Movies Feature
How you know you're watching a Transformers movie
By Digital Spy - Sponsored by Sky
Transformers: Age of Extinction is available now to Buy & Keep on Sky Store.
Digital Spy has partnered with Sky Store to bring you a guide to one of Hollywood's biggest franchises. Here are the key ingredients to expect when you sit down to watch a robot blockbuster.
1. Explosive action scenes
When it comes to sheer spectacle and memorable set pieces, no film series manages to deliver bang for your buck quite like Transformers. There's even a name for this explosive style: "Bayhem" (after director Michael Bay).
After putting the planet in jeopardy in Armageddon, Bay's Transformers films have shown us some jaw-dropping interplanetary warfare between Autobots and Decepticons. Age of Extinction ups the ante even further with the introduction of Dinobot Grimlock, who at one point is ridden into battle across Hong Kong by a sword-wielding Optimus Prime.
2. Fast cars
There's nothing cooler than a car that shifts shape into a giant robot, and Transformers: Age of Extinction is packed full of speed demon automobiles.
Fan favourite Autobot Bumblebee is back in the guise of a sleek Chevrolet Camaro, while we also get to see a Bugatti Veyron (named Drift), a Corvette C7 Stingray (Crosshairs) and a Pagani Huayra (the villainous Transformer Stinger). There are high-speed chases aplenty with these seriously souped-up vehicles around.
3. An everyman under pressure
All of Michael Bay's movies have a grounded central figure for audiences to relate to. In previous Transformers films Shia LaBeouf's geeky high-schooler Sam Witwicky was the everyman swept up in the action - now the baton has been passed to the ever-dependable Mark Wahlberg.
The Pain & Gain star plays a struggling single father and inventor trying to make ends meet. Things change dramatically for him, however, when he finds Optimus Prime hiding out in his barn sparking a military frenzy and the appearance of a new bounty hunter Transformer called Lockdown.
4. Strong women
After introducing Megan Fox in the first Transformers and giving Rosie Huntington-Whiteley her big break in Transformers: Dark of the Moon, this latest outing has a trio of new female stars.
Rising actress Nicola Peltz takes on the role of Tessa, the plucky daughter of Mark Wahlberg's character; Doctor Who alumna Sophie Myles is Darcy Tirrel, the smart-as-a-whip scientist who makes a startling Arctic discovery; and Li Bingbing is Su Yueing, owner of a factory used to build man-made Transformers.
5. Exotic locations
Michael Bay's movies tend to rack up the air miles, their far-flung locations taking in everything from the sun-scorched Pyramids of Egypt in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen to Miami in Pain & Gain and Moscow in Dark of the Moon.
Age of Extinction's globe-trotting is impressive enough to rival even a James Bond movie. The film travels to Monument Valley, Texas, Iceland and Hong Kong for its blistering finale. And if that's not enough, there's also a stint in outer space!
Digital Spy has partnered with Sky Store to bring you a guide to one of Hollywood's biggest franchises. Here are the key ingredients to expect when you sit down to watch a robot blockbuster.
1. Explosive action scenes
© Rex Features / Moviestore
When it comes to sheer spectacle and memorable set pieces, no film series manages to deliver bang for your buck quite like Transformers. There's even a name for this explosive style: "Bayhem" (after director Michael Bay).
After putting the planet in jeopardy in Armageddon, Bay's Transformers films have shown us some jaw-dropping interplanetary warfare between Autobots and Decepticons. Age of Extinction ups the ante even further with the introduction of Dinobot Grimlock, who at one point is ridden into battle across Hong Kong by a sword-wielding Optimus Prime.
2. Fast cars
© Rex Features / Paramount/Everett
There's nothing cooler than a car that shifts shape into a giant robot, and Transformers: Age of Extinction is packed full of speed demon automobiles.
Fan favourite Autobot Bumblebee is back in the guise of a sleek Chevrolet Camaro, while we also get to see a Bugatti Veyron (named Drift), a Corvette C7 Stingray (Crosshairs) and a Pagani Huayra (the villainous Transformer Stinger). There are high-speed chases aplenty with these seriously souped-up vehicles around.
3. An everyman under pressure
© Paramount
All of Michael Bay's movies have a grounded central figure for audiences to relate to. In previous Transformers films Shia LaBeouf's geeky high-schooler Sam Witwicky was the everyman swept up in the action - now the baton has been passed to the ever-dependable Mark Wahlberg.
The Pain & Gain star plays a struggling single father and inventor trying to make ends meet. Things change dramatically for him, however, when he finds Optimus Prime hiding out in his barn sparking a military frenzy and the appearance of a new bounty hunter Transformer called Lockdown.
4. Strong women
© Paramount
After introducing Megan Fox in the first Transformers and giving Rosie Huntington-Whiteley her big break in Transformers: Dark of the Moon, this latest outing has a trio of new female stars.
Rising actress Nicola Peltz takes on the role of Tessa, the plucky daughter of Mark Wahlberg's character; Doctor Who alumna Sophie Myles is Darcy Tirrel, the smart-as-a-whip scientist who makes a startling Arctic discovery; and Li Bingbing is Su Yueing, owner of a factory used to build man-made Transformers.
5. Exotic locations
© Paramount
Michael Bay's movies tend to rack up the air miles, their far-flung locations taking in everything from the sun-scorched Pyramids of Egypt in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen to Miami in Pain & Gain and Moscow in Dark of the Moon.
Age of Extinction's globe-trotting is impressive enough to rival even a James Bond movie. The film travels to Monument Valley, Texas, Iceland and Hong Kong for its blistering finale. And if that's not enough, there's also a stint in outer space!
