The 2007 Transformers movie serves as our first introduction to the Autobots and Decepticons in Paramount's live action movies. And Barricade serves as our best introduction to who and what the Decepticons are. He may not be the leader, but (IMO) he is the most important 'con in the movie. A quick rundown:

- Only Decepticon to prominently display the Decepticon logo.

- First Decepticon to speak (English).

- First Cybertronian to engage with the main character, Sam.

- First Decepticon shown onscreen fighting an Autobot.

- First Cybertronian shown transforming clearly in broad daylight, and without cutting away to show the human reactions. (actually, no. I just remembered Frenzy on AirForce 1. Strike this)

- His presense on the freeway signaled the start of the final battle (remember Sam saying, "It's that same cop."). The battle starts immediately after the Autobots try to block Barricade.

- He's the only non-military Decepticon vehicle, setting him apart from the others (even Scorponok was part of Blackout's disguise, and there are military markings still present on Scorpy during his solo mission).

- The Only Decepticon to appear in all three acts of the movie (alongside his partner, Frenzy). His battle with Bumblebee signals the end of Act 1. His appearance on the freeway signals the start of Act 3.

- On a related note, he's the only movie Decepticon to crossover into other media, namely the War For Cybertron game & the TF Universe game.. While there is a G1 character by the same name, it's apparent that WFC Barricade was inspired more by his live action counterpart.

It's a lot of little things (and a few big), but there are a lot of firsts attributed to Barricade. As the face of the Decepticons, if not the leader, he does a great job representing them and introducing the audience to the faction.

And all this is why I put him on my list of nominations for the 2015 Hall of Fame Awards.

 

THIS.

 

Can anyone say for certain that he gets the most screen time? I mean, it seems pretty clear to me, but I'm looking for numerical proof.

But yeah, Barricade was definitely the standout Con from TF1, with Blackout coming a close second. You didn't even mention that Barricade drives (literally and figuratively) much of the plot, putting the cons into contact with Sam and forcing bumblebee to show himself, delivering Frenzy to find the location of Megatron, etc. etc.

 

I sorta agree, but by the end of the first time you see the movie you almost forget about Barricade, and then a couple of days later when you're relfecting on it, you're like "hold on a minute, what happened to that T1000 police cruiser con?!"

 

Kind of, but I think Megatron still takes the cake for being the center focus of the movie next to the Allspark. Even if he didn't have the most screen time, he still had the most lines and was mentioned by name by Autobots and humans alike. Though I do agree that Barricade makes for a close second thanks to his overall involvement.

 

Eh, each con had their own kinda story arc. Blackout was kinda like the main villain of the soldiers/lennox story arc, Megatron was kinda the over arcing villain of the movie. And then barricade was kinda like the Sam/Bumblebee main villain.

 

Not sure about his total screentime, but I think he has more than most of the cons. I think only Scorpy and Megatron get more than him, but I'd have to see the numbers to be sure. Added one more point to my original post:

- The Only Decepticon to appear in all three acts of the movie (alongside his partner, Frenzy). His battle with Bumblebee signals the end of Act 1. His appearance on the freeway signals the start of Act 3.

 

Barricade was indeed cool though I felt his character was way underutilized (his absence in ROTF was baffling - as was his disappearance during the Battle of Mission City - and his anticlimactic death in DOTM was disappointing; but at least he got to do stuff like off Que). I was let down when he spoke, in all honesty. I was expecting a cruel yet cunning interrogator type (to pair off with Frenzy's infiltration/sneakiness), not a growling/yelling, fist-smashing hot head when he threatened Sam during their first encounter. I think Lockdown's cold and distant ruthlessness in AOE was more my idea for what Barricade could've been. But Barry definitely had one of the more memorable introductions along with Blackout's attack on the SOCCENT base.

 

You raise very good points, Mako Crab. He's their point man, their infiltrator alongside Blackout. Starscream was just the temporary commander, and Bonecrusher and Brawl were muscle, but as you pointed out, Blackout and Barricade were the heavy presence for the movie, Barricade more so than Blackout.

 

I think "To punish and enslave" is enough to applaud Barricade all on its own.

 

Except for Blackout who appeared in Animated.

 

Silly split! Animated dosnt count! Lol. (Joking  )

 

Forgot about his little cameo. But yeah, you're right.

Just remembered- Barricade was also in the TF Universe game (or at least its promotional material).

 

ABSOLUTELY, lol.

I actually got the TF backpack they sold at Hot Topic when the movie came out, which didn't say anything about "Transformers" anywhere, it was just all black with the Decepticon insignia and the words "TO PUNISH AND ENSLAVE" printed on the back.

As a white boy wearing it on public transit every day all over Chicago and across the country on Greyhound it actually got me into MORE than a few misunderstandings with various offended people who didn't know wtf it was, lololol.

Can't really say I blame them with the way it was made, in all fairness. Might not have been one of Hasbro's better marketing decisions.

Still, it's awesome and I love that backpack!

 

Yeah, Barricade was pretty cool. He also represented the Decepticons' ability to be anything. Blackout was picked out as being out of place, Frenzy was a successful infiltrator, but nothing more. Barricade was a police car. He disguises himself as a figure of authority. IIRC, Sam thought he'd found help when he first saw Barricade. It's just a pity this part wasn't utilized more.

I do wish they had either killed him off in TF1, or given him a larger role in the following films. We never did get a reason why he never appeared in ROTF, and wasn't originally written into DOTM.

 

In a way, Barricade was this enigmatic ongoing mystery. What happened to him at the end of TF1? Where was he during TF2? Rumors floated around that he was supposed to be Sideways, but then he wasn't.
When he finally did return in TF3, I have to say I was disappointed that he didn't do more. I had hoped he & Bumblebee would resume their rivalry, but he didn't even transform & barely acknowledged Bee's presence. I really wanted an extended chase scene, since the one in TF1 was so short. Ah, oh well. Maybe he's so well liked because the movies don't overuse him. Leaves people wanting more, eh?

 

I forgot to mention how much I like him in the Decepticon version of the first DS game. He gets an actual personality, being veteran, with leadership skills who's incredibly loyal to Megatron. In the game's story, he's actually given the role of representing Megatron's leadership while Megatron is frozen, and teaches Starscream's protégé in the true ways of the Decepticons.

According to TFWiki, Sideways becoming Barricade was an idea from the writer of a prequel comic. I do recall it being speculated by fans simply based on the similarities between their designs.

 

Well I've already voted for Thundercracker, but I'd like to see Barricade win now.

Thank you.

 

And Bee,Megatron and Prime from TFP and concepts for Sideswipe and Ironhide for the Alignated Continuity

 

Ughhhhh now i so want another Barricade firgure.