Movie reviews: The Transformers (2007) – Part 14

More than meets the eye is right! Transformers the movie has shocked everyone. The moment it was announced that there would be a Transformers live action movie, it was met with a mixed bag of reactions. The first was excitement that such an awesome franchise would be coming to the silver screen, then there was confusion on how it would look as a live action film, lastly it was fear that it would have the potential to be bad if it weren’t done correctly. After all this was an 80’s cartoon and comic book with a very successful line of toys and other paraphernalia and here it is 2007 where many have forgotten or are unfamiliar with the franchise. There was a lot of room for error. Enter Michael Bay.

Michael Bay, a Transformers fan himself, knew what it would take to make this movie a success. On top of all that he had a personal interest to see Optimus Prime live again. Many fans of the Transformers may remember shedding a tear or two when Optimus died in the original Transformer movie. Optimus is the heart of the franchise brought to life by the outstanding voice acting of Peter Cullen who voiced the mighty Autobot leader in the original series. Bay found a way to keep the heart of the Transformers mythos and provide upgrades necessary to make this film a hit.

In the movie, it speak of an age old struggle between the Autobots led by Prime and the Decepticons led by the evil Megatron that once took place on their planet Cybertron but has now shifted to planet Earth with humanity in the middle. Whether its the Transformers fighting the other Transformers or the Transformers fighting the humans the action is intense. While most will see the movie for the Transformers, the cast is complemented and rounded off with performances by Shia Lebouf, Anthony Anderson, John Voight, John Tuturo, Meagan Fox, Tyrese and several others. The action is epic and the comedy is side splitting. So for those who feel nervous about how the movie will treat the franchise, don’t worry, thanks to Michael Bay and company, Transformer refuses to disappoint. Grab your movie ticket and roll out to see the battle for planet Earth in Transformers the movie.

Movie reviews: The Transformers (2007) – Part 40

TRANSFORM YOUR IMAGINATION.

I walked into the movie theater with my two step-nephews (8 & 9) with the presumption that this movie might have a lot of extreme carnage in it like Spielberg’s last movie that I saw, The War of the Worlds. However, these toys of my youth had transformed themselves into movie stars of my nephew’s youth and I couldn’t resist delving myself into a night of fun with my two hang arounds.

This movie’s content was very smartly crafted by way of remembering who the general audience’s were going to be. It has childish humor, Bumblebee (the Camero) ‘draining’ his fluids on a S7 G-guy. There is enough teenage humor in it, performed by Shia Labeouf, that it reminded me of my younger dating days – if only I had Bumblebee back in those days! And, since it can be classified as a war movie in a variety of ways, it has it’s adult, story behind the story theme.

For instance, “Their War, Our World”, can easily be translated into our, the U.S.’s, war on terror in Iraq. The Autobots are the coalition forces, the Deceptocons are al Quaida, and the USAF soldiers are the Iraqis who are fighting in concert with the coalition forces. There is more to this story than meets the eye, but I’m going to refrain from making this into a political bruhaha.

And that was one of the things that I liked about this movie. It was packed with action, special effects, storyline, acting – and it rolled it all into a way that each age group would be able to enjoy it at their own level.

Now, there is truly no critic like a child critic. I took both of these guys to see Spiderman 3 and not much was said after the movie. However, before we could even walk out of that movie theater it was a complete night and day because every single thing they saw they imagined it would transform into some kind of robot. The soda fountain machine, cars in the parking lot, the stop sign, the stop light, motorcycles, and on and on. The younger of the two asked me what would happen if a house transformed to which I replied that we already have those – they’re called mobile homes. But, by far my personal favorite was also the younger’s imagination at work while at Taco Bell, “What if the cash machine transformed and gave us all money!” If you can capture a child’s imagination like that, then you know this will be a mainstay form of entertainment for years to come.

History Of The Transformers Television Show – The Greatest Cartoon Of The 80’s

The name Transformers has become a common word heard in home all around the world. Most every child has or had a transformer toy at one time or another in their life. There is even a realistic movie now out about these amazing Autobots that transform from vehicles to mighty warriors. They have been around since the early 1980’s and will most likely be around for years to come.

Let’s take a look at how the transformer TV shows got started. The Transformers first showed up on television in 1984 and was instantly a success. Kids from around the world immediately fell in love with these amazing creatures that could transform into mighty Autobots, taking on all the evil in the world as well as their own. Even the voice of Optimus Prime, done by Peter Cullen, became famous with the words “Autobots, transform and roll out!” Optimus Prime is perhaps one of the most favored of the Autobots with his ability to transform from a giant truck to a mighty hero. Kids of all ages still find him the best of the bots today.

The original Transformer television show lasted from 1984 through 1987, and then came Generation 1 which was only aired in Japan. That series lasted from 1987 through 1990. It followed The Transformers with the title of Transformers: Headmasters. There was a spin off from the Japan version in the United States that had the translated title of: Transformers: Super-God Master Force. This lasted for 42 episodes and ended in 1989. The all time hero called Optimus Prime had a new name in this one. He was known as Ginrai, the human trucker that could transform into the prime-like transformer.

The next generation came in 1993 and was called of course: Transformers: Generation 2. This series lasted from 1993 to 1995. This was not really called a series as it was mainly out to promote the new toy line up of the transformers. Beast Wars: Transformers was out in 1996 through 1998. This is one of the most popular versions of the Transformers television show. The show won an Emmy due to the awesome graphics it displayed. The next in line was again in Japan only. It was called Beast Wars and it had 2 series from it. They were called Beast Wars two and Beast Wars Neo. They were aims at the younger generation. Beast wars ran for a total of 43 episodes and Beast Wars Neo went for 35 episodes.

Next up was Beast machine: Transformers which aired from 1999 through 2000. This was a short lived show as it was said that it copied characters from the Beast Wars series. Along came Transformers: Robots in Disguise. This one also ran for just a year 2001 through 2002. This was considered a filler till the next series came along in 2002 called Transformers: Armada. This on ran one year as well and was about a promoting a new toy line up. This is where the mini-cons came out. It made 52 episodes and sparked 2 more series called Energon which aired from 2004 through 2005 with 52 episode and Cybertron which as from 2005 through 2006 with 52 episodes as well.

Yes the transformers are certainly something that you will find in most every home. Their toys can be found all over including in the fast food restaurants as well as most all retailers that carry toys. For the best way to learn the history of the transformers is to get the 20th Anniversary Special Edition Transformers DVD Set. The entire collection is a treasure you will want to have in your video library for the whole family to enjoy.

Movie reviews: The Transformers (2007) – Part 2

This movie was definitely “more than meets the eye!” Sorry, I had to do that. In all seriousness, I was not overly enthused about seeing Transformers, but I am glad that I did. The movie was incredible, and I was very much into it.

The Acting:

Shia LaBeouf was great as Sam Witwicky, the loveable, nerdy guy who gets sucked into the Transformers’ world. Although he plays a nerdy character, he is cute enough that you want him to get the girl, Mikaela Banes (played by Megan Fox). It was refreshing to see a strong female lead. Megan Fox’s character was well developed. She knew about cars and could kick behind. I’d bet on her in any fight. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to act that convincingly when all you have is a blue screen to go by, but these two actors did amazingly well.

The Special Effects:

The special effects were incredible: lots of explosions and action. It was amazing what vehicles the Transformers mimicked: Porshes, Hummers, Helicopters…and wait until you see the main Transformer as a sweet Camaro. I can’t imagine any guy who wont love this movie, just based on the special effects.

Miscellaneous:

The soundtrack was all hard rock and fit well with the action scenes. The personalities of the Transformers themselves were well-developed. The Decepticons were so evil, they almost gave me goosebumps, and I felt as strongly connected to the Autobots as the human characters. The plot was very good, and the movie left no questions unanswered (but also left itself very open to a sequel, especially if you watch through all the credits). My only criticism would be that a few scenes could be edited. It went a little long.

Bottom line: Go see it, if you haven’t already!

Movie reviews: The Transformers (2007) – Part 53

alright, I’ve recently watched Bay’s Transformers and i would have to say that it was quite a show. it was fast and energetic, but i would have to say that it wasn’t quite what i was expecting. it was kinda like a freeze dried version of the old animated transformers movie. they are both so full of violence that it might inspire younger children to harm each other. when the children of years past think of transformers they associate that with fighting. the transformers hide, are deceptive and violent, and not just the “deceptacons”, even the Autobots were like that in a way. most people were thinking that because it doesn’t show any real human fighting then it must be OK for the younger children. but it had a few vulgar jokes that could easily be picked up by younger children inducing a life where vulgarity is OK. its was a great action movie, yet they could have done out with a certain bedroom scene (just to point one out) that didn’t have anything to do with the movie. (searching for the glasses was a main key but the talk about masturbation? that could have been left out and the movie would have been that much better). as i leave on that note i would like to say one more thing. don’t encourage violence in any age. just because they have the toys at home, don’t let them watch it unless they are of specified age that the movie rating gives.

More Than Meets The Eye: The Future of Transformers