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COLUMBIA TRISTAR

MOVIE INFO

Director:
Michael Bay
Cast:
Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Tea Leoni, Tcheky Karyo, Joe Pantoliano
Writing Credits:
Michael Barrie, Jim Mulholland and Doug Richardson

Synopsis:
Two hip detectives protect a murder witness while investigating a case of stolen heroin.

Box Office:
Budget
$19 million.
Opening Weekend
$15,523,358.
Domestic Gross
$65,637,842.

MPAA:
Rated R

DISC DETAILS
Presentation:
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audio:
English DTS-HD MA 5.1
French DTS-HD MA 5.1
Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
Portuguese DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles:
English
Spanish
French
Portuguese
Closed-captioned
Supplements Subtitles:
Spanish
Portuguese

Runtime: 118 min.
Price: $14.99
Release Date: 6/1/2010

Bonus:
• Audio Commentary by director Michael Bay
• "Putting the Boom And The Bang In Bad Boys Featurette
• Three Music Videos
• Theatrical Trailers


PURCHASE @ AMAZON.COM

EQUIPMENT
Panasonic TC-P60VT60 60-Inch 1080p 600Hz 3D Smart Plasma HDTV; Sony STR-DG1200 7.1 Channel Receiver; Panasonic DMP-BD60K Blu-Ray Player using HDMI outputs; Michael Green Revolution Cinema 6i Speakers (all five); Kenwood 1050SW 150-watt Subwoofer.

RELATED REVIEWS


Bad Boys [Blu-Ray] (1995)

Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (November 18, 2015)

Michael Bay’s debut as a big-screen director, Bad Boys. actually got some pretty positive reviews when it appeared in April 1995, and I got around to seeing it when it hit the local bargain theater. As I recall, I felt pretty unimpressed with what I witnessed. I didn't think it was a terrible movie, but it seemed to be a pretty perfunctory "buddy" action picture.

20 years down the road and nothing has altered that opinion. During this recent screening, Bad Boys still seemed pretty tired and flat. Bay attracts many detractors with his style of quick cuts and flashy action, but I don't mind the superficiality of his work because it can add to the excitement.

That's not the case with Boys. It features the usual Bay components but quite never takes off and becomes thrilling or even very interesting.

At the start of Boys, we meet a pair of Miami narcotics cops. The duo matches sex-deprived family man Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) with wealthy womanizer Mike Lowrey (Will Smith).

A gang breaks into a police evidence room and steals about $100 million of heroin confiscated during an arrest executed by Marcus and Mike. Internal Affairs officer Captain Sinclair (Marg Helgenberger) thinks it’s an inside job, and the cops have about 72 hours to clean house before the feds intervene. Their boss Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano) puts Mike and Marcus on the case.

Mike asks working girl Maxine (Karen Alexander) to keep an eye out for newly rich dudes who seek a good time. When her madam Lois (Heather Davis) receives a call for hookers at a hotel party, Max gets the job, and she brings along her non-prostitute pal Julie (Tea Leoni) as company.

Former cop Eddie Dominguez (Emmanuel Xuereb) brings them in, but the crime boss Fouchet (Tcheky Karyo) disapproves of his conduct. He knocks off Eddie and Max. Julie witnesses this, so she becomes an integral part of the investigation. She escapes and contacts Mike because he’s the only one she’ll trust. However, Mike’s not in the office, so Captain Howard makes Marcus impersonate him to reel in Julie.

From there, Marcus needs to continue to impersonate Mike as Julie stays in the latter’s apartment. Mike goes to stay with Marcus’ family while he pretends to go out of town. According to Julie, they have a few days before the drug deal goes down, so they need to protect and rein in a revenge-minded Julie and find Fouchet and company while they still can.

Boys really should work well, as it has potential. From Bay's visual style to the experience of the Bruckheimer/Simpson team to a solid leading cast of Will Smith, Martin Lawrence and Tea Leoni, all of the cogs were in place to make the movie a fun thrill ride.

Alas, it never gets out of the gate. The problem with Boys is that nothing about it seems special and the overall product becomes rather forgettable. Bay's other movies include some real standout scenes, but there's nothing in Boys that sticks with me; not one moment in the entire film registers as something memorable. It all feels like one big incoherent mass of mayhem that does nothing to distinguish itself.

The leads are always fairly engaging and likable. It now feels odd to see Lawrence billed over Smith; in the ensuing years, Lawrence clearly demonstrated some box office appeal, but Smith became a major star who doesn’t often get second-billed to anyone. In any case, the two create a decent chemistry and add what little life the movie possesses.

I also find Leoni to be an interesting actress. She presents something of a female counterpart to Jeff Goldblum; she uses a lot of unusual line readings that could be annoying but usually are pleasantly quirky. Leoni has little to do in the film, but it doesn't appear that way because she makes the most of her time onscreen and enlivens the proceedings with her presence.

Unfortunately, that's not enough to make Bad Boys anything more than a vaguely watchable but "by the numbers" action flick. We've seen it before, and we've seen it better.

I've read a number of other reviews of Boys and it's clear that it maintains a pretty strong following, but I honestly don't get it; it's the kind of shallow and hollow affair that folks usually accuse Bruckheimer and Bay of making.


The Blu-ray Grades: Picture B-/ Audio B+/ Bonus C+

Bad Boys appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Though the transfer had some strong moments, it also came with more weaknesses than expected.

Sharpness seemed erratic. Some scenes displayed very good delineation, but others appeared a bit soft and fuzzy. Those tendencies weren’t dominant, but they created distractions. Moiré effects and jagged edges caused no concerns, and I noticed no edge haloes. The print betrayed only a few flaws; I saw a handful of small marks but nothing much.

Colors tended to be a bit heavy. The movie went with dense tones to fit the hot Miami setting, and I thought they were acceptable but a bit too thick.

Black levels looked deep and rich, but some problems with shadow detail occurred. These seemed to stem from Hollywood's oft-noted weakness when it comes to lighting people with dark skin; I still remember an old Eddie Murphy routine on the subject. You'd think that since the two stars of the film were black they'd make the necessary allowances, but that's often not the case, and Smith and Lawrence occasionally vanished into the night. It's not a terrible problem, but it did occur. This ended up as a “B-“ presentation.

I was more pleased by the film's DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack. One expects a slam-bang audio experience from a Simpson/Bruckheimer shoot-em-up like this, and the mix usually delivered. The soundfield often was very encompassing and rich, with all five speakers providing useful and realistic audio detail. Sounds were nicely localized and panned well between the channels.

Audio quality seemed generally strong as well, with only a few exceptions. Dialogue appeared warm and natural, with no problems related to intelligibility. Music seemed clear and concise, with bright and broad tones, and effects were largely realistic and clean; very little distortion came through during the film.

Dynamic range usually appeared terrific, with some deep bass at times, but some scenes came across as curiously flat. These were rare, but during a couple of the many gun battles, I felt that the audio packed a surprisingly meek punch. Even with those exceptions, the track still worked well, though the small concerns kept Bad Boys from possibly rating higher than its "B+".

The Blu-ray provides a modest set of supplements. First up is an audio commentary from director Michael Bay. He provides a running, screen-specific look at cast and performances, sets and locations, action and stunts, effects, story/characters and connected elements.

On the negative side, the commentary suffers from a fair amount of dead air. Bay doesn’t vanish for super-long periods of time, be we get more empty spots than expected.

When Bay does speak, however, he offers a pretty terrific look at the movie. Relentlessly frank, Bay gives us an unvarnished take on the production, and he doesn’t shy away from stories about problems that he experienced. Most directors ladle out the happy talk, but Bay prefers to go in the opposite direction, and that helps make this a fascinating chat.

A featurette called Putting the Boom and the Bang in Bad Boys appears here. It runs 23 minutes, 54 seconds and primarily examines the action effects side of making the film. We hear from Bay, pyrotechnicians Anthony Simonaitis and Mike Meinardus, weapons handler Mike Papic, and actors Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.

Although I would have liked to learn more about the production’s creative side, this program gives us a good "nuts and bolts" look at an underexamined side of movie magic: the use of guns and pyrotechnics. After all, we often hear a lot about computer graphics and other more fantastical work, but we don't usually see a close examination of this kind of real-world mayhem. The piece offers a pretty interesting take on the subject matter.

Bad Boys features three music videos. The most interesting is the first: "Shy Guy" by Diana King. For the most part, this is a pretty standard video for a song from a movie. It shows King as she lip-synchs the song, and her parts are intercut with clips from the movie itself.

The video stands as more compelling than most because both Smith and Lawrence appear in footage specifically shot for the promo, in both introductory and fadeout bits plus some pieces that pop up sporadically throughout the song. It's not a great video, but it's mildly enjoyable.

It certainly tops the other two videos. "So Many Ways" by Warren G. is a very standard affair; it combines the usual film clips with dull shots of Mr. G. as he performs. Yawn!

Still, I'll take bland over obnoxious, which is why "Five O, Five O (Here They Come)" by 69 Boyz featuring K-Nock is easily the worst of the three videos. It's a genuinely annoying song in the tradition of junk like "Whoomp! There It Is" and the video - which alters the usual lip-synch/movie clip formula by having the performers dance and sing over a video background - made me wish I could perform my own firearms demonstration on my TV. Avoid it at all costs.

A few ads appear under Previews. It throws in promos for Casino Royale (2006), Men in Black, Ghostbusters, Hancock, Armored, Harry Brown, Wild Things: Foursome, Unthinkable, The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, Youth in Revolt and Black Dynamite. No trailer for Bad Boys shows up here.

Despite my affection for dopey action films, I simply have never found much to like about Bad Boys. The overall level of the production seems decent but it lacks any particularly special elements to make it noteworthy. The Blu-ray offers erratic visuals, good audio and a smattering of supplements. This becomes a decent representation of a sporadically entertaining movie.

To rate this film, visit the Superbit review of BAD BOYS