Having earned more than $700 million at the box office worldwide, DreamWorks’ and Paramount’s Transformers debuts on home video today. The Michael Bay pic is available in both single-disc and two-disc DVD and HD DVD editions with a host of extra features including in-depth looks at the film’s CG animation and visual effects.
Starring Shia LeBeouf, Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson, Transformers blends live action and CG animation to put the planet Earth right in the middle of the epic battle between the Autobots and the Decepticons, giant robots that can disguise themselves as various vehicles. Steven Spielberg served as exec producer on the flick, which is based on the Hasbro toyline and the animated TV series that ran from 1984 through 1987. The lion’s share of visual effects in the movie were handled by Industrial Light & Magic.
The two-disc special edition offers commentary by Bay and two multi-part documentaries that explore both the human and robotic elements of the film. Spielberg discusses his love for the franchise and unveils early concept art for the film, and viewers learn how the actors were selected what they went through on the set and in military training. A featurette titled Battleground focuses on the senior officials from the Department of Defense and Air Force who consulted on the film, as well as key filming locations provided by the U.S. government. Rise of the Robots sheds light on the collaboration between the director and Hasbro designers, while Autobots Roll Out has Bay discussing how Chevrolet and its designers helped create the cars seen in the film. Another highlight is a featurette titeld Inside the AllSpark, in which ILM’s digital artists talk about the challenges of bringing the cartoon property to the big screen. There’s also a script-to-sceen breakdown of the challenging Skorponok Desert Attack sequence that goes from initial storyboarding through production and visual effects.
Distributed by Paramount home video, the two-disc special edition lists for $36.99. Tack on three bucks for the HD DVD version or pick up the single-disc release for the suggested retail price of $29.99.
