Transmorphers

Not to be confused with Transformers (film).

Transmorphers
Transmorphers DVD cover
Directed by	Leigh Scott
Written by	Leigh Scott
Produced by	David Michael Latt
Starring	Matthew Wolf Griff Furst Eliza Swenson Amy Weber
Cinematography	Steven Parker
Edited by	Leigh Scott Kristen Quintrall
Music by	Victoria Mazze Chris Ridenhour Divine Madness, The
Distributed by	The Asylum
Release date	June 26, 2007
Running time	85 minutes
Country	Template:FilmUS
Language	English
Budget	$300,000

Transmorphers is a science fiction alien invasion film released direct-to-DVD on June 26, 2007. It was written and directed by Leigh Scott and produced by David Michael Latt and The Asylum. The film, including the plot, borrows from The Terminator, Aliens, The Matrix, Starship Troopers and the Japanese Anime Mospeada.

The film was followed by a 2009 prequel titled Transmorphers: Fall of Man.

Plot

In 2009 a race of aliens piloting giant robots have conquered Earth and forced humanity to live underground. They did this by altering the environment, causing constant rainfall and darkness. After 300 years of domination, a small group of human rebels plan to finally take back their world from the mechanical invaders. They soon learn however that the aliens do not pilot the robots, but are the robots.

A patrol, led by Blackthorn (Thomas Downey), is sent out to capture a Z-bot so its operating ability can be studied. The patrol is suddenly ambushed by several robots, with some being able to reconfigure themselves, revealing different weapon systems. These transmorphers ambush humans by appearing as mundane features of the terrain, even fooling detection systems.

After Blackthorn's patrol is destroyed by the machines the leader of the human resistance group, General Van Ryberg (Eliza Swenson), argues with fellow officers about how to fight the war. Van Ryberg decides to reinstate a disgraced soldier named Warren Mitchell (Matthew Wolf), who was court-martialed along with his right-hand man, Itchy (Griff Furst), and cryogenically frozen for insubordination. They had killed their unit officer five years earlier. Mitchell is glad to be reinstated, but learns that his former love interest, Karina Nadir (Amy Weber), a fighter pilot, is now married to General Van Ryberg.

Mitchell assembles a small military patrol, Xandria Lux (Shaley Scott) is sent out to capture a Z-bot, intact, so its fuel cells can be studied. They hope to shut the machines down by contaminating the fuel cell and place it in a large radio tower which supposedly controls the machines.

Mitchell and his group ambush and destroy a group of patrol machines, and succeed in capturing one. During the battle, Karina and another female solder named Blair (Sarah Hall) are stuck behind enemy lines right near the radio tower.

Bringing the Z-bot back to their underground city, Mitchell realizes that the fuel cell has an implanted tracking device that leads the machines to the humans underground city. Van Ryberg takes over as the field commander in a last ditch effort to defeat the robots, and to rescue her wife.

Mitchell then surprisingly learns from resident scientist Dr. Voloslov Alextzavich (Michael Tower), that he himself is an android constructed by Dr. Alextzavich, including the human feelings and understandings. Mitchell realizes that he must get the Z-bot's fuel cell to the radio tower to implant it in the control computer to try and shut the robots down.

Supported by an aerial strike force, led by Lux, Mitchell's team make it to the radio tower where they are able to rescue Karina and Blair. The group breaks into the building, but the anti-human counter-measures make all of them sick and they cannot make it to the main control room. It becomes even more complicated when the tower reveals itself to be a giant robot.

Meanwhile, General Van Ryberg and her own soldiers get to one of the terra-forming stations to take it offline and hold off a massive army of robots attacking the underground city. Lux then arrives with her fighter squadron to bomb the attacking robots.

Back at the radio station, Mitchell, using his android abilities, sacrifices himself and takes the tower out, buying enough time for the rest of his team to escape. Once the tower is destroyed the robots all over the world shut down. With the battle won, Karina and Van Ryberg are reunited and the surviving humans see the sun shine through the clouds for the first time in centuries.

Cast

• Matthew Wolf as Mitchell
• Griff Furst as Itchy
• Eliza Swenson as General Van Ryberg
• Amy Weber as Nadir
• Monique La Barr as Reitcha
• Shaley Scott as Lux
• Jeff Denton as McGuire
• Thomas Downey as Blackthorn
• Leigh Scott as General Sabir

Release

Initial copies of the DVD released in the United States contained out of sync audio and missing special effects and sound effects. Subsequent reissues of the North American and British DVD were corrected.

Reception

David Cornelius of Efilmcritic.com stated that "even the most dedicated Bad Movie fans will have difficulty slogging through this one". However, there was one positive review: Felix Vasquez Jr. from Cinema Crazed said, "Transmorphers is worth your time. And no, Asylum didn't pay me to say that."

Mike Hermann of the Houston Chronicle called this "the most elaborate and bodacious straight to DVD movie of the year" and goes on to say "[I] can't remember another director and set of actors doing such an awful film."

See also

• Transmorphers: Fall of Man, the 2009 prequel starring Shane Van Dyke
• Transformers, the 2007 blockbuster of which Transmorphers is a mockbuster

External links

• Transmorphers at The Asylum
• Transmorphers at IMDb
• Transmorphers at Rotten Tomatoes
• Template:Amg movie
• Audio Interview With Director on the Your Video Store Shelf Podcast
• Craptastic Movies