John Turturro was allowed to climb the pyramids during filming in Egypt. At one point, he simply broke down crying. When Michael Bay questioned him, he said, "You just don't get to do this in movies. You don't get to shoot in a place that's 4,000 years old."
The film shot for four days in Jordan, at Petra, Wadi Rum, and Salt. The Jordanian royal family, who loved Transformers (2007), provided the Royal Jordanian Air Force for assistance. The Petra location was used as the hiding place of The Holy Grail in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989).
(at around 14 mins) For the scene where Bumblebee blasts Sam's bedroom, an extension of the bedroom was built to be blown up, which would leave the original bedroom unscathed. But when the extension was blown up, part of the attic caught fire and the local fire department had to be called.
Attending a preview of the film, Steven Spielberg is reported to have said upon seeing Devastator in Operation Firestorm, "That is fucking awesome!" Michael Bay was proud of the fact that he could make the normally well-mannered Spielberg swear.
On July 27, 2008, Shia LaBeouf and Isabel Lucas were in a car crash. One of LaBeouf's hands required surgery. Production was only delayed two days; Michael Bay filmed second unit scenes, and LaBeouf recovered a few weeks earlier than expected. Bay wanted the hand injury to be written into the story, but Roberto Orci said re-writes were done to protect his hand for the remainder of the shoot.
Chris Palko: Shia LaBeouf convinced his best friend, rapper Chris "Cage" Palko, to appear in the film. He can be seen in the college quadrangle.
Michael York, Kevin Michael Richardson, Robin Atkin Downes: As the voices of three of the Seven Primes.