How to recruit young American soldiers to fight and die – Bay-style!
By Burbanked on May 29, 2007 in Celebrities, Geekformers, Movies | 1,559 views |
In a rare and wondrous alignment of the planets this past weekend, I got out to the movies to see an actual first-run-in-the- theater film.
Prior to showtime, somewhere in the 32-minute mark of pre-trailer commercials, the recruitment piece seen here ran.
It’s expertly shot and meticulously edited. It’s got a moving score and compelling action shots that are packed into tiny, brain-seizing pieces. The title cards in the piece are strong, manly. Filled with macho posturing and good, old-fashioned American jingoism. There’s a familiarity there, the sense that we understand its wishful We’re-So-Great mentality, and we’re comforted by its simplicity.
And that’s probably because it’s the kind of thing Michael Bay does in every film he’s ever made. Take a look at the trailer for Armageddon:
It’s not that there’s anything wrong with the Army spot; there isn’t. It’s a stirring (if a bit overblown) piece of recruitment, targeted to a specific audience as exactly it should be.
But the point of the Army commercial is not to tell a narrative story, and that’s where the difference between recruitment and filmmaking is supposed to end. There’s no doubt that Bay possesses enviable technical skills. He is a great and powerful ad director, perhaps the best there’s ever been. Hollywood has made him into a blockbuster machine, a cocksure hackster who is every bit as clever and unstoppable as he is empty and two-dimensional.
I know I’ve said this before, but as the Transformers hype continues to build, I just keep coming back to it: the less that we demand from our entertainment, the less we’ll get in return.
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Piper | May 30, 2007 | Reply
Great comparison.
Bay is a fantastic commercial director. I think of the Isuzu spot he did with the Dad in the toy store.
And I’m okay with him directing mindless action. But when he gets in to the Pearl Harbor kind of shit, I have to give the ole Time Out sign and say that this guy has no business translating history. And I feel the same way with The Army Spot. You’re right that there really is no place for a storyline when it comes to recruiting for the army. It’s scary territory. And to me, it proves that Bay will do anything for a buck.
Ray | May 30, 2007 | Reply
Damn…that makes me want to go kill 160,000 Iraqis all by myself!!!
Go America! Sieg Heil!! Sieg Heil!!
Bob | May 30, 2007 | Reply
I’ve never seen “Armageddon.” Probably because I’m afraid I’ll wind up rooting for the world to end.
Burbanked | May 31, 2007 | Reply
Piper – I may be misunderstanding you, but I’m not suggesting that Bay directed this Army spot – only that it’s copying his style in order to make it more movie-like and marketable. Pearl Harbor is a great example of what happens when the dopes in Hollywood try to legitimize Bay’s limited storytelling talents; an “important” historical drama with cool blowy-up shots and ham-handed sentimentality.
Ray – I’d just like to take this opportunity to again use the word “jingoism”, because most people never say that word again after seventh grade social studies class. Mmmmmm…jingoism.
Bob – When I watch Armageddon, I always wind up rooting for just one scene to end. Or maybe to have a beginning or middle. Or maybe for someone to lock that damn camera the f**k down for 10 seconds.