Transformers is a
2007 live-action film adaptation of the
Transformers franchise, directed by
Michael Bay and written by
Roberto Orci and
Alex Kurtzman. It stars
Shia LaBeouf as
Sam Witwicky, a teenager involved in a war between the heroic
Autobots and the evil
Decepticons, two factions of alien robots who can disguise themselves by transforming into everyday machinery. The Decepticons desire control of the
All Spark, the object that created their robotic race, with the intention of using it to build an army by giving life to the machines of Earth.
Megan Fox,
Josh Duhamel,
Tyrese Gibson,
Jon Voight and
John Turturro also star, while
Peter Cullen and
Hugo Weaving provide the voices of
Optimus Prime and
Megatron respectively.
Producers
Don Murphy and
Tom DeSanto developed the project in 2003, with a
treatment written by DeSanto.
Executive producer Steven Spielberg came on board the following year, and hired Orci, Kurtzman and Bay for the project in 2005. The filmmakers wanted a realistic depiction of the story, and created a complex design aesthetic for the robots to stress their alien nature. The
computer-generated characters were programmed to have thousands of mechanical pieces move as they transformed and maneuvered. The
United States Military and
General Motors lent vehicles and aircraft during filming, which saved money for the production and added
realism to the battle scenes.