The Transformers film franchise has been around since 2007 with the release of Transformers and has had six more installments to date, with the first five all being directed by the amazing Michael Bay. The latest installment in the franchise is 2023's Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, directed by Steven Caple Jr. is a follow-up to 2018's Bumblebee, which soft rebooted the franchise.
Like any mainstream film franchise, Transformers has its own "cult" following, though an overall shared view with most fans and critics alike is that the films progressively got worse as they came out. There was a real sense of awe and wonderment with the first film that brought us those incredible VFX and unique sounds each time they transformed. Unfortunately, with each film, the novelty of the first Transforms has been slowly lost with so much over-emphasis in a sea of films that exploits action and VFX to draw in a crowd over narrative. The film's potential for a great story is there, and although there are plenty of fans who are begging them to quit as each film, like clockwork, is worse than the next, maybe if they keep trying, they will finally get all the elements that make a great film in there one day. Some audiences enjoy big blockbuster action films, and they will undoubtedly love all the Transformers installments. But, if you're looking for diverse and innovative storytelling with deep character development, you should look to watch a film franchise such as Harry Potter or even Shrek.
Updated July 28, 2023: In honor of the release of Transformers: Rises of the Beasts, this article has been updated to add it to the list and with additional material on each film.
Even though many people have their issues and quarrels with the Transformers film franchise, one thing is undeniable: the special effects team really delivers. These films are known for their over-the-top action scenes, highly destructive battles, and the inclusion of the common man (and woman) in celestial warfare on our home planet of Earth. Each film does bring new human characters, who become intertwined with sentient beings at war, as well as new celestial characters, usually in the form of Autobots or Decepticons, who help push the sloppy mess of a story forward. While each film normally brings a new threat to humanity and the inherently good Autobot kind, it struggles to bring new flavors or pizazz and often feels redundant. Not all film franchises can imitate the likes of Marvel or Star Wars, but nevertheless, here are all the Transformers films ranked!
7 Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)
Transformers: The Last Knight is the fifth installment in this film franchise, is the lowest-rated to date, and really deserves that sentiment. The film keeps the same loud metal grinding action as the other films, but that's about it. It is a weak narrative told with unbearable exposition. This installment in the Transformers franchise received harsh criticism due to its immense lack of a well-thought-out story and its overly heavy reliance on exploiting action and cheap thrills to make a few bucks at the box office. As Managing Editor of RogerEbert.com and film critic Brian Tallerico makes clear, "The first scene features bodies flying everywhere as flames pierce the sky... The last scenes...feature bodies flying everywhere as metal and flames pierce the sky."
This film revolves around an ancient Cybertronian power, a secret society dubbed the Order of the Witwiccans, and a new threat from the planet of Cybertron, Quintessa. This threat brainwashes our very own Optimus Prime into believing Earth is a disguised Unicron, the arch nemesis of Cybertron. Also, in this film, Megatron is revived (of course), and the war between the Decepticons and Autobots rages on while the government agency, the TRF, tracks the outlawed Autobots and any of their supporters. The artifact that is being fought over in this movie is the staff of Merlin, which holds the power to control Dragonstorm and more.
In the end, the TRF and the Autobots join forces to fend off Quintessa's Infernocons and Megatron's Decepticons, eventually succeeding after Optimus rejoins the Autobot ranks, thanks to Bumblebee. The movie ends in classic Transformers fashion, with Optimus calling out to any and all Autobots in the galaxy, followed by an end-credit scene revealing Quintessa is still alive and actively scheming.
6 Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)
Transformers: Age of Extinction is another Transformers movie that ultimately underwhelms the overall audience. This film could be considered a bit of a "reboot" because despite staying in the same world, it changes out all the characters from the earlier films. This film suffers from many of the same problems as Transformers: The Last Knight, but maybe, just maybe, to a slightly lesser extent. It was also refreshing when it came out with the new cast and an even larger global scale in the narrative. However, with all this also comes the most extended runtime to date at almost three hours long.
The movie follows Cade, played by Mark Wahlberg, and his daughter, who are struggling to get by. The government has outlawed all transformers, and the Autobots have gone into hiding because the government is tracking them down with their own man-made transformer creations. Optimus Prime is found by the unknowing Cade, who happens to be a mechanic and an unsuccessful inventor and is restored to operating capability. Extinction is the main focus of the movie, hence the title, and it has multiple meanings in this film. The extinction of transformers by the government and the extinction of humankind when Galvatron (the mega man-made pseudo-Transformer) breaks programming and infects the other invented transformers. It is revealed as well that Galvatron has the brain of Megatron (of course) and was constructed, along with the rest of the newly-made and programmed military-controlled transformers, by a "new" element, Transformium.
In the end, Optimus Prime and the remaining Autobots find a "new" army of transformers that take the shape of dinosaurs in order to defeat Lockdown, the evil bounty-hunting main antagonist, and other foes. Megatron is reborn in the form of Galvatron, escapes, and claims he will meet Prime again while Prime sets off into space to find his creators.
5 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
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The next entry on this list is one that is regrettably not so good, for the plot was such a good idea (at the time) and could have been a real heavy hitter. While out of all the films in this franchise, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen did make the most profit and had the highest box office numbers, the story felt flat and lacked true substance. Part of the reason was the film was filmed during the 2007 to 2008 Writer's Strike and went into production without a finished script, making it a nonsensical mess. Following the end of Transformers, we find Optimus Prime leading a joint military unit of Autobots and marines dubbed NEST, while Sam Witwicky, the main protagonist of the first three films, played by Shia LaBeouf, is seen to be having mental outbreaks where he urgently scribes in Cybertonian.
Throughout the film, you see the Autobots and NEST fighting the Decepticons, an unknown history of an ancient race of Primes who look to harvest the Milky Way's sun, and Decepticons going after Sam. Prime dies in a fight against the Decepticons at the hands of Megatron himself, followed by Megatron freeing The Fallen, the sole survivor of the ancient race of Primes, to capture Sam and destroy the earth. In the lead-up to the film's end, Sam is killed, only to be revived by the dynasty of Primes, along with the reconstructed Matrix of Leadership artifact, which has the power to revive Optimus Prime. Once Optimus Prime was revived, he joined the final battle of NEST forces versus the Decepticons and their new (temporary) leader, The Fallen. Optimus is successful in wounding Megatron and eliminating The Fallen, followed by the Decepticons retreating to fight another day.
4 Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)
The third film in the Transformers franchise is one of the more interesting varieties and is the second-highest-grossing Transformers film. Transformers: Dark of the Moon fleshed out the backstory of Cybertron and a long-lost weapon possessed by Sentinel Prime, that holds the ability to finish the everlasting war against the Decepticons. In modern times, the dark side of the moon is investigated by Optimus Prime and the Autobots, who find a beat-up Sentinel Prime and five Pillars. Once Sentinel Prime is brought back to Earth, he is briefed on the current situation, informs Optimus that there are missing Pillars, and is educated on Earth by Optimus himself. Meanwhile, Sam Witwicky gets a job after college and finds out about the apparent truth of the Apollo missions and the dark side of the moon, as well as the fact that everyone involved has been mysteriously killed off.
It is soon realized that Sentinel Prime has been in cahoots with Megatron and the Decepticons, who threaten Sam with his girlfriend's life if he doesn't give up valuable information on the Autobots. Together, the Decepticons look to bully the government in order to banish the Autobots and conquer Earth to restore Cybertron to its former glory. Once the Autobots are sent away on a ship, the ship is destroyed by Decepticons in space, seemingly eliminating them. Luckily, the Autobots were able to counter the attack and escape, unbeknownst to their enemies. After returning to Earth, followed up with much rescuing, planning, and battling, the Autobots, NEST, and Navy SEALs are able to defeat the Decepticons. While the reformation of Cybertron is seized, Optimus Prime and the Autobots feel as if they have a true home on Earth.
3 Transformers (2007)
With Transformers being the first installment in the six-film series, it is no surprise that it is regarded as one of the best movies in the franchise's history. Not only does the film introduce us to a world that is inhabited by the good-natured Autobots and the destructive Decepticons, but Transformers also introduces us to a deeply moving and unexpected friendship between the main protagonist, Sam Witwicky, and a speechless Autobot, Bumblebee. When the film first came out, it was rather revolutionary. No one had ever seen anything quite like it before. It was one of the most popular kids' shows and toys ever, and here it was, finally on the big screen. And this film showed up. Although the advancements in VFX made the newest movies look even better, the first film was innovative, and none of its successors will ever live up to that. This film has a bit of a slow burn early on as the Autobots are hiding from both humans and the Decepticons and, like most, not much of a deep story that will leave anyone with a sense of catharsis, but it quickly ramps up when Bumblebee shows what he truly is to Sam. As the movie goes on, the Autobots and Decepticons begin to emerge and team up with their respective groups.
As the Decepticons begin to wage war on Earth with the Autobots and the military, the Autobots are forced to fight back, even if the government sees no differences between the two groups of Transformers and tends to fight both sides. Eventually, the military and government came to the realization that their best course of action was to assist the Autobots to fend off the Decepticons and, more importantly, locate and secure the AllSpark. The AllSpark is an artifact that could revive the Transformers' home planet of Cybertron, an artifact that Megatron would use to wipe out Earth in the name of Cybertronian dominance and revival.
At the end of the film, Sam, while possessing the AllSpark, attempts to evade the Decepticons during an amazingly intense battle. Cornered, with Optimus nearing death at the hands of Megatron, Sam decides to unleash AllSpark's power inside of Megatron's chest, killing him (temporarily). With no hope of restoring Cybertron, and with the Decepticons defeated, Optimus Prime sent a message across space urging any and all Autobots to make their way to Earth for shelter.
2 Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023)
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts serves as the first big team-up in the new soft rebooted continuity of films. Following up on Bumblebee's ending with the Autobots stranded on Earth, this film was going to adapt the extremely popular Beast Wars cartoon. There was a lot of excitement around this film because of the potential and uncharted territory the franchise was diving into. The Beast Wars story arc is beloved among fans, and with this being the first Autobots-focused movie since the reboot, there was a lot of pressure to get it right. The film delivered with a fun story and flawless visual effects and gave us a must-watch movie for any Transformers fan out there.
When the home planet of the Maximals, a race of Transformers who can turn into beasts, is destroyed by the world-eating Unicron, they're forced to retreat to Earth and hide. In their possession is the Transwarp key, an item of great power that opens portals through space. If Unicron is able to get hold of this key, he'll be unstoppable in his planetary hunger and destruction. The Terrorcons, heralds of Unicron led by Scourage, are sent to retrieve the key for while the Autobots look to it as a way back to their home of Cybertron. The Autobots soon realize that they'll have to team up with the Maximals to save more than just their own world.
After the Autobots and Maximals join forces to defeat the Terrorcons, Optimus Prime destroys the key and their way back to Cybertron to prevent Unicron from consuming their worlds. Not having any way to get back, Prime proclaims Earth as their new home, intending to step out of the shadows and defend it from any new threats. With the ending of the film setting up an insane sequel featuring G.I. Joe characters, the franchise is heading in directions that haven't been seen on the big screen.
1 Bumblebee (2018)
Taking the top spot on this list is the movie that reinvigorated the Transformers film franchise, 2018's Bumblebee. Bumblebee is a prequel and/or soft reboot to the first five films in the franchise, which shows the first time the modern Transformers migrated to Earth in 1987. While it was probably one of the safest choices for the plot, using a character such as Bumblebee and having the smallest budget for a Transformers film to date, Bumblebee ends up being an amazingly fresh take on the franchise's world and characters. B-127, also known as Bumblebee, was sent to Earth by Optimus Prime during a great war on Cybertron. There he meets a teenage girl, Charlie, and their futures become intertwined. Before their meeting, B-127 falls upon agents of a Sector Seven faction who give chase. Before any conflict can come between them, Decepticon enemies are at their location, a fight ensues, and Bumblebee narrowly escapes in a weakened state by transforming into a V.W. Bug.
This film deals with Charlie's trauma as a result of her father's sudden death, as well as the first interaction of the government, Sector Seven, with Transformers. Of course, the Decepticons persuade the Sector Seven faction into tracking down Bumblebee, claiming he is a fugitive and needs to be rounded up before damage is done. In the second encounter between the Decepticons, now with Sector Seven at their aid and Bumblebee, with Charlie and another friend, Momo, the Decepticons seem to kill Bumblebee and retrieve a message from Optimus Prime, which calls all Autobots to rendezvous on Earth. The Decepticons plan to relay the message and leave Bumblebee to die, not expecting him to be able to be revived, though Charlie does just that using electrical currents. Bumblebee fends off Sector Seven, then, with the help of Charlie, goes on to have a rematch with those nasty Decepticons who plan on calling their fleet to Earth.
In the end, Bumblebee wins the day and self-sacrifices in order to defeat the enemies, though he is saved by Charlie from a river, and is allowed to escape by an agent from Sector Seven, who learns the truth. They end up parting ways because Bumblebee needs to meet up with Optimus Prime and wait for the other Autobots to arrive on Earth. The ending is pure and just the way to top off an amazing entry in the Transformers franchise, giving our human hero, Charlie, a happy ending and closure while reuniting our celestial hero, Bumblebee, with his family.