The Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts Filmmakers Put Me In A Porsche For A Wild Car Chase [Exclusive Interview]

Being a human in the world of the "Transformers" is undoubtedly a dangerous thing. The eternal war between the Autobots and Decepticons, as well as the epic struggle between Maximals and Terrorcons, leaves us poor, puny humans extremely vulnerable. Yet it also could be a terrifically thrilling thing, too: After all, the Autobots have chosen to take the form of some of the most gorgeous, top-of-the-line vehicles, and riding in one is less about you and more about forming a symbiosis with the machine, trusting that it'll take care of you as long as you treat it well.

While none of us will be able to actually have such an experience with a Transformer (unless and until the CIA reveals that Cybertron is real), I was lucky enough to undergo the next best thing: Driving both a Porsche 911 and a 718 Cayman at the Porsche Experience Center in Carson, California, all while "Rise of the Beasts" director Steven Caple Jr. and second unit director James Madigan looked on. I was coached through the thrills and, yes, even spills of the Experience Center's various tracks by a few of the Center's expert instructors, taking the 911 on a race lap and into hazardous conditions while guiding the Cayman through an autocross course.

I began the day by speaking with Caple Jr. and Madigan about "Rise of the Beasts," their matching of real-life cars with fictional Cybertronians, recreating 1994 in 2023, and coordinating first and second unit shooting.

I wanted to start off by asking how you approached making a movie where the cars are the stars, in terms of how much was involved in "casting" the cars, as opposed to just a regular car movie where people are driving the cars. Because these cars are actually characters.

Caple Jr.: Yeah, for us it was like, okay, yeah, of course you try to go for — it is a car movie. It is "Transformers," robots changing and shifting cars. But it's not about, "Hey, what is the sexiest car out there?" It's like, "[How] can I capture the character and who they are?" So going down that [road], we would go with who Bumblebee is or who Mirage is as a character. What are his traits? Is he flashy? Would he be bright? Would he be sort of muted? Those kind of things sort of to describe what his personality was. Is he a fighter? Is he fast? Is he quick? What are his other fighting traits and choreography? And then we try to find the car to perfectly match that. What's cool was that we took place in 1994, in a specific era, so we try to find that nice window of really, yes, cool cars, but also ones that mold into the rest of the lineup when you look at Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, and even Arcee.

Madigan: The classic, I think you got the classic Prime. The cab.

Speaking of what you just said, I wanted to ask about the fact that it is technically a period piece film, and it's an era where I was a kid, and remember fairly well. So I was really excited to watch it and have that feeling of seeing a summer movie of that era now in 2023. So how did both of you go about approaching not just the cars, but the entire art design of the film in terms of it being a period piece?

Caple Jr.: I think I definitely wanted to make sure that it looked proper to that era. We found very authentic locations and/or designed locations that were very authentic. It was tough because we shot some in New York and some in Montreal, and you realize that even New York doesn't even look like 1994 anymore. So we really had to dress up these streets when we wanted to ride in either in NY or even Montreal. Peru was just beautiful within itself. So we didn't have to do much work to Peru. [laughs]

Madigan: It's mostly historic places.

Caple Jr.: Yes, it's historic, beautiful ruins. The Sacred Valley was gorgeous. I think, for us, it was making sure we didn't ruin anything when we were out there.

Madigan: Yeah, "Don't knock over a stone!"

"Transformers" set pieces are obviously very visually intense and complicated and involved. I wonder how both of you wrangled splitting up your duties between directing first and second units and also how you worked with the VFX teams. In terms of the workload, how did you guys break that up?

Madigan: Yeah, I think the two main sequences with Mirage are a really good example of that, because it was a real trade off between first and second unit. I think with everything that we do, even though we're essentially directing cars, they're characters. And Steven had really laid down his vision for the characters, their personalities, and what they do, so everything kind of grows out of that. So once we had really laid down what the tone of the scene [was] and the personality of the characters, then as it flowed out of the main unit, it could go into second unit and we knew exactly what kind of roadmap to follow.

Caple Jr.: Exactly. On a technical level, it was like whatever had Noah and the human beings, I was actually shooting a lot of that, which helped when we had pre-vis and things like that. And then whatever [scenes required] all car racing, dangerous stuff, I just gave to him, I'll say for my part.

Madigan: The fun stuff!

Steven, you've talked about some of the changes that you made in terms of how the film used to have a little bit of a darker ending in one version, and of course now we have the home release coming out. As a fan of physical media, I love seeing all these additional materials that are on the home releases. How do you guys as filmmakers see it from your end?

Caple Jr.: I love it. I love it. I'm a big behind the scenes-slash-director's cut, even commentary, even though everyone doesn't do it. I didn't do it for this film. I'm sorry, guys. It [takes] time. It was time.

Madigan: You had a baby.

Oh, that sounds fair, then.

Caple Jr.: I will say that there is a really cool — I've talked about this a little bit — but [a] Transit and Optimus Prime fighting scene that we're going to release that I spent a lot of time on, that was –

Madigan: Dark.

Caple Jr.: Yeah, the core and dark tone that I was going for initially. And then there was an ending where Prime got away. When he went to sacrifice himself for the squad and the team, he actually went up into space with Unicron and he had a moment with Unicron. I think we might be releasing at least some of the early animation of that. So it won't be perfect, but you at least get a sense of the tone and feel. I was actually watching that the other day. It was pretty cool.

Madigan: Any more switchbacks, any extras?

Caple Jr.: We don't have any extra switchbacks. Everything that's on the switchback basically is in the film. We probably cut a small portion out, but it was some fighting, that was it. But everything car-wise, driving-wise, we tried to keep as much in there as possible because it was just so beautifully done.

After the interview, I was taken out to the series of tracks that make up the bulk of the Porsche Experience Center and put behind the wheel of a snazzy Porsche 911. With the exception of a one-way walkie-talkie connecting me to my instructor's voice, I was ridin' solo, entrusted with a beautiful, powerful, and no doubt expensive vehicle. As I followed the instructor and a fellow student down the path of several tracks, I was led on a merry chase around hairpin turns, sharp embankments, and smooth straightaways. Driving in California — especially Los Angeles — is a fairly low-speed experience most days, so to be able to open up the 911's engine and zoom down a road at upwards of 100mph took my breath away.

Of course, lots of cars can go fast. Where the true musculature of a vehicle lies is in its handling. To prove that point, I was taken to another part of the track meant to teach endurance and defensive driving under hazardous conditions, which arrived in the form of a sensor-driven pad that was constantly being sprayed with multiple water hoses. The task was to drive onto the pad at around 25mph, at which point the sensor in the pad would "kick" the car to one side or the other at random, forcing the driver (me) to try to keep the car moving straight ahead without spinning out.

I'm happy to say that I excelled at this proving ground, well enough that my instructor had me then turn off the 911's stabilizers, at which point I was slipping and sliding and spinning all over the place. In "Rise of the Beasts," Mirage (voiced by Pete Davidson) is a 911, and after driving it, I could see why: The car feels like it has the character's manic, playful energy, and just like Mirage, comes through in the clutch (so to speak).

Next up, I was taken over to the Experience Center's autocross course, which consisted of a series of cones arranged in various configurations. This time around, I was driving the 718 Cayman, and quickly discovered that while it took less finesse to handle than the 911, it still had that speed and power of a classic Porsche. As I got to zoom around cones and make pinpoint stops as part of a series of time trials, my instructor taught me the very cool racing technique of a launching start, whereby you use your left foot to hold down the brake while your right jams the accelerator, revving the engine until you're given the greenlight and you simply move your left foot away. The effect is entirely like being on a ride at Six Flags or Cedar Point, going from 0 to 60 almost instantaneously.

While driving both Porsches allowed me to experience some heavy G-forces (well, heavy for someone who doesn't experience them on a daily basis), I was not prepared for the final experience of the day: a passenger-seat ride in a 911, driven by a professional. As we took off down the same course I'd driven earlier, now at even faster speeds than I had traveled before, I found myself simultaneously exhilarated and nauseated, the G-forces becoming wildly intense (this scene from 2019's "Ford V Ferrari" aptly sums up the feeling).

In "Rise of the Beasts," Noah Diaz (Anthony Ramos) gets taken for a ride by Mirage while he's attempting to boost the car to make some extra dough, and after this passenger seat experience, I could absolutely relate to his shock. The "Transformers" films have always been intense, wild cinematic experiences, and after my day driving and being driven around the Porsche Experience Center, I'm happy to say that in this case, life indeed imitates art.

"Transformers: Rise of the Beasts" is now available on digital.