Michael Bay

by MovieMaker Staff | Published July 9, 2007

Like it or not, Michael Bay is a successful moviemaker. His films make obscene amounts of money, which in turn allows him to continue to practice his â€œcraft,â€? a fairly reliable definition of success. Recently he has become a lightning rod for criticism on all aspects of his work, with an entire song devoted to him (â€œWhy Does Michael Bay Keep Getting to Make Movies?â€?) in 2004â€(tm)s Team America: World Police. Heâ€(tm)s a guy that people really love to hate. His movies are considered bloated, heavy on effects and low on plot and reality. But with his latest effort, Transformers, breaking records and raking in money, Bay couldnâ€(tm)t care less what anyone else thinks.
Bay got started doing commercials and music videos. He created the original â€œGot Milk?â€? ad, which went on to win a commercial of the year award. His first feature, Bad Boys, made $150 million worldwide when it was released in 1995. The Rock and Armageddon both made buckets of cash and began to cement him as the action film director. His track recordâ€(tm)s first hiccup was 2001â€(tm)s Pearl Harbor. The movie, universally hated by critics (and most of the people who saw it), somehow still made a ton of money. His first major bomb was 2005â€(tm)s The Island, which only made $35 million at the box office--a sum total equal to just 30 percent of the movie’s total budget. This led to a very public fight between Bay, the actors and the producers about who exactly should be to blame for the colossal failure of the movie.
Bay is no stranger to public controversy, he recently engaged in an immature battle of words with Bruce Willis on the Internet about whether or not Bay was originally going to direct the latest Die Hard movie. He also recently posted--and then quickly deleted--a post on his Website criticizing two producers of Transformers for taking credit that was â€œrightfullyâ€? his.
Bay’s next project is still up in the air, but Transformers 2 will probably be in his horizons.

Sound Off: What about Michael Bay pisses you off the most? The gaping plot holes? The lack of reality? What about Michael Bay makes you happy? The wanton destruction and giant explosions? The sex appeal? Sound off in our “Comments” section.