• Bad Boys II (2003) - who knows?
• Pearl Harbor (2001) - crap
• Armageddon (1998) - even crappier (good special FX though)
• The Rock (1996) - one of my all-time favorites
• Bad Boys (1995) - very good, very funny movie

Just thought I'd give my two cents. The guy, in my book, is batting .500...not bad.

I agree it was 50% Hollywood and 50% True to life.

I was talking about the major details (history) of the movie.

Of course Hollywood has to add Drama/Human interaction/Romance/Humor/Locations/Filming/...to it to make people go see it. And the best change they did make was that the Pilots that shot down the "Japs" at PH also went with Jimmy Doolittle on the mission to bomb Japan. HW did this to make the movie flow and to and the romance/tension between best friends.

Um...how is McG a "hot" director? Two Charlie's Angel's movies and he's "hot?" Okay, some may like him, but I'll take a Michael Bay movie over McG's stuff anyday.

Michael Bay hasn't needed a "comeback," and I doubt he will. Jerry and the Disney boys will keep funding his movies as long as he wants to direct (and doesn't get about three bombs in a row, of which he's had none). With all the financial "letdowns" over the summer (T3, Hulk, Matrix etc), I won't be surprised to see Bad Boys II rake in some serious dough. (More than anticipated). It won't be THE summer blockbuster, but I bet it makes $200M+ easily.

PS. Who would have thought "Finding Nemo" would be the big hit of the year?

^^^
You called out someone for saying McG was 'hot', but now I call you out on saying TMR is a financial 'letdown'.

I dont think $272 million in the US is a letdown. In fact, it's a blockbuster. As well as $400 million overseas.
http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=matrixreloaded.htm

I would not call myself a Michael Bay fan at all, and yet I do think that Pearl Harbor was a good movie. In fact, I loved it.

Of his movies, I liked Bad Boys and The Rock. Armageddon had its moments, and Pearl Harbor was just about the worst movie of 2001, IMO. But is it just me, or does it seem like Bad Boys II might be a letdown, in terms of quality, I mean? I don't know, from the trailers, it just looked like there would be a lot of explosions and witty banter that really won't be much fun when stretched out for two hours or whatever. I guess I'll have to see it to know, and I probably will, but from the trailers, it just doesn't seem like it'll be that great. Of course, when I first saw the teaser for T3 my reaction was "This movie does not exist" and I ended up really liking that one. We shall see, I suppose.

K

Well Mr. Informed,

He obtained the "hot" qualifer after directing the first Fast & The Furious. He was then also hired to direct the FOX TV Show, Fastlane. In the eyes of Hollywood he is a hot new diector who brings in money. I guess you can't determine sarcasm because I cannot stand his work.

^^
Do you mean Rob Cohen, or McG?

McG directed the first and second Charlie's Angels.

Cohen directed TF&TF, and XXX.

Michael Bay doesn't really need to "come back." Perhaps from a critical perspective, but I don't see that ever happening. It's not like he was a critical darling pre-Armageddon. It's just that...well...when he tries to do drama, he falls flat. He needs to stick to blowing things up. Even that I don't think he does that great, though he does have a really good eye for composing shots. He just can't...edit them together. But his movies have all done very well at the box office. Sure, Pearl Harbor didn't make as much as Disney had hoped, but it grossed 500 mil worldwide. Even with its enormous cost, it was still profitable. And so is Michael Bay's career. He has yet to have a "flop." Like it or not.

I agree with the comments about Bay not needing a come back. He's doing just fine and have had a good time with all his movies, and The Rock is one of my favorite action films of all time.

McG is considered a "hot director" regardless of what movies he's actually made. Why? No clue, but there's a reason why his name was always mentioned around the Superman film.

The first Fast and the Furious precedes McG by sixteen years, and the 2001 flick of the same title was directed by Rob Cohen <small>(Dragonheart, XXX)</small>. The Charlie's Angels movies are McG's only feature film credits. Also, he wasn't just a hired hand on "Fastlane"; he executive produced as well, and I seem to recall reading that he was at least partially responsible for the concept.

In response to the original post, I hope so. I agree with the sentiment that Bad Boys kicked ass, and The Rock was fine, but increased exposure and popularity led to crap and more crap. Drop the Disneyfied PG-13 attepts to jerk tears, the cornball forced love stories, and the Diane Warren-inspired pop ballads, and deliver what you do best: great action.

I'm definitely hoping that Bad Boys II is a return to this form. The first is one of my favorite action films, and it's been frustrating to see how he's taken his career since then. Call it a comeback or a return to form or whatever, but I want the ambitious Michael Bay from the early 90s, not the formulaic one of recent years.

das

Das Monkey knows exactly what I was talking about. Couldn't have put it better myself

You want ambition from Michael Bay? Have him try to film subtlety.

Ah the 18th can't get here soon enough!

Yes, while TMR may have not been a letdown (see my "letdown" in quotes), it under-performed according to it's expectations. I do believe that the Hulk, Matrix, and T3 will all be a "success" as they will all ultimately make money (either here, overseas, or on video/DVD). But for all that these companies have been putting into these movies, they expected more. The entire summer season has been a "letdown," with the possible exception of a few notables like Finding Nemo, 28 days later, etc.

I'm with das on the main topic, though. Michael Bay was best when he did Bad Boys and the Rock, and I, too hope he returns to THAT form and BB2 is a seriously fun and kick-ass movie.

valkyrie: Finding Nemo is doing well because it actually is a good movie with a little bit of devotiong to characters and storytelling instead of flash and flare, at least that's my analysis. Unfortunately, I doubt the studio heads will take any heed from this example.
In a summer where you have a $100 million+ extravaganza opening every week (this week has two, with both Pirates of the Caribbean and LXG), letdowns are inevitable.

That said, they are currently offering a ticket to Bad Boys 2 with the original Bad Boys DVD. It's the only Michael Bay movie I don't own, so why not?

Where?!

I'm very much looking forward to Bad Boys 2, but I think they're going to take a bath on this one. R-rated, violent as hell, skewing heavily young, and with a budget that is rumoured to have ballooned past $120 million. They must be betting heavily on international & DVD sales. That's too bad, since I have a feeling this is gonna be the flick that converts the action fans that hate Bay.

Incidentally, regarding the Matrix Reloaded box office, it's actually doing surprisingly well, especially after those big drops in the 2nd & 3rd weekends. It was expected to crawl to $250 mil after those drops, but instead stabilized and is now past $272 million. The early $300 million predictions were considered the optimistic high end anyway. And it differs from The Hulk in that TMR's 272 mil is very respectable and takes a lot of pressure off whereas Hulk's sub-$150 million numbers is a friggin disaster that means it's going to have to explode internationally for it to turn a decent profit.

I saw one at Target.

I do not recall any nudity at all in any MB movie (unless you count Nicholas Cage w/his shirt off). Examples???

I thought the first Bad Boys was absolutely hilarious, and I hope #2 keeps it up. I'll definitely be seeing it ASAP.

I was having this discussion with a friend the other day... Michael Bay needs to return his light touch to superficial action pieces... Slicing in "meaningful drama" scenes doesn't work for him -- bring back the funny and the explody.

The other one I cannot import onto the site, but here's the link:

http://www.killermovies.com/b/badboy...cles/3221.html

I've checked the most popular places. Ebay, posters.com, art.com, etc. All I seem to find is either pictures of them online, or they have one of them for sale on ebay, but it's 4 feet by 6 feet which is just too big...

Anywhere else I can look?

Thanks in advance!

And just to know what you all think...which one do you like better?

bump

Why didn't you just bump your old thread?