STUDIO: DreamWorks
RELEASE DATE: September 2, 2008
STARRING: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Rachael Taylor, Jon Voight, Tyrese Gibson, Josh Duhamel, Anthony Anderson, Bernie Mac, and John Turturro
WRITTEN BY: Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci
DIRECTED BY: Michael Bay
FEATURES: Commentary by Michael Bay
Transformers Heads Up Display - View Transformers like never before with picture-in-picture behind-the-scenes information and more.
BD-Live Features: Exclusive online content!
Our World - Explore the world of Transformers through interviews with the cast and crew, stunt training footage, and exclusive access to the on-set locations.
Their War - Learn more about the Autobots and Decepticons with exclusive access to production design, military advisors, and digital special effects
More Than Meets The Eye - An in-depth featurette on the making of the Skorponok Desert Attack scene and concept boards.

I hate to say it, but Michael Bay was right. The controversial and critically derided director made headlines when he commented that he thought Transformers would look better on Blu-Ray. The comment was controversial because the studio that made the film, DreamWorks/Paramount was backing HD-DVD in the next-gen format war at the time. There were even crazy rumors that Bay would hold off making Transformers 2 until his movie was released on Blu-Ray. Now that I've seen the inevitable apotheosis of Bay's career on the format, I can admit that he was right. This thing is stunning. Like the machines that steal the movie from the flesh-and-blood actors, the Blu-Ray edition of Transformers is a technical masterpiece. It's the best picture I've ever seen on my HD TV and the sound mix is absolutely stunning. I've praised a few Blu-Ray pictures since we started covering the format a few months ago and everyone should include Batman Begins and Dark City in their collection, but this is even more remarkable than those must-owns. What's above a must-own? Let me put it this way. If you're buying anyone a Blu-Ray player for the holidays this year, buy them a copy of Transformers at the same time. It's the fuel that runs the car.

In case you're that very rare soul who was living under a rock with only a Blu-Ray player or you've been waiting for this format to see Transformers, you should know that the movie is basically one giant special effects sequence. Even the actors, especially the too-perfect Megan Fox, look like CGI creations in the way that Bay and his team light and shoot their action films. Some have called Transformers a giant commercial, but it's more like a theme park ride. If you've ever been to Universal Studios or the movie park at Disney World, you've been on those movie-based rides, the ones that are more like assaults on the senses than what the classic directors would call film. But, unlike a lot of critics, I'm okay with that fact. I actually think Transformers is the perfect fit for Bay's visceral, somewhat ridiculous style. Sure, Pearl Harbor should have been treated with a little more sensitivity and a little less "sheen", but Transformers? Michael Bay was born to direct Transformers. The plot? Who cares? There are bad robots, good robots, and some of the most impressive CGI that has ever been produced. Don't watch it for character or plot. Watch it for the same reason the show (or any Saturday morning cartoon) appealed to you as a child - stupid fun.

If Transformers really isn't much "more than meets the eye", then the format that will naturally play to that strength is Blu-Ray. I can't stress enough how perfect Transformers looks on Blu-Ray. The 1080p video clarity looks absolutely flawless. It actually sent me back to other recently released Blu-Ray releases to compare and this title is metallic head and transforming shoulders above everything else in my collection. According to The Digital Bits, the studio took the original 1080p master from the HD-DVD version and optimized the compression for Blu-Ray. So, for those of you that feel bad about having to buy a movie you already own on HD-DVD, don't. It actually looks better. (And we should note that the company offers a discount coupon for people who already own Transformers on HD-DVD.) On the audio side, Transformers includes a Dolby TrueHD track for the first time, which was missing from the HD-DVD release. So, Transformers looks AND sounds better. It's ear-shattering and eye-popping, just as it should be.

As for special features, everything that was on the previous HD-DVD version of Transformers is included here. It's a great collection of bonus material, highlighted by one of my favorite things about the Blu-Ray format, picture-in-picture featurettes. The "Heads Up Display" allows you to watch Transformers with scene-specific featurettes playing PIP at the same time. If that's not enough, the first disc also includes a commentary by Michael Bay and an awesome BD-Live online series of features that includes "Intelligence Mode with GPS Tracker", "The Profiler", and more. The second disc of Transformers includes great featurettes that offer even more detail - "Our World", "Their War", and "More Than Meets the Eye". Even the special features on the second disc are in high-definition video. In the world of Transformers, nothing is standard. And in the world of Blu-Ray, nothing matches the video and audio on Transformers.