Giant Freakin Robot

For a film as ridiculously big and over the top as Michael Bay’s Transformers: Age of Extinction — or nearly any Michael Bay movie, really — the Blu-ray/DVD release needs to stack up in a comparative way. And Paramount isn’t Decepticonning around with this stacked Blu-ray/DVD combo pack, which has been set for release on Tuesday, September 30. And if you just want to experience Mark Wahlberg and Optimus Prime’s conversations without all that supplemental business, you can grab the Transformers: Age of Extinction digital release on September 16.

So let’s break all of this down. Under the title Evolution Within Extinction are eight distinct and informative extras giving audiences a behind-the-scenes look at almost every aspect of the production. “Generation 2” is a general introduction to this post-trilogy universe, while “Small Town, Big Movie” heads to the film’s Texas locations, where countrysides meet explosions and robotics students showcase designs seen in Cade’s lab. (Wait, so Wahlberg isn’t an actual robotics engineer?) “Drive Like Hell” details the new Optimus Prime design and introduces viewers to the Lamborghini Aventador that is Lockdown, as well as other sleek vehicles. “Shadow Protocol Activated” shows off some of the film’s big car chase stunts, heading from Detroit to Chicago and then Washington state for an unused nuclear power plant.

If you happen to stumble upon a stack of cash that has an off-putting odor, it’s possible that Michael Bay just shit that money out, as the filmmaker has a way of doing that kind of thing. He’s having one of the strongest years of his career as both a director and a producer, with Transformers: Age of Extinction as the year’s current third highest earner (with $242 million domestically) and this past weekend saw Platinum Dunes’ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles blow expectations out of the sewer with a $65 million debut. And while it was assumed that he would continue on this CGI character streak for the next 150 years (which is around 30 in Michael Bay years), it appears he might be removing himself from the Transformers game. Might be.

Bay’s possible future with the franchise gets completely buried in a USA Today story covering just how successful the filmmaker’s summer has been. (He also has The Purge: Anarchy in theaters along with TNT’s The Last Ship gathering big ratings and arguably more critical acclaim than his feature film efforts.) Bay, it’s said, “believes he will pass the baton for future Transformers movies to a new director while he turns his focus elsewhere.” As someone who is a general fan of Bay, just not his hulking alien robot franchise, I couldn’t be more pleased with this bit of news.

It’s only been less than a week since Michael Bay bludgeoned the world with Transformers: Age of Extinction, and while the critics have not been particularly kind to the film, it has still raked in more than $381 million across the globe. And just because the movie is still relatively new to theaters doesn’t mean that Paramount doesn’t already have their eyes on the future. They recently unveiled the spectacular packaging for an upcoming special edition Blu-ray, and the producers have already started thinking about possible new additions to the franchise.

I haven’t seen Age of Extinction yet, and to be honest, I don’t know if I’ll get to it in the theaters—there are a lot of films ahead of this one on my need-to-see list—but I do want to own this Blu-ray. There’s no official release date yet, and not word on the extras, but you can already preorder it on Amazon. The most memorable image from the glut of marketing, one that was used with great frequency, is that of the Autobot leader Optimus Prime riding on the back of the Dinobot named Grimlock, who is essentially a robotic fire-breathing dragon. It is completely insane, over the top, and if I do pay money to see this in the theater, it will be because I want to see this blasted on a screen many stories tall.

There are times when speaking quickly is a good thing, such to stop the execution of an innocent man, or if you’re the Micro Machines guy. But I may have put my foot in my mouth the other day when reporting that Michael Bay’s Transformers: Age of Extinction fell short of a $100 million weekend, as Paramount’s official numbers pushed the final total to $100,038,000. (Give or take several pennies.) That’s quite noticeably higher than the $97.5 million estimates that were reached on Sunday, and so there are some out there who think Paramount padded its earnings to officially stand alone as the only film this year with a $100 million opening.

As one studio head put it, “They’re lying,” before questioning the number jump. Do audiences actually care if this (or any other movie) reaches a $100 million weekend for the first time in 2014? Personally, all I wanted out of Transformers: Age of Extinction was something worth the money I paid for it, and that definitely didn’t happen. So I’m the guy actually hoping that Paramount is full of shit and that they get caught inflating totals. There’s got to be a robot out there that’s meant to do that, right? Com…puterbot?

Transformers: Age of Extinction made an ungodly amount of money this weekend, so I think it’s safe to say we’ll see more of those pesky transforming robots in the future. Hell, Michael Bay will probably still be churning them out from the front porch of his retirement home in 2064. (Unless we have real Transformers by then, in which case he’ll probably be married to one of them. The wedding will have a $20 million pyrotechnics budget.) So since we’re in this for the long haul, those of us who have zero interest in the franchise might as well try to find a silver lining. And if that silver lining happens to be the chrome finish on a robot dinosaur, so much the better. We loves us some concept art here at GFR, so we’re going to snatch victory from the jaws of disinterest by sharing some rather badass Age of Extinction concept art, including tons of early designs for the dinobots.

Going into this past weekend, the most positive conversation surrounding Michael Bay’s latest cinematic explosium Transformers: Age of Extinction surrounded its chances of becoming the first film in 2014 to earn $100 million in its first weekend out. And while I was in full belief/disbelief that it would happen, early reports are showing that, no, Optimus Prime and his bot brethren only managed to take in the still ridiculously impressive sum of $97.5 million, give or take. But anyone crying over that small bit of spilled milk can afford to buy enough milk for a lifetime with the $201+ million that the film has earned internationally.

Transformers movies are always expected to do extremely well, even when they’re dumb as robot balls, and it would take an extreme pessimist to call this fourth entry a box office floptimus prime in any way. However, it did come up short as compared to both Transformers: Dark of the Moon ($97.8 million) and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen ($108.9 million), though it trampled the first film’s opening weekend of $70.5 million. That’s a little more disappointing for Paramount when you consider just how many IMAX and 3D screens this flick made it to.