07 Movie, that one still gives me chills, having Peter Cullen's Optimus narrate the first words said in the continuity was brilliant.

 

Pretty much this. I don't mind DOTM's, since we get to see some of the fight on Cybertron (part of why Bumblebee's is the best overall to me), but after four other movies of "the secret history of Transformers", the 2007 film is the only one to really remain untainted by that trope.

Darn it! I disagree, but your dinosaur knowledge has earned you a +1!

 

TLK
07
AOE
ROTF
DOTM
Bumblebee

 

TF’07
- When I think of intros, I take that to mean the opening scene that has to hook the audience. These are usually anywhere from 5-10 minutes.
So we meet our soldier heroes, and they’re all basically pleasant & one’s got a cute baby at home & one’s fighting for a shower. It’s all basic everyday life in the desert kind of stuff. And then the bantering & the playfulness stops & we get treated to this eerily quiet shot of a black helicopter flying into view. And it’s framed with this vast empty desert as the backdrop.

That’s the moment when I knew this was going to be something good. Blackout’s disguise allowed him to get in close enough to the military base, even though the troops quickly pointed out the flaws in his disguise. But it didn’t matter because they still wanted to bring him in to find out what was up with this helicopter that had the markings of one they knew to have been shot down.

And the sun keeps falling past the horizon as he flies in. By the time he lands, it’s night. And then we have that first reveal moment.

TF1 built up this whole mystery & the eerieness in the span of just a few short minutes. But it’s stuck with me ever since.

 

Every Bay opening without context makes you think you're gonna watch something amazing. But the only actual meaningful openings are 2007, DotM, and AoE.

2007 is a cube floating through space and Optimus narrating. It's minimal and effective.

DotM is finally the war they've been talking about as this film has a lot to do with history and legacy.

I know AoE has a tonne of subplots, but the main storyline pertains to Transformium and the opening establishes it well, despite contradicting the lore, previous films, and even basic science. It was visually impressive and showed exactly how devastating a Seed can be.

Ancient Egypt and King Arthur, like, what the fuck are we doing here?

That's a stretch considering that the AllSpark was fully capable of creating powerful transforming creatures without Transformium, meaning that it creates transforming matter out of practicality anything.

Right, so the AllSpark can turn the internals of a vending machine or a vacuum cleaner into a robot with guns that serve as actual firepower, but you're saying that it was only able to do that because it was inherently made of metal. What about the soda inside the cans or the dirtbag inside the vacuum? Transformium is equally able to turn into a plush toy of My Little Pony. You have to remember that the actual connection between the AllSpark and Transformium was elaborated in expanded media. When they were writing the films, they didn't have that explanation because they didn't actually think it through. Besides, AoE was developed as a soft reboot--hence the new designs, new human cast, and new origin story--but they repurposed it to follow the Battle of Chicago, creating several additional subplots and inconsistencies. But this is a thread about the best intro in Bayverse and I was saying that AoE has a very good one, so why are you nitpicking my comment?

 

In terms of the opening scene

- Bumblebee
- The Last Knight
- Dark of the Moon
- Transformers
- Age of Extinction
- Revenge of the Fallen

In terms of the title card

- Dark of the Moon
- Revenge of the Fallen
- Transformers
- Age of Extinction
- The Last Knight
- Bumblebee

 

Not really. As its been pointed out in the past, it doesn't rewrite the Allspark being the source of life, it expands on it. The Creators use the transformium to build their robots and the Allspark gives them life.

 

DOTM had the best. The quick pacing, the music, the opening battle, the push to get to the moon, the mysterious zoom in on Sentinel (because we don't know who he is or anything about him yet) into his eye into the title card, that's the intro that gets me the most pumped for the movie that's starting.

Then 07. The brief narration of the Allspark, followed by Blackout's attack. It's a great introduction to this universe, one where we see a single Decepticon can decimate human forces. It's mysterious. It's shocking. It's great!

Then TLK. I really liked the Arthur stuff in this film, and was hoping that would be the main focus. The last desperate stand, Merlin trying to convince Dragonstorm to help (yeah, could do without his drinking but ok whatever). Again, the music. As disastrous as the film is, the intro is a good piece of work (and a horse does a cartwheel!)

Then ROTF. The Shanghai scene is a nice way to reintroduce the characters. It shows the Decepticons are hiding and could be up to something, there's a nice chase with Sideways, Demolishor doing a runner is well filmed and it might have the best intro of Optimus of all the movies, getting called in because it's got out of hand and they need him, dropping out of that cargo plane and transforming mid air, parachuting down, landing in a roll into a transform, speeding along, then transforming back and leaping on Demolishor as he rips through the bridge. An epic introduction to him, though not the best overall introduction of the film.

Then AOE. The strange fleet over earth, with the music lends this eerie atmosphere to the events. But other than the dino destruction, I don't remember the rest of the opening, so it must go last.


Bumblebee doesn't count as it's not part of the Bayverse.

 

I found the cube bit of the first movie pretty lame and cringe-worthy but the the next scene where Blackout is introduced is brilliant!
Wonderful way to introduce these robots to the audience.

Didn't care for (the intros to) any of the follow-up Bayverse movies.

BB had a fun opening scene too!

 

BB was my fav opening scene.

The Shanghai scene in ROTF was great too.

 

BB
TLK
2007
ROTF
AOE
DOTM

 

Bumblebee doesn't count as Bayverse

Bumblebee is it's own story telling universe and it doesn't count as Bayverse

Bumblebee was actually it's own universe and it doesn't count as Bayverse

Bumblebee is not connected to the Bayverse

How many times do I have to everybody that Bumblebee doesn't count as Bayverse

Bumblebee is it's own universe thanks to Travis Knight, Michael Bay directed the 5 films but produced Bumblebee but Bumblebee doesn't count as Bayverse

 

Very much all of this, although RotF makes a good case with an effective pairing of music - N.E.S.T. - and a well edited 'lock and load' sequence that introduces some new characters, and brings back fan favourites like Lennox and Ironhide. But in terms of a hook, TF07 wins because its goodwill meant that other sequence could occur.

 

That's not a stretch by any means. I'm sure the Allspark can give life to any metallic being, not just one made of transformium. Transformium is probably just the best metal for the job.

 

DotM is the best, the Soundtrack, the reveal of another Prime, the Apollo 11 stuff...

 

2007. I just loved seeing Blackout rip the base apart. Really made the Cons look like total badasses. Unlike in the sequels

 

I really like revenge of the fallen intro as well as DotM

 

The 2007 movie for me. Seeing the Allspark floating through the void of space on its way to Earth, with Peter Cullen narrating over it in his deep gravitas? It just set the scene, and the stakes. And then Blackout at the base, building up tension and the BANG! The transformation sound and him just wrecking shit, using disguise and deception to get in close and just blowing shit up.

I remember going to see the movie with my friends back then. Some of them went specifically to see my reaction to the movie, and they told me later I had a mile-wide grin on my face during the intro. It was good.