Transformers
Published July 2, 2011
Film info
- Title Transformers
- Director Michael Bay
- Year 2007
- Run time 2hrs 22m
- Genres Science Fiction, Action, Adventure
- Tagline Their war. Our world.
From director Michael Bay and executive producer Steven Spielberg comes a thrilling battle between the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons. When their epic struggle comes to Earth, all that stands between the Decepticons and ultimate power is a clue held by young Sam Witwicky. Sam and Bumblebee, his robot disguised as a car, are in a heart-pounding race against an enemy unlike anything anyone has seen before.
Live Blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 0:32 | These noises are quite creepy. |
| 2:12 | I so recognised the Osprey from its shadow. Mr C is a bad influence on me. |
| 3:07 | He said: “I just can’t wait to hold my baby girl for the first time.” He’s not going to make it, clearly. |
| 4:56 | It’s like Top Gun. |
| 6:42 | Okay, so I am new to this Transformers business. What if they didn’t have the right parts to pretend to be a helicopter? |
| 8:54 | There’s no way you can fight something like that! |
| 12:08 | Serves him right, he’s a bit of a brat. |
| 14:46 | Cars pick their drivers. Just like Herbie. |
| 16:53 | Their lead is a sound? I can’t see how that is much help. |
| 25:20 | Oh my god, she’s annoying. |
| 26:52 | Why does the car care if he has a girlfriend? |
| 30:53 | “They’re hacking into Air Force One!” |
| 40:27 | It doesn’t look much like a helicopter anymore. Where did the rotor bits go? |
| 44:26 | Planes can fire from the side? |
| 48:22 | “Satan’s Camaro.” |
| 54:58 | The one that turns into a hi-fi has sounded both like ET and a Gremlin. |
| 57:01 | It was a radio and now its a phone? I don’t get it. |
| 1:00:05 | Armageddon! A film reference I get! Woooohoo. |
| 1:01:16 | Scariest tooth fairy ever. |
| 1:02:20 | You know, Shia LaBoeuf looks like David Platt. I can’t unsee it. |
| 1:03:49 | Awkward. |
| 1:06:29 | I always knew eBay would be the downfall of us all. |
| 1:10:44 | Transformer said: “Sorry, my bad.” Hehehe. |
| 1:12:20 | Send the woman to find them, instead of a silly man search. |
| 1:13:21 | Optimus Prime is definitely awesome. |
| 1:28:24 | Where did all the dry ice come from? |
| 1:30:28 | Good grief, no communication at all? No internets? |
| 1:31:31 | There is something ABOVE top secret! |
| 1:35:41 | You can’t roll out on foot. Silly Transformers. |
| 1:39:56 | They are keeping the two strange alien things right next door to each other. Smart. |
| 1:41:34 | I wish my phone did that! Maybe with the next Android upgrade. |
| 1:43:46 | “I’m gonna count to five.” “I’m gonna count to three.” |
| 1:55:56 | It’s hard to feel emotional though. The head of the thing turned into a phone, what’s left of Bumble Bee could turn into something else too. |
| 2:00:14 | It’s all very well Prime coming in to save the day. Where was he earlier? |
| 2:12:30 | Why didn’t they just shove it in his chest in the Hoover Dam? |
| 2:14:16 | He got to hold the baby! I was wrong. |
Thoughts
I have never seen the original Transformers series. In fact, I think my only knowledge of the Transformers concept was a weird plane thing that I inherited as a kid, and about two parts moved to make it into a robot. I’ve heard of Megatron but Mr C laughed a lot when I asked about the Decepticles.
I suspect a lot of people were concerned this would ruin their childhood, and thankfully I cannot say one way or the other, having no knowledge of Transformers before this. It wasn’t a bad film, in fact, I feel like it had the potential to be brilliant, but it was let down in a lot of ways.
There are a gazillion plot holes. I felt like I was forced to suspend my belief on top of the suspended belief that comes with an alien robot story. Too many questions, not enough answers, and checking with Mr C showed some inconsistencies that didn’t exist in the TV show era.
It was hard to engage with the film because neither of the lead characters were particularly nice. He was a brat, although brave. She was clearly just cast because she was thin. Whilst I held some respect for Optimus Prime, who seemed cool (I want one!), it’s also hard to be bothered about robots fighting robots for a cube. Particularly when the solution was what it was.
The CGI though, was incredible. I was so impressed. I had some concerns that the fighting would get a bit confusing, just a mess of metal, and whilst that was the case, it was still some pretty impressive footage. Beautiful cinematography too. Just enough good stuff to outweigh the bad, I think.
Rating: 3 / 5