Every Michael Bay Movie Ranked From Worst To Best

Bay's original Transformers movie is still easily the best in the series, but, frustratingly, it's sat firmly in that grey area between 'good' and 'bad'.

It just sort of exists, a slice of inoffensive blockbuster action that won't blow your mind but also won't bore you, a decent enough flick to put on if you need some background entertainment at a family gathering, or something to glance at periodically while you do household chores.

That's hardly a ringing endorsement, but Transformers is, at least, watchable, something that can't be said for movies two through five.

The original is the shortest in the series, a quality that partially covers some of the problems later instalments would run into, like endless, repetitive action, and dumb human characters taking up too much screen time.

These problems are still here, but they're less noticeable; the film moves at a brisk pace since it isn't bogged down by the convoluted, needlessly long subplots that plagued the sequels.

The action in Transformers is also easier to follow - this first entry carried a series-low $150 million price tag, meaning Bay had to be more frugal with the spectacle than he was in the sequels - and really, that's what makes it a winner.

You can shut your brain off and watch robots beat each other up for two hours, and you'll actually be able to tell who's punching who.