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Transformers: Definitive Edition

OlivusPrime

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Hey fellas! I'm new here so please feel free to give me any pointers. This is a thread for an edit I completed 6 years ago and intended to submit, but life got in the way of things... Until now.

poster11.jpg

Transformers is a film that came at just the right time in my life - at 13 years old, the concept of giant alien robots fighting each other and turning into all manner of vehicles was mind-blowing. Unfortunately in the years that followed, my tastes in films changed, and the film I once adored became hard to sit through. Since the nostalgia was still there, I started to wonder whether I could trim the film to live up to my teenage image of it, and spurred on by my discovery of Harmy's Despecialized Editions and this website, I went ahead and gave it a go.

I think the edit I produced still isn't a great film, but it's definitely improved from what it once was and with little sacrifice to the coherency of the film's editing and plot (I was very strict about keeping to the film's editing and visual language, which also meant a few scenes and shots I wanted to cut couldn't be removed in an acceptable manner). I also put a lot of effort into fixing some elements which I haven't seen tackled in the other edits of this film, and I learnt the ins and outs of editing with Premiere in the process, which was ultimately invaluable training for my remaining studies and my current career.

Having long finished this edit, I think it's best if my younger self summarises some of the changes made, thankfully having left notes for us in 2022 to enjoy:

Corrections

The original version of Transformers has numerous mistakes (ranging from continuity errors to simple slip-ups), some of which I attempted to correct.

Sexism and Mikaela

While it isn’t as pronounced as it is in Bay’s other films (including the Transformers sequels), there’s still an air of sexism in the movie, mostly through the objectification of women, especially Mikaela. I tried to remove as many moments of objectification as I could, several in order to bring Mikaela across as a stronger character.

Tightening the Narrative

The original cut of Transformers has a running time of 2 hours 23 minutes (2 hours 15 minutes excluding credits), which is just too long for a simple action blockbuster. This especially insulting when so much of the film is spent on uninteresting plot points or characters. The original film essentially has three parallel plot-lines – Sam (our protagonist, who gets centrally involved with the Transformer war whilst providing a youthful human perspective), the military (who discover how to damage the Transformers and provide the opportunity to show the threat of the Transformers through action) and the government/hackers (who demonstrate the global repercussions of the Transformer invasion). All of these plot-lines have elements vital to the film’s story, but closely following all three in parallel results in the movie often losing steam and feeling bloated by the time the climax arrives. As a result, my aim was to keep Sam’s plot-line as the central story, whilst removing as much of the military and hacker stories as possible.

Alongside the changes made for this purpose, there were a few other alterations I made for the sake of a more relatable/engaging film, some specifically to make Sam more appealing (as an awkward teenager with simple goals, as opposed to someone doggedly seeking sex).

Racism and Other Hilarious Topics

Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman wrote The Island for Michael Bay – I’ve never seen it but I’m assuming that’s where they picked up their knack for Bay’s trademark juvenile humour. They say that people who talk more about sex aren’t well laid, in which case I’m in good company.

Transformers has many moments of odd humour that often revolve around racist remarks/stereotypes and sex, more so than would be expected of a film based upon a toy and cartoon franchise. I ended up removing many of these strangely unfunny moments.


The new running time is 2 hours 6 minutes, cut down 17 minutes from the original length. I'm hoping to record a feature-length editor's commentary for the film this weekend. If anyone wishes to see the changes enumerated, please let me know and I shall edit this post.
 
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