Michael Bay has taken to the internet to assure everyone that he isn’t ashamed of his 1998 sci-fi flick Armageddon .
Reports started surfacing yesterday that the much-maligned director had apologized for the action flick starring Ben Affleck and Bruce Willis. However, Bay claims that his words were twisted by a press writer who asked him what elements of the movie he’d like to change.
On his official website Shoot for the Edit , Bay stated that he isn’t at all shamed of Armageddon . In fact, the filmmaker said he is “proud of the movie.”
Here’s what Bay had to say:
“One press writer has gone too far in reporting false information. He has printed the bare minimum of my statement which in effect have twisted my words and meaning. I’m not in the slightest going to apologize for the third movie in my movie career, a film called Armageddon. On the red carpet for ‘Pain and Gain’ some reporters asked me what are you apologizing for, and I said what on earth are you talking about?”
He continued:
“What I clearly said to the reporter, is I wish I had more time to edit the film, specifically the third act. He asked me in effect what would you change if you could in your movies if you could go back. I said, I wish we had a few more weeks in the edit room on ‘Armageddon.’ And still today ‘Armageddon,’ is still one of the most shown movies on cable TV. And yes, I’m proud of the movie. Enough said.”
Apparently wires got crossed when Miami Herald writer Rene Rodriguez inquired about the director’s experience in the editing room on Armageddon . Instead of apologizing for the entire movie, Michael Bay said he was sorry for the way the third act played out.
After stating that he had to put the movie together in just 16 weeks, Bay went on to explain what happened as he approached the deadline.
The filmmaker explained:
“That was not fair to the movie. I would redo the entire third act if I could. But the studio literally took the movie away from us. It was terrible. My visual effects supervisor had a nervous breakdown, so I had to be in charge of that. I called James Cameron and asked ‘What do you do when you’re doing all the effects yourself?’ But the movie did fine.”
Are you a fan of Michael Bay’s work? Do you think the director should be ashamed of Armageddon ?