Transformers is a series of American science fiction action films directed by Michael Bay, and based on the toys created by Hasbro and Tomy. The first film, Transformers, was released in 2007, the second, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, in 2009, and the third, Transformers: Dark of the Moon in 2011. Despite Bay's original confirmation on Dark of the Moon being his final installment in the franchise, Hasbro's CEO Brian Goldner expressed his hopes for further films to be made with or without Bay; a fourth film titled Transformers: Age of Extinction was subsequently confirmed, with Bay returning to direct, which was released in 2014.
To date, the series has been distributed by Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks, and United International Pictures. The series has received a largely negative critical reception, with criticism focusing on the thin plots, undeveloped characters, crude humor and the lengths of the films. However, many critics praised the visuals and action sequences, and it is currently the 12th highest-grossing film series and the 4th highest-grossing when averaged to gross per film, behind the The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and Pirates of the Caribbean film series.
TRANSFORMERS 1
Transformers features Sam Witwicky, a plucky teenager who just wants a cool car to impress his schoolmate, but gets more than he bargained for. The beater he and his father take home is actually Bumblebee, an alien robot from the planet Cybertron, who plants Sam down in the middle of a civil war between Bumblebee's benevolent Autobot comrades and the evil Decepticons who threaten the galaxy's peace. Both sides are after the All-Spark, a mysterious artifact that landed on Earth ten thousand years ago. The approaching robot-against-robot battle is a coming-of-age moment for Sam, who learns the meaning of his family's motto, "No sacrifice, no victory."
TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN
The film is set two years after the events of Transformers. The Autobots have found a home in "NEST", a secret military unit created to eliminate the remaining Decepticons, and Sam is starting college and trying to leave his Transformer-laden past behind. The Decepticons are regrouping, however. Megatron is restored to life, and his master, The Fallen, schemes to activate an energon-producing Star Harvester on Earth, which will destroy the planet and provide the Decepticons with enough energon to raise an army. The Harvester's location, and the means to activate it, are hidden within Sam's mind, leading the Decepticons to wage war across the Earth as they hunt down the human. Sam turns to some unlikely allies to escape and survive. Ultimately, Optimus is resurrected by Sam, merges with Jetfire's parts to defeat The Fallen, destroys the Harvester, and proves that the Autobots' greatest power is found in their unexpectedly-ancient alliance with the humans.
TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON
The film is set three years after the events of Revenge of the Fallen. The Autobots continue to work for NEST, but no longer in secret, and for the goal of keeping peace between humans by taking out volatile overseas political targets. But after discovering a strange artifact during a mission in Chernobyl, it becomes apparent to Optimus Prime that the United States government has been less than forthright with them. The original Autobot leader Sentinel Prime is brought back from the Moon to Earth, and revived using the Matrix of Leadership. Optimus Prime convinces America's leadership that they must protect Sentinel Prime, and his "pillars", which can help transport matter through time and space. However Sentinel Prime betrays the Autobots, as he allies with the Decepticons, killing Ironhide in the process, and reveals to have made a deal with the Decepticons to bring back Cybertron. America's leaders decide to send the Autobots to another planet, wanting to avoid war and granting Sentinel and the Decepticons' forced request. But as the Autobots leave, the Decepticons shoot their ship down, believing that they had killed all of the Autobots onboard it. With the Autobots gone, Sentinel Prime activates the pillars, and Chicago is seized by the Decepticons and their vicious/evil human ally, Dylan Gould. Thus begins the reproduction of Cybertron, at the cost of Earth, its resources and humanity. But, it is later revealed that the Autobots had faked their deaths, and a battle ensues between the Autobots and Decepticons in Chicago, for one final stand. In the end Optimus Prime decapitates Megatron and kills Sentinel, saying, "You didn't betray me; you betrayed yourself."
TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION
Set four years after the Battle of Chicago in Dark Of The Moon, humanity has come to fear both Autobots and Decepticons alike. With the aid of a Transformer mercenary named Lockdown, a CIA task-force operated by Harold Attinger begins hunting the remaining Transformers on Earth. Hunted by enemies that were once his allies, Optimus Prime sends his forces into hiding. Struggling inventor and single-father Cade Yeager discovers a damaged Optimus Prime, placing both himself and his daughter on a collision course with events that threaten the extinction of humankind itself. Meanwhile, humans have created artificial Transformers of their own, replacing the Autobots, but the consciousness of Megatron is accidentally downloaded into one of the newly developed robots named Galvatron, who takes control of the others and turns them against the humans. With swelled and advanced ranks, the Decepticons plot to purge the Earth into extinction using a mechanical device known as The Seed, a bomb with a nuclear blast radius that transforms all matter into Cybermatter, or Transformium, the metal that the Transformers are built from. Cade, Tessa, her boyfriend Shane, and Optimus Prime band together with the few remaining Autobots to face the Decepticons once more in Hong Kong and prevent the activation of The Seed. When victory against the combined forces of the Galvatron, Lockdown, and the humans seems impossible, Optimus also awakens the ancient Dinobots, massive metal warriors who transform into gigantic fire breathing dinosaurs, to assist them. With their new reinforcements, the Dectpticons are disposed of. Galvatron flees, but promises to return. Optimus then faces off against Lockdown and, together with Cade, destroys him. The movie ends with Optimus blasting off into space, bearing The Seed to a safe location and on a mission to find the Creators, the unknown figures who built him and all other Transformers.
