All 9 Transformers Movies, Ranked by Letterboxd Score
The Transformers franchise has had quite the back and forth between good and bad when it comes to the quality of its theatrical films. Whether it’s a phenomenal animated film or a live-action one that is one of the worst action movies out there, this series has gone all across the board of quality ever since its first theatrical release back in 1986 with The Transformers: The Movie. Thankfully, at least most Transformers movies are rewatchable.
While the consensus from critics for most of them has always been relatively cut and dry, sometimes fans have different appreciations for the material and may think otherwise. What better place to discover their true thoughts than on Letterboxd? Being a social media platform where people can share their reviews and scores of films and see their friends’, this platform is a great place to look when wondering what the audiences themselves truly think of how this franchise stacks up. This list will rank every Transformers movie based on its Letterbox scores, proving that fans will always have strong opinions about the media they experience.
9
‘Transformers: The Last Knight’ (2017)
Letterboxd Average: 2.0/5.0 (329 Fans)
As stated, the Transformers franchise has one of the worst action movies out there, and that comes in the form of Transformers: The Last Knight. The Michael Bay era of Transformers had always been divisive, but it was this fifth installment in which people had truly had enough, if they hadn’t already. In fact, many attribute this movie to being the nail in the coffin that was the Bay franchise of films.
The idea behind Transformers: The Last Knight isn’t horrible, but the execution, as always, fell incredibly short. To even better describe this, Letterboxd user Matt Singer says in their review, “I swear the people who wrote this movie were suffering from serious head injuries.” It’s never a good sign when a joke review feels as accurate as this one does.
8
‘Transformers: Age of Extinction’ (2014)
Letterboxd Average: 2.2/5.0 (500 Fans)
If Transformers: The Last Knight was the killer of the Bay franchise, then Transformers: Age of Extinction was the beginning of the end. While people give the first three movies a lot of flak, they don’t even compare to how poorly this film and its successor were, despite the Letterboxd averages being somewhat close in number—their reputation is worse regardless. The original three have a lot of nostalgia behind them, but these two are just mediocre.
One of the best ways to depict where this series began its true downfall is when this movie took an entire scene, not to forward the plot, but to make a point that a man dating Cade Yeager’s (Mark Wahlberg) underage daughter is actually not doing anything illegal, instead of, you know, just changing the ages in the script. Eric Elliott joked in his review, “Michael Bay be like: ‘Allow me to interrupt your Transformers movie to tell you that this grown man is legally allowed to smash Mark Wahlberg’s underage daughter, and there’s nothing Mark Wahlberg can do about it’.”
7
‘Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen’ (2009)
Letterboxd Average: 2.6/5.0 (1.4k Fans)
Of the original three Bay films, the only one that really comes close to being as bad as the final two, in most fans’ eyes, is Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. “Utterly shapeless mayhem, lurching, leaping from one explosion of excess to the next, blissfully and almost antagonistically unself-conscious…” is what matt lynch, a Letterboxd user, said in their review. This review is relatively accurate, but, as many will note for the initial trilogy, it’s not without its charms.
Make no mistake, though, this movie is horrendous. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen contains two of the most racist stereotypes in the late 2000s within its characters, Skids (Tom Kenny) and Mudflap (Reno Wilson). Therefore, while it does have some of the charm these initial films had, the negatives simply outweigh the positives when it comes to the first sequel to Transformers.
6
‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ (2023)
Letterboxd Average: 2.7/5.0 (370 Fans)
After the massive success that was the soft franchise reboot, Bumblebee, the studios decided to continue stepping away from the Bay franchise and further into the era that Bumblebee existed in. With similar character designs and also being a period piece, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts tried to take what worked in Bumblebee and implement it into a mainline Transformers flick. It didn’t necessarily pay off, but it didn’t exactly fail, either.
On Letterboxd, user Kale raved about the film in their review: “This is how you bring back Transformers, baby! A fun and new group of characters, with a couple of favorites thrown in. A crazy amount of great action and well-paced scenes left me more than satisfied.” Despite obviously not being as great as Bumblebee, with some even considering it “mid,” audiences found themselves enjoying this one, which is more than the likes of a majority of the Bay franchise can say. While it has its flaws, when Transformers: Rise of the Beasts works, it works quite well.
5
‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon’ (2011)
Letterboxd Average: 2.7/5.0 (2.4k Fans)
If Transformers: Dark of the Moon, the third Bay Transformers film, is anything, it’s epic. The reasons are perfectly showcased through the likes of JustYugoslav‘s commentary: “Approximately one hour. An hour of action like nothing we’ve ever seen before. The number of things that nearly destroyed the children’s ratings is simply innumerable.” This Letterboxd reviewer knows exactly why this trilogy-capper is as enjoyable as it is. The third act is a gigantic war scene, and it surprisingly works incredibly well.
If one thing is clear, it’s that the best part of the Transformers franchise has always been the action sequences. The final act of this gigantic event film decides to set aside most of the story and have fun by giving people exactly what they wanted: dumb, loud, mind-blowing action featuring robots smashing each other. Does it do the story any favors? Absolutely not. It makes a good portion of the film pretty enjoyable to watch, though, and even adds a lot of rewatchability to it.
4
‘Bumblebee’ (2018)
Letterboxd Average: 3.2/5.0
Contrary to the Letterboxd average, Bumblebee is commonly considered the best Transformers movie. Regardless of where it sits in a Letterboxd ranking, Bumblebee is amazing. “Convincing proof that every single movie franchise — no matter how miserable — can be redeemed…” is what davidehrlich stated about the film, which is quite accurate to what most people think about the iconic prequel project.
Bumblebee is filled with great performances, awesome character designs (based on the original animated series), wonderful CGI work, and a screenplay that is very effective, written by Christina Hodson. Oscar nominee and beloved Gen Z icon Hailee Steinfeld is obviously the most likable human character in the series, further giving this unlikely prequel a boost. Her character arc is done really well, and it keeps people engaged through the entire runtime.
3
‘Transformers’ (2007)
Letterboxd Average: 3.3/5.0 (6k Fans)
To get the amount of money at the box office that it did—$709,709,780 worldwide in 2007—people needed to think that Transformers was, at least, a little great. While bad movies make good money all the time, in the case of Transformers, it’s the best of the Bay films. Letterboxd user Josh Lewis explained what makes the movie work as well as it does, saying it’s “…operating on a level of visual sophistication only matched by how monumentally stupid it is. In other words: a perfect merging of material and maker.”
What’s both great and unfortunate about Transformers is the fact that it’s the best of the Bay flicks, which meant that the series didn’t go anywhere better from here, but it is still a great movie, regardless. The negatives and more absurd aspects of the franchise are not as large and wild here, and that helps them feel a strange kind of charming.
2
‘The Transformers: The Movie’ (1986)
Letterboxd Average: 3.6/5.0 (1.7k Fans)
The original best of the best, based on the animated series, is this legendary 1986 film. “This movie has only gotten cooler with age,” is how Ryncle described the film upon their rewatch of the classic movie. When it comes to classics, they usually never get old, and it’s good to see that the same has become true with The Transformers: The Movie over the years.
It’s also arguable that Peter Cullen is at his best as Optimus Prime here, and with an additional cast like Leonard Nimoy as Galvatron, Orson Welles as Unicron, Frank Welker as Megatron, this movie really does feature the best cast in any Transformers project, live-action included. Even if the live-action movies struggle, it’s great to revisit an animated movie that will always be of quality.
1
‘Transformers One’ (2024)
Letterboxd Average: 3.8/5.0
While it may seem surprising now, Transformers One had a lot of uncertainty around it before its release. With creative decisions like casting Chris Hemsworth as Optimus Prime instead of bringing Peter Cullen back, and making it more aimed at children, people felt unsure about whether the movie would actually be good. Thankfully for the franchise and fans alike, people really like Transformers One, and that can easily be seen by the fact that it’s the highest-rated in the series on Letterboxd.
Driven by the classic animated art style, more focused on the Transformers while they were still on Cybertron, and being an origin story, Transformers One is an incredibly enjoyable movie. Not to mention, Chris Hemsworth, who was the most controversial choice, ended up being a great casting and took on the role of a younger Optimus Prime very well. Letterboxd user camelaaa speaks for the majority when she says in her review, “I’m gonna need a two, three and four.”
