"Transformers" is a super-big, Earth-shaking blockbuster, one that makes the most impact when its robots rise up in a multiplex. So how does it play on DVD? If you have a decent-sized TV and a solid sound system, it makes the leap to the smaller screen fairly successfully. But watch it on a 27-inch, non-high-definition set and the power of the effects fade, leaving the viewer with a taste of what the movie really is: An excuse to regenerate one of Hasbro's signature toy brands.
Of course that won't stop the girls and boys who love those toys from enjoying the two-disc special edition DVD ($36.99), which arrives today with multiple featurettes that reveal how Michael Bay and his team brought Optimus Prime, Megatron and the rest to cinematic life. Roughly three hours worth of featurettes take fans onto the sets -- including the blistering hot White Sands in New Mexico -- and inside the minds of the special effects gurus who did an impressive job of making those transformer transformations look 100-percent realistic.
Since this is a movie by Michael Bay -- a filmmaker simultaneously known for his ability to generate revenue and hatred among some film lovers -- the extras spend too much time gushing over how great and ground-breaking the movie is. A few times, they even inspire giggles. Take this comment from "Transformers" executive producer and, coincidentally, president of Hasbro Brian Goldner: "About 75 percent of all men have had a major Transformers experience in their lives. And that's true almost the world over." Really? You managed to survey every adult male in the entire world? If so, hat's off to you, sir.
The commentary track by Bay himself dishes out even more choice quotes (see below). But fascinating featurettes like "Rise of the Robots," which shows how the 18-foot-tall model of Autobot Bumblebee was sculpted out of foam, compensate for the missteps. Besides, even the occasional silliness of the bonus features fits right in with the movie, a giddy, albeit empty, geekfest.
Best Michael Bay Bonus Point: Bay is clearly in love with his own movie, which makes his commentary track a bit tedious after a while. But you have to respect his candor, even when it makes him sound like kind of a jerk. Case in point: His description of how angry he was on the first day of shooting when members of the crew were still eating dinner at the moment he wanted to get cameras rolling. He remembers telling his director of photography, Mitchell Amundsen, "Mitch, this is a big movie. You're not going to be eating your burritos anymore when I show up to set and I'm ready to work." I am sure Amundsen will be thrilled to discover that his boss's reprimand has been commemorated in DVD-commentary form.
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You caught "Death Proof " on DVD a few weeks ago. Today you can see the gorier half of "Grindhouse," as Robert Rodriguez's "Planet Terror" debuts. For more options, check out this full list of today's DVD debuts.
Kevin Costner meets Dane Cook in "Mr. Brooks," arriving next Tuesday. For a full calendar of what's coming to DVD in the weeks ahead, click here.
Releases worth marking on the calendar:
PHOTOS: 'Transformers' -- Paramount/'Planet Terror' -- Weinstein Co.
