Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Two-Disc Special Edition) [Blu-ray]
One of the most popular, thrill-packed, franchises of all time is back with even more action and more Autobots and Decepticons! In the highly anticipated Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Decepticon forces return to Earth on a mission to take Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) prisoner, after the young hero learns the truth about the ancient origins of the Transformers. Joining the mission to product humankind is Optimus Prime, who forms an alliance with international armies for a second epic battle.
Pure. Popcorn. Entertainment. That’s an exact classification of director Michael Bay’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Think of Transformers 1 on crack. In other words, this sequel took all of the extreme elements that made fans love the first movie and increased them exponentially. The action is nonstop, with battles and explosions from start to finish. The camera (without any subtlety) exploits Megan Fox’s hotness to the max. As if she weren’t enough, a new sex kitten (Isabel Lucas) is thrown into the equation. Shia LaBeouf is as charismatic as ever, and fills the starring role with ease. And then there’s the humor. Sam’s parents (Kevin Dunn and Julie White)provided some semi-raunchy laugh-out-loud moments in the first movie, but now they take it to the next level. Sometimes it seems like they are trying a little too hard, but it is still hilarious.
As far as the “plot” goes, the writers didn’t waste much time–it’s really just a context for the giant-robot death matches and dramatic slow-mo sequences. The movie kicks off two years later where the Autobots have formed an alliance with the U.S. government, creating an elite team led by Major Lennox (Josh Duhamel), in an effort to snuff out any remaining Decepticons that show up. The bad guys keep coming, and it turns out that a much more menacing force than Megatron is out there–and it is looking for something on Earth that is tied to the very origin of the Transformers race. Fans of the franchise will be delighted by the addition of many new robot characters (there are well over 40 in the sequel, versus only 13 in the first). The second Transformers has shaped up to be one of the worst reviewed and most successful movies of all time. This strange pairing is really just an indication that this movie has one purpose: to entertain. The creators didn’t want to waste time bogging down the action and drama with substance–which was arguably a good decision. –Jordan Thompson
Stills from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Click for larger image)
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Rating: 
(out of 537 reviews)
List Price: $ 39.99
Price: $ 17.87
Tags: successful movies, Isabel Lucas, Ray One, transformer female actress
Review by The Jotun for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Two-Disc Special Edition) [Blu-ray]
Rating:
Oh God…where to start with this…to be perfectly honest, when I first heard that the sequel to 2007s “Transformers” was coming out around last Spring, I was fairly excited. While not in the same echelon as say, Terminator 2, the first installment in the series was a visually impressive and enjoyable, even if not particularly well directed sci-fi/action flick that I liked when I saw it in theaters. Granted, I’m not a very big Michael Bay fan – before I saw Revenge of the Fallen Pearl Harbor was solidly my least favorite movie of all time – but I figured if he could make a movie I enjoyed I could give this movie a chance. Even with all the hype that had built upon its release, much of which being negative, I still had a level of curiosity. Maybe it would be entertainingly poor. So this past weekend after a nearly a year of the films release, me and a friend of mine dug up the DVD out of boredom and popped it in, thinking we would get a similar fun/dumb action flick similar to the original, or at least something of such poor quality that it was actually entertaining.
In all honesty, I have no recollection whatsoever of the plot line of those film. Something along the lines of Sam going to college and going nuts and Megatron apparently somehow being revived…I honestly don’t know. All I know is that the first hour or so of this film is probably the most unintentionally hilarious piece of film I have ever seen – thanks in large part to Shia LaBeoufs acting abilities, or should I say lack thereof. The scenes with LaBeouf seeing the symbols – his spastic facial expressions combined with the stuttering are pure comedic gold, whether or not this was there intent. The climax of it all is the scene when Sam, with a constantly overexposed Megan Fox onlooking, being seduced by a Decepticon guised as an attractive girl at his school, when the Decepticon reveals itself via its extend able robot tongue, which was humorous enough in itself. Afterwards LaBeouf lets out nothing less than a scream of a higher pitch than most elementary school girls, a coupled with a sincere facial expression. My friend and I literally fell out of our chairs laughing.
Unfortunately, the movie does not continue in this comedic fashion, in fact the next half of the movie is just plain painful and confusing. Locations shift at least 20 times in a 5 minute period at one time, too many new characters are introduced at once, and the climax of the pure crap comes when at Sams death scene, in which not only does a generic and pitifully done “I LOVE YOU” by Megan Fox take shape, but Sams spirit actually ascends to Robot Heaven (I kid you not). My friend actually left the room about 3/4 of the way through because he couldn’t take it, and after the movie was done I was actually in physical pain for the next half our or so. Another film has joined Pearl Harbor on the top of my cinema blacklist – I honestly don’t know which is worse – and Michael Bay has officially ruined his chance of being redeemed in my eyes. The first hour is recommended though, just for the pure comedy of it, but be sure to end once the scream scene is over.
Review by Sylvan for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Two-Disc Special Edition) [Blu-ray]
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Yes, I thought the first Michael Bay Transformers was bad. I wasn’t expecting the sequel to be much better, but in the back of my mind I was hoping. Michael Bay apparently decided there wasn’t enough crass humor, overt sexuality, poor character development, useless moving parts, explosions, and nameless robots transforming into formless metallic amoebas in the first movie. So now there is more of all that in this one. Of course, it doesn’t make the movie better, just longer.
Negatives:
1) The twins. I don’t think I need to explain this.
2) Sam’s parents, excessive comic relief, no importance to the story.
3) Mikaela and the Decepticon fem-bot. Ok, I’m a male, yes I think Meghan Fox is hot. I personally, do not mind seeing her wearing skimpy revealing clothes. But come on, give her some depth. First of all, this movie is being used to sell toys to 6-year-olds. There is no need for such overt female objectification in this movie. Seriously, she spends most of the movie with that pouty expression and posing seductively, instead of acting. Same complaint with the “fem-bot”, I felt it was completely unnecessary to the story.
4) Everyone is comic relief. Ok, I’m all for comic relief in action movies. But seriously, you can’t build an action movie around an entire cast of comedians. More than 3 comic relief characters, and you should call it “Giant Robot Movie” (ie. Scary Movie series).
5) Visual effects. Sometimes less is more. The robots are too complex, too many moving parts. It is very hard to follow the action trying to follow these overly detailed monochromatic machines as they fly through cities causing random destruction everywhere. In the original cartoon, the simpler designs were easier to identify and they were distinctively color-coded. Most of the Decepticons look the same.
6) There are no rules. Basically, Michael Bay is telling us that alien robots can do whatever they please. They can change their alt-forms at will or become giant robo-amoebas. If you hack them to pieces, each part can become a completely new Transformer. Robots can transform into people. Mechanical devices can turn into dust, communicate telepathically with humans, then reform themselves from said dust and resurrect dead Transformers. And other mechanical devices or even a tiny piece of them can turn earth machines into robots (complete with machine-guns) or resurrect Transformers.
7) Questionable motivations on both sides. So at the end of episode 1, this autobot declared he would stay with Sam forever and ever. Ah, how touching. Now Sam decides to go to college and he won’t take Bumblebee with him. What a jerk. He saved the world once, but now Optimus Prime asks for his help to do it again, and college is more important. Why does Sam give the All-Spark sliver to his unrealistically hot girlfriend for safe-keeping, instead of Bumblebee, Optimus or any of those government guys? Why do the Decepticons want to destroy the sun? I mean really, Cybertron is supposedly destroyed, do they have another planet to inhabit once this solar system is wiped out?
Positives:
1) Peter Cullen and Frank Welker
2) Explosions
Neutral:
1) The battle with Optimus Prime in the woods was really cool, but it didn’t have nearly the emotional impact of the animated movie from the 80′s because it was decided early on that they could just resurrect him before the end of the movie. And with no “Hot Rod” character, Sam’s episode of feeling guilty seemed pretty shallow.
All in all, a terrible movie from a critical point of view. People will like the movie if they are a big fan of loud booms and not optional things like story. I feel guilty spending money on this disaster, though.
Review by Just Me for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Two-Disc Special Edition) [Blu-ray]
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I’ll conceded the good points of the movie, everyone agrees about those. However, what overshadows all of those good points was the Plethora of AWFUL points. Wow, it’s almost as if the bad points was of such monstrosity that they were almost celebrated to the negative. And one over emphasized facets that just really bugged me in this film; every, I mean every girl in this movie was of model appearance. The stand ins, background and fillers were young, long hairs, tan girls. Which we all like in proportion, but damn… if that’s all there is as a standard, beauty starts to reverse itself. Even if one contends this was to be about “eye candy,” eye candy becomes anything but if it is overplayed. It’s sort of like the premise; one must have bad in order to have good, in anything in life in order to be valid. Ok, one GREAT point: Special Effects – Awesome!
Review by ! MR. KNOW IT ALL ;-b for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Two-Disc Special Edition) [Blu-ray]
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I wasn’t a big fan of the first film so, I decided to watch it again before viewing this overblown sequel. I actually liked the first film more this time around, even though I still think it is way too long for the material at hand. The second film ‘Transformers – Revenge Of The Fallen’ takes everything good about the first film and just throws in away! The film is longer with bigger FX, but the FX are so fast that it’s really hard to appreciate them. The film is also plagued with ridiculous humor that is so corny I rolled my eyes so much I thought they might fall out of their sockets! The parents in particular are just awful and serve no purpose at all, except to add some humor (if you can call it that?), but end up being distracting and silly. Megan Fox’s roll has been reduced to shameful sexy eye candy(for a kiddie film)and Shia has reached an all time low here.
If you like films with no character development and tedious storylines, then this might be for you. This is one of the worst films I’ve ever seen and I hope it is the end to the series.Extremely disappointing film that isn’t any fun at all.
Review by Kevis Hendrickson for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Two-Disc Special Edition) [Blu-ray]
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As a Gen-Xer, I grew up watching Transformers with a zealotry only surpassed by my love of Star Wars. I owned all the toys, comics, and other fan-related merchandise. I even watched the original film on VHS so much that the tape turned to shreds. Since a kid, I’ve been dying to see a live-action film made of one of my most beloved franchises. Enter Michael Bay and all my childhood fantasies of seeing a great Transformers film have been ruined.
I was not happy with the direction of the first film. In fact, even though I hated it, I felt it did have some redeeming qualities which made it at least worth watching. With that said, I dreaded seeing the sequel. But nothing could have prepared me for just how terrible Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen is. There have been some real sci-fi stinkers released at the movies over the years (Streetfighter, Mortal Kombat 2, Godzilla, Highlander 4, Matrix Revolutions, Attack of the Clones, etc). But until watching RotF, I have never left the theater feeling as though all of my brain cells had died from watching a film. Only reason I didn’t walk out of this movie is because I had gone to see it with a friend. Without a doubt, RotF is the single most mindless piece of garbage filmmaking I have ever seen in my life.
The positives:
-Some well-choreographed action scenes.
-Improved battle scenes between the Transformers.
-Megan Fox
-Peter Cullen/Frank Welker
The negatives:
-Way too much cursing (even for a PG-13 movie).
-Too many raunchy scenes
-Toilet humor.
-Bad acting.
-God awful script.
-Nonsensical plot.
-Terrible robot design.
-Racist “black-face” vaudeville robots.
-Too much Mom and Dad
-Excessive running time.
-Shia Lebeouf
-Michael Bay
It’s a testament to how dumb our culture has gotten when a film as crude, silly, and tasteless as RotF can go on to become one of the highest grossing films in history. Thanks to the success of this mindless film, it’s a good bet that Hollywood is sure to make fewer good films in the future in order to spit out more rubbish like RotF.
I am convinced that so long as Michael Bay is at the helm, I will never watch another live-action Transformer movie. In fact, I will probably never watch another Michael Bay film period.
My advice to anyone with half of a brain or even an ounce of good taste is to save your money and stay far away from this despicable train-wreck!
Zero Stars.