The all about Michael Bay Thread, Believe him or not?

[Lord_Stewie]

hey guys,

I saw what Michael Bay said about Microsoft. That they are the problem, they tend to contribute such confusion, and manipulation of the consumers so at the end they only benefit themselves.

About Michael Bay, i enjoy some of his work, and some i don't. His films some not all are great. His direction is extreme action, and humor and that is his problems when directing a film. A while back in august when paramount betrayed the blu-ray supporters, by announcing exclusivity to HDDVD, he posted that he was extremely disappointed by such decision, and that he will not be on board when Transformers 2 is ready for shoot. The next day he issued an apology about his comments, and said he was with reps. from the HDDVD and enjoyed 300. He blamed the remarks he made previously under the influence of Kool Aid.

Now he is back, and seems to be on BD's side. However, the question is:

1)SHOULD HE BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY NOW?
2)DO YOU GUYS BELIEVE THAT THIS SUDDEN CHANGE OF HEART IS THE FINAL STAND HE MAKES, OR IS HE GOING TO CHANGE HIS MIND IN THE FUTURE?

WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK?

[clownface]

I think he spoke his heart last time and was forced to retract his statements by Paramount. I feel he spoke his heart again this time but I don't think Microsoft can make him recant the way Paramount did. Time will tell.

[Lord_Stewie]

Originally Posted by clownface

I think he spoke his heart last time and was forced to retract his statements by Paramount. I feel he spoke his heart again this time but I don't think Microsoft can make him recant the way Paramount did. Time will tell.

Judging from what he did previously I am happy with what he said, yet not fully believe him. I was very disappointed with what he did before.

but like you said, hopefully he really means it this time.

[Marcusarilius]

And who is paying Paramount? Is it not Microsoft? Just bit off more than he will be able to be allowed to swallow. Retraction II? There seems to be more politics involved in this business than I have ever been aware of. What will the hand up his back make him say this time in the next day or two?

[Mericalis]

Oh, I believe he has his bank account in mind when he speaks what he thinks.

Here's the deal, I believe him 100% that Blu-ray is the superior format and he is wondering why his proceeds are not more. He has friends that are in the Blu camp, as he first stated in his blog, and he was upset because PM went AWOL on the format that would have made the most money for them/him. Now, that being said, he had to change his mind to suit PM, because he was/is hoping to direct TF2.

I figure that PM sent a little message to him stating: "Hang on a bit, Toshiba/M$ has promised us that HD DVD will skyrocket in sales closer to the end of the year because of price drops and a few other things. Also, M$ will be footing the bill."

Thus when the week TF didn't powerhouse HD DVD to a win, articles came out that he said, "From what I've seen, Blu-ray is where my money is at." Okay, now the latest from him. I do believe he wants to back Blu-ray, but PM just will not let him.

Edit: Also as it has been stated earlier, TF was Mr. Bay's first movie that people took notice of in mass, so he doesn't have the pull like Steven Spielberg or some other notable directors.

[Lord_Stewie]

Originally Posted by Marcusarilius

And who is paying Paramount? Is it not Microsoft? Just bit off more than he will be able to be allowed to swallow. Retraction II? There seems to be more politics involved in this business than I have ever been aware of. What will the hand up his back make him say this time in the next day or two?

oh Believe it or not. POLITICS AND CASH is in play. I mean if paramount made him retract his first statement, then they could and it is possible make him pull it off again. however, we don't know who is responsible. it could be him making up his mind.

[xtop]

not sure i believe it. i think its way too early for digital downloads to take over, so i can't imagine microsoft putting up that kind of money to do it. then again, weirder things have happened

[u_nick]

When the first incident happened, it was obvious Paramount made him take back his words. When he talked about Bluray, he sounded like any of us Bluray fans. Passionate. The next day when he said "HDDVD is just as good", it was so OBVIOUSLY the company line. They HAD to promote the movie. It was probably in all sorts of contracts.

And his next time coming to the defense of Bluray, the day AFTER TF on HDDVD went on sale? Coincidence? No way! Thats probably when the contracts expired.

And this latest comment about MS and the digital downloads? It's been rumored for a LONG time that this was the case. Bay isnt the first to say it, thats for sure. He sounds like a passionate Bluray fan to me. Just like any of us here. Only he MAKES movies for a living. Love or hate his movies, the fact is he is a film maker in hollywood. He does this for a living, so having that big a presence in the Bluray fanbase is huge.

Have any bigtime directors come out in honest support of HDDVD?

[Anthony P]

My guess it went something like

Bay is genuinely PO and writes blog

Paramount calls him in BS, BS ,BS, “look at 300, the HD DVD looks exactly like the HD DVD”, BS, BS, BS, "wait and see how good Transformers will look and how much it will sell", BS, BS, BS

..... time passes and Transformers comes out, he sees Transformers on DVD and HD DVD

is quoted in the article about his disappointment on the disk transfers and that BD was not available

Paramount calls him back in and BS BS BS " we got money to be exclusive and they are not happy when you ***** about HD DVD" BS BS BS

PO he posts again his displeasure of this mess in the blog

[darinp2]

Michael Bay even said something not to long ago about smart people not buying Transformers on HD DVD and waiting, so I think he real preference was clear at that point.

And while I think he believes his statement about Microsoft and checks is true, I think he is wrong. But I do believe that Microsoft cares way more about downloads. I just don't think they care about this war as much as many people think they do.

--Darin

[Richard Paul]

Originally Posted by shadblz

1)SHOULD HE BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY NOW?

Overall Micheal Bay has much to lose by speaking out for Blu-ray and nothing to gain so I think he is quite serious about what he has said in support of it.

Originally Posted by shadblz

2)DO YOU GUYS BELIEVE THAT THIS SUDDEN CHANGE OF HEART IS THE FINAL STAND HE MAKES, OR IS HE GOING TO CHANGE HIS MIND IN THE FUTURE?

I am not so sure he ever changed his mind so much as a certain studio convinced him that he should retract some of the things he said if he wanted to keep making movies for them. In other words his comment about not directing Transfomers 2 if Paramount wouldn't support Blu-ray was the only mistake he made since that was probably said in the heat of the moment and considering that he could lose millions of dollars if that happened it was only sensible for him to retract that statement. Since that retraction though he has continued to make statements in support of Blu-ray and is the only major director I know of that regularly does that.

[Richard Paul]

Originally Posted by darinp2

And while I think he believes his statement about Microsoft and checks is true, I think he is wrong.

Personally I think Toshiba most likely payed for the $150 million Paramount/Dreamworks deal by themselves but I can understand why some people think that Microsoft might have been behind it. Microsoft has thrown around millions/billions to get their products into new markets so the idea that Microsoft would do that with HD DVD sounds possible. The fact though that Microsoft has denied it makes me believe that they probably weren't involved and that it probably was just Toshiba.

[frenchglen]

Good man
Jerk

[frenchglen]

Oh, ok so he really is a good guy
No, he just over reacted again

[frenchglen]

I'm with you man (no, really)

[LordGamer]

Originally Posted by xtop

not sure i believe it. i think its way too early for digital downloads to take over, so i can't imagine microsoft putting up that kind of money to do it. then again, weirder things have happened

It did get me thinking...

Why is Microsoft involved? To my knowledge, they were not a part of the research and development of the format, they don't have any HD DVD patents, they don't have studio control, and normally (not factoring the add-on) they don't have any hardware purpose.

If I'm wrong on any of those points, someone please let me know. But again, why would Microsoft decided to back HD DVD, which to my knowledge, they have nothing to gain...at least not on the surface.

My original belief... Microsoft didn't want the Xbox 360 to appear inferior due to not having physical HD playback. So, they decided to present an option to consumers. Obviously, they weren't going to go with Blu-ray (since it was co-developed by their gaming rival). That being said, it does appear Microsoft's level of involvement is deeper than to be expected.

Edit...

And keep in mind, folks... Just because we may believe it's too early for digital downloads, doesn't mean MS isn't working on it. You figure MS would probably wait a few years, i.e. cause the format confusion now. Furthermore, just because something seems ridiculous to us, doesn't stop companies from trying (really, who thought Divx was a good idea).

[Imakida]

HDi?

[aristotles]

Originally Posted by Imakida

HDi?

Yes. If you read the article on roughlydrafted.com, MSFT was livid when HDi (WinCE based) was rejected in favour of a Java based technology namely BD-J. MSFT had bribed Disney under Eisner to push for inclusion of HD-i in the Blu-ray spec but the BDA rejected it.

Mericalis is absolutely right. Mr. Bay is a shrewd businessman. Besides the technical superiority of Blu-ray technology, Michael can see the sales figures and that he could be making a lot more money if Paramount was either Blu-ray exclusive or Neutral that HD DVD exclusive.

[mystiksuicide]

Originally Posted by Richard Paul

Personally I think Toshiba most likely payed for the $150 million Paramount/Dreamworks deal by themselves but I can understand why some people think that Microsoft might have been behind it. Microsoft has thrown around millions/billions to get their products into new markets so the idea that Microsoft would do that with HD DVD sounds possible. The fact though that Microsoft has denied it makes me believe that they probably weren't involved and that it probably was just Toshiba.

Microcrap was involved of that there is no doubt. Perhaps microcrap gave the money to toshiba and toshiba paid off paramount. But somewhere down the line you can rest assured microcrap was involved,

As to Bay's comments I wouldn't be surprised if paramount called him after his first remarks and told him look we know you don't agree with what we did but you need to back us we need for transformers to do well when it comes out on hd dvd.

Of course i am pretty sure the numbers paramount/Bay where expecting just didn't come and that's when he made the comment "people are smart and are going to wait for it to come out in blu"

So do I believe him? Yes I do just like I believe Steven Spielberg also prefers blu. I don't know where Jorge Lucas stands but I am sure he also prefers blu considering how much he wants his movies showcased and blu has the capacity to give him just that.

[powersfoss]

MB spoke his mind and got slapped by PM/DW. It was pretty obvious his "retraction" was to satisfy those above him. Lately, he's seemed detached from those "above" and willing to speak his mind publicly. I think he's a hero for what he has stated when you consider:

He is the director of the highest selling HD DVD ever. Can you imagine the director of the biggest movie to hit your format actually supports the opposition? Ha ha.

Go MB! You rock!