In the movie "The Rock" Bay twists the roles of many different figures. He puts the FBI and a criminal together to work against marines that want vengeance. And of course, the explosions. This is what stood out as one of his favorite cinematic styles. He also used things such as nuclear weapons to create suspense. In my opinion, it worked very well.
I agree with Griffin on the idea that "The Rock" twists many roles of many different characters. Mr. Goodyear (Nick Cage) has a certain appeal of humor and fear when he works with a prisoner to figure the layouts of Alcatraz which is one of the most dangerous prisons assembled. We see two very differnt kinds of people eventually work together to navigate and diassemble the nuclear rockets that were going to be launched.
I agree with Griffin in how Michael Bay loves using explosions. Michael Bay wouldn't be Michael Bay without the ridiculous explosions that always seem well, ridiculous. For example, in the car chasing scene, there are explosions almost every ten seconds, cop cars flying through the air, a water truck being hit by a hummer, a corvette being smashed by a derailed trolley car. Michael Bay loves being flashy and loves over-exaggerating explosions.
Well other than saying exactly what i was thinking jack, i agree with you that it is very typical of Michael Bay films to have very flashy and over exaggerated special effects. Not only are the explosions quite ridiculous, but just layout of the plot as well. The whole movie is kind of ridiculous with the events that occur. None of them are really realistic at all. What i have realized after watching films from MB is that the explosions and almost cheesy special effects are a necessity to his films. One film that stick out in particular is Pearl Harbor. The whole movie relies on explosions and special effects to enhance a not so great plot. Also with Transformers 2, the plot was not good at all. The only reason the movie was somewhat appealing was because of its use of special effects with the transformers and the destruction of the city.
I agree with jack and zander in that Bay's explosions are rediculously flashy and extravagant. They're border line stupid and funny at the same time. I strongly agree with zander about how his plot lines are so rediculous and would rarely ever happen. For instance in "The Rock" the chances of ex-special forces taking over Alcatraz are next to known and the same goes for Transformers. Lets be honest since when do robot aliens attack the earth...? Bays style could me considered to be the manly man style. he doesnt seem to care about womens oppinions at all. Everything you see from him is big explosions and tons of nonestop action. He really only attracts the men in his movies.
So you guys are ripping on transformers, but did you know that it was originally a cartoon before Michael Bay made the two transformer movies? Anyways, looking back at the movie, I realized that the vast majority of the time, the music in the movie was unnecessary at almost every place where there was music. The music would just start randomly playing for no apparent reason and when this happened, I wouldn't know what to think. Michael Bay, in my opinion, puts too much music in The Rock.
I guess I agree about the plots being written long before Bay filmed it but I feel like the idea of the plot attracted him to make the movie. He loves the outrageous plots. Not only was the music unessasary but the use of guns were too. Throughout the whole movie everyone had to have a gun. No matter what they did. Even the nuclear bomb guy had to have one. And when they were in the tunnels under alcatraz it was a constant battle betweent the main characters of who had a gun. Bay feels that its imparitive to have guns cause what better to go with explosions and manly movies...? Guuuns
Kind of going off topic of the conversation, but i think one of the main reasons the movie is extremely cheesy is that the whole movie is essentially restricted narration. We are never surprised by anything or really know a lot more than the characters know. I feel like after watching a little bit of the film i knew what was going to happen. This is one of the main reasons that it really didnt strike anything with me. Unless your someone that just loves the special effects, it really isnt that great of a movie to watch as far as plot goes.
For all of you guys who said that Michael Bay created this film with just a series of outrageous cinematic elements including the music, explosions, and even the plot, itself, I would agree for the fact that nothing about it would be special if we wouldn't have guessed what would of happened. A typical hero vs villain plot was expected with the marines vs Mr. Goodspeed and prisoner. Of course I agree with Zander that this film used restricted narration that didn't make the film that whole surprising and that when the General betrayed his team, the discipline of the marines all of a sudden change and their acting abilities turned into dialogue that wasn't all that great, just some cheesy expressions and typical end to destroying the nuclear weapons. Being one of the first movies that Bay has directed, I think as a director he found his style with special effects of explosions and certain plots of typical good vs bad and that would carry over to his other films such as Transformers and that is why critics bash his films because it's nothing more than explosions and typical good vs bad dialogue which we'll know that most of the time it's the good that will win over suspense.
After watching the second movie, transformers 2, all of Bays stylistic elements have been further set in stone. Good vs. Evil plays another large role in the film, as jackie said, good always wins. The length of the movie was the only thing that really got to me. Sure, the special effects were great for the first hour but i think bay tried to carry the whole movie based on this one aspect. That and well of course, Megan Fox. Which brings up another topic. Relationships haven't been broken in any of his films thus far. Will he break the trend?......
Yes, after finally getting a chance to watch transformers 2, I agree with Griffin that this movie puts a lot of emphasis on special effects. I could kind of see it bcus it's what grabs the audiences attention rather than finding out what really happens with the battle of the Decepticons vs Autobots. The Autobots are surely gonna win and interesting enough a Decepticon helps the heroes out in this film. There were some funny moments in this film but I think the robots are really the stars of the movie bcus they blend in with the special effects and explosions which looks simply awesome with all the close-up angles and long shots to see their full forms.
Sort of the same thing with Transformers 2 as in The Rock, Bay put almost all emphasis into special effects and not so much the plot. I think the biggest difference between the two is that T2 has all special effects and Megan Fox, whereas The Rock had some pretty lame special effects and Nicholas Cage. In T2 the plot was predictable from the beginning of the movie, especially if you had seen the first movie. In the end, the Autobots are going to save the planet earth, its inevitable. Like Griffen said, the special effects with the transformers are really cool, but after an hour they get old.
When comparing the rock and transformers 2, the plot is generally the same. Except in transformers 2 there is a device that will blow up the sun instead of nuclear weapons. Like jackie said, there is a twist to the plot by having one of the dicepticons work with the autobots to in the end, defeat the dicepticons and save the sun.
After watching transformers 2, I would have to say that, like everyone else, Michael Bay focuses too much on special effects rather than the plot. On the contrary, being a Transformers fan(the cartoon before these two movies), I liked the difference in that the main villain was someone different than Megatron. If the Rock was to be made right now, the special effects would have been like the Transformer's special effects. I know 14 years doesn't seem like THAT long, but think, Blue Ray has came out since then, HD also. So it is only natural that the special effects (and other technological advances) look better now, than in the past.
Going to what you guys same saying by comparing it to The Rock, there are some very interesting similarities that it could relate to T2, but I think T2 would be more enjoyable to watch just because if you really didn't care about watching the movie bcus of the plot, T2 does much better with the special effects. It's definitely a film made to target the teenagers especially with actors like Megan Fox in and the distort personalities that the villain Megatron was aiming at something even bigger than nuclear weapons in the Rock. The ending of both films resemble a epic gun battle with some force (gas vs overpowered optimus prime) gets the last kill. But if you compare how Bay makes his movies now vs 14 years ago, the special effects are credited to how movies are going to end up looking.
Yes jack, I do agree that the tv's now days are way better. Like griffen's. he has a 65 inch with blu-ray. to watch transformers on that was sick. it felt like it was jumping out at you. PErsonally i felt that transformers 2 was better than one. PArtly just cause i liked the plot more but the other half is because there were way more cool effects and explosions. My favorite effect was the part where the aliens try to steal the shard from the humans and the cheetah like creature pours the little balls down the pipes into the room. That scene really captured micheal bay's over the top-ness if you will.
Personally, i liked the first movie better. I feel like watching it for the first time was really interesting to see the special effects, especially with how the transformers actually transformed, it was something cool that i had never really seen before. Before i watched the movie i went on youtube to watch the trailer for it and actually ended up finding a clip that perfectly exemplifies a Michael Bay film.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4rNDo7HV8E
Everything about this scene ties into what we have been talking about with Bay's special effects. Im not sure if anyone has mentioned this, but it seems like Bay loves the use of a high angle extreme longshot before zooming in on the different parts of the action sequences.
Watching T2 a second time, I realized that yet again, Michael Bay just loves to throw in music at random times. For example, in the youtube clip, Linkin Park just starts randomly playing for no apparent reason. Also, what I was trying to say is that if Michael Bay had made "The Rock" instead of T2, the special effects would be significantly better. It's just that special effects can only go so far, technology-wise. So even though the special effects in "The Rock" seemed not as awesome as T2's, it was the best that Michael Bay could do at that time. I would agree with Zander's previous post on the fact that Michael Bay loves high angle extreme longshots, like whenever there is a shot of the pyramid with the weapon that can destroy the sun.
After watching armageddon, it was no suprise to find that it was again, the same old michael bay. The explosions, love relationships, and resolution at the end were all there. The relationships in bays movies play a large role in generating suspense. He first builds a relationship between two characters and then puts one of the characters in jeopardy. This seemed to be very effective and can be seen in many of his films.
I agree with Griff, in Armageddon, this film sets the notion again that special effects captures the audiences attention. However, I did like the fact that during the first scene in the movie, the special effects starts the movie off with great surprise, when many meteorites destroy NYC, you get a bit of sense of restricted narration and what will happen bcus such a tragedy struck. I think this movie is one of the better acting movies, Bruce Willis is definitely more portrayed as a hero and stays strong with the relationship of other characters. Other characters also have distinct relationships. The women, music, sound, and special effects is probably the special formula that makes Michael Bay films have full of action.
yet again, Michael Bay can be called the "Master of Explosions" based off of all the explosions scenes that he makes. Also, it seems like Michael Bay loves using high-tech weapons in his movies. First in The Rock with the nerve gas, and then Transformers, with the, well, Giant talking robots. Now he is using a nuclear weapon, in duh duh duh outer space! Michael Bay just loves the explosions and ridiculous weapons of mass destruction.
Throughout the film, a hero is portrayed basically the same as other Bay films except for the dramatic ending in this one.The way he gives his life to save others was the only difference in the way they portrayed the hero in this film. I think this was the best film out of the three we watched for this reason.
Yea, I agree with Griff and Jack, theres always one big weapon Michael Bay loves to include that triggers the explosion of a lifetime. The way he starts and ends his movies are always the same, the big attention giver of the explosion where the hero manages to save himself. Overall, I agree with GRiff that Armageddon is the most enjoyable, the plot is more managle than having marines in The Rock or robots in Transformers take over a sudden place. The fact that Bruce Willis saves lives are very important and hes the best hero of the bunch bcus what he does in outer space is a plot that can be driven.
This is my seventh year teaching film, and ninth overall. I got my B.A. in journalism in 1998 from the University of Minnesota, then worked as a sports writer at The Star Tribune for awhile. I eventually went back to the U for my master's degree in English education, and started teaching in 2001.
I live in Minneapolis with Susan (wife, works at General Mills), Jack (son, born in August '08), and Gunnar (dog, a PBGV -- look it up).
23 comments:
In the movie "The Rock" Bay twists the roles of many different figures. He puts the FBI and a criminal together to work against marines that want vengeance. And of course, the explosions. This is what stood out as one of his favorite cinematic styles. He also used things such as nuclear weapons to create suspense. In my opinion, it worked very well.
Griffin d.
I agree with Griffin on the idea that "The Rock" twists many roles of many different characters. Mr. Goodyear (Nick Cage) has a certain appeal of humor and fear when he works with a prisoner to figure the layouts of Alcatraz which is one of the most dangerous prisons assembled. We see two very differnt kinds of people eventually work together to navigate and diassemble the nuclear rockets that were going to be launched.
I agree with Griffin in how Michael Bay loves using explosions. Michael Bay wouldn't be Michael Bay without the ridiculous explosions that always seem well, ridiculous. For example, in the car chasing scene, there are explosions almost every ten seconds, cop cars flying through the air, a water truck being hit by a hummer, a corvette being smashed by a derailed trolley car. Michael Bay loves being flashy and loves over-exaggerating explosions.
Well other than saying exactly what i was thinking jack, i agree with you that it is very typical of Michael Bay films to have very flashy and over exaggerated special effects. Not only are the explosions quite ridiculous, but just layout of the plot as well. The whole movie is kind of ridiculous with the events that occur. None of them are really realistic at all. What i have realized after watching films from MB is that the explosions and almost cheesy special effects are a necessity to his films. One film that stick out in particular is Pearl Harbor. The whole movie relies on explosions and special effects to enhance a not so great plot. Also with Transformers 2, the plot was not good at all. The only reason the movie was somewhat appealing was because of its use of special effects with the transformers and the destruction of the city.
I agree with jack and zander in that Bay's explosions are rediculously flashy and extravagant. They're border line stupid and funny at the same time. I strongly agree with zander about how his plot lines are so rediculous and would rarely ever happen. For instance in "The Rock" the chances of ex-special forces taking over Alcatraz are next to known and the same goes for Transformers. Lets be honest since when do robot aliens attack the earth...? Bays style could me considered to be the manly man style. he doesnt seem to care about womens oppinions at all. Everything you see from him is big explosions and tons of nonestop action. He really only attracts the men in his movies.
So you guys are ripping on transformers, but did you know that it was originally a cartoon before Michael Bay made the two transformer movies? Anyways, looking back at the movie, I realized that the vast majority of the time, the music in the movie was unnecessary at almost every place where there was music. The music would just start randomly playing for no apparent reason and when this happened, I wouldn't know what to think. Michael Bay, in my opinion, puts too much music in The Rock.
I guess I agree about the plots being written long before Bay filmed it but I feel like the idea of the plot attracted him to make the movie. He loves the outrageous plots. Not only was the music unessasary but the use of guns were too. Throughout the whole movie everyone had to have a gun. No matter what they did. Even the nuclear bomb guy had to have one. And when they were in the tunnels under alcatraz it was a constant battle betweent the main characters of who had a gun. Bay feels that its imparitive to have guns cause what better to go with explosions and manly movies...? Guuuns
Kind of going off topic of the conversation, but i think one of the main reasons the movie is extremely cheesy is that the whole movie is essentially restricted narration. We are never surprised by anything or really know a lot more than the characters know. I feel like after watching a little bit of the film i knew what was going to happen. This is one of the main reasons that it really didnt strike anything with me. Unless your someone that just loves the special effects, it really isnt that great of a movie to watch as far as plot goes.
For all of you guys who said that Michael Bay created this film with just a series of outrageous cinematic elements including the music, explosions, and even the plot, itself, I would agree for the fact that nothing about it would be special if we wouldn't have guessed what would of happened. A typical hero vs villain plot was expected with the marines vs Mr. Goodspeed and prisoner. Of course I agree with Zander that this film used restricted narration that didn't make the film that whole surprising and that when the General betrayed his team, the discipline of the marines all of a sudden change and their acting abilities turned into dialogue that wasn't all that great, just some cheesy expressions and typical end to destroying the nuclear weapons. Being one of the first movies that Bay has directed, I think as a director he found his style with special effects of explosions and certain plots of typical good vs bad and that would carry over to his other films such as Transformers and that is why critics bash his films because it's nothing more than explosions and typical good vs bad dialogue which we'll know that most of the time it's the good that will win over suspense.
After watching the second movie, transformers 2, all of Bays stylistic elements have been further set in stone. Good vs. Evil plays another large role in the film, as jackie said, good always wins. The length of the movie was the only thing that really got to me. Sure, the special effects were great for the first hour but i think bay tried to carry the whole movie based on this one aspect. That and well of course, Megan Fox. Which brings up another topic. Relationships haven't been broken in any of his films thus far. Will he break the trend?......
DA DA DUMMM....
TO BE CONTINUED....
Griffin d.
Yes, after finally getting a chance to watch transformers 2, I agree with Griffin that this movie puts a lot of emphasis on special effects. I could kind of see it bcus it's what grabs the audiences attention rather than finding out what really happens with the battle of the Decepticons vs Autobots. The Autobots are surely gonna win and interesting enough a Decepticon helps the heroes out in this film. There were some funny moments in this film but I think the robots are really the stars of the movie bcus they blend in with the special effects and explosions which looks simply awesome with all the close-up angles and long shots to see their full forms.
Sort of the same thing with Transformers 2 as in The Rock, Bay put almost all emphasis into special effects and not so much the plot. I think the biggest difference between the two is that T2 has all special effects and Megan Fox, whereas The Rock had some pretty lame special effects and Nicholas Cage. In T2 the plot was predictable from the beginning of the movie, especially if you had seen the first movie. In the end, the Autobots are going to save the planet earth, its inevitable. Like Griffen said, the special effects with the transformers are really cool, but after an hour they get old.
When comparing the rock and transformers 2, the plot is generally the same. Except in transformers 2 there is a device that will blow up the sun instead of nuclear weapons. Like jackie said, there is a twist to the plot by having one of the dicepticons work with the autobots to in the end, defeat the dicepticons and save the sun.
After watching transformers 2, I would have to say that, like everyone else, Michael Bay focuses too much on special effects rather than the plot. On the contrary, being a Transformers fan(the cartoon before these two movies), I liked the difference in that the main villain was someone different than Megatron.
If the Rock was to be made right now, the special effects would have been like the Transformer's special effects. I know 14 years doesn't seem like THAT long, but think, Blue Ray has came out since then, HD also. So it is only natural that the special effects (and other technological advances) look better now, than in the past.
Going to what you guys same saying by comparing it to The Rock, there are some very interesting similarities that it could relate to T2, but I think T2 would be more enjoyable to watch just because if you really didn't care about watching the movie bcus of the plot, T2 does much better with the special effects. It's definitely a film made to target the teenagers especially with actors like Megan Fox in and the distort personalities that the villain Megatron was aiming at something even bigger than nuclear weapons in the Rock. The ending of both films resemble a epic gun battle with some force (gas vs overpowered optimus prime) gets the last kill. But if you compare how Bay makes his movies now vs 14 years ago, the special effects are credited to how movies are going to end up looking.
Yes jack, I do agree that the tv's now days are way better. Like griffen's. he has a 65 inch with blu-ray. to watch transformers on that was sick. it felt like it was jumping out at you. PErsonally i felt that transformers 2 was better than one. PArtly just cause i liked the plot more but the other half is because there were way more cool effects and explosions. My favorite effect was the part where the aliens try to steal the shard from the humans and the cheetah like creature pours the little balls down the pipes into the room. That scene really captured micheal bay's over the top-ness if you will.
Personally, i liked the first movie better. I feel like watching it for the first time was really interesting to see the special effects, especially with how the transformers actually transformed, it was something cool that i had never really seen before. Before i watched the movie i went on youtube to watch the trailer for it and actually ended up finding a clip that perfectly exemplifies a Michael Bay film.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4rNDo7HV8E
Everything about this scene ties into what we have been talking about with Bay's special effects. Im not sure if anyone has mentioned this, but it seems like Bay loves the use of a high angle extreme longshot before zooming in on the different parts of the action sequences.
Watching T2 a second time, I realized that yet again, Michael Bay just loves to throw in music at random times. For example, in the youtube clip, Linkin Park just starts randomly playing for no apparent reason. Also, what I was trying to say is that if Michael Bay had made "The Rock" instead of T2, the special effects would be significantly better. It's just that special effects can only go so far, technology-wise. So even though the special effects in "The Rock" seemed not as awesome as T2's, it was the best that Michael Bay could do at that time.
I would agree with Zander's previous post on the fact that Michael Bay loves high angle extreme longshots, like whenever there is a shot of the pyramid with the weapon that can destroy the sun.
After watching armageddon, it was no suprise to find that it was again, the same old michael bay. The explosions, love relationships, and resolution at the end were all there. The relationships in bays movies play a large role in generating suspense. He first builds a relationship between two characters and then puts one of the characters in jeopardy. This seemed to be very effective and can be seen in many of his films.
I agree with Griff, in Armageddon, this film sets the notion again that special effects captures the audiences attention. However, I did like the fact that during the first scene in the movie, the special effects starts the movie off with great surprise, when many meteorites destroy NYC, you get a bit of sense of restricted narration and what will happen bcus such a tragedy struck. I think this movie is one of the better acting movies, Bruce Willis is definitely more portrayed as a hero and stays strong with the relationship of other characters. Other characters also have distinct relationships. The women, music, sound, and special effects is probably the special formula that makes Michael Bay films have full of action.
yet again, Michael Bay can be called the "Master of Explosions" based off of all the explosions scenes that he makes. Also, it seems like Michael Bay loves using high-tech weapons in his movies. First in The Rock with the nerve gas, and then Transformers, with the, well, Giant talking robots. Now he is using a nuclear weapon, in duh duh duh outer space! Michael Bay just loves the explosions and ridiculous weapons of mass destruction.
Throughout the film, a hero is portrayed basically the same as other Bay films except for the dramatic ending in this one.The way he gives his life to save others was the only difference in the way they portrayed the hero in this film. I think this was the best film out of the three we watched for this reason.
Yea, I agree with Griff and Jack, theres always one big weapon Michael Bay loves to include that triggers the explosion of a lifetime. The way he starts and ends his movies are always the same, the big attention giver of the explosion where the hero manages to save himself.
Overall, I agree with GRiff that Armageddon is the most enjoyable, the plot is more managle than having marines in The Rock or robots in Transformers take over a sudden place. The fact that Bruce Willis saves lives are very important and hes the best hero of the bunch bcus what he does in outer space is a plot that can be driven.
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