The two bestTransformersmovies of the century have unfortunately not been the most financially successful. Throughout the 1980s and 90s, several critically acclaimedTransformersanimated serieswere made. In 1986, aTransformersanimated movie was even released. However,The Transformers: The Moviewas unfortunately a box office disappointment, suggesting that the franchise was best suited for television. While this was the belief for many years, everything changed for the franchise in 2007 when the first live-actionTransformersmovie was released.
Michael Bay’s firstTransformersmovie ushered in a new era for theAutobots and Decepticons. Over the next decade, Bay directed fiveTransformersmovies, which were all very successful at the box office. Even though Bay stopped directing films in the franchise after 2017’sTransformers: The Last Knight, several moreTransformersmovies have been released since, such asBumblebee,Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, and the animatedTransformers One.BumblebeeandTransformers One, in particular, are actually the two best modernTransformersfilms.
Bumblebee And Transformers One Are The Best Modern Transformers Movies
Bumblebee & Transformers One Are The Highest-Rated Transformers Films
While some people consider the 1986 animated film to be the best movie in the franchise, it is definitely not a modernTransformersfilm. Therefore, I am only considering movies that were released after the 2007 film in this article. With that being said, I thinkit’s clear that 2018’sBumblebeeand 2024’sTransformers Oneare the two best modernTransformersfilms.
$5,849,647
62%
$708,272,592
57%
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
$836,519,699
19%
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)
$1,123,794,079
35%
$1,104,054,072
18%
$602,893,340
16%
$464,731,819
91%
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023)
$439,241,749
51%
$128,317,666
89%
Bumblebeeis set in 1987, before Bay’s movies, and follows the titular Autobot, who is scared and on the run in a small California beach town. Luckily, Bumblebee forms a close bond with Charlie, one of the town’s residents. Meanwhile,Transformers Oneis not connected to the live-action films and returns the franchise to its animated roots.Transformers Onefollows a young Optimus Prime and Megatron on the planet Cybertron before their friendship falls apart.
As seen in the above table, Rotten Tomatoes backs up my claim thatBumblebeeandTransformers Oneare the two best modernTransformersfilms.Bumblebeehas a score of 91% on the review aggregator website, whileTransformers Onehas an 89% (viaRotten Tomatoes). Not including the 1986 animated film, the next highest rating for aTransformersfilm is 57%. Therefore,these ratings prove thatBumblebeeandTransformers Oneare significantly better films than any other modern movies in the franchise.
Bumblebee And Transformers One Are Also 2 Of The Franchise’s Lowest-Grossing Films
Bumblebee & Transformers One Did Not Make As Much Money As Bay’s Movies
Despite their high ratings,BumblebeeandTransformers Oneare two of the lowest-grossing movies in the long-running franchise.Bumblebee, which came out just a year after Bay’s last film in the franchise, made $464 million at the worldwide box office, whileTransformers Onemade just $128 million (viaThe Numbers). WhileBumblebeemade slightly more than 2023’sTransformers: Rise of the Beasts, it did not make nearly as much as any of theTransformersmovies directed by Bay.
I Have To Admit It, Michael Bay’s Transformers Movies Changed The Franchise For The Better In 1 Big Way
The Transformers franchise has had many highs and lows over the years, but Michael Bay’s movies changed the group dynamics for the better.
BumblebeeandTransformers One’sunderwhelming box office earnings suggest that audiences aren’t as interested inTransformersmovies that are not directed by Bay. Even though Bay was a producer onBumblebeeand the film received very positive reviews, it was not enough to convince people to watch it in theaters. Similarly,Transformers One’samazing ratings did not prevent it from being a box office disappointment. This is a shame, since I would love to get asequel toTransformers Onein the coming years.
Only One Specific Type Of Transformers Movie Has Found Great Success At The Box Office
Michael Bay’s Transformers Movies Were All Box Office Successes
To put the box office hauls ofBumblebeeandTransformers Oneinto perspective, the highest-grossing BayTransformersmovie made over $1.1 billion, and his lowest-grossing film in the franchise still made a respectable $602 million. These numbers prove thatthe onlyTransformersmovies that have found significant success at the box office are the ones directed by Bay.
Things could turn around for the franchise with the next movie, especially since it will supposedly be aTransformersandG.I. Joecrossover film.
Because of this, some fans have asked for Bay to return to theTransformersfranchise. Meanwhile, other fans want him to stay away, since his films did not receive the best critical ratings. In my opinion, it’s unlikely that Bay would return to the franchise, since he has already directed fiveTransformersfilms. Additionally, things could turn around for the franchise with the next movie, especially since it will supposedly be aTransformersandG.I. Joecrossover film. Therefore, hopefully a future film in theTransformersfranchise can achieve critical ratings as impressive asBumblebee’sandTransformers One’s.
