The smash blockbuster, TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN
finally arrives on Blu-ray and DVD as Director
Michael Bay once again returns us to this incredible universe
that is bigger bolder and better than the original movie. To keep the
consistency of the original 2007 movie, The Transformers, actors
Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Isabel Lucas, Hugo Weaving, Josh Duhamel,
John Turturro and Peter Cullen revisit their characters in this
blockbuster extravaganza. And like the Batman movie, The Dark
Knight, key sequences of this film were shot with IMAX cameras and
even though the quality on Blu-ray is already stunning, when you see
these scenes, the wow factor goes up another notch.
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The movie, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
follows directly from the original 2007 movie, The Transformers,
however the director ensures that there is enough back history for
those who have not seen the original to not be disadvantaged.
However, if you have seen the original movie, it makes the
experience even more entertaining and a true rollercoaster ride.
For the uninitiated, the Transformers are a race of robotic aliens
who have the ability to disguise themselves as cars, trucks and
jets, hence their ability to integrate into our society. In essence
they are shape shifters and when they transform, they become giant
robots which is where the special effects of the movie comes into
play.
With the nefarious and deadly Decepticons being defeated in the
first movie, the Autobots have been working closely with the US
Military to weed out the remnants of the Decepticons. Unfortunately
peace is short lived as Starscream (Charles Adler) takes command of
the Decepticons in order to resurrect their former leader Megatron
(Hugo Weaving) and uncover an ancient secret that will not only see
the destruction of the Autobots but also planet Earth, all under the
auspice of The Fallen (Tony Todd).
From the very first moments of the movie, you immediately know that
you are in for a treat from the spectacular opening sequence which
involves a gigantic battle between the Autobots and the Decepticons
in China. The special effects are of course the star of the movie
and seeing these powerfully huge alien robots transform and battle
each other to victory is reminiscent of the stories from ancient
Greece with gods and other mythological creatures. From here the
story moves onto Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) who is about to move to
College, leaving his parents, his "pet" Autobot Bumblebee (Mark
Ryan) and his perfect girlfriend Mikaela (Megan Fox) behind. Of
course fate intervenes for young Witwicky and a Transformer shard in
his possession is activated which causes him to be directly linked
to ancient Transformer knowledge as he is unwittingly drawn into
the war again.
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In relation to Megan Fox and her titillation factor, Director
Michael Bay ensures that the viewer receives an almost music video
approach to this star from her seductively undressing at the start,
model like poses and sultry pouts throughout the movie. Without sounding crass, even when
the battle heats up, there are plenty of shots of Megans body and
unfortunately Mikaela seems to be along for the ride, offering male
viewers the chance to see her in a variety of outfits on the big
screen. There is a great moment in the movie where Mikaela captures
one of the small Decepticons and this is where her character comes
to life, not to mention the Decepticon humping her leg which was a
great comedic moment.
The first half of the movie sets up the characters in the movie such
as Alice (Australia's Isabel Lucas), a strange yet sensual vixen who
tries to seduce Sam in college to retrieve his ancient knowledge or
the return of more familiar faces such as the former Agent Simmons
(John Turturro) who happens to have the most knowledge on
Earth about Transformers thanks to his previous government agency.
His character also provides some great comedy value with Sam's
college roommate. Add in the Autobot twins and you have enough
comedy littered through the movie to make most people laugh while
their gasping at the action.
The love story between Sam and Mikaela is brought to a new level
which adds in the stress of a long distance relationship and the
clichι of Sam or Mikaela refusing to say "I love you" or Sam's
parents who are looking forward to their new life without Sam,
however deep down, they don't want their son to leave.
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The movie itself is virtually split into two chapters which revolves
around Sam's reluctance to rejoin the war and then his
transformation from unwilling hero to savior of the world. This
unfortunately adds a slightly disjointed perspective on the movie
midway and does make Transformers: Revenge of the
Fallen a little lengthy at times. Thankfully the storyline and
characters will immerse you enough into the story for this not to be
a problem and once again it should be reiterated that this story is
far superior and understandable than the original.
We are also treated to more of the history on the Transformers and
there is a great scene involving the original Primes which adds some
great fanboy fuel to the climatic ending. The battle between Optimis
Prime (Peter Cullen) and Megatron (Hugo Weaving) is definitely the
highlight of the movie as these two adversaries duke it out with
metallic parts flying off each other from every violent punch and
kick. In relation to the ending, the last part of the movie was
filmed in Egypt and Petra as both Autobots and Decepticons engage in
magnificent battle for supremacy as ancient buildings and people are
caught in the crossfire and it's great to see the human forces
"almost" hold their own against the villains. One gripe though,
Petra in Jordon is not a car drive away from the Gaza where the
pyramids are located outside of Cairo. Of course you need to suspend belief of giant
robots as well!
The video quality on Blu-ray is full HD and looks spectacular on our
LG high definition TV. Match that with true HD 5.1 Dolby Digital
sound and hearing the battles or those Transformers "transform" and
it's truly a treat for all the senses. The transfer to Blu-ray is
perfect and we could not detect any issues whatsoever with strong
black levels, perfect colours and sharp images. Apart from the great
movie, the Blu-ray version features the definitive collection of
special features from in-depth commentary by Michael Bay, a plethora
of featurettes, music videos, marketing information and even some
really cool 3D models of the Transformers and this is one mighty
impressive collection of special features.
Final thoughts
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen may not be the perfect movie but
for an action flick, it's pretty damn close as it contains all the
elements from drama, action, comedy and romance, all set in the
amazing mythology of The Transformers. It's refreshing and partly
cool to see a
movie that makes mention of President Obama and even the sensationalised swine flu, ensuring that the film mirrors the
real-world, assisting in throwing all your disbelief out the window
of giant robots for a couple of hours.
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Of
course, on Blu-ray, like IMAX, the movie looks quite
spectacular which features a fun story, great special effects and
some truly riveting special features. This is one Blu-ray disc that
is a must have for any collection. Highly Recommended by Impulse
Gamer!
Special Features
Disc One:
Disc Two:
-
The Human Factor: Exacting Revenge
of the Fallen This multi-chapter documentary chronicles the
entire creation of the film and includes interviews with the
cast and crew:
-
Seeds of Vengeance: Development and
Design - After the overwhelming success of 2007's Transformers,
how do the filmmakers top themselves for the sequel?
-
Domestic Destruction Production:
United States - Michael Bay believes in going big: Big action
and big explosions. Cast and crew are pushed to the limit as
they traverse the U.S. from New Mexico to Pennsylvania
-
Joint Operations Production:
Military - No other filmmaker in the world enjoys the kind of
military access and cooperation Michael Bay has. Here we see
just how efficient our armed forces are and the awe and respect
shown by the cast
-
Wonders of the World Production:
Middle East - You can't really reproduce Egypt anywhere but
Egypt so off we go to Giza and Luxor
-
Start Making Sense: Editing - In
order to turn over the massive amount of film as quickly as
possible to VFX, four editors work tirelessly in a unique
tag-team approach to shape the film
-
Under the Gun: Visual Effects
Revenge of the Fallenfeatures the most complicated VFX in film
history. So complicated in fact that the filmmakers were unsure
they would make the deadline. The DEVASTATOR VFX alone required
83% of ILM's total render farm capacity
-
Running the Gauntlet:
Post-Production and Release: - Working seven days a week,
Michael Bay and company usher the film through sound design,
Digital Intermediate color-timing and a globe-trotting whirlwind
of premieres
-
A Day with Bay: Tokyo An intimate
and fun all-access journey with Michael Bay as he travels to
Tokyo, Japan tor the world premiere of the biggest film of the
year
-
25 Years of TRANSFORMERS Access
an all-new featurette celebrating a monumental milestone for one
of Hasbro's most successful and popular franchises
-
NEST: Transformer Data-Hub
Explore conceptual artwork created by the production for 12 of
the most popular AUTOBOTS and DECEPTICONS from the film
-
Deconstructing Visual Bayhem with
Commentary by Pre-Vis Supervisor Steve Yamamoto A series of
multi-angle pre-visualization sequences allowing viewers to
learn how some of the film's most spectacular scenes were
created with an introduction by Michael Bay.
-
Extended Scenes
-
Music Video: "New Divide" by Linkin
Park
Blu-ray Exclusive
-
The ALLSPARK Experiment Viewers
get their chance to unleash the power of the recently recovered
ALLSPARK shard on Earth vehicles. Begin by selecting and
customizing a vehicle with a selection of parts and accessories.
Then apply the ALLSPARK to this creation and watch what happens.
Applying the ALLSPARK to certain custom combinations enables
four new robot characters with special powers. If viewers
discover all four, they unlock a fifth vehicle, which reveals a
top secret message about the future of the TRANSFORMERS movie
franchise
-
NEST: Transformer Data-Hub A
database of some of the TRANSFORMERS characters that appear in
the new film, offering users access to each robot's confidential
file including:
- Innovative 3-D spin galleries of each robot
- A timeline for each TRANSFORMERS character charting its
origins, back story and design evolution from toys to animated
series to comics and finally feature films
-
Giant Effing Movie A very
personal look at the making of the movie
-
The Matrix of Marketing An
archive of the film's promotional media including trailers,
posters and television spots.
