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Friday, June 19, 2009

transformers 2 revenge of the fallen

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen


Revenge of the Fallen

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Michael Bay
Produced by Steven Spielberg (executive)
Lorenzo di Bonaventura
Ian Bryce
Tom DeSanto
Don Murphy
Written by Roberto Orci
Alex Kurtzman
Ehren Kruger
Starring Shia LaBeouf
Megan Fox
Josh Duhamel
Tyrese Gibson
and John Turturro
Voices:
Peter Cullen
Hugo Weaving
Mark Ryan
Frank Welker
Jess Harnell
Charlie Adler
Robert Foxworth
John Turturro
Tony Todd
Susan Blu
Music by Steve Jablonsky
Linkin Park
Cinematography Ben Seresin
Editing by Roger Barton
Paul Rubell
Joel Negron
Thomas Muldoon
Studio Paramount Pictures
Dreamworks Pictures
Di Bonaventura Pictures
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date(s) United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland:
June 19, 2009
North America, Australia and New Zealand:
June 24, 2009
Running time 147 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $200 million
Preceded by Transformers

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is an American science fiction action film which was released on June 19, 2009 in the United Kingdom, and due for release on June 24, 2009 in North America.It is the sequel to 2007's Transformers, which was the first live action Transformers film. Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg return respectively as director and executive producer, while Shia LaBeouf reprises the role of Sam Witwicky, the human caught in the war between Autobots and Decepticons. The film introduces many more robots and the scope has been expanded to numerous countries, most notably France and Egypt.

The main hurdle in getting the film produced was overcoming the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, as well as possible strikes by the Directors Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild. Bay finished his production on time with the help of previsualization and a scriptment by his writers Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and series newcomer Ehren Kruger. Shooting took place from May to November 2008.

Plot

Two years after the events of the first film, the Autobots and the American military have joined forces to form an organization named NEST to combat the Decepticons hiding out on Earth. Optimus Prime leads NEST into Shanghai, China, to eliminate several Decepticons. He is joined by newcomers including Arcee, Sideswipe, the Twins Skids and Mudflap, and Jolt. Optimus kills Demolishor but not before the Decepticon mentions that the Fallen will "rise again". American National Security Advisor Galloway berates the Autobots and NEST, suggesting that the Autobots leave. While Optimus does agree to this if the President of the United States of America commands this, he questions what will happen if the planet is left defenceless. Soundwave, a Decepticon intelligence officer, hacks into a satellite and discovers the location of Megatron's corpse and the location of a piece of the Allspark, the source of the Transformers' existence. Soundwave deploys his minion Ravage to retrieve the shard, which he succeeds in accomplishing. The Constructicons and a surgeon-robot named Scalpel revive Megatron. Megatron flies to a Decepticon spacecraft where he is reunited with air commander Starscream and the Fallen, Megatron's master. The Fallen intends to destroy the Sun and Earth in the process.

Sam Witwicky heads off to college in an attempt to live a normal life. Whilst packing, he finds another shard of the Allspark which fills his mind with ancient Cybertronian text. The Allspark fragment also brings kitchen equipment to life, although they are destroyed by Sam's guardian Bumblebee. Sam entrusts the shard to his girlfriend Mikaela, who hides it in her father's safe at a motorcycle garage. Decepticon Wheelie tries to steal it but he is captured by Mikaela. At college, Sam meets his roommate Leo Spitz who runs an alien conspiracy website, and a girl named Alice who makes disturbing advances on Sam. Sam begins to constantly see Cybertronian text, writing it on everything, and has a mental breakdown in his astronomy class. Mikaela comes to Sam's aide, just as he is nearly killed by Alice, revealed to be a Decepticon Pretender. She is killed by Mikaela, but Sam, Mikaela and Leo are confronted by Megatron, Starscream, Scalpel and Grindor. As Scalpel prepares to remove Sam's brain to get information on the location of a new Energon signal, Optimus and the other Autobots arrive. Optimus takes on all of the Decepticons but is ultimately killed by Megatron. The Decepticons invade the planet, the Fallen requesting that Sam be surrendered to save the planet. Galloway shuts down NEST.

Sam, Mikaela, Leo, Bumblebee, Wheelie and the Twins escape being captured and Leo decides that his website rival "RoboWarrior" can help, revealed to be Seymour Simmons, a former agent of Sector Seven. Simmons reveals his hidden archive of alien research and reveals that the Cybertronian language is all around the world. It is explained by Wheelie that the language is of the Primes, the original Transformers, who powered the Allspark like a battery by destroying suns. Wheelie leads to the group to Jetfire, an elderly grumpy old Decepticon called a Seeker who joins the Autobots, along with Wheelie. Upon learning the situation, Jetfire uses a Space Bridge to teleport the group to Egypt. He explains that the Primes used the suns to power the Allspark by using machines called Sun Harvesters, which were powered by the Matrix of Leadership. The Primes discovered Earth and refused to destroy the sun, causing the Fallen to betray the group and start a war for the Allspark. The other Primes defeated the Fallen and then killed themselves to seal away the Matrix, the tomb somewhere in the desert.

Through clues, the Matrix is found in Petra but it falls to dust in Sam's hands. Sam believes that the Matrix can revive Optimus, so he piles the dust into his sock. Simmons contacts Major William Lennox and his troops and asks them to bring the Autobots and Optimus' corpse to Egypt so Optimus can be revived, being Primes the only ones capable of killing the Fallen. The military arrive but so do the Decepticons. Leo, Simmons and the Twins face off against Devastator, the combined form of the Constructicons, who climbs up a pyramid to unearth the Sun Harvester. Devestator is destroyed by a rail gun round fired from a nearby destroyer on Simmons orders. Bumblebee saves Sam's parents who were previously captured by Rampage, the latter being killed along with Ravage by Bumblebee. Aerial reinforcements are summoned, killing most of the Decepticons but Sam is caught in the attack and is severely injured, in his unconcious state, he has a dream in which the Primes explain it was always his destiny to revive Optimus, which after reawakaning and confessing his love for Mikaela, he does. Jetfire is mortally wounded by Scorponok (who in turn is killed by Jetfire) and he gives up his life to combine with Optimus, giving him the strength to destroy the Sun Harvester and kill the Fallen. Megatron and Starscream make a tactical retreat. Optimus ends the film by proclaiming that the Transformers and humans now share an untold history and will combine their differences.

Production

Development

In September 2007, Paramount announced a late June 2009 release date for the sequel to Transformers, and Bay began creating animatics of action sequences featuring characters rejected for the first film. This would allow animators to complete sequences if the Directors Guild of America went on strike in July 2008 (which did not happen as the DGA signed a new deal).[4][5] The director considered making a small project in between Transformers and its sequel, but knew "you have your baby and you don't want someone else to take it". The film was given a $200 million budget, which was $50 million more than the first film, and some of the action scenes rejected for the original were written into the sequel, such as the way Optimus is reintroduced in this film.[8] Lorenzo di Bonaventura said the studio proposed filming two sequels simultaneously, but he and Bay concurred that was not the right direction for the series]

Writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman originally passed on the sequel because of a busy schedule. The studio began courting other writers in May 2007, but as they were unimpressed with their pitches, they convinced Orci and Kurtzman to return. The studio also signed on Ehren Kruger, as he impressed Bay and Hasbro president Brian Goldner with his knowledge of the Transformers mythology,and because he was friends with Orci and Kurtzman.The writing trio were paid $8 million. Screenwriting was interrupted by the 2007–2008 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, and Bay expanded the outline into a sixty-page scriptment, fleshing out the action, adding more jokes, as well as selecting the majority of new characters. 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 others' work twice a day.

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.He wanted the focus between the robots and humans "much more evenly balanced", "the stakes [to] be higher", and more focused on the science fiction elements. Lorenzo di Bonaventura said that in total, there are around forty robots in the film, while ILM's Scott Farrar has said there are actually sixty.Orci added he wanted to "modulate" the humor more, and felt he managed the more "outrageous" jokes by balancing it with a more serious plot approach to the Transformers' mythology. Bay concurred that he wanted to please fans by making the tone darker, and that "moms will think its safe enough to bring the kids back out to the movies" despite his trademark sense of humor. Kurtzman created the film's title.The filmmakers considered incorporating the comics' character of G. B. Blackrock, but Bay considered the name too cartoonish.

Filming

Filming began in Los Angeles, California, in May 2008.[23] The former Hughes Aircraft soundstages at Playa Vista served for filming the majority of interior scenes.[24] From June 2,[12] three days were spent on an action sequence at the Bethlehem Steel site in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, which was used to represent a portion of Shanghai.[25] Afterwards, they shot at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.[26] The crew moved to Philadelphia on June 9, where they shot at the Exelon power plant on Delaware Avenue, the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University, the Eastern State Penitentiary, Fairmount Park, Philadelphia City Hall, Rittenhouse Square, and historic Chancellor Street (which represents a street near Place de la Concorde in Paris), and Wanamaker's.[27][28][29][30] They moved to Princeton University on June 22.[31] 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 movie. However, neither the University of Pennsylvania nor Princeton gave Bay permission to be named in the film because of a "funny 'mom' scene" that both felt "did not represent the school".[32]

Three days of filming were spent in Egypt.

Bay scheduled a break for filming beginning on June 30, turning his attention to animation and second unit scenes because of the potential 2008 Screen Actors Guild strike.[33] Shooting for the Shanghai battle later continued in Long Beach, California.[34] The crew shot at Holloman Air Force Base and White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico during September. The two locations were used for Qatar in the first film, and stood in for Egypt in this film.[35] A scale model in Los Angeles was also used for some close-ups of the pyramids.[7] 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).[36] This location was delayed from July.[37] Filming also took place at Camp Pendleton and Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.[24]

The first unit (including Shia LaBeouf) then shot for three days in Egypt itself, at the Giza pyramid complex and Luxor. For security's sake, the shoot was highly secretive, but according to Lorenzo di Bonaventura, a crew of 150 Americans and "several dozen local Egyptians" ensured a "remarkably smooth" shoot.[38] Bay earned the Egyptian government's approval to film at the pyramids by contacting Zahi Hawass, who Bay recalled "put his arm around me and said, 'Don't hurt my pyramids.'"[24] A fifty foot tall camera crane was used at the location.[7] Four days were then spent in Jordan; the Royal Jordanian Air Force aided in filming at Petra, Wadi Rum and Salt because one of the country's princes liked the first film.[39][40] Filming continued at the Place de la Concorde in Paris, with second unit shots of the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe.[41] The cast and crew finished on the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis on November 2, 2008.[42]

Bay stated he found the climax of the first film to be weak, partly because it was shot across five different city blocks, making the action confusing and hard to follow. On this film, the final battle in Egypt was devised to make it easier to see what was going on.[43]

[edit] Effects

Starscream confronts Sam. On his audio commentary for the first film, Michael Bay said he wanted more close-ups of robots for the sequel.

Hasbro became more involved in the designs of the robots than in the first film,[18] and they and Takara suggested to the filmmakers that combining robots be the main draw for the sequel.[44] They insisted on keeping, the alternate modes of some of the returning characters similar, so people would not have to buy toys of the same characters.[45] Bay utilized real F-16 Fighting Falcon and tank fire when filming the battles.[9] Many of the new Autobot cars supplied by General Motors were brightly colored to look distinctive on screen.[46] The filmmakers made the new cars themselves because GM lacked the resources.[24]

Scott Farrar returned as visual effects supervisor and anticipated moodier use of lighting as well as deeper roles for the Decepticons. He stated that with the bigger deadline, post-production will be a "circus".[47] The producers expected that with a bigger budget and the special effects worked out, the Transformers would have a larger role. Peter Cullen recalled, "Don Murphy mentioned to me, 'Only because of the tremendous expense to animate Optimus Prime, he'll be in just a certain amount of [the first film].' But he said, 'Next time, if the movie is a success, you're gonna be in it a ton.'"[48] Michael Bay hoped to include more close-ups of the robots' faces.[49] Farrar said the animators implemented more "splashes and the hits and the fighting on dirt or moving, banging into trees, [...] things splinter and break, they [the robots] spit, they outgas, they sweat, they snort." Because of the sequences shot in the higher resolution of IMAX, it took several days to render a frame of animation.[17] While ILM used 15 terabytes for the first film, on the sequel they used up 140.[40]

Orci hinted the majority of the Decepticons were entirely computer-generated in both robot and alternate modes, which would make it easier to write additional scenes for them in post-production.[50]

[edit] Music

See also: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - The Album and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - The Score

The score to Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was composed by Steve Jablonsky, who reunited with director Michael Bay to recorded his score with a 71-piece ensemble of the Hollywood Studio Symphony at the Sony Scoring Stage.[51]

Jablonsky and his score producer Hans Zimmer will be utilizing a song by Linkin Park – whose song "What I've Done" was used in the first film – called "New Divide", composing various interpretations of it for the score.[52][53]

[edit] Cast and characters

[edit] Humans

  • Shia LaBeouf plays Sam Witwicky, the teenager who killed Megatron. In this movie, Sam is trying to get some personal development, and have a normal kid's life, getting over his world-saviour status, and out of the overprotection from his parents and Bumblebee. He attends an East Coast college to learn astronomy.[54] During his time there, Sam starts having mental flashes about Cybertronian symbols that turn out to be the key to finding a source of Energon on Earth, so now the Decepticons are after him to get that information.[55] On July 27, 2008, LaBeouf was involved in a car crash, with fellow actress Isabel Lucas, and had to undergo hand surgery. The character getting burned in the story was an unrelated decision.[56] LaBeouf said production was only delayed by two days after his accident because Bay made up for it by filming second unit scenes, and he recovered from the accident a few weeks earlier than expected, allowing him to return to the set.[57] Bay had suggested the hand injury would be written into the story,[58] and Orci said on-set rewrites were done to protect his hand for the remainder of the shoot.[59] Towards the end of filming though, LaBeouf injured his eye when he hit a prop, which required seven stitches. He resumed filming two hours later.[60]
  • Megan Fox plays Mikaela Banes, Sam's girlfriend, who cannot afford to attend college with him,[54] and gets a job at a motorcycle repair shop. Fox cannot ride bikes in reality and had to have someone push her vehicle around as she rode on them.[43] Fox had lost a lot of weight for her role in Jennifer's Body, and had to gain ten pounds within three weeks. She explained "Michael doesn't like skinny girls."[61]
  • Josh Duhamel plays Major William Lennox, a U.S. Army Ranger and ally of the Autobots.[23] Since the first film Lennox has become part of NEST, an international taskforce battling Decepticons with the Autobots.[62]
  • Tyrese Gibson plays Robert Epps, a U.S. Air Force Combat Controller and a member of NEST.[23] He has been promoted to the rank of Chief Master Sergeant.[35]
  • John Turturro plays Seymour Simmons, former agent of the terminated Sector 7 unit, which monitored Transformer activity on Earth.[23] He is now off-duty, working in his mother's deli restaurant when Sam enlists his aid. He joins Sam's group and is responsible for the destruction of Devestator.[43] Turturro was allowed to climb the real pyramids during filming.[7]
  • Kevin Dunn and Julie White play Ron and Judy Witwicky, Sam's parents. They learned the truth about the Transformers while off-screen in the last film.[63] The Witwickies go on vacation to Paris and get caught up in the war by themselves.[43]
  • Ramon Rodriguez plays Leo Spitz, Sam's college roommate who owns a website on conspiracy theories. He accompanies Sam and Mikaela all the way to Egypt. Rodriguez endured 100 mph winds created by fans while filming in Egypt, which resulted in him dislocating his shoulder and having to spend 45 minutes having his eyes flushed of sand.[64]
  • Matthew Marsden plays Graham, an agent of the fictional SASF, and a member of the United Kingdom Special Forces who joins NEST. Marsden grew up reading the comics and loved the first film. Bay was impressed with his audition and decided to increase the character's screentime.[62]
  • Rainn Wilson cameos as Professor Colan, Sam's sleazy college lecturer.[65][66] Bay based the character on one of his professors at Wesleyan University, who was rumored to be chatting up his female students.[67]

Glenn Morshower, having cameoed in the first film's opening action sequence as a soldier killed by Blackout, now returns playing a character named Gen. Morshower after himself.[68] John Benjamin Hickey plays a character named Galloway, a national security advisor, who believes all robots must be banished from the earth, including Autobots.[69] Steve Tom and Kym Whitley have unnamed roles.[70] Bay wanted Amaury Nolasco to return as soldier Jorge Figueroa, who was wounded by Scorponok in the first film, but Nolasco was not able to participate due to schedule conflicts, though this does not rule out a return in any upcoming sequels.[71]

[edit] Autobots

  • Peter Cullen voices Optimus Prime, the Autobot leader. He retains his alternate mode of a blue Peterbilt truck with red flame decals. Cullen recorded a voiceover for the opening scene in August 2008, but began the majority of voice work in November.[72][73] A live action cameo has been written for Cullen.[74]
  • John Turturro voices Jetfire, a former Decepticon who transforms into a SR-71 Blackbird. His wounds and age have made him choose to become an Autobot.[75] He can combine with Optimus,[76] as they did in the Transformers: Armada series, which provides Optimus with the ability to fly. The writers wanted a geriatric robot, and during scripting they gave Jetfire that personality.[77] He creaks, does not transform well, and is said to be running out of Energon.[43] Also, he walks with a cane, which doubles as a battle axe.[78] In the movie, he is found in the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center by Agent Simmons and Sam, who break into the museum at night and reactivate him by using the AllSpark shard. He is mortally wounded by Skorponok whom he kills and he sacrifices himself to help Optimus.[79].[80]
  • Mark Ryan voices Bumblebee, the Autobot who befriended Sam and disguises himself as his fifth-generation Chevrolet Camaro. Ryan also continued his role as stand-in for the robots on set.[81] Bumblebee's voice is still malfunctioning, and he still uses radio soundbites to express some of his emotions. Sam cannot take him to college as they do not allow freshmen to have cars on campus, and he'll also be forced to leave the Witwickys' garage due to an incident that resulted in Bumblebee wrecking their house.[43][82] The filmmakers used the Super Sport version of the 2010 Camaro rather than the concept version.[83] Ed Welburn, vice president of GM Global Design, said the redesigned car emphasized Bumblebee as becoming stronger after having his severed legs reattached in the first film: the new intakes and spoilers show he is a sturdier character.[46]
  • Susan Blu voices Arcee, a single consciousness driving three female Transformers that transform into motorcycles. Although this ability was dropped from the movie, the robots that make up Arcee were once meant to be able to combine into a single robot. This ability can still be seen in the movie's novelization and toy line.[85] Arcee, who initially transformed from a single bike, was dropped from the first film due to concerns of her being too small compared to the other bots,[86] and the fact that the writers felt there was not enough time to explain her "gender", despite her and several other female Transformers appearing in the first film's toy line and tie-in comics.[87] Whether to explain robotic gender or not was something the writers were unsure about, and it remained undecided until post-production.[13] The motorcycle vehicle modes for Arcee were provided by custom sportsbike builder retroSBK.[88] Although they aren't individually named in the movie, for the toy line each motorcycle was given a separate name.
    • A pink motorcycle, named Arcee in the toy line.[89]
    • A blue motorcycle, named Chromia in the toy line. In the 1980s cartoon, Chromia was Ironhide's girlfriend, something reflected by the film version's toy biography, which states Chromia was "friends with Ironhide for centuries, and their reunion on Earth was one of the high points of the war for both of them. Now they work side by side, hunting and destroying Decepticons. Neither of them has ever been happier."[90]
    • A purple MV Agusta F4 motorcycle.[89][91]
  • Tom Kenny voices Mudflap and Skids also known as The Twins, these Autobot infiltrators transform respectively into a red Chevrolet Trax and green Chevrolet Beat.[83] Mudflap is very hyperactive, while Skids believes himself to be the smarter of the two and tries to come across as mature, but nevertheless appears unable to keep quiet.[92] Bay compared the message of the bumbling but heroic characters to the story The Little Engine That Could.[87] He chose the Beat and Trax for the Autobot twins because he thought those two small cars looked good together.[93] Ed Welburn added when they had designed the cars before Bay selected them, the "character" they wanted to bring to the concepts was a sense that small cars could be as cool as large ones.[46] The Twins have the ability to combine. They start the film by combining into a pink and white ice cream van[94], and although it was probably dropped at some point during production, it was initially said that they would have the ability combine to form a bigger robot. They become members of Sam's group while they are on the run and battle Devestator at the end before he is destroyed.[95]
  • Jason Griffith voices Sideswipe, a silver Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Concept.[83] He is an expert fighter with his swords and tries to get in close with his opponents. According to the writers in panel at Botcon Sideswipe was originally scripted to be a Lamborghini like his Generation 1 counterpart, but Bay had his choice of cars and went with the Stingray. [96]
  • Jolt, a blue Chevrolet Volt. Being an electric car, Jolt's weapons are a pair of electric whips.[97] He was a last-minute addition to the cast as General Motors, the film's car supplier, wanted to promote the Volt.[98] The writers had already wanted to include the car in the script before the Writers Guild strike, so they had to work out a character that would fit well within the Autobot team afterwards and convince Bay to approve the addition.[99] Welburn was pleased the Volt's character was christened Jolt by the filmmakers, as it reflected that car's design "character".[46]
  • Tom Kenny voices Wheelie, a blue radio-controlled toy monster truck. Wheelie initially serves the Decepticons, but because he is frightened of them he joins the Autobots.[100] He is called "Wheels" in the film novel.

[edit] Decepticons

  • Hugo Weaving voices Megatron, the Decepticon leader.[101] Killed and thrown into the Laurentian Abyss in the first film. He is resurrected by the Constructicons with dead robots' parts as a Cybertronian tank (although some sources claim he is now a Triple Changer, retaining his jet mode and adding the tank mode).[102] He has become stronger as a result of absorbing the Allspark fragments that originally killed him.[103] When reviving the character, the writers chose not to rename him Galvatron so as to not confuse the general audience.[104]
  • Tony Todd voices The Fallen, one of the original thirteen Transformers and the one who corrupted Megatron into forming the Decepticons. He is trapped in another dimension and was able to communicate with the Decepticons via an interdimensional window. He is capable of opening Space Bridges at will.[102] It was the Fallen's face, distorted by this window, that inspired the image the Decepticons would use as their insignia.[105] Lorenzo di Bonaventura compared the Fallen to Judas Iscariot.[106] He transforms into a Cybertronian aircraft.[107] The writers selected the Fallen after looking through various cartoons and comics for new characters, because he was the most "elemental" villain.[13] Orci and Kurtzman approached Leonard Nimoy, who they had collaborated with on the Star Trek movie, about voicing the part. Nimoy voiced Galvatron in 1986's The Transformers: The Movie and is also married to Bay's aunt Susan. Orci said Welker might take on the role due to "fan outcry".[104] Bay was apprehensive about approaching Nimoy as "I just feel kind of bad about asking him. Like 'I can't pay you that much, but would you do this voice?'"[108] During a press conference for Star Trek, Nimoy answered that the director should "Call me!" He also said he had heard that Bay was afraid to get a hold of him "for some reason", but he would gladly be a part of Transformers again.[109] Todd noted on his official website that he would be voicing a character in the movie, although the character's identity remained unknown until the film's premiere in Japan.[110] He is killed by Optimus Prime in the final climatic battle.
  • Charlie Adler voices Starscream,[84] the air commander who transforms into an F-22 Raptor. He flew into space at the end of the previous film, and now returns bearing Cybertronian symbols on his body and commanding a new Decepticon army.[111] Orci confirmed he will have more dialogue.[18] Chris Mowry, writer of the comic book prequels, stated Starscream differs from his 1980s incarnation because "His motivations are more for the species. He's definitely at odds with what Prime and Megatron have been doing. He thinks that they've both been consumed with greed, for their own selfish reasons, but as he finds out, his plans start to fall through as he’s kind of becoming overwhelmed with the same greed that they had."[112] However, Orci explained that during post-production, dialogue additions edged Starscream closer towards his 1980s counterpart.[50]
  • Frank Welker voices Soundwave, Megatron's intelligence officer.[113] He transforms into a Cybertronian craft with jet and satellite capabilities, coordinating the Decepticons' movements around the world.[111] The concept artists also designed an Earth form of a Chevrolet Silverado for him to upgrade into, which Orci stated was dropped.[114] In the 1980s toyline, Soundwave's alternate mode was a micro-cassette player. The filmmakers had tried to work him into the first film twice, and these roles eventually evolved into Blackout and Frenzy. The latter character was particularly thought to be too different from the original.[115][116] Welker voiced Soundwave, as well as Megatron, in the original cartoon.
    • Ravage, a minion of Soundwave that resembles a large one-eyed jaguar that transforms into a missile.[87] Killed by Bumblebee in the final battle.
  • Demolishor,[111] a red Terex O&K RH 400 hydraulic mining excavator;[117] He seems to be almost identical to Scavenger in both robot and alt modes, having only coloring differences. Demolishor is the protector of a small Decepticon community in Shanghai.[118] He is the one seen running through the overpass in the trailers.[119] During production, the film writers simply called him "Wheelbot"[13], and he is referred to as "Demolisher" in the film novel. He is killed by Optimus and Ironhide in the begining.
  • Sideways, a silver Audi R8 hiding with Demolishor in Shanghai, China until he is discovered by the Autobots.[89].
  • Ejector, a small pyromaniac robot who turns into a toaster, brought to life by an Allspark fragment in Sam's kitchen.[120] Ejector appeared, unnamed, in Mountain Dew commercials for the 2007 Transformers film. Destroyed by Bumblebee.
  • Scalpel, a small, spider-like robot who turns into a microscope. He is a medic and scientist equipped with tools he is seen using to torture Sam. The other Decepticons call him "the Doctor". The packaging of his Scout-Class figure details he is skilled in dissecting and rebuilding almost any living organism. Destroyed by Optimus.[87][121]
  • Grindor, an MH-53 Pave Low helicopter, and Scorponok, his scorpion-like minion. After the events of the 2007 film Scorponok hid in the desert, repaired his tail and, with Blackout dead, he is now teaming up with a new character who is virtually a clone of his previous partner, only differentiated by his lighter paint job and slightly different head model. Killed by Optimus.[89]
  • Frank Welker also voices Devastator, a 46 feet (14 m) tall (hunched over) massive robot formed by several combining construction vehicles known as the Constructicons, who walks in a four-legged fashion resembling a gorilla.[106] He is physically unable to stand upright, but would be 100 feet (30 m) to 120 feet (37 m) tall if he did.[102] His jaws can open up to form some sort of suction vortex, and he seems to have grappling hooks he is seen using to climb a pyramid.[43] In the first film, the name "Devastator" was mistakenly given to Brawl, a tank. In the theatrical trailer for the movie, Long Haul, Mixmaster, and two unidentified Constructicons are seen heading down to the bottom of the ocean in hunt of Megatron's corpse, ultimately reactivating their fallen leader. Devestator is destroyed by a rail gun round fired at him from a destroyer on former Agent Simmons orders.

There will be other minor robots, including Insecticons,[89] some robots who can transform into weapons and some cooking appliances brought to life by the AllSpark shard.[130][131] Tarah Paige was said to play a key role also.[132]

[edit] Release and marketing

Megan Fox at the premiere in Berlin, Germany

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was premiered on June 8, 2009, in Tokyo, Japan.[133] After its UK release on June 19, 2009, it will be released in regular and IMAX theaters in North America on June 24.[134] Three of the action sequences were shot with IMAX cameras[20], and the IMAX release will get additional scenes not seen in the regular theater version, supposedly featuring robot fighting sequences.[135] Orci mentioned in an August 2008 posting that the IMAX footage would be 3D,[136] although when IMAX officially announced the use of their technology on the project, no mention was made of 3D.[137] Bay later revealed that he found 3D gimmicky, adding he was an "old school" filmmaker. He added that IMAX was easier to use than stereoscopic cameras.[138]

Hasbro's Revenge of the Fallen toy line will include new molds of new and returning characters, as well as 2007 figures with new mold elements or new paint schemes.[111] The first wave was released on May 30, although Bumblebee and Soundwave debuted beforehand.[106] The second wave is due in August 2009, which introduces toys such as 2 1/4-inch human action figures that fit inside the transforming robots, and non-transforming replicas of the cars which can be used on a race track. The combining Devastator toy will not come out until August.[139] Product placement partners on the film include Burger King, LG phones, Kmart, Wal-Mart, YouTube, Nike, Inc. and M&M's. General Motors' financial troubles will limit its involvement in promotion of the sequel, although Paramount acknowledged with or without GM, their marketing campaign was still very large and had the foundation of the first film's success.[140][141][142] Kyle Busch will drive a Revenge of the Fallen/M&M's decoed car at Infineon Raceway on June 21, 2009,[143] while Josh Duhamel will drive a 2010 Camaro at the Indianapolis 500.[144]

Chris Mowry and artist Alex Milne, who collaborated on The Reign of Starscream comic book, will reunite for IDW Publishing's prequel to the film. Originally set to be a five part series entitled Destiny,[112] it was split into two simultaneously published series, Alliance and Defiance. Alliance is drawn by Milne and began in December 2008: it focuses on the human and Autobot perspectives.[94] Defiance, which started the following month, is drawn by Dan Khanna and is set before either film, showing the beginnings of the war.[105] Simon Furman is writing the comic book adaptation of the film,[145] while Alan Dean Foster is writing the novelization.[146] Foster is also writing Transformers: The Veiled Threat, bridging both films,[147] which was originally entitled Infiltration. Foster collaborated with IDW to make sure his novels did not contradict their stories.[148]

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 had generally not been working.[149] 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.[150] Bay told Empire that Megatron would not be resurrected, claiming his new tank form was a toy-only character,[7] only for Orci to confirm Megatron would return in the film in February 2009.[151] Bay also claimed he faked leaked daily call sheets from the first week of filming,[152] that revealed Ramon Rodriguez's casting, and the appearance of Jetfire and the Twins.[79]

[edit] Video game

Main article: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (video game)

Luxoflux is developing a video game based on the film, which Activision will publish.[153]

The video game will be released in five versions:

  • PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 version (Developed by Luxoflux)[154]
  • Games for Windows Version (Developed by Beenox), which is similar to the PS3 and X360 version
  • Wii and PlayStation2 version (Developed by Krome Studios)
  • PlayStation Portable Version (Developed by Savage Entertainment)
  • DS Version (Developed by Vicarious Visions), which is separated into two games, namely Autobots and Decepticons

[edit] Reception

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has received mixed reviews. Nick De Semylen of Empire magazine gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, calling it "a super-sized second helping, but the novelty factor and some of the charm’s gone. Hey, at least there’s more Megatron / Starscream squabbling this time round."[155] Ray Bennett of the Hollywood Reporter commented on his review that "fan boys will no doubt love it, but for the uninitiated it's loud, tedious and, at 147 minutes, way too long."[156] It is currently ranked at 40% on Rotten Tomatoes.[157]

[edit] Sequel

As a preemptive measure, Paramount announced a July 1, 2011, release date for a third Transformers film before completion of Revenge of the Fallen. Bay responded, "I said I was taking off a year from Transformers. Paramount made a mistake in dating Transformers 3 - they asked me on the phone - I said yes to July 4 - but for 2012 - whoops! Not 2011! That would mean I would have to start prep in September. No way. My brain needs a break from fighting robots."[158] Like Revenge of the Fallen, Orci refused to guarantee whether he and Kurtzman would return to a sequel, because "we risk getting stale".[159] Orci has mentioned he would like to introduce Unicron "for scale's sake".[98] The co-writer also said introducing Triple Changers would be interesting.[160]

Before Transformers was released, producer Tom DeSanto had "a very cool idea" to introduce the Dinobots,[161] while Bay was interested in an aircraft carrier, which was dropped from the first film.[162] 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,[15] and were unable to fit in the aircraft carrier.[149] Orci also admitted he was also dismissive of the Dinobots because he does not like dinosaurs ("I recognize I am weird in that department," he said),[163] but he became fonder of them during filming because of their popularity with fans.[164] 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."[165] On 6/18/2009 it was thought Michael Bay has said the he will not be doing a third movie. A day later, it was shown that is was a false claim, saying that he was really going to take a vacation, not giving up on the third movie quoting "Hah, love press how they spin. Never said it - just wanted a vacation is more to the point. And no I don't read the good or the bad reviews." [166]

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