Review of Bad Boys: Collectors Edition

Introduction

Oh cool! Miami Vice makes a nineties comeback, complete with sharp clothes and fast cars. Well not exactly. This is Michael Bay`s feature film directorial debut, and he had a notoriously low budget and decidedly lacklustre script to work with. Yet what resulted was one of the highest grossing films of 1995 and made Will Smith a bankable star.

When the Miami Police department is broken into and 100 million dollars worth of heroin is stolen from the evidence vaults, the evidence points to an inside job. The finger of suspicion falls on the vice cops and they have 4 days to solve the crime and retrieve the heroin before they become scapegoats and Internal Affairs shuts the department down. Two cops, Mike Lowery and Marcus Burnett pursue the case, but leads are hard to come by. When a desperate phone call comes in from Julie Mott, who has witnessed the murder of Mike`s friend by the thieves, the police are ready to take any lead that comes their way. Julie will only trust Mike, but when Mike is unavailable, Marcus impersonates his partner to gain her trust. When she is willing only to trust him, Marcus and Mike have to swap roles, Mike becoming a family man with three kids and Marcus having to take the role of a rich playboy. All this to get the heroin back and the bad guys have other ideas.

Video

A Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer production, these words alone should tell you what you`re in for. Add to that the fact that this is Michael Bay`s first movie and you can see the seeds of a long and successful partnership being sown here. But the most important thing was that this was the first. Michael Bay had a limited budget, so his direction is very sharp and tight. The pace is relentless and the action never lets up. Michael Bay`s Miami is shot almost entirely with filters, tinted out in reds, oranges and browns and just looks gorgeous. Add to this atmospheric aerial shots intercutting the narrative and the film takes on a style of it`s own. The DVD doesn`t disappoint either. A 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer shows off this film to best effect, and try as I might, I couldn`t find any flaw in the image. To these eyes I`d say the picture is immaculate.

Audio

Bad Boys comes with DD 5.1 soundtracks in English, French and German. The soundtrack comprising the music of Mark Mancina has just enough individuality to suit the film well and it is greatly augmented by the songs chosen to add to the orchestration. The music and action is well represented and immersive.

Features

They didn`t scrimp on the extras for the disc, but I personally didn`t find them all too interesting. `Putting the Boom and Bang in Bad Boys` is a 24 minute documentary, describing the special effects in this film. To supplement this is `Damage Control` where in mega slow motion from several different angles, you can see things being shot in different ways and stuff exploding. Since Bad Boys is ostensibly a cop movie, the special FX amount to shooting things and blowing things up. All this is great in context of a movie, but put in terms of a documentary and slow-mo demonstrations, it becomes pretty dull stuff. There is a gallery with 10 photos in, filmographies for the cast and director and some production notes tucked inside the Amaray case. There is a DD 5.1 isolated score, which does exactly what it says on the tin. (I`m not sure what the point of this is) You get three music videos from Diana King, Warren G and 69 boys. The Diana King video is different from the one that was taped behind the Bad boys VHS and is also the most entertaining of the three. (Strangely all the guns are pixelated out, huh!?!) The redeeming feature of the, um features is the audio commentary by the Director. Presented in Dolby Surround, Michael Bay speaks candidly about the making of this film. He is refreshingly honest and more importantly entertaining when discussing the movie. He pulls few punches when he talks about the Hollywood process and this differentiates this commentary from many others.

Conclusion

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence star as the mismatched cops and it`s their chemistry that makes this film a hit. This was the first time I saw Will Smith in anything other than the Fresh Prince and, shock horror, he swears. This was a total departure from his TV work and he handled the transition well. He clearly shows why he`s movie star material and plays the more serious Mike Lowery well. Martin Lawrence is Marcus Burnett and every second line gets a laugh. His preoccupation with "quality time" and his general clowning around are guaranteed a laugh. But it`s when the two actors work off each other, often improvising with the material that the sparks really fly. Their byplay is hilarious. Tea Leoni is thrown into this comedic maelstrom as the beleaguered Julie and she does well to keep up with Smith and Lawrence. Tcheky Karyo is the bad guy, Fouchet and his interpretation is to be as `in your face` as possible. Other than that, he isn`t really memorable. Rounding of the stars is Joe Pantoliano as Capt Howard, who plays his role with panache.

"Bad Boys, Bad Boys, Whatcha Gonna do?" A pretty duff script and non-descript bad guys are rendered meaningless by the sheer energy and raw talent of the two leads, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. They easily elevate this film beyond the usual run of the mill cop buddy movies and make this film a laugh riot. Michael Bay`s low budget debut results in some inspired direction and economical film making that make this film seem more opulent and bigger budget than it actually is. This is a must see film. No, it`s a must own film which gives 2 hours of distilled fun. You can watch it again and again and enjoy it just as much each time. Roll on Bad Boys 2.