Most helpful customer reviews
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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Transformers redefines what a mega-budget blockbuster looks like, Sep 27 2007
What a movie! Transformers must be one of the best summer flicks of the year. Michael Bay and his team have brought one of my favorite childhood memories to the big screen and blown us all away with the most incredible cartoon adaptation. Though I belong to the Transformers generation (1980's) I was never really hooked up with the franchise and couldn't recall any of the transformers names aside from Opitmus Prime and Megatron if you had asked me. Having seen the trailer I went to see the movie knowing that I was in for some eye candy special effects, but not so sure of the overall story. But as the transformers slogan goes the movie was "more than meets the eye".
Knowing more or less what the main theme of the ever-changing saga of the transformers is, I though this movie had many reasons to turn out silly and have nothing more to offer that visual effects... I mean we are talking about robotic aliens, with human emotions, simplistically separated into a team of goody good autobots and the all-evil deceptions. In a nut shell I thought it would be an fun take on the transformers cartoon and toy line at best... but it's so much more.
It has actually avoided the cheesiness of most "America under attack" movies focusing on the human characters as well as the transformers. Fresh characters presented with a touch of humor that each has his/her own gravity in the story and aren't just fillers to help the plot unfold. Shia LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky does a great job at becoming the underdog we all sympathize for, who ends up becoming the hero (reminding us how we all felt for Peter Parker in the first Spider-man movie). It is action packed from beginning to end but you never get enough of it. The visuals are astonishingly well made not distracting from the movie with thoughts "that looked fake" and besides the effects, there are many scenes with great visual interest. I enjoyed the music and sound effects (especially the transforming ones) and as a hole the movie worked so good.
I for one am not ashamed to admit my excitement over this movie. So Michael Bay, if you're reading this, congratulations, you somehow made a great film with room to spare. And for the sequel that is sure to be in the works, just give us the robots and their humans. They're not only fun, they might just tug a heart-string or two. A must see for all ages and genders, shapes and sizes!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Empty calories are filling - Hollywood's fast food made movie, Dec 8 2007
I am stunned by the number of reviews saying that the movie is fantastic. Yes, the CGI is brilliant. But when I spend my dollars to 'see' a movie, I expect there will be a good story behind the visual effects. In this case, what you get is a succession of rapid-fire clichés that are so 'in your face' that it's offensive... The main character is not good at school, and dreams of a girl who goes out with the school's bully - a football player... And this under-achiever finally gets the girl... There are cool cars, and a cool car chase (not as good as the one in the second matrix movie though)... Can it get more cliché than that I ask you? And most adults and authority figures are stupid to say the least... Only the military guys are OK, figures since Bay has to take care of his good relations with the Pentagon since 'Pearl Harbor'... The US government hiring teenagers (because they're soooo coool?) to hack into the Transformers as if the Pentagon and CIA just could not figure out by themselves how to do that is another example of how completely ridiculous the movie is. It is so unbelievable that it can't be fun... There is no imagination whatsoever in this movie...
I'm not 15, and I don't expect movies to unfold like video games, so I hated this movie and almost stopped watching it after 40 minutes. When I returned the movie to the rental DVD club, one employee told me that most customers felt just like I did... But those customers, like me, were not 15...
In a nutshell, this movie is for young teenagers even though the Transformers are 20 years old... I'm not happy to say that this is probably one of the 3 worst movies I've seen in my life, mostly because the two scenarists credited for writing Transformers have also written the scenario of the upcoming (Christmas 2008) Star Trek movie. After ruining Transformers to attract and please teenagers, expect Paramount to make Star Trek's reboot an idiotic but visually stunning movie for teens...
It still gets 2 stars because of the visual FX, but I'm tempted to say that it deserves one at best...
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Breakin' out my bowl of Fruity Pebbles, Oct 25 2007
If you cared little for Saturday morning cartoons, are over 40 or under 18, this movie is just another good action film to appease the thrill seeking mind. You could probably take it or leave it.
Now, if, like myself, the only thing that got you out of bed early on a Saturday morning, made you run home from school fibbing to your mom or dad about how much homework you had, just so that you could watch cartoons, this movie is for you. Even back in the day, Transformers were not for everyone, but for those of us who cried or threw fits when Optimus Prime supposedly died, you guessed it, this movie and review are for you.
I did not see this film in the theater, quite the opposite actually. I waited until it was available for home, sent my boyfriend on a mission (apparently a 2 hour one, most of the rental places were out) while I sat at home getting ready, dressing in my favorite fuzzy pj's. For me, this wasn't just any movie, this had the promise of being the BEST SATURDAY MORNING EVER!
It did not disappoint. I sat myself down less than a foot from my 37in HDTV, jacked the surround sound up, wrapped myself in my favorite blanket, and poured myself another bowl of Fruity Pebbles. The only thing missing was my mom telling me to turn that television off and go play outside.
It was a great film. Really and truly a great film. Maybe not the most powerful for the masses, but then I really don't think the writers and director set out to make another "Blood Diamond" or "Titanic". If they did, why the heck are there giant robots I had as toys when I was 8 set as main characters? You have to take films for what they are. To me this film is the imagination of a little kid put to screen. This movie is what I saw in my mind as I flew my plastic Optimus Prime and Megatron around the stick, rock, and dirt city we made in my back yard.
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