Steve Jablonsky - www.steve-jablonsky.ch

According to the New Zealand Herald, Michael Bay has made it into the Guinness Book of World Records:

So ambitious are some of the scenes, that Bay has made it into the Guinness Book of Records for the biggest explosion on film with actors present. That shot was filmed in New Mexico.

Also form the article:

But the real star of the movie is director Michael Bay. Endowed with the swagger of a rock star, his reputation for grandiosity precedes him. Nonetheless, he is always entertaining in person, and boasts a resume that includes The Rock, Pearl Harbor, Bad Boys, and Armageddon, evidence of his penchant for blowing things up bigger and louder than anyone else. In short, to borrow from Spinal Tap, Bay turns the action up to 11.

In regard to filming on the Pyramids of Giza:

Outside of the US, the movie was shot in Paris, Jordan, and Cairo. «I take you to places that have never been shot in a movie. The top of Petra has never been put on film, period. King Abdullah II let us take 36 helicopter loads of military men up there. We were able to use a crane, so we take the viewer on aerial shots of the pyramid that even National Geographic never got permission to do,» he says. «They`ve all tried,» he says again, making his point. «When John Turturro was filming on the pyramid, he had a tear in his eye. I said, `Why are you crying? What`s going on?` He said, `You just don`t get to do this in movies. You don`t get to shoot in a place that`s 4000 years old.»` So, how was the big shot from Hollywood able to convince Middle Eastern royalty to let him have his way? «Because I`m a smooth talker,» he jokes. «No, seriously, the Prince and the King of Jordan were big fans of Transformers. That helped.»

And security issues:

Security in the Middle East is obviously an issue, and consequently, arrangements for the cast had to be made. But according to Fox, it was Bay who required more security than any of the film`s stars. «When we landed in Jordan or Egypt, Shia and I shared one car with the driver who was also the security guard. Michael`s car was flanked by six other security vehicles to make sure he got to the hotel safely,» she says. Now you can see why he`s regarded as a rock star. Fox adds, «It was like they were driving the president.»

source: New Zealand Herald & michaelbay.com

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11:33, 2009-07-03
posted by Fabrice