“Transformers One” 4K UHD Steelbook Review

The untold origin story of Optimus Prime and Megatron, better known as sworn enemies, but once were friends bonded like brothers who changed the fate of Cybertron forever. (from IMDB)

If there’s any franchise that will probably never see an end, it’s Hasbro’s Transformers. Birthed as a toyline in the 80s with an afternoon cartoon series that pretty much doubled as half-hour-long toy commercial — and a good one at that, don’t get me wrong; the show’s great! — Transformers have continued to intrigue and entertain youth (and the now-adults who grew up with them) for forty years. After an animated feature film in 1986 (which also wiped the character slate clean to introduce all new Transformers… something that proved to be a big mistake), and seven live action films since 2007, Transformers returns to the big screen with its first animated film in 38 years, titled Transformers One. One takes us back to the planet of Cybertron where we meet some of our favorite characters before they became who they’re most known to be…

From the first trailers for Transformers One, I was worried. The trailers largely played out more like spoofs of Transformers than something to take seriously. While they were enough to get the attention of my 13-year-old son, I felt like I’d seen enough from them to be fine with never seeing it at all (or at least waiting till I heard feedback from trusted sources). In the movie, the story revolves around Optimus Prime and Megatron before they were… Optimus Prime and Megatron. Optimus’s original name was Orion Pax, before receiving the Matrix of Leadership, but, to my knowledge, there wasn’t much lore surrounding Megatron’s origin. For this film, he starts out as a miner, alongside his best friend Orion Pax, called D-16. The two long for more in their lives than just being lowly Energon miners, and it’s some careless antics from Orion that lead the two to finding one of the original Primes, Alpha Trion, which sets them on a fateful path to ultimately becoming Optimus Prime and Megatron. This story is literally the birth of the Autobot and Decepticon factions, and shows just why Megatron turned into the vengeful foe we all know him to be.

As an 80’s kid, it’s tough to hear any voices coming out of Optimus and Megatron that aren’t Peter Cullen or Frank Welker, respectively. They’re both giants of the cartoons from the 80’s, and their voice talents helped make those characters as iconic as they are today. Thor‘s Chris Hemsworth steps in as Orion Pax, stripping away his native Australian accent for an American one, while comedic actor Brian Tyree Henry is a truly bizarre choice for D-16. I had no idea how on earth Brian could possibly voice such a force as Megatron – especially since I know him most as an ultra corny character from both Godzilla v Kong movies. He’s mostly fine as D-16 here, but when he inevitably becomes Megatron later in the film, it just does not work. If there’s a sequel to this film, I’d hope they’d at least use a vocal effect to make him sound more menacing because, as it is, he just isn’t (or perhaps recasting him might be the best option). And while we’re on the subject of voices or performances that don’t work, we need to talk about Bumblebee. Now, how Bumblebee is presented here is probably not entirely the fault of Keegan-Michael Key. Bumblebee was always a noble character in the original series – heck, even in the live action movies – and always stood valiantly by Optimus’s side. Here, Bumblebee is pretty unhinged, talking incessantly, and acting completely childish and goofy. It’s a complete reimagining of the character, and I can’t say it works… at all. In discussing the film afterwards, my son agreed he didn’t like how they handled Bumblebee, and we also agreed that, if they really needed a comic relief character like this, they could have created an entirely new character instead. All the other vocal performances are actually quite good – from Laurence Fishburne as Alpha Trion, to Steve Buscemi as inspired choice for Starscream, to Scarlett Johansson’s tough-girl performance as Elita-1.

While watching the movie, I kind of just couldn’t wait till they got through the whole journey to becoming their official forms, as it didn’t feel quite like a Transformers movie – to me, at least – until they did. It’s a fine idea to show their origin, but I’ve never exactly found myself begging for a movie that serves as their origin story. (And the comedic handling of the characters detracts from their iconic personas some.) However, when our heroes finally become the legends they’re meant to be, the movie really finds its groove, and delivers what could arguably be one of the most epic fights in Transformers history. So while there’s plenty to nitpick about Transformers One, the movie does deliver in unexpected ways. Everything is also perfectly set up now for a possible “Fall of Cybertron” kind of story in a sequel — before their fateful crash-landing on Earth, like in the original TV series — which has me fully interested in that kind of film. I’m eager to see some of the Autobots we know and love to rise up in the ranks, and to see another entirely-Transformers-centric tale… something we have not seen in a feature film since 1986 (and even then, there were some humans; there isn’t a single human in this movie!).

The animation for the movie is quite good, and has a different style to it. The only thing that seemed odd – and kind of added to the “spoof” feeling from the trailers – is the way the characters are given soft, human-like mouths for talking. It doesn’t quite make sense given that they’re metal machines, but I suppose it’s a minor gripe. To me, it just makes it seem a little more like Playskool versions of the real Transformers or something. We caught the movie on IMAX (2D) and the big screen presentation surely added to the scale of the movie. Overall, I think the style worked fine for the film, even if it’s not likely to “wow” anyone visually.

For the content, the movie is the first PG-rated Transformers outing since 1986, and it mostly fits within that rating. The most profanity comes from Bumblebee as he refers to himself as “Bad*ss-a-tron” seven times. It’s played for laughs, but I doubt many parents will want their little ones walking around saying “Bad*ss-a-tron,” even if it is just meant to be humorous. Otherwise, there are 2 uses of “h*ll,” both from Elita-1, a possible “d*mn” from Orion, and one use of “My G-d” from Orion. It’s possible there’s more, but it wasn’t too clear given the loud sounds during the action sequences. Oh, and Orion Pax tries to flip-off Darkwing with the middle finger, and we see him start to raise it before the screen cuts away as Darkwing punches him. Speaking of violence, there is quite a bit of action violence. Bumblebee has “knife hands” that he uses to cut some bots into pieces, Airachnid has giant spider legs she uses to repeatedly beat on foes in a stabbing motion, and we see several sequences where bots are executed (mostly during a flashback) by being shot and killed. Later in the film, we see one bot tear another bot in half at the waist and then we see their eyes flicker and go dark. And in an emotional sequence, a bot takes a blast to the chest and we see a significant portion of their chest missing as they presumably die.

While I “feared” the worst with Transformers One, based on its lackluster trailers, I have to admit it wasn’t quite the trainwreck I anticipated, and at times, I even found myself enjoying it. It’s hardly the “best” Transformers film (although, I’m not even sure which one is at this point) OR the worst, and tonally it’s all over the place — they really need to pick a lane — but it’s a step in the right direction, at least. I’m a little surprised to say I’d actually be interested in seeing a follow-up to this one.

Oh, and there IS a post-credits scene all the way at the end of the movie that fans of Megatron might want to stick around for.

– John DiBiase (reviewed: 9/20/24)

 

Transformers One comes home on disc and digital, with both offering a handful of special features. The 4K UHD set comes with a digital copy, as well as a Blu-Ray disc, with the special features even being on the 4K disc (which seems rare). Steelbook fans can snag a Limited Edition release that is quite nice, while those content with a standard 4K release can still spring for the regular retail edition.

The special features included with this set are:

Transformers One in 4K UHD – Now, I admit that I wasn’t blown away by the animation on the big screen (in fact, it was on IMAX), but I have to say, checking this disc out in 4K at home on a Playstation looks pretty incredible. The color and clarity are both crisp and vibrant, and it certainly makes for some eye-popping sequences. This is an animated feature that is definitely enhanced by the 4K format. I recommend it.

In the Beginning (10:16) – Here, director Josh Cooley and the movie’s producers talk about having wanted to do an origin story for the Transformers for quite some time, but knew it’d have to be animated because of the special effects and details required. They talk here about how Cooley was the perfect choice for the job, especially since he had experience at Pixar and directing the Academy Award-winning Toy Story 4. They talk in-depth about the creative process and reveal that they even used people in motion capture suits in order to help create the storyboards and previsualization for filming. The film’s unique art style is also covered, as they had wanted to go for a sort-of photoreal look, while also keeping it in almost the style of concept art.

World Building on Cybertron (9:38) is about the process of designing Cybertron while it was still a lively, albeit metal, planet. They pointed out that, when they’re showing Cyberton underground, nothing is moving except for the characters and vehicles. However, on the surface of the planet, there is wildlife as well as an ever-terraforming landscape. They also talk about the shapes of the characters and their coloring, and how they wanted to tie it all in to the original Generation One Transformers characters.

Together as One (11:02) is dedicated to the voice actors behind the characters. Cooley and Hemsworth specifically address the fact that Chris has the very big shoes of Peter Cullen to fill as a much younger Optimus Prime, and how the character needed a younger sounding voice than Cullen’s. They also talk about how Bumblebee doesn’t talk in the live action movies, so they wanted to make him super talkative here, as he’s voiced by comedian Keegan-Michael Key. (2 uses of “bad *ss” from the movie)

The Iacon 5000 (6:28) – This one is dedicated to the big race in the film, and how it was originally inspired by Formula One racing. They also point out details like how the roadway is building and transforming as the race unfolds, and they express just how intense and complex this sequence was to animate.

The Battle for Cybertron (9:00) is dedicated to the film’s grand finale, as the rift between Optimus and Megatron is formed and the friends become enemies. They cover the choreography of the fight, and how their goal was to make sure the fight is specifically about Transformers fighting each other, and not something we’d see when two humans are fighting; they wanted the fight to be something only Transformers could do — and they even incorporate some new features and techniques for the heroes to use.

– John DiBiase (reviewed: 12/15/24)

 

 Sex/Nudity: None.
 Vulgarity/Language: 7 uses of the “a” word (as “Bad*ss-a-tron”; 2 “h*ll,” 1 possible “d*mn,” and Orion starts to raise his middle finger but is punched and we never see it fully extended.
 Alcohol/Drugs: None.
 Blood/Gore: None, although some may find a scene where a bot is blasted in the chest and a big hole is shown, or a moment where a bot is torn in half, somewhat jarring.
 Violence: There is a lot of action violence. Orion and D-16 frequently get knocked around and in scuffles with other bots. In the beginning of the film, Orion is chased by other bots until he hides to evade them; Orion and D-16 jump into a big race event that they’re not permitted to be involved in and they get knocked around, while other bots crash into things as well. At one point, D-16 falls and Orion helps him up as he limps along; Darkwing punches Orion; Bee accidentally slices up a robot when he realizes he has “knife hands.” We see him slice up some other bots as well, including a door; Airachnid pounces on several bots and attacks them with her large spider legs; We see a prolonged flashback that is shown as clouds of dust or particles forming Transformers for the sequence. We see several bots attacked and killed by being shot by a blaster. It appears that one of the bots is beheaded just off screen as well; Alpha Trion fights off some attackers; A train is demolished by terrain that continues to suddenly rise into the air; A bot fights another bot and threatens them with a large arm cannon; A bot attacks another bot, trying to kill them. A third bot jumps in the way, taking the shot and getting a large piece of their chest blown away. As they fall into an abyss, a bot grabs their hand, saving them. But the bot then lets go, allowing the injured bot to fall into the abyss; A bot tears another bot in half at the waist and we see wires and such exposed. We then see the victim’s eyes go dark as they die; Two bots fight a vicious battle with punching, kicking, and weapons like an energy ax; And lots of other action violence.