BAD BOYS (1995, Blu-ray released June 1, 2010 – MSRP $24.95)
I kind of feel like this blog is finally giving me an excuse to watch all of the trashy 90s movies I avoided in my youth, several of them from flash-heavy/substance-lite wunderkind Michael Bay. While I didn’t really care much for his Armageddon (as evidenced in my review) and I’m not a big fan of The Transformers franchise, I actually had some fun watching the director’s first big-budget feature film, Bad Boys, now on Blu-ray.
To me, watching Bad Boys feels a lot like watching an episode of C.S.I. Miami with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence standing in for David Caruso. Everything about this film reeks of the inspiration for the look and the style of that program. Now, I understand that Bay got there first (Bad Boys was released in 1995, C.S.I. Miami debuted in 2002) but I maxed out on this vibe after a few seasons suffering through Detective Horatio Cane’s sidelong glances and condescending tones. Thank goodness for the comedy stylings of Smith and Lawrence!
It’s strange to say it but the comedy, rough as it is, saves Bad Boys for me (well, along with the killer villainous performance of the brilliant Tcheky Karyo.) The film is all about Smith and Lawrence and I’ve got to give credit to Bay for getting out of their way and letting them shine! He understands here that his script isn’t his greatest asset (in fact, he almost slams it in the commentary track!) and fills the scenes with the improvisational genius of his comedic stars. That includes the wonderful Téa Leoni, who manages to hold her own throughout.
At the end of the day, Bad Boys is the farthest thing from great cinema but it’s a damn fun buddy-cop film. Bay blows some things up “real good”, delivers a bevy of his now-signature music video style, slow motion glamour shots and allows his actors to keep the film alive with comedic improvisation. I can’t argue with that kind of success!
And speaking of success, this is another bang-up successful home-run of a Blu-ray transfer from Sony! These guys are batting a thousand with their high-def offerings lately. The colours pop, skin tones are accurate, blacks are deep (at times too deep – black crush is a problem at times but this is most likely due to the way the film was shot) and there’s enough detail to please any fan. And when the explosions hit, you won’t be disappointed by the muscular DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack. For a catalogue titles from 1995, this disc is a winner!
Bad Boys comes to Blu-ray with a slim but quality selection of special features including an extremely candid and informative commentary track from Bay. Man, he’s not afraid to talk about anything here! The anecdotes he packs into the films runtime are generous and, dare I say, more entertaining than the movie itself! What a great listen! The 24-minute “Putting the Boom & Bang in the Bad Boys” documentary covers a lot of interesting ground as well but is nowhere near as fun and candid as the commentary. The disc is rounded out with a music video, trailers and Sony’s proprietary “movieIQ+sync” and BD-Live interactivity.
