The Transformers: Rise of the Beasts 4K is out on October 10, and fans will have a lot to sink their teeth into. It features a ton of featurettes showing how the film was made and an array of deleted and extended scenes. The seventh live-action Transformers film wound up being a lot of fun, even if it underused the newly introduced Maximals, and the home release will further grow your appreciation for the grand-scale action-adventure movie.
“Optimus Prime and the Autobots take on their biggest challenge yet! When a new threat capable of destroying the entire planet emerges, they must team up with a powerful faction known as the Maximals,” says the synopsis. “With the fate of humanity hanging in the balance, Noah (Anthony Ramos) and Elena (Dominique Fishback) will do whatever it takes to help the Transformers as they engage in the ultimate battle to save Earth.”
I had a really fun time watching Transformers: Rise of the Beasts in theaters, and thankfully, it was just as fun the second go-around. Taking place between the 80s-set Bumblebee and the Michael Bay movies, Steven Caple Jr.’s take on the series is a good middle ground between the two, melding a character-driven story with a larger scale and some great action. Anthony Ramos is the film’s lead and proves to be quite likable as Noah Diaz, a former military member who is struggling to support his family. The 90s setting is wonderful, and the globe-trotting adventure goes to some incredible parts of Peru, such as Machu Picchu, Cusco, and Tarapoto.
While it is Diaz’s journey that gets viewers invested in the plot, people are interested in the film due to the franchise itself. Featuring a lot of familiar Autobots, the film also marks the live-action debut of the Maximals, which are led by Ron Perlman’s Optimus Primal and Michelle Yeoh’s Airazor. While they get some great moments and are part of some of the film’s highlights, they are mostly in the background for large portions and don’t make as much of a mark as one would expect given the movie’s subtitle. Instead, it’s Pete Davidson’s Mirage that unexpectedly steals the show and has a nice character arc throughout.
The film is a really impressive undertaking, one that you don’t fully appreciate until you take a look at the behind-the-scenes featurettes that are included. There are over 70 minutes of well-put-together video packages that give a great look at how the film was shot. Particularly interesting was the “Into the Jungle” featurette, which details the difficulties of shooting on location in Peru, while other videos go over what went into its representation of the 90s, the human characters, and the designs of both its heroes and villains. There’s a lot to learn here, and it really makes the end product all the more impressive.
Sadly, there’s no commentary track here. However, there are 13 minutes of deleted and alternate scenes. The highlights are probably the alternate opening and ending shots, although they’re all interesting to watch. It’s particularly fun seeing the pre-visualization CGI as it’s a cool look behind the curtain at how these blockbusters are made.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts 4K Review: Final Verdict
The Transformers: Rise of the Beasts 4K looks and sounds great, delivering a high-quality experience that is further bolstered by over an hour of great special features. Any fan of the Hasbro series will find a lot to like here, as the film itself is still a fun journey with a strong family-focused core and teases an incredible sequel that we’ll hopefully see come to fruition.
Disclosure: The publisher provided ComingSoon with the product for our Transformers: Rise of the Beasts 4K review.