A Few Words About A few words about...™ Transformers -- in HD (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

Michael Bay's Transformers is a film about toys -- really big toys -- that I would have known little or nothing about if I had not had a young cousin who meticulously collected and researched them as a child.

His collection continues now as an adult.

And this is a good thing, because it served as my introduction to the toy phenomenon.

Creating a motion picture based upon the idea of a toy or a game is seemingly a far greater gamble than upon a comic book.

This one not only works, but is a superior entertainment.

The HD DVD from Paramount is also a superior product, packed with extra material and sporting a beautifully rendered transition to HD DVD disc, the film is both sonically and visually of well... Paramount quality.

For those seeking quality entertainment of the sci-fi adventure kind, delivered in HD on a superb quality DVD, Transformers will fit the bill.

This is a great release, that comes Extremely Highly Recommended.

RAH

 

[Tim Glover]

Agree with you Mr. Harris. Transformers is alot of fun and is certainly reference material. Great job Paramount.

 

[David Wilkins]

I agree. It's an armchair amusement park ride, in glorious hi-def. My tastes don't often stray into such territory, but sometimes you just need to pay the man and go for the ride.

 

[Tim Glover]

Well said David! Well said.

 

[TonyD]

if buy.com ever ships my $17.99 copy i'll finally get to watch this at home.

 

[Manus]

A Michael Bay film will never be mistaken for a Stanley Kubrick one In these war-ridden times its good to grab the popcoen and disappear for a while .

~M~

 

[Chuck Mayer]

It also won't be mistaken for a Jim Cameron one either. The point is: even as a ride, it's incomplete compared to what it could provide. As is almost every Bay film besides The Rock.

 

[Brent M]

This film worked well enough for me and the HD-DVD is absolutely top shelf reference quality. A very big

 

[Walter Kittel]

I viewed the film for a second time on HD-DVD Friday evening (first viewing was theatrical.) I can only offer complete agreement with Mr. Harris regarding the presentation quality of this title. The video presentation was fabulous and is reference quality.

( I don't entirely disagree with Chuck, but the film was fun enough on its own terms despite some flaws. Bay's sensibilities as a film maker are better suited for material like this, where you can't take the enterprise too seriously, IMHO.)

- Walter.

 

[Yumbo]

Really entertaining...except for the sound a few people are having problems with.

 

[ppltd]

No problems with the sound here. I thought my recessed lights were going to pop in a few scenes. What amazing bass.

 

[Douglas Monce]

I think its at least as good as The Rock which is the only other Michael Bay film I can watch.

Shia LaBeouf has excellent comic timing and that really helps in the parts of the film where it could have just been WAY silly. And of course the moment I saw John Turturro's eyes in the mail slot I thought to myself, "this is the best big dumb popcorn movie I've seen in a very long time".

Doug

 

[Romier S]

He made the movie for me, really. Not to get too deep into commentary on the film itself in this thread but the only thing I dislike about Transformers is Bay's need to inject a metric ton of military mumbo jumbo into what is otherwise a very simple story about a boy and his car (oh and those big ROCKING robots in the film). On that level the film works wonderfully for me and Shia just brings a ton of heart to the movie. That having been said I can't disagree on the film being a whole lot of fun regardless.

The HD DVD is pure demo material from an audio/video standpoint though (and the lack of lossless is seriously being made far more than what it is IMO). The DD+ soundtrack about caved my roof in. Also, something that hasn't been mentioned much is the second disc worth of documentaries which are all pretty involved and quite entertaining to watch (I wanted more Peter Cullen though!). I'm really not an extras guy and interactivity means almost nothing to me with either of these formats but a good documentary and some quality commentaries are like kryptonite.

 

[Robert Crawford]

There seems to be a difference in opinion regarding the sound quality of this disc, I wonder why? I'm going to play it again this week and will concentrate on the audio to determine if the audio is lacking in anyway. I didn't notice any lack of audio quality during my first viewing of this disc.




Crawdaddy

 

[Jim_K]

What are the issues with the audio? and which of the 5 or 6 Transformers threads is this discussion located?

The only odd thing I noticed was that the DD+ track seemed to be mixed and set lower than normal. I had to crank it up to about 7 dbs above my normal sound level to get it to where it should be. Once I did the audio sounded fine to me or at least I didn't notice any flaws.

 

[Robert Crawford]

There are only three active threads talking about Transformers HD DVD presentation not 5 or 6.

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...35#post3254735

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...78#post3254678

 

[Jim_K]

Hmm. Sure seemed like there was more than that. Doing a quick check I guess I was also counting the "Transformers film prop" and the "I just bought Transformers at CC" threads.

I guess I'll just have to sift through those other two threads to find my answer. It must be in the one without all the promo pics and dancing bananas.

 

[Paul Arnette]

Well, I might as well chime in here regarding the audio. It seems that this track is mixed lower than your "average" track, as I cranked my receiver to 0 during my viewing with my son. If my five-year-old doesn't think its too loud on 0, then it is a pretty safe bet the soundtrack is mixed too softly.

With respect to the bass, I'm not sure what to think. I remember being unwhelmed by the bass, especially in the Qatar or Blackout scene with the shockwave. However, I have had more than one experience with underwhelming HD DVD DD+ and TrueHD tracks. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas for example seemed to be mixed too low too. Now I admit, it could be an equipment problem, but I'm unsure at this point whether it is my receiver or my HD DVD player. All I know is that regular DD, DTS, and uncompressed PCM seem much louder through my receiver. There is some suspicion as to whether there is a problem with the DD+ to PCM conversion going on in the player (in this case an HD-XA2), but, again, my receiver could be at fault. To make matters worse, LFE and what consititutes the "proper" amount is very subjective. However, when I hear multiple reports that people are getting more bass with the SD DVD that tells me whatever my problem is, others are having it too.

 

[Richard Kim]

I find the Transformers HD DVD audio to be similar to the Revenge of the Sith DVD. The audio is underwhelming if you set the volume at the normal setting, but turn it up 3-4 dBs and it sounds awesome.

 

[Phil Iturralde]

@ approx. -10 dBc below REF LEVEL (w/approx. 106+ dBc Fast LFE SPL Peaks), my setup had no problems lighting up my HT/family room with sub-sonic floor, air, couch, wall, chair & pant-leg moving LFE impacts when called for!!!

Phil