Transformers is a 2007 live action
film directed by Michael Bay and executive produced by Steven Spielberg, based on the
Transformers franchise. The film
stars Shia LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky, who has the coordinates to the location of the
Allspark, an object at the center of the war between the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons. The film also stars Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese
Gibson, Jon Voight and John Turturro. The film
features the voices of Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime
and Hugo Weaving as Megatron. Cullen voiced Prime in the
1980s cartoon.
Producers Don Murphy and Tom DeSanto developed the
film, and Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman wrote the
script, aiming for a realistic interpretation of the characters. Though not a Transformers fan, Bay was convinced by Spielberg to
direct, and he created an intricate design aesthetic for the computer-generated
robots. General Motors and the United
States military lent their support during filming, to keep the budget under $150 million. Armed with an enormous marketing
campaign including comics, toys and tie-in deals, Transformers opened in the United
States on July 4 2007, and broke the box office record for
the highest-grossing opening week for a non-sequel. Critics praised the special effects, but criticized the characterization. A
sequel is expected for release on June 26 2009.
Plot
The film begins with Optimus Prime explaining Cybertron's destruction at the hands of Megatron, and his quest to obtain
the Allspark. Megatron discovers the Allspark on Earth, but crash-lands in the Arctic Circle, becoming
frozen in the ice. Captain Archibald Witwicky and his crew of explorers stumble upon
Megatron's body in 1897. Megatron's navigational system is unintentionally activated, and
Archibald's eye glasses are imprinted with the Allspark's coordinates. Sector 7, a secret United
States government organization, discovers the Allspark and builds the Hoover Dam around it to
mask the energy signal. The still-frozen Megatron is moved into this facility, and is reverse engineered to further advance human technology.
In the present day, the rest of the Decepticons—Blackout, Frenzy, Barricade, Starscream, Scorponok, Bonecrusher and Devastator—have landed on Earth and assumed the disguise of Earth vehicles (except Scorponok, who
keeps his scorpion-like alien form). Blackout and Scorponok attack a U.S. military base in Qatar
and try to hack into the military database to find where Megatron and the Allspark are, but fail
when the network is manually shut down. While Blackout destroys the rest of the base, Scorponok chases a small group of
survivors, but is eventually repelled. After their failure, Frenzy infiltrates Air Force
One to hack again into the military database. He finds
the map imprinted on Captain Witwicky's glasses, which his descendant Sam intends to sell on eBay
for money. Frenzy and Barricade begin tracking Sam's location.
The Autonomous Robotic Organism (shortened to "Autobot") Bumblebee is also on Earth, disguised as a 1976 Chevrolet Camaro,[2] and looking for Sam. Sam buys Bumblebee, who then helps him try to woo his crush, Mikaela Banes; Sam does not know that Bumblebee is
an alien until he sees Bumblebee transform and send a homing signal to the rest of the Autobots. While Sam flees from his
autonomous car, Barricade confronts him and demands Archibald's spectacles. Bumblebee, who is following Sam, transforms and
defeats Barricade. Mikaela, who is also following Sam, is caught in the crossfire, and leaves with Sam and Bumblebee to
rendezvous with the rest of the Autobots. The Autobots—Optimus Prime, Jazz, Ironhide, and Ratchet—land on Earth and take on the forms of Earth vehicles. Sam, Mikaela, and the Autobots
return to Sam's home to retrieve the glasses. Although the Autobots manage to get the glasses, agents from Sector 7 arrive and
capture Sam, Mikaela and Bumblebee.
Frenzy secretly accompanies the group to the Hoover Dam and releases Megatron from suspended animation. Locating the Allspark,
he sends an alert to the other Decepticons. Megatron escapes and Sam convinces the Sector 7 agents to release Bumblebee so that
he can get the Allspark to Optimus Prime. The Decepticons chase the Autobots, who now possess the Allspark, into Mission City. An
ensuing battle results in casualties for both sides: Optimus Prime kills Bonecrusher, Frenzy accidentally decapitates himself,
Megatron kills Jazz, and both the Autobots and the military take down Devastator and Blackout. The battle ends with Sam killing
Megatron when he rams the Allspark into Megatron's chest. Optimus expresses his gratitude to the humans and takes a fragment of
the Allspark from Megatron's corpse. Bumblebee decides to remain with Sam. With the Allspark destroyed, Optimus knows that
Cybertron cannot be restored, and sends a signal to any other surviving Autobots in the universe, directing them to Earth. The
dead Decepticons are dumped into the Laurentian Abyss. Starscream, the only confirmed
surviving Decepticon, flies into space.
Cast
Humans
- Shia LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky:
Bay said of Sam, the teenager who unwittingly buys Bumblebee as his first car,
that he is not "the stud or the geek, just a normal Joe. He’s the type of guy who finds his edge through humor. He’s a little
awkward, but you immediately like him. And like every guy, he’s consumed with getting his first car."[3] LaBeouf was a Transformers fan,[3] was cast as he reminded the filmmakers of the young Tom Hanks.[4] LaBeouf worked out
five days a week for three months and gained 25 pounds of muscle to prepare for the role, but realized during shooting that his
role required agility rather than strength.[2]
- Megan Fox as Mikaela Banes: A girl who Sam is interested in and woos with
the help of Bumblebee. She is mechanically skilled because her father was a
"grease monkey" and car thief, and has a criminal
record as she refused to turn him in to the authorities. She and Sam eventually begin a relationship. Fox gained 10 pounds
of muscle during shooting due to the physicality of the role.[2]
- Josh Duhamel as Cpt William
Lennox: Leader of a U.S. Army Special Ops airborne team in Qatar, who escapes Blackout's attack on the base. He has a wife
and new-born daughter in the United States. Duhamel was a Transformers fan, and spent
three days in boot camp to prepare for the part.[3]
- Tyrese Gibson as TSgt Robert
Epps: An Air Force Combat Controller who escapes Blackout and Scorponok's attack with
Lennox. Like Duhamel, Gibson was a Transformers fan and spent three days in boot camp. Gibson also spent time with combat
controller Ray Bollinger to make his dialogue sound natural.[3]
- Rachael Taylor as Maggie Madsen: An expert in signal detection and
decoding, assisting the Department of Defense. She realizes that those hacking into the government's data files cannot be human.
The film is Taylor's first American role, and the filmmakers opted for her natural Australian accent, as, "the film has such a
global feel, it’s not exclusively an American or western film."[3]
- Anthony Anderson as Glen Whitmann: A computer hacker and friend of Maggie, who assists in decoding the Decepticons' signal. Anderson was a
Transformers fan.[3]
- Jon Voight as John Keller: The United States Secretary of Defense.
- John Turturro as Reggie Simmons: An officer in Sector 7, the secret
government group that has been holding and studying the Allspark and the frozen
Megatron. Simmons leads a team tracking down the Autobots. Turturro gave a slapstick performance, which was intended as the writers didn't want to lose a sense of fun, following the
serious military scenes.[5]
- Kevin Dunn as Ron Witwicky: Sam's
father, who buys his son Bumblebee.
- Julie White as Judy Witwicky:
Sam's mother. She is well-intentioned but often inadvertently embarrassing to Sam.
- Peter Cullen as the voice of Optimus
Prime (Peterbilt truck): The Autobot leader who comes to Earth to merge his spark with the Allspark, destroying them
both, as he feels this is the only way to end the war. Don Murphy decided after discussions
with fans on his website that they wanted the surviving voices from the 1980s
cartoon,[6] and Cullen was announced
to be reprising his role at the July 2006 San Diego Comic-Con.[7] He described reprising the role as easy as
"slipping into an old pair of very comfortable shoes that you haven't worn for a while", and was grateful to the fans for wanting
him back.[8] His vocal performance consisted of much
improvisation with Bay and bringing a sense of humor to Prime, as well as portraying his traditional heroism.[9]
- Mark Ryan as the voice of Bumblebee (1976/2009 Chevrolet Camaro):[2] An Autobot scout who develops a friendship with Sam and Mikaela during his efforts to find
the Allspark. Ryan acted as a stand in for the Transformers during filming, giving actors someone to react to, both physically
where appropriate and providing dialogue, and ad-libbed lines for many characters during post-production before being cast as
Bumblebee.[10] Bumblebee mostly communicates with
his radio due to his damaged vocal processor. The writers considered using dialogue from various Paramount films, including the line "I feel
the need for speed!" from Top Gun.[11]
- Darius McCrary as the voice of Jazz (Pontiac Solstice): Optimus's lieutenant, he is a small but acrobatic fighter, with magnetic hands, and a
gun/shield combination. He develops a fondness for urban culture. Mark Ryan voiced Jazz on set, trying out many voices, including
a Sean Connery impersonation.[10]
- Jess Harnell as the voice of Ironhide
(GMC Topkick pick-up truck): The weapons
specialist of the group. To Optimus's dismay, Ironhide often threatens to use his weapons on intelligent life forms. Peter Cullen
auditioned for Ironhide, another character he originally voiced, during his first audition,
portraying a conversation between Optimus and Ironhide.[12]
On set, Mark Ryan used a Southern accent for the character, as Cullen did.[10]
- Robert Foxworth as the voice of Ratchet (Search and Rescue Hummer H2): The team's chief medical officer. He has enhanced senses, recognizing from Sam's pheromones that Sam would like to "mate with" Mikaela, and wields a gun and a saw.
- Hugo Weaving as the voice of Megatron
(Cybertronian "jet"): The Decepticon leader who desires power over the Allspark. He crash-landed in the Arctic eons ago, and his frozen body is kept in storage by Sector 7. Prime
refers to Megatron as his brother; Peter Cullen interpreted this literally,[13] though the writers felt the finished film made it feel more
like they were brothers in arms.[5]
Weaving's voice was used for facial animation tests,[14] before he signed on to voice Megatron in March 2007.[15] TV series voice actor Frank Welker
had auditioned, but he was rejected as Bay considered his voice too soft for the beastly depiction of the character.[16] Instead, Welker voiced Megatron in the video game adaptation.
- Charlie Adler as the voice of Starscream (F-22 Raptor): Megatron's second-in-command who leads the
Decepticons in his absence, and is berated for failing him repeatedly once he returns, alluding to an uneasy relationship between
the two. A few more lines of arguments with Megatron were cut from the finished film, partly because of the need to keep the
Decepticons mysterious.[17] Orci explained, "the more a bad
guy talks, the less threatening they can be."[5]
- Jess Harnell as the voice of Barricade (Saleen Mustang police car): The first Decepticon to attack
Sam. On the rear quarter panel of his vehicle form is written "To punish and enslave...", instead of "To protect and
serve".
- Reno Wilson as the voice of Frenzy (CD player, mobile phone): A spy and computer hacker who tracks Sam down. Though the
smallest Decepticon, he is an agile fighter who throws razor-sharp shurikens.
- Jimmie Wood as the voice of Bonecrusher (Buffalo H Mine-Protected vehicle): He pursues the Autobot/Airforce convoy transporting
the Allspark on the Highway, but is thwarted and killed by Optimus Prime.
Production
Development
| "I think it's going to be something the audience has never seen before. In all the years of
movie-making, I don't think the image of a truck transforming into a 20-foot tall robot has ever been captured on screen. I also
want to make a film that's a homage to 1980s movies and gets back to the sense of wonder that Hollywood has lost over the years.
It will have those Spielberg-ian moments where you have the push-in on the wide-eyed kid and you feel like you're 10 years old
even if you're 35." |
| — Tom DeSanto on why he produced the film[18] |
In 2002, the toy company Hasbro began developing its properties into films.[19] Producer Don Murphy was looking to
adapt G.I. Joe, but when the U.S. invaded
Iraq in March 2003, Hasbro suggested Transformers instead.[20] Tom
DeSanto joined the project because he was a big fan of the characters.[3] The two producers met with comic book writer Simon Furman, and researched the Generation 1 cartoon
and comics.[20] They decided to explore
why Transformers exist,[20] focusing on
the Creation Matrix, though Murphy felt the term "Matrix" should not be
used due to the popular Matrix series with the same name.[6] DeSanto chose a human point-of-view in his
treatment to engage the audience.[21] Murphy wanted it to feel realistic, with the tone akin to that of a
disaster film.[6] The story included the Autobots Optimus Prime, Ironhide, Jazz, Prowl, Ratchet, Wheeljack, and Bumblebee, and the Decepticons Megatron, Starscream, Soundwave, Ravage, Laserbeak, Rumble, Skywarp and
Shockwave.[22]
After the producers were rejected by many studio executives who did not grow up with Transformers, DeSanto met with
producer Mike DeLuca in 2004, who arranged a meeting with Steven Spielberg.[4] A
fan of the comics and toys,[3] Spielberg
signed on as executive producer, and John
Rogers was hired as screenwriter in November.[23]
His script pitted four Autobots against four Decepticons,[24] and featured the Ark spaceship.[25] Screenwriters Roberto
Orci and Alex Kurtzman, big fans of the cartoon,[26] were hired in February to start a new script.[27] Spielberg suggested to the writers
an approach about "a boy and his car"[28] which appealed
to them as adulthood and responsibility is "the things that a car represents in [the United
States]."[29] Sam and Mikaela were the
focus of the first draft,[30] and the
Transformers had no dialogue. This was changed in the next draft, as the writers felt that even if the Transformers speaking
could look ridiculous, having them not speak would betray the fanbase.[26] Inspired by Spielberg's E.T. the
Extra-Terrestrial, Bumblebee was kept mute to stress his friendship with Sam as going beyond words.[31]
Michael Bay, who had wanted to make a family
film,[32] was asked to direct after
finishing The Island,[33] but he thought of it as a "stupid toy movie".[4] Nonetheless, Spielberg's premise of "a boy and his car" made Bay curious, and upon visiting
Hasbro, the director gained a new respect for the mythology.[34] In addition, he was enticed by ideas like an 85 mile-per-hour
fight scene,[32] and the comedy caused by
Transformers interfering with everyday life.[34] Bay also wanted the film to feel intense and realistic,[14] and the writers agreed to make
everything seem logical, setting aside the previous contradictory continuities in
the franchise.[29] Bay admitted not being a fan
before allowed him to tell the story naturally and make it appeal to other non-fans.[34] Orci removed the Ark from the script as he wondered why
"aliens who moonlight as vehicles need other vehicles to travel."[35] The female Autobot Arcee was cut as they had little time to explain
robotic gender,[30] and because she was too
small, being a motorcycle.[5] Bay
expanded the military storylines,[36]
as he considered the first draft "too kiddie",[33]
and based the soldiers on G.I. Joe.[5] Throughout the rewrites, Optimus Prime, Megatron, Bumblebee and
Starscream were the only robots included in all of them.[26] More Decepticons were added to increase the sense of threat,[37] and the law enforcement-based Autobot Prowl was removed as Orci
and Kurtzman loved the perverseness of a Decepticon using a police car form.[38]
Design
Designs of the robots began in June 2005, and Hasbro heavily collaborated on the live action
interpretations of their characters.[1] In
keeping with Michael Bay's desire to make Transformers realistic, the robots were
designed more intricately to look more three-dimensional[32] and to reflect their alien origins.[39] Morphing in transformations was restricted, unlike the cartoon or
comic books, where a character such as Megatron transforms into a Walther P38 pistol.[40]
Every character stayed the same size in both forms, which in turn explained the robots' choice of Earth forms during the
story.[2] Optimus Prime's original cab over truck form was rejected because it
would make him only 23 feet tall, so Bay decided to use the Peterbilt, the largest truck
available.[40]
Bay also added flame artwork to Prime to make him distinctive, and gave him a mouth to emote more.[34] Don
Murphy wanted to retain Bumblebee's Volkswagen Beetle form,[41]
but Bay rejected it to avoid comparisons with Herbie the Love Bug.[42] Bay chose the Chevrolet
Camaro instead, which he described as having a friendly quality, but as a tribute, when Sam purchases his car, Bumblebee
was parked next to a yellow Beetle.[2]
Making Bumblebee a Camaro led a full product placement deal with General Motors, to supply the alternate modes for Jazz,
Ironhide and Ratchet. The deal saved $3
million,[34] though Bay hoped
they would have supplied a bigger car for Jazz than the Pontiac Solstice.[36]
In contrast to Optimus's faithful design, Megatron's alternate mode was changed from a
Walther P38 pistol to a Cybertronian jet to avoid morphing,[40] while his face was made more hideous and menacing.[15] Bay admitted most of the Decepticons had their
appearances chosen before their characterization as Hasbro needed to get started on the toys.[36] Soundwave was
considered as MH-53 Pave Low helicopter, which became Blackout,[43] but Hasbro
wanted to have a music player for the character.[24] Don Murphy felt this role belittled Soundwave,[6] and the writers concurred the character in the
script barely resembled the original.[37] They renamed him Frenzy, one of
Soundwave's minions.[37] However,
the character of Brawl, an M1 Abrams tank, was
named Devastator in the film, which Bay chose despite Brawl being the character's
official name, and ignored the writers who pointed this out.[44]
Filming
To save money, Michael Bay cut his fee by 30%, and planned an eighty-three day shooting
schedule.[33] He kept up the pace by doing more
camera set-ups per day than usual[34] and chose to shoot the film with a crew he was familiar with in the United States.[45]
He had the support of the United States military, who supplied aircraft
and vehicles for the alternate modes of the Decepticons, including F-22s, F-117s, C-130 and C-17 cargo planes, and two CV-22 tiltrotor aircraft, out of three in the U.S. Air Force inventory at that time.[46] Such cooperation led Transformers to be the first film shot at The Pentagon since the September 11, 2001
attacks.[2]
A pre-shoot took place on April 19, 2006, and principal
photography began on April 22 at Holloman Air Force Base.[2] The Holloman shoot also included
White Sands Missile Range.[47] On June 9, filming was onsite at the Hoover Dam,[48] making the film crew the first to shoot there since 9/11.
The crew then based themselves at Hughes Aircraft in Playa Vista, including six weekends of filming the climactic battle in
Los Angeles.[2] Production wrapped on September 24, and second unit shooting continued in the
Arctic and Detroit,[49] which finished on October 4.[33]
Effects
Work on the animatics began in April 2005.[24] Michael Bay shot his fourteen action
sequences live to keep the budget below $150 million.[32] Three versions of each car were created by General
Motors in anticipation that some of them would crash,[2] and stunt drivers wore black balaclavas to blend in with
the darkened interiors, so as to make the vehicles appear sentient.[50] Bay used his animatics to help the actors envision the Transformers, as well as a 17-foot-tall
Bumblebee model by FXPerts, a Frenzy puppet by KNB,[2] Scorponok's damaged tail,[51] Optimus's head with motion capture points,[52] and Megatron's frozen legs.[53] The props amount to 12[51] out of 630 effects shots.[33]
Industrial Light & Magic created computer-generated transformations
over six months in 2005, looking at every inch of the models and making sure none of the car pieces conflicted during the
simulations.[54] Initially they were designed to follow
the laws of physics, but it did not look exciting enough and was changed to be more fluid.[55] One decision made was that the wheels should stay on the ground for as long
as possible, allowing the robots to cruise around as they changed.[56] Due to the intricate designs of the Transformers, even the simplest notion of turning a wrist
requires seventeen visible pieces,[2]
while each of Ironhide's guns is made of ten thousand parts.[32] Such detail required thirty-eight hours to render each frame of
animation,[2] which meant ILM had to
increase their processing facilities.[57] Each rendered piece had to look like real metal, shiny or dull.[55] Photographs were taken of each set and had a lighting environment
produced within a computer so the robots would look like they were convincingly moving there.[57] ILM created the 430 shots of the thirteen primary robots, while
Digital Domain created nearly 100 shots including the character animation of several
robots. Digital Domain was also responsible for the Arctic discovery of Megatron, Frenzy's severed head, a vending machine
mutated by the Allspark and the Autobots' asteroid arrival.[58][59]
Asylum also created a number of shots, while 2-D cleanup and fixes were completed by CO3, ISolve and Ken Blackwell.[33]
Ultimately, the complex mechanics make the characters feel dynamic and quick rather than a lumbering beast,[34] with the mechanics resembling
human muscle movement, as Bay rejected a liquid metal surface for the facial animation. Bumblebee uses a piece below his
faceplate as an eyebrow, and pieces in his cheeks can swivel to resemble a smile. All the characters' eyes are designed to dilate
and brighten.[56] Numerous simulations were
programmed into the robots, so the animators could just focus on animating the particular areas needed for a convincing
performance.[57] Bay instructed the
animators at ILM to look at martial arts films to make the fights look
graceful,[34] and they also
looked to actor Liam Neeson's performances to inspire Optimus Prime's mannerisms. Bumblebee's behaviour was
based on Michael J. Fox's performance in Back to
the Future.[2] Writers
Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman observed unexpected
quirks in ILM's animation, and added new dialogue and re-edited scenes to adjust it to the robots' performances.[60] Visual effects supervisor Scott Farrar was most proud of the
scene where the Autobots hide from Sam's parents, as "there is a lot of humor and very dramatic night time lighting."[55]
Music
- See also: Transformers: The
Album and Transformers: The Score
Composer Steve Jablonsky, who collaborated with Bay on The Island, scored music for the teaser trailer long before actual work on the film.[61] Scoring took place in April 2007 at the Sony Scoring Stage
in Culver City. The score lasts ninety minutes, and uses six major themes,
including the teaser music.[62] The Autobots have three
themes, with one named "Optimus" to represent their friendship with Sam, 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 has its own theme too.[63]
Release
A building in Hollywood, CA, draped in canvas promoting the film
Transformers had its worldwide premiere at N Seoul Tower on June 11, 2007.[64] It premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival on
June 27 via digital satellite feed,[65] and in
Rhode Island on June 28. The Rhode Island premiere was a freely available event offering
fans to buy tickets for $75 to benefit four charities: the Rhode Island Community Food Bank, the Autism Project of Rhode Island,
the Adoption Rhode Island, and the Hasbro Children's Hospital.[66] The film was released on IMAX on September 21 2007,[67] with an additional two minutes that were seen elsewhere.[68]
Marketing
- Further information: Transformers movie toy
line, Transformers: Movie Prequel, Transformers: Movie Adaptation, Transformers: Ghosts of Yesterday, and Transformers: The Game
Hasbro made deals with 200 companies across 70 countries to promote the film.[69] Their toy line for the film was created over two months over
late 2005/early 2006, collaborating heavily with the filmmakers.[39] A pair of preview toys, Protoform Optimus
Prime and Starscream, were released in the U.S.A. on May
1 2007,[70] before
the first wave of figures were released on June 2.[39] The line featured characters not in the film, including Arcee.[71] A second wave of toys set for
late 2007 is labeled the "Allspark Power" line, which includes ordinary vehicles in the film turned into Transformers. These
include the Escalade brought to life by the Allspark as a Decepticon named Stockade.[72] The toys
feature "Automorph Technology" in which moving parts of the toy allow other parts to shift automatically.[73] Michael Bay directed tie-in
commercials for General Motors, Burger King and
PepsiCo,[74] while props
including the Chevrolet Camaro used for Bumblebee and the Allspark, were put up for charity on eBay.[75] A viral marketing alternate reality game was employed through the Sector 7 web site, 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 "real" Transformers. The site featured several videos recording "evidence" of Transformers on
Earth, with cameos by G1 characters Grimlock and Bumblebee.[76]
Home video
Transformers HD DVD retail packaging
Transformers was released in Region 1 territories on October 16 2007, on standard and HD DVD
formats. The standard DVD is offered in single disc and two disc editions.[77] Michael Bay contributed an
audio commentary. The Wal-Mart edition of the DVD
includes an animated version of the prequel comic book, entitled Transformers
Beginnings. Mark Ryan, Peter Cullen and
Kevin Dunn reprised their roles, while Frank Welker
played Megatron.[78] The Target disc case is a transformable
two-dimensional image of Optimus Prime,[79] and a prequel
comic book focusing on Starscream.[78] Region 2 will get the DVD sets on the December 3.
Region 3 will get the DVD sets on October 25. Region
4 will get the DVD on November 1.
The North American HD DVD edition is a two-disc set, packaged in a translucent
slipcase and features HDi based interactive content and a
myriad of web-enabled features. Some of the features include Paramount HD Connect,
which allows users the ability to customize their movie experience with various web updates and downloads. The film and all of
the special features are presented high definition 1080p, with a Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 soundtrack.
Reaction
Though Transformers fans were initially divided over the film due to the radical redesigns of many characters,[80] longtime Transformers comic book writer
Simon Furman and Beast Wars script consultant
Benson Yee gave the film a positive reception. They both found it spectacular fun, but Furman argued there were too many human
storylines.[81] 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.[82] Nonetheless, the
film created a greater awareness of the franchise and drew in many new fans.[83] Its box office success led to production of films based on
Voltron and Robotech,[84] as well as a Knight Rider
remake.[85]
Box office performance
The film was released in ten overseas 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 ten countries including a $1.7 million four-day weekend gross in Singapore, the biggest yet.[86] It
grossed $5.2 million in Malaysia, becoming the most successful film in the country's
history.[87] Transformers opened in
China on July 11, setting a record for the biggest foreign language film opening there, with $3
million.[88] It became the second highest-grossing
foreign film behind Titanic with a gross of $37.3 million.[89] 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 U.K. box office, behind The Simpsons
Movie.[90] The film has grossed $701.1 million
worldwide, including $318 million in the United States, making it Michael Bay's highest grossing film to date, not counting for
inflation.[91]
The film was released in the U.S. and Canada on July 3 2007,
with 8 p.m. preview screenings on July 2. The previews earned $8.8 million,[92] and in its first day of general release it grossed $27.8
million, a record for Tuesday box office attendance. It broke Spider-Man 2's record
for the biggest July 4th gross, making $29 million.[93] On its opening weekend, Transformers grossed $70.5 million,
amounting to a $155.4 million opening week, giving it the record for the biggest opening week for a non-sequel.[94] The opening's domestic gross was 50% more than what
Paramount Pictures expected, with one executive attributing it to word of mouth, telling parents that "it's OK to take the kids." A Cinemascope poll indicated the film was
most popular with children and parents, including older women, and attracted many African
American and Latino viewers.[95]
Critical reception
Transformers was met with mixed reviews from film critics, receiving a "rotten"
rating of 57% favorable reviews out of one hundred-and-eighty-six reviews on Rotten
Tomatoes, with a Cream of the Crop rating of 68% "fresh" based on thirty-six reviews from major news outlets.[96] It received a Metacritic
score of 61/100 (generally favorable) from thirty-five reviews.[97] IGN's Todd Gilchrist found 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."[98]
