor judgement. If you think pointing out those lapses in judgement or group-think policy in the hope of saving lives or avoiding serious injury is un-patriotic, I'd be interested to know what your definition of freedom is. Maybe you need to watch something with a little more ethical depth than Transformers the Movie.

2. The movie is rated PG-13 if you bring a young kid to it what do you expect? How many 13-16 year olds do you know that want to see a movie with their parents that features a scene about a kid getting caught masterbating? What about teenagers on a date? Do you really want your girlfriend wondering if you have a porn collection under your bed while taking in a giant robot movie?

The only way I could see that working is in something like American Pie (it bosts an R rating) where the audience expects it and knows what they're getting into. My issue is not that the scene exists in any movie but that it exists in this movie. Is anyone out there going to argue -

"man, that masturbation arguement really brought the battle between the Autobots and Decepticons into focus for me. If not for that scene I would've been lost."

or

"I loved the funny underwear scene. Up until that point I could've cared less, but when the highschool girl told the funny man to strip . . . I just had to stand up and cheer!"

or

"Bumblebee is so cute if he doesn't like somebody . . . guess what . . . he pees on 'em. I hope the action figure does that."

The masturbation scene was actually kinda funny (mainly because of the actress who played Sam's mom) and played as well as it could have been, but I still think it had no place in the Transformers movie.

I also think the movie may have been shooting for a PG rating and not quite hit the target. There are some very juvenile moments in the film that seemed to be aimed at an audience much younger that 13 years old.

In the final analysis my problem is with the movie's overall unity. Transformers just seemed like it was trying too hard to be all things to all people. I think that the action scenes had they been set up with a tighter plotline could have been part of a movie that would have stood the test of time. The film as it is now is in my opinion the worst kind of disposable entertainment.

Yeah, I'm loser because I didn't like Transformers the movie. That realy hurts. lol

Hey - Just to remind everyone, YOU'RE WATCHING A MOVIE ABOUT A BUNCH OF ALIEN F-ING ROBOTS FROM OUTERSPACE FIGHTING FOR A CUBE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I mean seriously, what's wrong with you people. If you don't like sci-fi action movies, DON'T SEE THEM!!!! And as for racial stereotypes: PLEASE!!! There's more racial stereotypes on CNN than there are in this movie. You people just like to complain about everything and accept nothing. You find enjoyment in destroying the hard work and dedication of other people because you yourself have no talent whatsoever.

Do me a favor, go cook up some Flon, watch "The Hours", sip on Chardonnay and talk about Decartian Philosophy and multi-dimensional mathematical applications to conversational discourse. Exercise those BIG brains of yours and get out of my damn movie theater.

In the meantime, I'm gonna read a maxim and dream about my new Camaro transforming into a huge, oversize alien robot.

Bitches.

Along with the review, let me add that Hasbro (I am assuming own the rights to The Transformers) are equally to blame for this travesty. They let someone near this franchise who obviously had no idea of what the cartoon was about.

This movie was ONE BIG F.UCKING COMMERCIAL. And because of this, characters were butchered - for instance - Bumblebee. Why is he now a Camero? To sell the latest model? And how many times did we have to have "Ebay" mentioned - along with a tranforming Xbox360 console. Pathetic.

And for f.uck's sake - do we need ANOTHER JarJar Binx??? What the hell was Bay thinking with the little robot? And did anyone actually recognise any Transformer from the cartoon? Optimus Prime was the only character somewhat resembling the classic series of the eighties. I mean, did Bay go out of his way to make the Transformers look nothing like they should or transform into completely different vehicles? What was with Megatron? Why is Starscream an F22 now and not an F15?

Way to ruin a great movie...

TL

I THINK EVERY BODY HAS A DIFFRENT TASTE IN MOVIES YOU CANT JUDGE ON YOU I THOUGHT THE MOVIE WAS GREAT AND GOOD FOR THE MONEY 2 HOUR MOVIE FOR THE PRICE OF ONE TICKET AWSOME I HATE TO SAY YOUR REVIEW SUCKS BIG TIME AND MABY BALLS TOO , YOU PROBABLY LIKE CASABLANCA AND DUMB SHIT LIKE THAT.

I just saw this movie and actually felt that I got my money's worth for the first time since Lord of the Rings (of course I paid less for transformers). I was not impressed with Bad Boys, haven't seen Bad Boys 2, and I am not familiar with Bay’s other work. Of course, I came into this movie expecting an action movie based on a sci-fi plot, not a deep-thinker.

The Transformers were seamlessly integrated with the live action, particularly in the high-action scenes. The special effects actually worked to help the movie! The movie actually had an original plot that paid homage to the old transformers cartoons without carbon copying them as almost all of the movies based on pop culture do these days.

Of course the Transformers don't change into the same cars that they did in the cartoons... The show would need to be set in the 80's if that were the case and therefore be lame. The old cartoon transformers changed into a mixture of regular vehicles and spacey looking stuff. They might have been able to make the movie work with retro vehicles mixed with futuristic space stuff, but what they did worked well I thought. The shining Chevy symbol got stuck in my face a little too often, but not enough to wreck the film.

I don't think we should condemn a movie for having a military presence. In a movie about giant alien robots it's hard to avoid the military, and trying to realistically portray war would obviously be a killjoy and lose the movie's target audience. Trying to force movie makers to be ‘responsible’ is both wrong (freedom of expression and all that) and unnecessary (do you really take your moral’s from action movies?) in my opinion.

Despite being someone against the US's current military direction (and most of it's past direction as well) It did not come across as war propaganda to me. On the other hand, what I thought would have been nice would be to see a little (even just token) cooperation from the rest of the world instead of just US Army.

This movie was a pleasant surprise for me, and my wife also enjoyed if, although she is not familiar with Transformers at all. It was worth my 7$ and I will likely buy the DVD when it comes out.

I think our friend Joe Marconi misses the point that reviewers like Crade seem to understand. A review shouldn't be an all or nothing proposition. "It was awesome" or "it sucked" are opinions. In a review you should try to figure out why a film works or doesn't work. Or better yet, discuss the good with the bad, the pros with the cons. Crade I still think the soldeirs became "cookie cutter" characters after the second act but I can see you point.

Now Ben, Joe, I didn't expect "Casablanca" when I went to see Transformers. I wanted to see giant robots blow stuff up and that part of the movie was pretty cool as I've stated twice now. I guess a Maxim cover must have diverted Joe's attention for a moment causing him to miss those parts of my comments (I live with a real woman so I don't really need the cheesecake porn so much). So no, Joe, I don't just look for negative things to point out in movies.

As for racial stereotypes I agree that CNN does a lot to perpetuate them, but the arguement that because they are seen in one place its OK to put them everywhere holds no water. C'mon Joe, "Mammy"? Go find the nearest black woman over 40 and call her Mammy, then see what kind of reaction you get.

My question (as always) is . . . did the racial/sexual/bathroom humor make the movie better? Did "Mammy" make the battles more exciting? Did it make you cheer for the autobots that much more? Not one of the eloquent defenders of this film have been able to give me an example that refutes the my opinion that this film had a lot of poorly executed moments, completley diconnected from the plot, that could have been cut resulting in a better film? If the "mammy moment" made the movie better then say so. Say you disagree with me and explain why, then maybe those "intellectuals" you are so intimidated by might start to take you a little more seriously. Right now, you calling me a "bitch" over the internet or accusing me of liking "Casablanca" (something tells me you probably never saw this film because you are afraid you won't understand it) just makes me that much more embarassed for your parents.

I'm not sure about Ben but I think you can do better Joe. Attack my arguements rather than the personality you conveniently made up for me. In all fairness I have to admit the Chardenay comment was funny (not accurate-I'm a beer drinker-but funny) although I have to stop and ask you here, what the hell is Flon? C'mon Joe, I dare you to put together some solid arguements based on what I wrote. Don't be afraid to dance with the big dogs and earn a little respect rather than barking insults from behind your electronic fence like some kind of intellectual chiuahua.

Here's lookin'at you kid!

"YOU PROBABLY LIKE CASABLANCA AND DUMB SHIT LIKE THAT."

oh dear god. What is Transformers doing to people.

Hey Kyle,

I'll take your challenge and address the comedy in Transformers.

The comic relief in action movies has a purpose (being to relieve tension in the audience to keep them from getting tired and losing interest in the action/plot).

Unfortunately, they never seem to put much effort into making the comic relief for action movies. The intent is not to be truly funny, but enough to crack the tension so they can skip to the next action scene. *Groan* comedy will also serve this purpose, and I think that might be what they were going for with Pacino's role

In terms of stereotypes, there is a difference between making fun of a stereotype and perpetuating it. Making fun of a stereotype points out that the stereotype exists and even often points out how rediculous the stereotype is (if you liked Harold and Kumar you will know what I mean). It does not imply the stereotype is true. Humor that pokes fun at stereotypes still isn't PC, but it's ok in my book.

Unfortunately, the comic relief in transformers, as often seems to be the case in action movies, just wasn't very funny in general.

There were some parts I thought were funny, like the Hacker guy with the dancing game; that cracked me up, especially contrasted against the unrealistically hot hacker heroin.

Did the comic relief make the movie better? Yes; better than going without I think. Would it have been better with funnier, original or smarter comedy? Yes.

I don't think I noticed Casablanca in the movie... Was he a good guy or a bad guy transformer?

ps:
They may have been cookie cutter soldiers, but the movie also talks about how earth is going to be destroyed by war mongering like the transformers world was if people don't smarten up.. So they had some balance.

pps:
bitch! ;)

Crade,

Casablancatron!

Of all the gin joints, in all the world, why did you have to transform into mine?!!!!!

I've always been partial to Sierramadretron myself - -

Crade!

There is someone out there who can sound off like they got a pair. Sadly however, I completely agree w/you about comic relief. I too loved the video game bit and I thought the parents and even Sam had some really funny moments. I thought they were enough. The parts that I pointed out in my earlier posts seemed to be (in my opinion) targeted at viewers under the age of 13. Or just plain stupid for the kind of movie Transformers was trying to be. Don't get me wrong I love stupid humor ATHF is part of my DVD collection and I'm only a little ashamed to admit it.

Here's a new game to play. Since Joe and Ben decided not to take up my challange and discuss the film, rather than bash ersatz intellectual's (I include myself in that number so settle down you modern myth scholars and go back to the D&D; table). The Name of the game is . . . Pick Off The Crap! It works just like a pizza with stuff you hate on it but your hungry so you pick it off.

How would you change Transformers to make it better!

Allow me to start picking off the crap -

Imagine transformers with the following changes (Mike Bey/Bay pay attention here) Imagine the movie we all saw with these changes.

1. John Taturo's sector seven character's scenes cut out. The military catches bumblebee instead. Hopefully with something more convincing than liquid nitro that for some reason Sam is able to run through with no adverse effects. Needless to say BB doesn't need to pee on anybody because his target is off somewhere making a good film like Men of Respect. JT we know you have the chops make Bay/Bey take you off his speed dial.

2. No mastubation scene. Instead the characters refer to the magazines under the bed that were mentioned in an ealier scene.

3. The girl is just a girl who's dad was a mechanic and loved cars. She likes Sam, forget about the whole my dad was a con thing. There are girls who like cars no overexplanation is needed.
If you want to see it work watch an episode of "Rescue Me" on FX.
Then give her an autobot she doesn't have to share.

4. Cut the word Mammy. The only reason I can think Bernie Mac would put that in, was if he felt he was being asked to portray a negative stereotype and wanted to call attention to it. For those who don't know, white performers and later black performers who made fun of African American's in minstral acts were often called "Mammy Singers". "Mammy" is also a term used by white children to refer to slaves or servants who served as their Nannies. Was Mac trying to tell us he felt like the servant of a white child?

5. Cut the soldier characters down to one guy. Let Tyrese have a wife and baby then have him be the only survivor of the desert attack and pair him with prime or Ironhide in the same way Sam interacts with BB. He can give military advice helping the autobots use their weapons and not look stupid shooting grenades at a robot that survived an airstrike. All other soldiers are there for one purpose - - to show that people need the Autobots help because without them we don't stand a chance. The best military Sci-fi film the one this tries to copy every time we see the soldiers - - was JCarpenter's Aliens. That movie works because the soldiers lose.

6. Let the rescue truck actually fix somebody.

7. If you must kill Jazz let him do some serious damage before going out. Otherwise the audience thinks. . . "Gee that guy wasn't so tough I guess they'll be alright without him." Remember when Gandolf fell off the bridge? You were like "Frodo's fucked now" or when Vader was poking Obi Wan's empty cape I was all "how's Luke gonna learn to be a Jedi now? He can't even hit the laser ball with a fuckin' blast shield down!

Jazz's death should have had a similar vibe. If someone thinks it did, let me know, I'm willing to listen.

8. Lose Sam's tree climbing friend? That guy had to be some producer's nephew! He got left at the party and disappeared! WTF!

9. Lose the high school scenes. Not funny and everyone looks old enough to drink at a bar they drove to in a rented car to blow off the stress they built up in their second year of Law school. Have Sam be a 20 something loser who lives in his parents basement reads Maxim and dreams of the intern that he serves at the copy shop where he works.

10. Give the Hacker more to do and make him more capable. They came close in my opinion but just missed the mark. Also pair him with an autobot.

11. Leave the line about the forcefield out if your going to have a human kill a Transformer by "putting something in his chest" with his bare hands. The way the movie stands Megatron could have ruled the world if he had a Hoody . . . the kind you pull over your head, not the kind with the zipper. Then old Navy could have got their product placement in. Maybe the girl could use her mechanical skill and hook megatron up to the cube with jumpercables, after Jazz sacrafices himself to destroy megatron's shield.

These changes would keep the things the movie does well and cut out much of the boring/stupid/offensive parts.

Let's use this website to recreate the transformers into the epic it should have been - - WHAT WOULD YOU DO? The Crap Picking Gauntlet has been thrown! Maybe Bey/Bay will read this and we'll be able to say Beast Wars Rocks . . .sorry . . . ROX as much as Casablanca . . .

Oh and for Joe and Ben another word of advice I've seen Casablanca 3 times and after two of those times I got laid, by real women and I didn't even need to get them drunk on Chardenay. Madeline could explain it to you if she were willing to give you the time of day but I'll leave that ball in her court. Sorry to pull you into this Madeline but these guys need our help.

Basically guys who are dumb and don't know things, are cool until the 3rd year of college. At that time the hot girls and or interesting women like madeline realize that stupid guys will never make money and never stop talking about stupid guy crap. If an interesting/hot woman does take interest in you, after a year or so she will leave you for someone who reads (in addition to Maxim of course) at least 3 magazines or maybe even a book.

Do I even need to say it?

B.I.T - - - No, I don't think I do . . .

wtf...i loved this movie it was amazing, the actors were amazing and the action was amazing...i really dont undertsand how someone would not like this movie...plus there some really hot girls in this movie:D

You're just an idiot... best movie of the summer and you're talking about how your brain's going into auto-pilot??? Maybe you're just a bit slow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I like the idea of discussing the movie at some real level., something deeper than..."DUDE IT WAS THE BEST THING SINCE XBOX or NINTENDO WEE WEE". Unfortunately I'm slacking from work to make this post so I'm not gonna make a huge one like Kyle did. Crade, I don't realy get what your saying. The way I see it you say that the comedy wasn't funny and didn't work. So how is the movie better for it being there? I mean, take a movie like "Saving Private Ryan" There is a good amount of smart humor written into the script to break the tension of a very graphic and yes "action packed" movie about war. That worked well in the way that you seem to think that bay was shooting for in Trannie Formers. I mean if Bay wanted to go so far over the top and be such a funny guy maybe he should have called the Movie Trannie formers. Auto Boobs vs the Deceptithongs. Optimus Pune vs Megathong.....you know? More than meets the Eye? I think that I probably agree with Crade. The movie was O.K. simply because it had a few entertaining action sequences. The attempts at humor were funny to people that either have no brains or are just so crass that they laugh at dumbed down one liners. I think the big difference between people that liked the movie and those who didn't is the movies sense of humor. Some people laugh at gargbage some don't. All of the other plot holes and inconsitancies in this movie would be almost tolerable if You weren't bombarded with The worst side of american "culture" so relentlessly form start to finish.

Transformers what a good summer Movie. It gave you enough action with over doing the conversation and unnecessary b.s. that goes on in between scenes. For people who grew up watching Transformer, you should be pretty impressed with what Michael Bay did. I mean come on, he added as much to their boring story as he could. The graphics were the best I've every seen and its probably taking movie effects to the next level. All of these 30 and 40 year old men are crying over them having human characters building up the movie. Why not? Anyone remember Johnny #5? We all see what happens when you try to build up a movie without minimal help from a regular human character. The movie sucked to high heaven. Bay gave the Transformer fans what they wanted. All these critics who've never made a fucking movie in their life expect this lift changing movie when basically the cartoon was 3 minutes of talking 15 minutes of the Optimus Prime getting his ass kicked and they come back the 5 minutes. Stop Crying!!! The movie was fine! Their going to have a sequel of course. And just like any other movie their going to go deeper in the the Transfomers actual story. Yous midus well go cry over all these dumb blonde white girls falling down in every move when someone is trying to kill them. Cry over people like Tom Cruise being labeled as a freaking action hero when you have guys like Tony Jaa who could destroy him with his arms removed. Michael Bay, great job on Transfomers sir. I'm waiting for the sequel! Let the critics do what they do.