Transformers (movie)

Synopsis

2007. Mysterious robots of extraterrestrial origin , capable of transforming themselves into vehicles and objects of human manufacture, attack the defense systems of the American army . The secret services and the US federal government then understand that the attackers are looking for information about an incident in the Arctic Ocean in 1897. The great-great-grandson of the explorer who led this mission, Sam will, despite himself being taken to task, his car itself being a robot ( Bumblebee ) responsible for monitoring. With his help and that of other robots, the Autobots led by Optimus PrimeIt will prevent the dreaded Decepticons led by Megatron to seize the Allspark, a cube-shaped artifact containing a huge amount of energy, which will allow them to dominate the planet.

The story begins in a military base of the US Army. An undeclared combat helicopter approaches the area and two F-22s are sent to escort him. The helicopter lands but is transformed into a gigantic robot (Blackout) equipped with a high-tech arsenal (laser cannon, grenade launcher, missile launcher). The robot destroys everything in its path and hacks the networks from the central computer unit of the base but soldiers sacrifice themselves to destroy the computer at the source. The robot then destroys the rest of the camp and releases another scorpion-shaped robot to eliminate the survivors of the attack who have taken refuge in the desert.

One or two days later, a young man named Sam Witwicky makes a presentation to his class about his grandfather who led an expedition to the Arctic, but his teacher, who sees him trying to sell the glasses of his grandfather, intending to set it down but agrees to write it down. Sam is going to find his father at the end of classes, and the latter, glad that his son has good grades at school, agrees to buy him a used car. Sam leaves with his father to buy his car, but the car that catches his eye (a yellow Chevrolet Camaro) is too expensive, but suddenly, the car produces ultrasounds that blow the windshields of other cars, and the Seller agrees to sell it at a very reasonable price.

In the US president’s private plane, a radio turns into a robot but this time, the robot is unobtrusive. He hacks a computer but the virus is immediately detected. Nevertheless, the robot manages to collect the information it needs but is spotted by three security agents it eliminates. At the moment of landing, the robot flees discreetly through a police car that seemed to be waiting for it, then we see the robot (Frenzy) leaning over a computer in the car that shows a picture of Sam Witwicky and glasses from his grandfather that he wanted to sell on Ebay.

For his part, Sam sees one of the girls in his class, Mikaela (which he is secretly in love with), to flatten his boyfriend that she found too disinterested and macho. She is about to return home alone when Sam approaches her in his car and offers to bring her back. Mikaela confides in Sam and tells him that his car is cool. His father had taught him to retype the cars. The car ended up activating the radio all by itself to put a warm atmosphere, then crash before restarting when Mikaela was going back on foot. Sam brings Mikaela home and she tells him that she enjoyed the evening. One night, Sam surprises his car on his own and he thinks it’s a robbery. He follows the car on a bike while calling the police, then sees his car turn into a robot.

In the desert, Colonel Lennox and Private Epps survivors of the attack on the base are attacked by a giant robotic scorpion (Scorponok). They take refuge in a village in which the scorpion attacks them with long-range micro-missiles. The survivors finally get air reinforcements that bombard the wounded scorpion who is forced to flee. Survivors are rescued by helicopters.

One day, Sam sees his car following him, forcing him to flee with a bike. He finds himself alone in a parking lot with Mikaela when the police car seen earlier in the film turns into a monstrous robot (Barricade) and attacks. Sam’s yellow camaro burst into the car and confronted the police car in the body-to-body while Sam confronted the radio station Frenzy who had come to rescue the police car. Mikaela slices the head of the robot Frenzy in which Sam shoots as in a football. The still-alive head lands next to Mikaela’s handbag. The robot then scans the phone of the latter and turns into this object in order to follow them. Sam and Mikaela find the camaro that won the fight. She tells them that he is a robot named Bumblebee and he is of alien origin. Bumblebee takes them to Washington and scanned a new vehicle mode during the ride (Chevrolet Camaro V Yellow), giving it a more modern look. Once there, bumblebee emits signals in the sky. A meteor shower is landing near Washington. One lands near a highway and releases a robot that scans a 10-wheel Peterbilt 379, another lands in the pool of a private property and releases a robot that scans a GMC TopKick C4500 pickup truck, another lands in a football stadium and releases a robot that scans a Pontiac Solstice at a garage. The last one crashes into a garage and scans a Hummer H2 vehicle. Robotic vehicles find Bumblebee, Sam and Mikaela and take their robotic form. The robotic Peterbilt tells Sam and Mikaela that his name is Optimus Prime and that he is the leader of the robotics (Cybertron robotics), that the pickup is called Ironhide and that it is an autobot armament expert, that the Pontiac Solstice is Optimus Prime’s lieutenant named Jazz and that the Hummer is an autobot doctor named Ratchet. Optimus also explains that the Autobots are at war with the Decepticons led by Megatron. the Decepticons are on earth to find the Allspark, a cube of energy that will allow them to dominate the planet. The Decepticons are looking for Sam Witwicky because he owns his grandfather’s glasses, who had found Megatron’s body buried under the ice and caused a false manipulation that caused megatron to engrave the coordinates of the Allspark on his glasses. Sam, Mikaela and the Autobots went to Sam’s to find his grandfather’s glasses, but police officers from Area 7 arrived and took Sam and Mikaela off before leaving (not suspecting the presence of the autobots that were hidden). Sector 7 agent Seymour Simmons explained that Sam had called the police when his car had run off and took the form of a robot. Simmons also tells Sam that Mikaela’s father is in jail for stealing cars and therefore has a criminal record. the Simmons police car is suddenly attacked by the autobots who release Sam and Mikaela before leaving, but they are attacked by police helicopters that neutralize Bumblebee, Sam and Mikaela before leaving, but optimus Prime tells the other Autobots of do not help them because they have a priority: they must locate the Allspark. Sam and Mikaela are then taken by sector 7 to the place where the frozen megatron body and the Allspark have been moved. In exchange for the release of Bumblebee and the cancellation of Mikaela’s criminal record, Sam agrees to say everything he knows about the autobots and the Allspark. Sector 7 then shows him the powers of the Allspark, and Sam attends the transformation of a harmless mobile phone into a small killer guardian robot (Nokiabot) after the phone was traversed by the radiation produced by the Allspark. After, Simmons kills this little robot. Sam and Mikaela then meet Colonel Lennox and Private Epps when Frenzy, who was out of Mikaela’s purse, uses Allspark to recreate his body. He calls out for decepticons, and 6 decepticons answer the call: Starscream the second-in-command, Agent Barricade, Private Blackout, Robo Scorpion Scorpion, Heavy Soldier Brawl and Warrior Bonecrusher. Starscream, second-in-command of the decepticons, launches the assault and paralyzes the electrical system of the base with its missile launcher. Bumblebee decides to reduce the size of the cube to be able to transport it and goes to the closest town to the base with Sam, Mikaela and two combat vehicles led by Lennox and Epps before finding the other Autobots. Frenzy takes advantage of the bazaar to reactivate megatron who kills several agents of sector 7 before finding Starscream. The autobot convoy arrives at Mission City, but Bonecrusher catches up with him and optimus lets the convoy continue moving forward while he eliminates Bonecrusher. Starscream, in the form of an F-22, bombs the convoy and destroys Bumblebee’s legs, which can no longer move. The autobot convoy is immobilized. At the base of Sector 7, two engineers and the Secretary of State are looking for a way to bring in reinforcements, but Frenzy is trying to stop them. S ‘ then a battle at the end of which Frenzy is killed by his own shuriken. For their part, Bumblebee gives the cube to Sam so he can escape, but during the flight, he drops the cube on the ground which creates guardians (Dispensor, Xbox 360 robot and flying robot), which attack the inhabitants. Sam escapes by a helicopter on the top of a building. The Autobots take care of the decepticons during this time. Ironhide confronts Blackout while Jazz and Ratchet take care of Brawl. While Optimus joins the autobots, Ironhide, Jazz and Ratchet neutralize the decepticon Brawl, but Megatron appears and confronts Jazz and kills him after a tough fight. Starscream tries to neutralize Sam but Ironhide and Ratchet come to the rescue. Starscream hurts the two autobots before flying off. Optimus begins to battle Megatron, which destroyed the rescue helicopters when the two engineers in Sector 7 managed to bring in two waves of F-22. The disappointed Brawl, who was not dead, faces the men of Lennox and Epps when Mikaela, who had used a tow truck to move Bumblebee, comes to the rescue of the soldiers. With a spectacular shot, Bumblebee managed to defeat Brawl by targeting his spark (the main vital organ of a transform, located at the chest). The first wave of F-22 is shot by Starscream, but the second manages to eliminate Blackout with the help of Lennox. The air reinforcements then fire on megatron that was going to complete optimus, and Sam manages to save optimus by driving the Allspark in Megatron spark. The influx of energy is such that Megatron dies and the Allspark explodes, while Ratchet and Ironhide kill (off screen) Dispensor, Xbox 360 robot and flying robot (the remaining guards). Sam and Mikaela meet and kiss each other, the autobots can live in peace on earth, and the surviving Decepticons (Starscream, Barricade and Scorponok) escape from the planet. All the dead Decepticons’ bodies (except Frenzy and the Guardians), including Megatron, were thrown into the deepest ocean of the Earth and were watched over. In the end, Optimus sends a message to all other Autobots still alive, in the universe: “We are here, we are waiting”. Sam and Mikaela meet and kiss each other, the autobots can live in peace on earth, and the surviving Decepticons (Starscream, Barricade and Scorponok) escape from the planet. All the dead Decepticons’ bodies (except Frenzy and the Guardians), including Megatron, were thrown into the deepest ocean of the Earth and were watched over. In the end, Optimus sends a message to all other Autobots still alive, in the universe: “We are here, we are waiting”. Sam and Mikaela meet and kiss each other, the autobots can live in peace on earth, and the surviving Decepticons (Starscream, Barricade and Scorponok) escape from the planet. All the dead Decepticons’ bodies (except Frenzy and the Guardians), including Megatron, were thrown into the deepest ocean of the Earth and were watched over. In the end, Optimus sends a message to all other Autobots still alive, in the universe: “We are here, we are waiting”.

Technical sheet

• Original and french title: Transformers
• Director: Michael Bay
• Scenario: John Rogers , Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman
• Artistic Direction: François Audouy , Beat Frutiger, Sean Haworth, Geoff Hubbard and Kevin Kavanaugh
• Sets: Jeff Mann
• Costumes: Deborah Lynn Scott
• Photography: Mitchell Amundsen
• Editing: Tom Muldoon, Paul Rubell, Glen Scantlebury
• Music: Steve Jablonsky
• Production: Ian Bryce, Tom DeSanto, Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Steven Spielberg
• Executive production : Steven Spielberg and Michael Bay
• Budget: 150 million $
• Country of origin: United States
• Language: English and Spanish
• Genre : science fiction , action , adventure
• Duration: 144 minutes
• Release dates
• Italy: June 21 , 2007 (world premiere at the Taormina Film Festival)
• United States : July 4 , 2007
• France, Belgium: July 30, 2007

Distribution

Sources and legend : French version (VF) on Allodoublage ¹ . Quebec Version (VQ) on Doublage Quebec ²

Characters

Transformers

Autobots

The Autobots are the Transformers faction that represents good: they fight for the freedom of each being and against the Deceitfulness.

• Optimus Prime , the leader of the Autobots, is transformed into a Peterbilt 379 truck (1994) with 10 blue and red wheels.
• Bumblebee, Autobot scout, turns into Chevrolet Camaro II yellow and black then Chevrolet Camaro V (2006) yellow and black.
• Jazz , lieutenant of Optimus Prime, turns into a silver Pontiac Solstice (2006).
• Ironhide , specialist in Autobot armament, transforms into GMC TopKick C4500 modified (2005) black
• Ratchet , doctor Autobot, turns into Hummer H2 Ambulance Search and Rescue (2004) yellow.

Identifiable Autobots in the movie as flashback or cameo:

• The Protoforms, in the form of several dead bodies (one is killed by Megatron during a flashback of the war on Cybertron).

Production

Casting

Jon Voight’s choice to play Defense Secretary John Keller was easy as Michael Bay has already worked with the actor in Pearl Harbor , where he played the President of the United States.

It’s Lorenzo Di Bonaventura who counsels Shia LaBeouf Michael Bay after working with him in Constantine . For the producer, the young actor has the capacity to carry such a project and allow the public to identify with him throughout the film ^{[ref. necessary]} .

Megan Fox , who plays Mikaela Banes, was auditioned by Michael Bay. “She was calm and confident. I liked the fact that the public did not know it very well yet and the chemistry with Shia worked very well. » ^{[Ref. necessary]} .

Shooting

Scenes from Qatar’s military base were filmed at the base of Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico .

Soundtrack

Home

Box office

Distinctions

Awards

• MTV Movie Awards 2007: Best summer movie yet to be seen ³
• MTV Movie Awards 2008: Best Movie ⁴

Appointments

• Oscars of the cinema 2007 :
  • Best sound
  • Better sound editing
  • Best visual effects

Around the film

• Bay has reused scenes from one of his previous films: Pearl Harbor .
• Shia LaBeouf played from 2000 to 2003 in the series The Stevens War . The next house of the main characters belongs to a family named Witwicky.
• When Bumblebee uses his radio to communicate, we can notice that he often pulls replicas of the Star Trek series
• In the film, the hero drives a yellow Camaro with black stripes. In the Las Vegas series , Josh Duhamel , an actor also in the film, also drives a yellow Camaro with black stripes.
• In the film we can note a wink of the director Michael Bay to one of his films, when a boy exclaims: “I have never seen anything so cool! It explodes everywhere is too great, a hundred times better than in Armaggedon ! ” . The director himself defines Transformers as “his greatest action movie” ⁵ . In addition, a colonel named Sharp is present in these two films, William Fichtner embodying that of Armaggedon .
• At the 49 ^th minute of the film, during the second clash between Bumblebee and Barricade, we see the police car written ” to punish and enslave … ” that lights and meaning in French “to punish and enslave …”. This must be for Autobots, but also for humans. It is also a parody of the American police slogan ” to serve and protect “.
• When Bumblebee decides to change his appearance Chevrolet Camaro second generation Chevrolet Camaro Concept, the song Battle Without Honor or Humanity is heard, referring to the movie Kill Bill in Quentin Tarantino and especially the yellow jumpsuit with black stripes that door the main character of The Bride (played by Uma Thurman ), thus making the parallel with the motives of Bumblebee’s bodywork.
• When Sam buys his car, the Bumblebee camaro parks next to a yellow ladybug, gold in the comic series G1 Bumblebee turned into a ladybug, because the choice of the car was difficult: the Volkswagen brand refused to to be associated with a battle movie.
• All the machines copied by the Transformers are from the American automotive industry. Indeed, the GMC group sponsors the film and has provided prototypes of vehicles, but also “unsold” that the film crew was able to explode during action scenes ^{[ref. necessary]} .
• Several scenes can be seen as a nod to Steven Spielberg’s productions :
  • The strong friendship between the alien Bumblebee and the teenager Sam recalls that between ET and Elliot in ET the alien .
  • all the autobots come to Earth, including Ironhide who falls into a pool. When he comes out of the pool, a child sees him. However, in The Lost World: Jurassic Park , a child sees the tyrannosaurus pass by his window to go to drink in his swimming pool.
  • at the beginning of the film, when the Dreamworks logo appears, we see the crescent moon reflected in a body of water, when the sound of Transformers is heard, the water trembles (rather the float of a cane This indicates the approach of something very heavy, very heavy, approaching, and alludes to the scene where Tim, in Jurassic Park , sees the water of the tumbler shaking, which indicates the approach heavy and threatening tyrannosaur.
  • When Maggie Madsen ( Rachael Taylor ) gets out of work by copying a top secret software into an SD card, she takes a taxi and goes to see Glen Whitmann (Anthony Anderson). We can see the street where Glen lives. So it’s a nod to Steven Spielberg’s film The War of the Worlds where the first alien attack took place in the home of Ray Ferrier aka Tom Cruise.
  • The garage mechanic at the beginning of the film has an assistant named Manny as the garage owner friend of Tom Cruise in The War of the Worlds .

Notes and references