Transformers (UA Edit)

November 19, 2009 @ 1:47 pm

I wasn’t sure which version of this film to go for, as there are several cuts out there – Reaves – which after reading some of the reviews doesn’t seem to go far enough, JasonNs and Uncanny Antmans. I noted UC had cut a good 40 mins out, so given I enjoy Bay humour as much as Emmerich humour :roll: , I opted for UC.

Only watched Transformers once and was never a Transformers fan. I did however get a friend to watch who was a TF fan and had watched the original a good few weeks back.

From the word go, it’s obvious we’re dealing with a much more serious film. 95% of comedy and silly little redundant subplots are all gone. My friend was picking up all over the place where dialogue was missing and/or scenes. The start of the film is much more enjoyable from this perspective. Some rather slick custom titles are used as well.

Audio and Visual are top notch, as well as the editing as well. No flaws whatsoever that we could detect. 10/10.

Now the film itself, with so much material removed comes across as rather cold and devoid of any sort of character development, which is of course is the price you pay for editing a Bay film to be more serious. Same thing happened to me with my Godzilla : Zilla edit. You’re left with a film almost devoid of any emotion and entirely action. Whilst left with a serious film, you’re also left with a film that’s not quite as much fun as the original. Now I use ‘fun’ a little loosely, as the whole point is to remove Bay’s fun and make it a bit more digestible. But has it gone too far? Horses for courses, some people will love this edit, others will miss the funnier elements – my friend certainly did.

Two things we noted seemed a little odd. The early chase with Bumblebee and Barricade seem twice to get into a position where they’re right in near proximity to each other, we cut to another scene, come back and now they’re miles apart again. So, was there some fighting cut out? When Barricade is interrogating Sam, what happened to Bumblebee? When they both screech into a Warehouse, the next time we see – Bumblebee is exiting and way ahead again…..?

My most hated scene in the film is the Autobots hiding around the parents house. We think you chopped this down and I justified the necessity of it – Mikhaela meets the parents?

Anyway, so I’m a little torn on this. I don’t like the original, but this version feels a little too bare bones for me. On the entertainment level, I’m giving this 7/10.

So averaging out – 10 Audio, 10 Video, 10 Editing and 7 for entertainment – you’ll find the average is still a healthy 9/10. :-)

November 19, 2009 @ 3:36 am

Amazing! I COMPLETELY forgot how much I HATED Transformers in the theater. Michael Bay really DID film Transformers, but who would guess with all that crap love story all over the place?

I LOVED how you split up the chopper attack, the rearrangement of scenes, the removal of Megan Fox’s character’s back story, the new (old!) sounds, dialogue editing, etc. etc. – all great.

I could offer a few slight cringe-moments of dislike, but in the grand scheme of things are really minute. Thanks for giving us this, UA!

November 18, 2009 @ 10:26 pm

I can’t say any more than what’s been said here, but this edit was FANTASTIC.
Great editing, good music choices, and almost all of the cringeworthy or unnecessary scenes have been absolutely cleaned up.
This is now my archival edition.
Many thanks.
10/10

November 11, 2009 @ 6:42 am

I cant tell you how glad I am to see this edit. I liked Transformers but I didnt LOVE Transformers. I dont typically like Micheal Bay films but thats not what I am here to talk about. The edit is quite seamless and very easy to watch which is sometimes hard to do when you edit out almost 26 minutes of video. I had a really good feeling about the edit from the custom intro and song right from the very beginning.

The video looks great. The cuts are beautiful and really make for a smooth cut. 10/10

The audio isnt true 5.1 but is still clean and crisp. 9/10

The edit itself is great and made the movie far better and easier to watch. This is a movie about Transformers and not Shia LeBouf and his girlfriend running in slow motion. THANK YOU! 10/10

Overall 10/10

November 7, 2009 @ 6:55 pm

*This rating was given before reviews were required*