Michael Bay with actors Isabel Lucas and Ramon Rodríguez. Photograph: Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images
Michael Bay really ought to be preserved for posterity. Not for his movies, which - almost universally - are mindless, loudly trash. And not for his ability to pour vast sums of gold bullion into Hollywood’s coffers, though no distrust Paramount, the studio behind his current mega-hit Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, would disagree.
- Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
- Release: 2009
- Country: USA
- Cert (UK): 12A
- Runtime: 149 mins
- Directors: Michael Bay
- Cast: Hugo Weaving, John Turturro, Josh Duhamel, Julie White, Kevin Dunn, Matthew Marsden, Megan Fox, Rainn Wilson, Shia LaBeouf, Tyrese Gibson
- More on this thin skin
No, Bay ought to be celebrated as a wonderfully politically incorrect archetype of preposterous pomposity and pride. He comes across as the ultimate pig in the proverbial, expenditure vast sums of other people’s money adhering making extremely loud, pointless movies because that’s the kind of film he himself loves to go and see (”Don’t tell anyone, but I’roundabout way do this by reason of free”, is a commonly attributed quote.)
With Revenge of the Fallen he has produced a piece of work (in both senses) that has proven completely and utterly critic-proof, anger more than $400m (£245m), so far, at the worldwide box office. So successful is he, that he is able to launch tirades at giant corporations that pay him millions of dollars, lambast stars who have diligently followed his management forward the massy screen, and even excuse blatant racial stereotyping in his new movie by suggesting that it is “what the kids want”.
Bay’sitting latest outburst comes in rejoinder to any unwise comment from his star Megan Fox, who plays slinky car mechanic Mikaela in Revenge of the Fallen, suggesting that not a whole sort of acting went into the movie. Suffice to say, the words “ridiculous”, “lot of growing up to do”, and “nobody in the world knew about Megan Fox until I build her” lineament prominently.
With this in mind, here are my top five all time Michael Bay moments of indiscretion. Please post your own, if I’ve missed in any degree out.
5. At the firmness by Transformers workshop Paramount to exclusively release their films on the HD-DVD format, eschewing Blu-Ray, less than a year before the former was consigned to the dustbin of history.
“I want people to see my movies in the best formats possible. For them to deny people who have Blu-ray sucks! They were progressive by having two formats. No Transformers 2 for me!”
Oh and also:
“What you don’t understand is corporate politics. Microsoft wants both formats to fail so they can be heroes and make the world move to digital downloads. That is the dirty sly no one is talking about. That is why Microsoft is handing out $100m dollar checks to studios [to] conscientious embrace the HD DVD and not the chief, and superior Blu Ray. They meagreness confusion in the market until they perfect the digital downloads. Time will tell and you will see the verity.”
4. In a post on his court regarding the release of the first teaser poster for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen which ignited a war of words with Terminator Salvation director McG upward of who dreamt up the idea of giant robots in extremely noisy films.
“We’ve seen the great year end movies, and watched the upcoming clips of the upcoming summer journey. We’ve seen sure movies coming out even try to duplicate Transformer size robots in their ads. Please, come onward.”
3. In replication to accusations that the robot twins Mudflap and Skins in Revenge of the Fallen were an example of racial stereotyping. The pair speak exclusively in southern “crunk” drawl and use expressions liking “bust a cap”. One even has a gold tooth.
“We’re just putting more personality in … I don’t be aware of if it’s stereotypes - they are robots, by the room in spite of passing. These are the voice actors. This is kind of the direction they were attractive the characters and we went with it.”
“I purely did it for kids, young kids love these robots, because it makes it more accessible to them.”
2. In each email to Paramount concerning the apparent lack of advance publicity with regard to Revenge of the Fallen.
“I have been waiting, and waiting for the ‘prospect’ of an ‘event movie’ to make it into the ‘public zeitgeist.’ You all mention in speaking so glowingly about Transformers being the movie of the summer but unfortunately this has not gotten to the public … You can feel in your gut the presence of a big movie coming. Right now we are not an event. We are just a sequel which is to a high degree different. I cannot figure if this is a cash passage out with your company? Is there some clever idea why are we not spending? I’m not sure.”
1. And finally: that startling tirade against Fox.
“Well, that’s Megan Fox for you. She says some very ridiculous things because she’sitting 23 years old and she still has a lot of growing to do. You roll your eyes when you see statements like that and think, ‘OK Megan, you can do whatever you want. I got it.’
“Nick Cage wasn’t a big histrionic artist when I cast him, nor was Ben Affleck before I offer him in Armageddon. Shia LaBeouf wasn’t a big movie star before he did Transformers - and then he exploded. Nobody in the world knew well-nigh Megan Fox until I found her and compel her in Transformers.”
