Transformers [4]: Age of Extinction (2014) [Blu-ray]
Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

Tagline: Stand together or face extinction.

From director Michael Bay and executive producer Steven Spielberg comes the best "Transformers" ever! With humanity facing extinction from a terryifying new threat, it's up to Optimus Prime and the Autobots to save the world. But now that our government has turned against them, they'll need a new team of allies, including inventor Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg) and the fearsome Dinobots.

The Transformers film series continues with this fourth entry from director Michael Bay and executive producer Steven Spielberg. In the devastating aftermath of the fight for humanity, an enigmatic group strives to alter the course of history as an ancient force of evil plots the destruction of mankind. In order to defeat it, Optimus Prime (voice of Peter Cullen) and the rest of the Autobots must join forces with a new, resilient band of humans who will fight an epic battle that will determine the fate of the entire human race. Mark Wahlberg and Jack Reynor co-star. Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Storyline: After the battle between the Autobots and Decepticons that leveled Chicago, humanity thinks that all alien robots are a threat. So Harold Attinger, a CIA agent, establishes a unit whose sole purpose is to hunt down all of them. But it turns out that they are aided by another alien robot who is searching for Optimus Prime. Cade Yeager, a "robotics expert", buys an old truck and upon examining it, he thinks it's a Transformer. When he powers it up, he discovers it's Optimus. Later, men from the unit show up looking for Optimus. He helps Yeager and his daughter escape but are pursued by the hunter. They escape and Yeager learns from technology he took from the men that a technology magnate and defense contractor named Joshua Joyce is part of what's going on, so they go to find out what's going on. Written by rcs0411@yahoo.com

Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Martin Liebman, September 17, 2014 -- Director Michael Bay brings a grace to cinematic madness much in the same way a director like Tobe Hooper does, but usually without so much gloom and terror mixed in and on a significantly larger and more audience-friendly and mass-appealing scale. Bay's atmosphere and skill with the camera -- his uncanny ability to find that perfect angle and position the action just so for a dazzling display of technical know-how meets real life meets the fantastical -- always produces guaranteed results, but results that may be tiring audiences. Now on his fourth Transformers movie, Bay's signature filmmaking style and his signature franchise continue to dazzle in a bubble, but the movies are growing old. The franchise was so exciting when it debuted. It was fresh and impactful, not necessarily the direction hardcore fans in their 20s and 30s who grew up with the toys and the cartoons wanted but a spectacle of epic proportions that has only been topped by additional installments in the series and this latest masterpiece of technical wizardry in particular. Yet the movies feel heartless and soulless, like the spark has been ripped from their chests. They show signs of greatness beyond the eye candy and deluge of pristine audio flowing into the ears, but they've really become technical highlight reels worthy of popcorn munching and practically nothing more. Transformers: Age of Extinction at least tries to push the series in a new direction while maintaining the signature look and style and precision, but it just winds up as more of the same, a lot of movement and chaos with loose story threads and flat characters and off-the-cuff humor that's been a little toned down but still presented in excess. Buckle up, because it's an eerily familiar, overly long, and really bumpy ride.

A struggling inventor named Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg) works out of his Texas shed and home, trying to make ends meet by repairing odds and ends for neighbors and hoping to strike it rich with the next big robotics invention. He's also doing what he can to watch out for his seventeen year old daughter Tessa (Nicola Peltz) whose college education depends on the family's nonexistent finances. Cade one day purchases a rusty, beat-down truck and, while attempting repairs, is surprised to discover that it's actually Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen), leader of the Autobots who has effectively been exiled from humanity. The world is still reeling from the destruction the Transformers have caused, particularly in the city of Chicago, and there is a bounty out for their heads. Cade's friend Lucas (T. J. Miller) would rather turn the Transformer in, and a phone call yields the arrival of a government spook squad out to retrieve the national security "threat" without a warrant. Cade, his daughter, and Lucas barely escape thanks to the driving skills of Tessa's boyfriend Shane (Jack Reynor). The foursome, plus Prime, finds itself on the run from the government and its secret collaborator, a sleek bounty hunting Transformer named Lockdown (voiced by Mark Ryan). Meanwhile, a successful robotics entrepreneur named Joshua Joyce (Stanley Tucci) is inventing his own Transformers, including the speedy Stinger and the mighty Galvatron (voiced by Frank Welker).

Age of Extinction gets the formula right but really does nothing to set it apart from the other films in the series. The story is merely a means of tying together visual effects shots and cool photographic skills into a mostly coherent, and terribly linear, and far too long, demo reel. It's almost literally 150+ minutes of the same thing: big battles, lots of destruction, quirky characters, quips galore, flat but good-looking human characters, and the promise of chaos and "Bayhem" that's delivered in spades, and all of the other cards in the deck, for that matter, which actually make an appearance, Iraq War-style. The movie is undoubtedly a success of technical triumph of the highest order. If it weren't so tired and stale it would be flat-out exhilarating, and it's so good that, even though it's all been seen before -- all that's really changed are the details, like backgrounds and, sometimes, characters involved -- it often captures one's attention on sheer strength and will of scope alone. The transformations, both the classic style and those new to this film -- "digital" deconstructions and reconstructions -- look incredible, so much so that Blu-ray viewers will want to go frame-by-frame and watch the magic unfold in detail. The visuals are amazingly seamless both in terms of how real, and complexly so, that they look, and in terms of how naturally they integrate with real-world environments and human characters. There's not a bad shot in the movie from a technical perspective; blend that expertise with Bay's penchant for stunning camerawork and it's no wonder the movies keep making money, even if audiences are paying to see the same thing every time.

Yet the movie, and the series, could be so much more, even if it's not a complete reflection of the classic series and toys but instead a creature of Michael's Bays creative genius. The series shows potential out the proverbial wazoo. The action scenes, particularly the engagement that ends the first film, are as intense, well done, largely scaled, hectic, and graceful as anything ever seen in a war movie, and much the same holds true here. This film's open is incredibly beautiful, novel, eerie, and spellbinding all at once. The black ops and secret alliances and deals and mistrusts between the robots and the government could have been the kind of stuff The X-Files only ever dreamed of. Just build a core story of robots battling it out on Earth, make it dark, emotionally challenging, dramatically intense, and keep all of the trademark Michael Bay style and there could be a classic in here, the perfect movie, or series, that finally pushes the boundaries of special effects merged with a story and atmosphere to match. Godzilla comes much closer to what this series could be. Imagine that with giant robots and far less darkness to really see the special effects. That's something that makes these Transformers movies so great; there are no shadowy, hidden-by-the-dark visuals. Add to those an edge-of-seat sort of story without all the hackneyed comedy, forced story lines, and generic human characters, and well, that's all just wishful thinking. The series is making far too much money to change, but fans should dare to believe, anyway.

Despite a fresh new coat of paint on the surface, the movie still feels rather generic and like it's just more of the same. Fresh faces made of steel and flesh and blood both are scattered throughout, but none of them particularly matter in the grand scheme of things. The new Transformers are, well, different, and include a figure in a green duster out of the old west or The Matrix, a blue samurai voiced by Ken Watanabe, and a round, bearded, cigar-chomping (with, admittedly, a nifty trick up his sleeve for that stogie) soldier in a classic G.I. Joe style who would have fit right into The Dirty Dozen. There's also a bounty hunter type character who has nothing on Boba Fett but who is at least a different face for the enemy, albeit one that really doesn't offer much of a distinct look in comparison to his more colorful Autobot opponents, appearing streamlined and predominately silver rather than colorful and full. In the end, they all pretty much do the same thing, which is gracefully, and sometimes not so gracefully, battle and serve up a number of quips along the way, particularly from the Hound character, voiced by John Goodman who does extremely well with the part, even if the character looks out of sorts (a fat Transformer? Really?). The film also introduces the fan-favorite Dinobots, essentially robots that turn into dinosaurs. Unfortunately, they enjoy precious little screen time and the absence of the dopey Grimlock speech pattern is sorely missing. The human characters are all rather flat. Even considering some obvious parallels and juxtapositions -- including an interesting dynamic between inventors Mark Wahlberg and Stanley Tucci -- they're little more than small pieces that drive the story towards the big battles that define the movie. The film spends far too much time fleshing them out for such a small payoff, and trimming their scenes might have drastically improved the almost continuously sluggish pacing, an astonishing feat for a movie with this much motion.

Transformers: Age of Extinction has been made from a blend of digital and film. While the transition from lightly gritty to digital clean is sometimes jarring, the net effect is reference material on both ends. The filmed elements enjoy a light but firm and natural grain structure, while the digital photography is smooth and clear. Both are incredibly well detailed, finding the finest nuances in clothing, facial features, and Transformer bits with an effortlessness that's, frankly, astonishing even this deep into Blu-ray's lifespan. Image clarity is second-to-none. There's detail to spare all around the frame; the film enjoys a sharpness and robustness even at distance that will dazzle even veteran HD audiences. Colors are fantastic, whether bright green grasses, orange fireballs, bright yellow cars, different colored trims, or clothes. Anything and everything Bay throws at the film all enjoy exceptional balance and vitality. There's a hint of warmth throughout, which provides a slightly orange skin tone texturing, but needless to say such is a constant throughout the series. Black levels are perfectly deep and accurate. The image does suffer from a few instances of annoying shimmering and aliasing, particularly evident early on and seen on car grills, awnings, and chrome accents, but the picture quality is otherwise simply too good to knock down its score over a few brief hiccups. With that one caveat, this is a perfect HD image that's every bit as good as anything else on the format today.

[CSW] -1.6- I rented the 2D version of this film to see if I might be interested in getting the 3D version and while there are a lot of great scenes that I know would look great in 3D the three hours of nothing but 3D eye candy just won't redeem this film. This film can be summed up as nothing but excess CGI and special effects which only serve to make it a huge disappointment. With sub-par performances and a fragmented and insanely nonsensical story line the overtly gratuitous slow motion sequences of stuff blowing up; buildings, Transformers, cars and everything imaginable being ripped apart, made this an exhausting movie. By the time the Dino-bots make their debut you no longer care, and apparently, neither do the actors on screen as there is little if any reaction to their presence. There was also way too much product placement throughout the movie. This is an action-packed and incredibly dull movie. If you have three hours of your life to waste, or just have to be able to say that you have seen it either rent it or wait for it to come on late night television.
[V5.0-A5.0] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box motion codes were available at the time of this rental although they are available now.


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