Bad Boys Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Bad Boys Blu-ray Movie Review

Sony has rereleased 'Bad Boys' to Blu-ray with a new 'Mastered in 4K' 1080p encoded transfer. The primary audio option remains a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track and no new extras of substance have been added or removed. This disc is currently only available as part of a two-pack with 'Bad Boys II.'

Bad Boys Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Bad Boys' "Mastered in 4K"/1080p encoded transfer offers a nice, satisfying upgrade over the previous release. This one is noticeably sharper, more naturally organic and filmic, and yields better, more deeply detailed colors. Light grain provides a handsome filmic overlay which translates nicely onto the larger format 1.85:1 canvas. Details lack the absolute precision of the very finest images -- this film's Blu-ray successor being a fine example -- but there's no denying the fine clarity and attention to detail it affords, whether discussing intimate facial features or the legibility of background items in the police station. Colors are nicely saturated and the film's fairly diverse range -- from shadowy black and blue to scorching hot, with plenty of neutral bits sandwiched in between -- is well represented and healthy. Black levels are deep and flesh tones appear accurate to the cast's many complexions. The image appears free of more than trace wear and no major compression issues. All things considered, this is a good upgrade that fans will appreciate.

Note that screenshots 1-20 have been selected to approximately correspond to those found in the previous release. Several new screenshots have been added for perusal.

Bad Boys Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Like its Blu-ray predecessor, Bad Boys features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack, but this newer release plays with a reduced bitrate. There's a decent numerical separation when analyzing a few different stretches of the movie, but the good news is that there's not really a major difference in the way the tracks play out. This is an enjoyable, well defined listen. It's nowhere near as precise and perfectly defined as the best Action tracks or even the one accompanying its successor, but there's no shortage of enjoyable immersion and excitement. Music plays with a commanding full stage presence, saturating the listening area with notes flowing from every speaker and doing so with a commendable balance. The most intimate of instrumental details come up a little short, but the raw experience is more than pleasing, yielding a big, cinematic flow and feel. Action scenes are appropriately dynamic and immersive, again lacking that pinpoint command but filling the listening area -- on all four sides -- with more than enough bang in the way of gunfire, explosions, and crashes. Dialogue delivery is precise and detailed with an unwavering center presence. Note that this release adds a few different audio and subtitle options compared to the last release; see the top of each release's page for more details.

Bad Boys Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Bad Boys rerelease carries over all of the supplements that matter from the old release: the excellent Michael Bay commentary, the Putting the Boom & Bang in the Bad Boys feature, and the trio of music videos. It ditches BD-Live functionality and the "additional titles" trailer collage and adds the Bad Boys teaser and theatrical trailers (1080p). For more on each repeat supplement, please click here. Also note that the actual disc artwork is absolutely identical between this and the older release, so for anyone with both discs and doing their own comparison, make sure to keep them straight. The quickest way to differentiate the releases is to simply look at the main menu; the older release will prominently feature a BD-Live option where the new one does not.

Bad Boys Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Bad Boys benefits from a clearly improved 1080p transfer but is otherwise not substantially difference from its counterpart. The movie is good fun, a little thematically tighter than the sequel but nowhere near as polished and robust. At time of this review's publication, the only way to own this disc is to buy it alongside Bad Boys II. Recommended, even for fans who own the previous release.