Is Michael Bay actually a bad director?

I don't see why everyone is constantly tearing Bay down. Look, you could argue that Uwe Boll is a director whose work deserves endless mockery—though I have to admit there’s a certain fascination in seeing just how bad his movies can actually get—but at least Bay manages to deliver a solid, even good, film every once in a while. "The Island" was actually great, people!

On topic: I started watching BloodRayne 2, but I gave up after about 15 minutes. If I ever feel like I'm in the mood for actual torture, maybe I'll finish it. So, today 😁

Elizabeth Garcia2 said:That definitely isn't "objective"...
In my own subjective opinion, Bay is just a bad director who makes mindless movies...
And honestly, I'm right there with Peter Travers over at Rolling Stone when he introduced: The Razzie Award for Worst Soul-Sucking, Dumb-Ass Bottom Feeder
he said this about it:
"Bay almost had it for Transformers — nobody does bull like Bay, he rocks it — but I'm going with Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End for illustrating just how low talent will sink for a big fat payday."

I can't believe you don't think Bad Boys or Hrid are good movies. Seriously, how old are you? 70?

Hrid definitely isn't a mindless movie.

redowl90 said:I can't believe you don't think Bad Boys or Hrid are good movies. Seriously, how old are you? 70?

Hrid definitely isn't a mindless movie.

They really aren't.

redowl90 said:I can't believe you don't think Bad Boys or Hrid are good movies. Seriously, how old are you? 70?

Hrid definitely isn't a mindless movie.

No, I'm 30.

Elizabeth Garcia2 said:They really aren't.

No, I'm 30.

OK, so that means you were about 17 or 18 back during the Hrid era... Which means those peak teenage years gave you two paths: either you were the ultimate geek already devouring Fellini, Buñuel, Fassbinder, and Renoir at that age, or you just weren't watching movies then and picked it up later once you actually grew up... 😁

But seriously though... I'm curious, what specifically makes this movie a miss for you?

redowl90 said:OK, so that means you were about 17 or 18 back during the Hrid era... Which means those peak teenage years gave you two paths: either you were the ultimate geek already devouring Fellini, Buñuel, Fassbinder, and Renoir at that age, or you just weren't watching movies then and picked it up later once you actually grew up... 😁

But seriously though... I'm curious, what specifically makes this movie a miss for you?

Action movies like that just bore me.
I’ve never really sat down to overthink it, nor do I want to; it’s just that watching stuff like Hrid, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, and those kinds of action flicks just wears me out... they leave me feeling bored.

That's it! There isn't some deep philosophy behind it. It's pretty straightforward.

First, let me just move you guys over here... 😁

... and then we can get back to this whole review thing. Honestly, I think Michael Bay is a terrible director. Like, I’d probably put Boll higher on an imaginary list of bad directors than him. I don't think anyone directs movies as irritatingly as MB does—if you can even call what he does "directing" in the first place. I guess I haven't seen one of his films yet that didn't eventually just drive me absolutely insane.

Ebert's take on "Armageddon" pretty much sums up his entire career: "Take any 60 seconds of this movie and you've got a trailer." Yeah, that's basically Michael Bay for you.

quietdriver3 said:First, let me just move you guys over here... 😁

... and then we can get back to this whole review thing. Honestly, I think Michael Bay is a terrible director. Like, I’d probably put Boll higher on an imaginary list of bad directors than him. I don't think anyone directs movies as irritatingly as MB does—if you can even call what he does "directing" in the first place. I guess I haven't seen one of his films yet that didn't eventually just drive me absolutely insane.

Ebert's take on "Armageddon" pretty much sums up his entire career: "Take any 60 seconds of this movie and you've got a trailer." Yeah, that's basically Michael Bay for you.

😂
or just direct every song and you've got a music video. And the sentimentality? It feels like it's being bought at a discount from some cheap roadside vendor.

Man, I’m actually about to sit down and watch some Michael Bay just to see how much I can stomach. I honestly can’t remember the last time I sat through such a total blockbuster disaster. Not that I’m looking for any excuses 😁

EDIT: Which one of his movies is the absolute worst to start with?

Kate Torres said:Man, I’m actually about to sit down and watch some Michael Bay just to see how much I can stomach. I honestly can’t remember the last time I sat through such a total blockbuster disaster. Not that I’m looking for any excuses 😁

EDIT: Which one of his movies is the absolute worst to start with?

There aren't really any rules... I guess it's kind of like Zen; "Whichever Michael Bay movie you pick, you've already picked the worst one."

Kate Torres said:Man, I’m actually about to sit down and watch some Michael Bay just to see how much I can stomach. I honestly can’t remember the last time I sat through such a total blockbuster disaster. Not that I’m looking for any excuses 😁

EDIT: Which one of his movies is the absolute worst to start with?

Honestly, Pearl Harbor is the reigning heavyweight champion of being totally greasy!
Just picture it... you've got the brave Ben Affleck, then there's Josh Hartnett with those tiny little eyes of his, and the heartfelt Kate Beckinsale, all pouring their actual souls out for the American homeland...
It’s just brutally, deeply greasy...

Thanks 🙏 I think I'll start with Pearl Harbor and then move on to Armageddon.

People really sleep on Armageddon. You’ve got Bruce Willis playing the guy who basically refuses to die while saving the planet from some politically incorrect asteroid, and then there's the stunning Liv Tyler... well, she's just there being gorgeous. Oh, and Ben Affleck is in this too,

Samuel Smith5 said:People really sleep on Armageddon. You’ve got Bruce Willis playing the guy who basically refuses to die while saving the planet from some politically incorrect asteroid, and then there's the stunning Liv Tyler... well, she's just there being gorgeous. Oh, and Ben Affleck is in this too,

🤣🤣🤣 I watched that episode of South Park.

Kate Torres said:🤣🤣🤣 I watched that episode of South Park.

😁
Just grab a bucket or a trash bag before you sit down to watch anything by Bay. You know, just in case you end up feeling sick and don't want to ruin the carpet.

Here is an interesting—though honestly, not that surprising—little fact. Back in the day, both Pearl Harbor and Armageddon were massive, juggernaut hits. Millions of people flocked to them, they pulled in billions at the box office, and yet, if you look at their IMDb ratings today...

Pearl Harbor user rating : 5.3/10 (62,668 votes)
Armageddon user rating : 5.9/10 (79,735 votes)

I just found myself thinking about Independence Day. My favorite part has to be when the President gives that big speech right before the battle on the Fourth of July 🙄 or that moment when the genius realizes they can take down the aliens with a virus 🤣 which, let's face it, South Park poked fun at 🤣 Back in elementary school, though, this was the ultimate movie for me. I used to write it down in my journal as my all-time favorite 🙈

I honestly thought I’d seen all the big ones like "Transformers" and "Armageddon," but looking at my list—I've actually missed everything except "The Island."

Everything released up through 2007 was great, especially "Hrid," but I won't dwell on those right now because 1) the details are a bit fuzzy (I mostly just remember the plot) and 2) I’d probably watch them with a much more critical eye today.

All I can say is that the only recent Bay-related work I've caught is "Transformers," which felt like it was playing in theaters here just not that long ago.
It’s one of those incredibly rare mainstream blockbuster movies that I’d give a solid 9/10.
I think I actually wrote a whole detailed breakdown about it in a different thread.

I can't stand how Bay uses the camera—it just refuses to stay still, even during scenes that should be perfectly calm. And don't even get me started on his editing. You'll have a guy just standing there, silent, and suddenly there are fifty cuts of split-second shots accompanied by these weird, jarring sound effects. His movies always lean into this incredibly greasy kind of patriotism where everything has to be dialed up to eleven—he feels the need to overcompensate so that even the most oblivious person gets the joke, or so everyone realizes when there’s supposed to be emotion... it’s like he’s making films for people who have completely checked out, so everything has to be a hundred times more exaggerated than necessary.
Still:

Bad Boys 2 is actually quite good for me because it’s just pure, unadulterated anarchy—this chaotic chase where bodies fall out of a morgue van and end up getting torn apart on the street, all shot with the intention of being hilarious. There's even that bit where a guy hides under a sheet with a female corpse and ends up attacking a body. I honestly haven't seen anything like that in a big-budget studio movie before.

"The Island" is a decent enough flick.

"Transformers" is also pretty good, right up until the very end where it starts giving me a massive headache—that's when Bay clearly loses all restraint with this massive, frenetic, and totally overwhelming showdown.

"Hrid" is almost good. If it had been filmed with a bit more tranquility and without all that choppy cutting, it would have been perfectly fine.

Elizabeth Garcia2 said:Action movies like that just bore me.
I’ve never really sat down to overthink it, nor do I want to; it’s just that watching stuff like Hrid, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, and those kinds of action flicks just wears me out... they leave me feeling bored.

That's it! There isn't some deep philosophy behind it. It's pretty straightforward.

I hope you noticed that while I was defending Bay, I intentionally left Armageddon and Pearl Harbor out of it, since those two are completely different beasts compared to the rest of his filmography. I didn't mention Bad Boys 2 either, mostly because I haven't actually seen it.

To be fair, Armageddon and Pearl Harbor really are bad movies. I’m not running away from that truth for a second: from the disastrous casting to plots that are either totally unrealistic (Armageddon) or just plain distorted (Pearl Harbor), everything about them is a mess.

On the flip side, I think Hrid actually has one of the best plots in the action genre. It isn't mindless; it actually makes sense. The villain isn't some over-the-top caricature like you see in most action flicks, which I appreciated. Plus, I missed out on an incredible score by Hans Zimmer.

The Island has a really engaging story and, at least for me, a great ending. I was genuinely surprised by how good it was, and honestly, it might just be the best film Bay has ever directed (aside from Hrid, obviously). 🙂

I’m not sure what everyone else thinks of those titles (though I'm fairly certain quietdriver3 doesn't even take these genres seriously), but personally, I find Transformers and Bad Boys to be great cinematic fun.

Rock, Transformers, Bad Boys 🙏 🙏 🙏
Everything else? Pure garbage. ☕
Honestly, Pearl Harbor was convincingly terrible. Man, I still get a knot in my stomach just thinking about 🤮

Bay would be killer if you just brought him in off the bench to handle the offense, kind of like a specialist in basketball. You let some other director build out the characters and the plot, then bring in Bay to crush the action sequences like that stuff in Pearl Harbor. It would make for an awesome film