Bad Boys – Blu-ray Review

The Film:

It was fifteen years ago, that we witnessed the Birth of Bay, the self-proclaimed director of “awesome”, yet he was all but an unknown to us then. A handful of films later, the Redbull-crazed detonations expert Michael Bay is instantly recognizable for the things he does and doesn’t do in his films. Yet seeing Bad Boys now in hindsight, is a lot of fun for catching all of the “Bay-isms” we all have come to love and hate. Along with The Rock, Bad Boys is clearly his most streamlined effort still, showcasing the at-the-time TV stars Will Smith and Martin Lawrence over pure action and explosions. Well, barely.

I guess “Bayhards” (a term I’m coining now for Michael Bay supporters) might feel as if Bad Boys (1995) is quaint, when compared to the seemingly endless display of explosions in his later films like Armageddon, Transformers, and even Bad Boys II, but for the rest of us, the pairing of Smith and Lawrence is stuff of great chemistry, and why this film is a lot of fun. Reading old reviews from 1995 for Bad Boys echoes a lot of issues people have with Bay’s films now, but calling it an bad film because it’s formulaic is off-key here. In fact, that’s what makes the film so much fun is the traditional buddy-cop elements we get and how Will Smith and Martin Lawrence run with them. Yes, it’s like Lethal Weapon or Beverly Hills Cop but so? It never set out then to reinvent the buddy-cop genre, a long played out genre at that, but it did reinvigorate it.

Bad Boys is solely Smith’s and Lawrence’s film, even though Bay’s massive explosion-filled finale is a virtual tell-all to us as if he’s saying “wait till next time“. Bay seemingly had a disinterest in much of the dialogue in the film and encouraged them to go in directions they wanted too via improvisations. Yes, I’m fully aware of how that sentence sounds in a Michael Bay film review, but hey, it works in Bad Boys. Both at that time (and Smith still) were talented actors on TV with their respective shows and their banter is why Bad Boys is a film we watch and watch again. Like I said before, it’s far more coherent than his later films, another good reason why we come back for the “awesome”. Yeah, I said it, whatcha gonna do?

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Video: Sony offers us a solid HD presentation of Bay’s first film. In 15 years, audio mixes have changed, so it’s forgivable if this DTS track, that sounds really good, also sounds dated. It all lacks that powerful snap and clarity we’ve grown accustomed too, but don’t let that sway you. It still sounds really good like I’ve said, but a tad flat.

The video is pretty good too, although it lacks that slick sheen we like from our HD movies. Details are high, colors are great, black thick, all with minor film grain. Not a perfect transfer, but a good catalog release nonetheless. Worth upgrading from that DVD you have.

The extras are ported over from the previous DVD release.

Commentary: Bay flies solo here for an entertaining chat on the production. He goes a mile-a-minute yet it’s not fluff. Fans should dig his talk on the actors, explosions, and other tidbits.

Putting the Boom & Bang in the Bad Boys: Called a documentary on the back cover, but it’s more of a fine, semi-EPK look at the weapons in the film. The FX team gets some love here, and face it: without these dudes, who would Michael Bay be?

Three Music Videos, Trailers, and Sony’s MovieIQ finish out the extras.

Conclusion: The first Bay film is better, in terms of story and acting, than his newer ones, but fans will appreciate the HD disc for a fun explosion-filled watch.

The Film: Rating:

The Blu-ray: Rating: