Love ’em or hate ’em, there’s no denying that the series, which is based on the much-loved cartoons of the 80s, has a very impressive box office haul, grossing a total of $4.8 billion. in the world, making it one of the highest. -the highest-grossing movie franchises of all time.
It debuted in 2007 with Transformers, which starred Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox, and introduced a new generation of viewers like Optimus Prime and Bumblebee. It would go on to launch four sequels with the last, The Last Knight, arriving in cinemas in 2017. The following year, the franchise took a different approach with the premiere of spin-off Bumblebee, which takes place 20 years before the original film. . .
Since then, plans for more Transformers movies have been unveiled. A new trilogy, set after Bumblebee, is in the works, with the first installment, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, slated for release next year. Hamilton star Anthony Ramos and Judas and Dominique Fishback from The Dark Messiah are set to star in the film, which is said to be set in Brooklyn in 1994 and centers on a pair of archaeologists embroiled in an ancient conflict.
Unlike the complex timelines of the Marvel franchise or the Star Wars universe, it’s fairly easy to work your way through the battles between Optimus Prime’s Autobots and Megatron’s Decipticons in chronological order. If you’re planning on rewatching the new movie, here’s how to navigate the series in chronological order and in release order.
How to watch the Transformers movies in chronological order
1. Bumblebee (2018)
The most recent Transformers movie to be released is actually the first movie when looking at the series chronologically. There has been some debate over whether Bumblebee, written by Birds of Prey’s Christina Hodson and directed by Travis Knight, counts as a prequel or a soft reboot of the franchise (because some of the plot points that ‘he sets up don’t align seamlessly with storylines in subsequent films). Either way, we know it’s set in 1987, two decades before Bay’s first Transformers movie.
When Optimus Prime sends another Autobot B-127 (voiced by Dylan O’Brien) to Earth to set up a base, the Transformer ends up disguising himself as a yellow Volkswagen Beetle. Grieving over the death of her father, teenage Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld) receives the car as a birthday present for her 18th birthday and begins trying to restore the vehicle.
His attempts at renovation are deflected when the car reverts to B-127, but the pair quickly become unlikely friends, with Charlie nicknaming the robot Bumblebee. When his enemies, the Decepticons, learn where Bumblebee is hiding, the action kicks into high gear. The next Transformers movie, Rise of the Beasts, is set to take place after the events chronicled in Bumblebee, making it a must-watch before the new movie’s release next summer.
2. Transformers (2007)
The film that launched Michael Bay’s larger-than-life franchise sets the tone with a more-is-more attitude, cunning robots and explosions galore. In the midst of the civil war between the Autobots and their longtime enemies the Decepticons, Autobot boss Optimus Prime wants to hunt down the AllSpark (the source of all life on the planet Cybertron, aka the movie plotter McGuffin ) to restore peace, while the Decepticons plan to use it for nefarious purposes.
Decepticon leader Megatron is the one who found him hiding on earth, but crash lands in the Arctic Circle and is frozen in ice. Thousands of years later, the Decepticons, now disguised as ground vehicles, attempt to hack into the US military network to try and regain their position.
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Meanwhile, the autobot Bumblebee is also lurking on Earth, disguised as a Chevrolet Camaro, as nerdy high schooler Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) discovers while trying to buy his first car to impress Mikaela (Megan Fox). Soon, Sam, Mikaela, Bumblebee, and a host of other Autobots are involved in the quest to hunt down Megatron and the AllSpark, while evading agents of Sector 7, a top-secret government program.
Its talking robots and huge battle scenes proved to be the perfect recipe for an all-conquering summer blockbuster. Despite almost universally poor reviews upon its release in July 2007, Transformers ultimately took in over $709.7 million at the worldwide box office.
3. Transformers: Revenge of the Dead (2009)
Two years after the events of the first film, this sequel kicks off as Sam, now a student, is plagued by visions of Cybertron symbols, which he has seen since touching a small fragment of the AllSpark. This is bad news for him, as the Decepticons are convinced that these symbols could lead them to a new source of Energon that would give them the power to obliterate the sun and destroy life on Earth.
Behind this scheme is the very first Decepticon known as the Fallen (whose backstory is on display in the prologue scenes set in 17,000 BC) who sends his minions to capture Sam and destroy Optimus Prime. It all ends in a huge showdown against the backdrop of the Giza pyramids, with the arrival of Devastator, a gigantic composite of various Constructicons, providing one of the film’s most memorable battles.
Besides LaBeouf and Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, and John Turturro were among the Transformers actors who returned for the second film, joined by Tony Todd as the voice of the Fallen. After the box office success of the first film, expectations were inevitably high, but Revenge of the Fallen managed to outperform its predecessor, grossing $836.3 million internationally and breaking the record for the biggest opening in the world. Wednesday previously held by Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
4. Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)
The third Transformers movie begins with the now-traditional prologue, though this one isn’t set that far in the past. It’s set in 1961, with President John F Kennedy signing on to a mission to put a man on the moon as, you guessed it, a cover to distract from what NASA is all about. really do: investigate the Ark, a Cybertronian spacecraft that crash-landed up there.
In the present day of the film, four years after the events of Revenge of the Fallen, Sam has finished school and is living with his girlfriend Carly (Rosie Huntingdon-Whiteley, who joined the franchise after Fox’s departure), but struggles to find steady employment, despite his impeccable world-saving credentials. It soon becomes clear that the Decepticons are killing anyone with information about the Ark and storing Pillars, advanced technologies that can create wormholes connecting two points in space.
Their goal is to eventually restore their home planet and soon the Decepticons are staging a major attack on Chicago. It’s up to Sam and the Autobots to stop them, though our hero has his hands full when it turns out that Carly’s boss (Patrick Dempsey) is acting as an agent for the bad guys. In addition to Dempsey, John Malkovich (as Sam’s boss) and Frances McDormand (as head of government intelligence) also appear rather improbably, adding some influence to the franchise. The third installment broke the billion dollar mark at the box office, becoming the second highest-grossing film of 2011, beaten only by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II.
5. Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)
The franchise had a major change for Age of Extinction with LaBeouf out and Mark Wahlberg as inventor Cade Yeager. After the obligatory prologue set 65 million years ago, which helpfully explains that the dinosaurs were wiped out when an alien race covered the Earth with a metal alloy called Transformium, we learn that the Autobots are hunted by a Transformer. mercenary called Lockdown.
His goal is to destroy Optimus Prime, who is hiding in Texas, where he is eventually discovered by Yeager. Although his daughter Tessa (Nicola Peltz) encourages him to hand over the robot, he decides to use his technical know-how to fix it, a decision that will eventually drag him and his family into the final showdown between the Autobots and the Decepticons.
The all-new live-action cast also features Stanley Tucci as a wealthy businessman bent on building his own Transformers, Kelsey Grammer as a rogue CIA agent bent on wiping all Transformers out of the world. surface of the earth, and Jack Reynor as Shane, Tessa’s pal.
6. Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)
Bay’s latest Transformers movie begins with a dose of Arthurian mythology, as Merlin discovers a group of Transformers known as the Knights of Iacon and asks them to help support King Arthur. They present him with a magic staff, which helps the king ward off the Saxon invaders.
Why is this relevant, you ask? Because the movie flashes back to the present day, Optimus Prime is brainwashed, given a dark alter ego, Nemesis Prime, and told to retrieve Merlin’s staff, who are powerful enough to restore the planet Cybertron. Meanwhile, Yeager is contacted by a secret organization led by Sir Edmund Burton (Anthony Hopkins). Their work? To ensure that the Transformers’ involvement in every major world event remains top secret, of course. With the help of an Oxford scholar named Viviane Wembly (Laura Haddock), Yeager must attempt to track down the staff and break Optimus Prime’s spell.
The Last Knight saw the return of characters from previous installments, including Duhamel’s William Lennox and Turturro’s agent Seymour Simmons, but failed to reach the dizzying heights of its predecessors, earning $605.4 million. relatively lukewarm at the global box office.
Transformers movies in release order
If you prefer to tackle the films in the order they arrive in theaters, here’s how to do it:
- Transformers (2007)
- Transformers: Revenge of the Dead (2009)
- Transformers: Dark Moon (2011)
- Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)
- Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)
- Bumblebee (2018)
Check out more of our film coverage or visit our TV guide to see what’s on tonight.
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