What are the best Transformers fight scenes?

[Sky Shadow]

The fight scene is a staple of the various genres the Transformers franchise inhabits, but in your opinion, what are the best ones? For me, some of the more obvious ones that come to mind are Optimus versus the Decepticons and then Megatron in Transformers: The Movie, Magnus versus Galvatron in TFUK #86 (a fight that lasts an entire comic but never stops being awesome), Ratchet versus Starscream in TFUS #78, Dinobot versus the Predacons in Code Of Hero, and Optimus Primal versus Megatron dressed as Beast Wars Optimus Primal in Endgame Part III: Seeds Of The Future.

What are your favourites and why?

[Yukitora]

Of course its when Quickstrike and Inferno fight to take the 'new' colony... Just because.:p

[Sharky]

i kinda like the fights it TF Prime.. Prime and ratched v terrocon zombies dont know why maybe it is pretty to watch

and that scene from dark of the moon wher prime flies in and just cuts through all the decepticons in that street scene..

once again pretty..violent

hehe

[Doubledealer]

These ones instantly spring to mind:

Transformers Prime: Soundwave VS. Airachnid (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zx4rI6ilMsY)
Transformers Animated: Shockwave VS. Blurr *Mega Spoilers* (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlYSKZsYBNw&feature=related)

[Tober]

Shockwave Vs Dinobots from 'Spotlight: Shockwave'.
Jetfire Vs Sunstorm from the DW comics series.
The forrest fight from 'Revenge of the Fallen'.

Most of the first act of the G1 Transformers Movie, naturally. :cool:

[GoktimusPrime]

+ Optimus Prime vs Decepticons & Megatron in TFTM
+ Star Sabre vs Deathzaras (Showdown! The Fortress vs. Victory Merge)
+ Ultra Magnus vs Galvatron -- all their battles were awesome! (but #86 was pretty damn cool)
+ Thunderwing vs Autobot Classic Pretenders (Dark Creation)
+ Dark-Matrix Thunderwing vs Autobots (All Fall Down)
+ Unicron vs the Transformers in TFTM
+ Unicron vs the Transformers in US#75
+ Carnivac & Catilla vs. the Mayhem Attack Squad (A Savage Place)
+ Optimus Prime vs Decepticons in forest battle, Revenge of the Fallen (especially the extended IMAX cut)
+ Autobot Classic Pretenders & Rescue Patrol vs Bludgeon, Octopunch & Stranglehold (Primal Scream)
+ Dinobot vs the Predacons (Code of Hero)
+ Optimus Prime & Megatron vs Unicron's defences (One Shall Rise, Part 3)
+ Depth Charge vs Rampage (Nemesis Part 1)
+ Autobot Micromasters vs Decepticon generals (Transformers Zone)
+ Galvatron vs. Perceptor, Blaster, Beachcomber, Cosmos, Powerglide, Seaspray & Warpath (Fallen Angel)
+ Dinobots vs Constructicons/Devastator (Heavy Metal War)

[Sky Shadow]

Ooh - I just remembered Soundwave versus Billy in Headmasters. That was brutal: http://youtu.be/1g63Q5ivVN8

[liegeprime]

For me its,

Megatron with Devastator VS Starscream with Bruticus... shame Menasor had to sneak in. It would've been awesome if it was an all out equal battle royale instead then we'll see who's really the baddest of em gestalts.

The fight between Sky Lynx vs Predaking

Devastator vs Dinobots

Blaster vs Soundwave . Not the all out death battle but the sonic blast exchange in that episode about the hypnotic disco thingie

War of the dinobots

Aerialbots vs Stunticons - the first episodes when thy were both created.

[Bartrim]

Im tired so my memory isn't the best but straight off the top of my head I like the fight between Strika's team and Rodimus' team in Season 3 of animated.

Another fave is the battle with Jazz, Ironhide and Ratchet vs Brawl in the first live action movie.

Of course the first part of the G1 movie is awesome too

[Decepticon]

All the fight scenes in the 3 movies. Brilliant!

[GoktimusPrime]

Of course the first part of the G1 movie is awesome too
Where kids were sitting in cinemas and thinking, "Holy cow! zOMG, they're using live ammunition now!" :p


All the fight scenes in the 3 movies. Brilliant!
Yeah, Michael Bay is pretty damn good at directing action scenes, I'll definitely give him that. Bumblebee vs Ravage -- phwoar! XO The Shanghai Showdown was also pretty intense. :) Jetwing Optimus Prime was awesome when he was in action, but the amount of screentime wasted seeing him dangling upside down was dull. :( Blackout vs the USAF was also pretty darn kewl.

[Hursticon]

Ooh - I just remembered Soundwave versus Billy in Headmasters. That was brutal: http://youtu.be/1g63Q5ivVN8

:(:(:( - G1 Broadcast & Movie Bumblebee are now on my hit-list :mad:... :p

I like this question SS, I'll have to give it some consideration tomorrow whilst doing some photography. :)

[liegeprime]

I simply had to add this fight/battle!:D:D:D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij5Wm_sSwNQ&feature=related
while technically it is NOT official... this by far is one brutal and funny Tf related fight :D:D:D

oh and part 1 here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y2qOYemiLs&feature=related

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

My faves, in no special order.
-The Decepticon assault on Autobot City in TFTM, especially the brutal shuttle scene. The rest of the movie is pretty sweet too, but up until the end of Starscream's coronation is that much better IMO.
-There have been heaps of good action sequences in TFPrime.
-Pretty much any battle involving the Decepticons in Animated. Special mention to Lost and Found, A Bridge Too Close, and Transwarped.
-the battles in A Prime Problem were pretty good, as was the invasion of Washington DC in Atlantis Arise and the battles in Megatron's Master Plan Part 1.
-last ones off the top of my head, which I'm surprised haven't been mentioned yet: Beast Wars Code of Hero and, even better, The Agenda. The Agenda is easily my favourite TF episode arc/media of all time.

[Lord_Zed]

No one has mentioned Megatron and Galvatron vs the Wreckers and Mayhem squad in Time Wars issue 202 of the UK comic, so I will.

Although that was more of a massacre than a fight.

Along with the fights in the Gen 2 they were the most visceral robot battles around, until the Bay movie fights.

[5FDP]

My top 3 in no particular order would be -


TF:TM - The Decepticon assault on Autobot city
Optimus Prime vs Bonecrusher (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrN86qQeIU4)
Soundwave vs Blaster (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GmSrmLn_hA)

[GoktimusPrime]

My faves, in no special order.
-The Decepticon assault on Autobot City in TFTM, especially the brutal shuttle scene. The rest of the movie is pretty sweet too, but up until the end of Starscream's coronation is that much better IMO.
Yeah, the fighting got a lot less brutal after that, cos they'd already culled off all the old toys and introduced the new toys. The movie after that was just, "Let's showcase the new toys", but they weren't going to kill any of them because they needed them to survive into Season 3 to further promote them! They nearly fooled us with Ultra Magnus being blasted apart, but then it was like, "Nnaaah, just kidding! See? Here come the Junkions to make him all better again! NOW YOU GO BUY THIS TOY!!" :D

(although Ultra Magnus is a freaking awesome toy :cool:)


-last ones off the top of my head, which I'm surprised haven't been mentioned yet: Beast Wars Code of Hero
I mentioned it back in post #6. ;)


and, even better, The Agenda. The Agenda is easily my favourite TF episode arc/media of all time.
tru dat. :) I quite liked the scene where the Maximals were trying to blast their way into the Ark.

Rattrap: "This ship wasn't built, it was poured!"
Optimus Primal: "Die-cast construction. It's a lost art."

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

My faves would be, The charge of Optimus in TFMTMTE. Blamming alla them Deceps.

Star Saber vs Deathzarus in victory.

Jet Prime ( ? ) vs Megatron at the end of Armada. Optimus rip off his OWN shoulder wheel to chuck at megs! THAT's a fight!!

[snaketales]

I quite liked the battle on the Moon in #41 of the Marvel series

Megatron vs the Predacons in #25 was cool too.

Galvatron vs the Cybertron Seven in UK #101 was pretty brutal.

Tracks, Bumblebee and Blue Streak vs Menasor from the original animated series also sticks in my mind ("Do you think that will really hold him?" "Off hand I'd say.... not at all".)

[GoktimusPrime]

+ Galvatron vs. Fortress Maximus (#79)... seeing Galvatron rip into Fortress Maximus' circuitry with his bare teeth -- phwoar!! :eek:
+ "The Great War #1" (G1 manga) -- I especially liked the part when the Protectobots see the flaming defeated Aerialbots plummet to the earth, and an enraged Blades goads the other Protectobots into action so they can get in and beat the crap out of the 'cons. It's such a good and accurate depiction of the Blades character according to the toy's original tech specs bio! :D It accurately portrays Blades as the thuglike action junkie that he is. :) (the Marvel G2 comics & War Within The Dark Ages also reflected it as well)

-----------------------------------------------
"War's a dirty game, and I'm a dirty player."
Basically a street fighter -- prefers using rotor blades for slashing Decepticons rather than for flying. Considers long-range air attacks unsporting, cowardly.
-----------------------------------------------


Tracks, Bumblebee and Blue Streak vs Menasor from the original animated series also sticks in my mind ("Do you think that will really hold him?" "Off hand I'd say.... not at all".)
Ah yes, from the episode "Trans-Europe Express." :)

[King Atlas]

Can't believe nobody has mentioned this. There are lots of battle scenes and they included Omega Supreme.

The laser-rave fest "The Golden Lagoon". One of the few episodes of G1 I actually still love. They all look so sexy in gold, but are a bad excuse for lazy exclusives :(

[Lord_Zed]

"The Golden Lagoon" did make he usual ridiculous cartoon fight scenes plausible I must admit.

Going OT here but If I had to name my worst TF fight scene, I'd choose the one at the end of "Megatron's Master Plan", where the Autobots and Decepticons line up and shoot each other from a few meters away without hitting. That takes a special brand of ineptness.

In "The Golden Lagoon" they actually hit each other, only to have it deflected by electrum to wipe out some innocent flora or fauna.

[GoktimusPrime]

I didn't like Blaster vs Soundwave in The Headmasters. I know other people did, but killing each other with a single punch? Blah. But I especially hate fights where, in order to make a certain character look cool, the opponent just stands there defenceless and lets themselves get beaten! Two bad examples of this include:
+ Sixshot killing Ultra Magnus in The Headmasters
+ Blackarachnia kicking the crap out of Cheetor in "Double Jeopardy"
...utterly unrealistic. Not even an animal would just stay still while something else was attacking it... Ultra Magnus is meant to be an Autobot soldier and Cheetor had previously demonstrated enough ability to fight previously. It just seems that writers/animators get lazy, so rather than showing the opponents struggling/resisting, they just have them stand there while the attacker lays into them. :rolleyes:

In this regard I think the fight scenes in the Bay movies are done quite well. I know some people have complained that the action scenes look blurry and messy, but that's how fights should look like. And it would be especially messy looking when looking at giant robots from a human's POV (which is how the first two movies were done -- DOTM used longer and wider distance shots (so the scenes can look fancier in 3D) and we sorta lost a bit of that "Giant effing robots" feel that the first two films had).

[lj7369]

I personally hated the end of dotm. Barricade, Shockwave,Starscream,Soundwave all gone... and then ripping megatrons head off. Cool nonetheless, it ended so abruptly much like the first live movie.

Stand it against the tftm opening 40 mins.... i know my preference.

[Paulbot]

Optimus turning the tide in TFTM will always be hard to beat.

The Hot Rod vs Galvatron fight from the end of TFTM too is a good example of Transformers transforming back and forth during battle, both using both modes for tactical advantage. There should be more like this, but it tends to be too rare sadly.

I quite liked the Autobots vs the Dreads in DOTM.

Blackarachnia vs Inferno in "Other Voices" was a lot of fun at the time.

And it's not quite a battle since Waspinator never stood a chance, but when Rhinox pulls out the Chaingun of Doom for the first time in "Chain of Command" it's still awesome.

[Sky Shadow]

I personally hated the end of dotm. Barricade, Shockwave,Starscream,Soundwave all gone... and then ripping megatrons head off. Cool nonetheless, it ended so abruptly much like the first live movie.

Stand it against the tftm opening 40 mins.... i know my preference.

100%. The Optimus versus Megatron at the end of Dark Of The Moon is a complete joke. Michael Bay does not know how to create a fight scene since it's never a battle of wits or clever banter or physically thoughtful in any way. It's just shoot, slash, throw your opponent, rip out spine, repeat. Just watching those fights makes me feel as if my own brain cells are being diminished rather than the character actually suffering the cranial damage.

[SuspectimusPrime]

Quite enjoyed these:
* Rodimus, Ultra Magnus, Springer, Blaster + Dinobots vs Galvatron, Cyclonus, Sourge/Sweeps, Soundwave, Abominus + Predaking (Season 3, Call of the Primatives) - Really enjoyed the animation and the huge roll call, and also because the Autobots was fighting a losing battle. Not sure why they were fighting over a dead moon, but some senseless violence is always welcome :)
* Generic Autobots + Doublecross vs Snapdragon, Apeface, Combaticons + Terrorcons (The Headmasters, Death of Ultra Magnus) - Sixshot riling up the Decepticons was awesome, and not the best, but Doublecross' fight was funny :p


+ Sixshot killing Ultra Magnus in The Headmasters

I really enjoyed that fight for some reason. I think it's because I watched it as a kid and prior that fight, my only other TF-exposure was G1 Season 1 & 2 which did not have that sort of Japanese violence (or J-rock, which sounded pretty cool to me as a kid :p).


But I especially hate fights where, in order to make a certain character look cool, the opponent just stands there defenceless and lets themselves get beaten!

I have one that strongly comes to mind:
* Cyclonus & Scourge vs Autobot Headmasters (TF The Headmasters) - Cannot recall the exact episode(s), but I really did not enjoy the way Cyclonus & Scourge were portrayed as bumbling comic relief and continuously got their arses handed back to them.

[GoktimusPrime]

I really enjoyed that fight for some reason. I think it's because I watched it as a kid and prior that fight, my only other TF-exposure was G1 Season 1 & 2 which did not have that sort of Japanese violence (or J-rock, which sounded pretty cool to me as a kid :p).
You must have been overseas or had access to taped episodes from overseas if you saw it as a kid, cos The Headmasters was never aired in Australia (or available on video, laserdisc etc.). I was already a young adult when I saw The Headmasters... got the entire series on VHS recorded off laser disc which I swapped for the Beast Machines Dinobots (which were never released in Japan, so some dude in Tokyo wanted them). So yeah... I was already an adult and was pretty critical of that scene.

*sigh* I no longer have a working NTSC VCR... I really should get my Headmasters tapes converted onto DVD because the existing DVD version has some stuff cut out of it that the LD version has. I might be more motivated if The Headmasters wasn't such a cruddy series. :p (though I still prefer it over The Rebirth)

So did you watch it in Japanese or in that godawful English dub? (Billy!) I never saw the English dubs until I got the DVD... I watched a few seconds, then that was it. <shudder> Never thought that I'd see a dub that makes the dubbing in Macross Clash of the Bionoids look good. <extreme.shudder>
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/avatars/jaam_pain.gif

[SuspectimusPrime]

*sigh* I no longer have a working NTSC VCR... I really should get my Headmasters tapes converted onto DVD because the existing DVD version has some stuff cut out of it that the LD version has. I might be more motivated if The Headmasters wasn't such a cruddy series. :p (though I still prefer it over The Rebirth)

What is this stuff you speak off?? :)


So did you watch it in Japanese or in that godawful English dub? (Billy!) I never saw the English dubs until I got the DVD... I watched a few seconds, then that was it. <shudder> Never thought that I'd see a dub that makes the dubbing in Macross Clash of the Bionoids look good. <extreme.shudder>
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/avatars/jaam_pain.gif

My dad grabbed a few taped episodes (in no particular order) dubbed in Cantonese from HK when I was elementary school, and then much later on I found fan-subbed torrents of the Japanaese originals. I'm quite sure those same files has the English dubs as well but I never bothered with them, having watched a few episodes of Masterforce with the fan-dubs :) In hindsight, I found the HK-subs quite good, both Magnus and Sixshot's voice actors were quite convincing. But yes, that period was very confusing as I couldn't figure out if Transformers originated from the Americans, Honkies, or Japanese.

[GoktimusPrime]

It's not hard for any dubbing of anything to be better than the English dubs of the Japanese G1 series. ;) The dubbing on them is so bad that it just fails in translating the story, also, their English is _so_bad_!! A lot of words aren't even pronounced correctly it's damn hard to understand what they're trying to say. I remember watching the Masterforce dubs with Jhiaxus, who himself doesn't speak Japanese, then later we watched The Headmasters in raw Japanese -- he preferred watching The Headmasters! The voice acting was superior (I don't know if you can even use the word "acting" w/ the English dubs) and either way he wouldn't understand what the hell people were saying anyway! (i.e. choice between listening to terrible incomprehensible English, or comprehensible Japanese even if you can't understand it) :rolleyes: I guess that when he was watching The Headmasters, he could just focus on the animation and guess the story through visuals and the acting (i.e. emotions, tone of voice etc.), whereas watching Masterforce dubbed - the bad English gets distracting... as an English speaker you can't really ignore it... we couldn't stop rolling on the floor laughing our butts off at it, so much so that we couldn't pay any attention to the story! It wasn't until I finally got Masterforce on DVD years later and watched it in Japanese that I started understanding what the hell was going on! :D

[Lord_Zed]

100%. The Optimus versus Megatron at the end of Dark Of The Moon is a complete joke. Michael Bay does not know how to create a fight scene since it's never a battle of wits or clever banter or physically thoughtful in any way. It's just shoot, slash, throw your opponent, rip out spine, repeat. Just watching those fights makes me feel as if my own brain cells are being diminished rather than the character actually suffering the cranial damage.

While I agree with you about this particular fight scene, I think it is somewhat symptomatic of an overall trend of lazy action movies. It seems to me that these days the final battle of every action movie, just comes down to filling the screen with as much CGI and explosions as possible, and the hero just shouting loudly and heroically and vanquishing his foe with sheer hero power, there is no clever battle of wits anymore the hero doesn't concoct some clever scheme to beat the bad guy they just win because they have too. The problem is I can't think of a an action film in recent times that breaks this mold, even good films like J.J Abrahms Star Trek end with a emotional fist fight and yet more explosions.



...utterly unrealistic. Not even an animal would just stay still while something else was attacking it... Ultra Magnus is meant to be an Autobot soldier and Cheetor had previously demonstrated enough ability to fight previously. It just seems that writers/animators get lazy, so rather than showing the opponents struggling/resisting, they just have them stand there while the attacker lays into them. :rolleyes:


Funny thing, as much as I love the final confrontation between Optimus and Megatron in the original animated film (and it is my favourite TF fight scene), I do think the part where Prime throws Megatron is flawed for the above reason. One moment he's like "I'll rip out your optics" and struggling with Prime, the next minute Optimu's just causally pushes Meg's arm away, who proceeds to go all limp and just LETS Prime hurl him into the pavement. It just doesn't match the intensity of the rest of the fight and is the only real flaw in an awesomely constructed fight scene, but it bugs me every time I see it now!

[GoktimusPrime]

While I agree with you about this particular fight scene, I think it is somewhat symptomatic of an overall trend of lazy action movies. It seems to me that these days the final battle of every action movie, just comes down to filling the screen with as much CGI and explosions as possible, and the hero just shouting loudly and heroically and vanquishing his foe with sheer hero power, there is no clever battle of wits anymore the hero doesn't concoct some clever scheme to beat the bad guy they just win because they have too. The problem is I can't think of a an action film in recent times that breaks this mold, even good films like J.J Abrahms Star Trek end with a emotional fist fight and yet more explosions.
It can be difficult to have an emotional fight with guns and explosions, because guns and missiles etc. are such impersonal weapons. It's the reason why George Lucas decided to give Jedi & Sith the light sabre as a melee weapon. Both Jedi & Sith don't use blasters, except for Luke in Eps IV & V, but not in Ep VI which is when he considered himself to be a Jedi proper - even in Ep V when Han Solo shoots Vader, Vader absorbs the blasts with his hand and confiscates Han's blaster, but doesn't ever use the blaster - Darth Maul, Count Dooku & Palpatine all never use blasters - Obiwan used a blaster once in desperation to defeat Grievous, but immediately showed disdain with the comment of "So uncivilised!" Even Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet which replaced swords with guns; it still made the action at up-close melee range for the more emotionally heightened scenes -- like when Tybalt slays Mercutio, Tybalt uses a piece of glass like a knife.

The Transformers, who seem able to take several shots and continue fighting, have plenty of opportunities for melee fighting, and indeed a lot of the fighting in the TF films are melee, but Bay seldomly uses it to heighten emotions in the story... it does happen a few times though, like when Optimus suddenly gets impaled by Megatron in the forest fight in ROTF, or when Bumblebee suddenly turns the table on Soundwave and plugs him (after building tension for Bumblebee's impending doom). I thought those parts were well done -- but in most other scenes it's pretty much just gratituous fighting rock 'em sock 'em robots. It looks good and highly entertaining... but often just action for action's sake (rather than using the action as a story-telling vehicle). You look at the confrontations between Luke and Vader in Empire and Jedi -- both are highly emotional action scenes, but the action is driven by the story, whereas in Transformers the story tends to be driven by action.


Funny thing, as much as I love the final confrontation between Optimus and Megatron in the original animated film (and it is my favourite TF fight scene), I do think the part where Prime throws Megatron is flawed for the above reason. One moment he's like "I'll rip out your optics" and struggling with Prime, the next minute Optimu's just causally pushes Meg's arm away, who proceeds to go all limp and just LETS Prime hurl him into the pavement. It just doesn't match the intensity of the rest of the fight and is the only real flaw in an awesomely constructed fight scene, but it bugs me every time I see it now!
Yeah, I first saw TFTM in 1986, then saw like a hundred times more when I found it on VHS in 1988. :D So at that age it all looked good to me. :p My rose-tinted nostalgia glasses insulates me from such crapulence. :D But yeah, I saw The Headmasters as an adult, so I didn't have that nostalgic childhood bias to shield me. :p ;)