Bay talks about how he got involved in the film: he got a call from Steven Spielberg and then made a visit to Hasbro in Rhode Island and was immersed in Transformers lore. He tells an amusing anecdote about how an Industrial Lights and Magic CGI animator from Japan spoke up in a meeting and got the gig to animate Optimus Prime. Bay also talks at length about meeting and casting Shia LaBeouf. The director candidly addresses the Internet/fanbase criticism about how he would ruin the franchise and talks about the artwork and script leaks. Love or hate the guy, he is the epitome of an ultra-confident, big-time Hollywood director and tells a lot of interesting, engaging and entertaining stories.

I enjoyed it, but I did grow intensely tired of the constant, "Im Michael Bay and thats why I get so much military access". I get his ego, but I wish he'd share the spotlight of the commentary w/someone else.

Not for nothin' - but this commentary's really nothin' to listen to.

He explains that he made Megan Fox cry (why does that not surprise me?), the amount of death threats he got, (again, why does that not surprise me?) he talks about himself; "Michael Bay is like a tough basketball coach." (why does THAT not surprise me?), how Steve Buscemi was going to play John Turturro's role, his cameo, he plays a character getting flicked away by Megatron and how the death threats stopped after the film was released.

Like Uwe Boll, Bay is a bad filmmaker with a HUGE ego, but his commentaries are interesting no matter what stupid decisions he makes.

Classic Michael Bay: informative, entertaining, honest, never dull. Yes, yes, the man has an ego, but that goes for pretty much every other big, hugely successful feature director. At least these people have earned their right to brag. They worked hard to reach the top of the film business.

So I don't mind the ego thing. At all. Anyway, on the commentary track Bay delivers some very interesting behind-the-scenes stories, he talks about his initial feelings towards the Transformers brand and how he subsequently became a Transformers fan.

He also talks about the casting of the lead actors, about the military hardware, and the overall hard work that went into the making of this beast of a movie.

Would've been really good if Bay was joined by other members of the cast/crew, but even on his own he provides a solid commentary that would definitely satisfy his fans and also the fans of the movie itself.

This commentary is definitely worth a listen to. If you're an action movie fan, a Michael Bay fan, a Transformers fan who hated the movie or a Transformers fan who loved the movie, this is a track that I highly recommend.

Say what you will about Bay, but he's a man who knows his craft (even if that "craft" is just boom-boom). He's informative, surprisingly articulate, honest and sometimes even funny.

He describes in great deal the story of how he first got the job (as The Cubist explains above me), the casting of the actors, the cooperation with the military his feelings towards the franchise before he started and even while they had early screenings he expressed concern that the movie would flop. You get some insight into his favourite moments/sound/shots from the movie, the issues he dealt with from an obsessive and immature (my words, not his) fanbase and how anime was one of the big things that inspired him to take the job. Be they decisions that you loved or hated, it's always fascinating to hear the reasons behind the decisions.

He basically runs the gamut of topics from the script, the actors, the action, the military, the VFX, the designs, the locations, etc..

FUN FACTS:

-Bay is a huge Coen Brothers fan.

-Although the role eventually went to Hugo Weaving (whom producer Lorenzo diBonaventura worked with on the "Matrix" movies), Bay did audition Frank Welker for Megatron. But the voice that Frank auditioned with was his classic G1 voice, which Bay felt didn't fit their version of Megatron. Bay "didn't feel right" asking Frank to change his iconic Megatron voice for the role.

-He wanted to base the movements and mannerisms of the robots on certain actors. Optimus Prime on Liam Neeson, Bumblebee on Michael J. Fox and Megatron on Hugo Weaving (who ended up voicing him).

-It cost $200,000 to build the practical Bumblebee robot prop.

-John Turturro's character was originally going to be played by Steve Buscemi.

-Megatron's face was once even uglier than it is in the final movie, and was changed because of the negative reception that fans gave.

Considering that this is only one person talking, it's a pretty cool and informative commentary. Like many others, I'm a big fan of Mike Bay's commentaries mainly because the guy is very honest, very direct, very confident and at times quite funny and amusing. This whole track is basically Bay explaining his journey from being a guy who doesn't really care about Transformers to becoming a huge fan of those robots........a fan who directed one of the biggest hits of 2007. He talks about his VERY close relationship with the military, the approach toward the groundbreaking visual effects in the flick, the music, his pal Steven Spielberg, the huge success of the movie, and of course he talks in great detail about the eclectic cast, with Shia being the main focus. As per usual, he also shares some pretty neat little stories from the set of the movie.

All in all, a good commentary. Wouldn't mind listening to it again.