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DVD review: "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" 2-Disc Special Edition (Walmart-exclusive)(2009)

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19 comments posted
This was one of the most

This was one of the most unequivocally stupid films I've ever seen. While stupidity is a hallmark of the Transformers' storytelling tradition, the hideous, personality-destroying character designs, or virtually every element of this film franchise, is a crime against our intellects, against Transformers, against life itself.

jacksauce's picture
Posted by jacksauce on 16 December, 2009 - 09:52
Good review,shows what we

Good review,shows what we get for our money :)

Except the friggin movie itself, of course. The trailers are a lie- they show you a mind blowing super awsome battle of grand scale. The movie itself is a humongous dissapointment and one of the biggest failures in TF history. I tried to like the movie, but can't, it's just too stupid and as far as I can tell most Transformers fans will agree. It's especially demotivating after we saw TF Animated: Transwarped, one of the best feature/ specials bearing Transformers logo in a long time. So, maybe Bay will put effort in his work as well? Surprise! He didn't. The best way to sum up the situation is how Nostalgia Critic called Batman & Robin while concluding his review of the film... which I won't quote for good reasons of taste and potential viewer age.

Wallas's picture
Posted by Wallas on 16 December, 2009 - 10:13
Thanks for doing a review of

Thanks for doing a review of this DVD EVA. I know you like these films, and I respect your love for these movies. Maybe this overpriced and weak DVD experience you will change your mind about these films. After getting burned by the 1st Transformers, there was no way i would ever waste any more hours (even seconds!) of my life on another Transformers movie.

Your conclusions at the end are spot on, but not surprising from the Bay front. The movies are about Hollywood actor cameos, not the things you mention wanting in your DVD Extras - g1 voice actors, music, slow-motion transformations - if they slowed it all down, you'd see the motion blur effect they used to complete these lazy, useless films. Speilberg is simply cashing a giant Hasbro check and chucking his name there, and obviously Bay doesn't know or care... no one who works on these type of films cares at all about Transformers or its fans like EVA or others here on CDX. Everyone just wants to get paid (they should become an investment banker and stay away from movies).

These movies are *not* for Transformers fans, or even children. They're for lonely teenagers who want to see half naked girls, and laugh at bad jokes. They're an excuse for bad artists and CGI animators to get paid. They're so the lead actor can get himself further into the Hollywood board rooms, and continue the child-star path him and his mom have had since he was a kid. These movies are a good way for a studio to make a giant robot movie, but not pay for the CGI for the robots. And of course someone like Bay would be very narcissistic and make the extras about him because no one else matters!

These films are a symptom of the horrible society that we live in, and how much contempt Hollywood has for "Nerd Culture" and how much love it has for "Meathead Culture"- where a woman's value is in how curvy her hips are; it's better to be ironic and funny than to actually do anything, someone else will do it for you; make the story simple, but make the plot confusing to give the illusion of story movement and depth; and how as long as you have big explosions and giant CGI bills, everything will work out.

In the end, this movie will join its brother in the great sci-fi movie failures section, like "Judge Dredd" and "Waterworld" - two movies in the 90's that I remember people defending up and down the way folks do these Transformers films, and we all know what folks think of these now.

The Big R's picture
Posted by The Big R on 16 December, 2009 - 11:03
Big R

"In the end, this movie will join its brother in the great sci-fi movie failures section, like "Judge Dredd" and "Waterworld" - two movies in the 90's that I remember people defending up and down the way folks do these Transformers films, and we all know what folks think of these now."

Big R, you're definitely one of the good guys who knows how to fight.;)

-R78

Rodimus78's picture
Posted by Rodimus78 on 16 December, 2009 - 11:24
In the end, this movie will

"In the end, this movie will join its brother in the great sci-fi movie failures section, like "Judge Dredd" and "Waterworld" - two movies in the 90's that I remember people defending up and down the way folks do these Transformers films, and we all know what folks think of these now."

QFT! I didn't see it, but once you mentioned "Judge Dredd", your point shown like a beacon of truth. Listen people, for this man has wisdom.

Mechaninja's picture
Posted by Mechaninja on 16 December, 2009 - 11:50
You know,I really hate the

You know,I really hate the elitist attitude most scifi/comic/videogame/whatever "nerds" all seem to have these days,where we all have to wear a beret,smoke cloves,and drink a latte while discussing films (not movies-films!) while displaying a total lack of joy or the ability to have fun. I find it odd that most internet posters I come across act this way while openly shouting their love for cartoons like G1 Transformers,Thundercats,Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors,or other shows that require a large suspension of disbelief. It really seems to me like a geeky version of your dad talking about the good ol days.
I also have never understood the attitude many,many G1 Transformers fans have where they have to pretend the series froze in 1989 and can never progress. I don't mind the Fallen,Prentenders,or even Drift.

But.....

With all that being said,this is just not that great of a movie. I had a lot of fun watching it,I cracked up at a lot of the jokes. I thought the wrecking balls were funny (sorry,Ebert) and I even laughed at Mudflap and Skids(how is a robot talking like Eminem racist?).
I'm a Transformers fan though,and they deserved a real movie. Anyone who has flipped through 1 Transformers comic knows the concept can support a whole universe of cool characters and plots.

I still think the Waterworld comparison is a little harsh,I think these will be remembered more like the Star Wars prequels: movies that povided a decent amount of entertainment but failed to come even close to the quality the name promised. I doubt they'll be a staple of too many Blu Ray collections 15 years from now.

I have to disagree on the CGI. I can't comprehend how you could consider the CGI bad,the believable robots were to me what made the rest of it worth sitting through. I'll admit I miss the Japanese 80's aesthetic,and I think it's safe to say ALL of us on CDX prefer that aesthetic,but as far as the actual effects work,I think it's as good as it could have been.

kidnicky's picture
Posted by kidnicky on 16 December, 2009 - 12:27
Of the six postings above

Of the six postings above this one, kidnicky, I seemed to like yours the most, even though I agreed with a lot of what Wallace and The Big R said.

You can all read my blog posting to see what my initial reaction to the film was in June of this year. After now seeing it 4 times, my opinions really haven't changed, though obviously the shock of seeing it has worn off. The overall length of the film could have been tightened up a bit more (eliminating some of the non-funny fart & sex jokes coulda helped), and cleaning up character errors from the first film got blown out of proportion even more here (Mikaela, Sam's parents, and Ratchet, to say the least).
In the audio commentary, Bay said Alice was supposed to be competition for Mikaela by being a sweet girl. But from minute-one, I never once thought of her as sweet, as she was way too aggressive (for obvious reasons) and single-minded (not that Mikaela is any better in this, mind you). The audience can recognize Cybertronian glyphs, but we immediately see Alice's reaction when she sees them as well, so it totally gives away her motives after she sees Sam doodling with cake icing. (It goes back to Mikaela as well- how could this little nerd be attractive to these hot and confident girls!? BECAUSE THE SCRIPT SAYS SO.)

For the most part, the film['s plot] and visual/audio effects aren't bad- it's just that the rest of it is wildly out of control. Things that I liked the first time around were improved on, but unfortunately the things that I didn't like were too. (I genuinely appreciated the more-frequent slo-mo moments and near-lack of foreground objects covering up the 'bots because it gave us better views of what was going on this time, though the shaking-documentary-camera-style wasn't appreciated as much!)
Quick single-time shots of Mikaela's stomach and Simmons in boxers was not necessary in the first, but I didn't hate the film because of it. But this time around, the fart jokes and sexual tones were way out of proportion. (I repeat: the only time I genuinely laughed at a fart joke was when Jetfire farted a drag chute which pulled him over... because I knew that the SR-71 used drag chutes to begin with.)
Ya know what? Sam's mom is already insane from the first movie, so there was no need to get her high because she would already have acted like that to begin with without it! (The dad was a little more solid, but even he had his senior moments the first time around, which were thankfully eliminated for movie-two.)

It's just that there is a lot in this film which doesn't fit in the context of giant transforming alien robots who are involved in a civil war:

  • sex (elude to it if you must, but consider the audience this aims for)
  • drugs (that's a no-no)
  • farting/spitting (for humor I suppose, but not the way it was done here, and to be used sparingly as a defining character moment)
  • swearing (that's a no-no, though cutting them off/interrupting I would allow)
  • racism (that's a big no-no... and I'm white)

I do not consider myself a TF elitist in any way (I am not up-tight enough to declare death to Michael Bay just because he put flames on Optimus and made him a long-nose!), but some things, even in darker and more dramatic films, simply do not belong. If this were a comedic film from the start: 1- I would still watch it because it's "Transformers"; and 2- much of this would fit in better. (Admittedly, though, comedies that use all the above in excess I do not like; I prefer witty and often-non-physical humor.)

I could go on-and-on about this for many more paragraphs as to why I disliked a lot of the movie, but I already did that in my blog entry (see above).

And, no, I did not like the wreaking balls- my jaw hit the floor, and then I got really pissed off.
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CollectionDX Staff

EVA_Unit_4A's picture
Posted by EVA_Unit_4A on 16 December, 2009 - 13:35
I saw it only once in

To clarify: I saw it only once in theaters and now-3 times on DVD.

It was moments in the movie I hated, not the whole thing, so I still got the DVD and many of the toys (I'm starting on Deluxe-class Jolt today, BTW).

Believe it or not, after Sam gets tortured (did he really?), the movie gets out of the majority of rough patches IMO. (Kinda like "The Matrix"- once Neo is extracted from the power plant, the gross/gore stuff is done and the rest of the movie is safe.)
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CollectionDX Staff

EVA_Unit_4A's picture
Posted by EVA_Unit_4A on 16 December, 2009 - 13:59
FLAT-OUT-BROKE

"You know,I really hate the elitist attitude most scifi/comic/videogame/whatever "nerds" all seem to have these days,where we all have to wear a beret,smoke cloves,and drink a latte while discussing films (not movies-films!) while displaying a total lack of joy or the ability to have fun. I find it odd that most internet posters I come across act this way while openly shouting their love for cartoons like G1 Transformers,Thundercats,Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors,or other shows that require a large suspension of disbelief. It really seems to me like a geeky version of your dad talking about the good ol days.
I also have never understood the attitude many,many G1 Transformers fans have where they have to pretend the series froze in 1989 and can never progress. I don't mind the Fallen,Prentenders,or even Drift."

The only thing that's odd is this old "I hate seeing elitist fanboys living in the past & are too stupid to accept change" rhetoric that people with a "I'm so open-minded than them" attitude used to smear at fans who are uncomfortable with the film's shady content is questionable.

"With all that being said,this is just not that great of a movie. I had a lot of fun watching it,I cracked up at a lot of the jokes. I thought the wrecking balls were funny (sorry,Ebert) and I even laughed at Mudflap and Skids(how is a robot talking like Eminem racist?).
I'm a Transformers fan though,and they deserved a real movie. Anyone who has flipped through 1 Transformers comic knows the concept can support a whole universe of cool characters and plots."

The idea of people having fun watching a toy-based movie that contains offensive racist stereotypes, a pair of Hooters chicken breasts & bun-buns, offensive swearing & crude sex jokes, unprofessionally merry-go-round camera shots & overly jagged, mish-mashed ignorant writing at the expense of the personal integrity of kids, minorities, & the toyline itself (that is supposed to promote brainy playfare to kids to embrace their childhood sense of art & wonder like Rubik's Cube & Lego) getting confused and hurt is proof that the human race has mentally and genetically regressed into a state of dogmatic belief that the world is FLAT.

It's no wonder that the stock market crashed b/c our modern folk brains are FLAT-OUT-BROKE.

Just like our wallets.

-R78

Rodimus78's picture
Posted by Rodimus78 on 17 December, 2009 - 03:18
"The idea of people having

"The idea of people having fun watching a toy-based movie that contains offensive racist stereotypes, a pair of Hooters chicken breasts & bun-buns, offensive swearing & crude sex jokes, unprofessionally merry-go-round camera shots & overly jagged, mish-mashed ignorant writing at the expense of the personal integrity of kids, minorities, & the toyline itself (that is supposed to promote brainy playfare to kids to embrace their childhood sense of art & wonder like Rubik's Cube & Lego) getting confused and hurt is proof that the human race has mentally and genetically regressed into a state of dogmatic belief that the world is FLAT. "

Are you maybe taking this a little too seriously? It's a mediocre sci fi movie,not the end of civilization.

kidnicky's picture
Posted by kidnicky on 17 December, 2009 - 16:52
Well, considering the box

Well, considering the box office it made despite God-awful reviews (I don't put a ton of stock in critics anyways, preferring to make up my own mind if it's a pile), kidnicky, I'd say there's something seriously wrong with the world at-large if anyone thought that "RotF" was worth multiple theater viewings, and then didn't ask for a refund the first time around.

How is this an awesome movie that made over $800mil? I have no f'king clue, but this is most certainly NOT the example to put forward to Hollywood that 'good special effects do not for a good movie make'.
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CollectionDX Staff

EVA_Unit_4A's picture
Posted by EVA_Unit_4A on 17 December, 2009 - 19:06
"...The idea [snip] is proof

"...The idea [snip] is proof that the human race has mentally and genetically regressed into a state of dogmatic belief that the world is FLAT. ..."

Couldn't agree with you more!
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CollectionDX Staff

EVA_Unit_4A's picture
Posted by EVA_Unit_4A on 17 December, 2009 - 18:58
KidNicky man, you can call

KidNicky man, you can call me an old man all you want. It doesn't change the fact that there are more close-ups of women bending over than the robots the movie is supposed to be about, and the DVD is a love letter from Michael Bay's production staff (hoping to get more work) to their boss.

The Big R's picture
Posted by The Big R on 17 December, 2009 - 10:48
Did you read my whole post?

Did you read my whole post? I agreed that the movie wasn't very good.

kidnicky's picture
Posted by kidnicky on 17 December, 2009 - 16:53
"Did you read my whole post?

"Did you read my whole post? I agreed that the movie wasn't very good."

Of course we did, it was 'rhetorically' correct. Just like a 2-layered flapjack w/ no-sweet-cream filling.

-R78

Rodimus78's picture
Posted by Rodimus78 on 19 December, 2009 - 03:24
Sure, but you also insulted

Sure, but you also insulted me for no reason. And for no reason other age... and I'm around the same age as 90% of the writers here on CDX, in case you haven't noticed.

And made more of a point to put me down than talk about the film... whoops, "movie"... whoops, "flick." C'mon that's just as low as when someone posts "spelling doofus" to attack an opinion they don't like, or a Macross fan who pulls some technical crap out of a RPG handbook to insult a newbie and make themselves look better.

There's nothing wrong with looking at things with a broader view. If all fans sunk down to the level that this stuff is kid-fun-meaningless territory, we wouldn't have a lot of the best shows, Akira, Macross, Metropolis, Spirited Away... we'd have thousands of moe and Bleach wannabes and just the worst stuff.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with anime or "flicks" that have no other meaning other than "buy this toy" or "look at these hips!" - but you shouldn't be so ignorant to use the tired old pimply teenager excuses to invalidate what I said (especially since you agree with me!)

And to insult someone who maybe looks a little deeper and for a little more from their TV and films, and maybe demands more from the little time they get to spend on the couch, that just shows where you're at, and that's ok. Life is short, and I refuse to waste it on things I don't like. I need more than flashing lights and loud bangs to entertain me.

Maybe when you're older, you'll understand my friend.

The Big R's picture
Posted by The Big R on 21 December, 2009 - 11:03
Hey Micheal Bay

Next time focus on character development I don't give a sh*t about the human league, because I wanted so bad to learn more about the history of Cybertron and where the hell all these robots were flying in from to Earth so quickly, a ship or have they been swimming through space for eons? What's that stupid planet the Fallen was on with the hatchlings, an exoplanet light years away? "Well then Starscream please fly to Earth this afternoon to tear some sh*t up!" It would of been nice to see an Autobot have an actual conversation with another of his kin. Never happened! Animation was top notch and brought the robots into the real world. Big R & Kidnicky make great points. Atom I see EVA kinda trying to appeal to most points posted here because of the backlash being posted and I think he really likes the movie now too. ;)

Lizardspock's picture
Posted by Lizardspock on 17 December, 2009 - 15:20
Well, we know that at least

Well, we know that at least some of them use space bridges, but do all of them? I doubt it; I think it's restricted only to 'bots that can fly. But, by showing us both [the Nemesis] and the Solar Harvester, we also know that they can make non-living machines as well. So using ships to travel about means they can't all teleport.

Supposedly, the new "TF:War on Cybertron" video game and toy line will be answering the age-old questions about the origins of the civil war and how their race as a whole originally was. (BTW, in Bayformers, the civil war didn't come to Earth, it was started here [by The Fallen].)

Hollywood, listen to my words: For Bayformers-3, LESS HUMAN STORYLINE AND MORE ROBOT STORYLINE. If Pixar can make all-CGI movies and have them rock, then you can butch-up and do the same with Optimus Prime & Co. Stop wasting our time and money and brain cells!
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CollectionDX Staff

EVA_Unit_4A's picture
Posted by EVA_Unit_4A on 17 December, 2009 - 19:16