THERE is obsession, pure madness and absolute craziness. But if you tell Jason Lioh that he suffers from any of those when it comes to Transformers, he’d shrug and say that he’s simply an interested fan.

Well, here’s the story.

When the the first Transformers movie came out last year, Jason watched it nine times in the cinema (seven of it by himself), and about 15 times on the DVD.

“It wasn’t a perfect movie but it was great entertainment; the robots, Megan Fox, the robots, Megan Fox and Megan Fox,” says Jason, 24.

Many cinemas in the Klang Valley are filled with moviegoers, thanks to Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen.

He even shed a tear when watching the first movie for the first time because he was so happy that a “real” Transformers movie was finally playing right before his eyes.

“I found the storyline believable. The movie was good with all the explosions and of course, the main stars of the movie were the robots. They’re the reason why I watched the movie so many times and their transformations never fail to excite me.”

That is why when Jason heard about the movie’s second instalment, Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen (ROTF), he scoured the Internet for juicy tidbits and movie release date.

“When cinemas started pre-selling the movie tickets online, I grabbed them. I managed to get tickets for shows from Tuesday until Sunday,” says Jason, a Computer Engineering student.

Well, if you think that is crazy for Jason to get seven tickets straight, you should talk to Ooi Eu Veng, 26, who obtained 100 tickets for last Saturday’s show.

When a cinema operator said no to his request to book a cinema hall during the movies opening weekend last week (one can only fully book a hall two weeks after a movie’s first screening), Eu Veng came up with plan B.

“My friend and I decided that it would be great to watch the movie together with 100 friends and family members, even if we cannot book the entire hall,” he says.

Eu Veng’s friend, Tan Thong Kai, then pre-purchased the 100 tickets and re-sold them to their friends at counter price.

Jason Lioh

But if you are thinking about doing the same, you have to wait for a bit because tickets are sold out and some cinema operators’ websites are crashing due to the heavy traffic.

A Golden Screen Cinemas spokesperson confirmed that their website did receive an exceptional traffic flow and they had to revert to a simplified page that only supported showtime and reservations, e-payment ticketing and contests.

The cinema is also currently showing the film more times than they usually do for other blockbusters.

Of course, everybody wants to watch ROTF, and Eu Veng found that out the easy way. Out of the 100 tickets he bought, more than 30 tickets were snapped away within a day.

“We didn’t expect it to sell so fast but we’re glad we found many people who are into watching this movie together,” he said.

Ooi Eu Weng

The main reason why Eu Veng and his buddies decided to buy the 100 tickets was just so that they can watch the movie with friends and family.

“Just imagine an army of us ‘attacking’ the cinema. The idea just sounded great.” Although they went en masse, Eu Veng and his circle knew it was not a private party, and they observed all the usual cinema etiquette.

“I know that we can’t be noisy during the movie, but we could all just go and hang out somewhere after the movie is over and discuss it in detail,” he says.

Jason is looking forward to breaking his personal record with ROTF and by the looks of it, he’s going to make it. In the five days that the movie has been showing (it opened on the night of June 24), Jason has managed to watch it seven times already!

Last Thursday, Jason watched the movie twice, once at 3pm and again at 9pm. And the best part, he’s not done yet.

“Last week was just the beginning, and I’d already watched it seven times. It took me one month to watch the first movie nine times in the cinema, so I won’t be surprised if I catch this one 14 times or more,” he says.

And there’s no limit as to how many times he’s going to visit the cinema. “From now on, it will be whether I have the free time and urge to do so or not.”

Tan Thong Kai

There must be a reason as to why he wants to watch ROTF so many times.

“The movie is simply so good, Wicked, actually, with cooler robots, bigger explosions and great effects. Megan Fox is also an eye-candy worth watching,” he adds.

Nevertheless, Jason noted some flaws in the movie.

“There were re-used scenes and robots, and some robots didn’t even get enough screentime.”

But obviously, Jason is not going to let his slight disappointment get in his way of watching it again in the cinema.

He even Twittered: “I now go to the toilet during the boring parts. Haha!” and said that after a few more viewings, he could probably recite the dialogues word-for-word. Such dedication.

If you think that Jason is crazy and want to tell him that, well, he’s heard it all before. His friends (his parents have no clue as to what their son is up to when it comes to Transformers) all say that he must be losing his mind for watching a movie over and over again.

Golden Screen Cinemas had to created a simplified version of its website due to heavy traffic on the original site!

“Most people say I’m crazy, but I just enjoy watching movies. I like Transformers and there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s like other people watching nine different movies in one month, while I watch the same film nine times within the same time period. “Same amount of money spent and same level of satisfaction,” he says.

He doesn’t consider himself being an obsessed fan, though.

“You can call me crazy but I am not really obsessed. I love the movie and watch it many times but I don’t buy the merchandise or whatsoever. I can’t afford the toys,” he says.

And it should be mentioned that Jason also watches other movies more than once.

“I watched Iron Man five times, Ip Man four times, Kung Fu Panda three times. In fact, I watch quite a lot of movies twice. But I have to say that Transformers (both movies) holds the record. And they will probably be the movies that I will watch many times for the rest of my life,” he says.