Transformers: Dark of the Moon | |
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Let me through, I see a ladybug! | |
Riffed by | RiffTrax |
Riffers | Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy, Bill Corbett |
Series | Transformers Trilogy |
Date Released | November 29, 2011 |
Transformers: Dark of the Moon is a 2011 American science fiction action film based on the Transformers toy line. First released on June 23, 2011, it is the third installment of the live-action Transformers film series. The movie is also the first in the franchise not to be distributed by DreamWorks, leaving the series to be owned by Paramount Pictures. Like its predecessors, Transformers and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Transformers: Dark of the Moon is directed by Michael Bay and executive produced by Steven Spielberg. This was the last film in the series to be owned by Takara Tomy, as Hasbro assumed ownership of the Transformers films in Japan. The film's story is set three years after the events of the 2009 film, with the Autobots, during their collaboration with the NEST (Nonbiological Extraterrestrial Species Treaty) military force, discovering a hidden alien technology in possession of humans, which had been found by Apollo 11 on the Moon 42 years earlier. However, the Decepticons unveil a plan to use the technology to enslave humanity in order to restore Cybertron, the home planet of the Transformers.
RiffTrax released their riff in November 2011.
Synopsis and Preview[]
[Spoilers Begin] In 1961, the Ark, a Cybertronian spacecraft carrying an invention capable of ending the war between the benevolent Autobots and the malevolent Decepticons, crash lands on the dark side of Earth's Moon. The crash is detected on Earth by NASA, and President John F. Kennedy authorizes a mission to put a man on the Moon as a cover for investigating the craft. In 1969, the crew of Apollo 11 lands on the Moon.
In the present, the Autobots assist the United States military in preventing conflicts around the globe. During a mission to Chernobyl to investigate suspected alien technology, Optimus Prime finds an engine part from the Ark, discovering that it had survived its journey from Cybertron. The Autobots are attacked by Shockwave, who manages to escape. After learning of the top-secret mission to the Moon, the Autobots travel there to explore the Ark. They discover a comatose Sentinel Prime – Optimus' predecessor as leader of the Autobots – and the Pillars he created as a means of establishing a Space Bridge between two points to teleport matter. After returning to Earth, Optimus uses the energy of the Matrix of Leadership to revive Sentinel Prime.
Meanwhile, Sam Witwicky is frustrated that he is unable to work with the Autobots or find a job. He also becomes envious of the close relationship between his new girlfriend, Carly Spencer, and her boss Dylan Gould. After finding work, Sam is provided information by his eccentric co-worker Jerry Wang about the Ark, before Jerry is assassinated by the Decepticon Laserbeak. Sam contacts the now-independently wealthy Seymour Simmons, and together they learn that the Decepticons and their leader, Megatron, are murdering people connected to the American and Russian space missions to the Ark. They locate two surviving Russian cosmonauts, who reveal satellite photos of hundreds of Pillars being stockpiled on the Moon. Sam realizes that the Decepticons raided the Ark long before the Autobots' mission and intentionally left Sentinel and five Pillars behind to lure the Autobots into a trap – Sentinel being the key to activating the Pillars and the Decepticons lacking the means to revive him. The Autobots rush to return Sentinel to their base for protection, but Sentinel betrays them and kills the Autobot Ironhide, revealing he had made a deal with Megatron to ensure the survival of the Cybertronian race.
Sentinel uses the Pillars to transport hundreds of concealed Decepticons from the Moon to Earth. Carly is captured by Gould, who is revealed to be in the service of the Decepticons. The Autobots are exiled from Earth at the demand of the Decepticons to avoid war, but as their ship leaves Earth it is destroyed by Megatron's second-in-command, Starscream, supposedly killing the Autobots. The Decepticons, led by Megatron and Sentinel, seize Chicago as their agents place Pillars around the world. Gould reveals to Carly that the Decepticons plan to transport their home world of Cybertron to the Solar System, then to enslave humanity and use Earth's resources to rebuild their world. Sam teams with U.S. Air Force Chief Robert Epps to go into Chicago to save Carly, but they are nearly killed by Decepticon forces before the Autobots intervene, revealing they concealed themselves during the launch of their ship to convince the Decepticons they were destroyed, as well as to prove to the humans that the Decepticons were untrustworthy.
Working together, the Autobots and human soldiers manage to rescue Carly and destroy Laserbeak, Starscream, Soundwave, Barricade, Shockwave, and the Driller with Optimus using Shockwave's arm-cannon to blast the Control Pillar, disabling the Space Bridge. Sam confronts Gould as he reactivates the Control Pillar, and knocks Gould into the Pillar, electrocuting him to death. Bumblebee and Ratchet arrive and destroy the Control Pillar, permanently disabling the Bridge and causing the partially transported Cybertron to implode. Optimus and Sentinel fight while Carly convinces Megatron that he will be replaced as leader of the Decepticons by Sentinel. Sentinel severs Optimus' right arm, and is about to execute him when Megatron intervenes, incapacitating Sentinel. Megatron invokes Optimus for a truce, having the desire to become the one in charge of the Decepticons again. Optimus refuses and attacks Megatron, decapitating and killing him, pulling out his head and spine. Sentinel pleads for his life, but Optimus executes him too for betraying his own principles. With the Decepticons defeated, Carly and Sam are reunited and the Autobots accept that, with Cybertron gone for good, Earth is now their home.
[Spoilers End]
Cast and Crew[]
- Shia LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky
- Rosie Huntington-Whiteley as Carly Spencer
- Tyrese Gibson as Robert Epps
- Josh Duhamel as Will Lennox
- John Turturro as Seymour Simmons
- Patrick Dempsey as Dylan Gould
- Kevin Dunn as Ron Witwicky
- Julie White as Judy Witwicky
- John Malkovich as Bruce Brazos
- Frances McDormand as Charlotte Mearing
- Alan Tudyk as Agent Simmons
- Ken Jeong as Jerry "Deep" Wang
- Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime
- Hugo Weaving as Megatron
- Leonard Nimoy as Sentinel Prime
- Jess Harnell as Ironhide
- Charlie Adler as Starscream
- Robert Foxworth as Ratchet
- James Remar as Sideswipe
- Francesco Quinn as Dino/Mirage,
- George Coe as Que/Wheeljack
- Tom Kenny as Wheelie
- Reno Wilson as Brains