Actually with the first Transformers movie I thought they really toned it down a lot. A lot more dirt and a lot less gas. As compared to "Red Flag" it was practically realistic.
I wish we could see more movies done with effects more in the "Band of Brothers" or "Saving Private Ryan" mold where they try to make them right (i.e. no gas) instead of making it impactful. In fact, I think that it's one of the "little" things on the movie "Tropic Thunder" that they got right, especially considering that they used very little CGI in that movie and several of the "shots" (like the Bridge) were as big as they were because they were really trying to destroy a full structure and not just a faked up one.