The Transformers have been around as a live-action franchise since 2007, but when looking at the best movies in the series, there is a huge discrepancy when it comes to their success critically and commercially. For many years, it seemed the Transformers movies were critic-proof, meaning that reviews could remain overall negative, but the movie could still make a massive box office, with Dark of the Moon and Age of Extinction each breaking the $1 billion mark (via Box Office Mojo). However, while a movie might make a lot of money, that doesn’t always mean it was a good movie or a good experience for the movie-going public.
Regardless of the Transformers movies in order from release, chronologically, or best to worst, Michael Bay directed five live-action films, three with Shia LaBeouf in the lead role and two with Mark Wahlberg. However, Bay then stepped away and the franchise went in a different direction with a prequel in Bumblebee and the 2023 movie Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, which both occur before the Bay movies in the Transformers timeline. The franchise also has animated films from the 1980s and 2024 among its ranks. However, when compared, the Transformers movies ranked come in varying levels of success.
|
Movie |
Tomatometer |
Popcornmeter |
Box Office |
|---|---|---|---|
|
The Transformers: The Movie (1986) |
62% |
88% |
$5.8 million |
|
Transformers (2007) |
57% |
85% |
$709.7 million |
|
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) |
20% |
57% |
$836.3 million |
|
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) |
35% |
55% |
$1.123 billion |
|
Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014) |
18% |
50% |
$1.104 billion |
|
Transformers: The Last Knight (2017) |
16% |
43% |
$605.4 million |
|
Bumblebee (2018) |
90% |
75% |
$467.9 million |
|
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023) |
51% |
91% |
$438.9 million |
|
Transformers One (2024) |
86% |
N/A |
N/A |
9 Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)
Michael Bay’s Last Installment Was A Misfire
Transformers: The Last Knight 
2.0 2
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Director Michael Bay Release Date June 21, 2017 Writers Ken Nolan , Art Marcum , Matt Halloway Cast Peter Cullen , Allen Phoenix , Mark Wahlberg , Jerrod Carmichael , Isabela Moner , Anthony Hopkins , Josh Duhamel Runtime 149 minutes
Bay planned to quit making Transformers movies after Age of Extinction, but he returned in 2017 with The Last Knight, which ended the main franchise. The biggest reason this movie failed to move the franchise forward was the box office. By the time it came out, it seemed fan fatigue had stepped in. For years, Transformer s movies were critic-proof and made money no matter what reviews said. However, with The Last Knight, fans agreed with the negative sentiments. This movie received the lowest reviews of the franchise, with 16% for critics and 43% for fans on Rotten Tomatoes.
The movie’s story revealed the Transformers had been on Earth since 484 AD and even dealt with the wizard Merlin. It also continued the story of the military hunting Transformers down in the present day. Alas, no movie in the original franchise made such little money, with only $605 million worldwide, on a reported $260 million budget (via Box Office Mojo). The shared consensus was the movie had a thin plot and over-relied on special effects. While the action was as massive as always, Transformers: The Last Knight didn’t really have much heart and was Bay’s disappointing swan song for the franchise.
8 Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen (2009)
Bay’s First Sequel Was A Big Step Down
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen 2.0 2
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Director Michael Bay Release Date June 24, 2009 Writers Michael Bay , Shia LaBeouf Cast Isabel Lucas , Shia LaBeouf , Megan Fox , Ramon Rodriguez , Josh Duhamel , John Turturro , Peter Cullen , Hugo Weaving , Tony Todd , Mark Ryan Runtime 150 Minutes
Following the well-received first movie, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen went in a very different direction. The first movie was, at its heart, a story about a boy and his car. The sequel brought back the boy in LaBeouf, but it really didn’t focus on him as much as it did on the explosive action. The movie introduces the powerful Transformers villain, the ancient Decepticon, The Fallen, who wants to destroy the sun and all life on Earth. That premise could have made for an epic sci-fi movie and a worthy follow-up to Transformers, but too much CGI, product placement, and an overabundance of action overshadowed any story.
The movie also received criticism for using Megan Fox as little more than a sex symbol, and this objectification of women followed the franchise through the Bay era. Bay used IMAX cameras to shoot some of the action sequences, and it does look impressive, but it would have had more of an impact if audiences were connected to the plot. One other major problem with the movie was the comic relief with Skids and Mudflap, a racially insensitive addition to the Transformers lineup. The movie did pick up one Oscar nomination for sound mixing but also won three Razzies, including Worst Director.
7 Transformers: Age Of Extinction (2014)
Mark Wahlberg’s First Movie Divided Audiences
Transformers: Age of Extinction 3.5 2
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Director Michael Bay Release Date June 27, 2014 Writers Ehren Kruger Cast Mark Wahlberg , Stanley Tucci , Bingbing Li , T.J. Miller , Kelsey Grammer , Jack Reynor , Peter Cullen , Nicola Peltz Runtime 165 Minutes
When Transformers: Age of Extinction was announced, it pleased old-school fans of the franchise. That is because the Dinobots were coming, and the idea of getting Grimlock on the big screen was very exciting. However, what ended up happening was an over-bloated movie. The story added a lot of human enemies, which often overshadowed the arrival of the Dinobots. This included Kelsey Grammer as a rogue government official who has a CIA black ops team that hunts down and kills all Transformers — Autobots and Decepticons alike.
LaBeouf was gone, with Wahlberg as the new star. However, this replaced the popular “boy and his car” storyline with a generic “single father who wants to protect his daughter” plot. Moreover, seeing the rogue government agents teaming with a Decepticon in Lockdown and then creating a new robot weapon using Megatron’s brain patterns made them look less-than-intelligent as the new villains. The Dinobots looked great, but the movie had an over-reliance on action, a trait that has constantly plagued the franchise. While the movie broke $1 billion at the box office, it also won two Razzies in seven nominations.
6 Transformers: Dark Of The Moon (2011)
The Best Of Michael Bay’s Transformers Sequels
Transformers: Dark of the Moon 4.0 2
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Director Michael Bay Release Date June 30, 2011 Writers Michael Bay Cast Rosie Huntington-Whiteley , Megan Fox , Patrick Dempsey , Shia LaBeouf , Tyrese Gibson , Josh Duhamel , Kevin Dunn , John Malkovich , Frances McDormand Runtime 154 Minutes
Transformers: Dark of the Moon brought back LaBeouf for his last turn as Sam Witwicky, but this time Fox was gone, replaced by Rosie Huntington-Whiteley as his new love interest, Carly. Sadly, Bay continued to use the women in the movie as eye candy and that was about the extent of Carly’s role in the action. The movie also chose not to really focus on Sam anymore either, and that is one reason why LaBeouf left the franchise, feeling that his character didn’t mean anything to the story anymore (via The Guardian).
However, Dark of the Moon delivered more of the goods that made the first movie so great. The action sequences are more cohesive than in Revenge of the Fallen, and the jokes land better too. A ton of celebrated actors gravitated toward the blockbuster movie as well, as Dark of the Moon sports a supporting cast including John Turturro, John Malkovich, and Frances McDormand. It was a pleasant surprise seeing them periodically crop up throughout the 154-minute movie, which saw the Autobots former leader Sentinel Prime return, only to betray them and join forces with Megatron.
5 Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts (2023)
The Maximals Add To The Fun
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts 0
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Director Steven Caple Jr. Release Date June 9, 2023 Writers Joby Harold , Matt Holloway , Art Marcum , Darnell Metayer , Ken Nolan , Josh Peters Cast Anthony Ramos , Dominique Fishback , Domenic Di Rosa
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts did what Age of Extinction did for old-school franchise fans: it promised the arrival of some beloved characters from other properties and this time it paid it off. This was the Maximals, led by Optimus Primal, and his team as they have been hiding on Earth for centuries after the planet-devouring Unicron destroyed their world, and they time-traveled back in time with the Transwarp Key. They have been hiding it for centuries, but when a museum comes into possession of half the key and accidentally activates it, Unicron sends his Terrorcons to get it so he can start consuming worlds again.
While it almost sounds as confusing as The Last Knight‘s story, it actually works here. That is because this movie had the best human cast of any Transformers movie, with Anthony Ramos as a former soldier named Noah who wants to protect his family. He is joined by Elena (Dominique Fishback), a museum employee fighting for respect herself. The movie has a lot of heart, and it is Noah and Optimus bonding that shows how great a leader Prime is, even if prior movies showed him as more violent and destructive. Concerning the best Transformers movies ranked, this was the best mainline movie since the original.
4 The Transformers: The Movie (1986)
The Original Animated Movie Devasted A Generation
The Transformers: The Movie 0
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Director Nelson Shin Release Date August 8, 1986 Cast Norman Alden , Jack Angel , Michael Bell , gregg berger , Susan Blu , Arthur Burghardt
Transformers: The Movie is a movie continuation of the original 1980s television series, but audiences don’t need to have seen the show to enjoy the film. The movie has an extremely prestigious cast, as Orson Welles voices Unicron, a villain and original character from the 1986 release. The film’s hand-drawn animation is so detailed, and the voice acting is on another level from its peers. Transformers: The Movie is a ton of fun and a great piece of nostalgia, but it also goes to show that the franchise was messy and convoluted long before Bay got his hands on it.
Non-stop action and fighting fill the film from beginning to end, and even for fans of the TV show, it’s hard to make total sense of what’s going on. Despite Transformers‘ overwhelming popularity in the 1980s, the movie only made $5.8 million worldwide on a budget of around $6 million (via Box Office Mojo). Word of mouth doomed it when parents revealed that Optimus Prime died in the movie, leaving kids upset. However, Transformers: The Movie has picked up a cult following and its critical reception improved dramatically over the years concerning the Transformers movies ranked.
3 Transformers One (2024)
The Animated Movie Brilliantly Explores Optimus & Megatron’s Origins
Transformers One 4.0 1
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Not Yet RatedAnimationActionAdventure Sci-Fi
Director Josh Cooley Release Date September 20, 2024 Writers Andrew Barrer , Steve Desmond , Gabriel Ferrari Cast Chris Hemsworth , Brian Tyree Henry , Scarlett Johansson , Keegan-Michael Key , Steve Buscemi , Laurence Fishburne , Jon Hamm , Vanessa Liguori , Jon Bailey , Jason Konopisos-Alvarez , Evan Michael Lee , James Remar , Isaac C. Singleton Jr. , Steve Blum , Jinny Chung , Josh Cooley , Dillon Bryan Runtime 104 Minutes Expand
Transformers One enters the franchise in 2024 by exploring the origins of Orion Pax and D-16, the robots that become Optimus Prime and Megatron. Even though these two have been at the center of several previous Transformers movies, the animated adventure adds new layers to them to make it feel fresh. Viewers get to watch as Orion Pax becomes more of a hopeful leader and keeps a positive outlook on the future of Cybertron, while D-16 succumbs to the hate brewing within as Cybertron’s secrets are revealed.
On top of the brilliant story exploring the backstory and motivations of Megatron and Optimus Prime, Transformers One shines thanks to its comedy, animation, and action. The movie’s humor lands more than expected, and it is not overbearing or unnecessary. With Toy Story 4‘s Josh Cooley directing, there is an excellent look to the film as the bots explore Cybertron. And when it comes time for the robots to fight in Transformers One‘s ending, the action delivers the thrills that fans expect after the live-action movies.
2 Transformers (2007)
Michael Bay’s First Movie Stands The Test Of Time
Transformers (2007) 2.5 1
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Director Michael Bay Release Date June 3, 2007 Writers Roberto Orci , Alex Kurtzman , John Rogers Cast Shia LaBeouf , Megan Fox , Mark Ryan , Peter Cullen , Hugo Weaving Runtime 144 Minutes
2007’s Transformers started a multi-billion-dollar franchise, but when looking at the Transformers movies ranked, none of Bay’s others are more entertaining than the original. The first film captivated viewers from the very first shot. A tracking shot of The Cube in space narrated by Optimus Prime gave off a sense of wonder that none of the sequels ever did. Transformers is a faithful adaptation of the source material, and the action isn’t overdone. More than anything, the film had some creative casting. Bay brought back Peter Cullen, the original voice of Optimus Prime, and cast Hugo Weaving as Megatron.
Transformers also smartly focused on a human in LaBeouf’s Sam Witwicky. Making him a central figure and developing his relationship with Bumblebee and Optimus Prime really helped elevate the story. The action was also great, as the franchise had not started the overwhelming non-stop battle scenes from later movies yet. Seeing the Transformers morph was something new and fresh. It also picked up three Oscar nominations and impressed critics enough to keep it away from the Razzies.
1 Bumblebee (2018)
The Franchise Reboot Honored The G1 Roots
Bumblebee 4.0 3
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Director Travis Knight Release Date December 15, 2018 Writers Christina Hodson Cast Rachel Crow , Abby Quinn , Gracie Dzienny , Jason Drucker , John Cena , Ricardo Hoyos , Hailee Steinfeld , Jorge Lendeborg Jr. Runtime 114 Minutes
Bumblebee came as a huge surprise to audiences, and some might have been shocked that it’s tied to the overall Transformers franchise. The film is a relatively quiet family movie, and it focuses on Charlie Watson’s (Hailee Steinfeld) bond with Bumblebee, giving the film more of a human element than any in the franchise since the original. It beats the 2007 film at its own game, as Charlie’s relationship with the yellow Transformer is more engaging and touching than even Sam’s was. Transformers was supposed to be a boy and his car, but action overshadowed it. Bumblebee really was the story of a girl and her car.
Six movies in, the series finally featured its first well-written female character too, as Charlie isn’t just a love interest or a sex object. She’s mature, clever, and entertaining. Along with having one of the franchise’s best human characters, comparatively modest action, and a well-crafted screenplay, Bumblebee was a brave direction when looking at the best Transformers movies ranked, which received the best critics’ scores of the entire franchise, with 90% on Rotten Tomatoes. This was the movie that showed how important humans were to the telling of these stories, making it the best of the Transformers franchise.