Search DVDBeaver

S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

(aka 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen' or 'Transformers 2')

Directed by Michael Bay
USA 200
9

 

One of the most popular, thrill-packed, franchises of all time is back with even more action and more Autobots and Decepticons! In the highly anticipated Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Decepticon forces return to Earth on a mission to take Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) prisoner, after the young hero learns the truth about the ancient origins of the Transformers. Joining the mission to product humankind is Optimus Prime, who forms an alliance with international armies for a second epic battle.

***

A notable moment occurs during the dementedly frenetic final act of Transformers 2. A robot-on-robot fracas is unfolding around Egypt’s Giza Necropolis, with Devastator, an especially massive mechanoid comprised of several construction vehicles, set on clawing its way to the peak of a pyramid. As it lumbers up the dusty colossus, a shot tilts up to its mid-section, revealing two wrecking balls dangling down. Yes, Michael Bay, the man who brought us cyber-micturition in this movie’s predecessor, has one-upped himself: Decepticon testicles.

If the thought of that gag makes you laugh, chances are you’ll have a ball with Revenge Of The Fallen. If not… well, Bay really doesn’t care. His first and only sequel since Bad Boys 2 is, like that film, marked by swaggering confidence, wild excess and a string of bad-taste jokes. Dogs hump each other, robots hump human legs and the camera spends so much time ogling Megan Fox’s torso you start to wonder if it’s being operated by a 13 year-old boy. There are now 42 robots, including one that looks like a jaguar, one that can turn into ball bearings to access high-security areas and one in the form of a Dyson vacuum cleaner.

Excerpt from EmpireOnline located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: June 19th, 2009

Reviews       More Reviews       DVD Reviews

Comparison:

Paramount (Single disc version) - Region 1, 4 - NTSC vs. Paramount (2-disc) - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Paramount (Single disc version) - Region 1, 4 - NTSC LEFT vs. Paramount (2-disc) - Region FREE - Blu-ray RIGHT

DVD Box Cover

   

 

Distribution Paramount Home Video - Region 1, 4 - NTSC Paramount Home Video - Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime 2:29:40  2:29:53.025
Video 2.35:1 Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 6.72 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s   

1080P / 23.976 fps Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 44,998,114,980 bytes

Feature: 44,644,798,464 bytes

Video Bitrate: 31.29 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate:

Bitrate:

Audio English (Dolby Digital 5.1), DUBs: French, Spanish  DTS-HD Master Audio English 4658 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 4658 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
DUBs: Dolby Digital Audio French 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
Commentary: Dolby Digital Audio English 224 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 224 kbps
Subtitles English, French, Spanish, None English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, None
Features

Release Information:
Studio: Paramount

Aspect Ratio:
Original Aspect Ratio 2.35:1

Edition Details:

• none

DVD Release Date: October 20th, 2009

Transparent Keep Case inside cardboard slipcase
Chapters: 20

Release Information:
Studio: Paramount

1080P / 23.976 fps Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc One Size: 44,998,114,980 bytes

Feature: 44,644,798,464 bytes

Video Bitrate: 31.29 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

Edition Details:

• Commentary track with director Michael Bay, writers Roberto Orci + Alex Kurtzman
Disc 2 (single-layered
Blu-ray)
• The Human Factor: Exacting 'Revenge of the Fallen' (7-part 2:14:32 in HD!)
• A Day with Bay: Tokyo (13:24 in HD!)
• 25 Years of Transformers (10:45 in HD!)
• Nest: Transformer Data-Hub interactive feature

• The Allspark Experiment (interactive)
• Deconstructing Visual Bayhem (22:46 in HD)
• 3 Deleted/Alternate Scenes (about 6-minutes worth)
• Giant Effing Movie (24:03 in HD!)
• Linkin Park - New Divide (4:40 in HD!)
The Matrix of Marketing
• 2 theatrical trailers, six TV spots, + two still galleries (theatrical + promo/marketing)

Blu-ray Release Date: October 20th, 2009
Standard
Blu-ray Case inside cardboard slipcase
Chapters: 20

 

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were ripped directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Paramount Blu-ray - October09: Comments Coming Soon!

Hopefully the screen captures will effectively tell the story on the image. The Blu-ray is expectantly very thick - even more so than the 1080P edition of Transformers. It differs from the DVD with a greater depth of field, is marginally brighter and obviously detail, lines and colors tighten up. It's an amazing looking film aside from the extensive use of CGI animation. Speaking of which the haziness produced by the effect visuals remains - but the more static shots of swaying or less-kinetic Transformers are quite awesome with bright colors and light-reflecting metals in an intricate weave of shields, circuit boards, wires and glowing eyes. Contrast and black levels are deep and crisp giving the stylistically heavy look that seems so perfectly suitable to the film's sci-fi adventure roots. Flesh-tones are redder than I might expect but I never found it distracting. One can only think this is a very close representation of the theatrical experience of Hollywood's money-machine at the pinnacle of F/X technology. There are moments that are 'awesome'.

NOTE: Supposedly a Wal-Mart exclusive Blu-ray has an extra 40 second from the IMAX version but people are saying this, about that: "Saw it 3 times. One in Imax and the other 2 in the regular theaters. Didn't notices any differences at all."

I'm sure many Home theater aficionados are well aware that film audio to lossless HD can't really get any better. If rendered efficiently - it is essentially perfect. A decisive case-in-point would be Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen's DTS-HD Master 5.1 track at a whopping 4658 kbps. It leaves no aural stone unturned and as we surmised it may even eclipse the video - comparatively over the DVD transfer. Effect noises are endless in the film with bullets, missiles and God-knows-what shooting out to every corner of your sound system. One could get shell-shocked. I appreciated the understated (at times) Steve Jablonsky score but it often gets overshadowed by the aggressive mix. There is nothing really to complain about the audio transfer - it sounds as lively, buoyant and crisp as anything I can recall - and completely supports the film's striking video. The 'action' genre is certainly not my favorite but on has to be impressed with what is accomplished here - technically I can't imagine it reaching any higher. There are two foreign language DUBs and optional subtitles in English, French, Portuguese or Spanish and my Momitsu has identified my screener as being a region FREE disc playable on Blu-ray machines worldwide.

Extras extended to second Blu-ray with the first housing only the film and an audio commentary by director Michael Bay and writers Roberto Orci + Alex Kurtzman. The film runs, a lengthy, 2.5 hours and while you might think it's tough to fill with discussion - the participants do so. You have to respect the type of zealous passion they embody to through themselves into a project of this nature. Say what you will about Bay but the magnitude of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is daunting for the most competent helmsman - especially with millions of toy-loving geeks peering over your shoulder - impatiently awaiting the final product. Production, cinematography and some plot characteristics are covered in a relaxed fashion with Bay generally taking the lead. Disc two's main supplement is a 2 1/4 hour featurette documentary entitled The Human Factor: Exacting 'Revenge of the Fallen'. It is divided into 7-parts touching on visual effects, editing and other factors pertinent to the production. Like all extras on the second disc it is in HD and has input from many sources trying its very best to cover all bases. There are plenty of behind-the-scenes shots from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The rest of the content is basic standard fare filler with two interactive elements, deleted/alternate scenes and some marketing/promo galleries.

Okay, I've now seen this three times so far this week. The first was the DVD presentation and I can honestly state that the Blu-ray totally eclipses it as bringing you closer to the epic-scale experience. I'll credit the audio to a large degree but even on my third viewing (commentary) I had moments of awe for what I was seeing onscreen. I knew what was coming but was almost catatonic. It is really beyond a film and moving towards an 'event'. It's unfortunate it doesn't grasp the same warm emotional lore of the Transformer mythology as did the first film, but that was a tall order to fill. This is by no means a failure and, no doubt, a third segment is already being over-planned. What Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen lacks in substance - it gives back in demo-quality A/V. It's not a film for repetitive viewings but it may be one of the first you grab for a reference home theater experience to impress your friends.

Temper your expectation of the film and you may enjoy the ride  - but it's the audio-philes and video-philes that will probably have the most fun.  

Gary W. Tooze

***

ON THE DVD: Many fans are in expectation of the forthcoming Blu-ray of Revenge Of The Fallen available HERE and we will cover it very soon. This, however, is a decent pre-cursor being that the dual-layered DVD image is bare-bones with almost 8 Gig going directly to the film's transfer. The image appears to have the same attributes as Transformers with a thick, heavy look that approaches saturation but stays nicely balanced to produce dark appearance with decent-to-strong detail. Once again, it's difficult to see the Transformers in-action but this is the nature of CGI which gives the impression of the camera moving at a rapid, jittery, pace so that they are rarely focused - but they do seem to have more stationary moments than in the first film. There is some haziness in backgrounds that produce a bit of noise that the upcoming 1080P visuals will probably totally alleviate. Good news is that I don't see excessive manipulation and the image is, expectantly, pristinely spotless. For DVD this is impressive.

The only English audio option is 5.1 which sounds excellent and this is an area in which a lossless track may eclipse at a more dramatic rate than the image quality. This is as perfect as one could hope for on SD-DVD with strong range and separation but it will all be less pronounced than the Blu-ray. There are 2 foreign language DUBs and optional subtitles in English, French or Spanish. It's coded or region 1 and 4 in the NTSC standard.

NOTE: This is the first DVD I can recall seeing that doesn't mesh well with a region free system. I had real trouble getting it to play on both region-free stand-alone players and region code over-ridden computer drives.

As we've already stated - there are no extras at all - which is fine. The film seems to have disappointed some that had lofty expectations after Transformers. This is a bit of a surprise as it runs via the same essential formula, perhaps a bit earthier - with same performers and same characterizations. But, perhaps that is its biggest flaw. The deep-rooted fans of the first film will be the most appreciative but it has some enjoyable adolescent adventure going for it. Stay tuned for Blu-ray coverage later this week.   

Gary W. Tooze

 



DVD Menus


 


CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

Subtitle Sample

 

Paramount (Single disc version) - Region 1, 4 - NTSC TOP vs. Paramount (2-disc) - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


 

Screen Captures

 

Paramount (Single disc version) - Region 1, 4 - NTSC TOP vs. Paramount (2-disc) - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


Paramount (Single disc version) - Region 1, 4 - NTSC TOP vs. Paramount (2-disc) - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


Paramount (Single disc version) - Region 1, 4 - NTSC TOP vs. Paramount (2-disc) - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


Paramount (Single disc version) - Region 1, 4 - NTSC TOP vs. Paramount (2-disc) - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


Paramount (Single disc version) - Region 1, 4 - NTSC TOP vs. Paramount (2-disc) - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


Paramount (Single disc version) - Region 1, 4 - NTSC TOP vs. Paramount (2-disc) - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM
 
 
Paramount (Single disc version) - Region 1, 4 - NTSC TOP vs. Paramount (2-disc) - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM
 

 


Paramount (Single disc version) - Region 1, 4 - NTSC TOP vs. Paramount (2-disc) - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM
 

 


Paramount (Single disc version) - Region 1, 4 - NTSC TOP vs. Paramount (2-disc) - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM
 

 


Paramount (Single disc version) - Region 1, 4 - NTSC TOP vs. Paramount (2-disc) - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM
 

 


 

More Blu-ray Captures

 

 

 

 

DVD Box Cover

   

 

Distribution Paramount Home Video - Region 1, 4 - NTSC Paramount Home Video - Region FREE - Blu-ray



Search DVDBeaver
S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

 

Hit Counter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DONATIONS Keep DVDBeaver alive:

Mail cheques, money orders, cash to:    or CLICK PayPal logo to donate!

Gary Tooze

Thank You!