Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. Let’s talk a little bit about this TRANSFORMERS 2 Michael Bay Blu-Ray shenanigan.

When Bay first posted on his blog (SHOOT FOR THE EDIT) that it was “No Transformers 2 for me!” because of Paramount’s exclusive HD-DVD deal, I thought it must be a sarcastic statement. Really? He’d give up the payday and the chance to continue a successful franchise that he was gung-ho about doing sequels for last week because the tiny high definition market was being divided?

I’m not the only one who thinks that doesn’t make any sense, right?

So count me shocked when news sources began reporting it as Bay announcing his departure from TRANSFORMERS sequels.

Then count me even more shocked when Bay withdrew his comment and replaced it with this one:

Last night at dinner I was having dinner with three blu-ray owners, they were pissed about no Transformers Blu-ray and I drank the kool aid hook line and sinker. So at 1:30 in the morning I posted - nothing good ever comes out of early am posts mind you - I over reacted. I heard where Paramount is coming from and the future of HD and players that will be close to the $200 mark which is the magic number. I like what I heard.

As a director, I'm all about people seeing films in the best quality possible, and I saw and heard firsthand people upset about a corporate decision.

So today I saw 300 on HD, it rocks!

So I think I might be back on to do Transformers 2!

Michael Bay

I’m not shocked that he reversed his stance, but that he seemed to have been serious about leaving the series over the exclusivity deal for the studio’s high-def releases. That blows my mind a little bit.

Or maybe he was just drunk.

There’s been a huge amount of chatter about this deal. The funny thing is even though I own a stand-alone HD-DVD player and love it, I don’t disagree with what I’m reading from a lot of Blu-Ray supporters.

I’ve gotten so many emails and read so many sites saying how it’s not fair that Paramount/Dreamworks is excluding Blu-Ray owners. I agree. But that’s also an incredibly hypocritical statement. They sure didn’t mind when Disney went exclusively Blu-Ray, but now it’s unfair?

However, I agree, ultimately. Why not let the market choose? Make all studios neutral, including Sony and Universal and let the market choose.

That’s not going to happen, but in a perfect world that’s how this would unfold… of course, in a perfect world there wouldn’t be a format war in the first place. No politics, just great movies looking amazing.

I’m sure there’ll be a ton of arguing about the different formats in the talkbacks below… but try to keep it civil. At the end of the day, it’s all about loving and collecting movies, right?

-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com