Transformers (film)

• Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime: The leader of the Autobots who transforms into a blue and red 1994 Peterbilt 379 semi-trailer truck. Cullen had previously voiced Optimus Prime in the original 1980s cartoon and was chosen to reprise his role.
• Mark Ryan as Bumblebee: The Autobot scout and Sam's new guardian who transforms into a yellow and black Chevrolet Camaro (first a 1977 model and later in the movie a 2007 model).
• Darius McCrary as Jazz: Optimus's second-in-command who transforms into a silver 2006 Pontiac Solstice.
• Robert Foxworth as Ratchet: The Autobot medic who transforms into a yellow 2007 search and rescue Hummer H2 ambulance.
• Jess Harnell as
  • Ironhide: The Autobot weapons expert who transforms into a black 2006 GMC Topkick C4500.
  • Barricade: The Decepticon scout and interrogator who transforms into a black 2007 Saleen S281 police car.
• Hugo Weaving as Megatron: The leader of the Decepticons who transforms into a silver Cybertronian jet. Originally Frank Welker was considered to reprise his role but according to DVD commentary, Bay thought his voice didn't fit, so Weaving was chosen instead. After Weaving left the role, Welker returned as the voice of Megatron in later sequels.
• Jim Wood as Bonecrusher: The Decepticon mine sweeper who transforms into a Buffalo H Mine-Protected vehicle.
• Reno Wilson as Frenzy: The Decepticon hacker and Barricade's minion, who transforms into a PGX Boombox, and later a Nokia 8800. Howard Stern was offered the role but turned it down when his agent talked him out of it.[7]
• Charlie Adler as Starscream: Megatron's second-in-command who transforms into a Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor. Adler had previously voiced several characters in the original series, most noticeably Silverbolt.

• Blackout: Megatron's third-in-command who transforms into a MH-53J Pave Low III.
• Brawl (referred to as 'Devastator' in the captions): The Decepticon demolition specialist who transforms into an up-armed M1A1 Abrams.
• Scorponok: A scorpion-like Decepticon and Blackout's minion.

• 
  The Peterbilt 379 used to portray Optimus Prime
• 
  One of the Chevrolet Camaros used to portray Bumblebee
• 
  The Pontiac Solstice used to portray Jazz
• 
  The GMC Topkick used to portray Ironhide
• 
  The Hummer H2 used to portray Ratchet

Don Murphy was initially 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.[9] Tom DeSanto joined Murphy because he was a fan of the series.[10] They met with comic book writer Simon Furman, and cited the Generation 1 cartoon and comics as their main influence.[9] They made the Creation Matrix their plot device, though Murphy had it renamed because of the film series The Matrix,[11] but was later used again in the sequel. DeSanto chose to write the treatment from a human point of view to engage the audience,[12] while Murphy wanted it to have a realistic tone, reminiscent of a disaster film.[11] 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.[13]

Steven Spielberg, a fan of the comics and toys,[10] signed on as executive producer in 2004. John Rogers wrote the first draft, which pitted four Autobots against four Decepticons,[14] and featured the Ark spaceship.[15] Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, fans of the cartoon,[16] were hired to rewrite the script in February 2005.[17] Spielberg suggested that "a boy and his car" should be the focus.[18] This appealed to Orci and Kurtzman because it conveyed themes of adulthood and responsibility, "the things that a car represents in the United States".[19] The characters of Sam and Mikaela were the sole point of view given in Orci and Kurtzman's first draft.[20] 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.[16] The first draft also had a battle scene in the Grand Canyon.[21] Spielberg read each of Orci and Kurtzman's drafts and gave notes for improvement.[18] 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).[22] Furman's The Ultimate Guide, published by Dorling Kindersley, remained as a resource to the writers throughout production.[22] Prime Directive was used as a fake working title. This was also the name of Dreamwave Productions' first Transformers comic book.[23]

Michael Bay was asked to direct by Spielberg on July 30, 2005,[24] but he dismissed the film as a "stupid toy movie".[25] Nonetheless, he wanted to work with Spielberg, and gained a new respect for the concept upon visiting Hasbro.[24] Bay considered the first draft "too kiddie", so he increased the military's role in the story.[24][26] The writers sought inspiration from G.I. Joe for the soldier characters, being careful not to mix the brands.[27] 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.[28] Bay based Lennox's 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.[24]

Orci and Kurtzman experimented with numerous robots from the franchise, ultimately selecting the characters most popular among the filmmakers to form the final cast.[10] Bay acknowledged that most of the Decepticons were selected before their names or roles were developed, as Hasbro had to start designing the toys.[29] Some of their names were changed because Bay was upset that they had been leaked.[30] Optimus, Megatron, Bumblebee and Starscream were the only characters present in each version of the script.[16] 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.[27] An early idea to have the Decepticons simultaneously strike multiple places around the world was also dropped.[20]

Producers Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Ian Bryce, said the film cost only $150 million, and called it "a bargain" compared to the other tentpole films that summer which cost as much as $300 million.[31] According to Kim Masters of NPR, instead of boasting about how much they had spent the studios did not want to admit to their real budget and risk further cost inflation on other projects, and her Hollywood source said that the budget of Transformers had passed $200 million.[4]

The filmmakers incorporated valid physics into their designs, establishing the necessity for a robot's size to correspond to that of its disguise. The layout of Optimus Prime's robotic body within his truck mode is seen here.

The filmmakers created the size of each robot with the size of their vehicle mode in mind, supporting the Transformer's rationale for their choice of disguise on Earth.[32] The concept of traveling protoforms was developed by Roberto Orci when he wondered why "aliens who moonlight as vehicles need other vehicles to travel".[33] This reflected a desire to move to a more alien look, away from the "blocky" Generation 1 Transformers.[34] Another major influence in the designs was samurai armor, returning full-circle to the Japanese origins of the toy line.[32] The robots also had to look alien, or else they would have resembled other cinematic robots made in the image of man.[35]

A product placement deal with General Motors supplied alternate forms for most of the Autobots, which saved $3 million for the production.[36] GM also provided nearly two hundred cars, most of which were flood damaged or non-salable, destined for destruction in the climactic battle scene.[32] The U.S. Armed Forces provided significant support, enhancing the film's realism: the film features F-22s, F-117s, and V-22 Ospreys, the first time these aircraft were used for a film; soldiers served as extras, and authentic uniforms were provided for the actors.[24] A-10 Thunderbolt IIs and Lockheed AC-130s also appear. Captain Christian Hodge joked that he had to explain to his superiors that the filmmakers wanted to portray most of their aircraft as evil Decepticons: however, he remarked "people love bad guys".[32]

Director Michael Bay filming at Holloman Air Force Base

To save money for the production, Bay reduced his usual fee by 30%. He planned an 83-day shooting schedule,[24] maintaining the required pace by doing more camera set-ups per day than usual. Bay chose to shoot the film in the United States instead of Australia or Canada, allowing him to work with a crew he was familiar with, and who understood his work ethic.[24][26][36] A pre-shoot took place on April 19, 2006 and principal photography began three days later at Holloman Air Force Base,[6] which stood in for Qatar. Due to their destruction later in the film by the Decepticon Blackout, the majority of the military structures shown on-screen were not property of Holloman Air Force Base, but were purchased ahead of filming from a private manufacturer of military shelter systems, AKS Military.[37] To film the Scorponok sequence at White Sands Missile Range, a sweep was performed to remove unexploded ordnance before building of a village set could begin; ironically, the village would be blown up. The scene was broken down for the Air battle managers flying aboard the AWACS aircraft, who improvised dialogue as if it were an actual battle.[24][38]

The company also shot at Hoover Dam and at the Pentagon, the first time since the September 11 attacks that film crews had been allowed at these locations.[6] The external Hoover Dam scenes were shot before tourists arrived daily at 10:00 a.m., with shooting moving inside for the remainder of the day.[38] Production in California was based at Hughes Aircraft at Playa Vista, where the hangar in which Megatron is imprisoned was built.[38] Six weekends were spent in Los Angeles, California shooting the climactic battle, with some elements being shot on the Universal Studios backlot and at Detroit's Michigan Central Station.[6][38] The crew was allowed to shoot at Griffith Observatory, which was still closed for renovations begun in 2002 and would reopen in November 2006.[6] Filming wrapped on October 4, 2006.[26]

The film has been found to re-use footage from Bay's previous film Pearl Harbor (2001).[39]

Spielberg encouraged Bay to restrict computer-generated imagery to the robots and background elements in the action sequences.[24] Stunts such as Bonecrusher smashing through a bus were done practically, while cameras were placed into the midst of car crashes and explosions to make it look more exciting.[38] Work on the animatics began in April 2005.[14] Bay indicated that three quarters of the film's effects were made by Industrial Light & Magic, while Digital Domain made the rest,[24] including the Arctic discovery of Megatron; Frenzy's severed head; a vending machine mutated by the Allspark, and the Autobots' protoforms.[40] Many of the animators were big Transformers fans and were given free rein to experiment: a scene where Jazz attacks Brawl is a reference to a scene in Race For The Artifact where Brixler jumps on Skylion.[32]

ILM created computer-generated transformations during six months in 2005, looking at every inch of the car models.[42] Initially the transformations were made to follow the laws of physics, but it did not look exciting enough and was changed to be more fluid.[43] Bay rejected a liquid metal surface for the characters' faces, instead going for a "Rubik's Cube" style of modeling.[24] He wanted numerous mechanical pieces visible so the robots would look more interesting, realistic, dynamic and quick, rather than like lumbering beasts.[24][41] One such decision was to have the wheels stay on the ground for as long as possible, allowing the robots to cruise around as they changed.[44] Bay instructed the animators to observe footage of two martial artists and numerous martial arts films to make the fights look graceful.[24]

Due to the intricate designs of the Transformers, even the simplest motion of turning a wrist needs 17 visible parts;[6] each of Ironhide's guns are made of ten thousand parts.[41] Bumblebee uses a piece below his face-plate as an eyebrow, pieces in his cheeks swivel to resemble a smile, and all the characters' eyes are designed to dilate and brighten.[44] According to Bay, "The visual effects were so complex it took a staggering 38 hours for ILM to render just one frame of movement";[6] that meant ILM had to increase their processing facilities.[45] Each rendered piece had to look like real metal, shiny or dull. This was difficult to model because the aged and scarred robots had to transform from clean cars. Close-up shots of the robots were sped up to look "cool", but in wide shots the animation was slowed down to convincingly illustrate a sense of weight. Photographs were taken of each set. These were used as a reference for the lighting environment, which was reproduced within a computer, so the robots would look like they were convincingly moving there. Bay, who has directed numerous car commercials, understood ray tracing was the key to making the robots look real; the CG models would look realistic based on how much of the environment was reflecting on their bodies.[32] Numerous simulations were programmed into the robots, so the animators could focus on animating the particular areas needed for a convincing performance.[45]

Composer Steve Jablonsky, who collaborated with Bay on The Island, scored music for the trailers before work began on the film itself. Recording took place in April 2007, at the Sony Scoring Stage in Culver City, California. The score, including the teaser music, uses six major themes across ninety minutes of music.[46] The Autobots have three themes, one named "Optimus" to represent the wisdom and compassion of the Autobot leader, and another played during their arrival on Earth. The Decepticons have a chanted theme which relies on electronics, unlike most of the score. The AllSpark also has its own theme.[47] Hans Zimmer, Jablonsky's mentor, also helped to compose the score.[24]

Hasbro's toy line for the film was created over two months in late 2005 and early 2006, in heavy collaboration with the filmmakers.[34] Protoform Optimus Prime and Starscream were released in the United States on May 1, 2007, and the first wave of figures was released on June 2.[34] The line featured characters not in the film, including Arcee.[32] A second wave, titled "AllSpark Power", was set for release late 2007, which consisted of repaints and robotic versions of ordinary vehicles in the film.[54] The toys feature "Automorph Technology", where moving parts of the toy allow other parts to shift automatically.[55] Merchandise for the film earned Hasbro $480 million in 2007.[56]

Deals were made with 200 companies to promote the film in 70 countries.[57] Michael Bay directed tie-in commercials for General Motors, Panasonic, Burger King and PepsiCo,[58] while props – including the Camaro used for Bumblebee and the AllSpark – were put up for charity sale on eBay.[59] A viral marketing alternate reality game was employed through the Sector 7 website, which presented the film and all previous Transformers toys and media as part of a cover-up operation called "Hungry Dragon", perpetrated by a "real life" Sector 7 to hide the existence of genuine Transformers. The site featured several videos presenting "evidence" of Transformers on Earth, including a cameo from the original Bumblebee.[60]

Transformers was released on DVD and a discontinued HD DVD format on October 16, 2007 in North America. The Wal-Mart edition of the DVD included a shortened animated version of the prequel comic book, titled Transformers Beginnings and featuring the voices of Ryan, Cullen, and Dunn, as well as Welker as Megatron.[61] The Target copy was packaged with a transforming Optimus Prime DVD case and a prequel comic book about the Decepticons.[61] The DVD sold 8.3 million copies in its first week, making it the fastest-selling DVD of 2007, in North America, and it sold 190,000 copies on HD DVD, which was the biggest debut on the format.[62] The DVDs sold 13.74 million copies, making the film the most popular DVD title of 2007.[63]

It was released on Blu-ray on September 2, 2008.[64] In the first week, the two-disc edition of the Blu-ray was number one in sales compared to other films on the format. The Blu-ray version accounted for two-thirds of the film's DVD sales that first week, selling the third most in overall DVD sales.[65] On June 16, 2009, Paramount included a sticker on all new Transformers DVDs that contained a code to view exclusive content online from the first film and get a sneak peek at Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The content includes three exclusive clips from Revenge of the Fallen, behind-the-scenes footage from both films, and never-before-seen deleted scenes from the first film.[66] As of July 2012, in North America, the DVD of the film has sold 16.23 million copies, earning $292,144,274.[1]

Transformers was released on 4K UHD Blu-Ray on December 5, 2017.[67]

Transformers had the highest per-screen and per-theater gross in 2007 in North America.[68] It was released on July 3, 2007 with 8 p.m. preview screenings on July 2. The United States previews earned $8.8 million[69] and in its first day of general release, it grossed $27.8 million, a record for Tuesday box-office gross until it was broken by The Amazing Spider-Man in 2012.[70] It did, however, break Spider-Man 2's record for the biggest July 4 gross, making $29 million.[71] Transformers opened in over 4,050 theaters in North America[5] and grossed $70.5 million in its first weekend, debuting at #1 and amounting to a $155.4 million opening week, giving it the record for the biggest opening week for a non-sequel.[72] The opening's gross in the United States was 50% more than what Paramount Pictures had expected. One executive attributed it to word of mouth that explained to parents that "it [was] OK to take the kids". Transformers ended its theatrical run in the United States and Canada with a gross of $319.2 million, making it the third highest-grossing film of 2007 in these regions behind Spider-Man 3 and Shrek the Third.[73] The film sold an estimated 46,402,100 tickets in North America.[74]

The film was released in 10 international markets on June 28, 2007, including Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and the Philippines. Transformers made $29.5 million in its first weekend, topping the box office in 10 countries.[75] It grossed $5.2 million in Malaysia, becoming the most successful film in the country's history.[76] Transformers opened in China on July 11 and became the second highest-grossing foreign film in the country (behind Titanic), making $37.3 million.[77] Its opening there set a record for a foreign language film, making $3 million.[78] The film was officially released in the United Kingdom on July 27, making £8.7 million, and helped contribute to the biggest attendance record ever for that weekend. It was second at the UK box office, behind The Simpsons Movie.[79] In South Korea, Transformers recorded the largest audience for a foreign film in 2007 and the highest foreign revenue of the film.[80]

Worldwide, Transformers was the highest-grossing non-sequel film in 2007 with over $709.7 million, making it Bay's fourth highest-grossing film to date, with three of its sequels surpassing it.[5] It was also the fifth highest-grossing film of 2007 worldwide, behind Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Spider-Man 3 and Shrek the Third.[81]

Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an approval rating of 58% based on 227 reviews, with an average rating of 5.8/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "While believable characters are hard to come by in Transformers, the effects are staggering and the action is exhilarating."[82] On Metacritic, the film has an weighted average score of 61 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[83]

IGN's Todd Gilchrist called it 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".[84] The Advertiser's Sean Fewster found the visual effects so seamless that "you may come to believe the studio somehow engineered artificial intelligence".[85] The Denver Post's Lisa Kennedy praised the depiction of the robots as having "a believably rendered scale and intimacy",[86] 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".[87] Ain't It Cool News's 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 light shows released these days".[88] 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".[89] Roger Ebert gave the film a positive review, giving it 3 stars out of a possible 4, writing: "It's goofy fun with a lot of stuff that blows up real good, and it has the grace not only to realize how preposterous it is, but to make that into an asset."[90]

Despite the praise for the visual effects, there was division over the human storylines. The Hollywood Reporter's Kirk Honeycutt liked "how a teen plotline gets tied in to the end of the world",[91] while Empire's Ian Nathan praised Shia LaBeouf as "a smart, natural comedian, [who] levels the bluntness of this toy story with an ironic bluster".[92] Ain't It Cool News founder Harry Knowles felt Bay's style conflicted with Spielberg's, arguing the military story only served as a distraction from Sam.[93] James Berardinelli hated the film as he did not connect with the characters in-between the action, which he found tedious.[94] Los Angeles Times' Kenneth Turan found the humans "oddly lifeless, doing little besides marking time until those big toys fill the screen",[95] while ComingSoon.net's Joshua Starnes felt the Transformers were "completely believable, right up to the moment they open their mouths to talk, when they revert to bad cartoon characters".[96] Daily Herald's Matt Arado was annoyed that "the Transformers [are] little more than supporting players", and felt the middle act was sluggish.[97] CNN's Tom Charity questioned the idea of a film based on a toy, and felt it would "buzz its youthful demographic [...] but leave the rest of us wondering if Hollywood could possibly aim lower".[98]

Transformers fans were initially divided over the film due to the radical redesigns of many characters, although the casting of Peter Cullen was warmly received.[32] USA Today summarized the views of critics and audiences saying "there is general raving about the mechanical heroes and general grumbling about the excessive screen time given to some of the human characters played by Shia LaBeouf, Anthony Anderson, Tyrese Gibson and Jon Voight. Optimus Prime, the leader of the good-guy Autobots, doesn't appear until midway through the film."[99] Transformers comic book writer Simon Furman and Beast Wars script consultant Benson Yee both considered the film to be spectacular fun, although Furman also argued that there were too many human storylines.[100] Yee felt that being the first in a series, the film had to establish much of the fictional universe and therefore did not have time to focus on the Decepticons.[101] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. With audiences under 18 the score rises to "A+", and the film was most popular with children and parents, including older women, and attracted many African American and Latino viewers.[102]

The film created a greater awareness of the franchise and drew in many new fans.[103] Transformers' box office success led to the active development of films based on Voltron and Robotech,[104] as well as a Knight Rider remake.[105] When filming the sequel, Bay was told by soldiers the film helped their children understand what their work was like, and that many had christened their Buffalos – the vehicle used for Bonecrusher – after various Transformer characters.[106]

After the film's 2009 sequel was titled Revenge of the Fallen, screenwriter Orci was asked if this film would be retitled, just as Star Wars was titled Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope when re-released. He doubted the possibility, but said if it was retitled, he would call it Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye.[107]

Entertainment Weekly named Bumblebee as their seventh favorite computer generated character,[117] while The Times listed Optimus Prime's depiction as the thirtieth best film robot, citing his coolness and dangerousness.[118]