[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeSUuj98Rx0&feature=related[/yt]
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3iDHvrLgoI&feature=related[/yt]
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3iDHvrLgoI&feature=related[/yt]
Why are people attracted to movies made by Michael Bay
- Thread starter Yminale
- Start date
Why the hell would anyone want to do that?
The last thing a Transformers movie needs is a semblance of pretention, and I say that as a dear fan of pretention and having a childhood nostalgia for the Transformers.
My problem with Transformers is I had very specific expectations: I wanted to see a movie where robots punched out other robots, with a side dish of nostalgia.
I was not interested in having any deep 'plot', because that's something the Transformers franchise has never had and I did not expect Michael Bay to deliver on. Just... action sequences I could follow and enjoy.
The film didn't deliver. It spends far too much time with a medley of human characters, none of whom are worth watching, downplays the giant robots, and when I finally get the action sequences they're difficult to follow and no fun to watch.
My problem with Michael Bay isn't that he delivers big loud dumb fun, as, incidentally, I like big loud dumb fun. It's just his films are big, loud and dumb but no fun.
In fairness to Pearl Harbor - which, yeah, is a pretty bad film - it's not trying to be Tora! Tora! Tora!, it's basically an attempt to transpose the Titanic formula - mix a romantic story with impressive disaster - to Pearl Harbor. It's got pretty much no interest in being a kind of historical epic which actually includes scenes of Japanese admirals arguing about the relative merits of air power versus just building ever more impressive battleships.
Now that was a pretty great. And, unfortunately, funnier than anything in Transformers.
Michael Bay's done some pretty hilarious TV ads (Verizon comes to mind - 'Awesome pussycat! Awesome pool!') so it's a shame for whatever reason that humour doesn't seem to carry over to his films.
You do that enough times and you don't come back.
You win one Internet. 
I thought the action was plenty fun to watch, at least in the first movie. Yeah you couldn't follow every little thing that was happening, but I think that was kind of the point. Bay wanted to put us on the ground and have us experience just how crazy and chaotic being in the middle of a massive battle between giant robots probably WOULD be.
I thought he got that across really well myself (even if that final battle did go on a bit too long).
If I was eight years old, I'd think he was a genius. I mean that sincerely.
I particularly love the "People looking up" line
^
Aye, it's a great trailer and in-your-facedly unapologetic, which suits Bay well.
But hey, I'd take more of that robot fighting then I would the entire rest of the film. I've been reading reviews of Dark Side of the Moon and according to them it takes ninety minutes before the film sidelines the human BS and starts having robots fight... which is just... gaaah.
Aye, it's a great trailer and in-your-facedly unapologetic, which suits Bay well.
Oh I don't doubt it's not an accident the action sequences are so disorienting. But an action sequence where I'm confused and not entirely clear which one is which and who's fighting who isn't one I'm enjoying. There's no suspense and even less involvement. Hell, one of the Autobots died and I can't even remember when it happens, just that Optimus Prime held up his body at the end of the movie (I think he's gutted in that Megatron fight or something).
But hey, I'd take more of that robot fighting then I would the entire rest of the film. I've been reading reviews of Dark Side of the Moon and according to them it takes ninety minutes before the film sidelines the human BS and starts having robots fight... which is just... gaaah.
I particularly love the "People looking up" line
I didn't even view the link. I just love the phrase "Shut Up And Eat Your Awesome".
Substitute "shit" for "awesome" and it works.
Fireworks are illegal in so many parts of the U.S. now that it may account for some of Bay's popularity - how many kids grow up without actually seeing a real live firecracker explode? Flashing lights and noise in a movie theater might be a substitute.
Fireworks are illegal in so many parts of the U.S. now that it may account for some of Bay's popularity - how many kids grow up without actually seeing a real live firecracker explode? Flashing lights and noise in a movie theater might be a substitute.
I couldn't sit through five minutes of the first Transformers film. I knew it'd be bad but I didn't think it'd be that bad.
Interesting question from the OP. I'm not a fan of Transformers, but up until those films I considered myself a Bay fan. Though perhaps Bay fatigue had started to set in with Bad Boys 2.
But what I had initially liked about Bay was the glossy cinematography-his films look vibrant, hyperreal. He also gave you some pretty cool action pieces. I also liked the scope, the broadness of some of them like Armageddon or even parts of The Island. I liked nice mix of comedy and action in Bad Boys I. He didn't seem to be so over-the-top, unrestrained back then.
But what I had initially liked about Bay was the glossy cinematography-his films look vibrant, hyperreal. He also gave you some pretty cool action pieces. I also liked the scope, the broadness of some of them like Armageddon or even parts of The Island. I liked nice mix of comedy and action in Bad Boys I. He didn't seem to be so over-the-top, unrestrained back then.
Not all Michael Bay movies have been successful. So people aren't always attracted to them.
The Island and Pearl Harbor both underperformed and I got the sense that he was on a downward spiral with those two movies.
But then Transformers saved his hide. I think the novelty of giant CGI robots has covered up all the crap underneath.
The Island and Pearl Harbor both underperformed and I got the sense that he was on a downward spiral with those two movies.
But then Transformers saved his hide. I think the novelty of giant CGI robots has covered up all the crap underneath.
I like the Bayformers movies not so much because of Bay, but I just appreciate how unambiguous they are. Heroes and villains are clearly defined - you know who is good and who is evil. Optimus Prime, for example, is the kind of perfect hero...absolutely incorruptible and forever honest...that I like so much. But that's more inherent to Transformer lore that existed before Bay came along.
We also know where America stands in Bay's movies.
Someone's yearning to get back to their sweetheart and little baby boy or girl and eat lots of apple pie on their farm.
Someone's yearning to get back to their sweetheart and little baby boy or girl and eat lots of apple pie on their farm.
Michael Bay movies do make me feel incredibly patriotic.
IOW, any generic summer blockbuster.
Has anyone used a moth to the flame allegory yet? So, so tired of all flash and no substance. What's worse is when he turns substance into the flash just for the sake of it. The Island, for example, begins as a very good- if familiar- sf tale. Then it becomes trucks on a bridge.
For me it is the waste of what could be decent followed by the outright absurdity. Sometimes, I feel like Michael Bay movies are like sniffing gasoline. It's like you can feel the brain cells being lost and the world getting a bit more stupid. Maybe it is subliminal messaging and a global conspiracy?
For me it is the waste of what could be decent followed by the outright absurdity. Sometimes, I feel like Michael Bay movies are like sniffing gasoline. It's like you can feel the brain cells being lost and the world getting a bit more stupid. Maybe it is subliminal messaging and a global conspiracy?
