Transformers One - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray SteelBook

To say the last 17 years of Transformers movies have been a wild ride is quite an understatement! The modern franchises started out well enough with Michael Bay’s first film. Clunky and half the human characters were unwatchable, but the last hour was some thrilling live-action robot carnage. Then the quality of each film started to dwindle. Revenge of the Fallen was awful. Dark Side of the Moon was saved thanks only to the destruction of Chicago. Then the last two Bay films were essentially unwatchable dregs that only made things worse. 

Somehow they all made a ton of money but returns were diminishing. By the time we got to genuinely good live-action films like Bumblebee and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts audiences just weren’t showing up to the theater in the droves they once were. The films made money, but not the billions the Bay films were raking in. But just like the 1984 film, a return to animation, albeit CG, was what it took to do these characters true cinematic justice. I sat flabbergasted with the realization that Josh Cooley’s Transformers: One wasn’t just an entertaining movie, it might also be one of the best Transformers films to date…

Our future robots in disguise weren’t always the larger-than-life heroes and villains we know today. Before he was Optimus Prime, he was Orion Pax (Chris Hemsworth). Before he was Megatron, he was D-16 (Brian Tyree-Henry). They were simple cog-less unable to transform robots working as miners digging for Energon. Like all of the cogless Cybertronians, the hope is that one day their leader Sentinal Prime (John Hamm) would be able to locate the Matrix of Leadership and allow the Energon to flow so that once again all are one. Eager to help, Orion Pax isn’t one to sit around and wait. Feeling the pull of destiny, he’ll drag D-16 and his friends Elita-1 (Scarlett Johanssen) and B-127 (Keegan Michael Key) to the war-torn surface of their planet on a quest that will change the future of all Cybertron.

So I wasn’t taken in by the marketing of Transformers One at all. Even knowing the talent that made Toy Story 4 so great being involved wasn’t enough of a pull. But needing some mindless entertaining one day I plunked down my matinee rate, caught an early show, and was pleasantly surprised by the film that unfolded. Given the “they were friends before enemies” storyline, I expected something predictable and pedestrian, simply fluff for the kids given the more cartoonish appearance of the key characters. And yeah, the story starts out on the predictable path, but how the story was traveling that path was genuinely satisfying. I stopped worrying that it was following the pretty standard path of a hero's journey and a villain’s fall. I started enjoying myself with the terrific visuals, the creative approach to the character’s stories within the convoluted Transformers lore, and enjoying the talented voice cast. All of a sudden it struck me that what Cooley brought to the franchise was what could have been a new Toy Story film if Woody and Buzz became mortal enemies. 

While I don’t think it’s “perfect,” for a Transformers movie it’s amazingly adept storytelling. What the Michael Bay movies never got right is that the Autobot and Decepticon characters are just as important (arguably more so) than the human characters. We don’t need Shia’s parents, we didn’t need the Wahlberg family or the hilarious death of Anthony Hopkins - we needed the Transformers to be treated like real characters instead of just simple SFX spectacles. Bumblebee and Rise of the Beasts were edging in that direction, but Transformers One got them there in a way that only animation could pull off. While something of a box office bust barely recouping its budget, Transformers One was a refreshingly focused and genuinely good outing for our Robots in Disguise. I’d rather see another animated outing from Cooley than the possible upcoming G.I. Joe team-up flick. 

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray 

Transformers One rolls out for a two-disc 4K UHD + Blu-ray + Digital SteelBook release from Paramount. The 4K is pressed on a BD66 disc with the 1080p rocking a BD50 disc. The discs are housed in a stylish SteelBook with metallic accents. Essentially the front and back work like alternate cover art, depending on how you want to display the set, you could simply flip the case and you’d have a different cover. The inside is a simple picture from the film.

Transformers One arrives on the scene with a largely impressive 2160p Dolby Vision transfer. Given that it’s all CG animated, the film has an interesting blend of near-photo-realistic imagery with heightened, almost cartoonish appearances for our character robots. We get these wildly specific details of the world our robots live in. But then our slightly cartoonish characters come in and it all still feels organic. Everything looks like it has a real place and weight in our CG universe. The Dolby Vision grade is a real marvel helping add an extra layer of realism to the metallic sheen of the characters and bringing out the accent colors of their eyes. All around it’s a very good-looking transfer. But, comparing it to the Blu-ray, there are many times when the details are neck and neck identical. Looking at the bitrates of the 4K, they’re often shockingly low if there isn’t a lot of action on screen. The more characters and activity on the screen, the bitrate gets back into the healthier 60 and 70mbps range. But when it’s just Orion Pax and D-16 chatting about life, the bitrate craters into the low 20s and the only thing separating the 4K from the Blu-ray is the extra HDR enhancement. The 4K is certainly the better home video experience, but the differential margin is very slim. Even with bonus features, this BD66 disc leaves about 14 gigs of space on the table.

The great thing about this 4K and Blu-ray disc is the Atmos track, a true wall-to-wall near demo-worthy effort. From the depths of Cybertron to the big race to the full war climax, the mix keeps up with the action beautifully. Sound elements swirl and move through the soundscape keeping those channels engaged through the whole runtime. That race, the transport trains, and all of the Transformers that can fly, there’s tons of overhead activity that dips and swoops up and down through the channels. LFE has a LOT of impact with every hit, footfall, and explosion punching plenty of oomph through the subs. Throughout, dialog is clean and clear without issue. 

The same set of extras appears on both discs, which is nice and convenient. Overall we have some very short but well detailed pieces about various aspects of making the film. There’s the rather puffy EPK “making-of” that does offer relevant info, but the other featurettes are a little more focused and interesting. All told you’re looking at about 45 minutes of decent extra content. 

• In The Beginning (HD 10:14)
• World Building on Cybertron (HD 9:37)
• Together as One (HD 11:00)
• The Iacon 5000 (HD 6:26)
• The Battle for Cybertron (HD 8:59)

The Transformers franchise has gone through a lot of different iterations over the last four decades. From cartoons to comics to toys and video games to live-action feature films, there’s been a wide range of stories, lore, and creative decisions when bringing these characters to life. There’s also been a notable shift in quality from one feature film to the next. After moving past the Michael Bay era, this franchise has been trying to find itself. Bumblebee and Rise of the Beasts were solid entries, but I feel like fatigue with the bland live-action human elements had set in. Transformers One took the characters back to their animated roots and has given fans young and old something to really appreciate and enjoy. Josh Cooley brought that keen eye for character and story we saw with Toy Story 4 to the Transformers universe. The meager box office haul might doom another animated outing but if this is all we get, it was worth it. On 4K UHD, Transformers One shines brightest and best thanks to Dolby Vision while the Atmos audio desireably thunders away. Bonus features are slim, but at least informative. It might be hard to bring exhausted or jaded fans back into the fold, but this is a genuinely good Transformers film for fans of all ages. Recommended