''Transmorphers: Fall of Man'' (also known as ''Transmorphers II'') is a 2009 American
science fiction film
Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, interstell ...
directed by Scott Wheeler and produced by
The Asylum
The Asylum is an American independent film company and distributor that focuses on producing low-budget, direct-to-video films. It is notorious for producing titles that capitalize on productions by major studios, often using film titles and s ...
, It is a
prequel
A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work.
The term ...
to the 2007 film ''
Transmorphers
''Transmorphers'' is a 2007 American 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, "a studio whose work gets slightl ...
''.
As the title suggests, this film is a
mockbuster
A mockbuster (also known as knockbuster or a drafting opportunity) is a film created to exploit the publicity of another major motion picture with a similar title or subject. Mockbusters are often made with a low budget and quick production to ma ...
of ''
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen''. The plot, however, borrows from the
2007 ''Transformers'' film, ''
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines'', and ''
Maximum Overdrive
''Maximum Overdrive'' is a 1986 American comedy horror film written and directed by Stephen King. The film stars Emilio Estevez, Pat Hingle, Laura Harrington, and Yeardley Smith. The screenplay was inspired by and loosely based on King's shor ...
''. Unlike ''Transformers'', the film was released directly to DVD with an
R-rating in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
and a
15 rating in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
.
Plot
Taking place 300 years prior to the events of
the first film
''The First Film'' is a 2015 British documentary film about cinema pioneer Louis Le Prince, made by David Nicholas Wilkinson. It argues the case that Le Prince, rather than the Lumière brothers, was the true inventor of moving pictures, makin ...
in the then-present-day 2009, the narrator describes how the government knew what was happening. A woman is seen driving recklessly on a California highway while arguing over her cell phone. Police officer Ryan Hadley pulls her over and gives her a warning. The man calls her back, but she tells him off and throws the phone down; the phone then transmorphs into a robotic spider that attacks and kills her.
At
Edwards Air Force Base
Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation in California. Most of the base sits in Kern County, but its eastern end is in San Bernardino County and a southern arm is in Los Angeles County. The hub of the base is E ...
, an NSA officer informs her superior about intercepting a signal. In
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
, Jo Summers is shocked to read in the newspaper about of the death of the woman from the car. In the
Kern County
Kern County is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 909,235. Its county seat is Bakersfield.
Kern County comprises the Bakersfield, California, Metropolitan statistical area. The county ...
Morgue, the police are baffled by the wound that killed the driver. Madison arrives home to discover her television is out. A repairman is called to fix the television. It ends up being Jake, the afformentoned narrator, an old friend of Madison, who hasn't seen her since returning from military deployment. Jake investigates her satellite dish and is shocked when it transmorphs into a robot. He runs inside to warn Madison, but when he goes back outside, the robot is gone. Summers meets up with Hadley to investigate the death of the driver, but the NSA show up and asks her to go with them. She advises Hadley to find the driver's missing phone.
A man is driving an SUV when his GPS gives him a five seconds warning to exit the vehicle, before shooting him in the forehead with a laser. Ryan meets with Madison and Jake and hears their story. He takes them in his car to look for the cell phone, but he is called to the scene of the SUV driver's body. A young boy tells Hadley that the SUV dumped the body and drove away by itself. Hadley picks up the first driver's cellular phone from the coroner's office. He then intercepts the SUV, which tries to ram him. When Ryan pulls the SUV over, they are jumped by the satellite robot. They drive away, but are chased by the SUV, who also transmorphs into a robot.
The machines quickly seize control of the Earth. After surviving an assault which kills Hadley, a small group learn that aliens are changing the water and the atmosphere to fit their physiology. They hear about this from a soldier who claims that this information came from
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...
, where they captured and tortured one of the machines. They manage to salvage explosives and destroy one of the terraforming devices. This has a negative effect, though: the release of toxic chemicals into the atmosphere, to which the machines have adapted, and Jake sends a signal to other surviving humans, who have taken refuge underground, directing them to join him.
Cast
Production
''Transmorphers: Fall of Man'' was released June 30, 2009 (less than a week after the premiere of ''
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen'').
Scott Wheeler directs the film, replacing ''
Transmorphers
''Transmorphers'' is a 2007 American 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, "a studio whose work gets slightl ...
'' director Leigh Scott, and the film was also
The Asylum
The Asylum is an American independent film company and distributor that focuses on producing low-budget, direct-to-video films. It is notorious for producing titles that capitalize on productions by major studios, often using film titles and s ...
's first film to be released on
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of s ...
.
Reception
''Transmorphers: Fall of Man'' was met with a mixed critical reaction, and a considerably favorable one to its predecessor. Felix Vasquez Jr. of Cinema Crazed, who gave the original ''
Transmorphers
''Transmorphers'' is a 2007 American 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, "a studio whose work gets slightl ...
'' a positive review, said, "There are moments when ''Transmorphers 2'' rises to the occasion and injects a sense of urgency to the proceedings, but it takes too long for anything to happen. It's one long stretch of boring with a few hits of excitement, but the cons drastically affect the pros."
''Transmorphers: Fall of Man'' review
by Felix Vasquez Jr, Cinema Crazed, July 3, 2009
Future
Sequel
A third film in the series, ''Transmorphers: Mech Beasts'', is scheduled to be released on June 30, 2023. It is a mockbuster of '' Transformers: Rise of the Beasts''.
Spinoff
One of the Transmorphers appears in ''2025 Armageddon'', a 2022 film released to celebrate The Asylum's twenty-fifth anniversary. In this film, aliens send waves of monsters from Asylum films to attack Earth; a Transmorpher is sent alongside an Armada Suit in one of the first waves, but is destroyed when humans seize control of the latter to battle it.
See also
* ''Transmorphers
''Transmorphers'' is a 2007 American 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, "a studio whose work gets slightl ...
'' - The predecessor, by The Asylum
* ''The Day the Earth Stopped
''The Day the Earth Stopped'' is a 2008 American direct-to-DVD science fiction action horror film produced by independent studio The Asylum, directed by and starring C. Thomas Howell. Thomas stars as the protagonist, soldier Josh Myron, who witne ...
'' - Another alien invasion film by The Asylum
References
External links
''Transmorphers: Fall of Man'' at The Asylum
* {{IMDb title, 1376460
2009 independent films
2009 science fiction films
2009 films
Alien invasions in films
American science fiction films
American robot films
The Asylum films
Direct-to-video prequel films
Mockbuster films
Films set in Los Angeles
Films shot in Los Angeles
Films directed by Scott Wheeler
2000s English-language films
2000s American films
American prequel films