
Tranformers will no doubt be one of the big summer movie winners this year, a CGI extravaganza of robotic mayhem melded with an inordinate number of closeups of the ludicrously attractive Megan Fox. Adjunct to the aesthetic curves of one of Hollywood's most attractive starlets, cool GM cars and wonderful examples of the US armed forces' best and most powerful tanks, ships, planes and helicopters, will assualt your eyes and ears.
It all sounds frenetic and that's because it is, but before this article transmutes into a film review, which it isn't, you might like to consider transportation of a different kind. The Minnesota Science Museum has a Titanic exhibit running through to Jan 3 and it is well worth exploring if you prefer something a little more sedate and of course educational.
The museum recommends booking your tickets in advance, as both the Omnitheatre movie, which explores the wreck of the vessel some 3 miles below the water's surface, and the exhibit itself require tickets with a pre-set entry time. If you're not a member of the museum expect to pay an additional $3 per person for advanced reservations, or you can wait in line.
The exhibit is definitely interesting: Titanic still draws immense interest from people all over the world as it remains the world's greatest maritime disaster. There is so much of a human story to the tragedy: foolishness, like the lookout's binoculars being lost during the voyage, intense sadness like the rescue ship Carpathia being referred to as the "ship of widows," and of course the tremendous bravery. It's also interesting to study the construction of the ship, which weighed in at some 46,000 tons and how thousands of Irish workers built her. Her engines remain the largest marine steam engines ever built and to give you an idea of scale, the German battleship Bismark, which the British Royal Navy pulverized into scrap metal, blood and body parts, was around 50,000 tons.

(Millvana Dean, the last known survivor of Titanic died last Sunday. Photo: AP/John Stillwell, file)
So, if you want to see intense action and a fair bit of Megan Fox, Transformers is a couple of hours of fun, but if you're looking to explore one of the great romantic periods of steam travel, then money spent on the Titanic exhibit is well worth it.
For more info: http://www.smm.org/visit/ http://www.hasbro.com/transformers/en_US/