Transformers movies in order of how to watch them

Michael Bay’s Transformers movies were one of the most ever-present franchises at the box office in the late 2000s through the 2010s, but they’ve been on a bit of a break since the last installment (while Bay has been out making other, exciting new movies).

That’s going to change soon, as Creed II director Steven Caple Jr. is helming the upcoming Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, starring Anthony Ramos and arriving in theaters June 9. So what better time than now to catch up on all the other movies in the franchise?

The Transformers movies have a very complicated lore and timeline that was made even more complicated by the release of 2018’s Bumblebee, which retconned much of what we thought we knew about the Transformers universe. But we’ve pulled together three different potential watch orders for you to enjoy that Autobot action in whatever way feels best for you.

Where to watch the Transformers movies on streaming

Before we dive into the potential watch orders, it’s important to know where they are all streaming.

Most of the movies are available to stream on Paramount Plus: Revenge of the Fallen, Dark of the Moon, Age of Extinction (also available on Prime Video and MGM Plus), and Bumblebee are all available on the platform.

The original Transformers is only available for digital rental or purchase on VOD vendors like Amazon, Apple TV, Google Play, and Vudu. The Last Knight is available on DirecTV, Fubo, and for digital rental or purchase.

Watching Transformers in release order

This viewing order doesn’t require much explanation; it’s just the Transformers movies in order of when they came out. The number in parentheses is the year the movie was released.

1. Transformers (2007)
2. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
3. Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)
4. Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)
5. Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)
6. Bumblebee (2018)
7. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023)

Watching Transformers in chronological order

Image: Paramount Pictures

This viewing order follows the main events of each movie — there are flashbacks, sure, but we’ve ordered these by when the main narrative takes place. The number in parentheses is the year the movie takes place.

1. Bumblebee (1987)
2. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (1994)
3. Transformers (2007)
4. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
5. Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2012)
6. Transformers: Age of Extinction (2017)
7. Transformers: The Last Knight (2022)

Watching Transformers in galaxy-brain chronological order

Image: Paramount Pictures

This one’s for the true Cybertron heads.

We recommend this playlist for those who’ve seen all of Transformers enough times that they want to mix things up with a different experience. In this order, you’re going to jump around from movie to movie to retain as close to a pure chronological order as possible. It’s difficult because of the franchise’s convoluted lore, and some flashbacks are included, but some aren’t. We made those decisions based on how much of the flashback was actually shown, not just talked about.

The figure in parentheses is when the movie (or scene) takes place.

1. Age of Extinction 0:00-2:19 (65 million years ago)
2. Revenge of the Fallen 0:00-2:05 (17,000 B.C.)
3. The Last Knight 0:00-7:00 (484 A.D.)
4. Transformers 1:04:30-1:06:18 (1897)
5. The Last Knight 1:13:00-1:13:48 (World War II)
6. Dark of the Moon 0:00-08:50 (1961 into 1969)
7. Bumblebee (1987)
8. Rise of the Beasts (1994)
9. The rest of Transformers (2007)
10. The rest of Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
11. The rest of Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2012)
12. The rest of Transformers: Age of Extinction (2017)
13. The rest of Transformers: The Last Knight (2022)