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Revision as of 04:18, 28 July 2009

Transformers (film series)
Directed byMichael Bay
Written byScreenplay:
Roberto Orci
Alex Kurtzman
Story:
Roberto Orci
Alex Kurtzman
John Rogers
(Transformers)
Roberto Orci
Alex Kurtzman
Ehren Kruger
(Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen)
Produced bySteven Spielberg (Executive)
Lorenzo di Bonaventura
Ian Bryce
Tom DeSanto
Don Murphy
StarringShia LaBeouf
Megan Fox
Josh Duhamel
Tyrese Gibson
John Turturro
Kevin Dunn
Julie White
Ramon Rodriguez
Voices:
Peter Cullen
Hugo Weaving
Mark Ryan
Jess Harnell
Robert Foxworth
Charlie Adler
Reno Wilson
Tom Kenny
Frank Welker
Tony Todd
CinematographyMitchell Amundsen
(Transformers)
Ben Seresin
(Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen)
Edited byPaul Rubell
Thomas A. Muldoon
(Transformers & Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen)
Glen Scantlebury
(Transformers)
Roger Barton
Joel Negron
(Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen)
Music bySteve Jablonsky
Hans Zimmer
(Transformers & Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen)
Linkin Park
(Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen)
Distributed byDreamWorks
Paramount Pictures
United International Pictures
Release date
2007-2012
Running time
293 min. (both films)
Country United States
LanguageTransclusion error: {{En}} is only for use in File namespace. Use {{langx|en}} or {{in lang|en}} instead.
BudgetUS$350 million (both films)
Box office$1,493,434,540(total Worldwide, As of July 26,2009)

Transformers is an American film franchise directed by Michael Bay and based on the toys created by Hasbro. The series is distributed by DreamWorks, Paramount Pictures and United International Pictures. The first film, Transformers, was released in 2007 and the second and latest film, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, in 2009, with a third film announced for July, 2012.

Film series

Transformers (2007)

Transformers is the first film in the franchise. In Transformers, Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) discovers that his new car is actually an alien robot (Mark Ryan) from the planet Cybertron. He and his crush Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox) find out upon meeting the Transforming warriors of Cybertron—the Autobots led by Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen), that the evil Decepticon leader Megatron (Hugo Weaving) is after the legendary AllSpark which is on Earth along with him. A battle takes place in Mission City between the Autobots and Decepticons. Megatron is defeated by Sam as he releases the AllSpark power into his chest. In the end credits, the Decepticon Starscream (Charles Adler) is seen flying off into space, suggesting that the battle has just begun. The film was released on July 3, 2007.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, sometimes shortened to ROTF, TROTF, or Transformers 2 (although there is no 2 in the title) is the second film in the franchise. Its previous working title was Transformers: Rise of the Fallen. The plot follows the events after Transformers. Megatron is set to be resurrected by the Constructicons and attempt to discover symbols seen by Sam Witwicky. The Fallen is set to appear as well as many others. The film was released on June 24, 2009.

Future sequel (2011/2012)

As a preemptive measure, Paramount announced a July 4, 2011 release date for a third Transformers film before completion of Revenge of the Fallen. Bay responded, "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 4—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."[1] Like Revenge of the Fallen, Orci refused to guarantee whether he and Kurtzman would return to a sequel, because "we risk getting stale".[2] Orci has mentioned he would like to introduce Unicron "for scale's sake".[3] The co-writer also said focusing on more Triple Changers would be interesting.[4]

Before Transformers was released, producer Tom DeSanto had "a very cool idea" to introduce the Dinobots,[5] while Bay was interested in an aircraft carrier, which was dropped from the first film.[6] 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,[7] and were unable to fit in the aircraft carrier.[8] 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),[9] but he became fonder of them during filming because of their popularity with fans.[10] 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."[11].

Reviews

Reviews of the first film were "generally favorable". 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'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 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 much worse reviews, based on 211 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, the film received an average 19% overall approval rating. The film had a similar reaction among the 34 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. In contrast to the views of critics, audiences appear to have responded better, with exit surveys estimating that 91% of moviegoers consider it to be as good, or better, than the 2007 film. CinemaScore polls reported that on a scale of A+ to F, the average grade cinemagoers 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."

Cast and characters

List indicator(s)

  • A dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the film.

Humans

Characters: Human Film
Transformers Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Sam Witwicky Shia LaBeouf
Mikaela Banes Megan Fox
William Lennox Josh Duhamel
Robert Epps Tyrese Gibson
Seymour "Reggie" Simmons John Turturro
Ron Witwicky Kevin Dunn
Judy Witwicky Julie White
Leo Spitz Ramon Rodriguez

Robots

Characters: Autobots Film
Transformers Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Optimus Prime Peter Cullen
Jetfire Mark Ryan
Bumblebee Mark Ryan (No Voice actor)
Jazz Darius McCrary
Ironhide Jess Harnell
Ratchet Robert Foxworth
Arcee Grey DeLisle
Mudflap Reno Wilson
Skids Tom Kenny
Sideswipe André Sogliuzzo
Jolt (no voice actor)
Wheelie Tom Kenny
Characters: Decepticons Film
Transformers Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
The Fallen Tony Todd
Megatron Hugo Weaving
Starscream Charlie Adler
Barricade Jess Harnell
Bonecrusher Jim Wood
Frenzy Reno Wilson
Blackout (No Voice Actor)
Brawl (No Voice Actor)
Scorponok (No Voice Actor)
Soundwave Frank Welker
Grindor Frank Welker (vocal effects)
Sideways (No Voice Actor)
Ravage Frank Welker (vocal effects)
Reedman Frank Welker (vocal effects)
Alice Isabel Lucas
Scalpel/The Doctor John Di Crosta
Rampage Kevin Michael Richardson
Long Haul (No Voice Actor)
Overload (No Voice Actor)
Hightower (No Voice Actor)
Scrapper (No Voice Actor)
Scavenger (No Voice Actor)
Mixmaster (No Voice Actor)
Demolishor Calvin Wimmer
Devastator Frank Welker

Box Office performance

Film Release Date Box Office renevue Box office Ranking
Worldwide United States United States Outside US WorldWide All time US All time Worldwide
Transformers July 3,2007 July 27,2007 $319,014,499 $389,258,093 $708,272,592 #5 #31
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen June 19,2009 June 24,2009 $379,214,172 $412,345,644 $791,559,816 #1 #23

Reception

Home media release

References

  1. ^ "Transformers 3 release date". Michael Bay. 2009-03-17. Retrieved 2009-03-17.
  2. ^ Roberto Orci (2009-03-19). "The All New "Hey Roberto" Thread". Don Murphy. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
  3. ^ "Ask Roberto Orci Roundup January 14—Mythology, Money Shots, Jolt, Military, and Bringing Chaos". 2009-01-15. Retrieved 2009-01-15.
  4. ^ "Transformers Revenge of the Fallen will not feature triple changers". TFW2005. 2008-09-22. Retrieved 2008-10-19.
  5. ^ "Transformer Producer Wants Dinobots in TF2". UGO Networks. 2007-06-05. Retrieved 2007-12-16.
  6. ^ Patrick Kolan (2007-06-13). "Transformers Roundtable with Michael Bay". IGN. Retrieved 2007-06-13.
  7. ^ Josh Horowitz (2008-07-24). "Writers Reveal Theme Of 'Transformers' Sequel. The Bad News? No Dinobots". MTV Movies Blog. Retrieved 2008-07-25.
  8. ^ "Roberto Orci - Soundwave will not be a Pick Up In Transformers Revenge of the Fallen". TFW2005. 2008-10-18. Retrieved 2008-10-19.
  9. ^ Roberto Orci (2008-10-20). "he All New "Hey Roberto" Thread". Don Murphy. Retrieved 2009-03-17.
  10. ^ Roberto Orci (2008-06-19). "The All New "Hey Roberto" Thread". Don Murphy. Retrieved 2008-06-25.
  11. ^ Roberto Orci (2008-08-08). "Welcome Mr. Roberto Orci, you may ask him questions". TFW2005. Retrieved 2009-03-24.