Michael Bay: "As a director, my critical eye is that Blu-ray is where my money is"

[cartier]

There is no way to tell what his motivation is. His comments could be sincere, or he could be going after some money. Maybe he was told to support HD-DVD or else, and now after investigating both technologies for himself has formed his own opinion. Also it is possible that Spielberg has show him the light or he is simply taking a cue from his exec producer who is getting annoyed by Paramount and their lack of support for the directors creative vision. Either way any public support for blu should be appreciated.

[SBrooks1]

I, and I'm sure most of all of you, would love to see Transformers on Blu-ray with an amazing uncompressed PCM soundtrack. I can't imagine the picture quality being any better than the HD-DVD but the audio could be much better I'm sure.

[javabear]

Michael Bay is cool in my book. He definitely supports blu. The people I am really angry about are the Paramount execs who got paid off under the table by Toshiba. Shame on them for making a selfish choice, instead of making the right decision to support blu for the good of all movie studios and general consumers.

[lch]

maybe he know releasing on bd is going to be at least 2x the number (2:1) = 380k and most likely, over 5million ps3 are going to buy that also.

[cartier]

Originally Posted by blitz6speed

Thats all nice info, but still doesnt change the fact that he back-tracked against BD earlier this year, AND hasnt forced the studio to release the movie on BD. All talk.

If it was not in his contract to have control over format distribution then he can not force the studio to release on Blu. Spielberg can because he negotiated it in his contract years ago. It is also difficult for him to say, for example: "Release it on Blu or I will not do Transformers 2." This will not work if he has a preexisting contract with Paramount to do the second movie, granted he could re-negotiate, but if they agreed then Paramount would be in breach of contract with the HD-DVD exclusivity agreement.

It could be he doesn't like the situation and after having his lawyers look over his contract it probably says nothing about not bashing HD-DVD. Therefore he can say whatever he wants about the format, he might anger some people but I do not anticipate many people going to Transformers 2 unless it is directed by Bay. Presently, no amount of money less than $700 Million is worth Paramount canning Bay because of his anti HD-DVD leaning.

[doctorD]

I think he really does like Blu ray over HD DVD...and it appears that he and Spielberg are good friends. We really don't know which friends he was referring to that he was dining with when he made his initial statement, but my belief is that it was probably Spielberg who is a Blu ray supporter.

I don't have a problem with him retracting (this had to happen) his story because his initial reaction, I believe, is what I totally believe he really meant. Which is why he said what he did in the interview released by USA Today!

I think Cartier hit it right on the nose!

[Maxell]

I think he may have meant that Transformers would've been way better if it had a blu-ray release. If hdud sold 180k possibly, then blu would've added over 300k more!

[Sonny]

sux for Bay, he cant even watch his own film in HI DEF, for another 16 months or so (cause its not on Blu-Ray )

[BStecke]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

No he's not

Bay is a stickler for the quality of his releases. He fought for Pearl Harbor to only be released widescreen (they compromised on a 16:9 crop for the VHS)

He refuses to use Super35 because of the resolving power of anamorphic, and shoots his plates VistaVision for SFX

He's worked with, and insisted on Criterion for several of his films because he wanted them to be their best.

Action is Bay, and quality home releases are also Bay. It is 100% in his MO to be a Blu-only backer

How did the non-anamorphic Armageddon Criterion version slip by? I believe it though, Transformers is a reference quality DVD and The Rock (Criterion) still stands right there with it.

[Beta-guy]

I know no one is perfect, we've all made mistakes, but I was hoping that after his first post, he'd be another higher up guy who'd speak out for BD, even if he had no say in if Transformers was released on BD or not, the fact he'd care to speak infavor of BD, and hold to it, but when he retracted, I was disappointed I can only hope that he holds this view point.

[RickD]

Originally Posted by BStecke

How did the non-anamorphic Armageddon Criterion version slip by? I believe it though, Transformers is a reference quality DVD and The Rock (Criterion) still stands right there with it.

Technically, non-anamorphic has better resolution on a 4:3 set. When was that title released? Maybe at the time they felt there wasn't enough 16:9 TVs.

Just a thought.

Rick

[BStecke]

Originally Posted by RickD

Technically, non-anamorphic has better resolution on a 4:3 set. When was that title released? Maybe at the time they felt there wasn't enough 16:9 TVs.

Just a thought.

Rick

April 20, 1999.

[jcdDigix]

Who? M Bay
What? Blu-ray & HD-DuD
When? Wait for the flipping edition.

[Blu As Hell]

Originally Posted by BStecke

How did the non-anamorphic Armageddon Criterion version slip by? I believe it though, Transformers is a reference quality DVD and The Rock (Criterion) still stands right there with it.

All the Criterions I bought were non-anamorphic. I don't know if that's changed in recent years but I do know when the Armageddon Criterion came out they were not puting out anamorphic DVDs.

[Jason One]

Originally Posted by Blu As Hell

All the Criterions I bought were non-anamorphic. I don't know if that's changed in recent years but I do know when the Armageddon Criterion came out they were not puting out anamorphic DVDs.

Criterion has been putting out anamorphic discs for many years now, but yes, at the time of Armageddon they had a policy of favoring non-anamorphic. It's true that they didn't think enough people had widescreen displays, and didn't want to sacrifice quality for people with 4:3 displays (who were subject to the poor anamorphic downconversion of most DVD players).

Criterion meant well, but it was a flawed policy, much like their continued practice today of windowboxing 1.33:1 transfers.

[tru2blu707]

i remember reading somewhere,(forgot where but if i find it ill post link) that paramount has lost more money in the long run by taking the bribe than if it were to stay neutral.

[Sonny]

Originally Posted by Sonny

sux for Bay, he cant even watch his own film in HI DEF, for another 16 months or so (cause its not on Blu-Ray )

we know Bay does not have a hd-dud player in his home right

[Colorado Blu Skies]

Originally Posted by bdrex28

I doubt much, HD DUD got their movie from Paramount so he probably feels he can say what he wants as they got their sales.

Sorry but I had to fix this...

[Manco]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

No he's not

Bay is a stickler for the quality of his releases. He fought for Pearl Harbor to only be released widescreen (they compromised on a 16:9 crop for the VHS)

He refuses to use Super35 because of the resolving power of anamorphic, and shoots his plates VistaVision for SFX

He's worked with, and insisted on Criterion for several of his films because he wanted them to be their best.

Action is Bay, and quality home releases are also Bay. It is 100% in his MO to be a Blu-only backer

I think this is the best thing said so far in this whole Paramount/Bay ordeal.

That's the downside of capitalism. It's a strange animal. A synergy between many people. In this case...we got shafted. But I do think Michael Bay is a quality zealot. I'm absolutely certain this would have been exclusively Blu-ray if this was his sole decision. So personally, I don't like people posting things like "Bayola" or whatever. Yeah...Yeah...he flipped-flopped around. Sometimes that's just business.

I think ultimately, we'll see Bay and Spielberg move to higher ground where Blu is appreciated. Let's stop the Bay bashing.

[WickyWoo]

Yes, when Armageddon Criterion was done, it was Criterion policy not to do anamorphic because they were worried about downconversion artifiacts

That being said, it's still a top-notch transfer/compression. Absolutely gorgeous