DVD Review by Maggie Woods

Transformers

“Before time began there
was The Cube — we know
not where it comes from,
only that it holds the
power to create worlds
and fill them with life.
That is how our race was
born...”

AMERICAN TEENS TRY TO HELP TRANSFORMING ROBOTS TO SAVE THE WORLD… TERRIFIC! And the stars of the show are here in their magnificent glory: a benign race of aliens dedicated to protecting both their own race and humanity from the scourge of the galaxy. Starring in their own movie, Transformers — the movie that shook the summer of 2007.

Based on the toys of the same name and primarily aimed at teenagers, Transformers is a stylish science fiction film; so thoroughly enter-taining and imaginative, and with such terrific special effects and fascinating robots, that even adults still in touch with their inner child will get a thrill watching it. This six-hundred-and-fifty-million-dollar smash hit from DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures (in assoc-iation with Hasbro) is now available on DVD, distributed by Paramount Home Entertainment.

Creative geniuses Michael Bay (Director) and Steven Spielberg (Exec-utive Producer) exploit the robots-in-disguise for all they are worth. Each robot has its own character and its own vehicle mode and is based on Hasbro's Transformers, The Action Figures.

A life-generating cube, lost to the far reaches of space, is the central key to the story. The peaceful Autobots, led by Optimus Prime, have searched the galaxy for it in order to rebuild their home. The discovery of a hitherto unknown planet — Earth — brings them to our world. But they are not the only ones who have discovered Earth. Along with them come the evil Decepticons and the Autobots find themselves in an epic, no-holds-barred struggle to save both Earth and their own race.

Decepticon's robotoids can transform into everyday objects and attempt to strip defence computers of their data. At the Pentagon Military Command Centre, Secretary of Defence John Keller (Jon Voigt, National Treasure) has assembled a team of college students who
have shown an ability with signal analysis to try to analyse and break
a vital signal code that has hacked into the US security network.

The only thing that stands between the forces of good and evil is a clue unwittingly held by teenager Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf, Disturbia) — a clue that came to him with the belongings of his grand-father, a 19th Century Arctic explorer who also left behind him tales of the discovery of a giant ice man and some mysterious symbols. Little realising the importance of his inheritance, Sam tries to sell the items on eBay to raise money for a car. His father eventually buys him a car — but it is a car that baffles the salesman and has a number of jaw-dropping surprises in store for Sam.

The film has much to offer: The early scene in the Qatar desert where the Skorponok — a giant scorpion-like robot — attacks an American army Special Ops team is in itself a stunningly visual display; the score (music is by Steve Jablonsky) is great and the battle scenes ooze drama and dynamic effects. Rogue Police cars; gutsy teenagers; elec-tronics wizards and robotoid villains the like of which has never been seen before combine to full dramatic effect.

One-liners are teenage-friendly: "Freedom is the right of all sentient beings". The fluent and amusing dialogue is great: "NBE's?" queries one puzzled soldier. "Non-biological extra-terrestrials — try and keep up!"
is the snappy answer. The fantastic finale is the struggle to free the Earthlings — the ultimate battle between good and evil. "This is America!"

Transformers is an action-packed film with a hot young cast of up and coming actors including Shia Labeouf (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull), Megan Fox (Hope & Faith) as Mikaela Banes; the wonderful Josh Duhamel (Las Vegas) as Captain Lennox and Tyrese Gibson (Four Brothers) as USAF Tech Sgt Epps. Watch out for more of Rachael Taylor, who plays Maggie Madson, and Anthony Anderson as Glen Whitmann. Seasoned performers are the indomitable Jon Voight and the evergreen John Turturro (The Good Shepherd) as Agent Simmons.

The ultimate stars of the movie are the Transformers themselves, featuring the voices of: Peter Cullen (Optimus Prime); Mark Ryan (Bumblebee); Darius McCrary (Jazz); Robert Foxworth (Ratchet) and Hugo Weaving (Megatron) — all brought to life by the revolutionary new VFX techniques developed by the innovative digital wizards at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM).

• Transformers has arrived on Earth in spectacular DVD and HD DVD two-disc Special Edition sets — as well as on a single disc — from DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures (in association with Hasbro). It is distributed by Paramount Home Entertainment. On sale now. Warning: You'll find yourself watching it time and time again!

The Transformers Special Edition two-disc sets provide an incredible experience with an arsenal of bonus material that delivers excitement and fun for long-time fans, as well as for viewers who are new to the Transformers universe. The extensive special features include commentary by Michael Bay and in-depth documentaries exploring the human elements of the film as well as the phenomenal robot stars. Presented in multiple parts, "Our World" and "Their War" include segments with Steven Spielberg discussing his love for the franchise and the early concept for the movie, the extensive casting process, the training, consultants and real-world weapons provided by the military to lend authenticity to the film, the evolution of the robots from Hasbro's iconic toy line to big-screen stars, the unique vehicles created for the movie, a discussion with ILM's legendary digital artists and much more.

The discs go even further behind-the-scenes with early sketch con-cepts of the robots and an in-depth look at the making of the Skorponok attack from writing and conceptualisation through the creation of the stunning visual effects.

In addition to superior picture and sound and all of the above bonus material presented in high definition, the HD DVD presentation provides consumers with a host of web-enabled features which are accessible through all connected HD DVD players. The web-enabled features take advantage of technology that allows the studio to present the content in a new way. These cutting-edge, online features can be updated, providing consumers with an evolving entertainment experience months (or even years) after the disc is physically produced.

Initial features include a Transformers Intelligence Mode in which an on-screen dashboard over the film provides information about the robots and weapons, their strength levels, character updates and more. Plus, a GPS Locator that can access a map and GPS co-ordinates. Paramount's Transformers HD DVD connectivity capabilities will reveal additional HD DVD exclusive features at street date and at various time periods in the future.

The HD DVD also includes a Transformers HUD (Heads Up Display) that lets viewers access running text commentary while watching the film and even view relevant behind-the-scenes footage in a picture-in-picture window. Additionally, viewers can explore the main robots' in-dividual details in high definition with the Transformers Tech Inspector.

The Transformers DVD is presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 televisions with Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround; French 5.1 Surround and Spanish 5.1 Surround with English, French and Spanish subtitles. Total runtime is 143 minutes.

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