Bad Boys (Blu-ray) Official AVSForum Review

( Max score: 100 )

80

Film Synopsis:

After the biggest bust of their careers, detectives Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett are kings of the hill...until a brilliant thief steals $120 million worth of heroin out from under their noses. With only four days to solve the crime before FBI shuts them down, Mike and Marcus have just one hope, a skittish eyewitness who might lead them to the thieves. But there's a catch: married man Marcus has to pretend to be his bachelor partner in order to win her confidence.

My Take:

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence team up as partners in crime, crime-fighting that is, in this action-packed flick about a couple of good guys who are real BAD BOYS! One hundred million dollars worth of confiscated heroin has just been jacked from police custody. Once the career bust of Detective Mike Lowery (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence), the missing drugs now threaten to shutdown the narcotics division of the Miami Police Department. When the drug investigation turns deadly, the murderers kidnap the only witness, a beautiful police informant (Tea Leoni) and close friend of the boys, which makes things get personal!

Some may find this hard to believe but prior to this review I have never seen Bad Boys. I am a Will Smith fan however I think the primary reason I never went out of my way to see it is the presence of Martin Lawrence who I generally find annoying. I have always heard good things about it and being an action film fan I looked forward to finally checking it out in high definition. This is a Michael Bay/Jerry Bruckheimer collaboration featuring a typically shallow plotline that revolves around cops, bad guys, and drugs while featuring cardboard cutout characterizations and bombastic action. It works just fine though as Lawrence/Smith make a good pairing that adds to the fun while Tea Leoni lends a strong, sexy female presence that fits into the fold nicely. My man Joe (Joey Pants) Pantaliano seems a little out of place and underused as the grumbling but supportive narcotics Captain and Marg Helgenberger’s nagging role of the internal affairs officer out to shut the unit down adds little. Neither detracts from the film’s primary focus which is to get to the wise cracking comradery, action based set pieces and sexy interplay that makes Bad Boys fun to watch. I am still not a Martin Lawrence fan but he didn’t spoil my enjoyment of this formulaic but entertaining action thriller that I found to be worth the wait.

Parental Guide:

For intense violent action and pervasive language.

Audio: 78

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Video: 82

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Bad Boys comes to Blu-ray Disc from Sony featuring 1080p AVC encoded video that has an average bitrate of 25 Mbps and lossless DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio sound that has an average bitrate of 3.5 Mbps.

This being my first experience with this film I had no frame of reference for what it would look or sound like. Black levels are stable so that scenes containing mixed content look well balanced while exhibiting good dynamic range in dark areas. Detail in shadows provides enough visibility to make out shapes and structure in backgrounds. Colors are cleanly reproduced and don’t exhibit over saturation or smearing. Flesh tones are on the money with lifelike depiction and natural tonality. Sharpness and the rendering of fine detail can be a bit inconsistent as there are instances when the video doesn’t exhibit definitive clarity and resolute definition. This predominantly occurs during long range pans and wide angle shots but it is noticeable in close ups also. Occasional grain spikes and white level fluctuations exacerbate this which tends to obscure fine detail giving the image a slightly duller appearance. The video has an edgy appearance that could be consistent with artificial sharpening but I didn‘t notice halos around objects. While this may sound like gloom and doom the reality is that most of the time the video quality is quite good as it offers appreciable refinement, good depth/dimension, and clean rendering. Other than previously stated grain is presented in fine layers that provide texture without intrusion. I suspect that this Blu-ray presentation offers a discernible improvement over the previous standard definition releases and should please fans.

The lossless DTS-HD MA encoding makes the most of the elements present in this soundtrack which in my opinion sounds a little dated. The active elements in the recording don’t have the feeling of authority and quantifiable dynamics that you might find with today’s digital soundtracks. The surround mix imparts a fair level of impact and clarity which prevents it from sounding anemic when the action kicks in. Surround activity is frequent and when applied comes in the form of venue related ambience and discretely placed effects that fill in front to rear directional pans. I found that during several sequences effects that panned to the rear channels are mixed too high. The result negatively skews the balance of sounds moving from front to rear making them too loud and ultimately distracting. Low frequency effects are present in the mix but don’t deliver bass response that engages the room or senses. The quality of the bass fluctuates and sounds a bit tubby and lacking in palpably rich extension. Explosions, gunfire and similar effects sound dated and lacking in potency. On a positive note dialogue is crystal clear with above average room penetration. This isn’t a lackluster audio presentation however I would have liked an improved surround mix that offers more extended dynamic range and better bass reproduction.

Bonus Features:

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  This title includes Sony’s new Movie IQ features which requires a BD-Live connection and allows fans the option of viewing continuously updated details on the cast and crew and to explore relevant trivia such as production facts, music, and soundtrack information which are tied into scenes in the movie.

  
  
• Commentary with director Michael Bay
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• Putting the boom and bang in the Bad Boys
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• Music videos:
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  2. “Five-O, Five-O (here they come) – By 69 Boyz
     
  3. ”Shy guy” – Diana King
     
  4. “So many ways” – Warren G
  
  
• (HD) Previews:
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  2. Casino Royale
     
  3. Men in black
     
  4. Ghostbusters
     
  5. Hancock
     
  6. Armored
     
  7. Harry Brown
     
  8. Wild things: Foursome
     
  9. Unthinkable
     
  10. Boondock Saints II: All saints day
      
  11. Youth in revolt
      
  12. Black Dynamite
  
  
• BD-Live enabled

Final Thoughts:

It took me fifteen years to finally see Bad Boys and I must admit that overall I found the film experience to be worth the wait. It certainly doesn’t break any new ground in the genre but Stars Will Smith, Martin Lawrence and Tea Leoni do well to make it an exciting, funny and sexy action thriller. Fans that have been awaiting its release on Blu-ray will be treated to admirable high definition video quality that will more than likely trump any previous home video release. The lossless DTS-HD MA soundtrack is good but would have benefited from an improved surround mix. Sony’s BD-Live powered Movie IQ feature is included along with the bulk of the bonus features contained on the 2000 Special Edition DVD release which includes a director commentary, making of featurette and three music videos. If you’re a fan this is worth picking up as it has probably never looked (or sounded) better. Otherwise I would recommend a rental prior to purchase.