Bad Boys II on DVD

Back in 1995, an aspiring director named Michael Bay made a little movie called Bad Boys, starring not-yet-massive-stars Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.

All went on to become huge Hollywood names, each with varying success. Bay followed up Bad Boys with The Rock, a great action-comedy, and then followed that with Armageddon and Pearl Harbor (shudder once, then shudder again). When neither reached the heights most people expected, he returned to his roots, reteamed with Smith and Lawrence, and threw together Bad Boys II.

To kick off the second installment, everybody’s favorite Bad Boys are crashing a KKK party which, initially, seems like a silly thing for two black men to do. But considering it’s the opening scene and there’s still plenty of time to fill, we’re not really too concerned.

Yes, Bad Boys II starts off with an over-the-top action sequence, continues with several over-the-top action sequences, and ends with the most over-the-top action sequence of them all.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Much like the first Bad Boys, this one finds the duo pursuing a ruthless drug lord with plans on filling the streets of Miami with illegal substances (which, we guess, is what a ruthless drug lord would do). This time, they travel all the way to Cuba to thwart his evil plans, which is news, because we didn’t realize Cuba was in the Miami PD’s jurisdiction. But we digress…

Bad Boys II features some really cool action. There’s a lengthy sequence – probably close to 10 minutes – that is just one big car chase, with Lawrence and Smith having to dodge vehicles as they’re thrown off the back of a semi-truck. Pretty neat stuff, although we can imagine the one scene costing more to make than the GNP of a small country. A few of the other action scenes are a bunch of bang bang shoot-em-up stuff, which aren’t nearly as interesting, but still well executed enough to keep you entertained.

Once again, Smith and Lawrence have great on-screen chemistry that helps the film a great deal, although Lawrence doesn’t do much other than whine throughout the entire thing. Michael Bay has proven himself a great director of action in the past, so we can only hope he sticks to action movies without trying to add substance like in Armageddon or Pearl Harbor (excuse us while we shudder twice more).

As far as mindless action movies go, it’s hard to argue with this one. At 147 minutes it’s a bit too long, but there’s enough going on to keep you from checking your watch too often.

Bad Boys II did what not many sequels can do: it grossed twice as much as its predecessor (okay, granted the original only made about $65 million, but still). So Columbia Tristar has provided an excellent two-disc special edition to celebrate (and probably rake in a few extra dollars, as well). Oddly enough, Bad Boys II appears to be only available in 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen, with no Pan&Scan version available (neither separately nor on the same disc). There’s no complaints here, since we’re firm supporters of the whole widescreen thing.

The picture and sound quality are both excellent. The video seems a tad soft here and there, but overall color and detail are done very well. No dust or grain is present, and the print appears to have been transferred to DVD superbly. Audio is just as well done, with plenty for all the speakers to do, including the subwoofer. Dialogue and score share the front channels (particularly the center), while the surrounds equally distribute the sound effects, of which there are plenty. This disc is certainly reference quality, but if you’re concerned more about the picture and sound than the extras, you should probably wait for the inevitable Superbit release.

Speaking of extras…

Disc one features the movie, and nothing else. Disc two is packed with as much as you’d want, including deleted scenes, a whole series of production diaries that focus on various scenes and levels of production, a few sequence breakdowns, some featurettes on the stunts and visual effects, a music video, and trailers.

Bad Boys II is a special edition in the tradition of the special editions of Columbia Tristar a couple of years ago. Let’s hope this means they’re getting back to doing it right, rather than releasing seventeen editions of every movie.

Bad Boys II, from Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment
147 minutes, anamorphic widescreen (2.40:1) 16x9 enhanced, Dolby Digital 5.1
Starring Martin Lawrence, Will Smith, Jordi Molla, Gabrielle Union, Peter Stormare, Theresa Randle and Joe Pantoliano
Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer
Screenplay by Ron Shelton and Jerry Stahl
Directed by Michael Bay 

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