Bad Boys Released By:
Col/Tri Home VideoFeatures:
1995; 119 Min; Rated R; Dolby Digital English 5.1, Dolby Surround: English, French, Spanish; Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85).Extras:
Nothing.Review:
Before Crimson Tide, The Rock and every other mega hit Jerry Bruckheimer and the late Don Simpson created during the late 1990's, they needed a comeback movie. After Days of Thunder, Paramount terminated their half billion dollar deal with these quintessential producers of the 80's. Bruckheimer and Simpson signed a first look deal at Disney's Hollywood pictures, one of the first films they put into motion was Bad Boys.Bad Boys was originally supposed to star Dana Carvey and Jon Lovitz. Fortunately for Columbia, Martin Lawrence, Will Smith, and director Michael Bay, the deal collapsed. The two producers were allowed to take Bad Boys to Columbia and the rest is history. Not only did it bring the once unstoppable producers back to forefront of the film industry, it launched careers of Lawrence, Smith and Bay.
Bay Boys is essentially Beverly Hills Cop set in Miami. Marcus Burnett (Lawrence) and Mike Lowery (Smith) are two Miami narcotics cops, know for going against the grain in their department. When $120 million dollars worth of heroin is stolen from the evidence locker in their police station, their boss (Joe Pantoliano) tells them to "Do what you do. Only faster." Aside from a witness (Tea Leoni), and the primary villain (Tcheky Karyo) being introduced, this is as deep as the plot gets.
Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are given the typical buddy type of script, where the banter bounces between them. Kayro's European greaseball villain is molded after Alan Rickman's character from Die Hard, while Tea Leoni is the token female in the story. Leoni has since disavowed ever being in this film. Thus her only successful turn in Hollywood has been her marriage to David Duchovney.
As a movie, it delivers exactly what one would expect. There is very little character development, but as with most films of this genre, does anyone truely care? This is a slickly produced and directed film, where every shot is totally calculated. As a director, Michael Bay showed his instant knowledge of what belongs in a Bruckheimer/Simpson film: Style and, in general, no substance. How many action films have substance anyhow?
Bad Boys was one of the first DVD's released by Columbia/Tri-Star. By no means does this film's transfer show its age, unlike other early studio transfers. The anamorphic print handles this rock-video type film very well. It is a marked improvement from the previously released LD from Columbia, if for no other reason, this disc won't die of laser rot. Gotta love Sony lasers pressed in Indiana. Thank god that plant's gone, let's hope Sony never begins to manufacture their own dual-layered disc :-)
The new Dolby Digital 5.1 mix was a bit of a mixed bag. Maybe I was expecting too much, being a Bruckheimer production. This film was early in the digital sound era, so I figure the film mixers were still learning. That being said, it is a marked improvement over the previously released pro-logic laserdisc. During the opening sequences, the bank robbery, and the opening title sequence, one will notice the differences instantly. There's more directional effects, plus the bass heavy music has a little more punch.
Finally we get to the extras... none. Not even a trailer. But I hope this will be resolved with the upcoming SE that Columbia has announced for later in the year. This is one of the primary reasons I've finally gotten around to reviewing this disc, I need to sell it off. I don't believe in dual inventory, save Star Wars and Indiana Jones.
For fans of Bruckheimer/Simpson films, this is a no brainer, you should own this disc. This title is definitely worth the rental, if you haven't seen it yet. It's always fun to see where a few of today's big stars and directors started.
Movie: 6
Picture: 7
Audio: 6.5
Extras: 0Dan Linzmeier, FIT Productions
Fitprod@aol.com
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