Transformers: Age of Extinction (film)

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An adventure 65 million years in the making.

Transformers: Age of Extinction is the fourth film in the live-action film series. It was released on June 27, 2014.

Following the Battle of Chicago, humanity has come to fear both Autobots and Decepticons alike. With the aid of a Transformer mercenary named Lockdown, a CIA task-force operated by Harold Attinger begins hunting the remaining Transformers on Earth. Hunted by enemies that were once his allies, Optimus Prime loses faith in humanity and sends his forces into hiding. Now, five years later, struggling inventor and single-father Cade Yeager discovers a damaged Transformer, placing both himself and his daughter on a collision course with events that threaten the extinction of humankind itself.

“	Humans have asked us to play by their rules. Well, the rules have just changed.	”
—Optimus Prime, Transformers: Age of Extinction

Synopsis

"God creates dinosaurs. God destroys dinosaurs. God creates man. Man destroys God. Man creates dinosaurs."

65 million years ago, on the planet Earth, during the Cretaceous Period, a Psittacosaurus is out hunting for food. Finding a fish, the small dinosaur starts to feed, but stops as hundreds of alien ships enter Earth's atmosphere, commanded by "The Creators". The alien ships launch dozens of metallic Seeds across the planet; when detonated, they convert all organic matter into metal. Barely escaping, the Psittacosaurus walks through the fields of metallic dinosaur corpses as the ships gather the metal. The Age of the Dinosaurs is over. Millions of years later, while digging in the Arctic, a team of geologists uncovers a mysterious pair of metallized dinosaur skeletons...

Five years after the invasion of Chicago, tensions between humans and Cybertronians have risen dramatically. The government of the United States has terminated all human-Autobot joint operations and deemed every Autobot a wanted fugitive. Harold Attinger heads a black-ops military unit within the CIA known as Cemetery Wind, which aims to hunt down and kill all Transformers, regardless of faction. On one such missions, the team pinpoints Ratchet hiding within an abandoned boat. Though he tries to run, he is crippled and brought down by their weapons. Though he tries to reason with their team leader, James Savoy, the man dismisses his pleas as his sister was killed in Chicago. Savoy asks why Ratchet ran if he's not their enemy, and Ratchet begins to replay a transmission he received from Optimus Prime telling the Autobots to hide, as they are being hunted. As he explains this, Lockdown emerges from the nearby swamp and attacks Ratchet, further damaging him. Emerging from the swamp and walking past his human allies, Lockdown demands to know Optimus Prime's whereabouts. When Ratchet refuses, Lockdown rips out his spark.

" Condors. Condors are on the verge of extinction..."

In Texas, struggling inventor Cade Yeager and his friend/employee Lucas Flannery meet at an old theater, looking for salvage. He finds an old truck, and upon inspection it seems to be full of artillery shells. He buys the truck along with the other theater equipment and puts it in his garage.Tessa, Cade's daughter, observes this while video-chatting with her boyfriend and criticizes her dad for buying the heap of junk. While attempting to salvage the truck's engine to sell, Cade realizes it's actually a badly-damaged Transformer. After calling Lucas and Tessa, he connects jumper cables to its engine, only for it to begin replaying the distress call Ratchet had received earlier. Lucas and Tessa advocate calling the government, claiming that there is a huge reward for Transformers. Cade convinces them not to call the authorities until he can spend more time working on the truck, as he may be able to stumble on a technological breakthrough if he can figure out how the Transformers work. When Cade removes a live missile from the truck's "power core," it transforms into Optimus Prime and roars in a fit of rage while waving a shotgun. Cade, Lucas, and Tessa ask why Optimus is so badly damaged, to which he replies that the Autobots are being hunted and he must help them. Cade decides to repair him, and sends Lucas to buy the parts that will enable him to fix Optimus. Cade and the Prime begin to bond as the repairs begin.

"Should we chance moving him?"

In the Arctic, Attinger arrives via helicopter at Lockdown's ship and demands to know why Optimus Prime escaped him in Mexico. Lockdown derisively tells Attinger that Optimus Prime would not have escaped were it not for Cemetary Wind's interference, stressing that he does not care about Attinger or his goals and wishes only to capture Optimus Prime.

Shortly after returning to Washington, D.C., Attinger receives a tip that Optimus Prime has been located in Texas and sends Savoy and Cemetary Wind to apprehend him. The agents swarm the barn, but there is no trace of Prime inside. When Savoy threatens Tessa to force Cade to tell him of Prime's whereabouts, the Autobot leader explodes out of the barn's basement in which he was hiding. He escapes after a brief skirmish that destroys the Yeager residence, with both Cemetary Wind and Lockdown in pursuit. As Cade catches one of Cemetary Wind's mini drones, a white rally car zooms over the adjacent fields and picks up the Yeagers and Lucas. The driver turns out to be Shane, a rally car racer who is also Tessa's boyfriend. A group of Cemetary Wind vehicles begins chaseing them.

"Remind me to thank John for a lovely weekend."

Both the rally car and Optimus Prime are chased into an abandoned factory, where Optimus Prime fights off Lockdown. Shane puts his driving skills to good use and pulls a series of tight maneuvers that result in the Cemetary Wind cars crashing, but breaks his car. Optimus Prime, who has caught Lockdown in a crane cable, transforms and tells the humans to pile into him and escape. Lockdown throws a grenade at the humans as they run towards Optimus Prime; though Shane and the Yeagers escape, Lucas is caught in the blast and killed.

Arriving at an abandoned gas station, Optimus orders the humans out and drives off to ensure that they have not been followed. Cade confronts Tessa and Shane about their relationship but Tessa gets angry at Cade for putting them all in danger. The next day, Optimus and the humans set off towards Monument Valley. Prime scans a passing truck, sheds his layer of rust and takes on a new form with his old paint scheme. They arrive in Monument Valley where they meet the other surviving Autobots in the form of Crosshairs, Hound, Drift, and their defacto leader Bumblebee. Crosshairs and Hound start threatening the humans for having their species betray them but Optimus convinces them that they have risked their lives to save his. The Humans notice that there are clear tensions between the Autobots. Cade reveals footage of the attack on Ratchet and Leadfoot's demise using the stolen aerial drone and Prime declares that he will kill the one responsible for hunting down the Autobots.

"Dr. Grant, my dear Dr. Sattler... Welcome to Jurassic Park."

Inspection of the drone leads them to a company named KSI, located in a rebuilt Chicago. It is run by Joshua Joyce, who is working with Su Yueming and Attinger to create artificial Transformers to eventually be used in the military. Using the remains of Megatron, Sentinel Prime, the countless Decepticons from the Chicago battle and the hunted Autobots, they have synthesized the metal that the Transformers are made of, calling it Transformium. When given commands through a computer, Transformium can be changed into various shapes or objects. Although a drone called Stinger (designed after Bumblebee) is active, Joshua's major project is a bigger, stronger drone called Galvatron. However, his attempts have not been successful; the drone keeps resembling Megatron instead of the more friendlier image of Optimus Prime. Bumblebee builds Cade and Shane faux-ID badges which the duo use to infiltrate KSI. Cade goes further in and projects imagery of Ratchet's severed head being melted down as well as the injured and enslaved Brains, which sends Prime into a rage.

"God help us, we're in the hands of engineers."

However, Cade is caught when his ID badge is found to have been scanned twice (by him and its original owner). He is taken to the upper floors and confronted by Attinger, who claims that what he has witnessed is in the name of world peace. He also asks him about the whereabouts of Optimus Prime but Cade maintains his silence.

Furious over how the humans have mutilated their comrades, Optimus orders an attack on KSI. Bumblebee, carried by Drift in copter mode, rescues Cade. The others trash the lab, free Brains, and confront Joshua, only for him to openly declare that what is being done is being done to prevent more Transformer-caused damage and that the humans "don't need" the Autobots. Disheartened, Prime orders a retreat.

As the Autobots exit the factory and leave, Attinger catches up with Joshua and claims that the Autobots terrorists for attacking the facility. He coerces Joyce to use the two functional drones to take down the Autobots. Galvatron and Stinger activate and pursue their quarry across a highway, with Galvatron doing more damage than his KSI handlers intend. Bumblebee fires upon Galvatron but is surprised to see him simply disintegrate and reintegrate again. Galvatron attacks Prime. As they battle, Optimus declares that the artificial creation has no soul, to which it retorts "That is why I have no FEAR!"

"Kids! You want to have one of those?"

As Tessa scrambles for cover in a nearby vehicle, Prime is suddenly shot from the back and falls-Lockdown has arrived, along with his ship! The bounty hunter orders a net dropped over Optimus and hoists both the Autobot leader and Tessa's hiding place into his ship. Cade desperately clings to the net, but his strength gives out and he falls to the fields below. As the spaceship departs, Cade and Shane vow to get Tessa back.

Lockdown throws Prime in a cage and orders his lackeys to dispose of Tessa. Prime takes note of several other aliens in similar cages, including other Cybertronian warriors. He also discovers the original purpose of the mercenary ship: it was originally used by a group of legendary Knights (presumably including Prime himself) but now acts as Lockdown's flying prison. Lockdown gloats to his prisoner, claiming that Optimus was built, not born, and now the Creators want him returned in one piece. Lockdown's ship hovers over Chicago, triggering panic in the streets, but Attinger manages to talk down the authorities and send Savoy to rendezvous with Lockdown. As payment for Prime's capture, Lockdown gives him a Seed.

Cade, Shane, and the other Autobots get aboard the ship as it flies low over a bridge. While being persued by Lockdown's henchmen, the two humans find a strange Knight armory, from which Cade takes a sword that opens up to form a gun. While Shane and Cade rescue Tessa, Crosshairs deploys the ship's mooring cables, which fire into the Willis Tower and preventing the ship from breaking atmosphere. The humans clamber down the cables to safety, but they are pursued by a pack of Steeljaws. Bumblebee manages to save the trio. The other Autobots locate Optimus, who reveals that the section of the ship they are on can seperate from the main body. Crosshairs uses a gunship to pick up Bumblebee and the humans. Crosshairs leads them on a dogfight through Chicago's streets, destroying all of them.

"It could have been worse, John. A lot worse."

Back at KSI, it is decided that all equipment is to be moved to the Beijing facility to continue operations. Joshua is also none too pleased about the previous field test of Galvatron; not only was it lost on several fronts, but the drone also spoke, which was something it was not programmed to do! ' The Autobots land their new ship at an abandoned train yard. Optimus claims that he sensed Megatron's presence during his fight with Galvatron. Brains explains Galvatron's true nature: while he decoded dead Transformer brains, he learned that Megatron's mind had survived and planned to transfer itself to Galvatron's body, explaining Galvatron's sinister appearance. The tiny bot further mentions how Galvatron used his knowledge to build Stinger and the other drones, with plans to make them into his personal army. As Tessa tells about the Seed she saw, Optimus explains how the Creators used Seeds to wipe out entire species and harvest metal produced—Transformium. Cade makes a call to Joyce and relays the newfound data about Galvatron. Knowing that Joyce is also an inventor with a heart, he pleads with Joyce to shut down Galvatron before things escalate. Although Joyce puts up an unconvinced face, he calls for increased security around Galvatron right after the call.

As police cars surround the train yard the Autobots board their shuttle again and take to the air. Optimus says that though the Autobots will travel to Hong Kong and get the Seed back, they are done protecting humanity after that. Cade disagrees but Prime is non-responsive. They later debate the matter, with Cade attempting to reignite Prime's faith in humanity.

In deep space, Lockdown finally discovers the absence of the smaller ship. He grumbles about Optimus Prime taking his trophy case and how the Prime will feel his wrath while he reverses course. Joyce meets with Attinger and Savoy and receives the Seed. Joyce intends to detonate it in a region of the Gobi Desert, which will generate enough Transformium to last a century. Attinger is eager to expedite production but grows incensed when Joshua disagrees and says that they should go slower, quite obviously moved by Cade's call. Meanwhile, Galvatron "activates" himself and starts to infect the legion of over fifty other KSI Transformers. When the alarm rings regarding Galvatron's escape, Joyce has Attinger and Savoy evacuated from the building and gets in a car with Yueming, an associate named Darcy, and the Seed. They decide to try and hide the Seed in Hong Kong.

Being hunted by Attinger and Savoy, Joyce seeks refuge on a rooftop when the Autobot-piloted ship arrives and attempts to pick him and the Seed up. However, Galvatron and his drones ramy arrive and shoot down the airborne vessel, causing Bumblebee, Hound, and the Yeagers to spill out while the others (Prime, Crosshairs, Drift, and the captured Knights) to careen away into the Wulong Valley. Savoy finds the Yeagers and Joyce on the rooftop and open fires on them but Cade leads him away from the others. The two jump across rooftops, eventually crashing into a house and get in a fist fight which ends with Savoy falling from a window to his death.

Hound and Bumblebee attempt to escort the humans and the Seed out of the city, but are cut short when Joshua points out that the KSI-built Transformers were specifically built to destroy any Autobots or Decepticons left on Earth. This prompts Prime to enter the crashed ship and activate the armory as well as release the other captives within the ship. As Hound and Bumblebee hold the line and protect the humans, Optimus tries to convince the Legendary Warriors to fight alongside them. Their apparent leader violently declines at first, fighting the Prime in both his massive robot mode and his Tyrannosaurus mode. Optimus quickly defeats him, saying that he and the other warriors will protect his family or die, then mounts the metal dinosaur. The Autobots mount their Dinobots and charge over the mountains into Hong Kong.

"T. rex doesn't want to be fed. He wants to hunt."

Meanwhile, As Hound and Bumblebee are starting to be overwhelmed by Galvatrons drone forces, Optimus and his fellow Autobots storm into the city, slamming, crushing, stomping, and chomping all nearby enemies. Galvatron retreats as the Autobots and Dinobots decimate his forces. With this battle over, Optimus confronts Joshua for his actions and gives the order to defend the humans and escort them, and the Seed, away from the city. On the way, a homing beacon within the Seed activates, allowing Lockdown to track the Autobots down. He activates a massive magnet, wreaking havoc on Hong Kong. Everything metal from kitchenware to massive ships are picked up by the magnet, including the Autobots and Dinobots. After narrowly avoiding the magnet, the Yeagers are momentarily separated from the Autobots. Optimus shoots at the magnet, destroying it and releasing the Transformers from its influence. The ship retreats to a nearby factory, with Optimus hot on its trail. Cade tells his daughter to stay with Shane and the Autobots, as he wishes to fight alongside Optimus against Lockdown. As Optimus and Lockdown battle one-on-one, Attinger corners Yeager with a pistol, accusing him of choosing aliens over his country, but he is quickly shot and killed by Optimus.

Lockdown gains the upper hand, stabbing Optimus through the chest with his own sword and pinning him to a concrete pillar. Meanwhile, Tessa convinces Bumblebee to turn around and the three join in fighting Lockdown, allowing Shane to use a tow truck to unpin Prime. Just as Lockdown is about to kill Cade, Optimus jumps up and slices the bounty hunter in half. Activating one of Lockdown's grenades, Prime tells the humans to hold on and uses rocket boosters to escape while the grenade destroys the last of the KSI drones. Galvatron has survived and retreated to the outskirts of the city; watching Prime blast off, he tells Optimus to beware, for he is reborn...

"I don't know. I guess... I guess we'll just have to evolve too."

The Autobots, Dinobots and their Human allies all regroup on the waterfront. Cade and Tessa happily reconcile and Cade finally accepts Shane. Joshua nobly says he will help them with their destroyed home. Prime declares the Dinobots to now be free and they depart for parts unknown. Reflecting on the danger he will bring to the Earth if he stays (due to the bounty on his head), Prime blasts off into space with the Seed to confront the Creators, but not before ordering the Autobots to protect the Yeager family. Optimus Prime sends a message to his Creators to leave planet Earth alone, because he is coming for them.

Quotes

"Lockdown...?"
"Autobots, Decepticons, like little children, always fighting; making a mess out of the universe, then I've got to clean it up! There is one way you survive. Tell me where he's hiding. Where is Optimus Prime?"
"Never."
(Lockdown rips out Ratchet's spark)
"Never is here."

—Ratchet's final moments.

"In this planet we have a saying: The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
"I also have a saying: I don't care.

—Harold Attinger discusses with Lockdown.

"Every galaxy I've traveled, all you species are the same. You all think you're the center of the universe. You have no idea..."

—Lockdown never truly appreciated one of his clients.

"Human beings. Bunch of backstabbing weasels!"
"Hound, find your inner compass. Loyalty is but a flower in the winds of fear and temptation."
"What the hell are you saying?!?"
"It's a haiku."
"Cut the crap before I drop a grenade down your throat!"

—Hound doesn't appreciate Drift's haikus.

"Autobots, I have sworn never to kill humans..."
"Big mistake."
"...but when I find out who's behind this...he's going to die."

—Optimus Prime and Hound after witnessing Ratchet and Leadfoot's deaths.

"You have no soul!"
"That is why I have no fear."

—Galvatron isn't as lifeless as Optimus Prime thought.

"We're behind enemy lines now. Lockdown's ship has booby traps! Eyes open."
"Beware of his bone-grinders, brain-blinders, flesh-stealers, chromosomal-inverters, catatonic slugs, black hole trapdoors and of course, radiation."

—Hound and Crosshairs warn the humans of the perils held within Lockdown's ship.

"I was expecting a giant car!"

—Drift witnessing Grimlock transform into a dinosaur.

"Ugh, you just want to die for the guy. That's leadership. Or brainwashing, or something."
"No, that's Optimus Prime."

—Crosshairs and Drift, remarking on their leader/Giant Robot Dinosaur tamer.

"Stay behind me, I'm covering you. If I stop covering you, it means I'm dead, but that ain't gonna happen."

—Hound taking at least five levels in badass before getting interrupted by incoming fire.

"I'm like a fat ballerina who takes scalps and slits throats!"

—Hound takes another five levels in badass and ballerina class.

"How do you say 'Get the f&%# out of the way' in Chinese?"

—Joshua has some issues with the language barrier.

"I hate cheap knockoffs."

—Bumblebee dismissing all clones of him as "cheap".

"We shall meet again, Prime, for I am reborn."

—Galvatron retreats to fight another day.

"There are mysteries to the universe we were never meant to solve, but who we are and why we are here, are not among them. Those answers we carry inside. I am Optimus Prime, and this message is to my Creators. Leave planet Earth alone. Cause I'm coming for you."

—Optimus Prime's closing narration.

Main cast

Autobots	Decepticons	Humans	Others
Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) Bumblebee Drift (Ken Watanabe) Crosshairs (John DiMaggio) Hound (John Goodman) Brains (Reno Wilson) Ratchet (Robert Foxworth) Leadfoot Dinobots Grimlock Strafe Slug Scorn Sentinel Prime's head	Galvatron (Frank Welker) Megatron's head Stinger Junkheap Traxes "Two Heads" "KSI Bosses" McLaren Decepticon Aston Martin Decepticon Insecticons Barricade (video footage) Protoforms (video footage)	Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg) Tessa Yeager (Nicola Peltz) Shane Dyson (Jack Reynor) Joshua Joyce (Stanley Tucci) Harold Attinger (Kelsey Grammer) James Savoy (Titus Welliver) Lucas Flannery (T. J. Miller) Darcy Tyril (Sophia Myles) Su Yueming (Li Bingbing) Gill Wembley (James Bachman) Chief of Staff Greg (Thomas Lennon)	Psittacosaurus Brachiosaur Hadrosaur Lockdown's crew Lockdown (Mark Ryan) Mercenaries Steeljaws "Ball drones" Stupid Drones KSI prototypes Oreo Transformer

Errors

Continuity errors

• Ironhide is seen on the cards Attinger pulls out early in the film, listed as deceased and having been last seen in Chicago. However, Ironhide was killed by Sentinel Prime in Washington, D.C., midway through Dark of the Moon, and long before the final battle in Chicago.
• Scenes from the Decepticons' invasion of Chicago in Dark of the Moon are shown as archival footage presented by Attinger. While it is conceivable some lucky people with cameras recorded the initial attack and managed to survive and publish their footage, it's highly unlikely people would've been able to get close-up video footage of the NEST team taking down Barricade and the other Decepticons.
• During the 'Autobots reunite' sequence, Drift starts out in car mode on a road with Bumblebee and Crosshairs, before suddenly appearing atop a rock formation in robot mode and transforming to helicopter mode.

Technical/animation errors

• Scrambling Cemetery Wind seems to scramble the timeline. From the deployment of Cemetery Wind to Lucas's death, the time of day is in limbo. For example, Optimus escapes from the Yeager property at sunset, joining the pursuit that takes place in early afternoon.
• During the scene where Cade is pretending to be a truck driver with Optimus still in his flat-nose truck form, he has a cap and white plaid shirt on. After Optimus scans into his newer form, Cade's back to wearing his leather jacket.
• When Shane's car gets sideswiped in the cornfield, the back left window is shattered. A couple scenes later, the window is just rolled down.
• After Lucas' death, there is nothing really stopping Lockdown or Cemetery wind from continuing to chase Optimus. Lockdown is much faster and could easily catch up to Optimus whilst Cemetery Wind could chase in their remaining vehicles.
• The truck that Optimus scans, while still being from the Western Star manufacturer, is an older and different model than the one he transforms into.
• When Optimus is on his way to the reunion site, the human characters inside are sitting this way: Shane to the right, Tessa in the Middle and Cade to the left. However when Optimus gets to the reunion point Cade comes out of the truck using Shane's side door (right) instead of his (left). It is clear they (the director and his crew) were trying to get a "superhero" pose but it doesn't make sense.
• Hound's dialogue when he's bickering with Drift doesn't really match up to what we see. Drift pulls his swords on Hound, but the big guy goads him on to "pull it", suggesting Drift was originally supposed to aim a firearm at him.
• After Bumblebee scans his new alternate mode, the camera pans over the car and Tessa and Shane are not inside.

White is the new green

• When Joshua is in the lab showing Darcy Transformium, in two different shots, a white, uncolored prop of Ratchet's head can be seen being worked on in the next room.
• When Shane's car breaks into a building, the woman sitting right in the middle of the room is clearly waiting on the glass-breaking noise to start running.
• Some security guards in KSI fail to react to Crosshairs's shooting and shouting until a few seconds before the scene changes.
• When he loses his grip on the net holding Optimus and the car containing Tessa, Cade is shown falling toward the street, but he lands on the grass by the road.
• When the Autobots are on a bridge, before boarding Lockdown's ship, Crosshairs is clearly shown to be speaking but no dialogue is heard.
• While the human characters are climbing across the anchor cables to the high-rise building some of the Steeljaws begins to climb out after them. Cade tells his daughter not to look back and see them, but when we cut back to her, with a clear view of the cables behind her, the Steeljaws are gone.
• When Bumblebee jumps off Lockdown's ship to save the humans, he is followed by a Steeljaw. In the following shot, the Steeljaw is gone.
• While explaining Megatron's plans to the Autobots, Brains rings a bell on a train. In the next shot, the bell is not moving.
• During the motorcycle chase, the CIA cars change. At first, Joshua and Su are trailed by a Cadillac and an Audi; in the middle of the chase, the Cadillac is replaced by another Audi. By the end of the chase, the Cadillac is back.
• In Hong Kong, when Cade, Joshua, Tessa, and Shane enter the elevator to run away from the rooftop, the elevator won't move and Cade says it's overloaded. But in the next scene, we see that the maximum number of people that the elevator can carry is nine, and it's very clear that the Seed doesn't weigh as much as five people.
• When Grimlock transforms to his dino mode and charges at Optimus, there's no other Dinobots, nor the ship, to be seen in the backround. However, after Optimus punches Grimlock and the shot changes, Dinobots are standing almost right next to him.
• One of the air conditioning units kicked off the building exterior by Savoy falls away to reveal ... solid wall, with no connection to an apartment's interior.
• All of the vehicles seen in Hong Kong are left-hand drive, rather than the right-hand drive you'd expect in a location that drives on the left.
• During Hound's stand in Hong Kong, the pickup truck he uses as a shield sways left to right whilst his arm remains still.
• When Lockdown shoots at Cade during his battle with Optimus, both Cade and Attinger are shown taking cover despite Attinger's very recent death.
• The bridge out of the city shown in the film (Tsing Yi Bridge) is at least a half-hour drive from the battlefield in Central.
• After Optimus takes off, the other Autobots are absent from the shot of the main cast watching Optimus fly off.
• Megatron severed head is in somewhat good shape for someone who got an axe stabbed on the top of his head.

Paleontology weeps

• The cyberformed remains of a Tyrannosaurus and a Spinosaurus appear frozen together in the arctic at the beginning of the film, which is rather odd considering the two are found on different continents (North America and Africa respectively) and separated by around 35 million years of evolution.
• The opening scene of the movie shows a Psittaccosaurus (100-120 million years old), a generic hadrosaur that might be either an Edmontosaurus or a Shantungosaurus (65-70 million years old), and a brachiosaurid (100-157 million years old) all present during what is implied to be the K-Pg extinction event (64.5-65 million years old).
• The Psittaccosaurus, a well known herbivorous animal, is seen actively hunting and killing live prey. In a nod to paleontological accuracy, however, it is depicted with a row of quill-like feathers along its back, as many ceratopsian dinosaurs are believed to have had.
• The Dinobots show various exaggerations and ornamentations which go beyond the usual suspension of disbelief involved in... giant metal dinosaurs. Grimlock sports curved, backwards pointing horns and enormous fangs. Slug has huge tail spikes and a set of nasty chin horns. Strafe is the biggest offender, with a pair of elongated tails and twin heads. Scorn probably gets off the easiest, being mostly correct, bar his extra fins. It's not his fault that a few months after the release of the movie, the morphology of Spinosaurus was completely revised.
• The Dinobot's alternate modes are orders of magnitude larger than the real dinosaurs on which they're based. In an interesting twist, using Optimus as a proxy for the average human, all the Dinobots bar Swoop have been accurately scaled up. At 850 tonnes Grimlock is as large compared to Optimus as a real Tyrannosaurus would be next to a human.

Transformers references

• As usual, many of the new characters have roots in older portions of the mythos:
  • Drift is based on a Generation 1 character introduced in IDW's 2008 All Hail Megatron series.
  • Lockdown is derived from a character in the 2008 Animated cartoon who had already jumped over to the G1 comics and, in toy form, to the movie universe.
  • Hound and Crosshairs both share names with previous characters; their personalities are new and unique, though Hound seems based on Prime Bulkhead in physique, coloration and personality.
  • Galvatron being a new form for Megatron has been a thing for basically forever. With Joyce's intentions of creating him as a counterpart to Optimus Prime, he also takes cues from Nemesis Prime; in particular the human-controlled Prime character.
  • The Dinobots are the latest iteration of the powerhouse subfaction that first appeared in the early days of Generation 1. Their leader Grimlock is a direct analog of his Generation 1 counterpart; Strafe and Slug are based on Generation 1 Swoop and Slag, respectively.
• In the film's opening act, Optimus has adopted a cabover truck alternate mode akin to that of his G1 counterpart. His robot mode also draws some inspiration from his G1 design, such as the large grille on his chest.
• This is not the first time that Ratchet and Lockdown have faced off. Animated Ratchet and Lockdown had a long-running feud. Within the movie universe, the two characters have been described as rivals on Hunt for the Decepticons toy packaging bios, and faced off in Cyber Missions 3.
• The concept of the Transformers being built by another race first appeared in the third season of the original Transformers cartoon.
• Meanwhile, the concept of humans hunting down all Transformers on Earth following a massive and disastrous battle hearkens back to plotlines from IDW's 2009-2011 ongoing series.
• The (rather obvious) theme of humans (particularly evil government agencies) using captured Transformers as a source of technology has appeared numerous times in the mythos, going all the way back to the RAAT agency in the original Marvel Comics. The Animated cartoon in particular featured the severed head of Megatron being studied and reverse-engineered, while in IDW's ongoing G1 stories, a Transformer's severed head was used to help design man-made Transformers (in a Dinobot-focused series at that.) More broad uses of the concept include the Dreamwave Prime Directive mini-series, Devils Due's Art of War mini-series (again featuring the severed head of Megatron), the IDW ongoing series, Cobra's actions in the G2 comics, MECH from the Prime cartoon, and even in the movie universe itself, in IDW's Alliance mini-series that served as a prequel to the Revenge of the Fallen film. The idea of the human-built Transformers proving to be uncontrollable was also pioneered by some of these stories, most notably Dreamwave's aforementioned Prime Directive mini.
• A device that can "cyberform" other planets previously appeared in several places in the mythos, including in the original Transformers cartoon's Key to Vector Sigma two-parter, the aforementioned Dreamwave Prime Directive mini. In both cases, it was actually activated, unlike its movie counterpart.
• The idea of aliens and/or alien technology being found frozen in the arctic or antarctic ice is a very common trope in fiction; in terms of Transformers, the first use of the trope was Jetfire in the original cartoon's Fire in the Sky. A discovery specifically at the hands of humans was a plot point in the aforementioned Dreamwave Prime Directive mini, not to mention the discovery of N.B.E. 01. Or the Scraplets.
• The ringtone on Joshua's assistant's cell phone is a remixed version of the original G1 Transformers theme song.
• In the scene where Optimus scans a passing truck, the classic transformation noise plays when the Autobot symbol emerges from his grill.

Real-life references

• Among the objects KSI makes from Transformium in the film is a Rainbow Dash doll from another popular Hasbro brand.
• This marks the second time a Michael Bay film has begun with the extinction of the dinosaurs, the first being Armageddon.

Theatrical posters

• 
  First teaser poster
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  IMAX poster
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  Cade Yeager poster
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  Shane Dyson poster
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  Tessa Yeager poster
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  Su Yueming poster
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  It's a scene not in the movie!
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  This is not war, this is pest control
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  "Now look down. Now look at me. I'm on a dinosaur."

Reception

"The few authentic inspirations to be found in the movie's hundred and sixty-five roiling minutes involve gigantic science-fiction contrivances."The New Yorker's Richard Brody on Transformers 4: Age of Extinction, Richard Brody, newyorker.com 2014

Transformers: Age of Extinction was critically panned, and nearly universally condemned on the American front, receiving a rating of 18% positive critical reviews on RottenTomatoes.com, two percent lower than the final score for Revenge of the Fallen. While the film generally received praise for its visual effects and the preformances of some of its human actors, such as Stanley Tucci and Mark Wahlberg, common criticisms leveled against it included its relatively long run time of 2 hours and 45 minutes, the disproportionately small amount of screen time the Dinobots got in relation to their relatively large exposure in promotional materials for the film, an over-reliance on product placement, and the decision to set the final act in Hong Kong, which was perceived as a choice solely done to pander towards the Chinese audience for the film.

Development details

• February 13, 2012 — Paramount announces Michael Bay has signed a deal to make a fourth Transformers film.
• June 6, 2012 — During Transformers: The Ride – 3D coverage, LA Times reports Michael Bay as saying the film will have a whole new human cast and redesigned robots.
• June 21, 2012 — In another LA Times interview, Bay reveals that the film will not be a reboot as previously stated.
• September 21, 2012 — Bay confirms that voice actor Peter Cullen will be kept on as Optimus Prime once again.
• October 18, 2012 — The logo is revealed at a Paramount presentation.
• November 8, 2012 — After a number of rumors suggest it, Bay casts actor Mark Wahlberg in the film.
• December 15, 2012 — Wahlberg confirms that filming of Transformers 4 will commence in May 2013.
• January 8, 2013 — Bay casts Irish American actor Jack Reynor in Transformers 4.
• March 20, 2013 — The Michigan Film Office announces the film series will return to Detroit, and reveals plot details which are later debunked by Paramount Pictures.
• March 26, 2013 — Nicola Peltz is confirmed as a cast member via Bay's website.
• April 15, 2013 — Actor Stanley Tucci joins the cast.
• May 1, 2013 — Kelsey Grammer joins the cast as the lead villain named "Harold Attinger".
• May 6, 2013 — The Wrap confirms that Sophia Myles will play a scientist.
• May 18, 2013 — The name of Mark Wahlberg's character is revealed to be Flynn Vincent (This was later either changed or misinformation).
• May 20, 2013 — Chinese actress Li Bingbing joins the cast.
• May 28, 2013 — Actor-Comedian T. J. Miller joins the cast as a mechanic who is the best friend of Wahlberg's character. Filming begins at Monument Valley and the alternate modes of two new Autobots are revealed on Michael Bay's website: a C7 Corvette Stingray and a Bugatti Grand Sport Vitesse.

When having one's midlife crisis, it's not unusual to get a souped-up alternate mode.

• May 29, 2013 — Optimus Prime's new alternate mode is officially revealed by Michael Bay as a custom-built semi-truck.
• May 30, 2013 — Bumblebee's new alternate mode is revealed on Michael Bay's website as a highly modified 1967 Camaro SS.
• May 31, 2013 — Hound is revealed as a new character for Transformers 4, transforming into a Medium Tactical Vehicle.
• June 7, 2013 — Another new vehicle for the film is revealed as a Lamborghini Aventador.
• June 12, 2013 — The Sonic RS Rally Car is revealed for the film.
• June 25, 2013 — The Pagani Huayra is revealed to appear in the film.
• June 28, 2013 — A Freightliner Argosy cab-over truck is revealed for the film.
• July 2, 2013 — A second alternate mode is revealed for Bumblebee in the form of a 2014 Concept Camaro.
• July 14, 2013 — Chinese actor-musician Han Geng is announced as being part of the cast.
• July 25, 2013 — After being spotted in Texas in June, actor Titus Welliver officially joins the cast.
• July 27, 2013 — The S.S. Columbia and the S.S. Ste. Clair have been spotted to be featured in the film.
• July 30, 2013 — Wahlberg's children have been cast.
• August 12, 2013 — Victoria Summer joins the cast.

If Age of Extinction teaches us anything, it's that more movies should be cast using reality shows.

• August 25, 2013 — The Transformers 4 Chinese Actors Talent Search Reality Show ends, with winners Byron Li, Candice Zhao, Austin Lin and Teresa Daley joining the cast.
• September 3, 2013 — Lorenzo di Bonaventura confirms the presence of Dinobots in the film.
• September 3, 2013 — The film's title, Transformers: Age of Extinction, is officially announced and the first teaser poster is revealed.
• October 17, 2013 — Director Michael Bay is assaulted on the set during filming in Hong Kong by two locals demanding money. Bay receives minor injuries, but plays the incident off on his blog.
• October 22, 2013 — Four additional locals approach a member of the crew and demand money; one of the four is later arrested by police.
• October 28, 2013 — Director Michael Bay plays down the extortion attempts in an interview with the South China Morning Post. He notes that the locals were apologetic over what took place, and that he wanted to film more projects in Hong Kong.

Michael Bay uses his legendary charm to get the very best performance out of his actors.

• November 25, 2013 — Age of Extinction features in Empire magazine, showing Optimus Prime's new look on the cover. Inside are on-set photos of Michael Bay and the film's human cast in action.
• December 10, 2013 — M1905 publishes a series of interview with cast and crew in which a plethora of information, mainly regarding the film's human characters, is revealed.
• December 17, 2013 — Producer Allegra Clegg visits Durfee Elementary-Middle School as the result of a competition, and answers questions and shows three minutes of footage from the film.
• January 7, 2014 — Following an on-stage snafu at a Samsung presentation, Michael Bay announces on his site that a special presentation including Transformers 4 footage would be touring to promote Samsung's new line of curved TV screens.
• January 16, 2014 — The new Lucasfilm facility in Singapore opens, with some ILM work on Age of Extinction to be done there.
• January 17, 2014 — Steve Jablonsky confirms in an interview with JoBlo that he'll be providing the score for Age of Extinction.
• January 20, 2014 — Late script changes result in Bay and his crew returning to Chongqing for a week reshooting a scene.

"Get me closer! I want to hit them with my sword!"

• February 2, 2014 — The Age of Extinction "big game spot" is screened during Super Bowl XLVIII.
• February 18, 2014 — In an interview with Nerdist, Titus Welliver said the film would be darker and "not a kid's movie".
• February 28, 2014 — Following a storm of online discussion regarding his previous statement, Titus Welliver issues a new statement to the effect that Age of Extinction is in fact a kid's movie and he meant to say it would expand the audience. Relax, it's totally fine to take your kids to see it.
• March 3, 2014 — The first of a series of character posters is revealed.
• March 4, 2014 — The first teaser trailer is released.
• March 12, 2014 — An IMAX poster for the movie is released. MTV UK reports it features "Nightship".
• March 13, 2014 — CinemaCon announce that Nicola Peltz and Jack Reynor will receive the Rising Stars of 2014 Award for Transformers 4.
• March 24, 2014 — On the first day of CinemaCon, Paramount shows off 15 minutes of footage from the film. Mark Wahlberg promises the movie will be the biggest of the year.
• May 8, 2014 — The robot voice cast is revealed on michaelbay.com.
• May 15, 2014 — The second trailer is released on YouTube and iTunes.

Changes before, during and after production

• Slash was originally intended to appear in the film (he even made it into some concept artwork).
• Glenn Morshower was originally set to return in this film, reprising his role of General Morshower, but didn't return due to scheduling conflict.
• Both Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson were intended to cameo reprising their roles as William Lennox and Robert Epps but were cut early on before filming started.
• Ed Welburn, General Motors' vice president for global design, was originally set to cameo as the C.I.A. head before being recast as a KSI employee.
• A scene depicting Hound and Bumblebee dancing with Tessa (while Drift bobs his head in the background) was not present in the final cut of the film.
• Scorn's toys lack the additional two sails he has in the film, suggesting it was a late design change.
• The Pagani Huayra that eventually ended up as Stinger was at one point intended as the alternate mode of a female robot with the working name "Widow Maker".
• A scene where Cade says "Stick behind me" is not present in the final cut of the film.
• Another piece of dialogue cut from the film is when Cade says "You tell me" to Attinger when he asks for Optimus Prime.
• In some concept artwork, Grimlock appears as a horn-less T-Rex.
• The original running time of the film was that of 2 hours with 7 minutes, making it the shortest film in the franchise. the final running time was that of 2 hours and 30 minutes
• Dwayne Johnson was originally offered the role of Cade Yeager, but due his commitment to Hercules: The Thracian Wars, the role was later taken over by his Pain & Gain co-star Mark Wahlberg.
• In some concept artwork, Drift was colored orange instead of blue.
• In some concept artwork, its shown that Optimus was intented to have his original trilogy body in the scenes where he had his new look.

Notes

• Not only do the Dinobots go unnamed in the film (other than Scorn getting the nickname, "Spike"), the word Dinobot is never even said by anyone.
• In addition to the Mercenary robots, Steeljaws, and the ball-shaped drones (with kooky, cartoon-like eyes), inside Lockdown's ship there were also several hovering drones. These drones appear to be of the same type as those the United States used in Dark of the Moon (the one that got sucked into the engine of Bumblebee's commandeered Decepticon fighter). Maybe Attinger sold them to Lockdown?
• Michael Bay's website incorrectly refers to the film as "Transformers 4 The Age Of Extinction"
• The deceased Autobots and Decepticons shown in the cards Attinger pulled early in the film includes: Ironhide, Que, Shockwave, Starscream, Sentinel Prime and Arcee.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Transformers: Lost Age (トランスフォーマー ロストエイジ Toransufōmā Rosuto Eiji)
• Russian: Transformery: Epokha istrebleniya (Трансформеры: Эпоха истребления Transformers: Age of Extermination)
• Argentina: Transformers 4
• Cantonese: Binying Gamgong: Chimmit Saigei (變形金剛：殲滅世紀 "Transformers: The Century of Annihilation")
• Mandarin: Biàn-hsín Jīn-gāng Sz: Jiúe-jī Chúng-shēng (Taiwan: 變型金剛4：絕跡重生, China: 变形金刚4：绝迹重生 "Transformers 4: Rebirth from the Extinction")
• German: Transformers: Ära des Untergangs ("Transformers: Era of Doom")