How do you like your blockbuster movies? If the answer???s loud, fast and full of big robots fighting, then you???re well and truly in luck. For director Michael Bay???s take on Transformers, based on the toys of the same name, delivers just that. And with some style.

The film stars the fast-rising Shia LaBeouf (Disturbia) as Sam, who discovers that his first car has a little more to it when it transforms into an Autobot robot called Bumblebee. Fortunately, the Autobots are the good guys, and following not far behind are a good number more, headed up by Optimus Prime. Against them are the less friendly Decepticons, with Megatron at the helm, and the two sides are set for a frenetic battle right in the middle of Planet Earth.

There???s a plot sitting underneath all of this, but it???s pretty much given with the Transformers movie that it???s just a vehicle to get the film from one set piece to another. And there???s little denying that the action sequences are spectacular. Boasting quite staggering special effects, the on-screen action moves with a pace and ferocity that sometimes makes it hard just to keep up with it all, as mighty robots engage is some quite staggering fights. It???s quite an achievement.

Paving the way for an already-in-production sequel, Transformers has little pretensions about what it???s going to do, and is all the better for it. This is a film about big robots, big fights, big effects and, ultimately, big, dumb grin-inducing fun. What, really, is there not to like? --Jon Foster

This film is the best I have ever seen! With stunning special effects and incredible acting with an exciting plot, this film is one of the best this century! This film will blow you away, even if you weren't a fan of the original cartoon. It may be too scary for children under 12, but when they do see it they will love it! A really good film for adventure and thriller fans. The special features are quite detailed and only appeal to long life transformers fans. But all in all, a great DVD!

Now we all know that films based on toys and games are usually pretty bad to say the least, then along came Transformers. Transformers is an exceptional effort from toy-line and cartoon to live-action on the big screen. Director Michael Bay has forged a masterpiece using CGI to its full potential, and taken some of the brightest young talent under his wing. 21 year old Shia LaBeouf plays Sam Witwicky (brilliantly) who is involved in a war between the evil Decepticons and the heroic Autobots - alien robots who can disguise themselves by transforming into everyday vehicles and machinery. The Decepticons desire control of the All Spark, the object that created their robotic race, with the intention of using it to build an army by giving life to the machines of Earth.
Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, Jon Voight and John Turturro also star, while Peter Cullen returns from the 80's cartoon to voice heroic leader Optimus Prime and Australian star Hugo Weaving (The Matrix, Lord Of The Rings) voices the evil Megatron. Executive producer Steven Spielberg came on board in 2004 and hired Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Micheal Bay for the project in 2005.
The film is an epic 144 minutes, roughly, and an intelligent script tells the story, played out in CGI and live-action, with superb use of sound and vision to ensure that this film never bores or tires us. The scene where Optimus Prime transforms from truck to robot whilst moving on the highway is an astonishing tour-de-force of CGI technology, and shows us just what can be achieved in film making today.

This 2 disc DVD set at ??4.98 is very much a bargain to be had, and if you haven't bought it already then you really must.

Disc 1:
- Commentary by Michael Bay

Disc 2:

OUR WORLD
-- The Story Sparks - Steven Spielberg discusses his love for the
franchise and early concept art for the film. Explores how the
writers adapted the cartoon into a live-action movie and why
Michael Bay is the perfect director for the film.
-- Human Allies - A look at how the actors were selected and their
experiences on the set.
-- I Fight Giant Robots - An exploration of the military training
that Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson underwent for their roles
and the various stunts that the actors were asked to perform.
-- Battleground - A piece on the senior officials from the
Department of Defense and Air Force who consulted on the film
to give it authenticity and the key locations that the U.S.
government provided access to.

THEIR WORLD
-- Rise of the Robots - Explores the interaction between Hasbro
designers and Michael Bay to bring the toy line roaring to life.
-- AUTOBOTS Roll Out - Michael Bay discusses working with Chevy and
its designers and the modifications that were made to the cars
seen in the film.
-- DECEPTICONS Strike - The film's military advisors discuss the
"toys" they allowed the production to borrow: F-22 Raptors,
Ospreys and A-10 Warthogs.
-- Inside the AllSpark - ILM's digital artists discuss the
challenges of bringing the TRANSFORMERS to life.

MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE
-- From Script to Sand: The SKORPONOK Desert Attack - An in-depth
look at the making of this particularly epic and challenging
scene from initial storyboarding through production and visual
effects.
-- Concepts - Early sketch concepts of the robots.
-- Trailers

Essential.

WOW what a great bit of film. Director Michael Bay's biggest and best film yet. It has an all star cast with an amazing production team including Executive producer Steven Speilburg (Indiana Jones) Director Micheal Bay (Armageddon) and Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (Fringe).

If you think this movies for kids think again!!!

Lot's of amazing stunts and tons of action, Transformers is a huge milestone in the film industry.

I resisted going to see this film at the cinema as it didn't seem like my cup of tea. But after a colleague kept going on about how great it was, I gave in and watched it. I wish I hadn't bothered. I really cannot see what all the fuss is about. Now, if you've read any other DVD reviews of mine, you'll know I do like superhero films, sci-fi films etc. But Transformers really left me cold. It didn't keep my interest at all, but I had to watch it through to the end just to see if it got better. I'm afraid it didn't.

There's no doubt that the special effects are impressive - but I just thought this comic book origination didn't translate well to screen. I can't really put my finger on what turned me off, but there was so much about it that had me rolling my eyes (example, the robot that kept using words like 'cool' and 'dude' just made me cringe!) that I honestly can't see what the fuss was about. I was very disappointed; though looking on the bright side at least I didn't pay to go and see it at the cinema!

If you have similar tastes to mine, I really wouldn't bother with this. The only upside to the whole thing was the attractive soldier in it.

2007 has been the year of blockbuster sequels, with Shrek, Harry Potter, Bourne, Pirates and Spider-Man all fighting for number one place.
Many of these titles were quite disappointing when compared with their predecessors too.
The year needed some one-off's to set the balance. Along came the eagerly awaited live-action Transformers movie. I have been a fan of the series for a long time and despite the worries that director Michael Bay may not make this a completely satisfying film, Speilberg was on hand as producer and everything I kept seeing up to the release, from design images to the trailers made, just made me even more excited. There was no doubt that no matter what, this would something big and new.

The movie just blew me away. It was amazing to watch, purely entertaining.
The storyline is about the two factions of a race of alien robots, the Transformers, fighting for control of the Allspark, the ultimate power in the universe and source of their creation. The two factions are made up of the heroic Autobots, led by Optimus Prime and the cruel and vicious Decepticons, led by Megatron. The premise of the movie is that the Allspark has come to Earth and with it, the two warring factions.

The movie starts off with a very impressive sequence in which a Decepticon named Blackout, disguised as a transport helicopter, infiltrates and completely annihilates a military base. The film allows some space for the more human story to develop about a young boy named Sam (played by Shia Laboeuf) is vying to buy his first car and get a girlfriend. The car secretly comes in the form of the Autobot, Bumblebee, who becomes Sam's bodyguard (Sam's grandfather had a clue to the location of the Allspark) and helps him to impress fellow classmate Mikeala (Megan Fox). Now the teenage love story does feel slightly clich??' but it does help add slight depth to the film. There is also quite a realistic subplot involving the military trying to discover exactly what or who attacked their base.
Adding to a slight Speilberg-factor, there is also a secret government group, Sector 7, devoted to monitoring/capturing extra-terrestrial life on Earth, of course in this case, that comes in the form of the Transformers themselves.

It's when Sam and Mikeala are attacked and Bumblebee reveals himself, do things really get going. The remaining Autobots land on Earth (in what I can easily say is one of the best moments of the movie), Bumblebee is captured and the climax builds up to a thrilling final battle in the middle of a populated city.






Truly though, many of the `Human' scenes are fairly tedious and feel like they were put in just to pass time, whilst the Transformers could easily have benefited from more screen time. However, this is made up for by when they actually ARE on screen.
The casting is fairly well done. Shia's reactions on the film are so extreme that, coupled with the amazing effects, you really could believe the events were happening. Megan Fox, tries to act with a little more devotion and depth than she has done previously, but she's mostly there for eye-candy. The film has many notable actors, particularly Jon Voight as the US Secretary of Defence, John Turturro as Sector 7 Agent Simmons and Kevin Dunn and Julie White play Sam's parents brilliantly.
The military actors are handled well enough and there is comedy from the likes of Anthony Anderson and Bernie Mac.
However the real stars, the Transformers come through as very impressive. Given the amount of story they have tried to cram in, the Autobots gets most of the development here, with Peter Cullen returning to his role of Optimus Prime, here making him sound wiser and a little more aware than before, but still the Optimus fans of the original series love. Bumblebee in particular is given alot of expression and personality considering he remains mute for most of the film. Some good comedic moments even come from the Autobots when trying to hide around Sam's house.
Megatron himself is voiced by Hugo Weaving, with a much fiercer, deeper, evil-sounding voice than ever before.

As for effects, they are amazing, the designs of the Transformers are simply the best they have ever had, unlike the blocky shaped robots of the original series, the Transformers actually give the impression of being more complex technological living things and that they can actually transform into what they do. The movements made by them are completely convincing, during the battle scenes they are made to look even more realistic coupled with the 'shaky-cam' technique, having the audience feel they really are watching giant robots battle each other. As for their appearances, Optimus Prime remains very faithful to his original design, with every other Transformer having a completely unique look of their own; the work done on their faces is incredible, allowing for alot of expression. As for the Decepticons, for the first time ever in a Transformers series, they feel frightening, with some truly evil looking appearances, most notably Megatron who looks more like the ultimate incarnation of evil than he ever has done and also he has a very unique alternate mode; that of a Cybertronian alien jet, rather than his ridiculous gun mode of the original series.

The musical score is also extremely well done. Steve Jablonsky gives us a very tense sounding, action orientated theme, with some slight fantasy mixed in (I have bought the official score and it's brilliant), with some themes feeling reminiscent of movies seen before but with something new added.

Micheal Bay has more than surpassed expectations here, providing something easily better than the recent Spider-Man and Pirates movies combined. His sense of direction worked well for a series that was originally made to promote a toyline (meaning complaints about product placement are irrelevant). Though some so-called fans of the original series have plucked and complained over the tiniest little details of the movie, this is nothing new, as complaints about other Transformers series before this (such as Beast Wars, Armada) prove that they are not willing to move out of the 80's. As a fan, I can say, this movie has only strengthened the Transformers mythos, by making it appealable to both fans and newcomers to the franchise.

All-in-all, this was one of the most enjoyable films/blockbusters I have ever seen and would highly recommend viewing to anyone who has heard of it.

I eagerly await the sequel (which the ending leaves a very good opening for).


Pro's and Cons

Pro's

. Some of the best special effects on the screen
. The designs for the robots are some of the most detailed and intricate ever seen
. The transformations look very convincing
. A fairly good cast
. A good soundtrack
. Good action/battle scenes
. Offers something different to the recent blockbuster movies
. Will please most fans of the series

Con's

. Some of the editing feels uneven
. Storyline could use more development
. More time could be spent on the robots themselves

Overall score: 4 stars out of 5