Transformers: Dark of the Moon

The third film reframed the 1960s Space Race as a cover story: a crashed Autobot ship lay hidden on the far side of the Moon, holding technology that could end the war.

When the Decepticons recover the ship’s pillars, they unveil a betrayal at the heart of the Autobots and a plan to teleport their homeworld Cybertron into Earth’s orbit. The climax levels much of Chicago in an extended, vertigo-laden battle.

Bay shot natively in 3D with new digital cameras, and the Chicago finale is regarded as a technical high point of the series.

The first Transformers film to cross a billion dollars worldwide, it was the high-water mark of the original trilogy.