What do you get when you combine a former Disney child star, a 1980s animated TV series and the director of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre? I'll admit that I'm surprised to say this, but a fantastically entertaining and fun film.  

Transformers premiered nearly a month ago on July 3rd, and it is still going strong—today it continues to play for packed theaters on several screens. The audiences love it and so did I—and I generally do not enjoy action-packed films, chock-full of robotic aliens. So why is this blockbuster different from all other blockbusters? Here are the top five reasons:

1. Shia LaBeouf (of Disney's Even Stevens fame) plays Sam Witwicky, the compellingly likable, smart-alecky underdog whose first car ends up being a friendly, albeit terrifyingly large, alien robot. In a cast including Josh Duhamel (who battles in the desert in strategically torn army fatigue for most of the film) and newcomer Megan Fox (who spends a good amount of time bending over the hood of a car), Shia LaBeouf outshines them all with his superb acting and his Dustin Hoffmanesque charm.

2. Here's another one for Shia: It was especially wonderful to see an actor who is a proud and vocal Jew in real life battle for the good of humanity on the big screen. In the book I Am Jewish dedicated to the memory of Daniel Pearl, Shia writes, “Really, I feel cocky when I say I am Jewish, not bad cocky, but good cocky. Because what I am really saying is that I am one of the few chosen ones out there. I made it; God chose me and I take pride in that.” In a movie industry where Jews normally find their niche in comedy, it was great to see Shia save the planet—all in slow motion and accompanied by dramatic music.    

3. Put simply: the lovable alien robots. Led by the brave and dependable Optimus Prime, the good-guy robots battle the bad-guy robots in an effort to save the planet Earth. They offer to sacrifice themselves in order to save others, refuse to harm humans, even mourn over the death of their enemies and generally offer up a refreshing and reassuring sense of duty and dignity—especially amidst the popularity of ultra-violent films with values far from those we learned in Hebrew school.  

4. And let's talk about the visual effects. I am not exactly the expert judge of cutting edge computer graphic technology, but the robots in this film are visually phenomenal and positively life-like (if there were real-life robots to compare them to). The graphic wizards over at Gentle Giant Studios (collaborators for Harry Potter, Pirates, Narnia and Lord of the Rings ) know their stuff and this was one of their most impressive feats to date.     

5. Transformers is more than just a “stupid toy movie” (as the film's director Michael Bay had initially thought). So much more. Still not convinced? The film attracted the best of the best: Great veteran actors—John Voigt, John Turturro and Bernie Mac; and great newcomers—Megan Fox and Shia LaBeouf (who actually has a Daytime Emmy to his name). And what really sealed the deal for me? The actor (Peter Cullen) who provides the booming, powerful voice of the great robot Optimus Prime also does the voice of Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh. How can you resist?  

Liz Imber is JVibe's editorial intern and while she missed out on Transformers in all their 80s glory, she was a huge Power Rangers fan.