Review of Bad Boys: Collectors Edition

Introduction

How does one describe Bad Boys? Think Lethal Weapon with added spice, and refreshed buddy-buddy comedy. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence play two best-mate cops working in Miami amidst the various druglords and narcotics trafficking that plagues most cities.

The movie opens to an intelligent heist, where over $100 million worth of heroin is stolen from a secure police lockup. The man responsible is a vicious dealer played by Tcheky Karyo, and after a bag of heroin goes missing, he tracks it down and finds it in the possession of the driver of the getaway van. When he bursts into his house, accompanied by several goons, he finds the driver doped up to the gills in the company of a hooker. In the usual street revenge fashion, the driver is shot dead, and since the hooker witnessed the brutal murder, she too is shot dead. But there`s one problem. The dead hooker`s best friend (who also went along to the driver`s house with entertainment in mind), Julie (played by Téa Leoni), witnessed the killing, and can identify the killer. And the problem for her is one of the goons saw her upstairs, and has found some of her ID. Time for her to start running methinks...

The dead hooker knew Detective Lowrey (Smith), and told Julie about him. So, with a conspiracy theory embedded into her head, she sets off to find Lowrey, and places her full trust in him - meaning she won`t deal with any other cop. And, to add insult to injury, when she comes looking for Lowrey, he`s missing, and Detective Burnett (Lawrence) has to impersonate his partner in order to gain their only lead on what has become a serious criminal investigation.

Bad Boys sets the scene well - a tale of corruption and brutality mixed with some witty banter between the two leads. Lowrey is the womaniser of the two, and Burnett is the family man. So, when they swap identities they also have to swap lifestyles. This cues some great set-pieces and hush-hush moments to ensure Julie thinks Burnett is Lowrey and vice-versa.

Video

It is presented in 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, and the visuals are deep and well defined, with the palette used to good effect. Throughout its 114 minute running time, the print is constantly crisp and clear, and there are no compression signs visible.

There are plenty of action set-pieces in the movie (after all it is produced by action-fanatic Jerry Bruckheimer - Armageddon, Gone In 60 Seconds, Pearl Harbor et al), and they are presented and choroegraphed well.

Audio

A DD 5.1 track is on offer, and the surrounds replicate each gunshot and line of dialogue with crystal-clear clarity. The main audio stream is crisp and clear, and the ambience level is just right.

The music, by Mark Mancina, is very distintive and defines the spirit of Bad Boys perfectly, and during some of the action scenes, some of the tenser parts of the score are strangely reminiscent of the Con Air score, a movie that was produced by Bruckheimer...

Some of the jokes are quite humourous, such as when Lowrey and Burnett enter a house saying "don`t worry, we`re negros", and then Burnett proceeding to instruct Lowrey on how to lower the bass in your voice, because otherwise it will `scare white-folk`.

Features

The extras on this re-release are as follows:

Putting The Boom & Bang In Bad Boys - this is a 23 minute documentary focusing on how the various action sequences (such as when they had to use a 2000fps camera!) made it from script to screen. It features soundbites from not only the cast, but also the expertise of the various members of the crew, such as the weapons handler. It is insightful and definitely worth a watch.

Damage Control: Multi-Angle SFX Featurette - this features the various SFX shots that are presented in the main documentary with the added option of watching them in various different perspectives.

Director`s Commentary - Michael Bay lends his vocals to this informative commentary, perfect for tuning into on repeated viewings.

Isolated Score - does what it says on the tin.

Photo Gallery - this features over a dozen stills from the production.

Music Videos - there are 3 of these on offer, from Diana King; Warren G; and 69 Boys.

Theatrical Trailer - the usual affair.

Filmographies - the CV`s of Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Téa Leoni and director Michael Bay are available.

The menus are animated visually with some music in the background, and they look good. All of the options are presented well, with a slick design making them easy on the retina.

Bad Boys is presented on a Columbia TriStar Collector`s Edition DVD, in a black Amaray case, with a 4-page booklet containing production notes and the chapter listings.

Conclusion

The movie is very watchable, and therefore very rewatchable, and due to the good interaction between the three leads and the menace of Tcheky Karyo`s character (he incidentally played a similar role in the recent martial arts movie, Kiss of The Dragon, in which he played a corrupt cop whose crimes had been witnessed by a hooker...concidence, eh?), it all adds up to a good blend of action, thrills (and in some cases, spills) and comedy.

Disc wise, everything is strong, but, considering this is a re-release, perhaps another featurette or two wouldn`t have gone amiss. However, as it stands it is a good package.

Overall, this is a wise disc to purchase, and the news that Bad Boys 2 is currently in development doesn`t surpise me. Move over Lethal Weapon - there are new guys in town...