Transformers (2007) - 17 questions

Question: If Seibertron/Cybertron is an alien planet where the transformers originated from, why are some named after earth things, like Bumblebee? Are there earth insects there too? Bumblebee was called that even before he came to earth. Bonecrusher is another example, Transformers do not have what we call bones. Do they also listen to 'Jazz' music?

Answer: No definitive answer has ever been given, but it seems reasonable to conjecture that their "Earth" names are simply the closest available English translations of their true Cybertronian names.

Question: Can someone please explain why all this happened more than 100 years after Megatron crash landed on Earth? Why didn't the Transformers come sooner?

Answer: Because the Decepticons didn't know where Megatron ended up for the last 100 years. Bumblebee arrived on Earth as a scout to check out for any clues, found the glasses on Ebay, signalled the other Autobots, which prompted Blackout and Frenzy to investigate the base in Quatar, which lead to Blackout downloading the base computers and Frenzy hacking the computers aboard the aircraft later leading to the discovery of Megatron's whereabouts.

Question: Did Frenzy really die? He survived when Mikaela sliced his head off, why should this be different?

Answer: Because his head was still intact when Mikaela removed it from his body. The blow that killed him was straight to the "brain."

Question: How come the Autobots can't project holographic drivers? Do the Decepticons know something they don't?

Answer: There is no reason to think they can't. They simply choose not to. They may feel it's too deceitful.

Question: What car did Blackout cut up when he was trying to get Sam running away with the allspark?

Answer: A 2007 Pontiac GTO.

Question: Is it just me, or does Banacheck (the Sector Seven guy who briefs SecDef) look just like the driver hologram that Barricade projects? And if it is the same person, is it intentional on Barricade's part? Or did the producers just use the same actor and hope nobody would notice?

Answer: When I saw this scene, I thought that it was intentionally done by the directors to throw in a small bit of deception to the audience, considering the closeup on the briefcase and the electronic disruption that occurs while he is there. However it's probably more of just a coincidence that they look similar. The hologram driver/pilot that the Decepticons use was played by Brian Reece and Banacheck was played by Michael O'Neill.

Question: Did they ever get rid of the Decepticon Virus that shut down everyone's communications?

Answer: Presumably. They never say, but it stands to reason that, if nothing else, the Autobots helped them remove and eradicate it.

Question: Where did Barricade disappear to? The last time we see him was on the highway with Bonecrusher, just before Bonecrusher transforms and attacks Optimus. Did he chicken out and run away after seeing how easily Optimus defeated Bonecrusher?

Answer: Could be either. We won't know what happened to him until the sequel comes out!

Question: Why does Ironhide transform in the final battle just to say "It's Starscream!"? As far as i know, from wathing the series 'Cybertron' they can talk in vehicle mode. Of course no one would think this is weird, they already know that they can turn into giant robots, if that's not already weird enough.

Answer: He transforms into robot mode so he (and Bumblebee) can pick up the truck to protect the group from the imminent attack from Starscream.

Question: If Lennox is a captain and Epps is a sergeant, then why is Epps the one who calls the Pentagon and relays the information about the thing that is attacking the village? You'd think the higher ranking officer would be the one to call the Pentagon.

Answer: Usually, yes, unless the higher ranking officer designated the lower ranking officer to do so. But this was not a casual situation. Whoever was able to make the call, made it.

Question: Why doesn't one of the autobots take the all-spark to the roof of the building instead of guarding Sam while he carries it?

Answer: Because they are needed to hold off the attack.

Question: How did Bumblebee regain the ability to talk?

Answer: Its never properly explained during the movie. It would have most likely have happened when he came in contact with the Cube. Just like when Frenzy came in contact with it, he was able to "rebuild" himself back to his original form (after being hacked up by Sam and Mikela). Bumblebee being the good soldier that he was waiting until for the right "time to speak".

Question: Why do the transformers blink and move their mouths when talking? Obviously this is unnecessary for robots, and I found it quite annoying. Is there any rationale behind this?

Answer: They're metal-based lifeforms, not just "robots". Presumably the blinking and mouth movements serve some purpose, we just don't know anything about Transformer physiology to know why it's necessary. They're also designed, by their nature, to take on the characteristics of things around them (as proved by how their forms change quite radically from the bland appearance they have when they first land). This generally applies to other machines, but it's not entirely unreasonable to speculate that, in the case of the Autobots at least, they might also configure themselves to take on certain human mannerisms, to better interact with the humans that they need to deal with.

Question: How was Blackout (the Helicopter Decepticon) killed, exactly? I understand he noticed the humans sneaking up on him when catching a glimpse of their laser targets, but even compared to the other robots he seemed to fall pretty abruptly.

Answer: The lasers targeted Blackout in the same manner as they targeted Megatron. The Air Force used guided munitions to take out Blackout. The soldiers assisted the AF by shooting him with smaller sabot rounds to take him down a little quicker, that's all.

Question: When the people in the military base channel the All Spark to create a Transformer, it is evil and tries to shoot them; and the Transformers that Sam creates from machines in the city by accident also appear to attack the humans around them. If the All Spark can only create evil Transformers then where did the good ones come from?

Answer: I don't think we have enough information to say that it only creates evil transformers. I think it would be more accurate to say that it creates transformers that ACT bad, which could be because they don't know the difference yet. There is a difference between amoral and immoral. Amoral creatures don't know the difference and could then do a lot of bad things in their excitement for being created. Immoral creatures do bad things because they know they're bad. Alternatively the transformers are actually evil because they're interacting with earth technology, all of which was derived from Megatron who's very much evil already.

Question: Perhaps is was my fanboy imagination, but was Peter Cullen the actor playing Barricade's hologram driver?

Answer: Actually no, Barricade was played by an uncredited actor. Here is a picture of Peter Cullen: http://usuarios.lycos.es/toxicoyeah7/petercullen.jpg.

Question: What kind of car is Bumblebee before he gives himself a "makeover"?

Answer: Bumblebee in his first form is a 1975-77 era Chevy Camaro. After he scans his "makeover car" he becomes a 2009 Camaro Concept car. He stays the same make and model he just upgrades the year and style.