Live-action film series

Transformers, 2007

Revenge of the Fallen, 2009

Live-action film series:
Transformers (2007)		Revenge of the Fallen (2009)		Dark of the Moon (2011)

The live-action film series is an umbrella term that refers to the series of theatrical feature films directed by Michael Bay beginning in 2007, including the vast amount of ancillary fiction created for it.

The second film in the series, titled Revenge of the Fallen, was released on June 24, 2009. A third film, Dark of the Moon, is scheduled for release on June 29, 2011.

TRANSFORMERS

Optimus Prime, heroic leader of the benevolent Autobots, describes in a voice-over the shutdown of the Transformers' home world, Cybertron. It was destroyed by the malevolent Decepticon leader Megatron in his quest to get hold of the All Spark. The Autobots want to find the All Spark so they can use it to rebuild Cybertron and end the war between the Autobots and the Decepticons, while the Decepticons want to use it to obliterate the Autobots and take over the universe. Megatron had managed to locate the All Spark on Earth, but crash-landed in the Arctic Circle and froze in the ice. After stumbling upon his frozen body in 1897, explorer Captain Archibald Witwicky accidentally activated Megatron's navigational system and his eye glasses were imprinted with the coordinates of the All Spark's location, an incident that left him blind and mentally unstable. Sector 7, a secret government organization created by President Herbert Hoover, discovered the All Spark in the Colorado River and built the Hoover Dam around it to mask its energy emissions. The still-frozen Megatron was moved into this facility and was used to advance human technology through reverse engineering.

In the present day, a group of Decepticons composed of Blackout, Scorponok, Frenzy, Barricade, Starscream, Brawl and Bonecrusher, have landed on Earth and assumed the disguise of Earth vehicles. Blackout and Scorponok attack the U.S. SOCCENT forward operations base in Qatar and try to hack into the U.S. Military network to find the location of Megatron and the All Spark. Their mission is thwarted when the base staff cuts the network cable connections. While Blackout destroys the rest of the base, Scorponok pursues a small group of survivors, led by Captain William Lennox and Sergeant Robert Epps, who have photographic evidence of the robots. Scorponok is eventually repelled and hides in the sand after the humans manage to call air support and damage his tail. During this battle, the military discovers the only effective weapons against the Decepticons' armor are high-heat sabot rounds.

After Blackout's failure, Frenzy infiltrates Air Force One to again hack into the military network, planting a computer virus. He finds the map imprinted on Captain Witwicky's glasses. While the Pentagon interferes with Frenzy's plan, he finds that Witwicky's descendant Sam Witwicky intends to sell the glasses on eBay. Frenzy and Barricade begin tracking Sam's location. Meanwhile, Sam unknowingly buys the Autobot scout Bumblebee (also on Earth disguised as a 1976 Camaro[3]) as his first car. After Bumblebee helps Sam woo his crush, Mikaela Banes, he leaves at night to transmit a homing signal to the rest of the Autobots. Sam pursues Bumblebee, thinking someone is stealing his car, but is shocked to find his car is actually a giant robot, which he regards as evil as first. Sam is arrested, and in the police station, tries to explain to the police officer what happened, but the apathetic and impassive officer assumes that he is hallucinating under the influence of drugs. When Bumblebee (in car mode) returns the following day, Sam flees, thinking the car is stalking him. While out, Barricade attacks Sam and ferociously interrogates him about his grandfather's glasses. Bumblebee saves Sam and Mikaela and engages Barricade in battle. During the fight, Mikaela severs Frenzy's head but he disguises himself as her cellphone and hides in her purse. They leave to meet with the rest of the Autobot team—Optimus Prime, Jazz, Ironhide, and Ratchet—who have landed on Earth and taken the forms of Earth vehicles as well. Sam, Mikaela, and the Autobots return to Sam's home and obtain the glasses; however, agents from Sector 7 arrive and take Sam and Mikaela into custody. The Autobots intervene, but Sector 7 captures Bumblebee and sends Sam and Mikaela away.

Sam and Mikaela are taken to Hoover Dam, as are Lennox and Epps, under Defense Secretary John Keller's orders. Frenzy sends an alert to the other Decepticons and sneaks into the technology system, freeing Megatron from his frozen state. Sam convinces the Sector 7 agents to release Bumblebee so that he can deliver the All Spark to Optimus. Frenzy's hacking has shut down government communications, but Keller and two hackers, Maggie and Glen, manage to establish a signal to the Air Force to support the Autobot-human convoy that has gone to nearby Mission City to hide the All Spark. The Decepticons attack; Bonecrusher, Frenzy, Jazz, Brawl, Barricade and Blackout are all killed during the ensuing battle. Sam, who was instructed to put the All Spark into Optimus' chest if Megatron prevailed (thereby destroying it and Optimus), instead rams the All Spark cube into Megatron's chest. The All Spark disintegrates, and its power obliterates Megatron. Optimus takes a fragment of the All Spark from Megatron's corpse, but admits that with its destruction, their home world Cybertron cannot be restored. The President orders the closure of Sector 7 and has the destroyed Megatron and other Decepticons dumped into the Laurentian Abyss. Lennox and Epps are reunited with their families, and Sam and Mikaela form a relationship. Optimus transmits a message to all surviving Autobots in space, telling them that they have a new home on Earth. During the credits, Starscream—the only surviving Decepticon besides Scorponok—escapes into space to tell the true leader of the Decepticons The Fallen of what has happened.

REVENGE OF THE FALLEN

Thousands of years before the events of the first film, the Dynasty of Primes travelled the galaxy to create Energon, creating sun-absorbing machines called Sun Harvesters, but only in uninhabited systems. However, one of their own was racially hatred towards the evolving mankind and tried to destroy them. The Dynasty stopped him and named him as The Fallen. Hiding away the Sun Harvester's key the Matrix of Leadership, the remaining Primes sacrificed their lives to guard it, creating the Tomb of the Primes.

Two years after the fight in Mission City, the Autobots have created NEST (Network Elements: Supporters and Transformers), a joint military organization from multiple countries, led by Optimus Prime, Major William Lennox and General Morshower. Whilst hunting Decepticons in Shanghai, Optimus takes down the large Demolishor and learns of the Fallen's return. Reporting to NEST's base in Diego Garcia, the Autobots are patronised by the US National Security Advisor Galloway for their actions, recalling the location of Megatron's corpse in the Laurentian Abyss and the presence of an Allspark shard in the base. Soundwave, Decepticon communications officer, eavesdrops on the conversation and deploys Ravage to retrieve the shard. The Constructicons, Ravage and the mad surgeon known as "The Doctor" dive into the Laurentian Abyss and resurrect Megatron, who flies to the Decepticon flagship Nemesis, where the Fallen rests. The Fallen instructs Megatron to kill Optimus and capture Sam Witwicky.

Sam is off to college, but beforehand finds a shard of the Allspark which unknown to him, uploads its knowledge into his mind. Sam gives the shard to his girlfriend Mikaela Banes for safekeeping, and leaves his guardian Bumblebee behind. At college, Sam meets his roommate Leo Spitz who runs a conspiracy website, and a girl named Alice who repeatedly flirts with Sam. Wheelie tries to steal Mikaela's shard but she catches him in the process. Sam experiences a flash of Cybertronian symbols in his mind, has a meltdown in class and starts graffiting the symbols all around his room. Alice arrives, revealing herself to be a Pretender and attacks Sam. Mikaela and Leo arrive, fleeing from the college whilst running over Alice. The Decepticons capture the trio, Scalpel attempting to remove Sam's brain until Optimus and Bumblebee arrive, Optimus getting into a triple way fight with Megatron, Starscream and Grindor. Grindor is killed, and Megatron then kills Optimus whilst Bumblebee and the twins Skids and Mudflap flee with the humans.

The Fallen reveals the Transformers' existence to mankind and asks them to surrender Sam to the Decepticons, whilst Sam's parents are kidnapped. Leo suggests they go to his online rival "RoboWarrior" for help, actually Agent Simmons from the now defunct Sector Seven. Simmons reveals the Transformers have existed on Earth for a millennia, and gets Wheelie to reveal a group of ancient Transformers live on Earth, known as the Seekers. They find the elderly Jetfire who teleports them to Egypt, revealing the history of the Transformers and sends them off to find the Matrix of Leadership. Following several clues, the group find the Tomb of the Primes in Petra. Simmons contacts Lennox who flies over with his troops and the Autobots. The Decepticons arrive and fight the Autobots. Sam's parents are used as bait to catch Sam but Bumblebee rescues them after destroying Ravage and Rampage. The Air Force arrive and carpet bomb the Decepticons, leaving only Megatron, Starscream and Devastator who digs up the Sun Harvester from inside a pyramid, before being destroyed by a secret railgun from a US Navy destroyer ship. Sam is mortally wounded by an attack from Megatron, but is revived by the spirits of the Primes.

Sam resurrects Optimus Prime, but the Fallen arrives and retrieves the Matrix to start up the Sun Harvester. Mortally wounded in the battle, Jetfire tears out his spark and commands the Autobots combine his parts with Optimus, giving him enough power to blow up the Sun Harvester, leave Megatron with half his face missing, and he then finally destroying the Fallen utterly. Starscream convinces a vengefuul Megatron to retreat. The film ends with Sam returning to college

DARK OF THE MOON

As the war waged on Cybertron, Optimus Prime witnessed a ship called the Ark, carrying supplies that could turn the tides in favour of the Autobots shot and left to drift in space by Starscream. It soon crashed on the Earth’s moon in the 1960s. On July 20th 1969, the Apollo 11 discovered the crashed alien ship on the moon.

In the present day, three years after the events of the second film, the Autobots have now become fully sanctioned members of the U.S. military and battling various human threats across the globe. Bumblebee, Sideswipe, Mirage and Wheeljack investigate a nuclear facility in the Middle East encountering humans with stolen Cybertronian tech. Meanwhile, Optimus Prime and Ratchet oversee the destruction of the decommissioned NEST facility in Diego Garcia. With their mission complete in the Middle East, Optimus commands the Autobots to head to Washington D.C, while he, Ratchet and Captain Lennox leave for Prypiat, Ukraine, following a lead on a recently uncovered object that seems Cybertronian in origin.

In Washington D.C. a restless Sam, is now is living with his new girlfriend Carly Spencer, a secretary working for Dylan Gould, a CEO of a major investment company and a car enthusiast. Sam is prying for a new job but having saved the world twice, Sam doesn’t want a job that he knows won’t make a difference in life and complains how the government never bothered to give him a proper job. The pair also lives with decommissioned Autobots; Wheelie and Brains, whose services were turned down by the Autobots. Sam leaves for his job interview with his new boss, Bruce.

Arriving in the uninhabitable city of Prypiat, Optimus Prime, Ratchet and Lennox investigate a dig site where construction workers (who wear special suits) have uncovered a mysterious object resembling a giant pillar. Suddenly, they are attacked by a huge Decepticon named Driller piloted by Shockwave. The Decepticons attempt to retrieve the pillar. Some of the construction workers are killed as Optimus orders Ratchet and the humans to retreat, while he battles the Decepticons. The Decepticons escape, leaving behind the pillar. An incredulous Optimus Prime recovers the pillar and realises that it is a part of the Ark, the long-thought lost Autobot ship.

In Africa, a weakened Megatron, Starscream and Soundwave learn of the discovery of the pillar by the Autobots. Soundwave deploys Laserbeak to silence their human allies. At their base in Washington D.C, U.S Intelligence Director Charlotte Mearing reveals to the Autobots that the space race in 1969 was in response to the Ark crashing on the moon. An angered Optimus demands a mission to the moon with the Autobots on it. Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and Ratchet wind up on the moon and discover and retrieve Sentinel Prime; Optimus Prime’s mentor and predecessor. They also recover five other pillars, and return to the Earth, unaware of three Decepticon stowaways named the Dreads (Crankcase, Hatchet and Crowbar). Later, at his new job, Sam encounters a co-worker who recognises him from the television broadcasts. The co-worker tries to reveal to Sam a Decepticon plot, revealing that he has been forced to work with the Decepticons to cover up something before being killed by Laserbeak, who attacks Sam. After being injured by Sam, Laserbeak retreats and reports back to Soundwave. Sam then heads to NEST operations in Washington D.C. where he is introduced to Director Mearing. Optimus revives Sentinel Prime using the Matrix of Leadership. Having retrieved five other pillars, Sentinel reveals that the pillars allow the user to open space bridges and teleport them anywhere. However, he reveals that a hundred of them have gone missing. Director Mearing then forces Sam away.

Elsewhere, the three stowaway Decepticons adopt Earth vehicle forms and inform Megatron that they are ready to strike. Later, Sam, puzzled why Decepticons have been enlisting the help of humans, meets with Seymour Simmons, who has now become a millionaire after writing books about his experiences with Sector Seven. He also has a butler and assistant named Dutch. Soon Carly arrives who gets into an argument with Sam. After breaking up with Sam, Carly angrily leaves for a party hosted by Dylan.

Following a lead, Sam and co arrive at Atlantic City, where they meet up with a former Russian cosmonaut living in the states. After a brief scuffle which Brains defuses, the cosmonaut reveals that the Soviet Union were the first to send cameras onto the moon. Footage revealed over a hundred pillars lying over the surface of the moon, however only five was recovered. Sam deduces that the Decepticons must have recovered the other pillars. However, he is puzzled as to why the Decepticons left Sentinel Prime unharmed. He believes that Sentinel Prime maybe the only one who knows how to use the pillars. He realises that the Decepticons left Sentinel Prime, so that the Autobots could recover him as Optimus is the only one who could revive him.

Realising that it was a set-up, Sam warns Director Mearing about Sentinel Prime. The Autobots (Mirage, Bumblebee, Sideswipe, Ironhide and the Twins), Sam and co escort Sentinel Prime back to NEST operations. Along the way, the group is attacked by the Dreads. In the ensuing battle, Simmons is severely injured by a Dread, while Sentinel Prime escapes back to base. When Captain Lennox and Ironhide return to base Sentinel Prime betrays the Autobots, murdering Ironhide and the Twins. He reveals that he always was the key before battling and gravely injuring Optimus, and joining forces with Megatron. Sentinel Prime never believed that the Autobots would have won the war so he forced himself into an alliance with Megatron to end it. Starscream’s attack on the Ark was a ruse, and Sentinel was actually on his way to meet Megatron.

Now with their plan set in motion, Megatron opens a Space Bridge and transports a multitude of Decepticons hidden on the moon to Earth, before going into hiding for the time being. Sentinel Prime speaks to the humans, revealing that he is the true leader of the Autobots, and his plans to mine Earth’s resources to rebuild Cybertron. He also demands the exile of the former rebel Autobots (Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Ratchet, Sideswipe, Mirage and Wheeljack) in order to avoid any conflict. If this agreement is not met, Sentinel Prime reveals he will destroy all human life with a battalion of Transformers. In Gould Estate, Sam arrives and makes up with Carly. Suddenly they are attacked by Laserbeak and Soundwave, disguised as Carly’s car. Dylan reveals that he is in league with the Decepticons. He reveals that he and his family have been working with the Decepticons all along, noting that his father helped the U.S. government cover up the moon crash landing. In exchange for Carly’s life, Dylan forces Sam to spy on the Autobots and inform the Decepticons about the Autobots plans for retribution. He also forcibly gives Sam a small Decepticon to monitor and record the Autobots plans.

Later, Sam meets up with Director Mearing and Robert Epps, who reveal that the UN has exiled the Autobots. He asks Optimus if they are planning anything, subtly tipping him off. Optimus reveals that the Autobots intend to leave on a ship called The Xantium, built by a hidden sub-team of Autobots called The Wreckers. The Wreckers had been hidden from the public eye due to their abrasive personalities. Bumblebee remains on Earth, disguised as an old Datsun and helps Sam get rid of the Decepticon given to him by Dylan. The Autobots leave on The Xantium, but just as they do, their ship is shot down by Starscream and the Autobots are believed to be dead. Sam convinces Epps to help him find Dylan and rescue Carly. They realise that they are in Chicago, so Sam, Bumblebee, Epps and a few mercenaries in league with Epps head to Chicago. Planning to open the space bridge in the centre of Chicago, Megatron orders the Decepticons to lay waste to the city. Most of the population is evacuated though. Having secured the city of Chicago and following a meeting between Sentinel Prime and Megatron who are starting to have a friction, Dylan reveals to Carly Sentinel Prime’s plans to use Earth’s human population as slave labour but because humans will be unable to survive going through the space bridge, Sentinel intends to bring Earth and Cybertron together using the space bridge. Though this will destroy the Earth, the surviving human population will be used to rebuild Cybertron by mining the Earth’s resources. Whilst leaving Chicago with Carly, Dylan encounters Sam who attempts to free Carly only to be attacked by Laserbeak. Laserbeak is destroyed by a Decepticon tank piloted by Bumblebee, while Dylan escapes.

Sam rescues Carly and just when Epps and company seem to think all hope is lost, the Autobots (Mirage, Wheeljack, Sideswipe, Ratchet and the Wreckers) return to the city, having never boarded the ship in the first place. Dylan informs Megatron about this; however Sentinel Prime reveals that he anticipated this move on Optimus’ part. As the Autobots prepare for battle, Shockwave arrives with the Driller. Bumblebee, Sideswipe, Ratchet, Mirage and Wheeljack battle him only to quickly realise that they are powerless against Shockwave. Carly reveals to Sam that if they can destroy the control pillar opening the space bridge, the whole space bridge will collapse, having learnt this of off Dylan. However, Epps reveals that they only have one shot left with the launcher and radios for backup.

Eventually, the Autobots are overpowered by the Decepticon forces and captured. Soundwave kills Mirage, and just as he prepares to kill Bumblebee he is knocked aside by a Wheelie piloted Decepticon flagship who massacre a horde of Decepticons. The Autobots manage to escape, and Bumblebee kills Soundwave. Starscream is also killed by Sam. The group attempts to blow the control pillar from afar but that plan fails, and the building that they are in is tipped over by the Driller. Sentinel Prime also betrays Megatron and knocks him off the building, having no intention to work for him. The Autobot inventor, Wheeljack, outfits Optimus with a jetpack, before being killed by a group of Decepticon protoforms. Optimus arrives and massacres a horde of Decepticons, including the Driller before battling and killing Shockwave. He then uses Shockwave’s laser blaster to destroy the control pillar. The main piece of the pillar falls in front of Sam who attempts to retrieve it only to be confronted by Dylan. A fight ensues, in which Dylan is killed by the piece of the control pillar as it disintegrates him. The military also arrive.

An angered Megatron is persuaded by Carly to destroy Sentinel Prime. Megatron and Optimus join forces and battle Sentinel Prime. While Megatron distracts Sentinel, Optimus gets hold of Sentinel’s rust cannon, and destroys Sentinel with his own weapon. Following the battle, Megatron and Optimus Prime make peace. Megatron and the remaining Decepticon forces return to Cybertron. Sam and Carly have rekindled, and Bumblebee produces a gasket ring and forces Sam into unwittingly proposing. Optimus Prime and the remaining Autobots remain on Earth; their new home.

Continuities

See also: Movie continuity

The live-action film series is a continuity family, and as such includes all continuities concerning closely related characters and settings. TFWiki has identified three primary timelines for the series:

• The main movie timeline consisting of the films, novels, comic books and various other elements that don't contradict each other.
• The Titan Magazines movie timeline, which began tying into the larger film-based continuity by IDW but eventually gave up. This continuity also follows events in a splinter timeline where Megatron won the battle of Mission City.
• The Sector Seven ARG timeline where the film series is a fictionalization of real events.
• Micro-continuities also exist in the form of video games, some toy bios, and certain comic story threads that are incompatible with each other.

The Transcendent Technomorphs refer to this continuity family as the Tyran universal streams.