Transformers (UA Edit)

June 8, 2010 @ 1:35 am

*This rating was given before reviews were required*

March 14, 2011 @ 2:52 am

This movie stayed as ridiculous as I thought it would be, though the editor surely toned that down remarkably. I didn’t notice any crap editing, no problems that caught my attention, and the editing was all done well, but the movie still didn’t win me over.

Editing: 9/10, Fanedit Movie: 6/10 (and only because of the source material, which would probably rate as a 2 or 3 out of 10)
Well done, UncannyAntman!

December 16, 2009 @ 9:45 pm

*This rating was given before reviews were required*

Review by gugliemo — July 12, 2011 @ 2:45 am

From the very first viewing, I never likes Transformers. I didn’t know how it was possible to take the concept and *not* make an entertaining film, but Michael Bay’s horrible, messy, bigoted, superficial and insultingly stupid film removed any sense of joy from the experience. (On a side note, I am perhaps the only person in the world who thought the sequel was a considerable improvement, but that’s another story)

Uncanny Antman’s edit is a massive improvement. The new opening is excellent, and the entire first act was a very enjoyable film. The film now has a central focus on the setting up of events (similar to disaster movies like Armageddon or Deep Impact), we follow the Decepticons as they begin to infiltrate Earth, the pentagon’s response and the Analysts who try and stop them. Cleverly, the soldiers and Sam Witwicky become smaller subplots who will become the main focus of the second half (once the pentagon and analysts’ roles have become redundant). Uncanny Antman has managed to take one of the aspects of the film I found particularly irritating (the blonde supermodel “analyst” subplot) and actually make it interesting.

Towards the second half, things become a bit shakier. To be fair, Uncanny Antman is limited by the material and he had already gone massively beyond any reasonable expectations. The analyst suplot leads to a dead end once she makes a copy for her friend. Some kind of conclusion would be nice, the interogation scene is now pointless as neither character plays a further role in the film.

Megan Fox’s character was attocious in the original, but her complete eradication leaves a lot of unanswered questions. Who is she, why has she followed Sam. It is clear they’re still getting to know each other and flirting, yet the film also suggests they’re pre-established friends. While I prefer no-Fox to too-much-Fox, it does sadly highlight the fact that we’re watching an edit.

Antman has done improved the film’s climax a hundred fold. The original is one of the dumbest endings I have ever seen, it mostly revolves around a teenager, who’s friends are 30 foot racing cars, running *on foot* to get to a helicopter which he will use to escape from evil *supersonic jetplanes*, and is concluded by the bad guy who wants the magic box being given the magic box, which then kills him (as established about an hour earlier in the film). I really don’t think a person could write the ending any more retarded.

While the “put the allspark in my chest” conclusion cannot be avoided, Antman’s re-ordering of the entire climax turns it into an exciting and(mostly) logical brawl.

This review cannot do justice to the wonders that Uncanny Antman has done. He has taken out 90% of the stupidity, chauvenism, cheese, and unfunny remedial humour, and made Transformers one of the best films it can be given the material.

I do think it could have done more though. In my opinion, the scene with the Transformers in the garden and with Sam’s parents is just terrible. The scene is perhaps made even worse because it follows what Antman has designed to be a tense and exciting set-up: the Earth is being infiltrated by an incredibly powerful and unknown enemy, however, our saviours have arrived (the scene of the Autobots arriving has been snipped into being particularly cool now)… and yet the first 15 minutes we spend in their company is played for (unfunny) laughs. Maybe Antman just likes the scene, but I think the film and pacing would improve considerably if the whole thing was taken out: Sam looks for/finds his glasses, Sector 7 turn up and arrest him, Autobots intersept the convoy.

I would give the original theatrical cut of Transformers a 3/10 (without exageration). It does have some impressive special effects, but these are so badly handled and the rest of the film is such a loud, offensive mess that I find it painful to even try and watch it.

Judging Uncanny Antman’s edit purely as a film in its own rights, I would give it a 6 or 7/10. On the whole, its an enjoyable experience, and parts of the film are easily 9/10 quality. I don’t know if there’s much more you can do with the film, but I do think a bit of extra cutting might help (which contrasts the opinions above which suggest too much has been cut. The thing with a shit sandwisanwich though, is less will always be more). I look forward to watching the other fanedits of the first Transformers and seeing what their take on the film was. But for now I thank Uncanny for actually making Transformers into a watchable experience and allowing me the pleasure of watching Robots beat the crap out of each other.

November 7, 2009 @ 6:55 pm

*This rating was given before reviews were required*