Transformers Movies In Order: The Ultimate Guide

The Transformers movie series have given movie lovers some of the biggest, most explosive action spectacle that cinema has had to offer this century. 

Across six films, with a seventh on the way, they’ve served up loads of bombastic action and adventure, as well as some of the most impressive CGI (computer generated imagery) there is.

Transformers Movies In Order The Ultimate Guide

The movies come from the beloved toy series about Transformers, robots in disguise that hide as cars and other vehicles but can actually transform into enormous action-packed robots. 

The Transformers movies focus on the war between the Autobots (the good Transformers) and the terrifying Decepticons (the bad Transformers), with the human race getting caught in the middle of their epic battles.

Classic characters like Optimus Prime and Bumblebee help fight for good, while Decepticons like Megatron fight for evil.

However, what order do the Transformers movies come in? When it comes to this question, you might not know the answer. On top of that, there are a few different answers. 

Firstly, you can look at the order in which the Transformers movies were released, while on the other hand you can rank the Transformers in order of when their stories are set.

On top of all that, you could also rank the Transformers movies on quality, from best to worst. 

We’ve got all these orders in our handy article below! In our ultimate guide, we’ll tell you the Transformers movies in order, ranking them in a variety of different ways.

Additionally, we’ll also look at the plots and casts of each Transformers movie.

Transformers Movies In Order Of When They Take Place

If you want to know the Transformers movies in order of when their stories take place, from first to last, this is it:

  • Bumblebee (set in 1987)
  • Transformers: Rise Of The Beast (likely to be set in the 1990s)
  • Transformers (set in 2007)
  • Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen (set in 2009)
  • Transformers: Dark Of The Moon (set in 2012)
  • Transformers: Age Of Extinction (set in 2017)
  • Transformers: The Last Knight (set in 2018)

It’s as easy as that! It’s always fun to watch an entire movie series in their chronological order, seeing the on screen history pass over time and keeping everything neatly in order.

By following this list, you can track the history of the Transformers, seeing their time on Earth progress. 

We’ll have all the information on what happens in these films later on in our ultimate guide, with descriptions of the plots and a look at the cast.

On top of that, we’ll also look at how well the Transformers movies were received by both critics and audiences. 

Transformers Movies In Order Of When They Were Released

If you want to watch the Transformers movies in the oreder of their release dates, then the following list is the one that you should use.

Though their stories won’t all follow chronologically, it’s fun to watch the Transformers movies from the first live-action one that was made to the most recent.

As you watch the Transformers movies in release date order, you can see how the style of each movie might change, as well as the cast.

On top of that, you should be able to see the CGI effects get better and better as time goes on and the technology grows more advanced. Maybe one day it’ll even be advanced as an Autobot itself!

Here’s the list of the Transformers movies in the order of when they were released:

  • Transformers (released in 2007)
  • Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen (released in 2009)
  • Transformers: Dark of The Moon (released in 2011)
  • Transformers: Age Of Extinction (released in 2014)
  • Transformers: The Last Knight (released in 2017)
  • Bumblebee (released in 2018)
  • Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts (should be released in 2023)

Looking At Each Transformers Movie In Order Of Release Date

Looking At Each Transformers Movie In Order Of Release Date

Now that we’ve looked at the lists of both every Transformers movie in order of their story’s chronology and in the order of when the movies were each released, we’re now going to look at each of the Transformers movies in more depth. 

Below, we’re going to breakdown the story of each Transformers movie, as well as look at its cast and characters. On top of that, we’ll also look at how each of them went down with critics and audiences, and how much money they made at the box office.

Transformers (2007)

  • Director: Michael Bay
  • Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, John Turturro
  • Length: 146 minutes
  • Age rating: PG-13

This was the first live-action Transformers movie, exploding onto the scene with its immense action and incredible CGI.

It was directed by Michael Bay, who already had a name for himself for making some of the most spectacular and explosive action films of the century, with “The Rock” (1996) and “Armageddon” (1998), among others.

The plot of this first Transformers movie set up the famous Transformers themselves, the Autobots and the Decepticons, as well as the epic war between the two factions.

When their war somehow spills onto Earth, the human race is put at risk from all the battling. 

The reason that it has come to Earth is because our planet holds the AllSpark, a special artifact that the Autobots wish to reclaim in order to use it to rebuild Cybertron, their home planet.

If the plant is rebuilt, they can end the war with the Decepticons. However, the Decepticons want to get the AllSpark because it will allow them to bring the machines of Earth to life. This will give them an unstoppable army to win their war with.

The human cast includes Shia LaBeouf, a teenager with a connection to the AllSpark, and his classmate crush, played by Megan Fox.

Meanwhile, Peter Cullen voices the leader of the Autobots, Optimus Prime. He voiced Optimus in the 1980s animated Transformers TV series. 

The film made $709 million worldwide. Critics appreciated the impressive action scenes, but weren’t as sold on the human side of the story.

Fans, on the other hand, found it spectacular fun, but initially struggled with some of the Transformer character redesigns.

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen (2009)

  • Director: Michael Bay
  • Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, John Turturro
  • Length: 149 minutes
  • Age rating: PG-13

The sequel again involves Shia LaBeouf and his fellow humans in the war of the Transformers. This time, the Decepticons are looking for a machine on Earth that will allow them to destroy all the Sun and all humankind.

The Autobots and Sam Witwicky must stop their plans and save the planet.

The core cast returned and the film was enormously successful, making $836 million worldwide. Critics didn’t like it as much as the first film, saying that it was too noisy, too long, and too lacking in humanity.

Fans didn’t enjoy it as much either. 

Transformers: Dark Of The Moon (2011)

  • Director: Michael Bay
  • Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whitely, Josh Duhamel, John Turturro
  • Length: 154 minutes
  • Age rating: PG-13

The next Transformers movie was set four years after the previous one, showing the last days of the battle between the Autobots and the Decepticons.

This time, the humans and the Autobots are trying to stop the Decepticons from getting hold of powerful technology that has crashed onto our moon. 

The core cast is the same again, though Megan Fox didn’t reprise her role as love interest Mikaela Banes this time. Instead, a new romantic interest for Shia LaBeouf’s character came in the form of model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. 

The film made over a billion dollars worldwide for the first time. The critical response was better than the previous film, but still fairly negative, with critics finding issues with the thin script – but appreciating the impressive CGI.

Clearly fans enjoyed it, though, for it to gross more money than ever before.

Transformers: Age Of Extinction (2014)

  • Director: Michael Bay
  • Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, Nicola Peltz
  • Length: 165 minutes
  • Age rating: PG-13

This fourth film in the Transformers series saw the biggest shakeup so far, with an all new cast of human characters.

Mark Wahlberg is the main character now, Cade Yeager (what a name!), while Stanley Tucci plays a tricky businessman who wants to make his own Transformers.

Yeager is joined by his daughter, played by Nicola Peltz, and the small group of humans are sought out by the Transformers for help. Why? The Autobots are being hunted down by a CIA unit and a bounty hunter.

The film again made over a billion dollars worldwide, though the critical response was extremely negative. Critics disliked how long and one-note it was, but clearly fans turned up to cinemas in their millions.

Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)

  • Director: Michael Bay
  • Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, Josh Duhamel
  • Length: 149 minutes
  • Age rating: PG-13

A direct sequel to the previous Transformers movie, this also brought back a few characters from the original trilogy. The plot brings in some interesting twists to the fight through the use of swords and some dinobot (dinosaur robots).

Optimus Prime is brainwashed and a villain searches for an ancient staff on earth – leaving it up to the humans, Bumblebee, and the other Autobots to stop them.

The film made $605 million worldwide. Though impressive, this was a clear drop from the previous two. Similarly, it became the worst reviewed Transformers movie ever, with critics frustrated with the length and narrative.

Clearly, fans weren’t as excited either, considering the movie made $400 million less than previous entries.

Bumblebee (2018)

  • Director: Travis Knight
  • Cast: Hailee Steinfeld, John Cena, Jorge Lendeborg Jr.
  • Length: 114 minutes
  • Age rating: PG-13

From the worst Transformers movie to the best! “Bumblebee” was a reboot of sorts for the series, taking events back to 1980s San Francisco and toning down the bombastic action to be not quite as headache-heavy.

On top of that, the runtime was also cut down to a more manageable length, and better focus put on developing likable and interesting human characters to spend time with. 

The plot is set during the Cybotron Civil War, with Optimus Prime sending Bumblebee (not yet named that) to Earth to make a base for the Autobots.

While there, the Transformer becomes friends with a girl named Charlie (Steinfeld), who gives him the name Bumblebee. 

As you can tell, there’s more humanity and friendship in this film, and that all led to it becoming the best reviewed Transformers movie of them all.

It made $468 million worldwide, which may not compare with other Transformers movies, but it was clearly putting the franchise in a direction of much higher quality. Fans and critics alike enjoyed the film a lot.

Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts (2023)

  • Director: Steven Caple Jr.
  • Cast: Anthony Ramos, Dominique Fishback, Luna Lauren Vélez
  • Length: TBC
  • Age rating: TBC

With “Bumblebee” putting the Transformers movies on a positive course again, this upcoming film is a sequel of sorts to it.

Set in 1994, it’s about two human archaeologists who get caught up in an ancient Transformers conflict that includes three different Transformer factions: the Predacons, the Maximals, and the Terrorcons. 

It’s likely to do well money-wise, and if “Bumblebee” is anything to go by, the film should go down well with both critics and fans. 

Transformers Movies In Order Of Best To Worst

  1. Bumblebee (2018)
  2. Transformers (2007)
  3. Transformers: Dark Of The Moon (2011)
  4. Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen (2009)
  5. Transformers: Age Of Extinction (2014)
  6. Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)

Why Isn’t Shia LaBeouf In Transformers Anymore?

Shia LaBeouf left the Transformers franchise after three movies because he felt that his character’s story was complete. Without him, the series could explore new human characters and stories. 

Final Thoughts

Over six movies, the Transformers franchise has made billions of dollars. While not every movie has been met with critical acclaim, there’s no denying that the series is enormously popular with audiences, and full of impressive CGI.

Use our ultimate guide to watch them in order – chronologically or by release date.

If you liked this article, you might enjoy our post on ‘Bourne Movies In Order: #1 Watch Guide‘.

Max Roberts
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