Transformer: The Movie

Transformers is a 2007 live action film based on the Transformers franchise and toy line. Directed by Michael Bay with Steven Spielberg acting as executive producer, it stars Shia LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky, who discovers the map to the Allspark: the source of life, for which the heroic Autobots and evil Decepticons wage their war. The project originated with producers Don Murphy and Tom DeSanto, who gained support from fans on the Internet to rehire Peter Cullen as the voice of Autobot leader Optimus Prime, 20 years since the original cartoon ended. This adaptation is the Transformers' first American feature film since The Transformers: The Movie in 1986. However, this film is intended to be a reboot of the franchise, with a new complex design aesthetic for the Transformers. It will premiere on June 20, 2007 before being released across the world.

Plot

In the Arctic Circle during the 1800s, Captain Archibald Witwicky falls into an abyss and lands on a robotic hand partially buried in the ice. He finds staring back at him the eyes of Decepticon leader Megatron, who burns a map showing the location of the life giving^[1] Allspark into Witwicky's eyeglasses. These are handed down to his descendant, Sam, in the present day.^[2] Elsewhere, Decepticon Blackout attacks a United States Air Force base in Qatar in the present day, grabbing and absorbing information from a computer while he destroys the base and deploys Scorponok. Scorponok chases Captain Lennox and his Special Ops team in the desert and in a village. Lennox then makes a phone call to The Pentagon, which sends a jet to fight off the Decepticon. Sam Witwicky buys his first car, which happens to be the Autobot Bumblebee. Bumblebee helps Sam to gain Mikaela as his girlfriend. The Autobots come looking for Archibald's glasses, while hiding in Sam's yard, and the nefarious Sector 7 comes to invade Sam's house.^[3] The film eventually concludes with a battle that begins at the Hoover Dam^[4] and concludes in Los Angeles as Autobot leader Optimus Prime and Megatron face off.^[5]

Cast and characters

Humans

Sam and Mikaela

• Shia LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky
• Megan Fox as Mikaela: Sam's love interest.
• Josh Duhamel as William Lennox: Captain of a Special Ops team in Qatar, who manages to escape the destruction caused by Blackout. He has a wife and child back home.
• Tyrese Gibson as Epps: A combat controller who teams up with Lennox to escape Blackout and Scorponok.
• John Turturro as Simmons: Head of Sector 7, a secret government group that holds Megatron hostage. Simmons is leading a team tracking down Bumblebee.
• Jon Voight as Keller: The United States Secretary of State.
• Kevin Dunn as Ron Witwicky: Sam's father.
• Julie White as Mrs. Witwicky
• Rachael Taylor as Maggie
• Bernie Mac as Bobby Bolivia: A car dealer from whom Sam buys Bumblebee, both unaware of its alien origin.

Autobots

• Peter Cullen as the voice of Optimus Prime (Semi-trailer truck): The powerful, wise leader of the Autobots, Prime comes to protect humanity from the evil Decepticons.
• Bumblebee (1974/2008 Chevrolet Camaro): Rendered mute in battle, Bumblebee is an honest and friendly soldier who befriends humanity, namely Sam, in his efforts to find the Allspark.
• Jazz (Pontiac Solstice): The smallest and feistiest of the Autobots, Jazz is one of Optimus' best warriors, talented at learning new cultures.
• Ironhide (GMC Topkick pick-up truck): A tough, weathered soldier, he is always the first in battle. Ironhide is one of Optimus' oldest friends, yet he has a darker outlook on life.
• Ratchet (Search & Rescue Hummer H2): The medic and scientist, Ratchet has a strong sense of duty to protect life.

Decepticons

• Hugo Weaving as the voice of Megatron (Cybertronian jet): The missing Decepticon leader held hostage by Sector 7, Megatron desires power over the Allspark and hates organic lifeforms.

• Starscream (F-22 Raptor): Megatron's second-in-command, Starscream actually desires to overthrow Megatron and take the Allspark for himself.

• Blackout (MH-53 Pave Low): The largest Decepticon, Blackout is fiercely loyal to Megatron and can fire electromagnetic pulses, making Decepticon attacks easier.

• Keith David as the voice of Barricade (Saleen-modified Ford Mustang police car) : The Decepticon hunter who masquerades in society as a symbol of the law.^[6]

• Frenzy (2-speaker CD player): The smallest of the Decepticons, Frenzy attaches to Barricade. His main purpose is spying on humans, but he is still a ferocious fighter, shooting blades disguised as CDs from his chest.

• Scorponok (mechanical scorpion): He has a symbiotic relationship with Blackout, hiding within him until he is commanded to go and kill.

• Brawl (Modified M1 Abrams): A moody warrior, armed to the teeth.

• Bonecrusher (Buffalo H Mine-Protected vehicle): Another piece of Decepticon muscle, Bonecrusher has a hatred for all others and is only subservient to Megatron, whom he fears.

Production

Development

Producer Don Murphy had been looking to do a G.I. Joe film but following the outbreak of the Iraq War, he negotiated the rights with Hasbro for a Transformers film instead.^[8] Tom DeSanto also came onto the project having been a big childhood fan of the characters,^[9] and they wrote a treatment that explored why the Transformers exist,^[8] as well as the real possibilities of the concept, similar to a disaster film.^[1] DeSanto studied many of the cartoons and comics to create a story,^[7] even meeting with comic book writer Simon Furman,^[8] while Murphy invited fans to discuss the film on his website.^[1] Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks bought the property in 2004, as Adam Goodman, President of Production, felt it was a good opportunity for Dreamworks to have a tentpole franchise. Spielberg himself had come to know the franchise via the toys and cartoons that his children loved.^[10] John Rogers was hired as screenwriter on November 4, 2004 to adapt DeSanto's story,^[11] and turned in his draft in January 2005. 4 Transformers were on each side in John Rogers' version of the script,^[12] and the draft also included the Ark.^[13]

Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, big fans of the cartoon,^[14] were hired the following month to start over.^[15] Their first draft focused exclusively on Sam and Mikaela, and expanded in their second for more of the military^[16] and giving the Transformers dialogue despite initial studio concerns.^[14] Spielberg added his input, saying he wanted the film to be about "a boy and his car", focusing on the relationship between Sam and Bumblebee.^[17] Inspired by E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Kurtzman made Bumblebee a mute, to stress Sam's relationship with Bumblebee as going beyond words,^[16] and Orci cut the Ark, feeling "Why would aliens who moonlight as vehicles need other vehicles to travel inside?"^[18] Although they always included Optimus Prime, Megatron, Bumblebee and Starscream,^[14] Orci and Kurtzman also experimented with additional characters such as Ravage^[16] and Arcee, the latter of whom was cut due to poor fan reaction.^[8] They added more Decepticons to increase the threat against the Autobots, stressing their teamwork,^[19] and they also removed Soundwave, as Don Murphy felt his role sidelined the character.^[1] First the Decepticon spy was renamed Soundbyte,^[20] then Frenzy, a minion of Soundwave in G1.^[19] Other characters given temporary names were Brawl, who was known as "Devastator"^[21] and "Demolisher",^[22] and Blackout, known as Vortex^[23] and Incinerator.^[24] These were their on-set names,^[25] and the official names were only confirmed during filming.^[19] These names were further made canonical with dialogue written during post-production due to the partly animated nature of the film.^[26]

Michael Bay was negotiated with to direct, but turned it down as a "stupid toy movie".^[27] Realising he had been wrong as a teenager at Lucasfilm regarding Raiders of the Lost Ark' box office potential, he was put through "Transformers school",^[28] and in April 2005 he confirmed he was directing the film.^[29] The U.S. release date of July 4, 2007 was announced at the Comic-Con International in July 2005.^[30]

Casting

During development, Murphy used his site to earn support from fans, and decided upon a consensus for the voices from the 1980s cartoon.^[31] Michael Bay auditioned them first, fearing that their aged voices would be noticeable.^[5] Peter Cullen, the voice of Optimus Prime in the animated series, was announced at the July 2006 San Diego Comic-Con.^[32] Cullen also read for Ironhide, another character he originally voiced, during the first of two auditions, though he is not voicing him.^[33] In March 2007, Hugo Weaving was revealed to be playing Megatron.^[34] TV series voice actor Frank Welker auditioned, but his voice didn't fit Megatron's new look.^[35] However, Welker will be providing the voice of Megatron for the Transformers video game.

Filming

Director Michael Bay filming at Holloman Air Force Base.

Principal photography began on May 22, 2006. Two Bell Boeing CV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft (of only three in the United States Air Force inventory) were filmed in flight at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, on May 26 for the film.^[21] Other military aircraft were being filmed at Holloman and at nearby White Sands Missile Range.^[36] On June 9, filming was onsite at the Hoover Dam,^[37] for scenes involving Sector 7 at Area 52.^[38] Shooting around August focused on Pentagon interiors,^[39] and filming of destruction in Los Angeles was also taking place. Filming took place in Rialto, California on finished-but unopened portion of Interstate 210 between Alder Ave. and Linden Ave. Filming at Edwards AFB began on September 6, 2006 and ended two days later.^[40] Production then wrapped on September 24, although second unit shooting continued in the Arctic and Detroit,^[41] where it finally finished on October 5.^[42]

Bay did not want the animated aspects of the film to overwhelm the live-action elements, spending most of the $150 million budget on over 14 practical action sequences.^[43]

Effects

During the animatic process in 2005, producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura felt a computer generated version of Optimus Prime's comic book incarnation looked silly.^[44] Bay's direction created an aesthetic that heavily stressed advanced kinematics and realistic engineering.^[5] Bay said that he drew away from the classic boxy look as he felt it would look fake, and give a better impression of mass with more parts.^[43] During a transformation, thousands of parts of the body move,^[42] a result of the lack of any mass shifting.^[45] Bonaventura said that working out the transformations was mathematical equation of designing where parts went, to avoid cases such as Optimus Prime's disappearing trailer from the cartoon.^[46] The designs also reflect the alien origin of the characters.^[47] Bay also created a new eye design to make the characters more emotionally engaging, resembling a camera shutter.^[5]

Optimus Prime in Earth form

Optimus Prime was a character whom the writers admitted had a classic design that could not be altered too much.^[34] However, the original cab over truck design meant that Prime would only be 20-25 feet tall,^[48] so Bay went for the larger Peterbilt truck, making Prime 8.5m (28 feet) tall.^[49] Bay also added flame artwork to accentuate Prime's ribs,^[43] and had his faceplate made retractable.^[5] In contrast, Megatron was given a less humanoid face, which was to make him more menacing,^[34] and his alternate mode was changed from a Walther P38 as the writers felt, "It’s like Darth Vader turning into his own lightsaber and having someone else swing him around."^[14] Bumblebee was also changed: Don Murphy had wanted to retain his Volkswagen Beetle form,^[50] but Bay changed him to a Chevrolet Camaro, to avoid comparisons with Herbie the Love Bug.^[27] The other Autobots also became GM-owned vehicle lines, as part of a tie-in deal.^[51] The alternate modes of the Decepticons were supplied to Bay from the U.S. army.^[5] In a nod to the cartoon, its transformation sound effect was re-used.^[52]

During filming, KNB Effects provided animatronics to portray the Transformers.^[53] A blue version of Optimus' head with motion capture points was used.^[54] and Bumblebee was constructed as a physical prop,^[9] around 5.1m (17 feet) tall.^[49] Models of Megatron's legs^[55] and Blackout's feet were also built.^[56] During principal filming, Mark Ryan was hired to be on set, to act as a stand in for the Transformers, giving actors someone to react to and act against during filming, both physically where appropriate and providing dialogue, and also ad-libbed characters during post-production.^[57] To portray the sentient cars, stunt drivers had to wear black, and wore balaclavas to conceal themselves from view.^[58] Industrial Light and Magic provided CGI, taking 38 hours to render each frame of the highly detailed animation models.^[27] Ironhide's gun alone has 10,000 pieces.^[43]

Music

Composer Steve Jablonsky previously collaborated with Bay on The Island, scoring music for the teaser trailer long before actual work on the film.^[59] Scoring began in April 2007 in the Sony Scoring Stage in Culver City. The score comprises six major themes over 90 minutes of score, including the teaser music. Tom DeSanto and Don Murphy wanted to work in an orchestral version of the TV series theme,^[60][1] but it may be merely put over the end credits or feature on the soundtrack album.^[61]

Stan Bush, who performed the songs "Dare" and "The Touch" for the 1986 film, is composing a song for the film.^[62]

Marketing

The first teaser trailer was released on the Internet on June 29, 2006, depicting a Transformer attacking the Beagle 2 mission, which is not in the film.^[63] A second trailer was released on December 20,^[64] breaking Spider-Man 3's record for the number of internet hits.^[65] A third trailer was released online on on Yahoo's movie website on May 17, 2007. Another special trailer will be attached with Shrek the Third.^[66] Bay originally intended that "[The audience] never really get a good look at the robots until the release",^[43] but by the third trailer he had abandoned this idea.

Promotional display for the movie at BotCon 2006

Expanding the film's universe, IDW Publishing published a prequel comic book. Lasting for four issues, it was written by Simon Furman and IDW editor-in-chief Chris Ryall, who was allowed to read the film's script and had the comic meet the filmmakers approval,^[67] and with art by Don Figueroa. The title follows Bumblebee from Cybertron to modern Earth and Sector 7's origin.^[67] It was part of Free Comic Book Day on May 5, 2007.^[68] Following this, a weekly adaptation of the film will follow in June.^[69] David Cian was set to write the prequel novel Transformers: Ghosts of Yesterday but Alan Dean Foster took over, and he is also writing a novelization.^[70]

Hasbro made deals with 200 companies across 70 countries to promote the film.^[71] Their toy line for the film was created over two months over late 2005/early 2006, collaborating heavily with the filmmakers.^[47] A pair of preview toys, Protoform Optimus Prime and Starscream, were released in the U.S.A. on May 1, 2007,^[72] before the rest of the figures were released on June 2.^[47] More toys are set for release in the autumn.^[73] Characters that do not appear in the film are also featured in the film's style.^[74] The toys feature "Automorph Technology" in which moving parts of the toy allow other parts to shift automatically.^[75]

Activision is working on Transformers: The Game which is set for release on PlayStation Portable, PS2, PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii formats, and two games entitled Autobots and Decepticons on Nintendo DS.^[76] The game allows people to play as Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, Jazz, Ironhide, Megatron, Starscream, Blackout, Scorponok and Barricade in a free-roaming environment,^[77] in a different gameplay depending on the faction they choose.^[78] There are also characters not in the film,^[79] while the PSP edition allows 20 playable characters.^[80] The DS version can offer co-operative play and the PSP edition offers 4 player play.^[76]

Release

Transformers will premiere on June 20, 2007 at Sitges, Taormina during the annual film festival the following day, at Los Angeles on June 27,^[81] and at Rhode Island on June 28. The Rhode Island premiere is a freely avaliable event offering fans to buy tickets for $75 to benefit four charities: Rhode Island Community Food Bank, Autism Project of Rhode Island, Adoption Rhode Island, and Hasbro Children’s Hospital.^[82] The film will be released in Australia on June 28, in New Zealand on July 2, in the United States on July 3, Canada on July 4 and in the United Kingdom on July 27.

Expectations for Transformers are huge. Before its release it was voted "Best Summer Movie You Haven't Seen Yet" at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards.^[83]

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformers_(film)