| Directed by | Michael Bay |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Steven Spielberg Tom DeSanto Don Murphy |
| Written by | Roberto Orci Alex Kurtzman John Rogers |
| Starring | Shia LaBeouf Megan Fox Josh Duhamel Tyrese Gibson Jon Voight Voices: Peter Cullen Hugo Weaving |
| Music by | Steve Jablonsky |
| Cinematography | Mitch Amundsen |
| Distributed by | DreamWorks Pictures Paramount Pictures UIP |
| Release date(s) |    June 28, 2007 July 2, 2007 July 27, 2007 |
| Running time | 144 min |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $147 million |
Transformers is a 2007 live action film based on the Transformers franchise, directed by Michael Bay and executive produced by Steven Spielberg. It stars Shia LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky, who has the map to the Allspark, 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, John Turturro, and Hugo Weaving as the voice of Megatron. Peter Cullen, the voice of Optimus Prime in the 1980s cartoon, reprised the role for the film.
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 fan, Bay was convinced by Spielberg to direct, and he created an intricate design aesthetic for the computer-generated Transformers. Bay had support from General Motors and the United States military during filming, keeping 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 2, 2007, and broke the box office record for the highest-grossing opening week for a non-sequel. Critics praised the special effects, but found the characterization lacking.
Cast
Humans
* Shia LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky: An offbeat seventeen-year old, Sam gets his first car, which turns out to be Bumblebee. Sam unwittingly becomes the center of the Autobot-Decepticon war, and becomes the unlikely savior of humanity.
* Megan Fox as Mikaela Banes: A girl whom Sam is interested in and woos with the help of Bumblebee. Her father was a "grease monkey" and she has inherited some of his skills.
* Josh Duhamel as Cpt William Lennox: Leader of a U.S. Army Special Ops US Ranger team in Qatar, who manages to escape the destruction caused by Blackout. He has a wife and new-born daughter back home.
* Tyrese Gibson as TSgt Epps: An Air Force Combat Controller who teams up with Lennox to escape Blackout and Scorponok.
* John Turturro as Simmons: An officer in Sector 7, a secret government group that has been holding and studying the Allspark and the frozen Megatron. Simmons is leading a team tracking down the Cybertronians.
* Jon Voight as John Keller: The United States Secretary of Defense.
* Rachael Taylor as Maggie Madsen: An expert in signal detection and decoding assisting the Department of Defense.
* Anthony Anderson as Glenn Whitmann: A computer hacker and friend of Maggie, who assists in deciphering the Cybertronian language.
* Bernie Mac as Bobby Bolivia: The car dealer who unknowingly sells Bumblebee (as an early model Camaro), to Sam.
* Michael O'Neill as Tom Banachek: The head of Sector 7 and Simmons's boss. He brings all the major characters together at the Hoover Dam.
LaBeouf, Fox, Duhamel, Gibson and Anderson were fans of the Transformers. Michael Bay hired LaBeouf as he could improvise many jokes, with a charisma that reminded Bay of the young Tom Hanks. 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. Fox gained 10 pounds of muscle during shooting due to the physicality of the role. Duhamel and Gibson spent three days in boot camp, and Gibson also spent time with combat controller Ray Bollinger to make his dialogue sound natural.
Autobots
* Peter Cullen as the voice of Optimus Prime (Peterbilt truck): The wise and powerful Autobot leader who comes to protect humanity from the evil Decepticons. He wields a cannon and a blade.
* Mark Ryan as the voice of Bumblebee (Second/Fifth generation Chevrolet Camaro): Bumblebee is an honest and friendly soldier who develops a friendship with Sam and Mikaela during his efforts to find the Allspark. He has difficulty speaking after his vocal processors were damaged in battle, and uses soundbites from radio broadcasts to communicate on Earth.
* Darius McCrary as the voice of Jazz (Modified Pontiac Solstice): Optimus' second-in-command, he is a small but acrobatic fighter, with magnetic hands. He develops a fondness for human culture.
* Jess Harnell as the voice of Ironhide (GMC Topkick 6500 pick-up truck): The tough, trigger-happy weapons specialist of the group, wielding enormous cannons on his arms. He is an old friend of Optimus, and constantly threatens to use deadly force on terrestrial life forms, much to Optimus' dismay.
* Robert Foxworth as the voice of Ratchet (Search & Rescue Hummer H2): The team's medic and scientist. He has enhanced senses, and has an axe and a saw.
Don Murphy decided after discussions with fans on his website that they wanted the surviving voices from the 1980s cartoon, but Michael Bay had them audition first, as he feared their aged voices would be noticeable. Peter Cullen, the voice of Optimus Prime, was announced to be reprising his role at the July 2006 San Diego Comic-Con. 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. His vocal performance consisted of much improvisation with Bay and bringing a sense of humor to Prime, as well as portraying his traditional heroism. Paramount held a contest for fans to submit a line of dialogue for Optimus in the film, and the winning entry was "Freedom is the right of all sentient beings", but this line, being the character's catchphrase, was in the script from its first draft.
Cullen also read for Ironhide, another character he originally voiced, during his first audition, portraying a conversation between Optimus and Ironhide. Mark 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. Bumblebee mostly communicates with his radio due to his damaged vocal processor, and the writers considered using dialogue from various Paramount films, including the line "I feel the need for speed!" from Top Gun.
Decepticons
* Hugo Weaving as the voice of Megatron (Cybertronian "jet"): The brutal Decepticon leader who desires power over the Allspark. According to Peter Cullen, Optimus and Megatron are brothers, akin to the story of Cain and Abel. He crash-landed in the Arctic eons ago, and his frozen body is kept in storage by Sector 7. He wields a flail and his arms form a cannon.
* 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.
* Jess Harnell as the voice of Barricade (Saleen-modified Ford Mustang police car): A Decepticon in disguise of a symbol of authority who locates Sam early on.
* Reno Wilson as the voice of Frenzy (GPX 2-speaker CD player, mobile phone): The smallest Decepticon, 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.
* Jimmie Wood as the voice of Bonecrusher (Buffalo H Mine-Protected vehicle): He attacks Optimus Prime during the highway chase.
Blackout (an MH-53 Pave Low helicopter), Scorponok (a mechanical scorpion) and Devastator (an M1 Abrams tank) do not have voice actors. Hugo Weaving, whose voice was used for facial animation tests, signed on to voice Megatron in March 2007. TV series voice actor Frank Welker auditioned, but was rejected as his voice was too light for the beastly depiction of Megatron. Bay felt it would be wrong to ask Welker to change his classic voice. Welker voiced Megatron in the video game adaptation.
Marketing
Further information: Transformers: The Movie Prequel, Transformers: Ghosts of Yesterday, and Transformers: The Game
The first teaser trailer was released on the Internet on June 29, 2006, depicting a Transformer attacking the Beagle 2 mission. A second trailer was released on December 20, breaking Spider-Man 3's record for the number of internet hits. A third trailer was released online on Yahoo's movie website on May 17, 2007. Another trailer was attached with Shrek the Third. Bay originally intended that "[The audience] never really get a good look at the robots until the release", but by the third trailer he had abandoned this idea. The Sector 7 viral marketing web site featured several videos recording supposed evidence of Transformers on Earth. These featured cameos by Generation 1 Transformers, including Grimlock destroying a construction site, and a security video showing a robot resembling Generation 1 Bumblebee transforming in a parking garage.
Hasbro made deals with 200 companies across 70 countries to promote the film. Their toy line for the film was created over two months over late 2005/early 2006, collaborating heavily with the filmmakers. A pair of preview toys, Protoform Optimus Prime and Starscream, were released in the U.S.A. on May 1, 2007, before the first wave of figures were released on June 2. Characters that do not appear in the film are also featured in the film's style, including Air Raid, Arcee, Clocker, Elita One, Hardtop, Longarm, Signal Flare, Skyblast, Strongarm, Swindle and Wreckage. The toys feature "Automorph Technology" in which moving parts of the toy allow other parts to shift automatically. Michael Bay directed tie-in commercials for General Motors, Burger King and PepsiCo, while props including the 1977 Chevrolet Camaro used for Bumblebee and the Allspark, were put up for charity on eBay.
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