Bad Boys
What?
Thrusting into cinemas as the debut feature film from Director Michael Bay, Bad Boys runs on a theme of narcotics, cops and fast cars. Ex-rapper Will Smith and comedian Martin Lawrence pair up as Mike Lowery and Marcus Burnett, two Miami cops heading up a heroin theft investigation that threatens the future of their precinct. When a photographer then witnesses the thieves killing her model friend, the race begins to prevent her from revealing their identities to the Police. Things then become more confused and comedic when Marcus and Mike are forced to assume one another’s lives while gaining the trust of the material witness. Relying heavily on the personality clashes both men exchange for the entertainment, the film doggedly plods on for almost two hours and delivers more Bay-esque camera angles than you could shake a stick at.
Optics:
Considering the films age and 35mm film source format, the image presented is at best comparable to an upscaled SD-DVD, with only a handful of truly HD frames to remind you this is the latest in cinematic technology. Saturation is typically vibrant with Miami skylines and rainbow flora filling the screen, and blacks are for the most part deep and distinct but with predominantly soft imagery lowering the quality, this is not a Blu-ray disc to show off to friends.
Sonics:
Having previously owned the Superbit release myself, I anticipated some pretty bombastic audio, but unfortunately it felt very restrained during shootouts, with minimal LFE where I expected thunder, and the only real sonic presence was the contemporary score driving the film forwards. Dialogue levels were stable and clear but the master volume was significantly increased to benefit from anything the speakers could throw out. Ultimately it’s technically better than the SD-DVD dts mix, but not enough to leave you satisfied.
Extras:
With a boring and frankly pointless featurette to provide any background to Bad Boys, it’s all over as quickly as it began. There are also music videos should anyone feel compelled and theatrical trailers to round things off.
Well?
What once worked back in the nineties now feels clumsy, cheesy and a total waste of time, with Martin Lawrence’s sharp comic timing playing second fiddle to Will Smith’s sugary ego, a sad fact many viewers may have missed the first time around. The plot is paper thin, the one-liners become quickly irritating and the chemistry between the two leading men feels more like artistic tension than friendship, all adding up to an experiment in style over substance that is quickly forgotten. If you’re a die-hard fan of this cop buddy flick then I’d wait to pick the Blu-ray disc in the bargain bin before you part with your cash, but if you’re just curious to know more I’d stick to a rental first.
Neil Egan-Ronayne
Thrusting into cinemas as the debut feature film from Director Michael Bay, Bad Boys runs on a theme of narcotics, cops and fast cars. Ex-rapper Will Smith and comedian Martin Lawrence pair up as Mike Lowery and Marcus Burnett, two Miami cops heading up a heroin theft investigation that threatens the future of their precinct. When a photographer then witnesses the thieves killing her model friend, the race begins to prevent her from revealing their identities to the Police. Things then become more confused and comedic when Marcus and Mike are forced to assume one another’s lives while gaining the trust of the material witness. Relying heavily on the personality clashes both men exchange for the entertainment, the film doggedly plods on for almost two hours and delivers more Bay-esque camera angles than you could shake a stick at.
Optics:
Considering the films age and 35mm film source format, the image presented is at best comparable to an upscaled SD-DVD, with only a handful of truly HD frames to remind you this is the latest in cinematic technology. Saturation is typically vibrant with Miami skylines and rainbow flora filling the screen, and blacks are for the most part deep and distinct but with predominantly soft imagery lowering the quality, this is not a Blu-ray disc to show off to friends.
Sonics:
Having previously owned the Superbit release myself, I anticipated some pretty bombastic audio, but unfortunately it felt very restrained during shootouts, with minimal LFE where I expected thunder, and the only real sonic presence was the contemporary score driving the film forwards. Dialogue levels were stable and clear but the master volume was significantly increased to benefit from anything the speakers could throw out. Ultimately it’s technically better than the SD-DVD dts mix, but not enough to leave you satisfied.
Extras:
With a boring and frankly pointless featurette to provide any background to Bad Boys, it’s all over as quickly as it began. There are also music videos should anyone feel compelled and theatrical trailers to round things off.
Well?
What once worked back in the nineties now feels clumsy, cheesy and a total waste of time, with Martin Lawrence’s sharp comic timing playing second fiddle to Will Smith’s sugary ego, a sad fact many viewers may have missed the first time around. The plot is paper thin, the one-liners become quickly irritating and the chemistry between the two leading men feels more like artistic tension than friendship, all adding up to an experiment in style over substance that is quickly forgotten. If you’re a die-hard fan of this cop buddy flick then I’d wait to pick the Blu-ray disc in the bargain bin before you part with your cash, but if you’re just curious to know more I’d stick to a rental first.
Neil Egan-Ronayne
Director:
Michael Bay
Starring:
Will Smith
Martin Lawrence
Tea Leoni
Joe Pantoliano
Best line:
"Freeze, motherbitches!"
Tagline:
"Whatcha gonna do?"
Description:
Sony Pictures
UK
Region B
Rated 18
1hr 59mins
1.85:1
DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Audio commentary with director Michael Bay
'Putting the Boom & Bang in the Bad Boys'
Music videos
Trailers
Movie IQ+sync & BD-Live
Ratings: (Out of 10)
Film 6.0
Optics 7.0
Sonics 7.0
Extras 3.0
Overall 7.0
