Michael Bayis one of the few Hollywood filmmakers that’s hated by critics but loved by audiences. Of all the 15 movies he has directed in his career, only two are certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. However, none of them has ever made a loss. In fact, only two have failed to cross the $100 million mark — a track record that has made him a valuable asset to film studios. Even Netflix jumped on the Bay bandwagon, with the streaming service extracting two films from him so far.
Michael Bay’s penchant for focussing on action-packed blockbusters rather than drama projects has also contributed to making him become one of the highest-grossing directors of all time. He has been fortunate enough to steer major franchises likeBad BoysandTransformers. In addition to that, he got to make some of the most popular movies in the ‘90s. At the moment, here is how his highest-grossing films rank against each other. All figures are according to Box Office Mojo.
10The Island (2005) – $163 million
Michael Bay often opts for simple plots, but inThe Island, he tackles dystopia concepts in a detailed manner. The film explores classism and organ harvesting, through a story that involves citizens of a futuristic colony competing to be placed in a much more lucrative island. However, one of them soon learns that the inhabitants are all clones meant to produce organs for wealthier citizens. He, therefore, makes an attempt to escape.
The Islandhas a stellar cast that consists of Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johansen, Djimon Honsou, Steve Buscemi, and Sean Bean — something that definitely helped in driving up ticket sales. Besides that, Bay takes a page out of the Quentin Tarantino template by heavily relying on pastiche. The film heavily draws inspiration from sci-fi hits such asLogan’s Run, Fahrenheit 451,and THX 1138, resulting in a solid amalgamation.
The feel-good nature ofBad Boysgave audiences every reason to look forward to a sequel, and when it came, theaters were packed. In it, Michael Bay settles for the most common formula inmovies about the drug trade, which involves a kingpin rising to the top before determined law enforcement officers take him down. In spite of that, it’s still enjoyable because it has comedic actors in the lead. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence reprise their roles as the Miami PD lawmen, Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett respectively. This time, their task is to bring down a new Miami drug lord.
In typical Michael Bay fashion,Bad Boys IIis packed with endless explosions and chases. But even though it’s fun to watch the high-speed highway chases and bodies falling out of vehicles, the film’s appeal primarily lies in the dialogue. One of the most memorable scenes involves Burnett intimidating a 15-year-old boy that shows up at his doorstep to take his daughter on a date. “You look 30!” he tells him as he sizes him and searches him like he is a suspect.
8The Rock (1996) – $335 million
The Rockis the kind of movie that was never going to perform poorly. It had Nicolas Cage at his prime and an in-from Sean Connery that was still working as hard as he did in his Bond days. Events in it revolve around an attempt to free a group of tourists that have been held hostage at Alcatraz by a group of rogue marines. As expected, the $100 million ransom is seen as unreasonable, so a team consisting of SEALs, an FBI chemist, and a former SAS agent, is sent in for extraction purposes.
“The government does not negotiate with terrorists!” Such is the kind of cliché remarks that get served throughout the running time, but the action sequences are spectacular and so is the sound mixing. So good is the latter that the film got nominated for an Oscar in that particular category. In addition to that, the character of John Patrick Mason (Sean Connery) dazzles with his bravado, charm, and resilience. Rumors thatConnery plays an older version of James Bond inThe Rockeven emerged, but Bay dismissed them.
7Pearl Harbor (2001) - $450 million
The significance of the Pearl Harbor attacks, combined with Bay’s magnificent ‘90s runs, served as great incentives for audiences to buy tickets for the World War II movie. Generally, the film avoids burdening audiences with one horrific battle scene after the next. Tucked inside the main plot is a beautiful love story involving military personnel and nurses. This makes it enjoyable and recommendable even to those that don’t love war dramas.
Pearl Harbormight be one ofthe most historically inaccurate movies(there is even a scene where President Roosevelt shoves aside his wheelchair), but it makes up for that through excellent cinematography and marvelous action set pieces. Bay has a reputation for delivering some of the best explosion scenes, so no other director would have showcased the bombings by Japanese jets any better.
6Armageddon (1998) – $554 million
In the late ‘90s, there were several rumors about the world ending, notably the prophecy that an asteroid would hit Earth. Michael Bay and Touchstone Pictures thus capitalized on such brouhaha by making a movie about the attempts to drill a hole inside an asteroid destined for Earth in order to plant a bomb inside it and blow it up. Consequently, people showed up in large numbers to see how mankind would be able to stop such a disaster.
Bay’s skills are thus on full display inArmageddon. After all, it’s all about bombs and explosions. Tension remains high throughout the running time, with audiences constantly being reminded that the mission is very risky and that the chances of a successful execution are minimal. Most importantly, Bay has been lucky enough to work with some of Hollywood’s most talented stars, and here he has Bruce — an actor that pulled crowds easily in the ‘90s. The disaster flick, therefore, keeps the thrills coming for all of its 151-minute running time.
5Transformers: The Last Knight (2017) – $605 million
The Last Knightis both thelowest-rankedTransformersmovie on Rotten Tomatoesand the lowest-earning of the “made by Michael Bay” autobot movies. Compared to tons of other Hollywood productions, it’s a massive box-office success. It even outperformed the most critically acclaimed installment in the franchise:Bumblebee. Still, it could have performed much better if Bay had gone for a better story and a better cast.
The decision to bring back Mark Wahlberg as Cade didn’t help either as he is an actor that critics love to hate. Out of the 43 movies he has helmed in his career, only 18 have a fresh Tomato score. As for the plot, Bay uses the cliché hero-goes-bad formula, which saw Optimus Prime get brainwashed. Even so, there are the usual franchise thrills that involve endless battles between the Autobots and the Decepticons.
4Transformers (2007) - $710 million
By the time the first live-actionTransformersmovie came out in 2007, it was long overdue. The Hasbro toys and animated TV shows had been popular since the ’80s, leading to fears that perhaps movie studios had missed out on the perfect opportunity to capitalize on the fanfare. However, there was no better time than them since CGI technology had greatly advanced. Furthermore, movies about the Autobots and Decepticons would obviously not have looked as good in the ’80s and the ’90s as they do now.
InTransformers, the two warring bot factions find themselves on Earth, where they are each hoping to find a special device that gave their planet life. Compared to other installments in the franchise, it doesn’t jump to the action immediately. It had a perfect buildup, with fans getting to learn plenty of things about the teenager, Sam Witwicky, first, before the mayhem unfolds. Additionally, there is plenty of action, guaranteed to hook both newcomers and franchise fans.
3Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – $837 million
There’s an excuse forTransformers: Revenge of the Fallen’spoor plot as it was filmed during the 2007-2008 Writers Strike. The film has a lot going on. Optimus Prime is now leading a new unit of marines and Autobots called NEST and the protagonist, Sam Witwicky, is having a mental breakdown. After all, he thought that the drama was done after the events of the first installment.
As incoherent asRevenge of the Fallenis, it had the advantage of being a sequel to an amazing movie. No one was going to miss the second-everTransformerslive-action movie and so fans flocked to theaters across the globe. And they weren’t totally disappointed because some of the most remarkable transformation scenes in the entire franchise can be found here.
2Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014) – $1.1 billion
Age of Extinctionis more of a soft reboot since it ignores the entire human cast of the past two installments. Additionally, it features a new species known as the Dinobots and introduces a new element called Transformium, which is used to build Transformer drones. This time, the protagonist is Cade Yeagor — an inventor that finds a damaged truck and soon learns that it’s the Autobot leader, Optimus Prime.
The is characterized by the same flaws and thrills as the earlier ones. The chemistry between the human protagonist and the Autobots is excellent, but there is never a proper sense of purpose. Besides that, the special effects are even better. Every single scene is worthy of the big screen. It’s also refreshing to see Megatron reborn as Gavaltron since the villain has often been overused in the franchise.
1Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) – $1.2 billion
Many franchises suffer from telling an overly-long story, butTransformershas avoided that through spinoffs and soft reboots. For example,Dark of the Moon, gives a conclusion to the war between the Autobots and the Decepticons. For once, there is a final showdown in Chicago that ends with Optimus Prime decapitating Megatron. Carly and Sam reunite, resulting in a happy ending for everyone.
Its thus no surprise that the box office figures are so high. Everyone that had followed the story so far wanted to see how it would end. In comparison,Dark of the Moonis to the franchise whatAvengers: Endgameis to the MCU. The film also has three Oscar nominations to boast of — a record for the franchise. At the same time, it received a whopping eight Razzie nominations, a development that sums up just how polarizing the Michael BayTransformersflicks are.
