Why Do Trekkies Bash Michael Bay?

[Aike]

Many here seem to hate one of the greatest filmmakers of all time: Michael Bay.

Yet, without him Orci and Kurtzman wouldn´t be the script writing masters they are today. He helped them to hone their skills on "The Island" and "Transformers". They are not as good as Star Trek, but they are two highly entertaining movies that taught them how to write big budget blockbusters.

And JJ Abrams co-wrote Armageddon. I am sure Bay must have taught him a trick or two.

The truth is: without Bay the latest Trek movie wouldn´t have been as good as it is.

 

[Kirk1980]

.....I'm not sure how to respond to this....

Was this supposed to be funny?

 

[Similitude]

Wait, did someone just call Michael Bay one of the best filmmakers of all time?

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Michael Bay has problems with characters. He's good for what he does well (cool explosions and lots of action), so I don't always criticize him. But if you want a movie with substance, he's a bit weak there.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

Michael Bay has problems with characters. He's good for what he does well (cool explosions and lots of action), so I don't always criticize him. But if you want a movie with substance, he's a bit weak there.

IMO, Bay's action sequences are often so overloaded with visuals that it becomes hard for the audience to know who they are supposed to be following or care about. This was a major problem I had with Transformers.

 

[M'Sharak]

Many here seem to hate one of the greatest filmmakers of all time: Michael Bay.

Yet, without him Orci and Kurtzman wouldn´t be the script writing masters they are today. He helped them to hone their skills on "The Island" and "Transformers". They are not as good as Star Trek, but they are two highly entertaining movies that taught them how to write big budget blockbusters.

And JJ Abrams co-wrote Armageddon. I am sure Bay must have taught him a trick or two.

The truth is: without Bay the latest Trek movie wouldn´t have been as good as it is.

I think that the first sentence above contains two exaggerations. I don't think that many hate Michael Bay, though I have no doubt that many might not accept the claim "one of the greatest filmmakers of all time" as being strictly the truth. As to whether he deserves credit for any of the qualities of Star Trek, that's entirely subjective and a matter of opinon; I don't think it can be conclusively proven, one way or the other.

At any rate, Bay at least seems to have a sense of humor about his own stature as a filmmaker. Perhaps there's a lesson here.

Whether this topic really belongs in this forum is something I'm going to have to think about.

 

[Mr. B]

As usual, Robot Chicken summed up Michael Bay the best.

 

[rbnn]

I thought Armageddon was superb. With a much better soundtrack than Star Trek to boot.

 

[Daneel]

I don't think it's just Trekkies that bash Michael Bay...

Regardless, if you happen to think Bay is one of the best filmmakers out there (assuming your post is serious) -- hey, whatever, that's your right. However, I couldn't disagree more.

As has been stated, Bay has a knack for explosions/action scenes and cool visual effects, but little more than that. It seems as though characterization is often secondary or non-existent with him. Take the first Transformers, for instance: outside of maybe Shia LaBeouf (and Megan Fox, but that might have more to do with her awesome bod), I don't think I remember anything about the characters in the movie. Not exactly great filmmaking, IMO.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I don't really know why people bash Michael Bay. I haven't seen enough of his movies to judge his work as a whole. All I do know is that Transformers is one of my favorite movies of all time, and that any director who helped create a movie like that, can't be all bad.

 

[Qued]

New Poll!! What is more annoying Bay's shakey cam or Abbrams flares?

 

[Newski]

Many here seem to hate one of the greatest filmmakers of all time: Michael Bay.

Yet, without him Orci and Kurtzman wouldn´t be the script writing masters they are today. He helped them to hone their skills on "The Island" and "Transformers". They are not as good as Star Trek, but they are two highly entertaining movies that taught them how to write big budget blockbusters.

And JJ Abrams co-wrote Armageddon. I am sure Bay must have taught him a trick or two.

The truth is: without Bay the latest Trek movie wouldn´t have been as good as it is.

Are you implying that Orci and Kurtzman are actually Genuis, and that because we like the new Trek film we automatically think Abrams is a good director? For Christ's sake LENSE FLARE. God, drove me up the wall.

Abrams produced that cinematic Abortion that was Cloverfield, directed Mission Impossible 3 (just when I thought it couldn't get worse than Mission Impossible 2), and gave us TV crap like Lost, Alias, and Felicity.


Orci and Kurtzman gave us Transformers, and not even Star Trek XI has me able to forgive them.

 

[Gepard]

Just a guess here, but the OP looks like a bit of satire directed at people who think Abrams, Orci and Kurtzman created a good film.

 

[Newski]

Just a guess here, but the OP looks like a bit of satire directed at people who think Abrams, Orci and Kurtzman created a good film.

Possibly.... I did like Star Trek XI. But the thing is, I'm pretty sure it's a fluke.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Just a guess here, but the OP looks like a bit of satire directed at people who think Abrams, Orci and Kurtzman created a good film.

Well in that case, it's misplaced, I think.

I loved Trek XI. It may be my favorite Trek film ever. And I hardly even noticed or cared about the lens flares, I enjoyed the film that much.

 

[Triskelion]

How To Write The Island
by
Michael Bay

Chapter 1

Write The Clonus Horror.


Chapter 2

Explosions.

 

[Australis]

Well, as others said, his characters are very limited. Get away from the main two or three, and you'll forget the rest.

That said, his 'splosion stuff is very good. There's a sequence in Transformers where a mech giant scorpion attacks a bunch of soldiers, I really liked that sequence.

Plus I'm always prepared to give the benefit of the doubt to a director who sends himself and his cinematic style up a bit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v89M3lhlKA

I really did LOL first time I saw this.

 

[seniorsleuth]

Michael Bay is good at making two hour trailers. Any comparison between his work and Star Trek XI is absurd.

 

[Crusher Disciple]

Yet, without him Orci and Kurtzman wouldn´t be the script writing masters they are today. He helped them to hone their skills on "The Island" and "Transformers". They are not as good as Star Trek, but they are two highly entertaining movies that taught them how to write big budget blockbusters.

And JJ Abrams co-wrote Armageddon. I am sure Bay must have taught him a trick or two.

Well, as a writer, anyone you collaborate with teaches you something, and I don't know if what Bay taught them as writers was necessarily "good" or "bad." And I really hesitate to say that writing those two scripts is what helped them "write blockbusters" really well. Really, how does one write a blockbuster, anyway? I mean, you can have a boilerplate but each script is its own.

What really impresses me about this script , and shows the amazing ability both writers have is the amount of subtle character development they put into this script. Mc Coy meeting Kirk, Sulu trying to get the Enterprise out of park and trying to ignore the asshole know it all (Spock) who has to point out his error. Those subtle touches I adored as a fan and really admired as a writer. Bay's movies have little (I'd argue none) of this and go for the cheap gag every time. There is no character development or what passes as "development" is shallow. I have no idea if there's any development in the drafts of the scripts or if it gets killed by the time he's directing since I've seen none of the early drafts of scripts for Bay's movies. All I've seen are the shooting scripts, and I have no way of knowing how many sets of eyes have been on it at that time.

So, yeah- I'm sure working with Bay has helped both writers one way or another. But what they wrote transcends the easy route that too many of Bay's movies take of ignoring the growth of characters for cool CGI explosions. And that's one of the many many reasons why I adore ST XI.

God, I'd sell my cats to get ahold of at least the shooting script for ST XI.

 

[ManaByte]

Wait, I thought EVERYONE bashes Michael Bay?

His only good movie is The Rock, thanks only to James Bond being in it.