Say what you will about Michael Bay, but even his critics will admit that he understands his audience better than most. Bay’s aesthetic is synonymous with action movies of the 1990s, but he kept reinventing himself as his career progressed. His adventurous spirit can also be felt in his latest narrative feature,Ambulance, which features some of the most dynamic drone footage ever projected on a big screen. For a decade spanning the 2000s and the 2010s, however, Bay remained occupied with one film franchise: Transformers. It didn’t end well, with his fifth installment — Transformers: The Last Knight — underperforming at the box office and being universally panned. But things weren’t always so dire; the franchise got off to a strong start with a movie that encapsulated everything that Bay’s movies stand for.
The movie in question is currently streaming on Peacock, but not for too long. It was released in 2007, and it remains the top-rated installment of the series according to Rotten Tomatoes, with a 57% score. We’re talking, of course, about Transformers. The movie was based on the Hasbro property of the same name, and while cynics would argue that it existed only to sell toys, Transformers also captured the imagination of millennials who grew up with it. It was headlined by Shia LaBeouf, who’d been handpicked by executive producer Steven Spielberg as Hollywood’s next big thing. Bay rounded out the cast with newcomer Megan Fox, veterans such as John Turturro and Jon Voight, along with Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson.
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Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
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🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
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01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
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02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
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03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
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04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
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05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
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06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
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07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
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08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
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Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
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The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
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You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
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You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
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You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
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Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
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You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
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Here’s How Long You Have Left To Watch ‘Transformers’ on Peacock
Transformersgrossed more than $700 million worldwide against a reported budget of around $200 million. Bay returned to direct Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Transformers: Age of Extinction, and Transformers: The Last Knight. Aside from the final film, all previous installments were massive hits, with the third and fourth movies each grossing more than $1 billion worldwide. However, none of them received positive reviews. The franchise was rebooted twice, with Travis Knight‘s Bumblebee prequel and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, directed by Steven Caple Jr. The original Transformers movie is streaming on Peacock, but it’ll be removed from the platform along with every other installment on May 1. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
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