TRANSFORMERS (Movie, 2007)

GENERAL INFORMATION

Transformers is a 2007 live action film based on the Transformers franchise. It stars Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox as teenagers Sam Witwicky and Mikaela Banes, who become embroiled in the war between the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons. Sam has the map to the Allspark, which grants the bearer power over mechanical life. The film also stars Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, Jon Voight and John Turturro, as well as Peter Cullen as the voice of Optimus Prime and Hugo Weaving as the voice of Megatron. Cullen, who voiced Optimus in the 1980s cartoon, returned by fan demand.

Producers Don Murphy and Tom DeSanto developed the film, and Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman wrote the script, all aiming for a realistic interpretation of the characters. Michael Bay was convinced by executive producer Steven Spielberg to direct the film despite not being a fan of the series, to make his first family film. His direction led to a new intricate design aesthetic for the computer generated Transformers. Armed with an enormous marketing campaign including comics, toys and tie-in deals, Transformers premiered on June 12, 2007 and opened in the United States on July 2, 2007.

PLOT

The Autobots and Decepticons were embroiled in a war that led to the destruction of their home planet Cybertron. The survivors scattered throughout the universe seeking the Allspark, an immensely powerful life-giving device which was lost to them. Discovering the Allspark is on Earth, the Decepticons have come to Earth, and in Qatar, the Decepticon Blackout attacks a United States military base in an attempt to hack into the military's computer defense network. Scorponok chases a small group of survivors, including Cpt William Lennox and USAF TSgt Epps, who narrowly escape. They call the Pentagon for help, and aircraft fire wounds Scorponok, who burrows in the sand and is not seen again.

In suburban America, high-school student Sam Witwicky tries to sell the exploring equipment of his great-great-grandfather Captain Archibald Witwickyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witwicky_family#Captain_Archibald on eBay to raise cash for a new car. Sam is unaware that Archibald Witwicky's glasses contain an etching of the coordinates to the location of the Allspark. The etchings were made when Captain Witwicky accidentally encountered the frozen body of Decepticon leader Megatron buried under the ice in the Arctic Circle. Aware of Sam's ancestry, Autobot Bumblebee has been assigned to guard Sam and poses as a used early model Chevrolet Camaro. Sam's father buys the car, and after helping Sam woo Mikaela Banes, Bumblebee drives away to send out a homing signal to the rest of the Autobots.

As the Pentagon brings together the world's best code breakers, linguists and computer experts attempt to find out who is trying to hack into their network, the small Decepticon Frenzy transforms into a boombox, infiltrates Air Force One and successfully hacks into the defense network. The Decepticons, revealed to be seeking clues to the location of the Allspark, come across documents mentioning Captain Witwicky’s expedition, the location of Megatron, and Sam's eBay auction. As a result, the Decepticons target Sam.

Bumblebee finds himself defending Sam and Mikaela from an attack by the Decepticon Barricade. As the two robots fight each other, Frenzy attacks Sam, only to be decapitated with an electric saw by Mikaela. Still alive, Frenzy disguises his head as Mikaela's mobile phone and slips into her bag. Driving away to meet the rest of the Autobots after the fight, Mikaela criticizes Bumblebee's old Camaro form. Bumblebee proceeds to modify himself into the 2008 preproduction version of the Camaro. The other Autobots arrive on Earth, and after taking the forms of other Earth vehicles, their leader, Optimus Prime, explains to Sam their mission to stop the Decepticons from taking the Allspark. The Autobots want to use the Allspark to return Cybertron to its former glory, while the Decepticons hope to raise an army of robots with its power, and subjugate the inhabitants of Earth. Prime explains how the glasses, which Sam inherited from his great-great-grandfather, are vital to locating the Allspark. They return to Sam's home and Sam passes the glasses on to Prime. However, Sam and Mikaela, along with Bumblebee, are subsequently captured by the top-secret government agency, Sector 7. Optimus Prime is forced to abandon Bumblebee as a casualty of war to avoid harming any humans.

Sam, Mikaela, Secretary of Defense John Keller (Jon Voight), the surviving members of the special ops unit, and two experts who cracked the Decepticons' signal, Glen Whitman and Maggie Madsen, are brought to the Sector 7 headquarters under the Hoover Dam. They learn that Megatron, still frozen and dubbed by Sector 7 as NBE-1 (Non-Biological Extraterrestrial), and the Allspark have been held by the agency for many decades. Frenzy escapes from Mikaela's bag, and uses the power of the Allspark to regenerate his body and notify the Decepticons of its location. Decepticon second-in-command Starscream attacks the Sector 7 headquarters, while Frenzy hacks into the computer system to start the thawing and reactivation of Megatron. Sam convinces Sector 7 to release Bumblebee to save them from the Decepticons, and they leave with the Allspark. En route to an extraction point in a nearby city, the other Autobots join them to provide an escort. In the run, Bonecrusher pursues them and Optimus Prime is temporarily separated from the convoy to deal with the Decepticon. Prime destroys Bonecrusher with his energy axe.

The Decepticons confront the Autobots in Mission City and the ensuing battle results in Sam being responsible for keeping the Allspark out of Decepticon hands. With the help of the military, the Autobots keep the Decepticons at bay. During the final showdown between Megatron and Optimus Prime, the Allspark is destroyed when Sam inserts it into Megatron's chest, overwhelming him with its power and killing Megatron in the process. The Autobots choose to remain on Earth as its guardians. After the destruction of the Allspark, they can no longer recreate their homeworld, and Optimus Prime sends a message calling out for any surviving Autobots scattered across the galaxy to find them. Bumblebee is repaired and decides to stay with Sam. The Navy dumps the bodies of the defeated Decepticons into the Laurentian Abyss but in the final scene of the movie, Starscream is shown to be alive and flying out to space.

CAST

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 discovers his responsibility as the unlikely savior of humanity.
Megan Fox as Mikaela Banes: Sam's love interest. 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 team in Qatar, who manages to escape the destruction caused by Blackout. He has a wife and child 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: Head of Sector 7, a secret government group that has been holding and studying the Allspark and the still-frozen Megatron. Simmons is leading a team tracking down Bumblebee.
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: 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 the Autobot, Bumblebee (as an early model Camaro), to Sam.

Peter Cullen as the voice of Optimus Prime (Peterbilt truck): The powerful, wise leader of the Autobots, Prime comes to protect humanity from the evil Decepticons.
Mark Ryan as the voice of Bumblebee (Second/Fifth generation Chevrolet Camaro): Bumblebee is an honest and friendly soldier who befriends humanity, namely Sam, in his efforts to find the Allspark. He has difficulty speaking after he was attacked by Barricade and communicates using sound bytes from radio broadcasts.
Darius McCrary as the voice of Jazz (Pontiac Solstice): The smallest and feistiest of the Autobots, Jazz is Optimus' second-in-command and one of his best warriors, talented at learning new cultures.
Jess Harnell as the voice of Ironhide (GMC Topkick pick-up truck): A tough, weathered soldier, he is the Autobots' weapons specialist and is always the first in battle. Ironhide is one of Optimus' oldest friends, but has a grittier outlook on life.
Robert Foxworth as the voice of Ratchet (Search & Rescue Hummer H2): The medic and scientist, Ratchet has a strong sense of duty to protect life.