10 Most Criminally Underrated Blockbusters Since 2000

9. The Island (2005)

Adjusted for ticket price inflation, The Island is director Michael Bay's lowest grossing movie domestically, returning only $35 million on a budget of $126 million. It's $162 million worldwide total is chump-change compared to Bay's usual box-office behemoths. So, what went wrong for The Island? It had a good cast (Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johansson and Sean Bean), an interesting 'escape from dystopia' sci-fi story inspired by classics such as Farenheit 451, large scale destructive action scenes and the customary helping of 'trademark' Michael Bay humour. Bay has proven himself a very popular director over the years, so why did audience's not connect with The Island? It might be because it was released into a competitive summer scene against the likes of Star Wars: Episode III, War Of The Worlds and Batman Begins. It might be because audience's weren't fond of Bay's previous two films, Pearl Harbour and Bad Boys II. Whatever the reason, we've always felt The Island deserved a better fate, as Bay marries his kinetic and explosive action scenes with an intriguing (if not exactly original) storyline, and the movie benefits from strong supporting turns by the late Michael Clarke Duncan and Steve Buscemi.