Awesome / Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.

For the first time ever, the Beast Wars Transformers make their cinematic debut, and they look astonishingly BRILLIANT.

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Pre-release

• Big Bot Optimus Primal himself is introduced by jumping out of the jungle above from a waterfall, landing at the bottom, and beating his chest while roaring.
• Cheetor is seen running against Bumblebee for what seems to be a race. And the elephant in the room, Cheetor is massive in cheetah mode.
• Mirage’s chase with the police, which includes him flipping his alt-mode around by moving the vehicle segments, creating holograms to trick the police, and ramping off a truck.
• The near end of the trailer has an epic Avengers: Endgame styled battle between the Autobots and Maximals vs. the Terrorcons. The fight is shown in more detail in the main trailer, including a bit where Primal rips apart a Scorponok drone with his teeth.
• One of the shots of the new trailer features Bumblebee doing an awesome skydive from Stratosphere. Then he deploys two arm cannons to shoot down some floating drones!
• Unicron is here. Cue two seconds of Unicron in planet form as he destroys another planet.
• In one of the new TV spots we get to hear Optimus Primal yell out his iconic war cry...
  Optimus Primal: Maximals, MAXIMIZE!
• In another of the TV spots, Optimus Prime transforms. The awesome moment is that it's in a tangle of parts and limbs that includes Optimus himself visibly holding his arms out while his torso rotates, before his arms fold into the sides of his cab — a perfect recreation of G1 Optimus's transformation scheme in live-action. Allowing them to finally prove Michael Bay wrong. You can do an accurate G1 Optimus in live action.

Post-release

• In the opening sequence, Scourge's power is shown in frightening detail. He easily kills Apelinq, the leader of the Maximals, with barely any effort, and casually takes the fallen warrior's badge for his collection.
  • The fact that Apelinq, an obscure Maximal from 3H Transformers comics and Fun Publications's Wings Universe and Beast Wars Uprising appears on the big screen counts as well. Not only that, but while he does go down quickly, he dies knowing he bought the Maximals enough time to escape with the Transwarp Key, depriving Scourge and Unicron of their prize.
• While her boss is stumped, Elena is easily able to tell the forgeries from the genuine works of art.
• When Mirage reveals himself to Noah, the latter picks up a pipe off the ground ready to fight him. The much larger robot responds by morphing his arm into a hand cannon and pointing it right in his face. Noah wordlessly refuses to back down, and the show of courage earns Mirage’s respect and friendship.
• In their first battle on Earth, the Terrorcons wipe the floor with the Autobots, despite being outnumbered. Battletrap barely feels any of the Autobots’ attacks, and Scourge easily overpowers Optimus. Made even worse when Scourge effortlessly kills Bumblebee.
• Optimus' and Scourge's rematch in Peru is more even handed, but no less amazing. The two combatants trade blows while tumbling down a mountainside, and are only separated when Airrazor destroys the bridge separating the two.
  • Before the fight starts Optimus makes his intentions on how he plans to “repay” Scourge for killing Bumblebee.
    Mirage: Prime, what the hell are you doing!?
    Optimus Prime: I'm going to take back Scourge's key and then... TAKE OFF HIS HEAD!
  • Which makes it even better in their final duel when he keeps that promise.
  • Additionally, Optimus is the first being to actually damage Scourge in a significant way, hitting Scourge with a punch to the face that makes him spit energon.
• The Autobots and Maximals arrive at the site of the bridge to challenge the Terrorcons. Finally, for the first time in the nearly thirty years since their debut, the Maximals take up arms in live action alongside their Autobot brethren. Cheetor growls, Arcee and Wheeljack strike poses, Primal heaves his large form up next to his co-leader and namesake, and Rhinox plods up like a war beast out of Valhalla.
  Primal: Maximals...
  Prime: Autobots...
  both: ROLL OUT!!!
  • The group charges together against the Terrorcon horde led by Battletrap and Nightbird, with Primal even commanding Rhinox and Cheetor to "maximize" for that extra bit of fan-service.
• The teamwork between the Autobots and Maximals despite them barely knowing each other. Prime knocks a Sweep to Rhinox, who then knocks it to Cheetor to finish off. Arcee rides Rhinox through the battle while she shoots, before taking a point next to Wheeljack. Cheetor throws his spear at Nightbird to buy some space for Noah. And Optimus Prime and Primal work together to take down Battletrap.
• During the final battle, Mirage is severely wounded shielding Noah from Scourge's fire. Unable to fight on his own, he initiates an emergency transformation, becoming a suit of power armour for his human friend. Noah then fights alongside the rest of the Autobots as an equal for the rest of the fight.
• Even with Optimus and Noah's teamwork, the Autobots are overwhelmed and likely to lose to the Terrorcons. Then the power of the Transwarp Key ignites the Energon in the surrounding area, giving Bumblebee the Energon infusion needed to revive him. 'Bee wastes absolutely no time getting into Stratosphere and joining the battle, and he does so in style, skydiving from Stratosphere and blaring "Mama Said Knock You Out" from his speakers while blasting Unicron's reinforcements left and right. When Nightbird attempts to intercept and Scourge attempts to shoot him down, 'Bee just uses Nightbird as a robot shield against a firing Scourge, rips off one of her fins off her bot mode, and stabs her with it, causing her to land in pieces. And he does all of this before he even touches the ground.
  Bumblebee: [via Roddy Piper] "I have come here to kick ass."
  • More than that, 'Bee totally turns the tide of the battle and gives the Autobots and Maximals a chance to rally to save Earth.
• Optimus absolutely butchering Scourge, avenging all of his victims and depriving Unicron of a loyal, competent underling.
  • At the beginning of the film, it's shown that Scourge takes trophies from his kills by ripping the emblems off the bots he slays and welding them to his shoulder. He takes Bumblebee's Autobot emblem after killing him at the New York Museum and adds it to his collection as well. When Optimus finally gets his hands on Scourge and brutalizes him, he TEARS Bee's emblem right off his shoulder after dealing the killing blow.
    Optimus: THIS BELONGS TO A FRIEND OF MINE!
  • It's established that Scourge is more powerful than the average Cybertronian due to being empowered by Unicron (making him akin to Galvatron from Transformers: The Movie). After soundly defeating Optimus in their first battle, every subsequent encounter ends with Prime faring better and better against him until he finally defeats Scourge. Scourge was said to be all but invincible and Prime defeated him not by gaining more power himself, but through sheer skill and tenacity.
• Unicron, of all beings, begging Optimus for mercy when Optimus is preparing to shut down the portal that he's midway through.
  Unicron: Don't, Prime. I can give you everything you want.
  Optimus: Then die!
• The ending, which sees Noah being recruited by a secret government organization. When he sees the recruiter's business card, he finds the words G.I. JOE.