Transformers – Blu-ray Disc Review

August 13, 2008 – 12:48 PM - Posted by: Justin Sluss

Tags: Anthony Anderson, BD-Live, Bernie Mac, Bonus View, DreamWorks, Megan Fox, Michael Bay, Paramount, Peter Cullen, Shia LaBeouf, Steven Spielberg

has an average rating of 7.4 on IMDb
1080p in AVC MPEG-4 on a 50gb disc
Dolby TrueHD 5.1
“more than meets the eye” with BD-Live
–
– 2007
– 143 minutes
– DreamWorks (Paramount)
–

Overall Verdict – Very Highly Recommended

Buy it for $22.99 @ Amazon.com

— Review by: Justin Sluss & Brendan Surpless —

The Movie Itself is one that originally made you wonder how that director Michael Bay (known for the horrible “Armageddon“) would helm the feature length film based on the classic animated television series “Transformers?” Well, imagine the shock wave felt around the world when “Transformers” was finally released and, most importantly, that it was a good, no scratch that, a great film. Has the world gone topsy-turvy? “Optimus Prime” (voiced by Peter Cullen who has done the voice for the past roughly 20 years now) speaks to us via voice-over informing us about the battle between the Autobots (good) and the Decepticons (evil). Cybertron (one of the Autobots) has been defeated by Megatron (one of the Decepticons) in a quest for the AllSpark (the AllSpark, essentially, is the force with which mechanical and electronic objects are given life). Megatron, after finding out the AllSpark is on Earth, crash lands in the Arctic. While exploring the Arctic, Captain Archibald WitWicky discovers Megatron and activates Megatron’s navigational system. In the blast of the activation, the location of the AllSpark is imprinted on the eyeglasses of WitWicky. Sector 7, a secret government operation, locates the AllSpark and the Hoover Dam is built around the AllSpark (due to the massive energy the object can yield the Dam was determined to be the only place that could hold its energy in).

We soon flash-forward to present day and are introduced to “Sam Witwicky” (played by Shia LaBeouf). Sam is your average 11th grader who simply wants his first car to be something special simply so he can gain the attention of his crush “Mikaela Banes (played by the gorgeous Megan Fox). Upon receiving his first car (a Camaro), Sam soon realizes that this Camaro isn’t your normal car when the car, after leaving Sam’s house by itself, transformers into Autobot Bumblebee. Sam finds out, after being nearly destroyed by “Barricade” (Deception), that the Autobots are here for the eyeglasses (which Sam tried to sell on eBay of all places). This is where the film turns from a nicely paced film into a rocking roller coaster of a great time when these two forces battle each other in the hopes of gaining this “AllSpark.”

If any of you have sat down and watched ANY Michael Bay film (Bad Boys II, Pearl Harbor, The Island), you should come to the realization that any person has come to. Michael Bay, akin to George Lucas’ ability to tell a story, is great at directing a film built around action. Every action sequence packs that boom and blast of the punches and steps of these gigantic beings adding to a greater sense of reality. And let’s not stop here without mentioning the effects. The fluid transformation of these metal giants looks and feels so real that its obvious that Bay spent numerous days perfecting each little effect. However, as great as Bay is at building his films around action, I must admit his suffers a similar downfall that Lucas does in that his dialogue sequences are well, for lack of a better term, crap.

I’d be too kind a critic to allow a few of the film’s minor faults to go unnoticed. Dialogue, as per the typical Bay film, is horrendous. “You eyeballin’ my piece Fitty Cent?” Sam is told by a cop. Are we serious here? I know Bay is trying to appeal to the common crowd, but come on now. And we have the obvious cliché love story between Sam and Mikaela, but their comments just were so blah. Sam is the typical “nerd” in the film, but just never seems to come off as that “nerd” character. What exactly about him defines him as a “nerd?” Mikaela, as gorgeous as she is in the film, again seems like the too typical Hollywood sex symbol. It just seems like Hollywood (whether they try to bill older actors with younger or similarly aged actors together) just can’t understand what romance is about. – Brendan Surpless

Director Michael Bay who’s very opinionated about his support for Blu-ray and has been since the ill-fated HD-DVD release will certainly be pleased to know that Paramount / DreamWorks have done his film justice. Fans will finally get the chance to see the amazing action-packed thrill ride in the true glory of 1080p Hi-Def with the addition of some next-generation Hi-Res Surround (in the form of Dolby TrueHD). “Transformers” on Blu-ray comes with much anticipation obviously from the film’s Director himself and from the fans. This title is a MUST-SEE / MUST-OWN, hands down! – Justin Sluss

Video Quality on this release is 1080p in AVC MPEG-4 on a BD-50 (50 gigabyte Dual Layered Blu-ray Disc). The original 35mm film negative makes for excellent High Definition here in what appears to be the from same master that the previous HD-DVD release was from. This looks just as good as the original HD-DVD release if not actually better and runs at a very high bitrate using the AVC codec. There are very few (if in fact any) signs of film grain, noise or compression problems present — as this seems to really be using that BD-50 to it’s full extent. The black level is extremely solid, flesh tones are perfect and the color palette is extremely vibrant. The computer animated “Transformers” make for absolute “EYE CANDY” and the same could be said for the new Chevrolet Camaro (“Bumblebee“) and actress Megan Fox. This holds a great amount of detail that at the at the same time doesn’t show off any flaws in the film’s special effects and makes for a virtually flawless Hi-Def presentation. “5 Star Rating” again for this as it still continues to impress me every time I see it — even more-so now on Blu-ray.

Audio Quality on this release is in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround. This serves a great improvement over the original Dolby Digital 5.1 found the the DVD release or even the Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 found on the HD-DVD release which is now obsolete. The film starts up with a massive 5.1 soundscape demo basically in the title sequence and with clear crisp dialogue delivered from “Optimus Prime” (voice by Peter Cullen). Once the action kicks in, which doesn’t take very long in a Michael Bay film it’s purely a tech demo of 5.1 sound and at the same time one amazing audio presentation to accompany the film’s awesome visuals. The mechanical sounds of the “Transformers” transformation process and even basic movements are very lifelike here in the TrueHD. I just felt that was worth noting and one of the major staples of this film. It’s never sounded better except for maybe in a really nice theatrical presentation in say Michael Bay‘s personal home theater maybe… just maybe.

Just as I said back in the day (last year), this definitely gets the job done and is sure to wake the neighbors. After all it IS a Michael Bay film. “Transformers” on Blu-ray earns a perfect “5 Star Rating” for overall audio quality and is easily regarded as “demo material” in my home. The sound here is totally “off the hook” and sure to leave you highly impressed if your player and/or stereo receiver are capable of decoding the TrueHD source.

Bonus Materials are presented in High Definition video using the AVC MPEG-4 codec and Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sound. This release includes two Blu-ray Discs, one with the film as well bonus materials and the other with even more bonus materials.

Disc 1 Bonus Materials:
• Audio Commentary by Director Michael Bay

• Heads Up Display (H.U.D.) Picture-in-Picture video commentary with text trivia tracks. This includes an equal blend of both video commentary and text facts. This feels in ways like a combination of Warner‘s “In-Movie-Experience” and Starz “Trivia Fast Facts.” Also unlike “IME” this doesn’t really feel like it’s being overly used. In fact at times honestly you’ll forget this is even on when you hit a dead space. This actually is a good thing as it gives you time to compute all the information being thrown at you. In the video commentary aspect of things we get tons of “behind the scenes” footage, Interviews with Director Michael Bay, Steven Spielberg and the cast. On the text side of things you’ll be displayed facts not only obviously about the Hasbro “Transformers” toys but also facts about Michael Bay and more. Overall I have to say that Paramount has done a great job bringing these PIP (Picture-In-Picture) features to Blu-ray Disc using Bonus View. One thing to note is that Bonus View requires you have a Blu-ray Disc Player that is “Profile 1.1″ capable.

• BD-Live with Transformers Intelligence Mode includes “Transformation Mode,” “Health Meter,” “Weapon Mode,” “Robot Bio,” “In Scene Indicator,” “Text Ticker” and last “GPS.” This feature allows you to download new bonus content to your Blu-ray Disc Player as long as it’s “Profile 2.0″ capable (such as the PS3).
Disc 2 Bonus Materials:
• “Our World
The Story Sparks (8 minutes)
Human Allies (13 minutes)
I Fight Giant Robots (14 minutes)
Battleground (13 minutes)
• “Their World“
Rise of the Robots (13 minutes)
Autobots Roll Out (20 minutes)
Decepticons Strike (14 minutes)
Inside the Allspark (17 minutes)
• “Transformers Tech Inspector” is an interactive feature that lets you view high def CG models of the “Transformers.” These rotate in a full 360 degree view and really seem 3D as a result. This is very impressive and sure to please the hardcore fans.
• “From Script to Sand: The Skorponok Desert” (9 minutes)
• “Concepts” (2 minutes)
• “Trailers“
Teaser Trailer 1 (1 minute)
Theatrical Trailer 2 (2 minutes)
Theatrical Trailer 4 (2 minutes)

Overall the bonus materials you get here are still “more than meets the eye” as I said about them on the previously released HD-DVD review. The inclusion of BD-Live is very encouraging to see from DreamWorks (Paramount) and the fact they included the Picture-In-Picture track using Bonus View is also very impressive.

Blu-ray Disc packaging:

Screenshots:

NOTE: The full-sized 1920×1080 files are in a .PNG file format and uncompressed. Bare with the slow loading times, keep in mind these files are at least 1MB (1 megabyte) in size each.

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