Michael Bay’s The Island: Forgotten Sci-Fi Hit Resurfaces On Netflix 20 Years Later

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Netflix viewers are discovering Michael Bay’s 2005 sci-fi film, The Island. While Bay is famous for explosive action movies like Bad Boys, The Rock, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, and the Transformers series, The Island, which stars Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson, hasn’t gotten much attention until now.

Twenty years after it first came out, The Island is currently the ninth most popular movie on Netflix in the U.S., according to the week of November 24th to 30th. Director Michael Bay has two films in the Top 10 this week—the sci-fi thriller The Island and his 2022 action movie, Ambulance, which is at number six.

The chart’s top ten includes Jingle Bell Heist at number one, followed by KPop Demon Hunters, Champagne Problems, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, In Your Dreams, Dog, The Carman Family Deaths, and Frankenstein rounding out the list at number ten.

Directed by Michael Bay and written by the team behind the Transformers movies (Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci), The Island centers on two clones – played by Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson – who discover the truth about their existence and flee a secretive research facility. They are chased by a hired mercenary (Djimon Hounsou) as they try to reveal the unethical cloning operation.

As a movie fan, I was really excited to see the cast list for The Island! It’s packed with amazing actors. You’ve got Emmy winner Ewan McGregor, who I loved in Halston, and Scarlett Johansson, who’s been nominated for Oscars twice for films like Marriage Story and Jojo Rabbit. But it doesn’t stop there – Djimon Hounsou, another two-time Oscar nominee (remember Blood Diamond?), Sean Bean, who’s iconic from Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings, the late Michael Clarke Duncan, so memorable in The Green Mile, and the always fantastic Steve Buscemi are all in it too. What a lineup!

Like many films by Michael Bay, The Island received mixed reactions. Critics felt it closely resembled science fiction movies from the 1960s and 70s, like THX 1138, Coma, and Logan’s Run, that explored similar themes of escaping from oppressive societies. Ultimately, the movie became another visually impressive but somewhat shallow action film, prioritizing exciting chases and explosions over well-developed characters, compelling dialogue, or a strong narrative.

While many of Michael Bay’s films have been huge successes, The Island wasn’t one of them. It earned only $162.9 million despite costing $126 million to make, and it hasn’t remained popular since its release.

Despite being Michael Bay’s first major box office disappointment, ScreenRant recently praised The Island as his “most underrated movie.” They argue the film is actually better than most people think.

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2025-12-04 02:58