The Transformers animated series and toy line have seen its fair share of movie screen adaptations throughout the years. But among all the ones that display the Robots In Disguise in their big-screen prime, which film ranks as the best? Which of the Michael Bay cinematic explosive offerings is peak theater? Are the new ones post-Bay worth tuning in?

To celebrate the release of Transformers One this week, let us rank our favourite and least favourite Transformers movies from top to bottom.

#8. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)

The first Transformers movie was so successful, its writers(?) and production team decide to just do the same movie all over again but with different robots and possibly racist humour. Only difference? Optimus Prime temporarily dies, and we get Devastator at home.

#7. Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)

The plot in this Michael Bay-directed Transformers movie involves Transformers being hunted down because of the events in Dark of the Moon, and Optimus Prime being bitter and jaded about it. Replacing Shia Labouf is Mark Walhberg as an inventor named Cade Yeager as he helps Optimus and his Autobot runaways deal with an assassin named Lockdown and not-Frasier as a government bad guy.

It’s honestly a mess of a film but at least it had some stupid moments worth bringing up ironically (see below). Why the scriptwriters put in more effort in justifying an adult dating a minor than actual Transformers lore and the robots in disguise still perplexes us to this day.

#6. Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)

Anthony Hopkins most likely got paid pretty high just to be in a movie with CGI robots, and seems to be having fun just being part of this Transformers mythos. The sad part? He’s the only noteworthy character in the game and bumped up this movie two notches above the other two. That and the way it weaves Transformers lore in medieval times is just plain stupid and funny to watch. Otherwise, it’s the same old same old but with Mark Walhberg and more minor cheesecake shots.

#5. Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)

The only things we remembered from this schlock is (a) Leonard Nemoy’s voice as Sentinel Prime and (b) we see John Torturro and Frances McDormand making out to end the film. Still, it had some semblance of continuity and attempted to capstone the mess of the trilogy. At least before Paramount saw how this film alone made a disgusting amount of money (about $1.1 billion) and wanted more live-action Bayformers, plot be damned. This and the previous film prove that good taste and box office revenue do not necessarily go hand-in-hand.

#4. Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts (2023)

The Transformers Rise Of The Beasts movie was ultimately better than all of the Michael Bay movies, even though that’s not a high bar. However, it wasn’t good enough to truly make a big mark for the franchise moving forward.

It says a lot about the movie as a whole when the ending of the movie (which teases a crossover with G.I. Joe) is regarded as the best and most memorable moment of the movie, and nothing else from the rest of the movie itself. Still, it was nice to see Transformers: Beast Wars characters like Optimus Primal, Airazor, and Cheetor in live-action form as well as fan-favourites like Arcee.

#3. Transformers (2007)

Give Michael Bay some credit: he did make the initial idea work in live-action form. There are too many humans being the focal point, true, but most Transformers origin stories (see IDW and the recent Skybound Entertainment run you should totally read) start off with humans slowly discovering the existence of the titular Robots in Disguise. In that context, the first TF movie progresses and is paced just great. And the use of Bumblebee as the robot that bonds with Shia LaBouf’s Sam Witwicky is a familiar-yet-decent narrative tool to eventually lead us to the robot fights and animated show/comic book giant mecha nonsense we wanted to see.

All in all, the first live-action Transformers film is a pioneer in that regard. Granted, we had to waddle through a lot of shitty TF films before the preceding two films on this list, but we’ll take what we can get.

#2. Bumblebee (2018)

The only live-action Transformers film worth a damn, this one had the right idea: focus on one robot and one human, and let the other Transformers enter the fray somehow through Earth-invading means. Hailey Steinfeld is an adorable main character to tag along, and Bumblebee is a charismastic-enough bot to carry the entire film with (even if it probably means something more if you look at it deep enough). Special props to John Cena for being an entertaining antagonist through and through, and the selection of Decepticons also were menacing enough to keeping the show action-heavy. What the other films lack were heart: this one had quite a bit of it.

#1. The Transformers: The Movie (1986)

First place in the Transformers movie pantheon is clearly the one that came out in 1986. Essentially the movie that bridges Season 2 and Season 3 of the animated show, the movie is about the Autobots making a last stand against the Decepticons on Earth, and also the eater of worlds Unicorn closing in to destroy all life.

There are many plot holes, sure. And some characters like Wheelie are just on-par with Bayformers’ Skid/Mudflaps as being the most annoying f***wits to deal with. But in terms of action, iconic moments and quotable lines, this movie has it all. The animation is high quality, and the Vince DiCola/Stan Bush soundtrack is epic and peerless.

And it featured a lot of murder and deaths for a kid’s show. Hell, the death of Optimus Prime was so traumatizing for its audience it affected the storyline of the subsequent GI Joe animated movie where a key character was written to live through his fatal blow.

Where will Transformers One end up on this eclectic tier list? Find out a week or so later when the movie airs this week on 12 September!