In this live action film based on the 1980s cartoon series, the Decepticons, an evil race of alien robots, attack a U.S. military unit stationed in the Middle East. The men launch an immediate offensive -- but meanwhile, back in the States, Secretary of Defense John Keller (
Jon Voight) learns of a secret U.S. project involving Megatron (voiced by
Hugo Weaving), a bad robot that crash-landed in the Arctic decades before. In the film's civilian side-story, teenager Sam (
Shia LaBeouf) buys a used car, unaware it's an Autobot -- a good robot. Neither does Sam realize that he has in his possession the key to the all-powerful cube -- which all the robots, good and bad, desperately want. The film's many characters and plots collide with the help of the Autobots' courageous, red-and-blue-colored leader Optimus Prime (
Peter Cullen).