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"TRANSFORMERS" (2007) (Shia LaBeouf, Josh Duhamel) (PG-13) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Moderate Mild Extreme *Moderate Extreme Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Moderate None Extreme Mild Heavy Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Heavy None Mild Moderate Extreme QUICK TAKE: Action/Adventure: Various people must deal with shape-shifting, extraterrestrial robots that have arrived on Earth to battle over a powerful device that could mean the end of humankind. PLOT: Sam Witwicky (SHIA LaBEOUF) is a typical 11th grader who lives with his parents, Ron (KEVIN DUNN) and Judy (JULIE WHITE), and tries to impress his beautiful classmate, Mikaela Banes (MEGAN FOX), with tales of his grandfather's arctic explorations. Unfortunately for Sam, her boyfriend and other classmates simply make fun of him and his overeager goofiness. He hopes things will change when his dad buys him his first set of wheels, but there's something peculiar about the old sports car that seems to choose him as its new owner. Halfway around the world, Capt. Lennox (JOSH DUHAMEL) and Sgt. Epps (TYRESE GIBSON) are serving in Qatar with the U.S. military when they encounter an unauthorized helicopter that invades their base. It then transforms itself into a huge, robotic being that proceeds to lay waste to the men and their more primitive machinery. News of that immediately reaches Secretary of Defense John Keller (JON VOIGHT) who orders all computer experts around the world to be assembled to try to decipher an odd signal they've received, with the likes of Maggie Madsen (RACHAEL TAYLOR) and her friend Glen Whitmann (ANTHONY ANDERSON) soon on the case. Little do they know that two groups of extraterrestrial robots have arrived on Earth. One, the Autobots, are led by Optimus Prime (voice of PETER CULLEN), and are trying to find a powerful cube known as the Allspark, and hope to do so before their enemies, the Decepticons, retrieve and use it to turn ordinary Earth-based electronics into robots that will rid the planet of Earthlings. Of course, not all humans are ignorant about what's occurring, including Agent Simmons (JOHN TURTURRO) of the U.S. Government's top secret Sector Seven division that's had the Decepticons' leader, Megatron (voice of HUGO WEAVING), in cryo-stasis for decades. When Simmons learns that Sam has seen one of these beings -- Bumblebee (voice of MARK RYAN) -- transform from his sports car into a gargantuan robot, he's obviously interested in the teen, as are both groups of so-called Transformers, as they know he possesses something that could help them find the Allspark. From that point on, and as the government and military try to figure out how to handle the shape-shifting robots, Sam, Mikaela and others simply try to survive the ensuing chaos and destruction that soon erupts all around them. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? It's a good bet many will. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13 For intense sequences of sci-fi action violence, brief sexual humor, and language. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: SHIA LaBEOUF plays a teenager who just wants to impress Mikaela, but must contend not only with her jock boyfriend, but also his seemingly possessed car and then all that has to do with the arrival of the Transformers and the government's interest in how he's involved with that. JOSH DUHAMEL plays a captain in the U.S. military who must battle the Decepticons here and abroad. MEGAN FOX plays the pretty girl in Sam's class who's oblivious to him liking her until he gives her a ride and they soon become unexpected partners in dealing with the Transformer crisis. Prone to wearing revealing attire, she confident and good with cars, but turns out to have a juvi record in relation to her dad's previous grand theft auto charges. TYRESE GIBSON plays a sergeant who assists Lennox in battling the evil transformers. He uses some profanity. RACHAEL TAYLOR plays a computer expert who tries to crack the odd computer code that's infiltrated the U.S. Government's systems. ANTHONY ANDERSON plays her computer hacker friend who does the same and tries to act brave in the face of government interrogation, but quickly cracks under pressure. He uses some profanity. JOHN TURTURRO plays a top-secret agent in the U.S. government who's known about the Transformers and the Allspark, but is looking for the last pieces of the puzzle regarding them, and thinks he can find that through Sam. JON VOIGHT plays the Secretary of Defense who wants to find out what's occurring as well as a way to stop the transforming robots. KEVIN DUNN plays Sam's dad. JULIE WHITE plays Sam's mother who gets a bit tipsy in one scene. OPTIMUS PRIME is the wise leader of the Autobots who've arrived on Earth to try to stop the Decepticons and their evil plan. MEGATRON is the evil leader of the Decepticons who, once thawed out, wants the Allspark so that he can kill off all humans via turning their electronics into killing machines. He battles Optimus Prime and the others. BUMBLEBEE is the mostly mute Autobot who repeatedly saves Sam and Mikaela while working undercover as Sam's new used car. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: The following is a brief summary of the content found in this action-adventure film that's been rated PG-13. Profanity consists of two barely incomplete "f" words, while other expletives and colorful phrases are also uttered. Sexually related dialogue, innuendo, and brief song lyrics are present, as is some sexual humor, as well as the sight of a young woman in revealing attire (with the camera focusing on her body). Violence consists of many sequences of sci-fi type action, where gargantuan robots battle and sometimes kill each other, while also causing a tremendous amount of property damage. Various humans die from all of that, but most of the deaths occur off-screen or are just implied (a few characters have bloody scrapes and such from all of that, but nothing overly graphic). Those scenes, various moments of real or potential peril, and the sight of the bad robots might be unsettling, suspenseful or even scary for younger viewers, but probably few others. Some of the action and other behavior might be enticing for some kids to imitate, while various characters (human and robotic) have bad attitudes. No smoking occurs, but a mother appears a bit tipsy from drinking wine, and a few drug related comments are made. Some crude humor is also present. If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, all sorts of camera movement (handheld and otherwise shaky) occurs throughout the film. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE Talking about their favorite things, one soldier mentions hot dogs and stale beer. Sam gives his dog (with a leg in a cast) a veterinarian prescribed pain pill, jokingly calling him a "crack-head." Based on Sam's story of seeing a Transformer, a cop wonders if he's on drugs, and lists various slang terms for some (while telling Sam it's time to fill a cup -- with urine for a drug test). Based on the weird way the cop is acting, however, Sam then asks him if he's on drugs. Sam's parents have wine, and his mom seems a bit tipsy then and in immediate subsequent moments. BLOOD/GORE Seeing his young daughter smile over a video phone, Lennox jokingly asks his wife if she's sure the daughter didn't just fart. A car salesman says his last name is spelled just like the country Bolivia, but "without the runs." Sam tells his dog he can do something as long as he doesn't "piss" somewhere again. A soldier has a little bit of blood on his cheek. Sam's dog pees on an Autobot, causing the Transformer to comment on the pooch's "lubricant." An Autobot "pees" on Simmons, but it's really just lubricant (although the intent is humiliation via being urinated on). Lennox and Sam have some blood and scrapes on their faces, etc. during the final battle sequence. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE Students make fun of Sam in class, including sending something his way that hits him. A car salesman says his last name is spelled just like the country Bolivia, "without the runs." Megatron and the other Decepticons obviously have bad attitudes as the film's villains that want to wipe out humans, and battle the Autobots to do so. Mikaela's boyfriend is a jerk toward Sam, including asking the latter about "sucking at sports." About the computer code she and others are investigating, Maggie says that it's too smart for Iranian scientists to have concocted. Simmons states that Mikaela's dad is in prison for grand theft auto, and that she has a juvi record for the same (she says it was for not turning in her dad). For that moment, Sam then wants nothing to do with her until he later hears that latter part about her trying to protect her dad. Government forces catch an Autobot, tying "him" down. Later, we see him seemingly being shocked as a means of torture. FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence," "Blood/Gore" and "Jump Scenes" may be unsettling, suspenseful, or scary to younger viewers and/or those with low tolerance levels for such material, but probably few others. The appearances of Megatron and the other bad Decepticons might be unnerving or scary to younger viewers. We see movement under the desert sand near Lennox and other soldiers (with us knowing it's a Decepticon preparing to attack). A guard dog chases Sam through a junkyard, followed by the police arresting him. Sam crashes his bike into a cop car that's really a Decepticon in disguise. That car then repeatedly bumps and acts menacingly toward Sam who tries to backpedal (on all fours) out of the way. Mikaela ends up dangling from Sam who's dangling from something else. Both then fall, but an Autobot catches both of them. People worry when it appears Megatron's frozen state has been compromised and that he might escape. We see Sam high atop a building spire holding the cube, trying not to fall off, while Megatron tries to kill him, including breaking the spire, causing Sam to fall (but an Autobot catches and saves him). GUNS/WEAPONS Handguns/ Shotgun/Machine guns/Missiles/Transformer-based weapons/Jets/Gunship/Tank: Carried and/or used to threaten, wound or kill others and/or cause property damage. See "Violence" for details. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: An incomplete "M*therf*cker" (with the last part silent), "If you've seen this sh*t," "Shut up," "Half a piece of crap," "Don't go Ricky Ricardo on me," "Cheap ass," "Holy cow," "Piss" (urinate), "Crack-head," "Get us the hell out of here," "Hey, bro," "What's it about, sucking at sports?" "Evil jock concubine," "Bros before hos," "Bee-otch" (seen written), "What the hell /is that?" "No freaking way," "Satan's car," "Kick ass," "Move it, you moron," "Now you've pissed him off," "This is easily one-hundred times cooler than Armageddon," "Straggly little bitches," "This is wicked," "You freak," "What a knucklehead," "Freak out," "For Pete's sakes," "They have to get their hands out of my bush," "I'll beat the crap out of you," "I'll kick your ass," "He's just pissy," "Screwed up," "That thing is freaky," "We stay here, we're screwed," "You want a piece of me?" and "Jerk." All of the action, fighting, and other stunts might be enticing for some kids to try to imitate. Maggie has what looks like a tattoo on her neck, while some miscellaneous characters have various tattoos. An older woman gives "the finger" to a car salesman. Sam's friend hangs upside down from a tree. Maggie has a pierced nostril. Mikaela and Sam make Simmons strip down to his undershirt and boxers while cuffing him to something (to keep him from pursuing and/or stopping them). Mikaela hotwires a truck (to rescue an Autobot). JUMP SCENES None. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) An extreme amount of action-oriented, heavily dramatic, and both suspenseful and ominous music plays in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) An Autobot who's posing as a car plays the Marvin Gaye song, "Sexual Healing" as theme music for Sam and Mikaela. PROFANITY At least 2 barely incomplete "f" words (both used with "mother"), 6 "s" words, 4 craps, 4 hells, 3 asses, 2 damns, 9 uses of "Oh my God," 4 of "Oh God," 3 of "God," 2 of "My God" and 1 use each of "Dear God" and "Good Lord." SEX/NUDITY We see some shirtless male soldiers. Students make fun of Sam in class, including laughing when he mentions the words "seaman" and "sextant" in regards to his grandfather's explorations. Sam tries to explain to his dad about the effect of car choices, saying if one is the equivalent of the movie "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," then another is the same to the "50-Year-Old Virgin." Sam's friend Miles refers to Mikaela as the "evil jock concubine." When Sam wants Miles to get out of his car so that he can pick up Mikaela, Miles complains, saying "Bros before hos." We see various shots of Mikaela in a midriff-revealing top and a short skirt as she looks under Sam's hood (stretched up, bent over, etc. with the camera focusing on her tight body). Sam is flustered, and inadvertently blurts out all sorts of innuendo, such as asking if the can "ride you home" (instead of "give you a ride home") and says that he likes females working on his engine (upon learning that Mikaela is good with cars). During this, the Autobot who's posing as a car plays the Marvin Gaye song, "Sexual healing" as theme music, while other innuendo (inadvertent on the part of Sam, but purposeful by the film) is uttered. Thinking he might die upon his first glimpse of a Transformer, Sam records a message on his camera phone. Among the things he says is that if anyone finds "Busty Beauties" under his bed, it really belongs to his friend Miles. He then fesses up that it's really his, and that he got it from his uncle. There's some humor involving Lennox needing a credit card to make a call to HQ during an attack, with Epps saying he has one in his back pocket. Lennox asks which one and Epps (who's shooting at a Decepticon) says, "Left cheek" (but no nudity takes place). We see Sam's shirtless male friend. A small Decepticon chases after and tackles Sam, inadvertently pulling down his pants to reveal him in boxers. Mikaela shows some cleavage in various scenes. Sam tells Mikaela that maybe she should sit on his lap in a car. When she asks why, he says because it's the only seat with a seat belt. One Autobot reads Sam's physical condition and states that the pheromone levels suggest the boy wants to mate with the female (referring to Mikaela). Trying to act tough in front of the FBI, Glen suddenly cracks and admits that he's still a virgin. After Sam tells Mikaela to help him check his room to search for some important glasses, Mikaela finds a box that Sam immediately grabs from her (suggesting there's something in there he doesn't want her to see, possibly pornographic in nature based on an earlier comment). Hearing noises coming from his room, Sam's parents knock at the door (he's trying to get the Transformers to be quiet outside the house, and hide Mikaela inside it, but not for any sexual reasons). When he finally opens the door, his tipsy mom asks if he was masturbating, with him saying no, that he doesn't do that. His mom then makes various comments about masturbation being a good thing, and calls it "Sam's happy time." Referring to Sector Seven men, Judy says, "They have to get their hands out of my bush" (meaning her shrubbery, but the film is making it sound like she's talking about her pubic hair). Mikaela and Sam make Simmons strip down to his undershirt and boxers while cuffing him to something (to keep him from pursuing and/or stopping them). We briefly see miscellaneous cleavage. We see Mikaela lying on top of Sam on the hood of a truck. Both are clothed and they kiss in that position. SMOKING None. TENSE FAMILY SCENES Hearing news that a military base was wiped out, Lennox's wife worries about him. Sam worries about his parents and (briefly) vice-versa when Simmons' men take all of them into custody. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Robots and how much they've advanced over the years. All of the product placement in the film. Bullies. Whether secret government agencies such as Sector Seven really exist. Simmons states that Mikaela's dad is in prison for grand theft auto, and that she has a juvi record for the same (she says it was for not turning in her dad). VIOLENCE Soldiers aim their guns at a chopper that's infiltrated and landed at their camp. As it starts to transform into a Decepticon, the soldiers open fire on it, but to no avail. The Decepticon then fires back at those soldiers and their camp, with all sorts of property damage and presumed wounds or deaths. During this, one soldier is nearly stepped on by the Decepticon, as more damage occurs. Students make fun of Sam in class, including sending something his way that hits him. An Autobot posing as a car causes all of the other car windows in the lot to shatter (so that Sam picks "him" as his car). We see a flashback to Sam being tackled hard by several larger players during football tryouts (played for laughs). Two secret service agents open fire on a small Decepticon, with it flinging some things that impale those agents, presumably killing them. It then shoots another agent who enters the room (no blood). Some cops arrest Sam, with one pushing his head down to the hood or trunk of a car. A Decepticon in the form of a huge, robotic scorpion scurries under the desert sand, with soldiers firing upon it with machine guns when it surfaces. It then grabs and presumably kills one soldier, while also firing missiles of sorts that destroy much of the village in which this encounter takes place. Fighter jets then arrive and shoot missiles at the Decepticon, as does a gunship with its huge machine guns, all of which eventually damage the Decepticon and cause it to burrow under the sand. The FBI raids Glen's house, with his cousin panicking and crashing through the closed sliding glass door as he tries to escape, followed by an agent tackling him into the pool (played for comedy). Sam wipes out and crashes off his bike. Later, he crashes the same into a cop car that's really a Decepticon in disguise. That car then repeatedly bumps and acts menacingly toward Sam who tries to backpedal (on all fours) out of the way. A Decepticon chases after Sam, knocking various things aside until an Autobot comes to Sam's rescue. He and Mikaela get into Bumblebee (as a sports car) and speed away, with the Decepticon also turning into a vehicle and giving chase, with many vehicles being struck along the way. An Autobot battles a Decepticon, with all sorts of property damage occurring. A small Decepticon chases after and tackles Sam, with Mikaela coming to his rescue by using a portable power saw on the small Decepticon, cutting away part of it. As various Transformers crash-land to earth, they cause miscellaneous property damage. There's a flashback to Sam's grandfather discovering Megatron frozen in the ice and inadvertently activating him. Megatron then sends out some sort of energy blast that knocks the grandfather down, knocking him out or killing him. Optimus Prime picks up a government vehicle, sheers off the top, and places it back on the road (no one inside is harmed). Government forces catch an Autobot, tying "him" down. Later, we see him seemingly being shocked as a means of torture. Government agents do a demo of how the cube's power can turn an ordinary electronic device into a Decepticon. We see that happen to a phone, with it trying to blast its way out of its container, with an official then destroying it. Upset about what's occurring, Lennox grabs Simmons, with soldiers and agents aiming their guns at each other (and one soldier hits a few agents). Lennox then presses his handgun hard to Simmons's chest to prove his point. As Megatron escapes from his confinement, he causes damage to the large chamber where he's located. Keller fires a shotgun at a small Decepticon through a narrow opening, with Simmons doing the same with a flamethrower. The robot then throws something at all of them, barely missing them as well as Glen. More gunfire is aimed at the small robot, with it firing something that ends up coming back around and hits it. An Autobot battles a Decepticon, with all sorts of vehicle and road damage occurring. The good Transformer then stabs and shoots at the bad one. Missiles are fired into a city, with the resultant explosions damaging property and knocking people around. A Decepticon, in the form of a tank, fires its canon inside a city, causing all sorts of property damage. A massive, many-minute battle takes places inside a city between various Autobots and Decepticons, with a great deal of property damage occurring (while military forces also fire upon the Decepticons). During this, Megatron tears one Autobot in half, an Autobot and Decepticon crash through an entire building during their battle, and there are various close calls for the humans caught in the middle of the violent chaos. That includes when a chopper is hit and crashes into a building, with his spinning tail rotor nearly hitting Sam. We also see Sam high atop a building spire holding the cube, trying not to fall off, while Megatron tries to kill him, including breaking the spire, causing Sam to fall (but an Autobot catches and saves him). Jets fire missiles into one Decepticon, while a Decepticon takes the form of a military jet and gets into a dogfight with military jets (some of which are destroyed, while a great deal of additional property damage occurs). From exposure to the cube, various Earthly electronics suddenly transform into small Decepticons, including one grabbing a woman by the face, while another appears to deliver a deadly blow to someone just off camera. Megatron flicks a human aside (played for laughs). The cube kills a Decepticon by destroying the robot. Reviewed June 28, 2007 / Posted July 3, 2007

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