Michael Bay Gave The Newest Transformers Director A Pep Talk Because Making These Movies Is 'War'
If you're a fan of the "Transformers" franchise, you've seen some epic battles. They've taken place all over the world, from Stonehenge to the Great Wall of China to the pyramids of Giza. We've seen these robots in disguise fight it out with each other everywhere. The lore is important (the franchise has been around since 1984) to fans, and so are the characters: their look, their speech, and their interaction. There are CGI characters talking with humans ... the whole thing is complicated.
The most recent film, "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts" has just hit DVD, Blu-ray, and digital, meaning that we're getting a deeper look at how the film was made in the special features. In one of them, director Steven Caple Jr. ("The Land," "Creed II") is shooting a scene in Peru, when he gets a visit by Michael Bay. Bay, of course, directed the first five films in the seven-film series (so far) and was a producer on this one. This is the first "Transformers" film for Caple Jr., and Bay wanted to make sure he was there to give advice and support the new director. Bay spoke about how they get into some historic places to shoot and how making these films is "war."
Part of the family
In the featurette, producers Bay, Lorenzo Di Bonaventura, and Mark Vahradian spoke about getting into "international heritage sites" like Petra in Jordan, the Space Shuttle, and Paris. Vahradian said, "Part of the reason we can get into these spectacular places, is the people in charge of them love 'Transformers.'" That fandom extends to Caple Jr. as well. While speaking to Bay on set in Peru, he said, "Everyone wants to be part of the family. I mean, they kind of already are if they're fans of the franchise, but you know, for us trying to get locations, cities and countries open up to us. It's the love."
Love and support are a big thing here, and in that spirit, Bay said that he talked to Caple Jr. over Zoom to "pass on a lot of tips, because it's a war doing these movies." It certainly takes a lot of coordination — and probably earphones, given how loud they are. (What? They are! Not a dig. I like loud.) They also spoke about how they haven't screwed up any of the historic places that they've shot in, despite what you see on the screen. In fact, Caple Jr. joked that Bay blew up more things than he had, so he's "keeping it low profile." It obviously worked, because the audience score on Rotten Tomatoes is 91 percent. (Critic score is 52 percent, but these movies have always been for the fans, anyway.)
"Transformers: Rise of the Beasts" is out on DVD, digital, and Blu-ray.