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Transformers
Paramount Pictures

Transformers reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 61 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
7.0 out of 10
based on 35 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 591 votes
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MPAA RATING: PG-13 for violence, profanity and sexual humor

Starring Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Rachael Taylor, Tyrese Gibson, Jon Voight, Anthony Anderson, and John Turturro

Aliens make Earth their final battleground. As the forces of evil seek the key to ultimate power, Earth's last chance for survival rest in the hands of young Sam Witwicky. (Paramount Pictures)


GENRE(S): Action  |  Adventure  |  Sci-fi  
WRITTEN BY: John Rogers (story)
Roberto Orci (& story)
Alex Kurtzman (& story)
 
DIRECTED BY: Michael Bay  
RELEASE DATE: DVD: October 16, 2007 
Theatrical: July 3, 2007 
RUNNING TIME: 144 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: USA 

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

90
Variety Jay Weissberg
Big, loud and full of testosterone-fueled car fantasies, Michael Bay's actioner hits a new peak for CGI work, showcasing spectacular chases and animated transformation sequences seamlessly blended into live-action surroundings.
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90
The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt
Transformers is a wet dream for fanboys, with vehicles that whiz and whir into alien robots, spectacular sci-fi stunt chases, glistening military hardware, overheated computer software and brainy, hot girls who love Popular Mechanics.
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83
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker
It's all about the sheer visceral rush of mega action.
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80
LA Weekly Luke Y. Thompson
The movie's biggest misstep is a complete lack of the classic Transformers theme song. How do you not use the coolest ’80s toyline-turned-cartoon music ever?
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80
Empire Ian Nathan
The script may have rubbery legs, but the action is rock-hard. The surprise is the lightness of touch: treat as a comedy for best results.
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75
San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub
Even more ridiculous than it sounds.
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75
Portland Oregonian Marc Mohan
LaBeouf is likable and grounded, two things you need from the lead in a film like this, although his female co-stars seem to have been cast based on how well their Maxim covers would sell.
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75
Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer
Just about everything connected to this movie is a tie-in, except for the popcorn. And even then I'm not too sure.
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75
USA Today Claudia Puig
Yes, it's loud, explosive and silly, but it also perfectly embodies the concept of a summer blockbuster with its simple good-guys-vs.-bad-guys plot, cheeky humor and flawless special effects.
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75
New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
A classic Michael Bay mega-movie. Interested in plot and character development? Move along. You're blocking the view.
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75
Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
The most surprising thing about Michael Bay's much-anticipated, blockbuster-bound Transformers is how funny the movie is.
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75
Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
It's a heavy-metal opera with humor.
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75
Premiere Eric Alt
Grab some popcorn and make a pit stop, then sit back and enjoy it. You signed up for a movie about giant robots.
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75
Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach
The whole thing is too giddy to be taken seriously and too much of a confection to leave much of a lasting impression. But for 140 minutes, at least, it should give non-fanboys at least an idea of what all the fuss is about.
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75
Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
The energy never lets up, and two committed, unfussy leading actors are an improvement over other summer flicks.
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75
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Everything comes down to an epic battle between the Transformers and the Decepticons, and that's when my attention began to wander, and the movie lost a potential fourth star.
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70
The New Yorker Anthony Lane
In previous movies, Michael Bay dabbled wearily in Homo sapiens. At last he has summoned the courage to admit that he has an exclusive crush on machines, and I congratulate him on creating, in Transformers, his first truly honest work of art.
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70
Slate Dana Stevens
The final scene is pure teen wish fulfillment: Imagine making out with your girlfriend on the hood of your sentient Camaro, as your own personal robot bodyguard looks on fondly (all right, that part's a little creepy).
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70
Washington Post Desson Thomson
It's a wonderfully playful experience.
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70
Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar
Depending on your expectations for Transformers, rear-ending theaters this July 4th, you’ll either be ecstatic or horrified to learn that the movie hits on all three cylinders in convincing fashion.
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70
Wall Street Journal Joanne Kaufman
For almost two hours of car chases and car wrecks and extraordinary animated transformation sequences that meld fluidly with live action, the welcome mat is out for Michael Bay's cheerfully dopey saga.
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70
Village Voice Nathan Lee
Transformers is mercilessly inhuman and completely hysterical from frame one.
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67
Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
Bay, at heart, isn't a fantasist; he's a literal-minded maestro of demolition.
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63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey
Some kind of mess...terpiece.
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63
Boston Globe Wesley Morris
Partly impressive, partly inane buck-banging toy of a movie.
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63
Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips
The climax of Transformers contains all that is proficient and slick and all that is drecky and soulless in Bay's work.
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50
The New York Times Manohla Dargis
A movie of epically assaultive noise and nonsense.
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50
New York Post Lou Lumenick
Deafeningly loud and proudly silly epic.
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50
TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
8-year-olds of all ages, prepare to storm the multiplex!
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42
The Onion (A.V. Club) Tasha Robinson
Turns the franchise into a terrible '80s comedy.
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40
Time Richard Corliss
The film has just enough collisions to be a crashing bore.
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40
Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
Transformers is about as clever as an unplugged blender.
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40
Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
Transformers' multiple earthling story lines are tedious and oddly lifeless, doing little besides marking time until those big toys fill the screen.
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38
ReelViews James Berardinelli
Louder, flashier, and more hollow than anything else out there.
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30
Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall
Not a movie, just one gigantic commercial for Hasbro.
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What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 7.0 (out of 10) based on 591 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

John K gave it a0:
Ouch. That's all I can say about this failure. To be honest I didn't expect much of it to begin with, but I had no inkling as to what I was in for. The writers fail. Bay fails. Shia shows the most promise but fails. And my oh my does Megan Fox fall flat on her alien face.

Adrian S. gave it a10:
It's amazing! on VFX, the Story, everything! You have to give it a shot... don't be narrow-minded.

[Anonymous] gave it a9:
Just fantastic. Great visuals, great cast, hot Megan Fox, great movie all around.

matt b gave it a10:
This is truly an amazing movie and it has everything that it takes to make a winning movie, when i watch this i don't even think of it as a movie, it unlike anything I've seen and the actors are amazing, when I hear someone say it wasn't like the transformers i grew up with, there right, it's better it takes transformers to the new age, and any fan boy who watches this and says its not like the series, prolly lives at home with there mom and got scared when they watched this movie.

jon s gave it a1:
Supremely overrated,all my friends think its gods gift to earth and get mad when i try to tell them that its average at best, I liked transformers growing up but this movie isn't good! Transformers 2 looks better but i don't know if ill be attending.

Max B gave it a1:
After watching Transformers a second time I still find nothing redeeming in it. It's a typically embarrassing Michael Bay action flick with all the stuff you've come to expect: explosions, car chases, borderline anorexic "just one of the guys" female lead, terrible script, worse acting, and it's just too long. This is not the fun cartoon of the 1980s. This is new-age, embarrassingly serious, violence-glorifying, military fist-pumping, emotionally vapid, humorless, glossy no-substance cinema. Avoid at all costs. Truly one of the poorest films ever created.

Ferdbut B gave it a7:
Transformers is good movie with amazing special effects and a good cast. I wish the fight between optimus prime and megatron was better thought but, overall good movie.

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