Transformers (Blu-ray)
Directed by: Michael Bay
Written by: Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and John Rogers
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Jon Voight, John Turturro, Anthony Anderson, Tyrese Gibson

There are few movies released in the last couple of years that have caused more message board bickering and fanboy flame wars than Michael Bay’s Transformers, based on the classic 80’s cartoon series and toy line. For some, the movie delivered everything you could ever ask for in a summer blockbuster: cutting edge special effects, fast cars, hot chicks, and plenty of explosions. For others, it was clumsy and unintentionally funny, an example of big budget filmmaking at its most commercial and most shallow.

Although I was not the biggest supporter of the movie back when it came out, I did end up giving it a pass, and I was somewhat interested to revisit it now that that dust has settled. It has finally been released on Blu-ray, which Michael Bay had always argued is the better high-definition format. While I can’t compare directly to the HD-DVD version since I haven’t seen it, I can say that this is one of those movies that was made to be watched in HD and will most definitely help sell truckloads of high-def systems.

For the most part, my opinion of the movie itself remains unchanged. Transformers definitely succeeds at being larger than life and delivers a number of cool moments that make you stand back and say “wow”. The special effects are impressive and the robots look relatively believable (although in HD they do stand out a little more from their surroundings since they are so clean and crisp).

What was more clear to me this time around was the fact that there are two very different movies competing for screen time here. On the one side we have producer Steven Spielberg’s tale of a boy and his alien car, the endearing, human element centered around Sam and his middle-class family. On the other side we have Michael Bay’s military-minded action extravaganza filled with slow motion helicopters and nameless soldiers wearing fatigues.

While the Spielberg stuff may seem cheesy to some, for me there’s no question that it is the preferable direction for this movie to take. Shia LaBeouf’s performance is what gives this movie its rewatchability factor and I preferred many of the sillier moments when the movie doesn’t take itself too seriously (urinating autobots notwithstanding). Where the movie ultimately loses me is the final showdown when the two visions collide in a massive orgy of scrap metal, falling buildings, glistening bodies and lens flares.

But let’s cut to the chase since you have probably long since made up your mind about this movie. What you want to know is whether or not the Blu-ray release is worth picking up, and without getting into any of the technical jargon, I can say that it looks absolutely fantastic, and the monstrous sound design will easily rattle your neighbour’s windows.

Personally I was hoping to dig into some good behind-the-scenes material, and the two-disc Blu-ray release does indeed deliver. There are two 50-minute, multi-part documentaries that cover the making of the film. “Our World” takes a look at how the movie was conceived, the writing of the script, and Michael Bay’s insistence on military involvement. “Their War” is mostly focused on the art design of the Transformers themselves and the process of bringing the CG models to life and integrating them with the live action stuff. There is also a featurette just on the making of the Scorponok desert attack sequence. It was fun seeing how some of the stunts were shot and witnessing the general feeling of chaos that seems to be a part of any Michael Bay set. The icing on the cake is that all of this behind-the-scenes stuff was presented in HD as well.

There is an audio commentary track with Michael Bay, and to his credit, he covers a lot of topics and talks more than enough to avoid any lulls throughout the film. Unfortunately, he’s also a pretty cocky guy and you can only listen to him talk about his vision of the movie for so long before it wears on you. It would have been nice to get a second commentary track, perhaps from the writers, actors or some of the FX guys.

Another cool feature is a pop-up trivia track that mixes picture-in-picture interviews and clips with little factoids about things on screen. This is kind of similar to the U-turn feature that many HD-DVDs had, and I like it, although I thought a lot of the trivia was kind of useless and uninteresting (ie. I didn’t need to know the specs of the various military vehicles being used, although I guess some people might be interested).

The last bit of supplementary material is the BD Live section, which has a number of widgets including another subtitle fact track, Transformers tech info display, and read out of “damage” that is dealt to each robot throughout the film. There is also a feature allowing you to view a high-def model of each Transformer in 3-D.

Overall, I think it’s safe to say that if you want to experience Transformers from the comfort of your own home, this is certainly the way to do it. The movie was more fun on a second viewing than I thought it would be, and although I can’t see myself revisiting it over and over again, it does make for a great home theatre demo disc and is well worth picking up on that basis alone. — Sean

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