Michael Bay Relishes Blu-rays Victories

[Blu Titan]

Bay does it again

Michael Bay Relishes Blu-ray's Victories
Author: FRED TOPEL
homemediamagazine@questex.com
Posted: February 12, 2008
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Transformers
When Paramount Home Entertainment decided to support HD DVD exclusively, Michael Bay was vocally opposed. Since the decision came just as his Transformers would debut on high-definition home video, Bay threatened to back out of the sequel.

He took back his drastic comments and is hard at work developing Transformers 2, but now that Blu-ray is the format that is gaining momentum, Bay cannot help but remind us he told us so.

“Blu-ray’s better, and I told everyone,” Bay said at the Visual Effects Society’s sixth annual award show, where he presented the award for animated character in a motion picture. “I was very vocal about it. I knew HD [DVD] was not going to make it.”

With HD DVD being edged out of competition by sheer volume of product moving to Blu-ray, Bay is all but gloating.

“Am I thrilled? It really wasn’t my fight, but remember what I said in the press? I was kind of saying HD [DVD]’s going to lose,” he said. “No one believed me.”

Many of Bay’s films were produced by studios that have supported Blu-ray from the beginning. The Rock is already available on Blu-ray from Buena Vista Home Entertainment (now Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment), with Pearl Harbor and Armageddon possibly on the way. Sony’s Columbia owns the “Bad Boys” films.

Bay personally supervises his Blu-ray transfers and says he loves his preferred format.

“It’s just sharper,” he said. “It’s just [that] the tools are better. I just think it’s closer to what it should look like.”

Should Armageddon make it to Blu-ray, there may be even more work in store. Original materials were destroyed.

"Believe it or not, we have to remaster Armageddon,” he said. “The Armageddon [master] was burned in a fire apparently, so we’ve got to re-master the whole movie.”

With many of Bay’s films 10 years old or more, it is possible that Blu-ray editions will reveal flaws just by bringing them into sharper focus.

“I’m sure that’s going to be apparent, probably in Armageddon,” he said.

The Rock, Bay’s second film after Bad Boys, was released in 1996. The Blu-ray edition appears grainy in certain shots, but Bay likes it that way. He uses it as an artistic choice, even in his more recent film.

“Yeah, there’s some grain, pushing film, shooting at night,” he said. “There’s actually some grain in Transformers. We pushed it just a little too much. I don’t mind grain. Grain has a vibe.”

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[Blu-Beard]

Bay's the man!!!

[The Don]

I don’t mind grain. Grain has a vibe


exactly..

[davidPS3]

Good find!

[ClaytonMG]

There's some errors in that... There's 2 of Bay's films (Bad Boys and The Rock) that are over 10 years old, with Armageddon's 10th anniversary being July 1st of this year. Pearl Harbor (which is on Blu-Ray already even though this article says it's not), Bad Boys II, The Island, Transformers are all within the last 7 years. But it was interesting to read about Armageddon! Hopefully they'll release it on Blu-Ray this year and it'll look amazing.

[Slec]

can we link every "is that grain" thread to the first post here? Maybe then we can whip the newbie's into shape

[Kirsty_Mc]

Funny that this should crop up now... just the other night I watched "Pearl Harbour" and it certainly wasn't a bad film at all.

[ClaytonMG]

Originally Posted by The Don

I don’t mind grain. Grain has a vibe


exactly..

I wish everyone had that mentality. I don't mind grain at all. The only time I actually mind grain is when compression does weird things to it. Like Assassination of Jesse James. It's weird to go from scenes where the background is supposed to be grain, but it looks like a still image for some reason, to a movie like Man on Fire where the grain is perfectly represented.

[sj001]

The Armageddon master burned in a fire?

Pretty ironic?

[Blu As Hell]

I don’t mind grain. Grain has a vibe.

-Michael Bay


This one line should have it's own sticky.

[Blu-Beard]

Originally Posted by The Don

I don’t mind grain. Grain has a vibe


exactly..

I actually prefer a certain amount of it. I feel it adds a sort of gritty rawness to the films. Like we're peeking through some sort of lucid dream at someone elses reality.

[TheRealBob]

I've enjoyed Bay's outspokenness on this issue, but this is a bit of a stretch:

Originally Posted by BlueNeon

“I was very vocal about it. I knew HD [DVD] was not going to make it.”

He actually seemed quite worried that Paramount taking the money would help the inferior HD DVD win. In fact, when Warner went Blu he posted something along the lines of maybe Blu-ray will succeed after all and we'll eventually get transformers on BD.

CORRECTION: I was misremembering the quote. Corrected here: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...968#post602968 .

[PeteS]

Originally Posted by BlueNeon

Bay does it again
..
Bay personally supervises his Blu-ray transfers and says he loves his preferred format.

Thanks BlueNeon. I think I've said this about six times now, but Mr Bay was and continues to be right.

[Marcusarilius]

Originally Posted by Blu-Beard

I actually prefer a certain amount of it. I feel it adds a sort of gritty rawness to the films. Like we're peeking through some sort of lucid dream at someone elses reality.

Dude! Don't Bogart that! Common!

[ClaytonMG]

Originally Posted by TheRealBob

I've enjoyed Bay's outspokenness on this issue, but this is a bit of a stretch:



He actually seemed quite worried that Paramount taking the money would help the inferior HD DVD win. In fact, when Warner went Blu he posted something along the lines of maybe Blu-ray will succeed after all and we'll eventually get transformers on BD.

I think that was more along the lines of "Don't worry, Transformers is coming to Blu". The only HD support I've seen from Bay was for the title 300. And I believe that was after he was talked to by studio heads (while he was still under contract for Transformers).

[HeavyHitter]

Originally Posted by sj001

The Armageddon master burned in a fire?

Pretty ironic?

So, can we assume the actual negative is okay - and they just have to do a transfer?

[Blu As Hell]

Originally Posted by Blu-Beard

I actually prefer a certain amount of it. I feel it adds a sort of gritty rawness to the films. Like we're peeking through some sort of lucid dream at someone elses reality.

Originally Posted by Marcusarilius

Dude! Don't Bogart that! Common!

Homie...Puff, Puff, Pass. Don't break the cypher.

[bluseminole]

Originally Posted by Blu-Beard

I actually prefer a certain amount of it. I feel it adds a sort of gritty rawness to the films. Like we're peeking through some sort of lucid dream at someone elses reality.

Agree. Grain-free films are just too shiny and clean to be real. Not to say, of course, that some of the best transfers on Blu are packed full of grain...everything in moderation, that's the key. It really depends on what is going on in the movie, but grain certainly adds intensity, mood, and reality to gritty action scenes.

[TheRealBob]

Originally Posted by ClaytonMG

I think that was more along the lines of "Don't worry, Transformers is coming to Blu". The only HD support I've seen from Bay was for the title 300. And I believe that was after he was talked to by studio heads (while he was still under contract for Transformers).

I looked it up, and I was incorrect. Here's the quote:

Well another studio down. Maybe I was right? Blu ray is just better. HD will die a slow death. It's what I predicted a year ago. Now with Warner's down for the count with Blu Ray. That makes it easier for Wal-Mart to push Blu Ray. And whatever Wal-Mart pushes - wins. Hd better start giving out those $120 million dollars checks to stay alive. Maybe they can give me some so I can give it to my Make-A-Wish charity, just to shut me up. Have faith people Transformers will come out in Blu-ray one day!

I think I somehow misread "maybe I was right" as "maybe I was wrong" and that is how I have remembered it ever since.

[The Don]

Originally Posted by Blu-Beard

I actually prefer a certain amount of it. I feel it adds a sort of gritty rawness to the films. Like we're peeking through some sort of lucid dream at someone elses reality.

some movies should be crystal clear IMO...like superhero movies, animation movies and the star wars films....except for the older ones of course....

but I agree...there should be at least a small amount of grain in most movies...