4K Review: “Transformers One” Limited Edition Steelbook

TRANSFORMERS ONE thrilled animation and Transformers fans alike earlier this year during its theatrical run, and now you can bring the movie home to enjoy again and again. Paramount Home Entertainment released it on digital on October 22, and now, as of December 17, it’s available on physical media, in 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD formats.

We were sent a copy of the TRANSFORMERS ONE limited edition 4K UHD Steelbook, and we’re happy to dive into the movie and the extras. This Steelbook contains a 4K UHD disc and a Blu-ray disc, both discs contain the feature film and all the bonus features. The code for access to the digital copy can be redeemed at Fandango @Home (formerly Vudu).

Personally, I’m becoming a bit disillusioned with having the digital components of my library spread out all over the place, and holding onto the hope that my digital content is still mine when one of those platforms either goes out of business or is bought out by another provider (see how earlier this year Funimation customers lost their purchases after it was bought out by Crunchyroll). I’m already nervous about having content split across Movies Anywhere and Amazon Prime, with even more legacy digital content still hanging on over at Apple TV (formerly iTunes).

Everyone who has seen this movie in theaters already knows how good the animation looks on a theater or IMAX screen, and the 4K resolution displayed on current big screen TVs will not disappoint.

Not much more can be said about the movie itself (see Louis’ review of the movie), but seeing the animation in detail for myself — the colors, the design of the robots and the world of Cybertron — where I can pause and take a much closer look at the work done by the designers and animators is a deep dive bit of fun for me.

Bonus content details of note are:

In The Beginning: Told for the first time, we experience the origin story of OPTIMUS PRIME (ORION PAX) and MEGATRON (D-16) and the evolution of their relationship from brothers-in-arms to sworn enemies. Filmmakers discuss the vision for the film and how it was brought to life.

This featurette focuses on developing the origins of Optimus Prime and Megatron, including Josh Cooley working with the voice actors to bring the nuances of their changing relationships to life. The details about using motion capture as pre-viz, before animation actually began was a great detail.

World Building On CYBERTRON: Director Josh Cooley, the production design team, and the visual effects team talk about rendering the colorful world of CYBERTRON, taking full advantage of the modern CG tools and effects at their disposal.

They go deeper into the history of a thriving Cybertron by designing what the planet would have looked like before the fall and the familiarity of the Transformers we have known up until this film. Their attention to detail on the metallic/robotic design of what Iacon City and the surface planet would have looked like long ago.

Together As One: Meet the A-list voice cast for each of the TRANSFORMERS: Chris Hemsworth (ORION PAX/OPTIMUS PRIME), Brian Tyree Henry (D-16/MEGATRON), Scarlett Johansson (ELITA-1), and more!

Hearing how the voice actors approached doing the “young” voices of the characters most of them grew up watching is delightful, because they all started in awe of doing voices that meant so much to their childhoods.

The Iacon 5000: Dive into the most epic TRANSFORMERS race ever as competitors vie for the ultimate prize! Go behind the scenes with the filmmakers as they break down this breathtaking action sequence.

Seeing how the animators and designers built the infrastructure and obstacles of the race was fun. Seeing how much work went into crafting the crowd and the participating Transformers and robots was deep, in terms of how much they were designing as well as small details that made the race more realistic and organic.

The Battle For CYBERTRON: Cast and filmmakers take you through the film’s epic climax as OPTIMUS PRIME and MEGATRON battle for CYBERTRON’s future.

The explanations of the change in camera angles and the use of light and shadows before the creation of Optimus Prime and the birth of the Transformers and the Autobots lend an extra bit of appreciation for how much planning went into the design of the story as well as the look of the world.

Modern animation styles are a sometimes little hard for me to adjust to, simply because of the hundreds of animated movies and series I grew up watching in the 1970s and 1980s, both original American animated series and Japanese anime features and shows.The evolution from simple to complex 2D designs was a marvel for me to experience, but the shift from 2D to 3D animated styles hasn’t captivated me as easily. Some have been done exceptionally well, others are just okay, and some others range from disappointing to off-putting. The animation style used for TRANSFORMERS ONE is something I would be able to enjoy for future feature films, and even a series on broadcast or streaming. So while I may be picky about my animation preferences, I’m interested to see where this style goes.

TRANSFORMERS ONE is available to buy on digital from Paramount Home Entertainment, and is now (December 17) available on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray™, and DVD, just in time for holiday gift-giving.

TRANSFORMERS ONE is the untold origin story of OPTIMUS PRIME and MEGATRON. Better known as sworn enemies, they were once friends bonded like brothers who changed the fate of CYBERTRON forever.

The first-ever fully CG-animated TRANSFORMERS movie, TRANSFORMERS ONE features a star-studded voice cast, including Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key, Steve Buscemi, with Laurence Fishburne, and Jon Hamm.

CAST: Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key, Steve Buscemi, with Laurence Fishburne and Jon Hamm
Directed by Josh Cooley
Story by Andrew Barrer & Gabriel Ferrari
Screenplay by Eric Pearson and Andrew Barrer & Gabriel Ferrari
Based on Hasbro’s Transformers™ Action Figures