Transformers | |
---|---|
Directed by | Michael Bay |
Produced by | Lorenzo di Bonaventura Ian Bryce Tom DeSanto Don Murphy |
Written by | Roberto Orci Alex Kurtzman Ehren Kruger |
Story by | Roberto Orci Alex Kurtzman John Rogers |
Starring | Shia LaBeouf John Turturro Josh Duhamel Tyrese Gibson Kevin Dunn Julie White Megan Fox Rosie Huntington-Whiteley |
Music by | Steve Jablonsky |
Cinematography | Mitchell Amundsen Ben Seresin Amir Mokri |
Editing by | Roger Barton William Goldenberg Paul Rubell Glen Scantlebury Joel Negron Thomas Muldoon |
Distributed by | Paramount Pictures DreamWorks Pictures |
Release date(s) | Transformers: July 4, 2007 Revenge of the Fallen: June 19, 2009 Dark of the Moon: June 29, 2011 |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | US$ 545,000,000 |
Box office | US$ 2,669,760,469 |
Transformers is a series of three American science fiction action films directed by Michael Bay, and based on the toys created by Hasbro and Takara Tomy. The first film, Transformers, was released in 2007, the second film, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, in 2009, and the third film, Transformers: Dark of the Moon in 2011. Despite Michael Bay's confirmation on Dark of the Moon being his final installment in the franchise,[1][2] Hasbro's CEO Brian Goldner has expressed his hopes for further films to be made with or without Bay.[3] To date, the series has been distributed by Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks, and United International Pictures. It is currently the 7th highest-grossing film series and the 4th highest-grossing when averaged to gross per film, behind the The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and Pirates of the Caribbean film series. The film series has received generally mixed critical reception.
Contents |
Transformers is the first film in the series. In Transformers, Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) discovers that his new car, intended to impress upon Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox), is actually Bumblebee (Mark Ryan), an alien robot from the planet Cybertron. He finds out upon meeting the Transforming warriors of Cybertron, the Autobots, led by their leader Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen), that, after the destruction of their planet Cyberton, its life-source, a legendary cube, called the AllSpark, crash-landed on Earth, several years ago. However, the Decepticons and their evil leader Megatron (Hugo Weaving) plan to use the power of the AllSpark to transform human technology into a new army of Decepticons, and take over the universe. In an agreement, the Autobots decide to destroy the AllSpark, in order to save Earth and Humanity. After the Autobots possess the cube, a battle takes place in Los Angeles between the Autobots and Decepticons. Megatron kills Jazz (Darius McCrary), however the Autobots manage to destroy the Decepticons Bonecrusher, Brawl, and Blackout. Megatron is ultimately defeated by Sam as he releases the AllSpark's power into his chest, at the cost of the AllSpark itself. Knowing that, (with the destruction of its life-source) Cyberton can no longer be brought back to life, the Autobots accept Earth as their new home, and Sam and Mikaela begin a relationship. In the end credits, Starscream (Charlie Adler) is seen fleeing into space, suggesting the battle is not over. The film was released on July 3, 2007.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is the second film in the series. Set two years after the events in Transformers, the now-larger group of Autobots have allied with the U.S. and U.K. military to form a unit known as N.E.S.T which hunts down remaining Decepticons on the planet. Megatron is resurrected by the Constructicons under Soundwave's (Frank Welker) command. Sam intends to go to college and have a normal life, but Megatron attempts to obtain some symbols, implanted by the AllSpark into Sam Witwicky's brain, in favor of his master, The Fallen (Tony Todd). Sam eventually gets badly disturbed with the repeated visuals of the symbols in his head, however things get worse when a huge army of Decepticons arrive on Earth. Later, in a battle to protect Sam, Optimus Prime is killed by Megatron. After his death, Sam, Mikaela, Bumblebee and twins Skids (Tom Kenny) and Mudflap (Reno Wilson) join forces with Seymour Simmons (John Turturro) and Leo Spits (Ramón Rodríguez) to find out what the Decepticon are planning. They meet the early Transformer Jetfire (Mark Ryan), and learn that the symbols, consist of that information which was to lead the Decepticons to the Matrix of Leadership, and which, when inserted in an alien machine, hidden in an Egyptian Pyramid for centuries, will give the Decepticons, the power to destroy Earth's Sun. With the help of Jetfire, Sam and the Autobots reach to the Matrix of Leadership, and Sam and Mikaela make their way through the battle to the N.E.S.T forces and Sam uses its power to resurrect Optimus. However, The Fallen manages to get his hands on it, and activates that machine. Jetfire sacrifices himself so that Optimus can use his parts. They are used as a jetpack and battle armour, which Optimus uses to kill The Fallen and gravely wound Megatron, who flees with Starscream. In the aftermath, Sam returns to college. The film was released on June 24, 2009.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon is the third film in the series. When the war on Cybertron between the Autobots and Decepticons appears lost to the Autobots, their leader, Sentinel Prime (Leonard Nimoy), attempts to launch the Ark from their planet, containing the technology that could have saved his race. However it crash lands on Earth's Moon in 1961. President John F. Kennedy makes his famous promise to the nation to put a man on the Moon. The 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing was actually an investigation of the spacecraft. As Sam Witwicky goes into adulthood with a new girlfriend named Carly Spencer (Rosie Huntington-Whitely), the Autobots learn of the Ark and of Sentinel Prime. Thus, Sentinel Prime is brought back to Earth, and revived using the Matrix of Leadership. Optimus Prime convinces America's leadership that they must protect Sentinel Prime, and his "pillars", which can help transport matter through time and space, but Sentinel betrays the Autobots, as he allies with the Decepticons, killing Ironhide (Jess Harnell) in the process, and reveals to have made a deal with the Decepticons to bring back Cybertron. America's leaders decide to send the Autobots to another planet, wanting to avoid war. But as the Autobots leave, the Decepticons shoot their ship down, believing that they had killed all of the Autobots onboard it. With the Autobots gone, Sentinel Prime activates the pillars, and Chicago is seized by the Decepticons and their human ally, Dylan Gould (Patrick Dempsey). Thus begins, the reproduction of Cyberton, at the cost of Earth, its resources and humanity. But, it is later revealed that the Autobots had faked their deaths, and a battle ensues between the Autobots and Decepticons in Chicago, for one final stand. The film was released on June 29, 2011 in 3D and IMAX 3D.
In a June, 2011, interview, Tyrese Gibson commented on the possible future of the Transformers franchise. On the much-discussed topic of the potential departure of Michael Bay, he says that:
“ | There are no concepts, no direction, no nothing for Transformers 4, because everyone has been so focused on Transformers: Dark of the Moon. But here is the safety net. Are you ready for this? Michael Bay decides to not come back for Transformers 4. There is always Steven Spielberg! I am not saying that Steven Spielberg is for a fact going to direct Transformers 4. But it is a beautiful safety net to know that one of the biggest, most respected directors in the world happens to be an executive producer on Transformers. He is someone who knows this world. And he could easily step in and direct Transformers 4 if he decided to.[4] | ” |
Producer Don Murphy, who has served as producer on all three Transformers films to date, assures fans that the franchise will not be rebooted, and that it is more likely to start up a second trilogy, stating: "What happens next? Certainly not a reboot! We haven't lost the Transformers. They didn't grow up or become expensive like Tobey Maguire. I don't know what happens next but another trilogy. I'm sure it will kick ass and I'm pretty sure some of you will hate it because it wasn't all the bots." He also went on to say if they do not rush it, there is still a possibility of Michael Bay returning to direct the fourth installment.[5] Shia LaBeouf has mentioned he would not like to return in a sequel as he doesn't "think right now there’s anywhere to take Sam."[6]
As of October 17, 2011, Hasbro has been in "active discussions" with Paramount, Spielberg, and Bay in regards to the future of the series,[7] potentially shooting both a fourth and fifth film back-to-back and replacing LaBeouf with a new character played by Jason Statham.[8] However both Statham and Bay have debunked these as rumors, though Rosie Huntington-Whitely is interested in a sequel.
As of December 7th, 2011, Michael Bay is in final negotiations to direct the fourth Transformers film, although he has not yet fully decided.[9]
In addition to the films, the film series has a promotional expanded series that is set both before and after the events of the films. This includes comic books, video games, and novels.
For the First film, Producer Don Murphy was planning a G.I. Joe film adaptation, but when the United States launched the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, Hasbro suggested adapting the Transformers franchise instead.[10] Tom DeSanto joined Murphy because he was a fan of the series.[11] They met with comic book writer Simon Furman, and cited the Generation 1 cartoon and comics as their main influence.[10] They made the Creation Matrix their plot device, though Murphy had it renamed because of the film series The Matrix.[12] DeSanto chose to write the treatment from a human point-of-view to engage the audience,[13] while Murphy wanted it to have a realistic tone, reminiscent of a disaster film.[12] The treatment featured the Autobots Optimus Prime, Ironhide, Jazz, Prowl, Arcee, Ratchet, Wheeljack, and Bumblebee, and the Decepticons Megatron, Starscream, Soundwave, Ravage, Laserbeak, Rumble, Skywarp and Shockwave.[14]
Steven Spielberg, a fan of the comics and toys,[11] signed on as executive producer in 2004. John Rogers wrote the first draft, which pitted four Autobots against four Decepticons,[15] and featured the Ark spaceship.[16] Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, fans of the cartoon,[17] were hired to rewrite the script in February 2005.[18] Spielberg suggested that "a boy and his car" should be the focus.[19] This appealed to Orci and Kurtzman because it conveyed themes of adulthood and responsibility, "the things that a car represents in the United States".[20] The characters of Sam and Mikaela were the sole point-of-view given in Orci and Kurtzman's first draft.[21] The Transformers had no dialogue, as the producers feared talking robots would look ridiculous. The writers felt that even if it would look silly, not having the robots speak would betray the fanbase.[17] The first draft also had a battle scene in the Grand Canyon.[22] Spielberg read each of Orci and Kurtzman's drafts and gave notes for improvement.[19] The writers remained involved throughout production, adding additional dialogue for the robots during the sound mixing (although none of this was kept in the final film, which ran fifteen minutes shorter than the initial edit).[23] Furman's The Ultimate Guide, published by Dorling Kindersley, remained as a resource to the writers throughout production.[23] Prime Directive was used as a fake working title. This was also the name of Dreamwave Productions' first Transformers comic book.[24]
Michael Bay was asked to direct by Spielberg on July 30, 2005,[25] but he dismissed the film as a "stupid toy movie".[26] Nonetheless, he wanted to work with Spielberg, and gained a new respect for the mythology upon visiting Hasbro.[25] Bay considered the first draft "too kiddie", so he increased the military's role in the story.[25][27] The writers sought inspiration from G.I. Joe for the soldier characters, being careful not to mix the brands.[28] Because Orci and Kurtzman were concerned the film could feel like a military recruitment commercial, they chose to make the military believe nations like Iran were behind the Decepticon attack as well as making the Decepticons primarily military vehicles.[29] Bay based Lennox' struggle to get to the Pentagon phoneline while struggling with an unhelpful operator from a real account he was given by a soldier when working on another film.[25]
Orci and Kurtzman experimented with numerous robots from the franchise, ultimately selecting the characters most popular among the filmmakers to form the final cast.[11] Bay acknowledged that most of the Decepticons were selected before their names or roles were developed, as Hasbro had to start designing the toys.[30] Some of their names were changed because Bay was upset that they had been leaked.[31] Optimus, Megatron, Bumblebee and Starscream were the only characters present in each version of the script.[17] Arcee was a female Transformer introduced by Orci and Kurtzman, but she was cut because they found it difficult to explain robotic gender; Bay also disliked her motorcycle form, which he found too small.[28] An early idea to have the Decepticons simultaneously strike multiple places around the world was also dropped.[21]
For the Second film Revenge of the Fallen, In September 2007, Paramount announced a late June 2009 release date for the sequel to Transformers.[32] A major hurdle that was overcome during the film's production was the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, as well as possible strikes by the Directors Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild. Bay began creating animatics of action sequences featuring characters rejected for the 2007 film. This would allow animators to complete sequences if the Directors Guild of America went on strike in July 2008, which ultimately did not happen.[33][34] The director considered making a small project in between Transformers and its sequel, but knew "you have your baby and you don't want someone else to take it".[35] The film was given a $200 million budget, which was $50 million more than the 2007 film,[36] and some of the action scenes rejected for the original were written into the sequel, such as the way Optimus is reintroduced in this film.[37] Lorenzo di Bonaventura said the studio proposed filming two sequels simultaneously, but he and Bay concurred that was not the right direction for the series.[38]
Writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman originally passed on the sequel because of a busy schedule. The studio began courting other writers in May 2007, but as they were unimpressed with their pitches, they convinced Orci and Kurtzman to return.[33] The studio also signed on Ehren Kruger, as he impressed Bay and Hasbro president Brian Goldner with his knowledge of the Transformers mythology,[39] and because he was friends with Orci and Kurtzman.[40] The writing trio were paid $8 million.[33] Screenwriting was interrupted by the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, but to avoid production delays the writers spent two weeks writing a treatment, which they handed in the night before the strike began,[40] and Bay expanded the outline into a sixty-page scriptment,[41] fleshing out the action, adding more jokes,[40] as well as selecting the majority of new characters.[42] The three writers spent four months finishing the screenplay while "locked" in two hotel rooms by Bay: Kruger wrote in his own room and the trio would check on each others' work twice a day.[43]
Orci described the film's theme as "being away from home", with the Autobots contemplating living on Earth as they cannot restore Cybertron, while Sam goes to college.[44] He wanted the focus between the robots and humans "much more evenly balanced",[45] "the stakes [to] be higher", and more focused on the science fiction elements.[46] Lorenzo di Bonaventura said that in total, there are around forty robots in the film,[36] while ILM's Scott Farrar has said there are actually sixty.[47] Orci added he wanted to "modulate" the humor more,[48] and felt he managed the more "outrageous" jokes by balancing it with a more serious plot approach to the Transformers' mythology.[49] Bay concurred that he wanted to please fans by making the tone darker,[50] and that "moms will think its safe enough to bring the kids back out to the movies" despite his trademark sense of humor.[51]
Before Transformers was released, producer Tom DeSanto had "a very cool idea" to introduce the Dinobots,[52] while Bay was interested in an aircraft carrier, which was dropped from the 2007 film.[53] Orci claimed they did not incorporate these characters into Revenge of the Fallen because they could not think of a way to justify the Dinobots' choice of form,[44] and were unable to fit in the aircraft carrier.[54] Orci also admitted he was also dismissive of the Dinobots because he does not like dinosaurs. "I recognize I am weird in that department", he said,[55] but he became fonder of them during filming because of their popularity with fans.[56] He added "I couldn't see why a Transformer would feel the need to disguise himself in front of a bunch of lizards. Movie-wise, I mean. Once the general audience is fully on board with the whole thing, maybe Dinobots in the future."[57] However, upon being asked on the subject, Michael Bay said he hated the Dinobots and they had never been in consideration for being featured in the movies.[58]
As a preemptive measure before the release of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Michael Lucchi and Paramount Pictures announced on March 16, 2009, that a third film would be released in IMAX 3D on July 1, 2011, which earned a surprised response from director Michael Bay:
I said I was taking off a year from Transformers. Paramount made a mistake in dating Transformers 3—they asked me on the phone—I said yes to July 1—but for 2012—whoops! Not 2011! That would mean I would have to start prep in September. No way. My brain needs a break from fighting robots.—[59]
Screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, who had worked on the two previous Transformers films, declined to return for the third film, with Kurtzman declaring that "the franchise is so wonderful that it deserves to be fresh, all the time. We just felt like we’d given it a lot and didn’t have an insight for where to go with it next".[60] Revenge of the Fallen's co-writer Ehren Kruger became the sole screenwriter for Dark of the Moon. Kruger had frequent meetings with Industrial Light & Magic's (ILM) visual effects producers, who suggested plot points such as the scenes in Chernobyl.[61]
On October 1, 2009, Bay revealed that Transformers: Dark of the Moon had already gone into pre-production, and its planned release was back to its originally intended date of July 1, 2011, rather than 2012.[62] Due to the revived interest in 3-D technology brought in by the success of Avatar,[63] talks between Paramount, ILM, and Bay had considered the possibility of the next Transformers film being filmed in 3-D, and testing was performed to bring the technology into Bay's work.[64] Bay originally was not much interested in the format as he felt it did not fit his "aggressive style" of filmmaking, but he was convinced after talks with Avatar director James Cameron,[65] who even offered the technical crew from that film. Cameron reportedly told Bay about 3-D, "You gotta look at it as a toy, it's another fun tool to help get emotion and character and create an experience."[66] Bay was reluctant to film with 3-D cameras since in test he found them to be too cumbersome for his filming style, but he did not want to implement the technology in post production either since he was not pleased with the results.[67] In addition to using the 3-D Fusion camera rigs developed by Cameron's team,[66][68] Bay and the team spent nine months developing a more portable 3-D camera that could be brought into location.[65]
In a hidden extra for the Blu-ray version of Revenge of the Fallen, Bay expressed his intention to make Transformers 3 not necessarily larger than Revenge of the Fallen, but instead deeper into the mythology, to give it more character development, and to make it darker and more emotional.[69] Unicron is briefly shown in a secret Transformers 3 preview feature in the Revenge of the Fallen Blu-ray disc. Ultimately, the producers decided to forgo a plot involving the planet-eating transformer, and no further comments were ever made on the subject.[69] Having been called Transformers 3 up to that point, the film's final title was revealed to be Dark of the Moon in October 2010.[70] After Revenge of the Fallen was almost universally panned by critics, Bay acknowledged the general flaws of the script, having blamed the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike prior to the film for many problems. Bay promised to not have the "dorky comedy" from the last film.[71] On March 19, 2010, the script was said to be finished.[72]
Reviews of the first film, Transformers, were positive. Review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 57% of critics gave the film positive write-ups, based on 206 reviews, with a 68% rating from selected notable critics. At the website Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an average score of 61, based on 35 reviews. IGN's Todd Gilchrist called it Michael Bay's best film, and "one of the few instances where it's OK to enjoy something for being smart and dumb at the same time, mostly because it's undeniably also a whole lot of fun". The Advertiser's Sean Fewster found the visual effects so seamless that "you may come to believe the studio somehow engineered artificial intelligence". The Denver Post's Lisa Kennedy praised the depiction of the robots as having "a believably rendered scale and intimacy", and ABC presenter Margaret Pomeranz was surprised "that a complete newcomer to the Transformers phenomenon like myself became involved in the fate of these mega-machines". Ain't It Cool News' Drew McWeeny felt most of the cast grounded the story, and that "it has a real sense of wonder, one of the things that’s missing from so much of the big CGI lightshows released these days". Author Peter David found it ludicrous fun, and said that "[Bay] manages to hold on to his audience's suspension of disbelief long enough for us to segue into some truly spectacular battle scenes".
The sequel, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, received mostly negative reviews. Based on 235 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, the film received an average 20% overall approval rating. The film had a similar reaction among the 40 critics in Rotten Tomatoes' "Top Critic", which consists of popular and notable critics from the top newspapers, websites, television and radio programs, where it received a 18% approval rating. Despite mostly negative reviews from critics, most audiences responded better. However, CinemaScore polls reported that on a scale of A+ to F, the average grade users gave the film was "B+". According to the Washington Post, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is Bay's worst-reviewed film, faring even lower than Pearl Harbor. Ray Bennett of the Hollywood Reporter commented in his review that "for the uninitiated, it's loud, tedious, and at 147 minutes, way too long." The film was also nominated for seven Razzie awards, winning the awards for Worst Picture, Worst Director and Worst Screenplay.
The third and final film, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, received mixed reviews, with many critics calling it better than Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and praising its visual effects and 3-D action sequences, but criticising the below average acting and script. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a score of 35% based on 232 reviews and a rating average of 4.9/10, saying "Its special effects -- and 3-D shots -- are undeniably impressive, but they aren't enough to fillup its loud, bloated running time, or mask its thin, indifferent script". Roger Ebert gave the film one out of four stars, calling it "a visually ugly film with an incoherent plot, wooden characters and inane dialog. It provided me with one of the more unpleasant experiences I've had at the movies." Richard Roeper likewise panned the film, giving it a D and saying that "rarely has a movie had less of a soul and less interesting characters." However, the film had some good reviews. Ain't It Cool News called it "the best entry in the Michael Bay-directed franchise." IGN gave the film a 7 out of 10, also stating that it was the best of the franchise. E! Online graded it a B+ while noting "if this is truly the end of a trilogy, its main antagonists should have played more of a part."
Film | Release date | Box office revenue | Box office ranking | Budget | Reference | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
United States | Foreign | Worldwide | All time domestic | All time worldwide | ||||
Transformers | July 2, 2007 | $319,246,193 | $390,463,587 | $709,709,780 | #25 | #45 | $150,000,000 | [73] |
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen | June 24, 2009 | $402,111,870 | $434,191,823 | $836,303,693 | #11 | #28 | $200,000,000 | [74] |
Transformers: Dark of the Moon | June 29, 2011 | $352,390,543 | $771,356,453 | $1,123,746,996 | #18 | #4 | $195,000,000 | [75][76] |
Total | $1,073,748,606 | $1,596,011,863 | $2,669,760,469 | $545,000,000 | ||||
List indicator(s)
|
Film | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic | Yahoo! Movies | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Overall | Cream of the Crop | |||
Transformers | 57% (218 reviews)[77] | 68% (41 reviews)[78] | 61 (35 reviews)[79] | B- (13 reviews)[80] |
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen | 20% (236 reviews)[81] | 15% (40 reviews)[82] | 35 (32 reviews)[83] | C- (14 reviews)[84] |
Transformers: Dark of the Moon | 35% (232 reviews)[85] | 25% (40 reviews)[86] | 46 (36 reviews)[87] | C+ (14 reviews)[88] |
Average rating | 37% | 36% | 47 | C+ |
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