Transformers: Dark of the Moon premiered at the Moscow International Film Festival on June 23, 2011. Linkin Park performed a special outdoor concert in Red Square in Moscow on the same night in celebration of the event.[1] Initially scheduled to be released on July 1, 2011, the release was brought forward to June 28, 2011.[3] Originally set to be released in both conventional and IMAX theaters, it was announced in November 2010 that no IMAX 3D shots were made for the film.[72]

Sambutan kritik

The film has received generally negative reviews from film critics, with many praising the film's visual effects and 3D action sequences, but criticizing the below average acting and script; film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave Dark of the Moon a score of 36% based on 224 reviews and a rating average of 4.8/10, saying "Its special effects — and 3D shots — are undeniably impressive, but they aren't enough to fill up its loud, bloated running time, or mask its thin, indifferent script."[73]

Roger Ebert gave the film one out of four stars, calling it "a visually ugly film with an incoherent plot, wooden characters and inane dialog. It provided me with one of the more unpleasant experiences I've had at the movies."[74] Richard Roeper likewise panned the film, giving it a D and saying that "rarely has a movie had less of a soul and less interesting characters."[75]

Several critics were highly critical of the ineffectiveness of the film's two young stars. Peter Travers stated the two "couldn't be duller."[76] The Philadelphia Inquirer stated that Shia LaBeouf "plays Witwicky as if he had a ferocious case of attention deficit disorder. After two films, his fidgeting isn't cute anymore."[77] James Berardinelli said that LaBeouf "has sunk to greater levels of incompetence here. It's hard to call his posturing and screaming 'acting.'"[78] Much of the criticism towards Rosie Huntington-Whiteley compared her in an unfavorable light to Megan Fox. Lou Lumenick said that her "'acting' makes...Megan Fox look like Meryl Streep in comparison."[79] Baz Bamigboye gave his review of the film the title 'Come back Megan Fox, all is forgiven...'.[80]

In a more positive review, Ain't It Cool News called it "the best entry in the Michael Bay-directed franchise."[81] IGN gave the film a 7 out of 10, also stating that it was the best of the franchise.[82] E! Online graded the film a B+ while noting if this is truly the end of a trilogy, its main antagonists should have played more of a part.[83] Website Daily Bhaskar also praised the film, rating it 3 and a half out of five stars, citing it as an improvement to the previous film and how it 'gives fans something to cheer about'.[84] CinemaScore polls reported that the average grade moviegoers gave the film was an A on an A plus to F scale.[85]

Neil Schneider of Meant to be Seen, a website focused on stereoscopic 3D gaming and entertainment, remarked that "while Transformers: Dark of the Moon had the scrapings of a really good story, this 3D movie was shot with a 2D script." On the topic of 3D, Schneider said "Transformers 3 was a mix of native stereoscopic 3D camera capturing and 2D/3D conversion (as a 3D tool), and most was done very well." He added, "At a minimum, Transformers 3 demonstrates that fast cutting sequences are indeed possible and practical in stereoscopic 3D. More than that, it was a comfortable experience and helped exemplify great use of stereoscopic 3D with live action and digital characters. That said, I think they still could have taken it much further."[86]

Charlie Jane Anders of io9.com believed that some elements of the film were deliberate self-references to Michael Bay's own sense of under-appreciation after the backlash to Transformers 2. "After a few hours of seeing Shia get dissed, overlooked and mistreated, the message becomes clear: Shia, as always, is a stand-in for Michael Bay. And Bay is showing us just what it felt like to deal with the ocean of Haterade — the snarking, the Razzie Award, the mean reviews — that Revenge of the Fallen unleashed." She went on to say that the film's frequent, often jarring shifts in tone were an intentional endorsement of Michael Bay's own filmmaking style. "Tone is for single-purpose machines. Consistency is for Decepticons. Michael Bay's ideal movie shifts from action movie to teen comedy to political drama with the same well-lubricated ease that his cars become men. By the time you've finished watching, you will speak Michael Bay's cinematic language."[87]

Box office

Transformers: Dark of the Moon has earned $281.5 million in North America, setakat 14 Julai 2011 (2011-07-14)[update], and $423.9 million in other territories, setakat 14 Julai 2011 (2011-07-14)[update], for a worldwide total of $705.4 million.[88][89] On its first weekend worldwide it made $382.4 million, marking the second-largest opening of all time behind that of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ($394.0 million) and the largest for Paramount/Dreamworks.[90] With another breaking record, it made the largest worldwide debut at IMAX venues, with $23.2 million.[91] With $418.0 million by Monday, it crossed the $400-million-mark worldwide in 6 days, matching the record first set by Spider-Man 3 to reach the amount the fastest.[92] With $511.1 million ($214.0 million in North America and $297.1 million in other territories), it reached the $500-million-mark worldwide in record time, 9 days, surpassing the previous record of 10 days which was held by Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.[93]

In the United States and Canada, from its early Tuesday screenings (9:00 p.m. showings), Dark of the Moon brought in $5.5 million. It also earned $8 million in midnight showings, which is lower than what its predecessor made ($16 million).[94] On its opening day (Wednesday), Dark of the Moon grossed $37.7 million (including $8 million from Tuesday-midnight showings), making it the best opening-day gross of 2011 and the sixth best Wednesday opening day of all time.[95] But it's still behind Revenge of the Fallen which grossed $62 million on its opening day.[96] On Thursday it earned $21.5 million, falling only 43 percent which is a better hold than its predecessor's Wednesday-to-Thursday decline and also marking the fifth-largest non-opening Thursday of all time[97] as well as the tenth largest Thursday gross of all time.[98] Transformers: Dark of the Moon was able to rake in $33.0 million on Friday for a total of $97.8 million while 2009's Revenge of the Fallen made $36.7 million on its first Friday for a total of $127.8 million. Opening at a record 2,789 3D locations, Dark of the Moon's 3D share accounted for 60 percent of its gross, which is atypical due to the downturn in 3D attendance in North America. For its 3-day opening weekend, it grossed $97.9 million,[99] marking the largest opening weekend of 2011,[100] the largest Independence day weekend, out-grossing Spider-Man 2's $88.2 million gross,[101] and the third-largest opening weekend in July.[102] It also scored the fifth-largest opening weekend for a film not opening on Friday[103] and the second-largest 5-day gross for a film opening on Wednesday.[89] During the 4-day weekend it grossed $115.9 million, surpassing Spider-Man 2's $115.8 million 4-day gross, which was the previous record for the Independence day holiday. The film held on to the #1 spot for its second weekend, dropping 51.9%, in these territories and grossed $47.1 million.[104]

Overseas, the film grossed $32.5 million on its opening day, pacing 38 percent ahead of its predecessor and marking the largest opening day for a 2011 film (out-grossing the $18.5 million record set by Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides). Including some early Tuesday previews, it earned $36.6 million in one-and-a-half days.[105] By Thursday, its overseas total reached $66 million,[106] a two-day-opening record for 2011 (ahead of the $44.2 million two-day total of Pirates 4).[107] However, it fell short of the latter by the end of its first weekend, earning $219.8 million, which was still the fourth-largest opening weekend of all time overseas and the largest for Paramount.[108] Also, Dark of the Moon's foreign launch was 57 percent ahead of that of Revenge of the Fallen ($139.6 million) and its 3D revenues performed much better in all 58 markets where 70 percent of the grosses came from 3D which was a higher 3D share than Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides's 66 percent.[109] Don Harris, general manager of distribution for Paramount, commented on the results of Dark of the Moon saying "If we hadn't chosen to debut the movie later in Japan and China, we probably would have had the all-time record." [110] On its second weekend overseas, it fell to $94.7 million, still at first place though at the box office.[111]

In Russia, it broke the record for the highest-grossing opening day of all time, with $5.0 million, surpassing On Stranger Tides's previous record ($4.7 million). It brought in $16,945,064 during its first weekend ($21,965,793 with previews), marking the fourth highest-grossing opening weekend of all time.[112] In South Korea, it earned $5 million, where it was the largest opening day of all time.[105] On its opening weekend, it grossed a massive $21.8 million ($31.1 million with weekday preiews), marking the highest-grossing opening weekend of all time, a record previously held by Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End ($16.7 million).[113] It also made the biggest opening weekend of all time in six other countries topped by Hong Kong and followed by Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Peru. It also performed well in other regions, including the United Kingdom ($17.2 million), Australia ($16.2 million), France ($11.3 million), Mexico ($10.5 million) and Taiwan ($10.5 million).[109] In Chile, it grossed $1,429,074 on its firts weekend, marking the second-largest opening weekend closely behind Pirates 4's $1,448,284 debut. In Germany it opened at $13,169,446 ($15,087,829 with previews), surpassing the openings of both its predecessors.[114] In Hong Kong, it earned a record-breaking $5,060,905 during its opening, by far the largest of all time. In Malaysia, it scored $4,928,400 which is the largest opening of all time. In Mexico, it earned $10,197,801 ($10,740,922 with weekday previews), marking the largest opening of 2011 and the fifth largest of all time.[115] In New Zealand, it marked the largest opening for 2011 and the fourth largest opening of all time, by earning $1,763,653 ($2,114,698 with previews).[116] In Philippines, it earned $4,869,897 ($4,886,654 with previews), marking the largest opening weekend of all time. In Singapore it made $3,508,095 ($4,120,240 with weekday previews) standing as the highest-grossing opening of all time. In Slovakia, it scored the largest debut of 2011 ($259,628).[117] In the UAE, it made the second-largest opening weekend of all time ($1,775,824) behind On Stranger Tides ($1,861,696).[118] In Thailand, it broke the opening weekend record, with $3,705,108 ($4,648,771 with previews) during the busiest weekend ever in the country in terms of total gross ($3,871,234). It was the first $3-million-plus 4-day weekend ever.[119]

Home media

During Hasbro Investor Day, it was announced that the DVD and Blu-ray Disc will be released in the fourth quarter of 2011.[70] The PAL DVD and Blu-ray Disc home releases of Transformers: Dark of the Moon (Trilogy pack, Blu-Ray 3D combo pack, and Collector's Edition) will be released in November 2011.[120] Transformers: Dark of the Moon is due for release on DVD and Blu-Ray on November 15, 2011.[121]