G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is one of the silliest, most ridiculous films to come out of the blockbuster cinema season of 2009. It’s also one of the best, most mindlessly enjoyable action-romps you’ll have the pleasure of suffering through all year!

I admit. I was one of those G.I. Joe kids. I’m talking the little 80s incarnation here, not the taller, bearded Barbie-for-boys version of the 70s. I had a lot of those little 3 3/4″ toys. Most of the action figures and some of the vehicles. I was never allowed the larger aircraft-carrier, secret-base type of toys. But I had my fair share of Joe stuff. Needless to say, I went into viewing the new live action film with a lot of nerd-knowledge under my belt.

So, that being said, you’d expect me to come down hard on G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. But you know what? I actually kind-of dig it! Oh, it’s full of ridiculous ideas (using a particle accelerator to weaponize a warhead filled with tiny metal-devouring robots for instance) and ham-fisted characterization but it manages to charm both the film and Joe nerd in me. It’s loud, large, bombastic and silly, jetting from dusty caravan roads in Kyrgyzstan to a secret base in Egypt, from busy Paris streets to the frozen Arctic wastes like a sugar-spiked kid big-wheeling around the neighbourhood. It never lets you take a breath to stop and consider the ludicrous nature of its plot, its villains or its science. It’s full steam ahead like a carnival ride on crack, throwing at us as many men in robot accelerator suits, battling ninjas, mad doctors and bull-headed army guys as it can conceive of. Full boar, manic cinematic popcorn at its most successful. But is it G.I. Joe?

Yeah, I guess so. It’s close enough I’d say. It’s set up as an origin story, so it carries the caveat of not having all the franchises pieces quite in their right places yet. Duke, the eventual leader of the Joe team, only officially joins his crew half way through the film. The titular villain, the terrorist organization Cobra only takes form at the very end of the film. And while some liberty has been taken with a handful of the character relationships as we fans knew them, it never compromises the franchise on the whole. The film feels like a G.I. Joe movie should. I anxiously await the sequel!

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra could not look or sound better on Blu-ray disc! Paramount has delivered another knock-out demo disc to wow your friends. With a rock solid, pitch-perfect, high-bitrate 1080p AVC transfer and speaker busting DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 audio, you’re really not going to go wrong using this disc to show off your home theatre. But as much as the studio got right with the transfer and encode on this disc, they got wrong with its special features.

I feel a feeling that G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra was rushed onto Blu-ray. I’m not sure why. We’ve got another month and a half before the holiday season hits its peak. The two disc set from Paramount feels a bit light on features, despite the fact that this film is a perfect candidate for a full blown, multi-disc special edition set. Perhaps that was the idea all along – quickie 2-disc affair before holiday 2009, followed by larger, longer, more robust Ultimate Edition sometime in 2011. Who can say? In any case, the commentary by director Stephen Sommers is probably the best of the limited extras on the discs. He’s quite candid, even going so far as to slam some of the effect work, and provides a good deal of detail into the making of the film. That’s all for disc one of the set.

Disc two is a DVD. Yes, you read that correctly. A DVD. Another sign that this set was rushed to retail. It houses some trailers, the digital copy of the film and a couple of featurettes chronicling the making of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. Both are merely decent, while giving the feeling that there was a lot left to be said. I would’ve enjoyed hearing more from Joe comic/toy writer, Larry Hama. And how about a little look back at the toy line, the comic and the cartoon that made the franchise what it is today. There’s so much that could have been done with this 2 Disc set, it’s a shame we’ll have to wait for its inevitable upgrade to see more. At least the feature is a home run here. That’s what really matters, right?

Previously on The Blu-ray Blog: G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra Blu-ray Announced and Detailed

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No way! Come on! I may not have cared a whole hell-of-a-lot for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen but I think after Michael Bay‘s comments about his longer IMAX cut of the film and his love for Blu-ray we all thought that the disc would end up being something special. Well, it turns out that only SOME of the Blu-ray disc versions of the film will be special. And you’ll be able to buy them at Wal-Mart for a premium price, of course.

Bay had talked up his longer cut a while back and was happy to let us know we’d see it on Blu-ray. I guess, when I posted about the interview that contained those quotes and the fact that the Blu-ray would echo what Christopher Nolan achieved with The Dark Knight disc, I didn’t read Bay’s comments closely enough:

“MB: We’re going to do a special IMAX skew where it’ll open up for those scenes. You can see top to bottom.”

(Read our article on Michael Bay’s comments on the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Blu-ray here)

Shit. Do you know what he’s saying there? I just figured it out. A “skew” is a retail SKU. A “Stock Keeping Unit” or code that retailers use to identify unique products. Like a cheap, normal copy of a movie and an exclusive 1 minute longer IMAX copy. So he knew all along that we’d be forced to make the choice. For the record, here are the links to the regular edition ($24.86 at Wally-world) and the 1 minute longer, Wal-Mart exclusive IMAX edition ($33.99). Go check them out! Then remember that Wal-Mart hates home video (as evidenced by their recent cutbacks in Blu-ray and DVD shelf-space) and give your hard-earned money to Amazon.com instead.

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I actually had a good time watching G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra in the theatre this past summer. It’s a pretty silly film, in every regard but it kind of works in a big, dumb army-guy special mission force sort-of way. I guess that’s what G.I. Joe has always been about. I’m looking forward to checking it out again on this Blu-ray disc from Paramount:

G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA
(November 3, 2009 – MSRP $39.99)
Video: 2.40:1 1080p AVC
Audio: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio

Special Features:

• Feature commentary by director Stephen Sommers and producer Bob Ducsay
• Digital Copy
• The Big Bang Theory: The Making of G.I. JOE— Join the G.I. JOE team as they set out to “Sommer-size” the summer action epic and bring G.I. JOE to the big screen.
• Next-Gen Action: The Amazing Visual FX and Design of G.I. JOE— With over 1,650 visual effect shots, G.I. JOE was a truly massive endeavor. Showcasing the hard work and creativity of the film’s effects and design team, this piece looks at the unique challenges of bringing the world of G.I. JOE and COBRA to life, while immersing viewers in the incredible thrills and various FX challenges of the film’s major action sequences.

From the press release:

“The two-disc DVD and Blu-ray packages will also feature augmented reality technology that will allow owners to participate in an exclusive 3D holographic G.I. JOE combat experience, utilizing their webcams and a special website. Fans will be able to choose between SNAKE EYES and STORM SHADOW, two of the most popular G.I. JOE and COBRA characters, and battle against their enemies one-on-one in an immersive 3D video game.”

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TRANSFORMERS: Revenge of the Fallen
Street date: October 20, 2009
Runtime: 142 minutes
Pricing: $19.99 (Single-disc DVD)
$24.99 (Two-disc DVD)
$29.99 (Two-disc Blu-ray)
U.S. Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action violence, language, some crude and sexual material and brief drug material
Canadian Rating: PG for violence

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. – With more action and more thrills, TRANSFORMERS: Revenge of the Fallen captivated audiences to earn over $820 million at the box office and become the #1 movie of the year in North America and throughout the world. The latest spectacular adventure in the wildly popular TRANSFORMERS franchise will make its highly-anticipated DVD and Blu-ray debut on October 20, 2009 in immersive, two-disc Special Editions, as well as on a single disc DVD, from DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures in association with Hasbro; distributed by Paramount Home Entertainment. The eagerly-awaited home entertainment premiere will be accompanied by one of the division’s biggest marketing campaigns ever, generating awareness and excitement of galactic proportions.

From director Michael Bay and executive producer Steven Spielberg, in association with Hasbro, TRANSFORMERS: Revenge of the Fallen delivers non-stop action and fun in an all-new adventure that the whole family can enjoy. Featuring out-of-this-world heroes in the form of the mighty AUTOBOTS and a malevolent and powerful villain known as THE FALLEN, the film boasts some of the most sensational—and complex—visual effects in film history set against the backdrop of spectacular locations around the world. In addition to audience favorites OPTIMUS PRIME and BUMBLEBEE, the film’s human stars have returned to help save the world including Shia LaBeouf (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull), Megan Fox (How to Lose Friends & Alienate People), Josh Duhamel (“Las Vegas”), Tyrese Gibson (Four Brothers) and John Turturro (The Good Shepherd).

The TRANSFORMERS: Revenge of the Fallen two-disc Blu-ray and DVD feature over three hours of in-depth, immersive special features that let viewers further explore the world of the legendary ROBOTS IN DISGUISE. Among the engrossing content is a multi-chapter documentary, including interviews with the cast and crew, that chronicles the entire making of the film from development and design to filming in locations around the globe, working with the U.S. military, creating the groundbreaking visual effects and putting it all together to produce the biggest film of the year. The discs also include an all-access featurette following renowned director Michael Bay through an entire day, a comprehensive exploration of the “confidential files” on a dozen of the TRANSFORMERS characters featured in the film, multi-angle breakdowns of some of the most sensational action sequences and much, much more.

The Blu-ray and two-disc DVD packages also will feature augmented reality technology that will allow owners to interact with a holographic image of OPTIMUS PRIME utilizing their webcams and a special website. Fans will be asked to piece together the Matrix of Leadership to bring OPTIMUS PRIME back to life, help repair his armor and calibrate his weapons by actually controlling his aim during target practice.

As an added bonus, the Blu-ray will include an exclusive interactive feature that gives viewers the ability to customize their own robot characters and get a glimpse at a rogue robot. Out of all the available permutations, one will unlock an exclusive interview with Michael Bay about his plans for the next adventure.

Two-Disc Special Edition DVD & Blu-ray:
The TRANSFORMERS: Revenge of the Fallen two-disc Special Edition DVD is presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 televisions with Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround, French 5.1 Surround and Spanish 5.1 Surround with English, French and Spanish subtitles. The Blu-ray will be presented in 1080p high definition with English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French 5.1 Dolby Digital and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital with English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese subtitles. The disc breakdown is as follows:

Disc 1:
• Commentary by Michael Bay, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman

Disc 2:

• The Human Factor: Exacting Revenge of the Fallen—This multi-chapter documentary chronicles the entire creation of the film and includes interviews with the cast and crew:
o Seeds of Vengeance – Development and Design – After the overwhelming success of 2007’s Transformers, how do the filmmakers top themselves for the sequel?
o Domestic Destruction – Production: United States – Michael Bay believes in going big: Big action and big explosions. Cast and crew are pushed to the limit as they traverse the U.S. from New Mexico to Pennsylvania.
o Joint Operations – Production: Military – No other filmmaker in the world enjoys the kind of military access and cooperation Michael Bay has. Here we see just how efficient our armed forces are and the awe and respect shown by the cast.
o Wonders of the World – Production: Middle East – You can’t really reproduce Egypt anywhere but Egypt so off we go to Giza and Luxor.
o Start Making Sense – Editing – In order to turn over the massive amount of film as quickly as possible to VFX, four editors work tirelessly in a unique tag-team approach to shape the film.
o Under the Gun – Visual Effects – Revenge of the Fallen features the most complicated VFX in film history. So complicated in fact that the filmmakers were unsure they would make the deadline. The DEVASTATOR VFX alone required 83% of ILM’s total render farm capacity.
o Running the Gauntlet – Post-Production and Release – Working seven days a week, Michael Bay and company usher the film through sound design, Digital Intermediate color-timing and a globe-trotting whirlwind of premieres.

• A Day with Bay: Tokyo—An intimate and fun all-access journey with Michael Bay as he travels to Tokyo, Japan tor the world premiere of the biggest film of the year.
• 25 Years of TRANSFORMERS—Access an all-new featurette celebrating a monumental milestone for one of Hasbro’s most successful and popular franchises.
• NEST: Transformer Data-Hub—Explore conceptual artwork created by the production for 12 of the most popular AUTOBOTS and DECEPTICONS from the film.
• Deconstructing Visual Bayhem with Commentary by Pre-Vis Supervisor Steve Yamamoto— A series of multi-angle pre-visualization sequences allowing viewers to learn how some of the film’s most spectacular scenes were created with an introduction by Michael Bay.
• Extended Scenes
• Music Video: Linkin Park’s “New Divide”

BLU-RAY EXCLUSIVE:

• The ALLSPARK Experiment—Viewers get their chance to unleash the power of the recently recovered ALLSPARK shard on Earth vehicles. Begin by selecting and customizing a vehicle with a selection of parts and accessories. Then apply the ALLSPARK to this creation and watch what happens. Applying the ALLSPARK to certain custom combinations enables four new robot characters with special powers. If viewers discover all four, they unlock a fifth vehicle, which reveals a top secret message about the future of the TRANSFORMERS movie franchise.
• NEST: Transformer Data-Hub—A database of some of the TRANSFORMERS characters that appear in the new film, offering users access to each robot’s confidential file including:
o Innovative 3D spin galleries of each robot
o A timeline for each TRANSFORMERS character charting its origins, back story and design evolution from toys to animated series to comics and finally feature films

• Giant Effing Movie – A very personal look at the making of the movie.
• The Matrix of Marketing—An archive of the film’s promotional media including trailers, posters and television spots.

A Message for All Mankind
The TRANSFORMERS: Revenge of the Fallen Blu-ray and DVD debut will be supported by one of the largest marketing and promotional campaigns in Paramount Home Entertainment’s history. In addition to a multi-million dollar advertising blitz spanning television, print, radio and online, a stellar array of partners has joined forces with the studio to ensure that the AUTOBOTS’ message is transmitted to all of the Earth’s inhabitants.

Chevrolet returns as a partner with an awesome sweepstakes offering participants the chance to win a dream garage. The winner will select two Chevy vehicles of their choice from the most diverse line-up on the planet, including the coveted Camaro, the all new Equinox, the critically acclaimed Malibu, the legendary Silverado and others. A huge online campaign will drive consumers to TransformYourGarage.com to enter to win. Papa John’s will launch a massive national promotion in over 2,500 locations and featuring a multi-million dollar national television campaign promoting a $3.00 coupon for the DVD and Blu-ray. Papa John’s will also produce over two million limited edition TRANSFORMERS-themed pizza boxes and promote the offer and DVD release on 25 million pieces of direct mail and over 250 million online impressions. Land O’Frost will feature a $3.00 DVD rebate inside five million packages of One Pound Premium® deli pouch lunch meats. The promotion will be executed across nearly 20,000 supermarkets. Perdue will feature a promotion on 2.5 million packages of PERDUE® Refrigerated Breaded Chicken products featuring a $5 DVD rebate that will be promoted through a full-page free-standing insert ad and in-store POP.

Synopsis:
The battle for Earth continues in this action-packed blockbuster from director Michael Bay and executive producer Steven Spielberg. When college-bound Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) learns the truth about the ancient origins of the TRANSFORMERS robots, he must accept his destiny and join OPTIMUS PRIME and BUMBLEBEE in their epic battle against the DECEPTICONS, who have returned stronger than ever with a plan to destroy our world.

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What the…? I was just about to hit the sack when I noticed this image at German website, AreaDVD. It’s a promotional sheet meant for retailers in Germany selling Paramount‘s upcoming Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra Blu-ray discs. Yeah, it’s really small. And it’s not really telling us much we didn’t already know. But this quick little look into the future kind of confirms what we had suspected – Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen will street sometime in November with G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra coming to Blu-ray just before the holidays, in December.

Additionally, Play.com from the UK has posted these two disc covers, for the single and double disc DVD versions of Transformers 2. Remember, until we get official studio confirmation, this information must be considered rumour and the package art mock-ups for pre-sale purposes only.

For a look at what we do know for sure about the TF2 Blu-ray, read our article here: Michael Bay Talks Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen Blu-ray, Confirms Shifting Aspect Ratios

UPDATE – Blu-ray.com has posted a snap by one of its readers, revealing the Transformers release date as October 20 in the US and Canada, at least 10 days ahead of the projected UK release date. The image also show the DVD package art and the retailer’s “exclusive” steelbook packaging.

Hey, does anyone else think that ad is from Future Shop?

Via: Transformers Data Portal

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Why the hell don’t we have this movie on Blu-ray yet?! Urrrr…

All right. Let me explain. Transformers: the Movie, the animated giant-robot extravaganza that shaped my youth, came out in 1986. You know the film. The one with that song that goes, “YOU GOT THE TOUCH. YOU GOT THE POWER!” Yeah. That one. In the last number of years, the film has arrived in the home video market on DVD, in a variety of versions. Some full screen, attempting to show the full animated frame but looking way too loose, compositionally. Some widescreen, attempting to replicate the matted cinematic presentation (where movie theatres chop off the top and bottom of the picture – really, it happens ALL the time!) but looking way too tightly composed. Each version suffered additional problems in colour fidelity and compression. It seems that no studio, no release is able to get Transformers: the Movie quite right.

And then came Metrodome. This UK studio has tried again and again to release the perfect version of Transformers to home video. And to be fair, they’ve come the closest in their 2006 Blu-ray release of the film. So there. We actually DO have it on Blu-ray. Just not in North America. And nowhere near perfect yet.

Metrodome’s release of Transformers: the Movie is possibly as sharp and detailed as a transfer could be with the old film elements. However, the Blu-ray disc’s colour timing and audio mix are in desperate need of improvement. As you watch the film, colours shift all over the place, sometimes drastically changing from shot to shot within a scene. This may also be a fault of the original elements. But in the hands of a studio with a slightly bigger budget, it’s possible that we could see a more balanced representation of Transformers: the Movie. The audio mix, on the other hand, may be beyond help. It’s always been terrible. But perhaps an HD, uncompressed audio track would rescue a little sonic fidelity from the otherwise thin source.

Sony holds the rights to release Transformers: the Movie in North America. God only knows why they haven’t bothered bothered to release a Blu-ray version yet, milking the hype driven by the two live action films. I can only hope that they’ve got the film in a lab somewhere, with hordes of technicians labouring over it day and night, to build the perfect Blu-ray release – impeccably framed, perfectly colour timed with booming uncompressed audio and a bevy of extras.

Sadly, at this point, I think there’s as much chance of Sony giving us Transformers: the Movie on Blu-ray as there is of Megan Fox turning up in my bed.

NOTE: The UK Metrodome release of Transformers: The Movie is ALL REGION. It will play on any Blu-ray player in any part of the world. So, even though it’s not perfect and not on store shelves in North America, if you can’t wait to own it on Blu-ray, it’s yours for the purchasing! I’ve included two links below: The first is for the US Amazon.com where you can pick up a version of the UK disc at a premium. The second is Amazon.co.uk where you can get Transformers: The Movie for very little but with an slight import cost.

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We previously gave you the run-down of all the extra stuff you can expect to see when you connect your Transformers Blu-ray to the net via BD-Live. But Blu-ray.com has a full review of all the new material and from the looks of it, you shouldn’t get your panties in a knot trying to access it.

What you’re going to see seems like an extension of the copious bonus material already available on the disc. Other great stuff, like Megan Fox‘s audition and a behind-the-scenes look at the voice actors (Peter Cullen is God!), while cool, has already been out in the wild for a while now. Just browse YouTube if you don’t believe me.

Of course, there are a bunch of Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen reveals and behind the scenes featurettes too, if you’re into that kind of thing.

Read the full review at Blu-ray.com.

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The Blu-ray Blog had it right on the money when we wrote that the Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen Blu-ray would feature shifting aspect ratios to accommodate the larger IMAX footage, much as last year’s The Dark Knight disc had. What we didn’t know is that the amazing Charles de Lauzirika, “Ridley Scott‘s DVD guy” as Bay refers to him, will be responsible for the disc. Oh boy. Now that’s something to get excited about.

Cole Haddon at Film.com got the interview:

Cole Haddon: Rumor has it the IMAX version has more footage than the regular version. Is that true?

Michael Bay: Actually, the IMAX version, with film time if you want to talk, is 2 hours and 20 minutes exactly. It has, I think, probably about a minute more of footage. It’s got some more fighting footage that took place in the forest, some additional stuff with Devastator. I haven’t [even] seen it in IMAX [myself yet]. I’m excited to see that. It wasn’t ready until this weekend.

CH: Any plans yet for the DVD and Blu-ray?

MB: This one will be done by Ridley Scott’s DVD guy, who’s great, so we’re going to have a lot of stuff on this.

CH: How do you go about incorporating the IMAX footage into those?

MB: We’re going to do a special IMAX skew where it’ll open up for those scenes. You can see top to bottom.

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New Transformers Content:

• Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Sneak Peek — Footage from the new film
• From the set of Revenge of the Fallen: Day 1 — An exclusive inside look at the first day of shooting
• From the set of Revenge of the Fallen: A Day in the Shade —A comical look at the differences between Megan and Shia’s on-set treatment
• Never-Before-Seen Deleted Scenes from Transformers
• Fly on the Set: Pentagon — On the set filming of the Pentagon Military Command Center
• Music and Mayhem — Renowned special effects house ILM deconstructs the blockbuster action of Transformers
• Metal in Motion — Special effects tests and early robot animation
• Stunts 101 — An in-depth look at the amazing stunts in Transformers
• Choose Your Weapon —A fly on the wall glimpse into the selection of weapons and how they were used by the film’s soldiers
• The Man in the Ice — From design to production, watch the Arctic come to life on various sets in Los Angeles, California
• Voices — The voices behind the Autobots and Decepticons
• Audition Tapes: Megan Fox — Megan’s original Transformers audition

Via: Blu-ray.com

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I’m not trying to stir up shit here. This just seems like common sense to me. Though it’s not even in cinemas yet, all signs are pointing to the eventual Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen Blu-ray release getting The Dark Knight treatment: aspect ratios that shift between 1.78:1 and 2.4:1 to approximate the theatrical experience of watching the film in IMAX. Michael Bay, outspoken Blu-ray enthusiast, shot four scenes with an IMAX camera and rendered the CGI robots in 4K resolution – a first for this style of special effect – to take advantage of the stupidly large 53ft tall screen. According to the director, those high-res scenes play longer in the IMAX cut of the film, shafting those poor souls who only experience the 35mm version out of a further few minutes of manic robot action. It only stands to reason that this longer cut will be the director’s preferred version to appear on Blu-ray as well, shifting IMAX ratios intact, no doubt shafting DVD purchasers out of the extended cut as well.

So, this is my math: If IMAX=MORE ROBOTS and IMAX=BLU-RAY then BLU-RAY=MORE ROBOTS! (Ok, I always sucked at math…) The long and the short of it is that the Blu-ray edition of the film will have greater video resolution and most likely, more robot fighting than on DVD.

Michael Bay posted this statement on his official forum Sunday night:

“In Japan today. After a month and half seven days a week most days going till midnight me and my crew have just about finished Transformers. I have never seen such a level of dedication from every crew member in a movie before.

Even today after the press in Japan and right before the premiere tonight, I have to sneak out to a digital house to approve the last few effect shots.

It has been a long hard road, but really fun one to travel. What you will notice that is strikingly different than Transformers 1, is the level of animation detail. The robot characters (42 in all), you really can feel empathy for them. What is also very different is the sheer scale of the movie. We have been very tight holding back much of the best imagery in commercials and trailers.

The way to see this movie is on IMAX. Never before has there been 4k rendered character animation shot on full IMAX 70 mm film. This is a first and the results are stunning. You will see Optimus Prime in a few shots where he is actually perfectly to scale on the IMAX 50 foot tall screens.

For IMAX, I created a slightly longer cut with more robot fighting. Four scenes were shot on IMAX cameras so the screen will fill the full IMAX screen for these scenes.”

Expect Paramount/Dreamworks to announce details of the disc release before the summer is out. Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen is in IMAX and old, boring theatres June 24th.

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