Before Jerrry Bruckheimer partnered up with Michael Bay and synonomized Bay's name with fiery explosions and giant robots, Bruckheimer's director of choice was Tony Scott. Bruckheimer produced 4 Scott films before hooking up with Bay. Which Bruckheimer protege has had a better career?
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Michael Bay leads in average adjusted box office, thanks to Transformers 2, Transformers, and Armageddon. Tony Scott, on the strength of Top Gun and Beverly Hills Cop II, has the edge in total adjusted box office, but it's not enough to surpass Bay in this category.
Edge: Michael Bay
Critical Success 
Score is based on critics' scores as aggregated on Rotten Tomatoes and user scores from IMDB.
Neither of these guys have particularly good critical reaction, but Tony Scott looks like a critic's darling compared to Micheal Bay. Bay's The Rock and Transformers cannot hold off Tony Scott's best reviewed films, True Romance and Crimson Tide.
Edge: Tony Scott
Again, neither director has done particularly well with awards. Michael Bay's movies, Armageddon (4 noms, 0 wins) and Pearl Harbor (4 noms, 1 win), have done better than the sole Oscar win for a Tony Scott film: Best Original Song for Top Gun. The AFI and NFR lists are free of Michael Bay and Tony Scott directed titles. Bay has made 8 films, Scott has made 16, which puts him over the top in this category. Neither director has written any of their films.
Edge: Tony Scott
Final Verdict! Final showdown score is the sum of the three categories' scores.
Looks like Bruckheimer's original golden boy has had the most successful career so far. Michael Bay put up a good fight and both directors are still active, so this battle isn't over yet!
Winner: Tony Scott
