Which do you think is the best live action Transformers film?

[Bartrim]

In order for me 1,4,3,2.

I don't mind Revenge of the Fallen, especially taking into consideration the fact that it was made on a 40 page script as opposed to a normal 160 page script due to the writers strike but I just can't stand Sams room mate. If I was there I would punched his face in within 30 seconds of meeting him.

[Sinnertwin]

In order for me 1,4,3,2.

Mine so far is 3,4,1,2.

I don't mind Revenge of the Fallen, especially taking into consideration the fact that it was made on a 40 page script as opposed to a normal 160 page script due to the writers strike but I just can't stand Sams room mate. If I was there I would punched his face in within 30 seconds of meeting him.

I'm going to add Wang and Shia to the "people i'd like to knock out in the Transformers franchise" too.

[DELTAprime]

TFTM gets worse for me every time I view it.

ROTF is by far the worst of them. Watch the directors commentary and special features on the Blu-ray to find out why.

DOTM works OK for me as a "turn off my brain and just enjoy the action" movie. It's still terrible but it is my favourite of them because of that.

AOE I really hate, its a train wreck because of the human parts. The Transformer parts are far better than anything in the other movies, they actually get a tiny bit of character development. I'm getting the Blu-ray mostly because it's a Transformers item, not because I like it.

[Yongeltron]

"AOE I really hate,"... "Im getting the Blu-ray mostly because it's a Transformers item, not because I like it."

Buying something I literally hate just because it's Transformers is a collecting milestone I personally hope never to reach.

[5FDP]

My order would be 1, 3, 4, then 2. Why... probably because of the opening scene where Blackout destroys the army base and we get to see a Transformer in a live action movie for the first time. I had goosebumps!

[Gamerforever]

But i would put transformers age of extinction as number 1. Just my opinion

[Gamerforever]

4,1,3,2
I like 4 more because it was probably the less dorky of the films and the transformers actually had CHARACTER

[GoktimusPrime]

AoE does have the 2nd most coherent story of the films. TF1 is more coherent, but also more simple/straightforward. AoE is surprisingly quite coherent for a more complex attempt at a scifi epic. AoE is plagued by the whole "overbearing father" thing, as well as that completely unnecessary "Romeo & Juliet" scene. I'll be skipping that part every time on the DVD (I cringed each time I saw it in the cinema).

As for insignificant fleshlings^humans, AoE had that really annoying/useless Lucas Flannery*. As annoying as Wang was, at least he contributed to the story. Joshua Joyce** was like that too; totally annoying, but contributed to the plot.

Keep Calm and release iPhone 7

Leo and Lucas suffered more from the "Jar Jar" or "Daniel Witwicky" thing where most of their screen time was pretty useless, and they pretty much just do one thing to justify their existence in the story (but we have to suffer the rest of their useless time-wasting screen appearances just to get there). Wang's moment in the toilet was needlessly stupid, but it was important to advance the story (i.e. passing on information to Sam about the moon thing). Of course the blatant innuendo was completely needless. At least Jerry Wang and Lucas Flannery had the decency to die. When I first saw Lockdown incinerate Lucas, my inside voice went, "YES!", and I mentally reached out to give Lockdown a high five. Shane was also pretty useless after rescuing the others from the cornfields. Still, they could've just completely omitted him and just replaced him with a helpful/kind stranger who saw a family being pushed around by suits and offered to help. Or Rollbar.

AOE I really hate, its a train wreck because of the human parts. The Transformer parts are far better than anything in the other movies, they actually get a tiny bit of character development.

Optimus Prime was the only Transformer in AoE (or the entire film franchise) who saw character development in that film, as I recall. The other Transformers were all pretty much one-dimensional caricatures or zero-dimensional set pieces who didn't see any character development at all. Bumblebee, Drift, Bulkhound, Crosshairs, the Dinoknights, Galvatron etc. were all the same people at the end of the film as they were when we first see them. None of them experienced any change, other than Prime, who had to let go of his hate, forgive humanity, and learn how to give a truck again.

I'm getting the Blu-ray mostly because it's a Transformers item, not because I like it.

I could apply this same rationale towards my entire interest towards the Transformers live action films in general. I wouldn't enjoy them half as much as I do if they weren't about Transformers. Having said that, the Transformers action in these films is pretty damn awesome. I feel that the Bay films and IDW comics are on the two extreme ends of what I would like to see in Transformers. Bay films have great TF action, but bugger all story. IDW comics have fantastic stories, but not enough TF action. IMHO the G1 Marvel Comics and Beast Wars were a lot better at striking that balance between great TF action + character-driven stories.

I agree with Bartrim's order; best to worst for me would be TF1, AOE, DOTM, ROTF. It seems that ROTF is at the bottom of everyone's preference list, which is interesting because ROTF is arguably the most visually spectacular (they crashed ILM's computers!). Proof that visual effects can't beat story-telling.

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* Even having seen the film 3 times, I had to Google his name -- my brain just remembers him as "try-hard Texan hippie with Californian accent" or "wannabe Ninja Turtle" )
** Again, I just remember him as "Steve Jobs." That's how forgettable these human characters are.

[Bidoofdude]

Easily the first.

[Trent]

Having not yet seen AOE, I'm still confident that I can vote for 1 as my favourite. I completely agree with 5FDP in that the first scene with Blackout is still the single greatest scene in the movie franchise.
I don't collect movie figs but because of that scene I truly wish for a leader class Blackout

2 and 3 are just pure tripe. After 2 I decided not to ask anyone to go with me to see anymore because they are that bad and cringeworthy. After 3, I decided not to bother with them at the movies at all. Because of this, AOE will be a torrent job for me. I refuse to support such bad filmmaking.