Is Michael Bay The Perfect American Director?

32 comments

1. lol

2. > who uses Americana and our greatest institutions to such a reverential degree?

   I wouldn’t say this makes him the “Perfect American Director”

3. Michael Bay is about as embarrassing an example of American directors as one could imagine.

4. No, Clint Eastwood is the perfect American director.

5. America has physics, Michael Bay movies do not.

6. his work is shallow and amplifies stereotypes. i have enjoyed many of his movies, but they are a nitch genre that i seek out when i don’t want to think and just want fast paced action, cool effects, and mega explosions.

   there are a number of directors that show the depth of our society and sub-cultures and portray the american people and places in a way that more closely reflects reality.

7. Not even a little bit, no.

8. No.

9. Steven Spielberg just some chump relying too much on his composer’s music amiright.

10. >Can you think of any other director who uses Americana and our greatest institutions to such a reverential degree?

    Clint Eastwood, Stephen Spielberg, Quinten Tarrantino

11. [Those aren’t ideas, those are special effects!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxgkXxa9c3s)

12. Yes, in the same way being repeatedly slapped in the face with a turkey leg is the perfect Thanksgiving dinner.

    Honestly I’m not even bashing him. He takes something good, then ham-fists it onto the screen with bravado. I’m not saying it’s the pinnacle of film making but they’re entertaining movies for sure.

13. If you mean “puts landmarks in frame and blows them up” then yes.

    Speilberg and Robert Zemeckis have decent careers yanno?

14. No, the perfect American Director is either John Ford or possibly Howard Hawkes.

15. Lol no. Michael Bay’s movies are embarrassing trash.

16. Michael Bay is the poor man’s Tony Scott.

17. *Ponders intensely*

    …Yes

    But in all seriousness, I think the Cohen Brothers are great at crafting uniquely American stories (even if one of the brothers has retired).

18. Michael Bay does [exactly one thing really really well](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2THVvshvq0Q&ab_channel=EveryFrameaPainting). He does it so well that lots of people attempt to imitate it, (with varying degrees of success) and if that one thing is what you want, he’s the place to go.

    He’s like the “Cinnabon” of directors: sure it’s over-the-top, unhealthy trash-food, but it’s *really really tasty*, and there’s literally nothing else on the menu anyway, so you’re only ever going there for that one thing.

19. He uses “America” imagery mostly as a way to get the audience on board with the film but he doesn’t do much with it other than that. I find it lazy but it’s really him finding something that works that lets him focus on other parts of the movie.

    I would say he’s channels a lot of the of the over-the-top and “loud” elements of American culture through his visual style, not so much the story or setting.

20. No, but Michael Bay does the “big summer blockbuster action movie” bigger and better than anyone else.

21. Smells like a troll post.

22. Hahahahahaha, I think this is too late for April Fools day, don’t you think?

23. He’s good at what he does, which is make terrible films with expensive effects.

24. Tarantino is in my opinion.

25. > our greatest institutions to such a reverential degree?

    His only good movie was about former marines turned terrorist because the military had kicked them to the curb and refused to compensate families of fallen soldiers. That’s not exactly what I’d call reverence of our military.

26. Ken Burns.

27. Absolutely not. Michael Bay makes movies for people who tear up during beer commercials.

28. Sure, Bay is good at blowing things up. But he doesn’t have the range of a polyglot multi-threat director like Tyler Perry.

29. I had to look up who he is and what he’s done. Pearl Harbor is the only movie of his I’ve seen, and it was meh – enjoyable but not moving.

    In the meantime, I’ve recently been looking at various analyses of The Godfather (1 and 2), reminding me of how great Coppola is. There are others that have already been named in this thread. Bay seems like a hack in comparison. And that’s without even going back to the golden age of Capra and Huston.

30. Micheal Bay movies are like a parody of stereotypes of American movies.

31. He’s meh. I mean if you like explosions and whatnot yeah he’s awesome. My personal favorite will always be Mel Brooks.

32. Many of Michael Bay’s movies are completely unwatchable. His single talent is the ability to target a terrible audience with surgical precision.