gonna have to go with aoe..it had the least to work with & did a great job for the most part (it's not perfect...7/10) rotf basically killed all hopes of taking transformers to that 'next level' (4/10) dotm was very good...aesthetically speaking, this was the peak of the franchise...just cant shake off the decepticon apocalypse..really takes away from the film sadly....they should have kept the original story intact (with the twins & dino dying)....also the revised ending is awful in my opinion..shoulda let megatron live (then again, aoe would have turned out drastically different) so as much as i enjoyed dotm, it pains me knowing it could have been & should have been better (6/10) i cant comment too much on tlk because i have to see it again & again to appreciate it fully but as it stands now...it was too disrespectful of the films before it in my opinion..it does some things right but not enough (2/10)
AoE, and it's also my favorite of the films. Like BarricadeLives says, of all of the sequels it was given the least to work with and did a great job (in my opinion) with its circumstances. The Decepticons we knew from the previous films were dead (not counting Megatron's head and Barricade secretly surviving due to TLK), Sentinel was dead, Ironhide was dead, and truth be told the Sam Witwicky story had run its course. It goes into an entirely new direction, but it also honors what came before. It has some bizarre moments that are lots of fun for the most part, but it also makes sense as a story in context. It has fewer characters than the other sequels, and consequently it feels like a more intimate movie in a larger universe. It takes many fans out of their comfort zones, which is why a vocal group of fans, including some fans of the previous movies and some G1 fans, hate it, but that's also the great thing about it. It wasn't satisfied with just maintaining the status quo.
Dark of the Moon. It managed to be a lot less bad than Revenge of the Fallen, a significant enough improvement, but still got enough things wrong that I can't fully embrace it. The big problem is that the franchise, and the character of Sam in particular had already jumped the shark in ROTF. Worse still, not everything they did was an improvement. In some ways things were getting worse, and have continued to get worse with every movie, so you're always weighing the pluses against the minuses. I like DOTM better because I enjoyed the overall tone-shift from the previous two, I thought the moon focus gave it more cohesion, I enjoyed the historic Apollo angle, and I felt it had some of the most memorable set pieces of the series.
Shane, Tessa, and Savoy really leave a sour taste in my mouth. It's hard to like AOE because of them. DOTM is still the best other than the first IMO.
I love AOE. Yes, it has its flaws, but the whole thing just works for me. I like the different tone it has, a credible villain in Lockdown, and as Galvatron, Megatron actually has a proper plan to serve his own purposes rather than playing second fiddle to someone else. My second favourite is ROTF; dunno why, I just enjoy it more than DOTM or TLK. I think TLK is my least favourite. It just felt like a step backwards.
At some point the Twins were going to get killed by Sentinel during his betrayal, and Dino was going to get killed by Starscream. Both were cut for reasons, which is kind of lame I feel. I can't disagree with a single thing said here. I actually think DotM is a bit better than RotF, but I find RotF just as enjoyable. It's actually very well paced and full of forward momentum. And it's extremely fun! I just watched TLK the last two days, and that's why it's also my least favorite. The robot characters are focused on so much less than its predecessor. Also, in AoE once a character appears they don't disappear entirely from the film without having a very good reason to disappear. Lockdown and Optimus appear throughout the film. The Autobots appear through the rest of the film after Autobots Reunite. Galvatron appears or is at least regularly mentioned after he first appears. Brains is the only robot to disappear, but he at least is given a darn good reason that's stated in the film; the little guy just wants to enjoy his freedom after being KSI's prisoner. Compare that to TLK where Optimus, Megatron, Nitro Zeus, the Dinobots, Wheelie, Drift, Hound, Crosshairs, Izzy, and Sqweeks all disappear for big portions of the film. The voice acting also feels like a step down overall IMHO, with a couple of exceptions.
Dark of the Moon hands down IMO. The plot was a slight improvement but not much and the movie was absolutely visually stunning to look at. But the bad Michael Bay humor was still bad though but at least it's better than AOE and TLK IMO.
Revenge Of The Fallen- because it had the best action, best character designs, and the deceptions were actually cool for once.
Age of Extinction. Dark of the Moon definitely had the better story but AOE had a lot of nice touches and actually addressed a few things I wanted to see improved in the films, mainly the humor and robot characterization. I consider both to be good Bayverse installments.
AOE has my vote… though many people seems don't like it,I still enjoy the whole movie,especially the first part!When Autobots reunion together,I just can't hold back the excitement and sadness. Also,I enjoyed TLK.I think it's messy too,but you can't deny that there are more Transformers scenes,I really love the junkyard scene.
one of the things i love about dotm is that there's so many autobots & the decepticon squad is also stacked..throw in prime's trailer & it just 'feels' the most like a live-action transformers film
Whoa! You're just a courageous man! Yes, ROTF is terribly underrated, it's an amazing Movie! Yes, it has some slippery moments, but they're just details, if not concentrate on them, the Movie is deep and awesome... TLK, for example, has MUCH more problems. I wish I could be here in 2009 to turn everyone's opinion (I was actually, but my english was terrible yet, so I stood aside and cried, looking how people are gushing shit about my beloved Movie)!
I do think that of all of the films, DotM is the best at showing an all out war between Autobots and Decepticons. Yes it was. Actually, the graphic novel and the regular and junior novels. Granted in one of them Soundwave is the one to kill Dino and not Starscream, but either way Dino was going to be dead. Now he's presumably killed by Lockdown and allies.
