Everything Wrong with Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

CinemaSins has posted their sins for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts which takes pleasure in dinging a movie for stuff big and small or just because. Thanks to Feris O. for the link.

How Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Should Have Ended

Not much on the movie front for Transformers, in the meantime here is an amusing take on some of the plot holes in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts from the How It Should Have Ended crew. Thanks to Feris O. for the link.

Honest Trailer for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

Here is Screen Junkie's latest Honest Trailer, this time for Transformers: Rise of the Beast. It basically just makes a little fun of the movie and its tropes along with the commentator doing a good Optimus Prime voice at the end. Thanks to Feris O. for the lnk.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Available Now on Paramount+

Hard to believe that Transformers: Rise of the Beasts was released just a little over a month ago on June 9, 2023. Use to be you had to wait around six months to watch a movie at home with a home video release. Then another three to six months before it made its way to cable. Then usually a year after that before could see if for free on broadcast television cut up by commercials. The window over time got a little shorter but the order more or less stayed the same.

Now, if the movie under performs, the release model is just wait a few short weeks and get buy it digitally followed quickly by a streaming release and almost as an after thought, the home video release (for this movie, October 10th). For those that decided to not see it in theaters, your brief bout of patience has been rewarded as Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is now on Paramount+ for half the cost of a movie ticket if choose to subscribe (if subscribe, also recommend giving Star Trek: Strange New Worlds a watch).

A quick update on the box office of the movie, its now at $427.1 million worldwide, $41 million less then Bumblebee ($468M). The not great box office showing is why the movie was fast tracked to digital release and streaming. Based on the Blu-ray release date, they expected it to last through August in theaters, then month off for digital and home video release on October 10th followed by Paramount+ release in time for Thanksgiving holiday. The box office results caused them to accerlerate all those plans as wanted to at least ride some of the marketing momentum from the theatrical release. Blu-ray manufacturing and distribution is on its own schedule and trying to adjust that to match these revised digital release plans would require spending more money then that is worth. So good news for fans wanting to see the movie and couldn't get to a theater but not good news for possiblity of a Transformers 8.

Rise of the Beasts Behinds the Scenes Featurette on Voice Work and Filming

Here is another featurette for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts that is still in some theaters and also available on streaming services. This one is Director Steven Caple Jr. talking about working with Peter Dinklage as he voiced Scourge along with Peter Cullen voicing Prime. Its also talks about making sure to give New York its 90s look and filming in Peru. Thanks to Feris O. for the link.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Deleted Scenes and BTS Clips

Starting today Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is now available to purchase from streaming services such as Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Vudu and many more. The Blu-ray release of the movie is currently scheduled for October.  As part of that release, multiple clips have been released that are part of the bonus features release with the movie.

The first video is an alternate opening to the film with Optimus Prime battling Transit with a bus alt mode. The scene is a combination of filmed footage, animatics and completed special effects that looks cool and expensive cut to make. Screencaps here.

The second video is a look at director Steven Caple Jr. with his approach to the film and his goals in making the film. The third video is another deleted scene that shows an alternate take on the Cave and mountain road battle scenes that included more with Cheetor and Rhinox. A behind the scenes clip looking filming the road sequence is on Twitter. Another deleted scene can be found here. Thanks to Feris O. for the links.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Crosses $400M Box Office

With a very busy June as competition, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts managed to cross $400 million threshold in worldwide box office. The total currently sits at $407.7 million ($146.7M USA, $261M international). With the digital release tomorrow and Mission: Impossible coming out this Friday, its screen count will probably drop to significantly. That means its on a trajectory of being the lowest grossing movie of the franchise which before was Bumblebee's $465 million. More then likely the film will break even for Paramount but its not the money maker it was intended to be (at least $600M). What this means for the future of the franchise is unknown but it probably will not be these expensive $200 million movies.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Blu-Ray Special Features

Blu-ray.com forums have revealed the possible special features that will come with Transformers: Rise of the Beasts when it is release on October 10, 2023. That is one nice thing about physical copy, you still get special features which is not always available with the digital copy (starting July 11). Its estimated to be about 90 minutes of stuff with behind the scenes footage and multiple deleted or alternative scenes. You can order the movie in various formats on Amazon.

Special features:

• Heroes (10 minutes)
• Villains (9 minutes)
• Human Affairs (8 minutes)
• Life In The 90s (6 minutes)
• The Chase (6 minutes)
• The Battle Of Ellis Island (7 minutes)
• The Switchback Attack (7 minutes)
• Into The Jungle (10 minutes)
• The Final Conflict (11 minutes)
• The Transit Depot Alternate Opening - Deleted Scene (4 minutes)
• The Cave/Switchback - Alternate/Extended (4 minutes)
• Are You Ready? - Deleted Scene (2 minutes)
• This Can't Be Real - Extended (1 minute)
• Noah Comes Home - Extended/Deleted Scene (1 minute)
• The Maximal Crest - Extended (1 minute)
• Alternate Ending - Deleted Scene (1 minute)

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Digital Release Is July 11

Good news, bad news situation here. Good news is Transformers: Rise of the Beasts will become available to purchase or rent on streaming services starting July 11. If that seems pretty quick, its because it is. Which brings us to the bad news that the movie is not doing well at the box office driving the quick release.

In its third week of release in theaters the movie dropped to fifth place behind Spider-Man, Elemental, The Flash, and No Hard Feelings.  The movie is sitting at a US gross of $123.1 million and international gross of $218.3 for a total of $343.8.  The movie might break close to even (around $400M) but its not the profit center that Paramount and Hasbro were hoping for as I estimate their minimum goal was $600 million. What this will mean for the future of the live action franchise is unclear. Generation One animated movie is still set for a release next year, they may wait to see how it does before deciding the franchise's movie future. 

On the home video front, the movie is set for release on October 10 with pre-orders up on Amazon.

Rise of the Beasts Mirage Featurette

Here is a quick featurette on Mirage as the Porsche 911 Carrera RS 3.8 used in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. Gives you little behind the scenes peek at making the movie. Thanks to Feris O. for the link.

On somewhat related note, an update on the box office. The movie dropped 66.1% for fourth place in sales for a $20.6M weekend bringing its US total to $101.3M. Worldwide the movies total is $278.9M. This weekend isn't bringing out a tentpole movie so likely it will stay in fourth or fifth place.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Review

While the critics blasted Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, really they are complaining that the film continues all the hallmarks of what a Transformer film is, with all the good and bad. Ultimately the result is an entertaining popcorn action film. As others have pointed out, it doesn't have the heart of Bumblebee yet it also avoids the story and fast editing mess that was the hallmark of the Michael Bay films.

The story is straightforward but it still relies on the Bayverse chestnut of tracking down a McGuffin that can be destructive or constructive depending on who is weilding it. The Autobots want it to return home to Cybertron, the bad guys want it so Unicron can drop by and have Earth for dinner. The entire story is tracking down the two parts of the McGuffin as the Decep... I mean the Terrorcons fight the Autobots over it. The story takes odd little shortcuts to justfiy why the Optimus Prime and company are willing to work with humans, the first time being actually very practical and by the end of the film the reasons are forced but at least the effort was made beyond "just because". There is an attempt at a story arc for Optimus Prime involving learning to trust humans that to me was unncessary considering the character's core philosopy is "Freedom is the right of all sentient beings" but the films are not known for a character arc, its something different. Unicron's appearances are impressive and epic in scope just do his sheer size but story wise he is effecitvely just another McGuffin.

Since films have a budget, it means the movie cannot be all robots, all the time, so here we have two main human characters. One is an ex-soldier worried about his family, the other is an academic forced along for the ride due to her knowledge. The film attempts to give them a backstory of sorts but honestly just like in previous films, its more to justify character decisions and could be skipped. The backstory is mostly about budget savings of having scenes that do not necessarily require expensive special effects to pull off.

This brings us to the usual high point of all the films which is the special effects. The Transformers all look outstanding, there are plenty of transformation sequences, and every penny they could spare was used to allow them to be on screen as much as possible. Really once the Transformers were introduced after an action squence involving Jazz.. I mean Mirage's car mode, there were few scenes that didn't have them on screen in either alt mode or robot mode. The action scenes are handled with skill so fortunately the editor didn't have to use quick cuts to hide lazy film making like the Bay films required. If there was one quibble its that the action scenes still suffer from a look of uniformity across the second tier characters where it becomes a mess of gunmetal clashing with gunmetal. There is a practical reason that Hasbro designed the characters to have set colors to define them. It makes it them easy to identify even if cannot remember their names and outside of Mirage and Optimus Prime, that use of color was never employeed well so often times would get confused on what a character was doing when in robot mode. It is something they really need to work on for future movies.

The acting on the film was as good as expect with any Transformers film. The human actors do a good job at the roles given which I know meant reacting to nothing but air. They get their moments, often forced to provide that human perspective to any given sequence whether its needed or not. The voice cast do their job, even though it leaks through that some were just there to collect a paycheck and little else as emotional inflection was far and few between. The stand outs were Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime who somehow plays the same role for decades and yet makes it sound new and impressive everytime and Peter Dinklage as Scourge who seems to relish being the bad guy.

If I had one huge negative of the film it was the music. Thanks to Guardians of the Galaxy's James Gunn, directors' seem to feel like they need to create music moments in their action films and frankly few have the story or the skill to do it right and that was the case here. Because of the emphasis on 1990s music along with the sounds of fighting, 90% of the time I could barely hear the score. Really the only reason I know the film has a score is because it has been released on streaming services and every now and then I would pick up hints of Transformers The Movie chords during Unicron scenes. A good score can often take a meh scene and help it soar as it works with what is on screen to convey the emotion the director intends and here that couldn't happen because the sound mix wouldn't allow for it. The result was a film that often felt flat to me. I could visually enjoy the film, appreciate the transformations, the effects, and more but emotionally it did nothing for me.

If I had to sum up the movie, it would be "it was fine." Writing this up I just kept wanting to use the word "fine" to describe everything. The story was fine, the various characters were fine. The acting was fine. The directing was fine. Nothing stood out one way or the other compared to previous Transformers films or current action films. I was expecting a Transformers film and that is exactly what I got. A fun action romp with a whatever story, involving whatever characters, clashing and duking it out with the best special effects Hollywood can provide.

Side Note: If by some miracle the producers of the franchise or the director see this, I have one piece of advice - fly free from the Bayverse. This film in its own weird way with use of Beast Wars characters and Terrorcons, is trying desperately hard to not contradict the Bayverse continuity too much (despite everything about it contradicting that continuity) and that likely held back what the director and writers might have done without such constraints. Just stop it. Embrace Bumblebee and Beasts is a new continuity so that means that all the Decepticons and Autobots are now back in play and take advantage of that. The film ends on a very interesting connected universe note that comics and Hasbro fans have long wanted for live action. Such an idea only works if you 100% abandon the Bayverse continuity. Its time is over.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Takes Number One At Box Office

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts enjoyed a solid box office opening this weekend, taking the top spot from Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse that came out last weekend. The movie took in $60.5 million from 3,678 theaters vs Spider-Man's $55.4 million from 4,332 theaters. This release out performed the last two Transformers films signficantly, with Bumbleebee making $21.6 million and Last Knight making $44.68 million. Internationally the movie made $110 million in 68 markets (aka countries) for a worldwide total of $170.5 million. Not a bad start for the $195 million budgeted film. Paramount's goal probably $1 billion in global box office sales but anything over $600 million will likely be deemed a success. Winning the weekend is mostly useful for bragging rights and in commercials to create FOMO for potential movie goers. Next week is the release of The Flash so not expecting Beasts to hold the top spot. Based on Rotten Tomatoes, critics disliked the film (52%) but audiences enjoyed it (92%) so a good sign it might have legs throughout the summer.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Blu-Ray Release Date, Steelcase

Even though the movie just came out this weekend, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts already has a release date for its home video release (but not its streaming release). The movie is setup to be out on September 25, 2023 in all the usual formats of 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD. There is also a 4K Steelbook that will be released but currently the listing is for Amazon UK only but find it hard to believe it will not get a widespread release. For more on the Steelcase release, click here. To pre-order the regular release, you can pre-order at Amazon. The ods of the current pricing staying so high is pretty low, it most will drop by $10 or more by time of release.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Score Available Now

Just in time for today's official release of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, the movie score is now available to buy or listen to. The 26 track score was combosed by Jongnic Bontemps with some tracks from long time Transformers movie composer Steve Jablonsky. Just a minor spoiler warning about track titles.

Amazon | iTunes | Spotify

Does Transformers Rise of the Beasts Have Mid or End-Credits Scene?

Does Transformers: Rise of the Beasts have a mid-credits scene? Yes. 

Does Transformers: Rise of the Beasts have an end-credits scene? No. 

Figure cut to the chase on that as every time I try to look up the answer for a film, the article buries the answer. There is no scene at the end of the credits, there is one early into the credits after the directed, producer and cast credits but before black screen with the long scroll of credits begin. So technically not "middle" but lack of a better term. So just have to hold that bathroom break a few extra minutes and good to go.

Introducing the Voice Cast of Rise of the Beasts, Dinklage on Voice Acting, Caple Interview

Here are more videos promoting Transformers: Rise of the Beasts which comes out today. In the first video, get a quick introduction to the core cast of voice actors. The second video has Peter Dinklage talks about performing voice acting vs live action acting. In the last, director Steven Caple Jr talks about his career and influences. Thanks to Feris O. for the links.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Official Final Trailer

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is just days away from release. Here is the final trailer for the film. Thanks to Feris O. for the link.

Sample Reviews for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

Critic reviews are coming in for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts which premieres in just a couple of days. The overall score from most can best be summed up as "meh". It is landing as better then most of the Bayverse Transformers films but not as good as Bumblebee. The Rotten Tomatoes average if currently at 56% with a goal of 70% being preferred since most critics will take 20 points off just for being a CGI heavy tentpole movie designed only to entertain. What I pay attention for in popcorn films is the audience score and so far there are no results in that regard. Below are few quotes pulled from a few reviews. A hardcore example of this is the Guardian review below where its clear the critic had no business being assigned this film.

If your interested in a Transformers fan's take on the movie, check out the review from Feris O. who has often contributed to this blog - Facebook | Twitter| Instagram
His take aligns with what many of the critics are saying citing weak story but good action.

The Guardian (1/5)

As obligatory human Noah Diaz (Anthony Ramos, looking like he’s just walked into a party and realized he doesn’t know anyone) stumbles through a cosmic clash between opposing hunks of dinged-up CGI... It behooves a viewer to set their suspension of disbelief at a generously accommodating looseness in dealing with a film featuring Airazor, the extraterrestrial cybernetic eagle that speaks in the voice of Michelle Yeoh... An unspoken aside of “who cares?” punctuates every line of dialogue, most nearly audible in those about the glowing rock that’s going to stop planet-sized monster Unicron (voiced by Colman Domingo and who has nothing to do with unicorns)... So if this is all stupid crap for overgrown and actual children, then why bother the undiscerning with anything above the bare minimum?

Deadline

Interviews with Cast from New York Premiere of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts recently held its USA Premiere in Brooklyn, NY at the Kings Theater just ahead of its release on June 8. Below is several videos as the actors walked the red carpet and answered various interview questions with not just the main cast but also the voice cast including Peter Dinklage (Scourge). If your interested in seeing official pics from the NY premiere, click here. Thanks to Feris O. for the links.

Rise of the Beasts Featurette and Two TV Spots

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is just days away from official release on June 9th (but really Thursday June 8 in most places in US). Here are three more videos to watch. The first is a featurette introducing the Maximals. The second gives you a look at the Rhinox transformation sequences and the last includes another angle of missle going by Arcee that seems to be in all other TV spots. Thanks to Feris O. for the link.