It's a well-known fact in the movie industry that when it comes to massive explosions, Michael Bay is king. Whether he's blowing up sentient robots from space or a $40 million dollar mansion, no one has quite the eye for extreme pyrotechnics. It's why fans know him, and why they love him.
And while not each and every one of his films is a critical hit, they're all adrenaline-charged thrill rides of the highest order. A few fiery set pieces stand out above the rest, as true examples of explosive excellency. Here are the 10 best explosions from the Michael Bay cannon, ranked.
Transformers: Age Of Extinction
Mark Wahlberg's first foray into the Transformers franchise may not have been fans' favorite, but it features both regular dinosaurs and robot dinosaurs, so what's not to love? The movie opens with a scene where an alien race known as the "Creators" descend on prehistoric earth to cover the planet in a metal called "Transformium."
And while they do it, the screen lights up with huge fireballs. Stampeding dinosaurs charge to escape their Michael Bay-imposed doom, and audiences cling to their couches for dear life, already thrilled in the first five minutes.
The Island
This Scarlett Johansson/Ewan McGregor flick may not be Bay's most popular, perhaps owing to its strange sci-fi concept about people raised in a remote compound solely for the purpose of harvesting their organs.
But The Island is certainly jam-packed with heart-pounding action sequences. Once the heroes escape from their creepy future prison, they must survive epic sci-fi car chases (replete with explosions) and assassins, in order to return to the compound where they were raised for bloody, bloody revenge.
The Rock
Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage, and Ed Harris headline this 1996 action thriller set on the famous prison island of Alcatraz. Often referred to as Die Hard on Alcatraz, this film sets up a tense stand-off in which rogue U.S. Marines threaten to set off bombs full of nerve gas over San Francisco unless they're given $100 million.
Early in the action, a car chase on the streets of San Francisco results in a glorious explosion in which one of the city's famous streetcars gets blasted, in typical Michael Bay fashion, straight into the air. Truly a sight to behold.
Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen
The second film in the franchise, and Megan Fox's last, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is in many ways a milestone achievement for Mr. Bay. Sure, Transformers was a hit, but it's this film that really proves the viability of a long-term franchise.
This one features an awesome action scene set in the desert of Egypt, right near the Great Pyramids at Giza. As alien explosives hit and sand flies what seems like miles into the sky, the audience falls once again in love with the absolute shining glory of Bayhem. One of the Decepticons even gets blown to smithereens with a rail gun.
Transformers: The Last Knight
The fifth installment in the Transformers franchise may have flown under some fans' radars, with a much more modest box office return than those that came before it. But Michael Bay never fails to deliver on the action front, and this one combines jaw-dropping sci-fi spectacles with, oddly enough, medieval knights.
Impressive pyrotechnics, historically-inaccurate medieval action scenes, and evil (and good) robots from space make for a truly epic movie-watching experience, and true fans of Bay's distinctive style were not disappointed.
Bad Boys II
With Bad Boys For Life now in theaters, it's the perfect time to go back and revisit some of Bay's greatest hits. Though he isn't directing the third installment in the series, there can be no doubt that his influence is still steering the ship.
One of his most famous explosions has got to be the $40 million dollar mansion that goes up in flames in Bad Boys II. Martin Lawrence and Will Smith, having barely survived the massive explosion at the end of the first Bad Boys film, are back to sling more witty quips and send more debris shooting hundreds of feet into the blue Miami sky.
Pain And Gain
Mark Wahlberg, Anthony Mackie, and Dwayne Johnson headline this action-comedy about bodybuilders and ex-convicts in Miami. And if all those elements don't sound like enough of a recipe for explosions and shootouts, try adding in a kidnapping scheme gone wrong, speedboats, and Rebel Wilson.
The explosion that kills the film's antagonist at the end of this movie is truly one for the history books. As the superheated fireball sears the air behind them, all three of the film's stars walk away without looking back -- the mark of a certified stone-cold cool guy.
Armageddon
When NASA eventually discovers a massive world-ending asteroid hurtling toward earth, Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck will be the ones they turn to for salvation. In this way, and perhaps only this way, Bay's 1998 film Armageddon is prophetic.
Though it's not exactly scientifically accurate, Armageddon is a heck of a good time and packed with wall-to-wall explosions. From a meteor shower that destroys New York City, blowing up cars and buildings left and right, to the almost beautiful green-blue splitting of the asteroid during the movie's climax, Bay really delivers the goods.
Bad Boys
There are certainly plenty of explosions to get excited about in Bad Boys II, but the original Bad Boys is where the real fireballs are. This 1995 action blockbuster was the first introduction fans really got to Bayhem in its true, unadulterated form since it was Michael Bay's directorial debut.
Buddy cops Will Smith and Martin Lawrence take Miami by storm and wrap up the film's climax with a truly awesome explosion at an airport hangar bay, assisted by Téa Leoni and some conveniently-stacked propane canisters.
Pearl Harbor
Critics may not have liked this dramatic historical piece starring Ben Affleck and Kate Beckinsale, but that doesn't mean that it was lacking in the fiery inferno department. After all, how could a movie about the attack on Pearl Harbor not include epic, over-the-top, historically-inaccurate aerial bombardment?
As the characters struggle to work out their doomed romances, caught in a wartime love triangle, World War II-era B25 bombers and P-40 fighters wreak glorious havoc on that doomed Hawaiian Navy base.