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You may have heard this already, but part of Michael Bay’s Transformers 3 — notably one of the big final action set pieces — will take place in the heart of downtown Chicago. And while we don’t know, nor would we be interested in sharing, the details of the plot that lead the film to the Windy City, we do think it sounds like fun to see an epic war between alien robots and humanity break out in the same neighborhood where Christopher Nolan staged Gotham’s finest moments.

I also have this excellent theory as to why Transformers 3 will be far and away the best of the series. But we’ll save that for another day. Today we have some footage of the destruction down on the Michigan Avenue set, where Michael Bay has turned the usually pristine heart of Chicago to rubble. He does like to blow things up, doesn’t he?

The video came to our attention via Latino Review, who tagged it at the end of a funny parody article depicting a letter from Paramount Pictures head Brad Grey to Michael Bay, in which the studio head berates Bay for causing excessive damage to one of the nation’s most popular streets. It’s good for a laugh. Even more impressive is this video, which was shot on a Canon 7D by Steven Bogda. It is perhaps the best shot, best edited set videos I’ve ever seen.

Notice in the video below some of the new cars that are in play for Transformers 3, including a few beaten, but noticeably suped-up Nascars as well as a great looking shot of Bumblebee. No big explosions here, but we do get to see some of the aftermath — looks like Mr. Bay is out for major destruction once again. If you ask me, that means all is right with the world.

Transformers 3 will hit theaters on July 1, 2011. Check out the set video below.