How to Watch Transformers Movies in Order (Chronologically and by Release Date)

From ‘Bumblebee’ to ‘Age of Extinction’ and more, here’s how to watch all the ‘Transformers’ movies in order

 

Transformers started off as a Hasbro toy line launched in 1984, with the idea was that the toys all had parts and pieces that could be shifted and rearranged to create another toy.

That same year, a Transformers cartoon was released, depicting the battle between the good Autobots, led by Optimus Prime, and the evil Decepticons, led by Magatron. The series made the toy line incredibly popular, and in 1986, the franchise got its first film, The Transformers: The Movie. However, the animated movie failed at the box office and fell into relative obscurity.

For the next few decades, Transformers continued receiving new cartoon adaptations and straight-to-video movies, but in 2007, Michael Bay revived the franchise with his live-action Transformers movie. The original film was a massive hit, and after grossing more than $709 million at the box office, a sequel soon followed. Since then, there’s been a total of eight Transformers movies, with more on the way.

Watching the films chronologically can be a bit confusing since two of the newest movies — 2018’s Bumblebee and 2023’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts — don’t follow continuity and now serve both as prequels and reboots.

Bumblebee used the same Bumblebee Autobot from the Bay films, and in a 2018 interview with SlashFilm, producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura said there were “20 years” in the timeline between Bumblebee and the 2007 original.

But the events of that film and its sequel, Rise of the Beasts, don’t add up with what’s portrayed in Transformers, and by the time Rise of the Beasts premiered in 2023, Bonaventure had changed his tone. Yahoo! News reported from Rise of the Beasts’ Singapore premiere that the producer called the movie a “prequel and sequel,” and director Steven Caple Jr. described it as a “new fresh take.”

Here’s a guide for watching all the Transformers movies by order of release date and chronologically.

Transformers Movies in Release Date Order

• Transformers (2007)
• Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
• Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)
• Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)
• Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)
• Bumblebee (2018)
• Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023)
• Transformers One (2024)

Transformers Movies in Chronological Order

Transformers One

2024’s Transformers One will be the earliest film in the franchise. Serving as an origin story, the movie depicts how archenemies Megatron and Optimus Prime were once allies and fought side-by-side on the planet Cybertron. Unlike the rest of the franchise, Transformers One is an animated film. It has a voice cast that includes Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, and Brian Tyree Henry.

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Bumblebee

The sorta-prequel, sorta-reboot Bumblee is set in 1987, taking place before the rest of the live-action Transformers films.

In the movie, a young woman (Hailee Steinfeld) finds an old VW Beetle, not realizing it’s actually the Autobot B-127. The two become friends and she names him Bumblebee. While the Decepticons are in the movie, the main antagonist in the film is the US military, who wants to capture Bumblebee.

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Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

Following Bumblebee in the maybe-prequel, maybe-reboot timeline is 2023’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. Set in 1994, the movie is inspired by the Beast Wars cartoon and sees the Autobots team up with the animal-like Maximals to keep Earth safe from the planet-destroying Unicron.

Joining them is a young, unassuming New Yorker named Noah (Anthony Ramos), who finds himself in the middle of the battle. At the end of the film, Noah is then invited to join the secretive G.I. Joe operation, which opens the doors for the upcoming Transformers/G.I. Joe crossover film.

Bonaventura muddled the waters of chronology when speaking to Polygon about the movie, saying, “For me personally, I think [continuity’s] overblown, because sometimes you miss a great idea.”

The producer continued, “I think one of the things that I find particularly exciting about this movie is, you get to meet Optimus before he’s the character you met in Bay’s films.”

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Transformers 

2007’s Transformers was the first live-action film, but now it sits fourth chronologically. The movie stars Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox as two teenagers in Los Angeles who are swooped up in the battle between the Autobots and Decepticons.

The original movie shows the Autobots landing on Earth and taking their shapes as automobiles, which contradicts the events in Rise of the Beasts. The movie was a massive hit, grossing over $709 million at the box office.

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Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

In 2009, Transformers received a sequel with Revenge of the Fallen.

In the film, the Decepticons are out for revenge, and even worse, there’s an even greater evil than Megatron to deal with: The Fallen. The Autobots must stop the Decepticons and The Fallen from gaining more power and destroying Earth.

Revenge of the Fallen was Fox’s last Transformers movie after she was fired from the third film for having issues with director Michael Bay.

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Transformers: Dark of the Moon

In Transformers: Dark of the Moon, it’s revealed that NASA has known about a crashed alien spaceship on the dark side of the moon for decades. It’s then discovered that it’s actually an Autobot ship containing the Sentinel, the former leader of the Autobots predating Optimus Prime.

But the Sentinel has made a deal with the Decepticons, sacrificing Earth to protect their Cybertronian home planet.

This time around, LaBeouf reprised his role, and Fox was replaced by Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.

Transformers: Age of Extinction

In 2014, Transformers completely swapped out its cast, with Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci and Nicola Peltz Beckham starring. Despite the revamped lineup, the film was still directed by Bay and continued the official timeline.

Age of Extinction picks up after Chicago was destroyed in Dark of the Moon, during a time when humans now view the robots as dangerous. A secret military agency has also been created to destroy every Cybertronian, so the Autobots must fight off Decepticons and the military to survive.

Earning over $1.1 billion at the box office, Age of Extinction was the highest-grossing movie of 2014.

Transformers: The Last Knight

The last film chronologically is 2017’s The Last Knight. In the movie, Optimus Prime is brainwashed into becoming a villain and a furious battle ensues for Merlin’s Staff, with the Autobots and Dinobots competing against the Decepticons and military who are competing against Optimus Prime.

After the previous film dominated the 2014 box office, many considered The Last Knight to be a thinly plotted, hollow film that jumped the shark. The movie earned just a little over $605 million, making it the lowest-grossing Transformers movie at the time of its release.