Transformers has been entertaining fans for generations since its G1 debut – but which moment of action is the franchise’s best? That’s a massive question to answer: since 1984, Transformers has seen massive success as a toy line, a never-ending series of TV shows, video games, and blockbuster films (both animated and live-action). That’s a lot of content to comb through – but we’ve done the job and are confident that there is indeed one moment in Transformers that stands above all, in terms of wowing viewers with the scope – and impact – of its action.
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Optimus Prime’s Forest Battle Is the Best Action Moment in Transformers
Every Transformers fan probably has a personal favorite, but it’s hard to deny that the overwhelming consensus (based on chat threads, fan reactions, various ranking articles and videos, and viewership numbers on clips) is that Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen‘s famous “Forest Battle” sequence is the best the franchise has ever produced.
First of all, Transformers director Michael Bay plunges viewers right into the “Forest Battle” sequence off of an edge-of-your-seat moment, where human protagonist Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf), his girlfriend Mikaela (Megan Fox), and college roommate Leo (Ramon Rodriguez) get hijacked by the Decepticon helicopter Grindor and are taken to an old factory, so that Decepticon leader Megatron can cut him up to steal secrets of the AllSpark that have been imprinted on Sam’s brain. Optimus Prime and the Autobots arrive just in time to save Sam from nightmarish pain.
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The battle between Autobots and Decepticons spills out of the factory onto the road. Optimus takes the lead, going into vehicle mode and grabbing Sam in his truck cabin; a short chase leads to a forest, where Optimus is forced to defend Sam against Megatron, Starscream, and Grindor all alone until reinforcements arrive. What ensues is the best fight sequence in all of Transformers, as Optimus Prime goes all out, thrashing Starscream and taking out Grindor with a brutal finisher.
The Forest Battle Sequence of Revenge of the Fallen works so well as it showcases the heroism of Optimus Prime, one of the greatest warriors and leaders in genre fiction. It’s no secret that director Michael Bay drew upon older fans’ memory of the 1986 animated film Transformers: The Movie, which arguably traumatized a generation of kids by having Optimus Prime and Megatron both die in a brutal showdown early in the film. Megatron was reborn (via Unicron) as “Galvatron,” while Optimus Prime was replaced as Autobot leader by “Hot Rod,” a sportscar who claimed the Mantle of Leadership to become “Rodimus Prime.” Michael Bay took a different route in Revenge of the Fallen, having Sam claim the Matrix of Leadership from the ghosts of the primes, using it to resurrect Optimus. Still, the same story beats of heroic sacrifice that worked for the ’86 movie worked for Bay’s sequel, leading to one of the franchise’s biggest action sequences, namely the “Battle of the Pyramids” against Megatron, The Fallen, and the Constructicons’ combined form of Devastator.
Behind the scenes, the Forest Battle represents some of the most grueling production work ever done on a Transformers project – or any major blockbuster movie up to that point (2009). The battle was one of the most intricate and VFX-heavy action sequences presented in full IMAX at that time, requiring upwards of 72 hours of rendering to complete a single frame of footage. The entire Transformers sequel required more intricate animations of the robot characters (including closer facial expressions), and much more environmental interaction like collateral damage from big robot fights, or battle damage (sparks, leaking fluids) on the Transformers themselves. Devastator alone pushed Industrial Light and Magic’s technical wizardry to the brink, with the IMAX footage causing one computer to literally explode.
The effort may have been too great, but the results were worth it: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen ended up earning $836.5 million – well more than enough to clear its $200M+ budget. Bay also set a bar for the new standard in “event film” marketing to viewers: Revenge of the Fallen wowed viewers so much, that it helped push IMAX to become the dominant premium movie format of the 2010s. Moreover, it set up the next film, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, to finally break through the billion-dollar barrier.
Even though some fans may argue that Dark of the Moon‘s climactic battle was better, Revenge of the Fallen‘s Forest Battle is quintessential Transformers – a scene you could show to just about anyone as an example of what makes the series fun and exciting, and why it’s created such iconic characters as Optimus Prime. Later films would have bigger battles – but none that had as much heart within their metal-on-metal slugfests.
You can stream the Transformers movies on Paramount+.
