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Transformers (2007)

Director: Michael Bay

Time Out rating

Average user rating

149 reviews

Synopsis

Based on the hugely popular cartoon and toy range from the 1980s, ‘Transformers’ revolves around a war between two sets of robots for supremacy on earth. Optimus Prime is the leader of the Autobots, who have travelled to earth to protect mankind from Megatron and his evil army of Decepticons. Meanwhile, young human Sam Witwicky buys his first car, which just happens to be Autobot Bumblebee, and soon finds himself embroiled in the battle to save the planet.

Movie review

From Time Out London

The cars – are they here to help us or destroy us? Not an idle question in these carbon-conscious times, and Michael Bay’s ’splosiongasmic ’botfest could, at a stretch, be parsed as a grand-scale id-fantasy of America’s doomed infatuation with the internal combustion engine: both goodies and baddies look sexy as hell, and both leave destruction in their wake. You could even tease an oil-anxiety subtext out of the film’s overseas settings: a spot of blowback in the Middle East and a salutary warning against exploratory polar digging.

As in the ’80s cartoon series/corporate promotional tool on which the movie is based, Earth is the battlefield for two tribes of ancient alien robots who can shape-shift into items of our technology. (They also seem to have developed a kind of robo-parkour.) The evil, spiky Decepticons and the friendly but, in this version, equally spiky Autobots are slugging it out for control of a magic Rubik’s Cube; caught in the middle is high-school kid Sam (Shia LaBeouf), who inadvertently picks up a battered Autobot at a secondhand car lot and develops an even bigger crush on it than he has on the girl from history class (Megan Fox).

Sprawling, hardware-heavy, gung-ho with a streak of cruel humour, ‘Transformers’ is a Michael Bay movie, all right. It’s also about as nimble as a 30-foot behemoth with fried navigation circuits, lunging and lumbering from misfiring comic set-piece to messy pitched battle, landing the occasional bullseye along the way. John Turturro is good value as a sleazy spook but you’ll search in vain for anything like characterisation elsewhere, especially among the robots themselves. Less than meets… you know.

Author: Ben Walters 2007-07-24 16:35:01

Time Out London Time Out London Issue 1927: July 25-31 2007

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User reviews of this film

thedust666 said...

Posted on Jul 25 2007 16:37 this is the best film ever. it makes you jump out of your seat when you see the characters that you loved from childhood. anyone who says this is rubbish needs to stick to watching soap operas. it is fantastic. a MUST watch film. hope for a transformers 2.

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Robbo said...

Posted on Jul 25 2007 15:46 This film is the best you'll ever see. Amazing fight scenes, immense CGI, funny, witty, entertaining. This film has it all

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Jonny said...

Posted on Jul 25 2007 15:08 I was expecting a lot after seeing the trailers and the film did not disappoint. Obviously the CGi was great, but it wasn't all about that. The main characters were also part of the film and the interaction between the actors and robots seemed well put together. I would easily recommend this film.

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Jonah B said...

Posted on Jul 25 2007 10:23 This film was everything I hoped it would be. Great action sequences, unprecedented CG effects, some great humour, and a real feel- good factor. In fact, it's one of the only films of recent times that I have come out of without being disappointed. To the critics that rate this film lowly- What exactly were you expecting from a film that has the task of introducing alien transforming robots that knock seven bells out of each other?
Again, one of the best films I've seen recently...

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ameo said...

Posted on Jul 24 2007 22:09 went to see the transformers on the opening night and i must admit i really enjoyed the film.
althought the storyline was a bit corny, it was comical and the special effects+graphics were awesome
4/5

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foreverminxy said...

Posted on Jul 24 2007 19:57 Best film i have seen in my life! more than met my expectations, graphics were awesome! cant wait to see it again and again not to mention the sequels....fingers crossed they are good as the first!

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Nozzo said...

Posted on Jul 24 2007 19:37 have been waiting to see this film for aaaages. saw it at the weekened and loved every moment of it! the fact that it started off with action, within the first 5-10mins, and doesnt really let up for the rest of the film was an instant winner with me. and i read it was funny but i didnt realise how funny! theres some hilarious moments which should have you laughing out loud. the cgi is amazing, made my heart stop a few times in the beauty of it all. cant stop replaying the film in my head. cannot wait to see it again.
and instead of reading my babble go watch it and see for yourself. GO! NOW!!!

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adam77 said...

Posted on Jul 24 2007 19:13 wicked film

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tillallr1 said...

Posted on Jul 23 2007 12:04 I watched this film on the premiere going as a Hard core transformers fan with a long history following the series. i was concerned at first if the movie makers would mess this up as I have seen in other comic movie makes such as alien vs predator. I must say I was not dissappointed at the overall results although the story is a bit different to the old G1 cartoons but I don't think I would want to watch a direct cartoon to movie conversion anyways as it will be too predictable. The story line makes a good attempts to clue in everyone who have not been long lasting fans of the franchise although the love story aspect is a bit weak but hey I wanted to watch transformers not another human romance film. There were some good references fans of the series will know but also introduced quite a few comedic scenes for comic relief as a break from the constant action throughout the film. For those who say this film is bad obviously don't know what they are talking about and are probably into excentric films that nobody else is interested in. My opinion is that this film is a summer must watch blockbuster movie that can only be best enjoyed at the big screen.

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Pleased Fan said...

Posted on Jul 23 2007 11:37 WHAT A GREAT FILM!
It had a good story line and the graphics were out of this world! Really impressed. I loved it and I didn't really see the cartoons as a child. My partner is a die hard fan and was pleased that they didn't 'mess anything up'. One for all the family.
I'll def be buying this one on DVD and is out and out the best film I've seen this year (and we've seen quite a few).
Go and see this film, it's one for all who wants to relax and enjoy a GREAT film, not just the die hard fans.

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mr england said...

Posted on Jul 23 2007 06:12 WE WENT TO SEE THE PREMIERE SUNDAY.VERY,VERY DISAPPOINTING,EXTREMELY CORNY LOVE STORY,WHICH TAKES UP A LOT OF THE FIRST HOUR, INAPPROPRIATE AND UNRELATED TO THE PROMISED TRANSFORMERS ACTION WE WENT TO VIEW. THIS STORY SEEMED IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN A DIFFERENT FILM. WOODEN ACTING,PREDICTABLE,VERY SLOW FIRST HOUR,MIXED UP STORYLINE,HARD WORK TO KEEP UP WITH.CERTAINLY NOT BELIEVABLE..ROBOT SCENES WERE NOTHING WONDERFUL, TOO RUSHED---MESSY FIGHTING SCENES. REPETITIVE,RANDOM OUTBURSTS. THE CROWD WATCHING THE FILM WITH US WERE RESTLESS AND SEEMED BORED LIKE US.WE WASTED OUR MONEY, I WOULD ADVISE YOU TO GIVE IT A MISS,SORRY.

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KaduFlyer said...

Posted on Jul 22 2007 18:04 The special effects were awesome, this film has set the bar for CGI films very high. Definately oscar material! The plot worked well overall but the acting at some parts was a little bit lame and sometimes left you wondering where it was heading. Its a great film for sci-fi and special effects fans who will be blown away by the action scenes especially the good (AutoBot) vs. evil (Decepticon) battle that really fills the screen towards the end.
Overall a great film enjoyed by both myself (43) and my son (11) !!

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transformers said...

Posted on Jul 22 2007 16:59 the best in the world

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andrew said...

Posted on Jul 21 2007 16:59 at first i thought this was just a movie to plese the die hard cult fans of the original comics, but after watching it i only have 3 words to say-go see it! this film is absolutely fantastic. I'm sure even michael bay couldnt have predicted how well it would turn out. The most surprising thing isnt how real the machines look, its how believable the entire plot is and how well shia and megan do in the leading roles! Whilst they are playing roles they are used to they just do such a great job. Over the last decade or so we've watched so many comics brought to the big screen and apart from batman begins this has to be the best. Although it's over 2 hours long it will be 2 hours you dont even notice go by because you will be so enthralled and gripped by this movie. I wouldnt be surprised if it came out higher rated than harry potter, but i'm certain that transformers will be picking up a lot of awards.

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