Awesome / Transformers (2007)

As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.

At the end of this day, one shall stand, one shall fall.

The year was 1986. An animated film is released, to little applause, based on a fairly successful Saturday morning cartoon. Years pass, and the series is relegated to a mere toy franchise with the occasional fanfiction. One decent CGI cartoon- and its sequel. A few anime near the turn of the millennium. Many short-lived comic series(es). But never again did the series enjoy its same popularity. And then this movie comes along, with a rather brilliant advertising campaign, and the hype is real.

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• The film opens with the DreamWorks SKG and Paramount logos. It is quite ominous. But then...
  Optimus Prime: Before time began, there was... the Cube.
  • The true awesomeness of this, for those who have not watched the movie, this is the return of Peter Cullen to the voice role of Optimus Prime after more than 20 years.
  • On a side note, the CGI used to render the Allspark's fall through space is simply beautiful.
• Blackout laying waste to SOCCENT base in Qatar is a visual feast and clearly shows just how much of a threat the Decepticons are; it's also the first time any of the robots transform on screen. And it looks so real.
  • Several CMOA go to the humans in that base. They never forget their duty, true soldiers. Colonel Sharp picks up an ax to stop the alien attacker from getting the information. This after getting a first hand look at the monstrosity.
  • Lennox, Epps, and the rest of their team manage to not only survive, but wound Blackout enough that he sends Scorponok after them.
• Say what you want about Sam Witwicky, he saved two grand and managed to convince his teacher to give him three A's in high school just so he could get a car. Not easy.
• Sam's story about his great-times-a-thousand grandfather Archibald may have ended badly, but it's quite epic and inspiring; he took an entire ship so far north they all nearly froze to death, and convinced them with nothing more than his own unshakable faith to continue.
  Archibald Witwicky: No sacrifice, no victory! We'll get to the Arctic Circle lads.
  • To make it even cooler, Transformers: The Last Knight reveals that Sam and Archibald are actually American descendants of a British secret society known as the "Witwiccans", who have been allies of the Transformers since Arthurian times. Both Archibald and Sam found their way back to their roots.
• Mikaela shows her independence pretty quickly with her Jerk Jock boyfriend who calls her his "little bunny."
  Mikaela: God, I can't even tell you how much I'm not your little bunny.
  • And with that, the boyfriend is dumped and never seen again.
• The entirety of the battle against Scorponok.
  • It begins with the initial desert attack, where Scorponok's tail rises eerily out of the desert behind Lennox, and his soldiers have a mass Oh, Crap! before shooting up the sand.
  • In town, Lennox needs a phone to call the Pentagon, and he has to go through some telemarketer in India. Somehow, he manages to keep relatively calm and get the generals on the phone, even providing some funny moments.
    Lennox: Epps, I need a credit card!
  • Three words: Bring the rain. The A-10's and AC-130 lay down a hellstorm on Scorponok that the Decepticons will never forget. The best part? All of that dialogue is almost 100% accurate, the actors being actual military personnel who were told to act as they would in a real-world situation, the only differences being the condensed timescale and the fact that the enemy contact is a giant robot scorpion.
  • The villagers get one too. They could have been hostile to the U.S Special Forces team, and they wouldn't have been unjustified in feeling that they brought Scorponok to them. Instead, they start grabbing bolt action rifles and revolvers and fight alongside Lennox and his team despite their own comparatively pitiful firepower. And they show no anger or regret over their massive casualties.
  • No respect for Scorponok? The Decepticon displays a frightening amount of intelligence. When he realizes the more solid ground will make going back underground too risky, he stands his ground. He guards his face with metal plates to avoid losing his eyes, he aims for the soldiers’ cover to reduce their ability to avoid getting hit, he straight up dodge rolls to avoid an explosive barrage and he backs out as soon as he realizes he’s lost. He’s by no means invincible(though he does survive a heavy barrage from US military air support), but manages to do damn well against multiple opponents through sheer reflexes and ingenuity, making him one of the most dangerous opponents in the film.
• Frenzy hacks into Air Force One's secure military connection:
  1. He transforms to robot mode, sneaks into the elevator, and then reverts to boombox mode as the hostess walks in.
  2. He then transforms again and hides under a table. And the hostess never sees him. Supplementary material says he has a hologram projector.
  3. He managed to plant a virus while extracting the information the Decepticons want. When guards come to investigate, he kills them all in seconds and hides in boombox mode; no one knows he was there.
  4. Once AF1 is on the ground, Frenzy struts past the many, many cops to get into Barricade's car mode. He then flips them all off.
• Bumblebee versus Barricade
  • Before the fight even begins, we get an inkling of how epic it will be by the phrase etched onto Barricade's rear-quarter panel: To Punish and Enslave.
  • Sam is running from Barricade. He gets bogged down by keeping Mikaela from getting herself killed. Barricade is almost on top of them. That's when Bumblebee slides into his legs and encourages the kids to climb in. No, that isn't the awesome part. The awesome part is when they are fleeing the scene and Barricade rolls over like an animal, lunges forward, and transforms into car mode in midair! Immediately followed by the car chase with rockin' background music. The scene was so amazing, it elicited applause in theatres.
  • Bumblebee transforms into robot form, standing defensively over Sam and Mikaela. Then Barricade leaps forward and kicks Bumblebee in the face, sending him flying into the distance. Bumblebee looks up, shakes it off and rolls back to his feet and returns the favor in one swift motion.
  • Mikaela chopping Frenzy's head off is another amazing moment for the human race; and Sam kicking his still living face is quite satisfying, even if it does screw them over later.
  • Once the fight is over, Bee drives them away unharmed. Meanwhile, Barricade is lying in a ditch as a pile of scrap. When it comes to Sam's safety, Bee ain't playing around.
• When Sam asks Bumblebee where he came from, he gestures towards the night sky: "Message from Starfleet, Captain"..."throughout the inanimate vastness of space"..."and angels will rain down like visitors from Heaven! Hallelujah!"
• The Autobot's arrival is awesome in a way that surpasses words. It is... magical. The track "Arrival to Earth" is so iconic of the film, it is the only piece to be used in all the films thus far; Steve Jablonksy did amazing work.
  • The majesty of that scene can be accredited to the music; but its awesomeness goes deeper. The way each of the Autobots scans their alternate modes, while avoiding the general public, becoming the iconic heroes we know. The crash scene in the countryside where Optimus came down; Ironhide rising from the pool as a curious little girl clutches her My Little Pony doll.
  • It's hard to tell if it is self deprecation or just Michael Bay's Awesome Ego showing through, but one of the bystanders at Ratchet's crash site says that it's, "A thousand times cooler than Armageddon!"
  • It ends with all of the Autobots transforming on-screen in a beautiful rotating panorama. The shot of Optimus leaning down towards Sam is just... incredible. And then Peter Cullen speaks.
• Glen managing to not only crack Sector Seven's encryption but also decipher alien code, in just a few minutes, is very impressive.
  • Forget that, he ate an entire plate of donuts! Where did he put it all?
• Shia LaBeouf as Sam improvised most of his rant about how the Autobots were messing up the backyard, and Peter Cullen, recording his lines in some studio miles away, goes 'Calm down, calm down' in perfect comedic timing.
• Simmons and his Sector Seven goons have kidnapped Sam and Mikaela; they're being interrogated about the aliens during the car ride to a more... secure location. Simmons is getting fed up with the Blatant Lies the kids are spouting. "It's time to talk!", he says. And then a giant foot smashes into the front of the SUV, and equally massive hands pick it up by the roof. The roof breaks off, and a 30-foot robot tosses it casually into a river.
  Sam: Oh, you a-holes are in trouble now. (Everyone aims their guns.) Gentlemen, I'd like you to meet my friend. Optimus Prime.
  Optimus: Taking the children... was a bad move. Autobots, relieve them of their weapons.
  (Ironhide and the others leap from the nearby bridge, armaments out.)
  Ironhide: FREEZE!
  Jazz: Gimme those! (Uses his magnet hand to rip the guns away.)
  Simmons: (shakily) Hi there.
• Mikaela giving an awesome little "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Sam.
  Mikaela: I have a record because I wouldn't turn my dad in. When have you had to sacrifice anything in your perfect little life?
• Sam charging the Sector Seven agents apprehending Bumblebee is both this and Heartwarming.
• Optimus gets to say his famous Catchphrase when inspiring the Autobots: "Freedom is the right of all sentient beings". So good to hear.
• The Decepticons are attacking Hoover Dam, trying to free Megatron and steal the Allspark. Sam wants them to let Bumblebee help get the cube away from the dam. The Sector Seven agents and Lennox's soldiers draw down on one another, and we get this exchange:
  Simmons: "I'm gonna to count to five."
  Lennox: (shoves gun against Agent's chest) "I'm gonna to count to three."
• The scene of Bumblebee shrinking the Allspark is the second most magical scene of the movie; watching this thing, millions of years old and bigger than a house, turning into something the size of a football... it's amazing.
• Simmons, Keller, and Maggie get into a shootout with Frenzy. The Decepticon loses.
• Bonecrusher attacks the Autobots on the highway, even smashing a bus to splinters of metal. Then Optimus does a running transformation, and the battle is joined.
  • At one point, Bonecrusher punches Optimus; he isn't fazed. The Autobot leader returns the blow, so hard that you can see the Decepticon's eye pop out while in slow motion.
  • He then stabs him in the face and decapitates him.
  • In the Comic-Book Adaptation and Novelization, Optimus ended up killing Barricade immediately after.
• Brawl appears as a tank rolling down Mission City's Main Street, which is awesome in and of itself. But then Jazz jumps on him in the most faithful re-creation of a shot from the G1 movie in this entire film. Once Brawl transforms, it takes three Autobots and the human soldiers to even slow him down; Ratchet uses a buzzsaw to hack off one of his arms!
  • Ironhide using his cannons to propel himself in the air and somersaulting in mid-air. And that was before dodging missiles from Brawl, while transforming.
• When Megatron is finally freed, he screams to the humans nearby, "I. Am. MEGATRON!" Then he begins a Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
  • Once Megatron gets to the city, he grabs an ever defiant Jazz, flies him to a roof, and tears him in half.
  • Then Optimus arrives, to a blaring theme-tune, and transforms in the third most beautiful shot this film has. He challenges Megatron, and the battle that follows is glorious.
    • To wit: Megatron flies down, at a speed hard to follow, and Optimus jumps onto his jet form; they crash through a building, and wrestle in the street, trading one-liners.
      Megatron: Humans don't deserve to live.
      Optimus: They deserve to choose for themselves!
      Megatron: Then you will die with them! Join them in extinction!
• Sam refusing to give Megatron the Allspark, and being hurled off a building for it. He then uses his family's motto to explain to Optimus why he just gave Megatron a giant middle finger.
  Sam: No sacrifice, no victory.
• Mikaela hijacks a tow truck and uses it to drive an injured Bumblebee into battle; together, they do what three other Autobots and half the human soldiers could not do: kill Brawl.
  • She was initially going to get the very injured Bumblebee to safety, but they both agree they can't leave the battle unfinished.
    Mikaela: I drive, you shoot.
• Captain Lennox gets his greatest CMOA during the final battle, where he charges Blackout on a motorcycle at high speed, jumps off the motorcycle and slides under Blackout to deliver a point-blank crotch-shot with a grenade launcher. It might not have been the killing blow, but it sent a good message.
• Earlier, the soldiers called in an airstrike. Several F-22's finally make it, and they are immediately engaged by Starscream. He plays Stepping Stones in the Sky, shifting seamlessly between robot and jet forms to destroy about half of them. And then he may have even joined them in attacking Megatron!
  • When they attack Megatron, it only takes a single missile salvo to bring him to his knees. This tyrant has gone ped-to-ped with Optimus Prime, but humans make him kneel.
  • The F-22 pilots get some kudos going up against Starscream as well. Instead of aborting the mission when the Decepticon rips into their formation, they immediately go on the offensive and start chasing him down.
  F-22 Pilot: Two, get a lock! Pop that guy!
• Speaking of, Optimus versus Megatron, round 2!
  • Megatron leaps off the roof and tackles Optimus into the street. Optimus sends Sam to hide with the Allspark, then challenges his former brother-in-arms using the most iconic phrase of the franchise:
    Optimus: At the end of this day, one shall stand; one shall fall.
  • And when Optimus cannot defeat Megatron, he asks Sam to unite the Cube with his spark. Megatron demands Sam give it to him. The boy chooses a different path, and shoves the Allspark into Megatron's chest, dispersing it and killing the tyrant.
• Optimus closes the film much like he opened it, with a grand speech; this time, accepting his race's eventual fate and saying those who remain should enjoy the time on their new home, Earth.