Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Transformers - Dark of the Moon

David Vaughn  |  Sep 30, 2011

In 1959, a UFO crash-landed on the moon and it was the true catalyst for space race between the US and Russia as they hurried to investigate the incident. In present day, the Autobots become aware of the crash and race to the moon to do their own investigation. Onboard the spacecraft they discover a deactivated Sentinel Prime who can only be reactivated by Optimus Prime, who is curious what happened so many years ago.

I wasn't a big fan of the original Transformers movie and skipped the critically panned sequel, but had heard good things about this one and was willing to give it a chance. The premise actually had some promise, but everything I disliked about the first movie is repeated here—shallow plot, poor acting, senseless characters, and a never-ending third act that repeats many of the action scenes witnessed in the first two acts. Granted, Michael Bay doesn't make these films to win Academy Awards for Best Picture, but he'll certainly never win a Best Editor award because the bloated run time clocks in at 154 fatiguing minutes.

The best thing about the film is the reference-quality audio and video. In fact, I contemplated writing up an Ultimate Demo but when the film is a demo-showpiece from beginning to end, it's too hard to pick out the three best scenes. While the video is a tad hot, this is intentionally done to give it a cartoonish and glossy look. Detail is superb—especially in the robots—and the film grain remains intact. The audio track is even more impressive (consider it a 5+) with an engaging Dolby True HD 7.1 surround track. Highlights of the track include exceptional balance between the seven channels, extremely wide dynamics, and window-rattling bass.

Parmount plans a Blu-ray 3D release later this year and this release doesn't have any disc-based supplements, although there is a DVD and Digital Copy of the feature film.

Like the first film this is an adrenaline-filled demo showpiece, but it's not a very good movie. There are too many human characters that could have been removed without missing a beat and the bloated runtime is a real drag. Recommended for demo purposes only.

Ratings

Picture:5 /5
3D-Ness: N/A
Sound: 5/5
Extras: 1/5
Interactivity: N/A

Disc Specs

Studio: Paramount (2011)
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Audio Format: Dolby TrueHD 7.1
Length: 154 Min
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Director: Michael Bay
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Josh Duhamel, Patrick Dempsey

COMMENTS
aopu.mohsin@gmail.com's picture
Submitted by aopu.mohsin@gma... on September 30, 2011 - 9:58am

Agreed with your comments.

For the sake of referencing, I had blindly bought the first Transformer movie in bluray without renting it first or reading any reviews such as this. But then when I started watching the movie, I in fact fell asleep and missed most of the mid section. It was so lengthy and boring that I didn't care to rewind or watch the entire movie at once even until today. And forget the second Transformer movie, I didn't even care to rent it.

Well, based on your above review, I am willing to give this third one a rent. Let's see how it shakes up my 7.1 system.

Thanks for your review and heads-up.

// Aopu

abentrod's picture
Submitted by abentrod on October 1, 2011 - 8:03am

I have to disagree with the review, I found the film to be a very good Transformers movie, right up there with the first. Obviously these films are not your cup of tea. It's everything I want in a summer blockbuster, loud, big, knock me out of my seat fun. Fun? yes! fun.

thx2468's picture
Submitted by thx2468 on October 14, 2011 - 2:30am

Most of those action hollywood films lack of substance but they're loaded of great audivisual effects that give the home theater a good workout.

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