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| Transformers Movie, 2007, Widescreen HQ | | | |
"Transformers" is a 2007 live action film directed by Michael Bay and executive produced by Steven Spielberg, based on the Transformers franchise. The film stars Shia LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky, who has the coordinates to the location of the Allspark, an object at 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 Transformers fan, Bay was convinced by Spielberg to direct, and he created an intricate design aesthetic for the computer-generated robots. General Motors and the United States military lent their support during filming, to keep 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 criticized the characterization.
Cast
* Shia LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky: A seventeen-year old boy, Sam gets his first car, which turns out to be Bumblebee. Sam assists the Autobots in their search for the Allspark.
* Megan Fox as Mikaela Banes: A girl who Sam is interested in and woos with the help of Bumblebee. She is mechanically skilled because her father was a "grease monkey" and car thief, and has a criminal record as she refused to turn him in to the authorities.
* Josh Duhamel as Cpt William Lennox: Leader of a U.S. Army Special Ops US Ranger team in Qatar, who escapes Blackout's attack on the base. He has a wife and new-born daughter in the United States.
* Tyrese Gibson as TSgt Robert Epps: An Air Force Combat Controller who escape Blackout and Scorponok's attacks with Lennox.
* Rachael Taylor as Maggie Madsen: An expert in signal detection and decoding, assisting the Department of Defense. She realizes that those hacking into the government's data files cannot be human.
* Anthony Anderson as Glen Whitmann: A computer hacker and friend of Maggie, who assists in decoding the Decepticon's signal.
* Jon Voight as John Keller: The United States Secretary of Defense.
* John Turturro as Reggie Simmons: An officer in Sector 7, the secret government group that has been holding and studying the Allspark and the frozen Megatron. Simmons leads a team tracking down the Autobots.
* Kevin Dunn as Ron Witwicky: Sam's father, who unwittingly buys his son Bumblebee.
* Julie White as Judy Witwicky: Sam's mother.
* W. Morgan Sheppard as Captain Archibald Witwicky: Sam's great-grandfather, a sea captain who led an exploration of the Arctic in 1897, leading to the discovery of the frozen Megatron.
* Michael O'Neill as Tom Banachek: The head of Sector 7. He brings all the major characters together at the Hoover Dam.
* Bernie Mac as Bobby Bolivia: The car dealer who unknowingly sells Bumblebee (as an early model Camaro), to Sam.
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. Wikipedia |
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