Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen theme by Daytripper
Download: TransformersRotF.p3t
(1 background)
| Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Michael Bay |
| Written by | |
| Based on | Transformers by Hasbro |
| Produced by | |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Ben Seresin |
| Edited by |
|
| Music by | Steve Jablonsky |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 150 minutes[3] |
| Country | United States[2] |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $200–210 million[4][1][5] |
| Box office | $836.5 million[6] |
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a 2009 American science fiction action film based on Hasbro's Transformers toy line. The film is the second installment in the Transformers film series and the sequel to Transformers (2007). The film is directed by Michael Bay and written by Ehren Kruger, Roberto Orci, and Alex Kurtzman. Taking place two years after the previous film, the story revolves around Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen), Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf), and the Autobots allying once again in the war against the Decepticons, led by Megatron (voiced by Hugo Weaving). An ancient Decepticon named the Fallen (voiced by Tony Todd), seeks revenge on Earth and intends to find and activate a machine that would destroy the Sun and all life in the process.
With deadlines jeopardized by possible strikes by the Directors Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild, Bay managed to finish the production on time with the help of previsualization and a scriptment. Shooting took place between May and September 2008, with locations in Egypt, Jordan, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and California, as well as air bases in New Mexico and Arizona. It is the last film in the series to star Megan Fox.
It premiered on June 8, 2009, in Tokyo and was released on June 24 in the United States. The film received generally negative reviews from critics. It won three Golden Raspberry Awards at the 30th Golden Raspberry Awards ceremony and became the highest-grossing film to win the Worst Picture award. The film surpassed its predecessor's box office gross worldwide with $836.5 million, making it the fourth-highest-grossing film of 2009. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing, at the 82nd Academy Awards. With over 11 million home media sales in 2009, it was also the top-selling film of the year in the United States. It was followed by Transformers: Dark of the Moon in 2011.
Plot[edit]
In 17,000 B.C., the Primes (the highest ruling Cybertronians) gather their energy, Energon, from star harvesters, machines that consume stars to harness their energy. The Primes have a sacred rule to never deplete a star that sustains life. One Prime violates this rule by building a star harvester on Earth, for which he was defeated by the other six Primes, and becomes "the Fallen", the original Decepticon.
In 2009, two years after the battle of Mission City,[a] the Autobots and the humans have formed NEST (Non-biological Extraterrestrial Species Treaty), a classified joint task force to eliminate the remaining Decepticons. Two of them, Sideways and Demolishor, are defeated in Shanghai, but the latter warns of the Fallen's return before being killed. Meanwhile, the Decepticon Soundwave hacks a military satellite to track and steal the last known piece of the AllSpark shard from a U.S Navy base in Diego Garcia. They use it to resurrect Megatron, and Megatron returns to the Fallen. The Fallen sends Megatron and his second-in-command, Starscream, to capture Sam Witwicky alive and kill Optimus.
Meanwhile, Sam, now attending college at Princeton University, has been seeing Cybertronian symbols since holding a smaller AllSpark shard; Megatron believes the symbols will lead the Decepticons to a new Energon source. The shard brings many of the kitchen appliances to life, which attempt to kill Sam and his parents but Bumblebee rescues them. Sam gives the shard to his girlfriend Mikaela Banes, who later captures the Decepticon Wheelie as he attempts to steal it. After being attacked by Alice, a Decepticon Pretender posing as a college student, Sam, his roommate Leo, and Mikaela are captured by the Decepticon Grindor before the Autobots save them. Optimus fights off Megatron, Starscream, and Grindor before Optimus kills Grindor. Megatron then kills Optimus while he defends Sam, and the Decepticons launch devastating attacks around the world, while Megatron and Soundwave hijack Earth's telecommunications systems, which allows the Fallen to send a message to the humans, demanding that Sam be handed over to him.
Sam, Mikaela, and Leo then find alien expert and former Sector Seven agent, Seymour Simmons, who reveals the Transformers visited Earth for a long time and the most ancient, known as Seekers, remained hidden on Earth. With help from Wheelie, they track down an elderly Decepticon turned Autobot Seeker named Jetfire at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. They use their shard to revive Jetfire, who teleports the group to Egypt. Along with Jetfire, Wheelie sides with the Autobots, and Jetfire sends them to locate the Matrix of Leadership, the star harvester's key, which could also be used to revive Optimus. The group finds the Matrix, whom the Primes sacrificed themselves to hide, in Aqaba, but it disintegrates into dust.
Meanwhile, NEST forces and the Autobots land near the Giza pyramid complex and are attacked by the Decepticons. The Constructicons combine to form Devastator, who reveal the star harvester hidden inside a pyramid before he is destroyed. A majority of the Decepticons are annihilated by multiple airstrikes from the Navy and the U.S Air Force, but Megatron manages to kill Sam. The Primes speak to Sam, saying that the Matrix must be earned, not found and that he has the right to bear it by sacrificing himself for Optimus. They resurrect Sam and grant him the Matrix, which he uses to resurrect Optimus. The Fallen steals the Matrix from a weakened Optimus and uses it to activate the star harvester. After a wounded Jetfire sacrifices himself to allow his parts to be used for additional power and flight, Optimus destroys the harvester and kills the Fallen. Heavily damaged and distraught by his master's death, Megatron retreats with Starscream. The Autobots and their allies then return to the United States, and Sam and Leo return to college.
Cast[edit]
Live-action[edit]
- Shia LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky: A recent high school graduate who is unwittingly drawn again into the Autobot cause to unravel an ancient mystery implanted into his mind by the now-destroyed Allspark.
- Megan Fox as Mikaela Banes: Sam's girlfriend whom he trusts as the Allspark fragments begin to unravel.
- Josh Duhamel as Major William Lennox: A U.S. Army Ranger who establishes NEST to help the Autobots in their battle against the remaining Decepticons.
- Tyrese Gibson as Robert Epps: A U.S. Air Force Master Sergeant and Combat Controller in Lennox's team who leads NEST's SWAT unit.
- John Turturro as Seymour Simmons: A former agent of the recently terminated Sector 7 who now runs a meat shop in New York City with his mother, Tova Simmons (played by Annie Korzen).
- Ramon Rodriguez as Leo Spitz: A college roommate of Sam's who runs an online conspiracy blog and is obsessed with the Transformers. Before Rodríguez was cast, Jonah Hill was in talks to play the role but Seth Rogen advised him to turn it down to focus instead on his own projects. Hill chose to do Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian instead.[7][8]
- Kevin Dunn as Ron Witwicky: Sam's father.
- Julie White as Judith Witwicky: Sam's mother.
- Isabel Lucas as Alice: A female pretender sent to spy on Sam in college.
- John Benjamin Hickey as Theodore Galloway: A national security adviser who often chastises NEST and the Autobots for their destructive tactics.
- Glenn Morshower as General Morshower: The supervisor of NEST.
- Matthew Marsden as Captain Graham: a British Army Special Air Service NEST officer.
- Rainn Wilson as Professor R.A. Colan: Sam and Leo's astronomy teacher.
- Michael Papajohn as Colin "Cal" Banes: Mikaela's father.
Voices[edit]
- Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime: The leader of the Autobots who transforms into a blue and red 1994 Peterbilt 379 semi-trailer truck.
- Hugo Weaving as Megatron: The Fallen's apprentice and the leader of the Decepticons who transforms into a flying Cybertronian tank.
- Tony Todd as The Fallen: A Prime who is the first and founder of the Decepticons, as well as the master of Megatron.
- Mark Ryan as Jetfire: A former Decepticon Seeker turned Autobot who transforms into a SR-71 Blackbird.
- Jess Harnell as Ironhide: The Autobot weapons specialist and Optimus's new second-in-command who transforms into a black 2009 GMC Topkick C4500.
- Robert Foxworth as Ratchet: The Autobot medical officer who transforms into a yellow 2009 search and rescue Hummer H2 ambulance.
- Charlie Adler as Starscream: Megatron's second-in-command who transforms into a Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor.
- Frank Welker[b] as:
- Soundwave: The Decepticon communications officer who orbits Earth as a Cybertronian satellite.
- Ravage: A stealthy, jaguar-like Decepticon who transforms into a Cybertronian missile, and is deployed by Soundwave.
- Reedman: A razor-thin Decepticon composed of the "Microcons", thousands of Decepticons who transform into metal beads that are deployed by Ravage.
- Grindor: A large Decepticon who transforms into a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter.
- Devastator: A massive Decepticon who is the combination of ten construction vehicles. In the Transformers lore, these vehicles are meant to be individual Decepticons called the Constructicons. In the film however, only Mixmaster, Scrapper, Scrapmetal, and Long Haul transform into robots, and they appear separate from Devastator. Concept art was created for the others, but most of them were only featured in the related toy line.
The named Constructicons are:- Mixmaster: A black and silver Mack concrete mixer truck that transforms into the head.
- Scrapper: A yellow Caterpillar 992G scoop loader that transforms into the right arm.
- Scrapmetal: A yellow Volvo EC700C crawler excavator fitted with a Stanley UP 45SV attachment that transforms into the left hand.
- Long Haul: A green Caterpillar 773B dump truck that transforms into the right leg.
- Scavenger: A red and white Terex O&K RH 400 excavator, like Demolishor, that transforms into the upper torso and shoulders.
- Hightower: A yellow Kobelco CKE2500 II crawler crane that transforms into the left arm.
- Overload: A red KW Dart D4661 Tractor Truck articulated dump truck that transforms into the lower torso and thighs.
- Skipjack: Caterpillar D9T bulldozer, like Rampage, who transforms into the left leg.
- André Sogliuzzo as Sideswipe: The Autobot combat instructor who transforms into a silver 2009 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray concept car.
- Tom Kenny as:
- Wheelie: A former Decepticon spy, later turned Autobot, who transforms into a blue radio-controlled toy monster truck, based on a Ford F-350.
- Skids: An Autobot infiltrator and Mudflap's twin who first transforms into the front half of a custom-built ice cream truck, and later, a green 2007 Chevrolet Beat.
- Reno Wilson as Mudflap: An Autobot infiltrator and Skids' twin who first transforms into the back half of a custom-built ice cream truck, and later, a red 2007 Chevrolet Trax.
- Grey DeLisle[c] as Arcee, Chromia, and Elita-One: A trio of female Autobot sisters who transforms into a pink Ducati 848, a blue Suzuki B-King, and a purple MV Agusta F4, respectively.
- Calvin Wimmer as Demolishor (credited as "Wheelbot"): A massive Constructicon who transforms into a red and white Terex O&K RH 400 excavator.
- John DiCrosta as Scalpel (credited as "Doctor"): A spider-like Decepticon who transforms into a 1938 American Optical 603 lensmeter.
- Michael York as Prime #1: One of the seven Primes.
- Kevin Michael Richardson as:
- Prime #2: One of the seven Primes.
- Rampage (credited as "Skipjack"): A Constructicon who transforms into a red Caterpillar D9T bulldozer.
- Robin Atkin Downes as Prime #3: One of the seven Primes
Non-speaking characters[edit]
- Bumblebee: An Autobot scout and Sam's guardian who transforms into a yellow and black 2009 Chevrolet Camaro. Despite speaking in the previous film, he still communicates through radio broadcasts.
- Jolt: An Autobot technician who transforms into a blue 2009 Chevrolet Volt.
- Sideways: A Decepticon surveillance agent who transforms into a silver 2009 Audi R8; he hides out in Shanghai alongside Demolishor.
- Scorponok: A scorpion-like Decepticon who was a minion of Blackout in the previous film.
- Bonecrusher: A Decepticon soldier who transforms into a Buffalo H Mine-Protected vehicle, and was killed in the previous film.
Production[edit]
Development[edit]
Major hurdles for the film's initial production stages included the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike as well as the threat of strikes by other guilds. Prior to a potential Directors Guild of America strike, Bay began creating animatics of action sequences featuring characters rejected for the 2007 film. This would allow animators to complete sequences if the Directors Guild of America went on strike in July 2008, which ultimately did not happen.[9][10] When asked about directing a sequel while promoting the first Transformers film, Bay said "you have your baby and you don't want someone else to take it".[11]
Screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, who had written the first film, originally passed on the opportunity to write a sequel due to schedule conflicts. The studio began courting other writers in May 2007, but were unimpressed with other pitches and eventually convinced Orci and Kurtzman to return.[9] The studio also hired Ehren Kruger, who had impressed Bay and Hasbro president Brian Goldner with his knowledge of the Transformers mythology.[12] The writing trio were paid $8 million.[9] Screenwriting was interrupted by the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike, but to avoid production delays, the writers spent two weeks writing a treatment, which they handed in the night before the strike began.[13] Bay then expanded the outline into a 60-page scriptment,[14] which included more action, humor, and characters.[13][15] The three writers spent four months finishing the screenplay while "locked" in two hotel rooms by Bay; Kruger wrote in his own room and the trio would check on each other's work twice a day.[16]
Orci described the film's theme as "being away from home", with the Autobots contemplating living on Earth as they cannot restore Cybertron, while Sam goes to college.[17] He wanted the focus between the robots and humans "much more evenly balanced",[18] "the stakes [to] be higher", and more focused on the science fiction elements.[19] Orci added he wanted to "modulate" the humor more,[20] and felt he managed the more "outrageous" jokes by balancing them with a more serious plot approach to the Transformers' mythology.[21] Bay concurred that he wanted to please fans by making the tone darker,[22] and that "mums will think it[']s safe enough to bring the kids back out to the movies."[23] Two elements were added late into the film: the Autobot Jolt—as General Motors wanted to advertise the Chevrolet Volt—and the railgun that kills Devastator, a new acquisition by the United States military.[24]
In September 2007, Paramount announced a release date for the sequel to Transformers in late June 2009.[25] The film was given a $200 million budget, which was $50 million more than the first film,[26] although Variety put the budget spend at over $210 million, after rebates.[5][1][27] Some of the action scenes rejected from the first film were written into the sequel.[28] Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura later stated the studio proposed filming two sequels simultaneously, but he and Bay agreed that the idea was not the right direction for the series.[29]
Prior to the first film's release, producer Tom DeSanto had "a very cool idea" to introduce the Dinobots,[30] while Bay was interested in including a Transformer who transforms into an aircraft carrier, a concept which was dropped from the 2007 film.[31] Orci claimed they did not incorporate these characters into Revenge of the Fallen because they could not think of a way to justify the Dinobots' choice of form,[17] and were unable to fit in the aircraft carrier.[32] Orci later admitted that he was dismissive of the Dinobots because he does not like dinosaurs, saying "I recognize I am weird in that department."[33] However, he became fonder of them during filming because of their popularity with fans.[34] He added "I couldn't see why a Transformer would feel the need to disguise himself in front of a bunch of lizards. Movie-wise, I mean. Once the general audience is fully on board with the whole thing, maybe Dinobots in the future."[35] When asked on the subject, Michael Bay said he hated the Dinobots and they had never been in consideration for being featured in the movies.[36]
During production, Bay attempted to create a misinformation campaign to increase debate over what Transformers would be appearing in the film, as well as to try to throw fans off from the story of the film; however, Orci confessed it was generally unsuccessful.[32] The studio went as far as to censor MTV and Comic Book Resources interviews with Mowry and Furman, who confirmed Arcee and The Fallen would be in the picture.[37] Bay told Empire that Megatron would not be resurrected, claiming his new tank form was a toy-only character,[26] only for Orci to confirm Megatron would return in the film in February 2009.[38] Bay also claimed he faked the leaking of daily call sheets from the first week of filming, that revealed Ramón Rodríguez's casting,[39] and the appearance of Jetfire and the twins.[40]
Filming[edit]
Principal photography lasted from roughly June to November, 2008. Inspired by its use in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, three action sequences in Revenge of the Fallen were shot using IMAX cameras.[22] Although screenwriter Roberto Orci suggested that the IMAX footage would be 3D,[41] Bay later said he found 3D too "gimmicky". Bay added that shooting in IMAX was easier than using IMAX stereoscopic 3-D cameras.[42]
The majority of interior scenes for the film were shot in the former Hughes Aircraft soundstages at Playa Vista.[43] From June 2–4, the production filmed an action sequence at the Bethlehem Steel site in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, which was used to represent a portion of Shanghai.[14][44] Afterwards, they shot at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.[45]
The crew moved to Philadelphia on June 9, where they shot at a defunct PECO Richmond power station, the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University, the Eastern State Penitentiary, Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia City Hall, Rittenhouse Square, Wanamaker's, and historic Chancellor Street, which represents a street near Place de la Concorde in Paris.[46][47]
The production moved to Princeton University on June 22.[48] Filming there angered some students at the University of Pennsylvania, believing Bay had chosen to reshoot scenes at Princeton and script Princeton's name in the film. One shot that was filmed in the University of Pennsylvania was the party scene, filmed at what students call "The Castle". "The Castle" is home to the Psi Upsilon Fraternity. However, neither the University of Pennsylvania nor Princeton gave Bay permission to be named in the film because of a scene that both institutions felt "did not represent the school" in which Sam's mother ingests marijuana-laced brownies.[49]
Bay scheduled a break for filming beginning on June 30, turning his attention to animation and second unit scenes because of the potential guild strike.[50] Shooting for the Shanghai battle later continued in Long Beach, California.[51] In September, the crew shot at Holloman Air Force Base and White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The two locations were used for Qatar in Transformers and stood in for Egypt in this film.[52] A scale model in Los Angeles was also used for some close-ups of the pyramids.[26] Shooting at Tucson International Airport and the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group's aircraft boneyard took place in October under the fake working title Prime Directive (a reference to Star Trek).[53] Filming also took place at Camp Pendleton, Davis–Monthan Air Force Base,[43] Imperial Beach,