San Diego Bay Plays Role in 'Transformers' Summer Blockbuster

Tuesday, 07 July 2009
Contact: Barbara Moreno (619) 686-6216

Millions of moviegoers around the world will be dazzled and entertained when science fiction comes alive over the waters of San Diego Bay. “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” the summer blockbuster from Michael Bay, DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures contains several scenes set against the military backdrop of Port of San Diego tidelands.

The San Diego Film Commission helped the movie makers gain approval from the Department of Defense during the making of the sequel to 2007’s “Transformers.”

Among the key scenes featuring the Big Bay is where a CH-53 Marine helicopter flies along the waterfront with a Saturn suspended from the chopper in mid air (pictured). The Film Commission said in order to shoot the scene, the car was drained of all fluids, filled with foam to guarantee it would float, and was suspended below the helicopter. The CH-53 flew from North Island to the east end of Harbor Island south along the Embarcadero to the Convention Center.

Also featured is Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, in which a key shoot-out sequence in and around a bunker near the Navy Radio Installation bordering Imperial Beach was filmed, the Film Commission said. The submarine USS Topeka stationed at the Point Loma Submarine Base in San Diego is also featured, and U.S. Navy sailors were extras in the movie.

The San Diego Film Commission ran an advertisement on the inside cover of the June 26 edition of the Hollywood Reporter Magazine to thank the Port of San Diego and the film’s producers. A copy of the magazine will be presented to the Board of Port Commissioners at its July 7 board meeting.

“Productions, such as ‘Transformers,’ make a huge economic impact in and for San Diego,” said Film Commissioner Cathy Anderson. “It also allows other filmmakers to see how friendly San Diego is to on-location filming, attracting future film productions, and showcases our unique filming opportunities.”

The production crew spent an estimated $250,000 in San Diego during the filming and occupied about 250 hotel rooms around the city, the Film Commission said.

The film which opened on June 24 grossed more than $474 million its opening week. In the second episode of the live action Transformers series, actor Shia LaBeouf reprises the role of Sam Witwicky, the human caught in the war between Autobots and Decepticons. The film introduces many more robots and the scope has been expanded to numerous countries, most notably France and Egypt.

###

---