Transformers

(Note: This review refers to the Blu-ray version of the DVD.)

Back in the days of the hi-def DVD wars, Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg both came out in support of Blu-ray as their home video format of choice. The problem was that their films were being released by Paramount, which had aligned with HD-DVD. Well, HD-DVD lost the war and "Transformers" gets its Blu-ray release. The Transformers (robots that fold themselves into all sorts of vehicles like mechanical origami) were originally created as a line of toys before becoming stars of an animated TV series that collapsed the distance between program and commercial. Director Bay turns the premise into a screeching-metal, smash-and-crash, extreme action movie of really big robots at war. Shia LaBeouf heads the human side of the cast as the high-school goofball who may just save the planet from a mechanical makeover, with the help of a mechanically minded high school hottie (Megan Fox) and, of course, his high-performance bodyguard (disguised as a beat-up Camaro) and the morph squad of supersized Swiss Army knives. Bay and producer Spielberg take this pulp premise seriously and have a blast with the absurdity of it all at the same time.

The Blu-ray edition features all the supplements of the DVD release: commentary by Bay ("So I get this phone call, July 30, 2005, from Steven Spielberg. He calls me up in his jovial self and says, 'Michael, I want you direct this film, "Transformers"...'"), more than two hours of exhaustive making-of documentaries (all remastered for HD) and production galleries. From the original HD release comes the "Transformers H.U.D. (Heads Up Display)" viewing mode, which supplements the film with pop-up trivia and picture-in-picture video of behind-the-scenes footage and bonus interviews with Bay, Spielberg, the cast and other participants. But the real selling point is the crisp, sharp Blu-ray transfer and the dynamic sound.