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Well it’s more about how you approach these films, like for example, on “Tranformers,” you already have the built in audience.
See, I was not a fan of Transformers [at first]. Hasbro was talking about giving me a whole Transformers story, and I’m like, “If I can do this really real. If I can make them believable, I think I could have something here.” I’m not a Hollywood guy. My friends are normal guys. I’ve got this guy from Texas. He’s like, “Mike, that “Transformers” [movie] seems like a dumb idea.” And I’m like, “Yeah, I know, but just give it a second.” And then I showed him the shot of the Scorponoks jumping out of the sand with Tyrese [Gibson] running. He saw that image and he went, “I see what you’re doing.” You’ll always have haters, but the last movie? One-hundred-twenty million people saw that movie. There’s still a lot of fans of that franchise. And I’m a huge Transformers fan now, and I protect that brand.
When you’re doing films like that, there are a lot of cooks in the kitchen. Whether it’s the fans, the studios, the toy companies. How do you try to strike a balance at that point? Trying to please everyone and then also trying to make a film that you want to make.
[The film] was also to make non-Transformer fans into Transformer fans. I think it was good coming from that perspective that it wasn’t a “fanboy” movie.
Yeah, because then you’re limited in what you can do and what you can show.
Yeah. You know there are a couple of historians of Transformers. I would do my designs of the robots and they’re like, “What if you just add a little bit more ears to Optimus?” But they’re really hands off. We’ve redesigned them in “Transformers 4,” and there’s some really cool sh*t in it. I’m literally redesigning every character, top to bottom. There’s a reason why they’re redesigned, but it’s also to keep it new and fresh to me. I think the fans will appreciate some of this new stuff we have in the movie and some of the new characters.
I know when you did “Transformers 3,” you were kind of done...
Yeah, and this is literally a true story. I went to the [Transformers] ride in Universal, and there’s a two-and-a-half-hour line, and you just see all these kids -- it’s the most popular ride they’ve had since Jurassic Park -- and I’m like... It’s hard to let go of your franchise. You don’t want someone to f*ck it up. So I at least wanted to set it up on some good footing. Because you’re going to get a different kind of director [who is] not going to want to follow in my footsteps. Directors feel very territorial. So they’re going to go to a more inexperienced director. It’s just the way Hollywood works. And I’m thinking, “God, so I’ll redesign it, set it up... Someone’s gonna f*ck this up. This is way too big of a thing.” And I’m looking at all these kids and I’m like, “F*ck, I gotta do one more.” And then I brought Mark [Wahlberg] into it. So now we’ve got a movie star, we’ve got full redesigns. At least it’ll be on good footing.
xyl360 wrote:So wait, Michael Bay is worried that some OTHER director is going to f*ck up the Transformers movie franchise? What alternate universe did I just land in? Is this Shattered Glass?
Burn wrote:Whether Michael Bay or Christopher Nolan is a good director is just a case of personal opinion and cannot be debated on "facts" as they both have their own unique styles and have both worked on successful franchises.
Though personally I'd rather watch the first three Transformer movies from Michael Bay over the Batman Trilogy from Christopher Nolan. But that's just MY personal opinion.
From what I read from this interview, Bay set the stage, and he wants to make sure all the work he put in isn't negated by another director or a bunch of writers. He's not the first Director to want control over a creation like that, and he certainly won't be the last.
Henry921 wrote:I am doing my level best to ignore your comment about the recent Batman trilogy. I mean... people can't dislike it. It's gotta be against the law or something.
Burn wrote:Henry921 wrote:I am doing my level best to ignore your comment about the recent Batman trilogy. I mean... people can't dislike it. It's gotta be against the law or something.
Better lock me up then.
Burn wrote:
Though personally I'd rather watch the first three Transformer movies from Michael Bay over the Batman Trilogy from Christopher Nolan. But that's just MY personal opinion.
Michael Bay wrote:Well it’s more about how you approach these films, like for example, on “Tranformers,” you already have the built in audience.
See, I was not a fan of Transformers [at first]. Hasbro was talking about giving me a whole Transformers story, and I’m like, “If I can do this really real. If I can make them believable, I think I could have something here.” I’m not a Hollywood guy. My friends are normal guys. I’ve got this guy from Texas. He’s like, “Mike, that “Transformers” [movie] seems like a dumb idea.” And I’m like, “Yeah, I know, but just give it a second.” And then I showed him the shot of the Scorponoks jumping out of the sand with Tyrese [Gibson] running. He saw that image and he went, “I see what you’re doing.” You’ll always have haters, but the last movie? One-hundred-twenty million people saw that movie. There’s still a lot of fans of that franchise. And I’m a huge Transformers fan now, and I protect that brand.
Michael Bay wrote:When you’re doing films like that, there are a lot of cooks in the place to cook food. Whether it’s the fans, the studios, the toy companies. How do you try to strike a balance at that point? Trying to please everyone and then also trying to make a film that you want to make.
[The film] was also to make non-Transformer fans into Transformer fans. I think it was good coming from that perspective that it wasn’t a “fanboy” movie.
Michael Bay wrote:Yeah, because then you’re limited in what you can do and what you can show.
Yeah. You know there are a couple of historians of Transformers. I would do my designs of the robots and they’re like, “What if you just add a little bit more ears to Optimus?” But they’re really hands off. We’ve redesigned them in “Transformers 4,” and there’s some really cool sh*t in it. I’m literally redesigning every character, top to bottom. There’s a reason why they’re redesigned, but it’s also to keep it new and fresh to me. I think the fans will appreciate some of this new stuff we have in the movie and some of the new characters.
Michael Bay wrote:I know when you did “Transformers 3,” you were kind of done...
Yeah, and this is literally a true story. I went to the [Transformers] ride in Universal, and there’s a two-and-a-half-hour line, and you just see all these kids -- it’s the most popular ride they’ve had since Jurassic Park -- and I’m like... It’s hard to let go of your franchise. You don’t want someone to f*ck it up. So I at least wanted to set it up on some good footing. Because you’re going to get a different kind of director [who is] not going to want to follow in my footsteps. Directors feel very territorial. So they’re going to go to a more inexperienced director. It’s just the way Hollywood works. And I’m thinking, “God, so I’ll redesign it, set it up... Someone’s gonna f*ck this up. This is way too big of a thing.” And I’m looking at all these kids and I’m like, “F*ck, I gotta do one more.” And then I brought Mark [Wahlberg] into it. So now we’ve got a movie star, we’ve got full redesigns. At least it’ll be on good footing.
So wait, Michael Bay is worried that some OTHER director is going to f*ck up the Transformers movie franchise?
Henry921 wrote:Burn wrote:Whether Michael Bay or Christopher Nolan is a good director is just a case of personal opinion and cannot be debated on "facts" as they both have their own unique styles and have both worked on successful franchises.
Though personally I'd rather watch the first three Transformer movies from Michael Bay over the Batman Trilogy from Christopher Nolan. But that's just MY personal opinion.
From what I read from this interview, Bay set the stage, and he wants to make sure all the work he put in isn't negated by another director or a bunch of writers. He's not the first Director to want control over a creation like that, and he certainly won't be the last.
I am doing my level best to ignore your comment about the recent Batman trilogy. I mean... people can't dislike it. It's gotta be against the law or something.
Burn wrote:Whether Michael Bay or Christopher Nolan is a good director is just a case of personal opinion and cannot be debated on "facts" as they both have their own unique styles and have both worked on successful franchises.
Though personally I'd rather watch the first three Transformer movies from Michael Bay over the Batman Trilogy from Christopher Nolan. But that's just MY personal opinion.
From what I read from this interview, Bay set the stage, and he wants to make sure all the work he put in isn't negated by another director or a bunch of writers. He's not the first Director to want control over a creation like that, and he certainly won't be the last.
Capt.Failure wrote:Henry921 wrote:Burn wrote:Whether Michael Bay or Christopher Nolan is a good director is just a case of personal opinion and cannot be debated on "facts" as they both have their own unique styles and have both worked on successful franchises.
Though personally I'd rather watch the first three Transformer movies from Michael Bay over the Batman Trilogy from Christopher Nolan. But that's just MY personal opinion.
From what I read from this interview, Bay set the stage, and he wants to make sure all the work he put in isn't negated by another director or a bunch of writers. He's not the first Director to want control over a creation like that, and he certainly won't be the last.
I am doing my level best to ignore your comment about the recent Batman trilogy. I mean... people can't dislike it. It's gotta be against the law or something.
The Dark Knight trilogy was actually a very weak film series. The fight choreography was non-existent and full of shakey-cam to try and cover it up, the plot was so full of holes it was unimaginable, characters were derailed left and right and frankly it was incredibly pretentious. The whole series was, frankly, a clusterfrak:
-Bruce won't kill, but he'll blow up half a dozen ninjas and leave the man he wouldn't execute to die in a fire?
-Harvey Dent was perfectly willing to forgive the man who killed his fiance over a coin toss after some half-assed rant about chaos? Bullcrap.
-Batman was willing to let Ras' Al-ghul die of a fatal situation he put himself in, but not the Joker?
-The Batplane was right next to a nuclear explosion, but made it back to Gotham in one piece? Bullcrap.
-We're supposed to believe a rookie cop with no combat training or outside resources can actually take up the mantle of Batman?
-Again, Batman kills about six or seven people including Talia trying to stop the truck with the nuke. What happened to "no killing?" I guess the Joker didn't kill tons of people or maybe Batman was going senile?
-Bane's physical condition made him a walking plot hole. So he went for years bleeding from his wounds wracked by pain in that kind of decrepit environment? Bullcrap.
And this is just the stuff I can list off the top of my head. Like it or not the Transformers series is a more consistent storyline with a better plot. The only reason The Dark Knight trilogy is regarded as good is guilt over Heath Ledger's death.
noctorro wrote:But to say that the Transformers Trilogy and The Dark Knight Trilogy can be seen as equals?
No sir.
xyl360 wrote:So wait, Michael Bay is worried that some OTHER director is going to f*ck up the Transformers movie franchise? What alternate universe did I just land in? Is this Shattered Glass? Is Michael Bay a *good* director in this universe and does Christopher Nolan suck?
Capt.Failure wrote:Henry921 wrote:Burn wrote:Whether Michael Bay or Christopher Nolan is a good director is just a case of personal opinion and cannot be debated on "facts" as they both have their own unique styles and have both worked on successful franchises.
Though personally I'd rather watch the first three Transformer movies from Michael Bay over the Batman Trilogy from Christopher Nolan. But that's just MY personal opinion.
From what I read from this interview, Bay set the stage, and he wants to make sure all the work he put in isn't negated by another director or a bunch of writers. He's not the first Director to want control over a creation like that, and he certainly won't be the last.
I am doing my level best to ignore your comment about the recent Batman trilogy. I mean... people can't dislike it. It's gotta be against the law or something.
The Dark Knight trilogy was actually a very weak film series. The fight choreography was non-existent and full of shakey-cam to try and cover it up, the plot was so full of holes it was unimaginable, characters were derailed left and right and frankly it was incredibly pretentious. The whole series was, frankly, a clusterfrak:
-Bruce won't kill, but he'll blow up half a dozen ninjas and leave the man he wouldn't execute to die in a fire?
-Harvey Dent was perfectly willing to forgive the man who killed his fiance over a coin toss after some half-assed rant about chaos? Bullcrap.
-Batman was willing to let Ras' Al-ghul die of a fatal situation he put himself in, but not the Joker?
-The Batplane was right next to a nuclear explosion, but made it back to Gotham in one piece? Bullcrap.
-We're supposed to believe a rookie cop with no combat training or outside resources can actually take up the mantle of Batman?
-Again, Batman kills about six or seven people including Talia trying to stop the truck with the nuke. What happened to "no killing?" I guess the Joker didn't kill tons of people or maybe Batman was going senile?
-Bane's physical condition made him a walking plot hole. So he went for years bleeding from his wounds wracked by pain in that kind of decrepit environment? Bullcrap.
And this is just the stuff I can list off the top of my head. Like it or not the Transformers series is a more consistent storyline with a better plot. The only reason The Dark Knight trilogy is regarded as good is guilt over Heath Ledger's death.
Burn wrote:Whether Michael Bay or Christopher Nolan is a good director is just a case of personal opinion and cannot be debated on "facts" as they both have their own unique styles and have both worked on successful franchises.
Though personally I'd rather watch the first three Transformer movies from Michael Bay over the Batman Trilogy from Christopher Nolan. But that's just MY personal opinion.
From what I read from this interview, Bay set the stage, and he wants to make sure all the work he put in isn't negated by another director or a bunch of writers. He's not the first Director to want control over a creation like that, and he certainly won't be the last.
Burn wrote:But what amazes me about how every time I speak up in defense of the movies, there's at least ten other people out there quick to jump on me about it, not one of you people EVER bring up the writers.
You're all so quick to blame Bay. He's not the one who wrote the story. He was given a manuscript and said "here, work your magic on it".
You want to blame Bay for the movies being bad? Hey go for it, but don't forget to blame the writers as well.
That Bot wrote:The thing about that is, Bay is in charge of the movie. He gets final say on whether he likes what the writers give him. He can change it around if he wants. He can tell the writers to put in more body humor and less development for the title characters. He can tell the art designers to make the bots look more like each other and less unique. He can tell the actors to yell all their lines, he can tell the women to act more like porn stars. He makes his movie. Nobody blames the writers because they're under Bay's direction.
Reading that Bay says he is a fan of the franchise, I immediately screamed BULLSHIT. As someone else said, he may be a fan of the Transformers he has created, but he is in no way, shape, or form a fan of the broader franchise, and despite the popularity his movies have brought (only to themselves, really), Bayformers 4 on the 30th anniversary marks a big black spot for me.
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