Career Retrospective: Ranking the Films of Michael Bay
Trademarks
Visual: Helicopters in a sunset, sunsets!! and lots of USA Flags
Visual: Extras avoid in the nick of time a crashing car/object
Visual: Dirty characters after an explosion
Visual: Explosions with lots of sparks
Visual: Flawless CGI compositions
Visual: In your face product placement
Direction: Long CGI enhanced zooming shots
Direction: Fast paced editing
Direction: Use of slow motion to emphasize mayhem
Direction: Rarely static camerawork
Direction: Something is always moving in a shot
Direction: Low angled camera spins around the characters
Direction: 360 spinning shot of characters separated by a wall
Context: Bickering characters that yell at each other
Context: Every female lead or extra is a model
Context: Military/federal/state/law enforcement agencies glorification
Context: Americans save the world
Setting: Predominantly USA soil
Frequent collaborators: Steve Jablonsky (composer; 7 films)
Genres
Total gross
It is undeniable that no one is or can be like Michael Bay. A filmmaker that strictly belongs in the love-him-or-hate-him territory, Bay is his own cinematic brand with specific trademarks that lack any misleading attempts for anything else besides excessive American popcorn entertainment.
Creating outputs that belong exclusively in the action genre with the exception of “Pearl Harbor” (2001) (and maybe… “Pain and Gain” (2013)), Bay is a visually first and storytelling second director, and each subsequent output - no matter what type of story it might have - seeks to outshine its predecessor in terms of scale, crude humor and visual panache.
Yet, under the occasional criticisms that address Bay’s undying love for gorgeous women, practical effects, larger than life explosions, shoot outs, vehicular carnage, excessive patriotism and military porn, there is plenty to admire to a director that honestly only few can match his ability to orchestrate and command with such precision (and yes care!) massive productions of technical finesse and migraine inducing logistical details.
His humble beginnings (“Bad Boys” (1995), “The Rock” (1996)) revealed a different and embraced style against those static approaches to framing action which influenced heavily the late 90s and early 00s. His buddy cop comedy (perhaps the most successful one featuring two black actors) was box office gold dressed with luscious cinematography and an obvious love for Miami culture while “The Rock”, a “Die Hard” (1988) clone, ultimately became one of the best action films in history escaping the McClane shadow due to Bay’s dynamic direction and likeable characters. Followed by the immensely successful “Armageddon” (1998), Bay began his trend to insert (ingeniously) larger than life set-pieces even to the most peculiar stories.
Certainly his films are far from perfect (if you exclude “The Rock”) but one of their undeniable advantage are their flawless special effect compositions, novel action sequences and stellar stuntwork. All the “Transformers” films (2007-2017) feature out-of-this-world photorealistic robots and his push for technical wizardry bulletproofs his catalogue from being labelled as “badly made” (just compare the action of Christopher Nolan vs the action of Bay).
No one forgets the image of Optimus Prime transforming for the very first time with his thousands moving parts in “Transformers” (2007), the visually accurate attack in “Pearl Harbor” and the breathtaking destruction of Paris in “Armageddon”. Even in relatively smaller vehicles (“Pain and Gain” (2003), “13 Hours” (2016), “Ambulance” (2022)), Bay manages to feature crashing metal with zero on set casualties demonstrating his superb ability to orchestrated carnage at a beyond epic scale while providing simultaneously several reasons for stuntpeople to see their work immortalized on the big screen (a parkour segment on the cathedral in Florence is a spectacular sight (“Six Underground” (2019), cars twisting and flipping on a freeway due to falling train wheels is as beautiful as destruction can be (“The Island“ (2005))).
Of course, as his success started reaching stratospheric levels, it made sense for Bay to focus and tune in to his own likes and dislikes like a true cinematic emperor. His post “Pearl Harbor” work saw the increase of obnoxious and now outdated product placement (“The Island“ (2005), “Tranformers”, “Transformers: Age of Extinction” (2014)), subpar humor (mule bodies being thrown like ragdolls on the streets in “Bad Boys II“ (2003), a Decepticon receives his own manhood in “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” (2009)), too much yelling and not enough emotion (“Bad Boys II“, “Six Underground”) and left over scripts that focus on drafty and nonsensical storylines (“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen“, “Tranformers: Age of Extinction“, “Transformers: The Last Knight” (2017),”Six Underground”).
Perhaps his biggest problem though is being oblivious on dramatic irony, homoerotic content and extreme idolization of gorgeous women. His close up display of military/law enforcement men with all their tats, sweaty and semi naked muscular bodies, beards, and grunting behaviour (“Bad Boys II“, “The Island“, “13 Hours“) resemble the wonderful gay stereotypes of Tom of Finland (look out for the work out scene in “13 Hours” and you will get the picture) just before having a go at each other, which begs the question whether this might be intentional.
On the other hand, every single frame of his includes beautiful women even in the most unexpected places, his camera perving on their perfect bodies for an excessive amount of time (Megan Fox’s close up in “Transformers” comes in mind) that betray his background as a director for Victoria’s secret’s commercials. Yet the above sentences appear to be two sides of the same coin. Perhaps this man with a distinguished career in commercials and music videos seeks out to glorify the human (and occasionally stereotypical) physique in an orgy of sound and picture of both men and women. His humor too can be hilarious in small doses even if requires a few dead brain cells. None of us really wants to be that grumpy bastard that does not laugh with something as stupid as a Transformer fart or Bumblebee destroying Sam’s house in order to get some Gremlin like Decepticons.
Bay being Bay seems to just though love everything that America stands (or he thinks it stands) for: babes, guns, patriotism, fast cars and beautiful sunsets. Now when you reading it like this, it does not sound so bad, does it?
15. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
Perhaps Michael Bay’s worst film by a milestone, the much anticipated sequel to the surprising box office smash of 2007 was the product of the writers’ strike in Hollywood. And unfortunately it shows. A can of several confusing and contradicting ideas, it took the flawed yet honest goodwill of its predecessor and tore it apart sacrificing in the process logic, plot and characters for the big box office earnings. While Bay is not particularly responsible for this disjointed mess and excels in the creation of some truly spectacular sequences with jaw dropping scale (e.g., opening segment in Shanghai, the forest fight), its his poorly conceived humor that becomes annoying and tiresome quite fast (e.g., humping Decepticons (!), genitalia additions in the robot design, racial stereotypes). In addition, Sam comes across as a whiny idiot rather than someone in which the audience can invest to mistreating Mikaela and Bumblebee among others. But then again its story lacks an actual emotional anchor and by the time we reach the desert climax in Egypt, it already feels like a rehash. And the titular Fallen and his so called “revenge” have no more than two minutes of screentime making the entire film pointless.
Explosions
💣💣💣💣💣
Patriotism
🗽🗽
Military love
🥇🥇🥇
Shout outs
🔫🔫
Car chases
🚔🚔
Destruction
💥💥💥💥💥
Quick cuts
✂️✂️
Slow motion
⏱⏱
Babes
😍😍
Terrible jokes
🤦🤦🤦🤦🤦
14. Pearl Harbor (2001)
Bay attempts to expand his genres by incorporating a doomed love triable in the midst of an actual historical event under the disguise of the classic Hollywood epic romances. However, the script betrays his well meaning intentions and superb production design as the main trio is as blunt as it can get (particularly Hartnett and Affleck are awfully miscast). They are some attempts to further characterize the Japanese side (as opposed to fully demonize them for American propaganda purposes) but the film focuses exclusively on the romance aspect of the story neglecting the more interesting historical aspects. However, when the attack occurs, Bay creates one of the most memorable sequences in cinema history with incredible accuracy, audio visual panache (that bomb shot is truly phenomenal) and a scale that puts James Cameron’s “Titanic” (1997) to shame. Still, you can’t help but feel a small cop out during one of the most devastating attacks on American forces with its un-visceral PG-13 rating while the inclusion of Affleck’s and Hartnett’s aerial stunts is in poor taste. The extending climax only makes things worse with a tedious running time that forces unnecessarily the doomed romance aspect to the viewer’s throat much to their dismay.
Explosions
💣💣💣💣💣
Patriotism
🗽🗽🗽🗽🗽
Military love
🥇🥇🥇🥇
Shout outs
🔫
Car chases
-
Destruction
💥💥💥💥💥
Quick cuts
✂️✂️
Slow motion
⏱⏱
Babes
😍
Terrible jokes
🤦
13. 6 Underground (2019)
"6 Underground” is perhaps Bay at his most self-indulgent which could be interpreted either as its biggest problem or its greatest strength. The non-existing script presents a boring central concept that feels beneath even for Bay’s minimal storytelling attempts. “6 Underground” spits out banal and exposition only dialogue that illuminates in detail the next Bay-istic set piece. Make no mistake. There is nothing here to be invested context wise besides to witness what Bay does best. A frantic car chase in the streets of Florence opens the film lasting a whooping twenty minutes and seeking to overshadow anything else vehicle related that Bay has done before. You gotta hand it to him and his huge stunt department. They do manage to make things look visually flawless under a heavy amount of flipping cars and explosions that sees a novel use for magnets that only a 200 million dollar deal with Netflix can produce. It is a shame though that you have to endure the typical bickering and unsuccessful wise cracking banter between one dimensional characters that no one likes (or cares), terrible humor and a Titanic wave of American commentary towards pretty much everything until the next action behemothic sequence arrives.
Explosions
💣💣💣
Patriotism
🗽🗽
Military love
🥇
Shout outs
🔫🔫🔫
Car chases
🚔🚔🚔🚔🚔
Destruction
💥💥💥💥
Quick cuts
✂️✂️✂️
Slow motion
⏱⏱
Babes
😍😍😍
Terrible jokes
🤦🤦🤦🤦🤦
12. Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)
Putting “The Last Knight” above “Revenge of the Fallen” could be seen as the most controversial choice but nevertheless it has a few things more to enjoy. For starters, it features a far more likeable protagonist in the form of Mark Wahlberg, the opening with a mechanical dragon laying waste to an entire medieval army along with exploding fireballs is appropriately epic, the scale and technical finesse are off the charts (Bumblebee re-assembling is a work of art), the comedy works slightly better, Anthony Hopkins is having a blast and the premise of Optimus Prime going rogue is to be noted. But in typical Bay fashion, “The Last Knight” commits several sins with its clear attempts to attract younger moviegoers by adding a blunt new female teenager along with a “Star Wars”-y robot that has nothing to do with the plot, the assimilation of Transformers into key historical events creates massive (and unnecessary) continuity problems for the series and the film boasts the most unconvincing Oxford professor in cinema history that would fit in right in an OnlyFans account. And as for the afore mentioned premise of Optimus Prime, like the Fallen, Galvatron and the Dinobots before it, it is a cop out that lasts a few minutes across a two hour plus running time.
Explosions
💣💣💣💣💣
Patriotism
🗽🗽
Military love
🥇🥇🥇
Shout outs
🔫🔫
Car chases
🚔
Destruction
💥💥💥💥💥
Quick cuts
✂️✂️✂️✂️
Slow motion
⏱⏱
Babes
😍😍😍
Terrible jokes
🤦🤦🤦
11. Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)
Bay and LaBeoff promised (quite vocally) to erase the sour cinematic aftermath that “Revenge of the Fallen” left behind with “Dark of the Moon”: the action movie to end all action movies. Although a similarly flawed entry in the “Transformers” franchise, the last chapter of the LaBeoff trilogy featured more bang for your buck that can only be described as a combination of the attack in “Pearl Harbour” with the devastation effects of “Armageddon”. However in an attempt to raise the dramatic stakes, the film crumbles under the unbearable weight of its main character Sam who is suffering from a constant tantrum mode. The introduction of a secret human society that has sided with the Decepticons elevates the film’s proceedings to laughable levels and any honor for Oscar worthy actors such as Francis McDormand, John Turtoro and John Malkovich is sacrificed for a hefty paycheck. But wisely adding Sentinel Prime leads to some unexpected clashes and Bay stages (as expected) with tremendous panache the smaller in scale skirmishes with a flawless eye. By the time we go to the much devastated Chicago, Bay makes sure to set a precedent in cinematic city demolition sequences (which “The Avengers” tried to outdo a year after). That skyscraper segment is worth of the admission price alone pushing the technical boundaries of action filmmaking. If only the script was interested in the creation of actual characters, this would not have to feel like an expensive but ultimately empty firework.
Explosions
💣💣💣💣💣
Patriotism
🗽🗽🗽
Military love
🥇🥇🥇🥇
Shout outs
🔫🔫
Car chases
🚔🚔🚔
Destruction
💥💥💥💥💥
Quick cuts
✂️✂️
Slow motion
⏱⏱
Babes
😍😍😍
Terrible jokes
🤦🤦🤦
10. Armageddon (1998)
“Armageddon” bears a dead in the water script that sees a drilling team being trained to become astronauts in order to place a nuke into an upcoming asteroid and prevent the end of the world. This bizarre idea that caused Bay to yell at Ben Affleck to “Shut the fuck up!” for suggesting otherwise, takes things way too seriously placing front and center American craftmanship, science and culture: it is loud, cacophonous, corny, cheesy and unapologetically made in America (f*** yeah). Yet for all its faults, Bay seeks to craft an entertaining science fiction disaster adventure with as much input from NASA as possible. A wide gallery of cheerful characters played by veteran actors also makes for a compelling case to revisit the appropriately titled “Armageddon” just to witness their comedic interactions. The first part is definitely the strongest having the right balance between human elements and spectacle (e.g., New York gets plummeted by smaller meteorites in glorious fashion). Once we are on the asteroid though, cliche after cliche is being encountered and assisted by an ominous production design until we reach a unexpectedly heartfelt moment that can make anyone cry. “Armageddon” wears its heart on its sleeve but it knows what it is. And its killer soundtrack is one for the ages.
Explosions
💣💣💣💣💣
Patriotism
🗽🗽🗽🗽🗽
Military love
🥇🥇🥇🥇
Shout outs
-
Car chases
-
Destruction
💥💥💥💥💥
Quick cuts
✂️
Slow motion
⏱
Babes
😍
Terrible jokes
🤦
9. Ambulance (2022)
One of Bay’s more restrained efforts, “Ambulance” takes the mediocre Danish film of the same name and gives it an interesting direction spin by employing heavily drone footage. This … novelty allows Bay to capture and execute in effective ways crashing cars and other related shenanigans in typical hyper stylish fashion. Of course the obligatory hot (and unconvincing in the role) female lead is there to visually appeal the eyes of the predominantly male audience but this seems to be Jake Gyllenhaal’s show devouring vast amounts of the scenery and out-acting everyone else. The film’s opening and doomed bank heist is (an intentional?) Bay’s tribute to Michael Mann’s “Heat” (1995) on steroids and the catalyst for a very simple plot to unfold. Unfortunately, this balloons to include police officers, drug lords and more into a hyper melodramatic finale that does not do the brothers’ relationship any justice and flirts excessively with parody instead of genuinely analysing key events. Still, it is quite entertaining to see police cars reaching for the sky and the best Bay being in ages.
Explosions
💣💣💣
Patriotism
🗽
Military love
🥇🥇
Shout outs
🔫🔫🔫
Car chases
🚔🚔🚔🚔🚔
Destruction
💥💥💥💥💥
Quick cuts
✂️✂️✂️
Slow motion
⏱
Babes
😍
Terrible jokes
🤦
8. The Island (2005)
“The Island” was another dig at more serious stuff coming hot from the chaotically fun (but critically dead) “Bad Boys II”. The first half is definitely the better one as the script seeks to confuse and disorient the viewers at what is going on with a nice Philip K. Dick veil. However, once the mystery is solved halfway through, “The Island” starts ticking all the right Bay boxes: awesome and practical crashes? Check. Explosions? Check. Foot chases? Check. Excessive product placement? Super check. And these bombastic (and frankly highly entertaining) segments unfortunately overshadow some pretty intriguing themes here that have aged like fine wine and might seem quite relevant today. The script does not give these important ideas and ethical issues any room to breathe or even to debate upon but relies strongly on fast paced momentum to reach its swift conclusion. However, the strong chemistry between the gorgeous Johansson and the always reliable McGregor along with solid supporting work by Buscemi, Hounsou and Bean put this sci-fi adventure a step above the other outputs of Bay’s career. If only the script could go the extra mile and secure a fully developed concept, this could have been a science fiction classic. But at least we get McGregor acting against himself with two different accents and he is not doing a bad job actually.
Explosions
💣💣
Patriotism
🗽
Military love
🥇🥇
Shout outs
🔫🔫
Car chases
🚔🚔🚔
Destruction
💥💥💥💥
Quick cuts
✂️✂️
Slow motion
⏱
Babes
😍😍
Terrible jokes
🤦🤦
7. Bad Boys (1995)
The film that started the career of one of the most American (and commercial) directors of all time, “Bad Boys” is honestly pretty good for a buddy cop action comedy. With a shoe string budget of 19 million dollars, it is remarkably restrained especially when it is compared to his later cinematic outputs. The golden duo in the form of Martin Lawrence and Will Smith shares great chemistry improvising most of their back and forth bickering and establishing a real bond between these two detectives. The film has all the elements that would become in the later years synonymous with the Michael Bay brand (those sunsets, low angle camera work, saturated colors), but the script is sharp enough to prohibit expensive special effects and extravagant set pieces. Additionally, it has gorgeous cinematography and enough videoclip aesthetic to bring on the table a different style in the mid 90s action genre that betrays the filmmaker’s creative roots but nevertheless is presented in an appealing packaged that has since then become cult.
Explosions
💣💣
Patriotism
🗽🗽
Military love
🥇🥇
Shout outs
🔫🔫🔫
Car chases
🚔🚔
Destruction
💥
Quick cuts
✂️
Slow motion
⏱
Babes
😍😍
Terrible jokes
🤦
6. Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)
After the excessive “Dark of the Moon” you could assume that Bay would not be interested in directing a fourth entry of robot fighting. A billion dollars gross though is enough to warrant a new trilogy and a fresh start. Mark Wahlberg now is the main hero who finds himself in the midst of a government conspiracy that seeks to destroy and retool the Autobots for technological human progression. It is a nifty idea with a more serious tone than the previous three making the humans now the primary antagonists for once. Suffering a similar fate to well known entities in previous entries, the much anticipated Dinobots have a five minute appearance and zero impact to the story, Galvatron is completely wasted, the Autobots still bear stereotypical appearances that make no sense (there is even a Samurai Autobot that speaks with a Japanese accent) and although Lockout feels more organic as a villain, he translates into a sloppy excuse to expand the cinematic universe of Transformers. However, excess is a word that would definitely be used to describe accurately this film. The set pieces are huge, like Hong-Kong-falling-from-the-sky huge with state of the art effects that put to shame 99% of today’s blockbusters while the vehicle chases cater to the wonderful deconstruction of expensive cars in novel ways and peak stunt work that never cease to amaze. Without being absolved by any sins (particularly story wise), “Age of Extinction” is above average action entertainment with spectacular set pieces and special effects that happens to lack a brain.
Explosions
💣💣💣💣💣
Patriotism
🗽🗽🗽🗽
Military love
🥇🥇🥇🥇
Shout outs
🔫🔫
Car chases
🚔🚔🚔
Destruction
💥💥💥💥💥
Quick cuts
✂️✂️✂️
Slow motion
⏱⏱⏱
Babes
😍😍😍😍
Terrible jokes
🤦🤦
5. Pain and Gain (2013)
“Pain and Gain” is based on the weird and true story of a bodybuilding trio in Miami who tried to pull off a kidnapping scheme and failed epically. “Pain and Gain” can be described at best as if Michael Bay directed something along the lines of “Fargo“ (1996). No one can deny how fascinating the outcome might be for several reasons: a certain misfire or some sort of ingenious intelligence could be under all these explosions and wavy American flags? Such a premise though lives or dies with its main characters and not necessarily with Bay’s approach which would not make a difference to a film that has only a handful of action snippets. Bay puts more style to the proceedings that they have any right to bear and makes the most of the charismatic Dwayne Johnson (before he evolved into a box office behemoth) in a movie that lacks shoot outs, explosions and heavy doses of American military. The black comedy aspects work surprisingly well too (Can you smell what the Rock is cooking?). While it won’t thrill or even attract any traditional genre aficionados or new fans, it is a more nuanced addition to a filmmaker’s catalogue that is primarily consistent of expensive crowd pleasers.
Explosions
💣
Patriotism
🗽🗽🗽
Military love
🥇
Shout outs
-
Car chases
-
Destruction
-
Quick cuts
✂️✂️
Slow motion
⏱⏱⏱
Babes
😍😍😍😍
Terrible jokes
🤦🤦
4. 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016)
“13 Hours” is by far Bay’s most under-appreciated film. Yes it is (and can be) overwhelmingly patriotic but it remained surprisingly nimble in the representation of Libyan people without wholeheartedly endorsing the on-screen mayhem. It can be bombastic but for a good reason showcasing the chaos that occurred during the embassy siege in Benghazi with albeit cool shoot outs and a mortar shot resembling the legendary bomb drop in “Pearl Harbor”. For all his love of military gear, flags, guns, sweats and beards - who can give some men a visual orgasm, the film is supported by solid performances and, wait for it, actual tension. Although some of the six soldiers can be quite indistinguishable from each other with their macho gay bear appearance and archetypical character traits, Pablo Schreiber is a standout with perfect comic timing and John Krasinksi with a glorious beard (yes THAT John Krasinski) demonstrates that he can be a lead in an action movie.
Explosions
💣💣💣💣
Patriotism
🗽🗽🗽🗽🗽
Military love
🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇
Shout outs
🔫🔫🔫🔫🔫
Car chases
-
Destruction
💥💥💥
Quick cuts
✂️✂️
Slow motion
⏱⏱
Babes
-
Terrible jokes
🤦
3. Bad Boys II (2003)
After the lukewarm reception of “Pearl Harbor”, Bay went straight to what got him famous in the first place: Lawrence and Smith’s cop duo. With a greater creative reign and a massive budget, Bay converted a buddy cop action comedy into a full blown blockbuster extravaganza. While Smith and Lawrence maintain their charisma (and chemistry) that got the first film to fly, the storyline is less interesting this time around focusing on a new lethal and illegal drug. The film flirts excessively with villainous Latin American stereotypes that would make an America-Fuck-Yeah individual proud. Its humor, a point of much deserved criticism is the epitome of bad taste: from dismembering bodies to corpse mules falling in the middle of street, Bay’s brand of humor pushes a lot of buttons in politically correct people - that vocal minority on Twitter will not be able to make the first 10 minutes without having a stroke. Yet, the action is among the best that Bay has directed and among the best in cinema history: a climatic car chase demolishes hundreds of cars - and a boat too - that makes the ones in “The Matrix Reloaded” (2003) and “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” (2003) looking like cheap knock offs while an expansive villa was destroyed in one take just for this film at the cost of $20+ million dollars. At the end, “Bad Boys II” is the meaner, angrier and less appealing sequel of a cult movie with an overabundance of babes, guns, explosions and patriotism.
Explosions
💣💣💣💣💣
Patriotism
🗽🗽🗽🗽
Military love
🥇🥇🥇
Shout outs
🔫🔫🔫
Car chases
🚔🚔🚔🚔🚔
Destruction
💥💥💥💥💥
Quick cuts
✂️
Slow motion
⏱⏱
Babes
😍😍😍
Terrible jokes
🤦🤦🤦🤦
Explosions
💣💣💣💣💣
Patriotism
🗽🗽🗽🗽
Military love
🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇
Shout outs
🔫🔫
Car chases
🚔🚔
Destruction
💥💥💥💥💥
Quick cuts
✂️✂️✂️
Slow motion
⏱⏱
Babes
😍😍😍
Terrible jokes
🤦🤦
2. Transformers (2007)
When Bay was announced as the director of the Hasbro live action adaptation, it felt like a natural choice. This is a guy who knew how to stage superb spectacle on a grand scale, could handle special effects and elevate the American culture. The only doubts were directed towards the feasibility of such a concept: can the clashes of Autobots and Decepticons be brought to life successfully and most importantly believably? Masqueraded cleverly as an “E.T“ (1982) type of film that focuses on the special bond between a boy and an alien (plus all the related shenanigans that come with it), “Transformers” lived the hype offering groundbreaking special effects and spectacular sequences on a scope that we had not seen before. Despite a slow start with limited to none action, Bay unleashes everything he has in the final battle with finesse and the enthusiasm of a metal drummer during his solo. Although the design of the Decepticons is far too alien-y and they are not given anything meaningful to do besides being destructive opponents (Megatron gets no more than 20 lines in an almost 2.5 hour film), there is a lot of heart and funny moments. Sure you could trim 20 minutes off and the inclusion of John-having-the-time-of-his-life-Turtoro as a special agent in Sector 7 clearly outstays its welcome, but it is nice to see once in a while the loser guy saving the world and getting the cool girl.
1.The Rock (1996)
And of course, no other movie except “The Rock” would be Bay’s best. Featuring great characters, even greater lines and an actual storyline with real stakes and emotional investment, “The Rock” is a landmark in action filmmaking. Despite being a “Die Hard” clone by replacing the Nakatomi tower with the prison island of Alcatraz and Alan Rickman’s band of thieves with Ed Harris’ disillusioned marines, “The Rock” focuses on the development of its main trio: each man has something to lose within the parameters of this ridiculous story. When you add in the mix Bay’s frantic direction and a disastrous San Francisco car chase, it is very hard not to love this film which has now become a cult classic earning itself a prestigious Criterion Collection release! It could be the one liners (Tarantino did an uncredited script pass) (“Do you like the Elton John song “Rocket Man?”, “I don’t like soft-ass shit!“), the pitch perfect casting of Sean Connery as John Mason or the beautifully shot San Francisco, the fact remains that after all this time, Bay’s second feature is still thrilling and exciting as it was back in 1996. A commendable action flick that few can have in their career and a staple in Bay’s filmography demonstrating that with the right script, he can really knock it out of the park.
Explosions
💣💣💣
Patriotism
🗽🗽🗽🗽🗽
Military love
🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇
Shout outs
🔫🔫🔫🔫
Car chases
🚔🚔
Destruction
💥💥💥
Quick cuts
✂️
Slow motion
⏱⏱
Babes
😍
Terrible jokes
-