Transformers (Two-Disc Special Edition + BD Live) [Blu-ray] Reviews

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1. AIROLF

   October 1, 2010 at 3:28 am

   Review by AIROLF for The Time Traveler’s Wife
   Rating:
   A good adaptation of one of the best books of our time. This was a hard act to do and the movie did a rather faithful and strong capturing of the spirit of the book if not a play-by-play retelling of it. Having said that, it’s also worth commending the filmmakers on the smoothness with which they handled the disappearance and reappearance of the main character and the CGI that was involved with him dissipating into thin air during his time travels. Eric Bana does justice to Henry, whereas Ron Livingston is perfectly cast in the role of Gomez, Henry’s friend and Claire’s “protector” (in the book Gomez is obsessed with Claire and wished to spend the rest of his life with her, whereas in the movie his relationship isn’t as clearly defined – he is mostly a concerned friend). It’s sad that this movie was shelved for so long and it’s very reassuring to see it do well at the box office (so far the movie has grossed about $30 million domestically and the theater I went to tonight was sold out for the 8 pm showing – always a good sign for a film).

   Disclamer: It’s also worth noting that as a huge fan of the book, my opinion about this movie is rather skewed – I tend to fill in the gaps and care about the characters because the book had done a great job of developing the characters. The movie, however, hardly makes the characters relateable, and someone who sees the movie without having the book as the plot background, might find the Claire-Henry relationship a bit offputting.
   

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2. Chris Pandolfi

   October 1, 2010 at 2:35 am

   Review by Chris Pandolfi for The Time Traveler’s Wife
   Rating:
   While the story for “The Time Traveler’s Wife” is not at all interested in plausibility or logic, it is interested in making an emotional connection with the audience, and so it does. Make no mistake–this adaptation of Audrey Niffenegger’s novel is about as preposterous as it gets, telling the story of a man who can go back and forth through time but lacks the ability to control when he goes and for how long he’ll be gone. There’s no adequate explanation for his condition, and maybe it’s for the best; this a love story, after all, not a supernatural commentary on evolution or expanded consciousness. Besides, if you were to stop for a moment and really think about the idea, the inevitable questions will eventually be so numerous that you’ll end up with a headache. For this particular story, you’ll be much better off just blindly buying into the premise.

   Only then will it be possible to appreciate the more engaging aspects of the story, the most obvious being the romance between the time traveler, Henry DeTamble (Eric Bana), and his wife, Clare Abshire (Rachel McAdams). Actually, it would be more accurate to say that sometimes she’s his wife–it all depends at what point in time the movie shifts to, and there are many of them. They meet back when she was only six years old and playing alone on her family’s vast meadow. From out of nowhere comes a man from the future without any clothes on, and after she gives him his blanket, he tells her that he will officially meet her years later, at which point she will be a college student in a library looking for an art book. You see, during that first encounter, he was older, nearly forty; in the library, he will be younger, say twenty-five or so.

   Anyway, as time goes on for Clare, Henry will repeatedly come into and shift out of her life, and they will fall deeply in love and get married. Imagine what this must be like for Clare, never knowing when her husband will appear and disappear out of thin air like a ghost. One second, he’s there carrying dishes to the table for dinner, and the next second he’s gone, leaving Clare behind to sweep up broken pieces of ceramic. A marriage like this really gives new meaning to the vow, “To have and to hold for all time.”

   One of the unfortunate side effects of his time travelling is that none of his clothes travel with him, so wherever he goes (whenever, rather), he’s forced to steal some by breaking into a store or someone else’s home. And at what age will he be when he gets back? One of the film’s more clever segments incorporates a fair amount of humor and takes place on their wedding day; a younger version of Henry is getting ready for the ceremony, only to disappear in the bathroom. Fortunately, an older version of Henry arrives just in time, albeit with graying hair. This man disappears after the ceremony, right as Clare’s father (Philip Craig) invites them to the dance floor. Fortunately, that’s when the younger Henry returns, and even though he was technically there, he apologizes for missing the wedding.

   I told you this time travel gimmick was better left unquestioned. Attached to it, however, are emotional issues that are genuinely touching, and this definitely includes Henry and Clare’s attempts to have a baby. I will refrain from going into detail here, but here are some questions to think about. Is it reasonable to assume that Henry’s condition can be passed along to his child? If so, then is it fair for that child to even be born? There comes a point when he seeks the help of David Kendrick (Steven Tobolowsky), a geneticist, and while the results of his various tests do little to shed light on why Henry is the way he is, he does play a pivotal role in helping him and Clare conceive. Henry, by the way, tells Dr. Kendrick that his condition is known as chronoimpairment, a term Kendrick has not yet coined.

   One other emotional issue that serves the story well is the broken relationship between Henry and his father, Richard (Arliss Howard), who hasn’t been himself since his wife’s untimely death. Henry was only six at the time, but as a time traveler, he continuously goes back to the days before her death and holds brief conversations with her as a stranger. This naturally begs the question of why he can’t simply prevent her from dying. This itself begs the question of why, “I’ve tried, but there’s nothing I can do,” is the best explanation he has.

   Deep human drama runs through this movie, and that’s what I found the most compelling. Henry’s ability to time travel, however, is conveniently left unexplained. We’re only meant to pay attention to the relationship between Henry and Clare, and indeed, we do. The concept is inherently absurd, but the chemistry between the main characters is not; we able to see them up on screen and actually believe that they’re in love. That’s what’s so fascinating about “The Time Traveler’s Wife”: It’s an absorbing drama based on a premise that’s impossible to take seriously. How did it achieve this? Much like Henry’s condition, it’s probably better to not question it and just accept it for what it is.

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3. Stephen Ashley

   October 1, 2010 at 1:52 am

   Review by Stephen Ashley for The Time Traveler’s Wife
   Rating:
   Review from my wife: It was so compelling and well done, and both my husband and I enjoyed this movie tremendously. The story line was intersting, the characters were really well developed and you really care about them. The acting was excellent, and we found ourselves really pulled in throughout the entire movie.

   Contrary to some of the reviews I read, this movie was easy to follow. I don’t understand what the problem was. I had never read the book, yet it was completely clear what was going on. I don’t get why anyone would have had a problem. Also, there was nothing strange or wrong about the traveller visiting the younger version of his love interest. It was very innocent. One reviewer’s mention that there was no plausible explanation for the lead’s time travel abilities doesn’t make sense to me. There was a very sufficient and even detailed explanation given in the movie. Keep in mind that we’re dealing with a fiction scifi story here, and it was plenty adequate. I found I was able to buy into the concept and really immerse myself, and ultimately I enjoyed the story very much.

   This is a really fine movie, and I’d recommend that anyone who enjoys scifi, time travel or romance view this.

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4. Alex Faber

   October 1, 2010 at 12:53 am

   Review by Alex Faber for Transformers (Two-Disc Special Edition + BD Live) [Blu-ray]
   Rating:
   Growing up in the 80s, I saw the 1986 Transformers movie in the theaters and recently watched it again, and even though I’m in my late 20s now, the movie holds up remarkably well: it has a good pace, great balance of storylines, well-defined characters, and plenty of action that builds towards a monstrous battle that includes a genuine surprise.

   Unfortunately, the Transformers 2007 movie lacks almost all of that. Credit Shia Lebeouf for his role in this movie, because he carries the entire overwrought monster for a good two hours or so, and his ability to do both comedy and drama in a single movie is impressive. And there are many more people here that turn in solid performances, including Megan Fox, his female costar. Beyond that, though, we get a smattering of comedy here and there along with maneuvering, slow reveals, and more buildup, and more, and more until, almost two hours into the movie, we finally see most of the Decepticons, and there is finally a real battle … which lasts for about 15 minutes.

   This movie is big … very big … and the final battle has a lot of action (though Bay’s direction insures that it’s nearly impossible to tell what’s going on a lot of the time). Coupled with some very sophomoric humor, the audience here is clear: it’s young adolescents, fresh out of being tweens, who still want good action and jokes but crave a bigger storyline and higher stakes.

   THE GOOD: Some of the jokes work, and work well. Shia and Megan do a great job in their roles. Seeing Optimus Prime, Jazz, Starscream, and a few other familiar faces gave this Transformers fan a warm feeling.

   THE BAD: You see Autobots play glorified hide and seek with Shia’s parents, a dog pee on a robot, a robot pee on a person, John Turturro stripped down to an undershirt and boxers, enormous plotholes involving the All-Spark, no Dinobots, no real use of Starscream, a completely anticlimactic battle between Optimus and Megatron that ends in an enormously stupid way, two long hours of build-up for one confusing battle, and to top it all off, Anthony Anderson.

   The original Transformers movie was for the fans, then and now. This one’s a dull mess that is for the 2007 box office receipts. Rent it, and then buy the original.

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5. ninjasuperstar

   October 1, 2010 at 12:21 am

   Review by ninjasuperstar for Transformers (Two-Disc Special Edition + BD Live) [Blu-ray]
   Rating:
   Before I relate the film’s many faults, I should first acknowledge the movie’s highly entertaining qualities. First and foremost, the digital rendering of the transformers is spectacular. They move quickly and violently with shiny and shape-shifting certainty, at ease in a manner that the 1980s cartoon could not properly relate. The very concept of the transformers was far beyond hand-drawn animation. The new transformers are truly awesome and majestic in stature. Their capacity for carnage should be the envy of all action movies.

   The cartoon succeeded due heavily to the incredible voice acting. I was pleased that Peter Cullen agreed to lend his booming, voice-of-God talents to the character of Optimus Prime. His talents, however, are not exploited as they should have been. He acts as the film’s narrator, delivering the familiar opening narrative and epilogue I witnessed in nearly every episode of the cartoon. He is the most reflective of all the transformers, yet he is not allowed to relate his wisdom as often as he should have been in this movie.

   One bit of voice acting that bothered me was that of Jazz. In the old cartoon, Jazz was voiced by Scatman Crothers, the caretaker of the hotel in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. The late Crothers’ voice was replaced with a decidedly “urban black hipster” voice (Darius McCrary), which sounded incredibly racist and completely unnecessary. To complete the racial profiling, Jazz can be seen hanging and climbing around the city like a monkey in a jungle. It was painful to watch and halted my suspension of disbelief.

   Further, who decided that the transformers needed to talk like teenagers and crack stupid jokes? They are in a fight for the existence of the universe, yet when Optimus Prime tramples a lawn ornament, he excuses himself, saying, “My bad.” It’s somewhat funny, but I wanted to be concerned about the plot, yet I was constantly sidestepped by ridiculous one-liners and idiocy on the part of this supposedly superior race of organic robots.

   There are far too many human characters taking precedence in this film: too many subplots, too many gorgeous girls, often in unbelievable roles. The only necessary human character is Sam Witwicky (enthusiastically played by Shia LeBeouf). Why did we need a cameo by Bernie Mack? He’s funny, yes, but his character is completely irrelevant. And John Turturro, whom I revere as a great character actor, looks desperate. While incredibly cheesy, Jon Voight manages to act the part of U.S. Secretary of Defense with a slice of dignity.

   Plot holes: Wow, there are so many, I quit bothering with them. The central problem of the entire movie – and one can say this of all of Michael Bay’s films – is that Bay does not trust the subject matter to carry the film. Self-referential comments about his film Armageddon are embarrassing, indeed. And the product placement in this film sometimes takes the viewer so far outside the film that one would think GM engineered the entire narrative to sell gas-guzzling cars.

   I wanted to like this movie, but something was missing. That element of believable science fiction is completely neglected in this film. You only get ten or twenty minutes of fun sci-fi action before some character makes a stupid joke or a plot hole spreads out before you. If there is a sequel to this film (and there should be) and Michael Bay doesn’t direct it (and he shouldn’t), the groundwork is there.

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6. A. Sandoc

   October 1, 2010 at 12:17 am

   Review by A. Sandoc for Transformers (Two-Disc Special Edition + BD Live) [Blu-ray]
   Rating:
   Pretty much almost every male kid who grew up during the 80’s were glued to their TV sets on weekday afternoons watching just one thing. They were watching one of the best cartoon shows on TV which also happened to be Hasbro Toys’ most popular line of toys at that time. I am talking about Transformers. I know I was pretty much hooked on the show with its tale of good versus evil as the noble leader (who also happened to be a Mack truck) Optimus Prime led his Autobots against the evil robot that was Megatron and his Decepticons. It had lots of fighting, explosions and most of all, it had toys of every Transformer in the show for kids to re-enact such battles.

   In 1986 the first Transformers movie (animated) came out and pretty much scarred every kid who was ever a fan of the show for life as their beloved characters actually died on-screen to make way for a new generation of Transformers. Let’s just say that as much as I enjoyed the original movie I also hated it. It is now 2007 and Michael Bay, Steven Spielberg and ILM have concocted a live-action version of Transformers. To say that this movie has erased some of the bad taste left by the first animated film is quite an understatement. What we have in this live-action Transformers is nothing less than pure robot-versus-robot carnage and mayhem done so well that it more than makes up for the weak story and the uneven performances from the cast.

   The movie revolves around the search by both the Autobots and the Decepticons for the all-powerful AllSpark which would grant it’s owner the power to rebuild the dying Cybertron (home world of the Transformers) or remake any planet into a new home. It’s not too difficult to figure out what the Decepticons and their leader Megatron would do once they have it in their possession. As one of the Decepticons would have stencilled on its vehicle mode says: “To punish and enslave”. The AllSpark is really just a MacGuffin which helps tie in the Transformers with the human aspect of the story and that’s the time tested tale of a boy and his car. In this case, it’s Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) and his newly acquired 1974 Camaro who also happens to be the Autobot Bumblebee unbeknownst to him.

   The first third of the film is where this boy and his car theme gets the most laugh as Sam tries to use his new car to get the attention of one Mikaela (played by the ridiculously hot and appropriately named Megan Fox). The laughs come from Bumblebee playing just the right song over the radio to try and bring the two kids together. Usually Michael Bay’s handle on comedy is a tad more cynical and ham-handed which tell me the first third of this film had Steven Spielberg’s influence all over it. One could just substitute E.T. for Bumblebee and Elliott for Sam and it’s not difficult to see.

   This first third also solidifies Shia LaBeouf as the foundation which keeps the movie from just becoming one long robot-on-robot action scene. This kid has some major talent and charisma which shows from the moment he steps on to the screen right up to the final scene with the sun setting in the background. It’s no wonder Spielberg chose him to be in the next Indiana Jones movie. LaBeouf actually makes Sam Witwicky more than the awkward, geeky teen geek and instead makes it believable that he has a weird, charming chance to land the hot Mikaela. It’s LaBeouf’s performance as Saw which pretty much saves the very uneven performance by the rest of the cast.

   Even with LaBeouf’s performance and the funny and cute boy meets car meets girl first reel, people really went to see this movie for one thing and one thing only and that’s the battle between the Autobots and the Decepticons. The humans are there to ground the story in a semblance of reality. But once the two sides begin to arrive and find their Earth forms the movie shifts into nitrous-injected overdrive and doesn’t let up until the very end. People cheered wildly once Optimus Prime appears for the first time with the rest of his crew (Ironhide, Jazz, Ratchet). The cheering went especially wild once optimus spoke for the first time and the original voice was heard (Peter Cullen did the voice for the original cartoon and was hired to do the same for the moive). That scene really brought myself and, most likely, every male in the audience of the same age back 20 years. The Decepticons make their entrance soon after with Megatron (voiced by Hugo Weaving) being the final Transformer to hit the screen. The rest of the movie became one long action sequence after sequence with destruction being the norm.

   This is where Michael Bay’s hand truly shows as his handle on the sturm und drang he’s well-known for matches well with the premise of giant alien robots fighting each other with no thought for collateral damage to populace and property. Unlike, his previous films he actually holds himself back from using his usual tricks of using low-angled slo-mo scenes too much and the ultra quick editing style which makes his movies sometimes difficult to keep up with. Again, it might be Spielberg’s influence in addition to Bay actually growing as a filmmaker to thank for this. The action scenes wouldn’t be as great as it was if it wasn’t for the work of ILM and its team of computer animators. The Autobots and Decepticons look so real that they join Gollum and Davey Jones as fully-realized CGI-characters who blend into the scene as if they’re made of real flesh and blood. In the case of the Transformers made of steel, oil and rubber. Their battles from the Hoover Dam all the way to the nearby Mission City didn’t look artificial. There’s a sense of weight and depth to the battle. It atually looked like the city with it’s small humans was actually being ripped apart by these giant robots. Industrial, Light and Magic truly deserve every award they’ll get come awards time. In the past it was said that a live-action Transformers would come off as cheesy and fake, but technology and the expert use of it by ILM’s team of artisans has made it a reality.

   Transformers really brings the word blockbuster and brings it like storm and thunder. There’s no other way to say it than this was a movie which was a kickass rollercoaster ride with just enough human interaction to keep it from becoming cartoonish. It’s not a perfect film as the weak script and uneven performances by most of the cast would show, but it’s all balanced out by the work put in by Shia LaBeouf and the action scenes with the Transformers that this movie marks the highlight of the 2007 summer blockbuster season. Michael Bay has finally found the one film he looks to be tailor-made to do.

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7. Nathaniel Clark

   September 30, 2010 at 11:31 pm

   Review by Nathaniel Clark for Transformers (Two-Disc Special Edition + BD Live) [Blu-ray]
   Rating:
   Maybe it’s not the best movie as far as dialogue goes, but for being an action movie about robots from outer space, it’s good. The transformations are good enough to not raise doubt about the mechanics of them (which is good for me as an aerospace engineer, because I tend to notice these things). This is the kind of movie that makes large HD televisions and high-quality sound systems worth having.

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8. J. C. Amos

   September 30, 2010 at 11:19 pm

   Review by J. C. Amos for Transformers (Two-Disc Special Edition + BD Live) [Blu-ray]
   Rating:
   For a nerd that used to drool over this show as a kid, this movie hooks you from the very beginning. From Optimus Prime’s summary intro (with Peter Cullen still at the helm of our favorite alien semi) to the Decipticon attack on the military base, you have no doubts that this is Transformers. Shia LaBeouf makes his entrance and proves the perfect part for this movie. He’s actually pretty funny and acts the part well. As far as the rest of the humans in this cast, not as much can be said.

   After the awesome introduction, the first part of the movie deals mainly with Shia LaBeouf’s Sam purchasing a Camaro that actually turns out to be the Autobot Bumblebee (in the cartoon, originally a VW Bug. I think the yellow VW Bug in the car lot next to Bumblebee was a homage.) Sam unknowingly uses his alien car to impress a girl. Of course she actually is impressed when they find out it’s an alien. There are some pretty funny scenes in this part of the movie as well as some action scenes that are very well done.

   Soon comes the arrival of the other Autobots and they reveal to Sam their true purpose, which is to locate the Allspark -a powerful device capable of transforming a planet- before the Decepticons get a hold of it. I thought at this point that the slow parts of the movie were over, but not quite. From here we go into a few too many scenes dealing with side characters, from video game playing computer experts to goofy secret agents whose quirks border slapstick comedy. Too many of these characters could be chalked up as comic relief, and most of what they attributed was not very funny. There was a slightly funny but overly long scene where Sam was trying to hide the autobots while he searched through his house for a relic they needed. And then arrived John Turtorro (playing the said goofy secret agent) whom I love, but who severely overstayed him welcome in this. Other performances, namely John Voight’s, were just plain campy and the cookie cutter dialogue was cringe inducing at times.

   Luckily, I forgot most of that by the time the movie got to its last act. Once the Decepticons arrive in force the movie is a non stop ride of action and jaw dropping effects. While someone who’s not familiar with the characters and story might not care what the outcome is, I found myself with memories as a kid, watching the 1986 movie for the first time. I forgot about the humans and their ho-hum sotrylines as my favorite characters and toys from my childhood crashed and shot and ripped each other apart. I forgot that I was watching CG effects as the transformers look as real as the environment they’re destroying. The action scenes are larger than life and I’m amazed at how well the battles of the cartoons translated onto big screen. The transformers themselves were all very well done, applying actual physics to their transformations and robot appearances. They look real and modern but don’t lose the heart of what the fanboys loved about them from back in the day. And Hugo Weaving as Megatron was genius. I missed hearing the original Starcream, but the original voice actor died many years ago, and the two or three lines Starcream had in this sounded suitable.

   Despite the great flaws in acting, dialogue and script, I left this movie with that rare itch to want to go straight back inside and watch it again. From the previews, it looked like the movie was going to take a realistic perspective and show the warring alien machines from a human point of view. But that’s really not the case at all. In every other Michael Bay movie, the corny dialogue and overdramatic characters ruin an otherwise good premise. But Transformers is based on a cartoon, so why shouldn’t the movie feel like one? Here it works. It’s big, dumb nostalgic fun that the kid in me has been after for 20 years.

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