Bad Boys 4K Blu-ray Review
By Chris Heinonen on
Audio Quality
Video Quality
Overall
Summary: From director Michael Bay (Transformers) comes a thrill ride of explosive action from beginning to end. One hundred million dollars’ worth of confiscated drugs has just been jacked from police custody. Once the career bust of Detectives Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence), the missing drugs now threaten to shut down the Narcotics Division of the Miami Police Department. When the drug investigation turns deadly, the murderers kidnap the only witness, a beautiful police informant (Téa Leoni) and close friend of the boys. The story is by George Gallo, with the screenplay by Michael Barrie & Jim Mulholland and Doug Richardson.
Bad Boys Movie Review
After spending years directing music videos, Bad Boys was Michael Bay’s first film as a director, and the influence of that can be seen. He hasn’t fully embraced the excesses of his later films, but there are lots of jump cuts, sparks that fly from everything, and completely implausible chase sequences. It also isn’t that great of a film overall. There’s no real suspense about what is going on, and the bad guys are simply bad with no other motivation at all. Smith and Lawrence have some chemistry but aren’t great and the chemistry with Tea Leoni is just not there at all. Everyone here went on to do a lot better work after Bad Boys, so it gave them a start, but it isn’t one that was all that great.
Bad Boys Technical Review
Like most films from the time, Bad Boys was shot on 35mm film and here it has a new 4K transfer from the original negative. What stands out watching is that the film does far better in bright scenes than dark scenes, as in those grain and shadows overwhelm the image. In bright scenes, there is far more detail and far less grain, and it can look much better. The image is hit-and-miss, but it improves a lot after the opening sequence and credits, which made me worry the whole film would look like that. HDR is used sometimes but not always effectively. There is one explosion during a car chase where the HDR feels completely over-pumped and many other times it feels like they aren’t using it enough. It’s a better-looking disc than the Blu-ray, but not a reference point for how film to HDR transfers can look.
The soundtrack has been upgraded to Dolby Atmos as well but has barely been modified to take advantage of it. The overhead channels are used far less than they could be, and the dynamics during action sequences are sorely missing. Vocals are fine, but when you’re inside a nightclub you should hear it all around you (like during John Wick) but in this case, you’re only somewhat aware of the environment.
Bad Boys Special Features
- Commentary by Director Michael Bay
- “The Boom and The Bang of Bad Boys” Featurette
- Three Music Videos
- Original Theatrical Trailers
Review System
Sony A1E OLED, Panasonic UB820 UltraHD Blu-ray Player, KEF Ci5160RL-THX Fronts, Ci3160RL-THX Center, 2x Ci200RR-THX Surrounds, 4x CI200RR-THX Atmos Speakers, Anthem MRX 1120 Receiver, Martin Logan Dynamo 800X Subwoofer.
Pros
Image far improved over the Blu-ray, especially with brighter scenes, new Dolby Atmos soundtrack.
Cons
HDR isn't used enough and often is used poorly, dark scenes are muddy and full of grain, soundtrack lacks dynamics.
Summary
Bad Boys gets a big improvement here compared to the Blu-ray, but isn't up to the full quality possibly with a 35mm transfer and a new soundtrack.
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