TRANSFORMERS LIMITED EDITION STEELBOOK 6-MOVIE COLLECTION

TRANSFORMERS: “Of all summer 2007’s big-ticket movies, none let me down as much as Transformers. I thought it’d be an action-packed blast but instead it was messy, confused and downright boring."

TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN: “With 2009’s Revenge of the Fallen, the second Transformers film offers an experience much like that of its predecessor. That’s great if you liked the 2007 flick but not so good if – like me – you didn’t care for it."

TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON: “Via 2011’s Dark of the Moon, the Transformers franchise continues with a film that offers a virtual carbon copy of its predecessors. The movie occasionally musters decent action but seems too silly and disjointed to succeed.

TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION: “Going into the fourth film in the franchise, fans know what to expect from Transformers: Age of Extinction. Even with new protagonists, the movie follows the formula established in the first three flicks, and that means we get another sporadically exciting but often tedious experience."

TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT: “Five films into the franchise, Transformers: The Last Knight lacks much creativity or excitement. It delivers the usual wild action but it fails to provide a coherent, enjoyable cinematic experience. "

BUMBLEBEE: “As an extension of the Transformers universe, Bumblebee fares better than its predecessors. That said, the movie doesn’t dazzle, as it feels too derivative to become anything memorable."

Back in 2007, popular but polarizing director created a live-action adaptation of the old toys/cartoons via Transformers. A big hit, the movie ended up third in the US box office for the year.

2009's Revenge of the Fallen and 2011's Dark of the Moon did even better. Both wound up in second place US for their respective years - and showed the series' increasingly positive fortunes overseas, as Moon cracked the billion dollar barrier.

As it landed in seventh place for the year, 2014's Age of Extinction demonstrated a clear decline in US ticket sales. However, it remained above $1 billion total internationally.

Admissions fell off a cliff for 2017's The Last Knight, as it sputtered to 25th place in the US. Once again, international screenings saved it, but with $605 million total, it only took in 55 percent of its predecessor.

Rather than keep the declining franchise on the same course, 2018 brought a spinoff via Bumblebee, a prequel of sorts. This one failed to reverse financial fortunes and became easily the weakest draw of the six, but it did give the series its best reviews and prompted some optimism for the future.

2023 brings that future with June's Rise of the Beasts. As I write this in May 2023, it remains to be seen if this movie will entertain and/or sell massive numbers of tickets.

To promote the first Transformers movie in four and a half years, we get this "Limited Edition Steelbook 6-Movie Collection". It provides each Transformers movie from 2007 to 2018 as Dolby Vision 4K UHD presentations along with bonus Blu-rays that boast ample supplements.

The 12 discs reproduce the existing releases. I won't repeat all that info here, though I will state all six movies look/sound great.

Bonus materials vary in depth/quality from movie to movie - and get less impressive as the series progresses. Nonetheless, they come with a lot of good information.

The letter grades I assigned here averaged out the picture/audio/bonus marks I gave to the individual releases. Of course, click on the links at the top of the review to get detailed information about the specific movies/discs.

Though the 4K UHD package lacks any new disc-based materials, it does come with some unique features. As noted by the title of the set, each film comes in its own steelbook case. I appreciate that the box does this for all of the movies and doesn't cram them into one huge steelbook.

In addition, we find an Autobot decal. Yay?

With a new movie about to hit screens, fans can re-examine the prior Transformers flicks via this Limited Edition Steelbook 6-Movie Collection. I admit the series fails to work for me, but obviously many like these films. The 4K UHDs bring excellent picture and audio as well as generally positive bonus materials. Outside of a decal and steelbooks, this paclage brings nothing new, but it acts as good "one-stop shopping" for fans.