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Michael Bay is currently in the limelight again and on a media tour, promoting his new movie Ambulance. The publication Unliad had an interview with him where they asked about his past with the Transformers franchise. Here is what he says, regarding how monumental the first one was for special effects along with the advice Spielberg gave him, which he did not take.

Looking back, he said: "The first one was scary. It was technology we didn’t know would work, and then it became very successful. It was the first time digital effects were that highly reflective, so it broke a lot of new ground."

"It was a fun experience. It made more than [$709 million], that’s a lot of movie tickets and a lot of people that have seen it."

"I made too many of them. Steven Spielberg said, ‘Just stop at three’. And I said I’d stop. The studio begged me to do a fourth, and then that made a billion too. And then I said I’m gonna stop here. And they begged me again. I should have stopped. They were fun to do."

That's not to say Bay didn't give each sequel his all. "I’m passionate about any movie I do, from Pain & Gain to 13 Hours. I like going from big to small, you want to move off the same thing," he said.

He should have listened. Spielberg knows his ****. And the 3 he should have made IMO were the 1st film, DoTM and AoE.

If only Hasbro hadn't kept dumping whole dump trucks full of cash onto his front lawn.

It's clear he wanted out since DOTM. But Hasbro just wouldn't let him go. They were blinded by the dollar signs of the first three films, I guess.

Should have told the writers to quit their day jobs instead, save us all the suffering

LOL. I mean, obviously Spielberg was right. I think these films would be a lot better remembered if he had stopped at DotM. 2 out of 3 decent films ain't bad, and even RotF has its moments. AoE and TLK were just awful.

Sabrblade wrote:If only Hasbro hadn't kept dumping whole dump trucks full of cash onto his front lawn.

Beat me to it.

Those three first movies were okay (okay, RotF was trash for a variety of reasons), then life and chaos theory changed the cast and all that kind of stuff, but it definitely came down to the proverbial dump truck full of money.

There's 2 sides to this. 1. It was Bay's choice. It's not like he needed the money. 2. Could you walk away from a dump truck full of money even if you were a millionaire if it meant having to give 2 years of your life to something you didn't care that much about anyway?

"That doesn't mean Bay didn't give it his all" bruh what lol. Dude didn't even pretend to care or try with AOE or TLK.

It's as if Hasbro were convinced that Bay was their golden goose and were too afraid to let him move on like he wanted to.

It took the poor-enough box office performance of TLK for them to finally let him go. But even then, he's still stuck being a producer.

Just let him be free, Hasbro. We've seen what directors like Travis Knight who are truly passionate fans of Transformers can do with the movies, and will see it again with Steven Caple Jr.

Bay made it very clear from the start that he didn't want to do "children's toy movies" and so jam-packed them with things he feels grownup men should want to play with instead, like sleek cars, cool military vehicles, death-defying pyrotechnics, and sexy women, prioritizing those over the titular products that the movies were meant to sell.

Whether or not audiences took to those is beside the point that he tried so hard to mask the fact that these movies were meant to sell toys that it was almost like he was ashamed of that fact. He evidently had no qualms with throwing in product placement for everything else under the sun, but he really didn't want to be known as a director of movies meant to sell children's playthings, and it showed.

I'm happy for him finally being allowed to venture back into making the kinds of movies that he really wants to make (as he also seemed really unenthused about producing those two Ninja Turtles movies that he was strapped to as well), and look forward to seeing what Caple Jr. is capable of with Rise of the Beasts.

Sabrblade wrote:Bay made it very clear from the start that he didn't want to do "children's toy movies" and so jam-packed them with things he feels grownup men should want to play with instead, like sleek cars, cool military vehicles, death-defying pyrotechnics, and sexy women, prioritizing those over the titular products that the movies were meant to sell.

I remember it being something along the lines of watching the show at Hasbro HQ in RI and being like "man, this sucks. I'm throwing it all out."

Rodimus Prime wrote:Could you walk away from a dump truck full of money even if you were a millionaire if it meant having to give 2 years of your life to something you didn't care that much about anyway?

That's a great question, I volunteer to be put to the test.

Step 1: Give me millions of dollars
Step 2: Drive a dump truck full of cash to my newly acquired mansion and let's see if I can walk away from it.

I really think I could/would, but we have to test it out

Sabrblade wrote: sexy women, prioritizing those over the titular products

I'd say these sexy women came packed with titular products

jtanimator wrote:"That doesn't mean Bay didn't give it his all" bruh what lol. Dude didn't even pretend to care or try with AOE or TLK.

EXACTLY. He could have easily stepped aside and executive-produced the rest of the movies or something, and given the proverbial reins to someone who doesn't hate the franchise.

Glarryg

william-james88 wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:Could you walk away from a dump truck full of money even if you were a millionaire if it meant having to give 2 years of your life to something you didn't care that much about anyway?

That's a great question, I volunteer to be put to the test.

Step 1: Give me millions of dollars
Step 2: Drive a dump truck full of cash to my newly acquired mansion and let's see if I can walk away from it.

I really think I could/would, but we have to test it out

Even if it means spending 2 years on something you don't care about an are not concerned with how it turns out? Isn't that a waste of your time? I mean I get you were being facetious but still that's a lot of production people and even performers who have to practically turn their lives around for a while to go on location, build sets, etc. It wasn't just Bay himself who was affected for better or worse.

Glarryg wrote:

jtanimator wrote:"That doesn't mean Bay didn't give it his all" bruh what lol. Dude didn't even pretend to care or try with AOE or TLK.

EXACTLY. He could have easily stepped aside and executive-produced the rest of the movies or something, and given the proverbial reins to someone who doesn't hate the franchise.

Glarryg

Case in point: Bumblebee. That movie had its goof parts thanks to Travis Knight. The human parts of the story were still crap, but at least the TF cast was handled much better. I mean, there was only 3 of them for the most part, plus "Blitzwing." Not counting the cybertron scene at the beginning.

Glarryg wrote:

jtanimator wrote:"That doesn't mean Bay didn't give it his all" bruh what lol. Dude didn't even pretend to care or try with AOE or TLK.

EXACTLY. He could have easily stepped aside and executive-produced the rest of the movies or something, and given the proverbial reins to someone who doesn't hate the franchise.

Glarryg

Bay is referring to the film process. He means to say he handled these films with as much care as he would any movie. And I believe him, because I have seen some of his other non transformers films and they are also not good and super dumb.

Rodimus Prime wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:Could you walk away from a dump truck full of money even if you were a millionaire if it meant having to give 2 years of your life to something you didn't care that much about anyway?

That's a great question, I volunteer to be put to the test.

Step 1: Give me millions of dollars
Step 2: Drive a dump truck full of cash to my newly acquired mansion and let's see if I can walk away from it.

I really think I could/would, but we have to test it out

Even if it means spending 2 years on something you don't care about an are not concerned with how it turns out? Isn't that a waste of your time? I mean I get you were being facetious but still that's a lot of production people and even performers who have to practically turn their lives around for a while to go on location, build sets, etc. It wasn't just Bay himself who was affected for better or worse.

Yeah, lots of people do things they don't care about for a living. I wish I could get paid to just write articles about Transformers all day but that's not a reality, I need a day job to feed my family and pay mortgage. There are people who found a way to have their work life be exactly what makes them happy and I am very happy for them, but it's not the case for many people. I mean we are all here on a fan website because we want to participate in something other than just work during the day, these are the hobbies we have, that make the day great.

Having said that, yes I do find the money and talent that went into these films extreamly wasteful. It is simply a fact that some films are better loved than others and while people say taste is subjective, there is such a thing as an objectively better film, or quality in a film. The marvel movies may be samey to some, but they are still quality and odds are will bring you entertainment. When you see that kind of quality, I do wonder, why can't all movies be of quality? They all cost a ton to make, why not spend time on a good script and make them all worthwhile? So I totally get that part of your statement. Unlike our day jobs, Michael bay literally had the power, as a director, to make something special, to make something good, and somehow chose not to. It is a bit crazy.

Now having said that, for the workers and staff of the film, like gaffers, editors, composers, costume, makeup, casting agents, camera men, CGI artists, electricians, how good a film ends up is beyond their individual roles and simply the fact that a movie is being made is great for them since it means they can be paid for doing tasks they have passion for and feed their kids with this money.

so on the front of all the people wasting their time, I don't really see it. I honestly believe these films do fall on Bay, he is the director and was paid a ton to deliver something. And as he said in the article, even though his heart is not into the franchise itself, it is in the filmaking process. It's like Sabreblade said, Michael Bay wanted to make big action films and he got to do that. Some are bad and those can be Transformers films, or other random action films like 6 underground.

Don't know if any of that made sense, but I always enjoy exchanging with you and you asked a good question.

ROTF is the only live action Transformers I still rewatch to this day. Love that movie.

But I also love TLK Optimus design, so I am glad he didn't stop after 3. Still the best looking Optimus design.

In my opinion, Age Of Extinction>Dark Of The Moon

TulioDude wrote:In my opinion, Age Of Extinction>Dark Of The Moon

You and I are in agreement

william-james88 wrote:

TulioDude wrote:In my opinion, Age Of Extinction>Dark Of The Moon

You and I are in agreement

TulioDude wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

TulioDude wrote:In my opinion, Age Of Extinction>Dark Of The Moon

You and I are in agreement

I agree as well, but, in all fairness, that really isn't saying much.

Sabrblade wrote:Bay made it very clear from the start that he didn't want to do "children's toy movies" and so jam-packed them with things he feels grownup men should want to play with instead, like sleek cars, cool military vehicles, death-defying pyrotechnics, and sexy women, prioritizing those over the titular products that the movies were meant to sell.

Whether or not audiences took to those is beside the point that he tried so hard to mask the fact that these movies were meant to sell toys that it was almost like he was ashamed of that fact. He evidently had no qualms with throwing in product placement for everything else under the sun, but he really didn't want to be known as a director of movies meant to sell children's playthings, and it showed.

I get this vibe from the Marvel and DC movies too. Being ashamed or embarrassed by the source material. A bugbear of mine is when these films poke fun at their roots. Most literary adaptations for example, don't mock the book they came from.
The kind of remarks like "See that thing/codename? Look how silly that is!". That mentality means you were not the right person to helm this project to begin with.

However, although I tapped out at DoTM. These days the main thing that puts me off re-watching any of the Bayformers films? Bay's really creepy fetish for the US military. If anything, I think it would have made him the ideal candidate for a GI Joe Movie. It is really immersion breaking trying to watch a film about Giant Alien Robots when silly little army soldiers are firing bullets at them. Let alone killing them...

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Bay made it very clear from the start that he didn't want to do "children's toy movies" and so jam-packed them with things he feels grownup men should want to play with instead, like sleek cars, cool military vehicles, death-defying pyrotechnics, and sexy women, prioritizing those over the titular products that the movies were meant to sell.

Whether or not audiences took to those is beside the point that he tried so hard to mask the fact that these movies were meant to sell toys that it was almost like he was ashamed of that fact. He evidently had no qualms with throwing in product placement for everything else under the sun, but he really didn't want to be known as a director of movies meant to sell children's playthings, and it showed.

I get this vibe from the Marvel and DC movies too. Being ashamed or embarrassed by the source material. A bugbear of mine is when these films poke fun at their roots. Most literary adaptations for example, don't mock the book they came from.
The kind of remarks like "See that thing/codename? Look how silly that is!". That mentality means you were not the right person to helm this project to begin with.

However, although I tapped out at DoTM. These days the main thing that puts me off re-watching any of the Bayformers films? Bay's really creepy fetish for the US military. If anything, I think it would have made him the ideal candidate for a GI Joe Movie. It is really immersion breaking trying to watch a film about Giant Alien Robots when silly little army soldiers are firing bullets at them. Let alone killing them...

Honestly, I think a little tongue-in-cheek humor with some of the sillier elements is ok. It's when they ridicule an element they refuse to adapt that really annoys me (for example, Wolverine mocking the X-Men's codenames I find funny, especially since it fits his cynical outsider perspective in the first movie, but replacing every costume with black leather suits and then mocking those who preferred "yellow spandex" doesn't seem as amusing).

As for the increased importance of human military, I think it would've been more palatable if:
a) They remembered the "vulnerable only at extremely high temperatures" thing from the first movie instead of seemingly discarding it and having Decepticons being harmed/distracted by regular weaponry
b) Their technology evolved along the movies into a more sci-fi armament the likes of G1's EDC; perhaps even including more "grounded" transforming exo-suit and Master-type partnerships - they even had a whole toyline devoted to humans operating weapons alongside bots
c) They showed more than just the US military, or stopped treating the US government as the end-all, be-all of every Autobot-human cooperation (seriously, if NEST is an international organization, how can the US president cancel it completely alone in RoTF and DoTM?)