"The future of both our species will be decided by what happens with you. Protect the AllSpark. Protect each other."
— Optimus Prime
Transformers: The Ride is a 3D dark ride/simulator hybrid attraction that can be found at the Universal Studios theme parks in Singapore, Hollywood, Florida and Beijing.
Based directly off of the Transformers films, the ride involves guests becoming the latest recruits at the human-Autobot military base of NEST. Their "training" is put on halt when Megatron & the Decepticons launch another full-scale attack, intent on retrieving the last remaining shard of the AllSpark. With the facility now compromised, guests are ordered to help the newest Autobot, Evac, evacuate the shard from the city. Things of course don't go as planned and the riders are thrust into a city-wide battle between the Autobots and Decepticons.
The ride first opened at Universal Studios Singapore on December 3, 2011 and later opened at Universal Studios Hollywood, Florida and Beijing on May 24, 2012, June 20, 2013, and September 20, 2021note respectively.
Tropes shown in Transformers: The Ride include:
- Adaptation Distillation: Several parts of the queue video are either shortened or cut out entirely in Florida's version, due to it having a shorter queue line than the ones in Hollywood and Singapore.
- Adaptation Expansion: The Chinese version has a whole world of the park Transformers Metrobase which includes a teacup ride Bumblebee Boogie, and a reskin of the Hulk-Coaster The Decepticoaster.
- Alternate Continuity: The ride has to be in one of these, seeing as various Autobots and Decepticons that were alive and dead at separate points in the films are shown onscreen together.
- All Up to You: The guests are sent on the mission as there was no one else NEST could spare for it, so Evac suggested that the recruits help him do it.Optimus Prime: Evac believes you can help him protect the AllSpark. I believe you can too. So the fate of the earth is in your hands.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: When Stallworth tries to convince the guests to back out of their mission:Stallworth: Refuse! Stand down! Mutiny! Chicken out!
- Arson, Murder, and Lifesaving: When Wheelie comes to Morshower with important information:Wheelie: Okay, a couple of things: I'm running low on the WD-40, and the mattress in my barracks is a little squishy, also I was thinking about taking a couple of months sick leave, maybe starting today...oh, and I intercepted a transmission from Megatron.
- Artistic License – Physics: Done to a serious extent. Evac and the riders are basically treated as if they were the weight of paperclips in the bit where Starscream snags them with a cable and flings them around and through a glass building before tossing them into a construction yard, where they somehow safely land.
- Ascended Extra: Ironhide and Ratchet get lots of screentime and lines by virtue of hosting segments of the queue areas, after they were Demoted to Extra in Revenge of the Fallen and Dark of the Moon.
- Badass Boast: Megatron, during his transmission.Megatron: The Autobots cannot protect you. They were defeated on our world, and we will defeat them here!
- Big Bad: Megatron, as always, where he's intending to claim the AllSpark and use its power to conquer the planet.
- Big Damn Heroes:
- The Autobots make use of this trope repeatedly throughout the ride.
- NEST soldiers fighting alongside the Autobots.
- Big "NEVER!": Optimus when Megatron tells Evac and the riders to "beg for mercy!"
- Big "NO!": Megatron does one just as he's being killed.
- Black Site: The setting for the ride's queue is set in the secret NEST facility. Though it does a terrible job at being inconspicuous, especially in Florida's version of the attraction, where it sticks out like a sore thumb amongst the nearby New York area.
- Bullet Time: Done when Megatron fires at the riders but misses, and when Evac shoots at Bonecrusher.
- The Bus Came Back: Several notable, deceased Decepticons from the films return as adversaries, including Bonecrusher, Grindor and Devastator.
- Call a Rabbit a "Smeerp": The 3-D glasses in the ride are referred to as "Battle Glasses".
- Canon Foreigner:
- This incarnation of Evac was created just for the attraction, and there's even action figures of him that you can buy at the ride's store.
- Theodore Stallworth, a cowardly national security advisor, who has no faith in the guests being able to succeed in their mission.
- Chekhov's Gun: The AllSpark shard is at first introduced as an item the riders need to protect, but later turns out to be the easy solution to the conflict in the attraction.
- Chekhov's Skill: Evac being naturally designed to escort things from place to place winds up becoming very useful, for its the only hope for the AllSpark.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Ironhide says as much of Starscream during the orientation:Ironhide: Don't turn your back on Starscream unless you want to find something sharp buried in it.
- City with No Name: The city featured in the ride is never named. Appearance-wise, it looks like a mixture of New York City and Los Angeles.
- Commander Contrarian: Stallworth in the pre-ride videos. First he argues with the General that they should evacuate the Allspark instead of trying to defend it onsite. Then when the General decides to do that, he tries to convince the recruits not to go along with it because it's "a suicide mission".
- Compliment Backfire: When Evac refers to the Safety Instructor A.I. as "the lady with the robotic voice", she gets defensive, saying at the end, "...and I do not have a robotic voice!", to which Evac responds, "Hey, I'm a robot. It was meant to be a compliment!"
- Construction Zone Calamity: The climax of the ride takes place at an under-construction building.
- Contrived Coincidence: Starscream flings Evac and the guests into a building that just happens to be the exact building that Optimus and Megatron are fighting on.
- Deadpan Snarker: The Safety Instructor A.I.:Safety Instructor: Hold on to your lap restraint at all times, and remain seated, because Evac's training records do not instill me with the utmost confidence.Evac: Just stick to your script, lady.
- Determinator: No matter what, Evac remains optimistic that they can complete the mission despite the dangerous circumstances, and encourages to recruits to remain brave as well.
- Megatron is a villainous example of this. In order: he tracks Evac into the city (only to be stopped by Optimus), gets the jump on the guests in the sewers, traps them in a construction site, stabs Evac on a rooftop before resuming his fight with Prime, and tries to pull a Taking You with Me in his last appearance.
- Disney Villain Death: After being already fatally wounded by the shard, Megatron then falls off of a skyscraper and smashes into the ground, further ensuring his death. This ends up being subverted, however, as his remains are shown in the last scene, where it practically looks as if he's become a part of the pavement.
- Do Not Adjust Your Set: Two non-villain instances.
- When Wheelie contacts Morshower, he mentions that he had to hack his way into the frequency, as he wasn't allowed into the War Room.
- During the boarding instructions, Theodore Stallworth hijacks the transmission in a desperate attempt to get the guests to not proceed with the mission.
- Eat Me: Evac allows himself and the riders to get sucked into Devastator, before speeding forward and crashing right out of it.
- Escort Mission: The main plot of the ride involves Evac and the riders having to evacuate the AllSpark shard out of the city.
- Evil Plan: As with the first film, Megatron's plot to use the AllSpark to turn all of Earth's technology into Decepticons.
- Exact Words: "He wants the AllSpark? He can have it!" Cue Evac killing Megatron with the shard.
- Eye Lights Out: When we see Megatron in the final scene, his body briefly sparks before his red eyes go out, signifying his death.
- Friendless Background: Wheelie jokes that this is the reason why Megatron wants to turn every gadget on Earth into a Decepticon.Wheelie: Meh, don't be so hard on the guy. How else is he going to make friends?
- Giant Robot Hands Save Lives: Evac and the riders are saved from their final fall when grabbed by Bumblebee.
- Giving Someone the Pointer Finger: Many advertisements
◊ for the attraction, as well as the statue at Florida's entrance◊ depict Optimus pointing at...something. note - Hoist by His Own Petard: Again just like the first film, Megatron is killed by the AllSpark, the very thing he was intent on taking over the world with.
- Humans Are Insects: When Megatron sends a transmission telling the NEST personnel to surrender, he flat-out addresses them as "insects".
- Humans Are Ugly: Said word-for-word by Starscream as a taunt.
- Impact Silhouette: As part of the ride's marketing in Florida, one of the buildings in Downtown Orlando was made to look as if Megatron had crashed through it, leaving a Decepticon-shaped hole◊.
- Incompletely Trained: The guests are sent into a warzone to evacuate the AllSpark shard even though their training up to point amounted to watching a couple of informational videos.
- Just in Time: In the climax, Bumblebee appears to catch Evac and the riders before they hit the ground.
- Last Chance to Quit: During the queue videos, Megatron sends out a transmission where he gives NEST one final chance to surrender the shard to him and not start a devastating conflict.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Midway through Ironhide's speech in the queue where he's talking to the riders/new NEST recruits:Ironhide: (beat) (sigh) Is that a churro? Where do you think you are, some kind of theme park?
- MacGuffin: The AllSpark shard, again.
- Meaningful Name: Evac is the Autobot that deals with, well, evacuations.
- Mr. Exposition: Ratchet and Ironhide's role in the queue videos is primarily to give all of the backstory surrounding the Autobots and Decepticons to any newcomers. Justified since they're purposely giving the new recruits orientation.
- Newcomer Saves the Day: Evac and the guests, who were embarking on their first field mission, end up being the ones to defeat the Decepticons.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: When Megatron takes fire at Evac and the riders, he misses, creating a large hole in the wall, which gives Evac the escape route he needed.
- No Mere Windmill: Stallworth is ignored when he says that he fully believes that the Decepticons have a plan for breaking into NEST and that Morshower needs to have the AllSpark evacuated. He later turns out to be correct, as the Decepticons' ambush in the city was just a diversion for some of them to sneak into the facility.
- Not Too Dead to Save the Day: Just when it looks as if Megatron has killed Optimus, the latter jumps out to attack Megatron once more, along with giving Evac an opportunity to make the finishing move.
- Off with His Head!: Bumbleebee ends up ripping Ravage's entire head off when trying to get the AllSpark off of him.
- Pre-Mortem One-Liner: As mentioned earlier, before Evac gives the final blow to Megatron, he says, "If he wants the AllSpark, he can have it!"
- Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: Just before laying the beatdown on Megatron, Optimus shouts, "Autobots, roll out! I'VE. GOT. MEGATRON!!!"
- Railroad Tracks of Doom: One of Grindor's arms is broken off as a result of trying to attack the riders in a subway area.
- Recycled Premise: Likely unintentional, but parts of the ride's plot share strong similarities to Men in Black: Alien Attack. In both attractions, guests play the role of the latest recruits of a secret government agency, who have their orientation interrupted when a massive threat strikes, resulting in them having to be sent out into a massive battle without proper training.
- Red Alert: The entire NEST facility goes into red alert upon the breakout of Megatron's invasion.
- Rooftop Confrontation: Optimus and Megatron's final fight is set atop a skyscraper.
- Shout-Out:
- If Megatron happens to be outside of the ride for photos, he will sometimes say this line, which was uttered by his namesake from the Beast Wars episode "Code of Hero":
Megatron: "I'm almost touched. Fortunately, such moments pass quickly."- "SS-44" is written on Florida's facade, a nod to how Soundstage 44 used to stand on the location of the ride.
- Suicide Mission: Stallworth calls the ride this trope by name, but it is ultimately averted as the guests' characters survive and succeed in their mission.
- Tagline: "Prepare for the greatest battle you'll ever ride."
- Take Over the World: Megatron's plan, yet again.
- Taking You with Me: Just before Megatron is about to fall off a building, he grabs Evac and the riders, pulling them down with him.
- Tempting Fate: When Grindor attacks Evac and the riders in a tunnel, he declares "End of the line, Earth scum!"...right before a passing train hits him and severs his arm off.
- They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!: Wheelie mentions that he likes to be referred to as "General Admiral Commander Wheelie".
- Tired of Running: Just before Evac dives in to finish off Megatron, he exclaims, "No more running, recruits!"
- Title: The Adaptation
- We Need a Distraction: The Decepticons send most of their forces to attack the city, leaving NEST almost deserted as its soldiers defend the city. Then the Decepticon elite waltz right into NEST and go after the Allspark.
- What Happened to the Mouse?:
- Sideswipe is last seen getting sucked into Devastator's vortex. The ride never makes it clear whether he was destroyed or made it out in time.
- At the end, it is not mentioned what happens to the other Decepticons such as Starscream and Devastator after Megatron's death.
- You Have No Chance to Survive: In his transmission, Megatron gloats that the humans and Autobots have no chance of winning and should peacefully surrender the Allspark.
- "Your bravery has saved the planet. Well done, freedom fighters."
