The score for the first Michael Bay Transformers movie was something of a shock. I wasn’t expecting much from the movie, and I anticipated even less from the movie’s score. In fact, I expected something more like incomprehensible metal percussions and minimalism in the theme department.

What Steve Jablonsky delivered was nothing short of a revelation, I had a perfect  cinematic music moment during the arrival to earth scene. A moment where the music, movie and context of my own life all blended together for one transcendent moment.  This has only happened three other times in my life, and the composers responsible were named Wiliams, Goldsmith and Shore. So believe me when I say I really liked the music of the first film.

Then came Transformers 2, an abomination of truly grand proportions. The score was solid, but unspectacular. It had none of the awe and wonder that made made the first film’s music such a joy. In the absence of that we got instrumental Linkin Park! Whoop!

Now I understand a film that is second in a franchise isn’t going to have that same freshness, but I was expecting so much better. So now here we are at Transformers 3, Jablonsky has returned with almost everyone else and I am more than curious to hear what he has to offer.

Last week I gave you a review where I hadn’t seen the movie (well TV show actually), now this week I am giving you a review where I saw the movie first before I listend to the score album. In the movie, the music wasn’t as dominant as it was in the first film, but it was far more enjoyable than the last film’s score.

When asked about his role in Jaws 4: The Revenge, Michael Caine once said, “I never saw it—but I saw the house it paid for, and it’s fantastic!” I suspect John Turturro’s been saying something similar for the past four years whenever he’s asked about the Transformers movies. Now we can add John Malkovich and Frances McDormand to that group. And maybe Alan Tudyk.

The plot is as labyrinthine as it is unnecessary. Back in the early 1960s, a ship from war-torn Cybertron (if the Transformers spend all their time fighting, how did they ever evolve?) crashed on the moon. Among the cargo were several “Pillars” that have some sort of significance to the war.

Also, a big, tough Autobot named Sentinal Prime. The White House gets wise to this, and thus we have the impetus for the moon landing (apparently, many historical events were due to Transformers; they don’t get around to revealing that car in which Kennedy was shot was an Autobot, but there may be a fourth film).

Fast-forward to the present day, where the Autobots are now working for the Feds to preserve humanity (how did we ever get along without them?). While on a mission to Chernobyl, Optimus Prime discovers some remnant of the Pillars and decides that it’s high time to revive Sentinal. Also, the Pillars are somehow able to teleport things, which means that it can be used to bring an army of invading Decepticons to earth (according to Frances McDormand, National Intelligence Director).

If you’ve been counting the weeks, days, hours, minutes and second until the third Transformers movie hits theaters and destroys everything in its path, the amount you have to count has just gotten smaller. That’s right, the release date for everyone’s favorite movie where robots blow stuff up has been moved up.

Michael Bay’s Transformers: Dark Of The Moon has been moved to Wednesday, June 29th from Friday, July 1st. The studio’s big Summer 2011 blockbuster will open day and date in all markets except China and Japan on that new date.

According to Deadline, Paramount is apparently pretty psyched for the movie. “Early response to footage, especially the 3D footage, has been great so we want to get the word out that this film is as good or better than the first and much better than the last.”

We’ll see, Mr. Bay. We’ll see.

Welcome to this week’s On the Radar where we delve into all corners of the entertainment, tech and geek Internets for news, views and whatnot that may have escaped our regular coverage this week. Let is know if we missed something interesting. Otherwise, on to the links!

• Are you a Star Wars nerd? Do we need to ask? Here’s 19 Things You Didn’t Know about Star Wars.

• Here’s the opening to Transformers 3. Yeah, not impressed either.

• The Betty White conquest of Hollywood continues. Next stop: Community.

• Thinking about a DROID X? Here’s some first impressions on the device.

• See, Peter Jackson was just like you and made movies when he was a kid. Of course, his were way better.

• In case you missed it, the Harvey Award nominees were announced.

• Like hot chicks in leather with guns? Obviously, director Zack Snyder does.

• Here’s some photos from the vampire movie Priest. It doesn’t look all that great but at least there’s no Rpat.

• Like Star Wars? How about Princess Leia? How about hot models pretending to be Princess Leia in a modernized “Slave Leia” outfit? Yep.

Pixar’s Toy Story 3 won the Father’s Day weekend with a total of over $109 Million, making it the highest grossing opening weekend for a Pixar movie thus far. I’ve got to say, it couldn’t have happened to a nicer movie.

Toy Story 3 is a true 4 quadrant film that the studios are always hoping for. It’s the the holy grail of box-office goodness, because it appeals to men and women, young and old.  It’s rated G, which means families can feel at ease bringing the young ones. Critics universally loved the film, and audiences polled by cinemascore raved as well (Entertainment Weekly.)

Toy Story 3 enjoyed a massive opening, as it played on over 4,000 screens.  Roughly half of those were 3D screens, which bolstered the total gross.  Toy Story 3 is the second highest opening for an animated movie, bested only by Shrek the Third’s $121 Million opening back in 2007.

Another family-friendly film took the number two spot.  The Karate Kid dropped around 48%, and tallied up another $29 Million, bringing its 10 day total to an impressive $106 Million.

The A-Team didn’t benefit from word of mouth all that much.  It experienced a 46% drop from last week, earning $13.7. The movie has made about $49 Million in two weekends, but it had a $110 Million budget, so it has a long, steep hill to climb to recoup its budget.  I have yet to talk to anyone who disliked the movie, so I am really puzzled over its performance (or more accurately, lack thereof.)