6.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
After their late former Captain is framed, Lowrey and Burnett try to clear his name, only to end up on the run themselves.
Starring: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Ioan Gruffudd, Eric Dane, Vanessa HudgensAction | 100% |
Crime | Insignificant |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
Spanish: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
English, English SDH, French, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Can you hear it? Bad boys, bad boys... whatcha gonna do? I hear it. Whatcha gonna do when they come for you? You know it. You even kinda love it. Don't lie. Admit it. And either one of two things swim to mind when you hear it play: Cops, the thirty-five-year-strong reality show with more door kick-ins and would-be criminal take-downs than any series has any business kicking or taking, or Bad Boys, the now four-film Will Smith/Martin Lawrence franchise that finds any and every excuse to bust out the iconic Inner Circle reggae classic. So how fares the fourth Bad Boys flick? Ride or Die is actually a good bit of fun. Not great cinema. Not the next evolution of the action genre. Not even the best of the franchise. But a good time all the same. Fans of the, um, saga will find plenty to love here, and not just a rehash of all the bits and punchlines you've enjoyed before. At this point there's a surprising amount of juice to the Mike/Marcus bromance -- at a level perhaps not seen since the Lethal Weapon movies -- and it keeps the laughs and fist pumps coming, even when it falls prey to the same generic action-endgame it's been trotting out since 1995.
Bad Boys: Ride or Die's 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation looks great, without anything in the way of significant issues to point to, much less anything like banding or blocking. Colors are rich, vibrant and perfectly saturated, with exceedingly convincing skintones (relative to the sweltering sunstruck lighting that has become one of the franchise's calling cards), beautifully inky black levels, and exacting contrast leveling. Shadow delineation is excellent, showcasing or absorbing whatever elements Robrecht Heyvaert's photography requires, and grain is all but non-existent, save a faint touch of filmic nuance. Similarly, detail is exacting and satisfying, with crisp edge definition and revealing fine textures (resolved wonderfully in extreme close- ups of Smith and Lawrence's faces). Yeah yeah, the 4K transfer stands head and shoulders above the standard BD. But this is 1080p at its best, all stop. Bad Boys: Ride or Die serves up the goods. All the goods.
The only way you can walk away disappointed with Ride or Die's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is to compare it to the 4K edition's outstanding Atmos experience. Otherwise, you'd be hard pressed to criticize anything the movie's standard lossless audio mix pulls off. Dialogue is intelligible and nicely prioritized throughout the feature, which is especially noteworthy considering how much noise and chaos erupts across Mike and Marcus's misadventures in crime fighting. And that applies even when gunfire, explosions, screeching cars and roaring engines assault the listener in more intense sequences. The surround and rear channels offer plenty of directional showstoppers, flinging shrapnel, torn metal and shattered steel across the soundscape with slick pans and smooth spatial subtlety. LFE output matches the soundfield dimensionality beat for beat too, lending weight and presence to every punch, blast and boom the film drums up, and does so with enough power to make you feel it in your sternum. Oh, and there's the music score as well, which has waaaay too much fun kicking the action up notch after notch until the whole mix threatens to come crashing down. Does it ever fall or falter, though? Nope. This is what action movies were destined to sound like, and Sony ensures Ride or Die does modern action right, whether you're listening to the 4K's Atmos mix or its younger DTS-HD MA brother.
What's left to say? Come for the laughs, stay for the excellent AV presentation and... maybe duck out before the subpar special features disappoint. Bad Boys: Ride or Die could've been another ho-hum action franchise sequel, but instead ups the fun, ups the insanity, and ups the action to the delight of fans. And Sony? Sony delivers the goods yet again, giving us a genre pic that knows how to make every gunfight look and sound like a million bucks. 1080p or 4K, you can't really go wrong. 4K takes the win but 1080p isn't far behind.
IMAX Enhanced
2020
Mastered in 4K
2003
2023
2024
1995
35th Anniversary Edition
1987
2016
2017
2014
2019
2010
30th Anniversary Edition
1994
1994
Rock Out with Your Glock Out Edition
2010
2021
2022
2013
Extended Cut
2017
2008
2014