Transformers: Rise of the Beasts 3D Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		0.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.5

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts 3D Blu-ray Movie Review

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is the seventh feature-film in the long-running Transformers franchise. Produced by Michael Bay (Transformers, Armageddon), Tom DeSanto (Transformers, X-Men), Lorenzo di Bonaventura (Madame Web, Transformers One), Duncan Henderson (Battleship, The Way Back), Don Murphy (Transformers, From Hell), and Mark Vahradian (Transformers, Transformers: Age of Extinction), Transformers: Rise of the Beasts earned $441.4 million on a 200 million budget. Starring Anthony Ramos, Dominique Fishback, Luna Lauren Velez, and Dean Scott Vazquez. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is one of the best installments in the franchise.

Noah Diaz (Anthony Ramos) is obsessed with technology. Noah has a unique gift with electronic devices – something that might come in hand in the future. Noah wants to do his best to help protect and look after his ill younger brother, Kris Diaz (Dean Scott Vazquez). Struggling to survive, Noah ends up doing the unthinkable and attempts to steal a high-value car – only for the vehicle to transform before his eyes.

Now Noah is face-to-face with the Autobot Mirage. The encounter leads Noah down a new adventure – one of fighting to help protect Earth and joining forces with the Transformers. The seemingly bad situation led to Noah being recruited to doing something good.

Noah soon meets Transformers including Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, and Arcee. Noah soon also teams up with Elena Wallace (Dominique Fishback), who uses her museum expertise to help out on the new journey ahead. The fate of the entire planet hangs in the balance.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts benefits a great deal from having a diverse cast – a nice change of pace after so many installments without much in the way of diversity. The cast of performers are excellent, too. Anthony Ramos is terrific in the lead role and provides a sense of charisma that helps carry the entire film. Anthony Ramos is far better in his role than, say, Shia LaBeouf – Ramos delivering an impressive performance that feels more grounded by comparison. Dominique Fishback is great, providing a fun supporting performance, too.

The score composed by Jongnic Bontemps (4400, World’s Best) is a superior action score and one that provides the right energy for an action-adventure. The music is a nice backdrop to the special effects and spectacle. A solid score and one that works well for the Transformers franchise.

The cinematography by Enrique Chediak (127 Hours, 28 Weeks Later) is spectacular and one of the most impressive aspects of the production. Chediak is a top-notch cinematographer and there is so much to love about the visuals. Despite being a franchise film in a series developed from a toy series, there is incredible visual gravitas from Chediak. Chediak is an incredible visual artist – the cinematography providing a lush sense of artistry that is sometimes absent in big-budget films.

Edited by William Goldenberg (Argo, The Imitation Game) and Joel Negron (Jungle Cruise, Thor: Ragnarok), Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is a well-paced and well-edited experience. This is an outstanding effort from an editorial standpoint. The flow of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is top-notch and there is so much to enjoy.

The production design by Sean Haworth (Bumblebee, Deadpool) is elaborate and complex. Even with so many CG visuals throughout the film, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts doesn’t forget to emphasis some creative and real-world production design elements, too. These aspects make the film more fun. The production has some old-school vibes right alongside the modern visuals and it helps make the film significantly more enjoyable – the intricacies of the production design adding so much to the film.

The costumes by Ciara Whaley (Sitting in Bars with Cake, The Land) impress, too. The costumes feel perfect for each of the cast members. There is a sense of authenticity to each of the characters. An excellent effort by Whaley.

Written by Joby Harold (Edge of Tomorrow, Obi-Wan Kenobi), Darnell Metayer (BMF), Josh Peters (BMF), Erich Hoeber (The Meg, Battleship), and Jon Hoeber (Battleship, The Meg), Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is an entertaining script. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts has one of the best scripts in the Transformers film series. The story and characters are well-done and there is more of an emotional backdrop, too.

The better-quality script is something that Transformers: Rise of the Beasts shares in common with Bumblebee (the best of the entire Transformers series). The element of the script involving Noah Diaz looking out for his kid brother is one of the best story elements in the entire Transformers series, making the character-based storytelling all the better. There is real pathos to the storytelling.

Directed by Steven Caple Jr. (Creed II, The Land), Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is a first-rate spectacle and one of the best films in the entire Transformers film series. Caple Jr. is more creative as a director than Michael Bay. Whereas Bay aims for entertaining Transformers audiences with more and bigger explosions, Caple Jr. aims for some old-school adventure alongside the CG spectacle. A nice change of pace for a long-running film series that was becoming stale until Bumblebee and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts helped rejuvenate the franchise.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts 3D Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Released on 3D Blu-ray by Turbine, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 MVC in the original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.39:1 widescreen. The 3D presentation is exceptional and 3D fans have a lot to look forward to with this release. The entire presentation features cutting-edge 3D quality.

The sequences with the most 3D depth often highlight a lot of CG visual effects (such as the opening) and are reference-quality. The entire feature presentation offers superb depth and detail. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is near reference quality throughout the entire presentation. There certainly is a lot to admire about the 3D quality and it looked stunning on my reference-quality OLED65E6P – still the best 3D panel ever designed. I viewed Transformers: Rise of the Beasts in 3D theatrically and was impressed when I saw it in the cinema and must say the 3D Blu-ray disc looks even better and more immersive.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts 3D Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes a Dolby Atmos audio presentation. The Atmos audio features a 24-bit high-resolution Dolby TrueHD 7.1 core. An incredible Atmos sound mix – perhaps one of the best I've heard to date. The Atmos sound mix has incredible detail and accuracy. The soundstage opens up with each speaker providing an immersive quality that is thrilling and exciting throughout the entire feature presentation. There is so much to appreciate about the sound mix. LFE is a bit less robust when compared to DTS but simply raising the volume level addresses some of these nitpicks. Even so, incredible detail makes the Atmos sound mix exhilarating throughout.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts 3D Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The 3D release comes in an attractively designed clear case with a similar aesthetic to boutique labels like Criterion. The Blu-ray cover-art is reversible and features a German language cover-art (with ratings logos) alongside an English language cover-art (with no ratings logos). The back of each cover still has some German text but the front art-work and spine are entirely English-language friendly for importers.

There are no supplements on the release. Turbine released a statement indicating that 3D Blu-ray releases from Turbine are designed as a supplement to film enthusiasts seeking top-tier 3D. The supplements are not included on the discs in order to provide higher video and audio bit-rates. Collectors can purchase separately available 4K/Blu-ray combo packs for the supplementals.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts 3D Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is a must-see in 3D. The 3D effect is tremendous and there is a lot to admire about the reference quality 3D presentation. The action and the spectacle impresses. The filmmaking is fun and offers old-school energy even with CG galore. A must-own disc for 3D Blu-ray collectors. Highly recommended.