Transformers (2007)
Giant photoreal robots that turn into cars, Michael Bay explosions, Steven Spielberg's name over the title, and Shia LaBeouf motor-mouthing his way through the end of the world. Bumblebee became a Camaro, Optimus Prime kept his original voice, and summer 2007 belonged to the Autobots.
Transformers hit US theaters on July 3, 2007, directed by Michael Bay with Steven Spielberg as executive producer. Shia LaBeouf starred as Sam Witwicky, a teenager caught in the war between the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons, with Megan Fox as Mikaela Banes. The film took liberties fans argued about all summer — Bumblebee reimagined as a battered 1976 Chevrolet Camaro that upgrades itself into a gleaming 2007 model instead of the classic VW Beetle — but it also got the one thing right that mattered most: Peter Cullen, the voice of Optimus Prime in the 1980s cartoon, returned to play him again.
The spectacle was the point, and it worked: $709.7 million worldwide, the fifth highest-grossing film of 2007, and the moment building-sized robots rendered in photoreal detail became summer-movie canon. Five direct sequels followed through 2017, plus spin-offs — a blockbuster franchise spun out of a 1980s toy line, anchored forever to the summer LaBeouf yelled "no no no no" while a Camaro stood up.
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