Transformers: Dark of the Moon

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This article is about the film. For other uses, see Transformers: Dark of the Moon (disambiguation).
"The Dark of the Moon" redirects here. For other uses, see Dark of the Moon (disambiguation).
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
The poster depicts Optimus Prime, standing with a blade in his left arm, and a rifle in his right arm. There is also a young couple standing below the Transformer, and just where the 3 are standing, there is also a crash-landed Decepticon fighter. Behind the Transformer and the couple, there is a war-torn city of Chicago, with Decepticon battleships surrounding it. The film title and credits are on the bottom of the poster.
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMichael Bay
Written byEhren Kruger
Based onTransformers
by Hasbro
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyAmir Mokri
Edited by
Music bySteve Jablonsky
Production
companies
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release dates
Running time
154 minutes[4]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$195 million[5][6]
Box office$1.124 billion[7]

Transformers: Dark of the Moon is a 2011 American science fiction action film based on Hasbro's Transformers toy line. The film is the third installment in the Transformers film series and the sequel to Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009). The film is directed by Michael Bay and written by Ehren Kruger. It stars Shia LaBeouf, Josh Duhamel, John Turturro, Tyrese Gibson, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Patrick Dempsey, Kevin Dunn, Julie White, John Malkovich, and Frances McDormand. Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, and Sam Witwicky must lead the Autobots against Megatron and the Decepticons as they battle to possess powerful technology abandoned on the Moon, in order to restore Cybertron.

The film employed both regular 35 mm film cameras and specially-developed 3D cameras, with filming locations in Chicago, Florida, Indiana, Milwaukee, Moscow, and Washington, D.C. The film was 3D rendered specifically for 3-D, and the visual effects involved more complex robots which took longer to render. Dark of the Moon's release date was moved from July 1 to June 29, in order to monitor an early response to footage.

Exclusive early premieres took place on June 28, 2011, one night before worldwide release. The film received mixed reviews from critics and was praised for the score, visual effects, cast and voice performances, and use of 3D, however it was criticized for its screenplay, tonal shifts, and runtime.[8] Dark of the Moon grossed $1.124 billion worldwide, becoming the fifth highest-grossing film in history at the time, the second highest-grossing film of 2011, and the highest-grossing film in the franchise to date. Like the first film, it was nominated for Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Visual Effects at the 84th Academy Awards. It was followed by Transformers: Age of Extinction in 2014.

Plot[edit]

In 1960, the Ark, a Cybertronian spacecraft carrying an invention capable of ending the war between Autobots and Decepticons, crash lands on the dark side of Earth's Moon and is detected by NASA. President John F. Kennedy authorizes a mission to put a man on the Moon as a cover for investigating the spacecraft. In 1969, the crew of Apollo 11 lands on the Moon and secretly inspects the Ark before returning to Earth.

In the present day, the Autobots assist humanity in preventing major conflicts. During a mission to the site of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster to investigate suspected alien technology, the Autobots are attacked by Decepticon scientist Shockwave and his giant worm Driller. After the two escape, Optimus Prime discovers that the technology is a fuel cell from the Ark, thought to have been lost after escaping Cybertron. The Autobots travel to the Moon and discover Sentinel Prime, the Autobots' leader before Optimus, in a comatose state along with five Pillars he created as a means of establishing a "Space Bridge", a wormhole able to teleport matter between two points. On Earth, Optimus uses the energy of the Matrix of Leadership to revive Sentinel.

Meanwhile, Sam Witwicky lives with his new girlfriend, Carly Spencer but is unable to work with the Autobots. At his new job, co-worker Jerry Wang gives him information about the Ark, before being assassinated by the Decepticon Laserbeak. It is revealed that the Decepticons are murdering people connected to the American and Soviet space missions to the Ark. Sam contacts Seymour Simmons, and they locate two surviving cosmonauts, who reveal photos of hundreds of Pillars being stockpiled on the Moon. The Decepticons raided the Ark long before the Apollo 11 mission and intentionally left Sentinel and the five Pillars for the Autobots to find, knowing that Sentinel is the key to activating the Pillars. Meanwhile, Sam and the Autobots fight off three pursuing Decepticons and return Sentinel to their base. However, he betrays them, revealing that he made a deal with Megatron to ensure Cybertron's survival. Sentinel kills Ironhide, steals the Pillars, and escapes.

Sentinel uses the Pillars to transport hundreds of concealed Decepticons from the Moon to Earth. Dylan Gould, Carly's boss, is revealed to be working with them. With the help of Soundwave, he captures Carly. At the demand of the Decepticons, the Autobots are exiled from Earth. As their ship leaves Earth, it is destroyed by Starscream, seemingly killing them. The Decepticons invade Chicago while placing Pillars around the world to begin transporting their homeworld Cybertron to the Solar System. They want to use Earth's resources to rebuild their world, enslaving humanity in the process. Sam teams up with former NEST soldier Robert Epps to go into Chicago to save Carly and arrest Dylan. They are nearly killed by the Decepticons before the Autobots intervene. It turns out that the Autobots faked their death to gain an advantage over the Decepticons. Sam, along with NEST teams led by Lennox, and Navy SEALs, rescue Carly and begin fighting off the Decepticons. During the battle, Que is executed, and Bumblebee kills Soundwave while Optimus fights Sentinel. Laserbeak, Starscream, Shockwave, and the Driller are also killed in the ensuing battle.

Sam fights Dylan and knocks him into the Pillar, electrocuting and killing him. Bumblebee destroys the Control Pillar, permanently disabling the Bridge and causing the partially transported Cybertron to implode. Meanwhile, Carly convinces Megatron that he will be replaced by Sentinel as the leader of the Decepticons. While fighting, Sentinel is about to kill Optimus before he is incapacitated by Megatron, who is determined to regain his leadership. Megatron then falsely offers a truce, but Optimus refuses and kills Megatron by decapitating him. Sentinel tries to reason his actions to Optimus but is executed by him for his betrayal. Sam and Carly are reunited, and the Autobots remain on Earth as their permanent home.

Cast[edit]

Main article: List of Transformers film series cast and characters

Humans[edit]

Transformers[edit]

A Peterbilt 379 truck is seen at BotCon 2011, it is beside a promotional poster of the film, with people behind the truck.
A Peterbilt 379 used for the alternate mode of Optimus Prime
The Bumblebee Camaro from Transformers 3 at BotCon in 2011.

Non-speaking characters[edit]

  • Bumblebee: The Autobot scout who is Sam Witwicky's friend and guardian who transforms into a yellow and black 2011 Chevrolet Camaro.
  • Crowbar: The Leader of the Dreads who transforms into a black Police 2011 Chevrolet Suburban.
  • Crankcase: A Decepticon Dread who transforms into a black Police 2011 Chevrolet Suburban.
  • Hatchet: A quadruped Decepticon Dread who transforms into a black Police 2011 Chevrolet Suburban.
  • Driller: A giant worm-like tentacled Decepticon and Shockwave's pet.
  • Devcon: A quadruped Decepticon who participates in the Battle of Chicago and transforms into a MAZ-543P 8x8 Soviet missile launcher.
  • Topspin: An Autobot Wrecker who transforms into Jimmie Johnson's Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Lowe's/Kobalt 2011 Chevrolet Impala.

Production[edit]

Development[edit]

You just learn a lot more about the hierarchy, and there's more about the history of what they had in Cybertron. Leonard Nimoy plays a great role.

— Michael Bay, on developing Sentinel Prime's character[10]

As a preemptive measure before the release of Revenge of the Fallen, Michael Lucchi and Paramount Pictures announced on March 16, 2009, that a third film would be released on July 1, 2011, which earned a surprised response from director Michael Bay: "I said I was taking off a year from Transformers. Paramount made a mistake in dating Transformers 3—they asked me on the phone—I said yes to July 1—but for 2012—whoops! Not 2011! That would mean I would have to start prep in September. No way. My brain needs a break from fighting robots."[11] Screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, who had worked on the first two Transformers films, declined to return for the third film, with Kurtzman declaring that "the franchise is so wonderful that it deserves to be fresh, all the time. We just felt like we'd given it a lot and didn't have an insight for where to go with it next".[12] Revenge of the Fallen's co-writer Ehren Kruger became the only screenwriter for Dark of the Moon. Kruger had frequent meetings with Industrial Light & Magic's (ILM) visual effects producers, who suggested plot points such as the scenes in Chernobyl.[13] Additionally writer Jenni Konner was brought on to help punch up the script, fleshing out the female characters, and adding humorous jokes.[14][15]

On October 1, 2009, Bay revealed that Dark of the Moon had already gone into pre-production and its planned release returned to its originally intended date from 2012 to July 1, 2011.[16] Due to the revived interest in 3D filming technology brought on by the success of Avatar,[17] talks between Paramount, ILM, and Bay had considered the possibility of the next Transformers film being filmed in 3D, and testing was performed to bring the technology into Bay's work.[18] Bay originally was not much interested in the format as he felt it did not fit his "aggressive style" of filmmaking, but he was convinced after talks with Avatar director James Cameron,[19] who even offered the technical crew from that film. Cameron reportedly told Bay about 3D, "You gotta look at it as a toy, it's another fun tool to help get emotion and character and create an experience."[20] Bay was reluctant to shoot with 3D cameras since in test he found them to be too cumbersome for his filming style, but he did not want to implement the technology in post-production either since he was not pleased with the results.[21] In addition to using the 3D Fusion camera rigs developed by Cameron's team,[20] Bay and the team spent nine months developing a more portable 3D camera that could be brought into location.[19]

In a hidden extra for the Blu-ray version of Revenge of the Fallen, Bay expressed his intention to make Transformers 3 not necessarily larger than Revenge of the Fallen, but deeper into the mythology, for it to get more character development and for it to be darker and more serious. Unicron is briefly shown in a secret Transformers 3 preview feature in the Revenge of the Fallen Blu-ray disc. Ultimately, the producers decided to forgo a plot involving the planet-eating Transformer, and no further comments were ever made on the subject.[22] Having been called Transformers 3 up to that point, the film's final title was officially revealed to be Dark of the Moon in October 2010.[23] After Revenge of the Fallen was almost universally panned by critics and audiences, Bay acknowledged the general flaws of the script, having blamed the 2007-08 Writers strike before the film for many problems. Bay also said the film will get rid of the "dorky comedy" from the last film.[24] On March 19, 2010, the script was said to be completed.[25]

Casting[edit]

Dempsey on the set of Transformers: Dark of the Moon in 2010

Megan Fox was originally attached to the film, and Patrick Dempsey's role as Dylan Gould was to be the employer of Fox's character, Mikaela Banes.[26] According to various published sources, Fox's absence from the film was due to executive producer Steven Spielberg ultimately choosing not to renew her role in light of her comparing Bay and his work ethic to Adolf Hitler,[27][28] although representatives for the actress said that it was her decision to leave the film franchise.[29] Bay later claimed that executive producer Steven Spielberg told him to fire Fox,[30] a claim that Spielberg denied.[31] "I wasn't hurt", Bay stated, "because I know that's just Megan. Megan loves to get a response. And she does it in kind of the wrong way. I'm sorry, Megan. I'm sorry I made you work twelve hours. I'm sorry that I'm making you show up on time. Movies are not always warm and fuzzy."[30]

With Fox not reprising her role, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley was chosen to play Sam's new girlfriend.[32] Ramón Rodríguez was initially planned to be in the film, in a role bigger than the one he had in Revenge of the Fallen, but he was dropped during early production.[33] A few well-known actors such as John Malkovich and Frances McDormand also gained selected roles for the film. Malkovich explains: "I play a guy called Bruce Brazos, who's just a loudmouth, kind of business man who's Shia's character's boss. Who's just a jerk, and a kind of a loud one. But a fun character. Nice. It was fun. Very, very enjoyable, just with Shia, Rosie a little bit, and with John Turturro. So, for me, it was a blast."[34] Another well-known actor, Ken Jeong, was cast as an eccentric co-worker and stalker. Jeong described the film, "Yeah, it's a small role in Transformers, but yeah. I had an out-of-body experience working on that one because I just couldn't believe I was there. Still, that was not a thing where oh, I'm going to be a part of a blockbuster franchise like Transformers 3 or even now Hangover 2 for that matter. So I can't believe I'm a part of these franchises in any way. It was amazing. Michael Bay is brilliant and it'll blow your mind."[35]

For the role of Decepticon scientist Shockwave, veteran Transformers voice actor Corey Burton was originally approached to voice the character after previously doing so in the original television series and Transformers: Animated. Burton declined the offer, citing his work schedule and disinterest in being involved in a blockbuster franchise. David Warner (Burton's influence on his Shockwave voice) was briefly considered, but the role was ultimately given to Frank Welker, adding to his already long list of Transformers characters.[36][37]

Themes and inspirations[edit]

Due to the critically panned Revenge of the Fallen, Bay decided to completely remove the characters the Twins from Dark of the Moon: "This one really builds to a final crescendo. It's not three multiple endings. One thing we're getting rid of is what I call the dorky comedy. [The twins are] basically gone."[38] Due to fan rumors that the Twins would actually be in the film, the director made a public $25,000 "bet" that the Twins would not be seen in Dark of the Moon.[38] They had a brief cameo in the N.E.S.T headquarters in their vehicle modes in the film.

Bay acknowledged that Revenge of the Fallen was "disappointing to the fans" and said that he "doesn't want the third one to suck".[39] Bay said that he wanted Dark of the Moon's final battle to be more geographic and feature a "small group of heroes" like Ridley Scott's war–drama Black Hawk Down, Joe Dante's science fiction Small Soldiers and Hasbro's G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.[39] Bay also decided to include Shockwave because he considers the character "bad" and "He's got a much bigger gun [than Megatron and is] a little bit more vicious."[39] According to The A.V. Club, the film had several minor story inspirations from the 1980s cartoon The Transformers, including the usage of a Space Bridge, and the "kicking the Autobots out".[40][better source needed]

Similar to the previous two installments, the film was told in the human point-of-view to engage the audience. Bay wanted Sam to have a girlfriend like in the first two films. Actor Shia LaBeouf said that Sam and Mikaela had become "one character" and, although he would "miss" Megan Fox, with this change "you have discovery again from a new perspective."[41] LaBeouf also stated that the additions of Huntington-Whiteley and new characters allows Dark of the Moon to keep the "magic" of the first film.[42]

Dark of the Moon also had numerous Star Trek references, partly because scriptwriter Ehren Kruger was a "big Star Trek geek",[43] but also as a nod to the fact that new character Sentinel Prime was voiced by Leonard Nimoy, who originated the iconic role of Spock on Star Trek and voiced Galvatron in The Transformers: The Movie. The first Star Trek reference is when refugee robots Brains and Wheelie, who live in Sam and Carly's apartment complex, are watching TOS episode "Amok Time"; Wheelie comments "I've seen this one. It's the one where Spock goes nuts."[43] The second reference is when Sam meets his girlfriend, Carly Spencer at work, and is being introduced to Carly's employer, Dylan Gould, Sam marvels at their workplace: "It's a beautiful building you guys have. Like the Starship Enterprise in here."[43] The third reference is when Bumblebee says goodbye to Sam at Cape Canaveral: the words "my friend" are sampled from Spock in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan ("You are ... my friend. I am and always shall be yours.").[43] The fourth and final reference is when Sentinel Prime activates the Control Pillar, quoting Spock's maxim in Star Trek II and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few".[43]

Filming[edit]

Explosions on Wacker Drive in Chicago for Transformers: Dark of the Moon filming on location
The shooting of Transformers   3 in Chicago in July 2010, in the foreground the Autobot wrecker Topspin as a heavily armed Chevrolet Impala.
A Peterbilt 379, and a yellow Camaro are beside each other, with two police cars behind. They are near a building complex.
Vehicles used on the set of Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Its production cost was reported $195 million, with the cost of the 3D filming accounting at $30 million of the budget.[5] Preparation for filming began on April 7, 2010, in Northwest Indiana, specifically around Gary, which played Ukraine in the film.[44][45][46] Principal photography commenced on May 18, 2010, with shooting locations including Chicago, Florida, and Moscow.[47][48] The first six weeks were spent in Los Angeles: locations included Sherman Oaks, Fourth Avenue, and 5. Main. The next four weeks were spent in Chicago. Locations filmed in Chicago included LaSalle Street, Michigan Avenue, Bacino's of Lincoln Park at 2204 North Lincoln Avenue and areas surrounding the Willis Tower.[49] The scenes set in Michigan Ave featured a substantial amount of pyrotechnics and stunt work.[50] Filming in Detroit was planned to take place in August but the Chicago shoot was extended until September 1.[51] In late September, the production moved to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, just before the launch of Space Shuttle mission STS-133.[52] Scenes were filmed at Launch Pad 39A, the Vehicle Assembly Building and the Orbiter Processing Facility.[53]

Four men wearing battle fatigues and holding guns and a crewmember wearing a white shirt, a hat and a walkie-talkie attached to its shorts stand on a set resembling a war torn city.
Actors on a Transformers: Dark of the Moon set in July 2010

While filming in Washington, D.C., the crew shot on the National Mall and Bay said that there would be a car race on the location. Two further locations announced were the Milwaukee Art Museum and the former Tower Automotive complex on Milwaukee's north side, then under redevelopment for mixed use also the city's equipment yard. Filming was scheduled to take place there after work was done in Chicago.[54] On September 23, scenes were filmed at the former city hall in Detroit. On October 16, a flashback scene that takes place in the later 1960s was shot at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, using extras with period fashion and hairstyles.[55] A day of shooting was also spent at the Angkor Wat temple complex in Cambodia.[56] Other planned filming locations included Africa and China.[57] Though about 70% of the film's live-action footage was shot in 3D[58] using Arri Alexa and Sony F35 cameras,[59] more than half of the film still had to be converted into 3D in post production to fix technical flaws that 3D filming produces.[60] Other footage that needed to be converted into 3D in post production was either completely computer-generated imagery or shot in the anamorphic format on 35 mm film.[58] 35 mm film was used for scenes filmed in slow motion and scenes such as closeups of faces or shots of the sky that required higher image quality than the HD digital 3D cameras could provide.[58] 35 mm cameras were also used for scenes where the 3D cameras proved to be too heavy, or were subject to strobing or electrical damage from dust.[58] Principal photography officially concluded on November 9, 2010.[61]

Dark of the Moon was found to carry recycled footage from an earlier film directed by Michael Bay—The Island (2005).[62] Bay recycled the same footage from his film Pearl Harbor (2001) in the first Transformers film.[63]