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DVD Review HTF REVIEW: Bad Boys II - Special Edition (1 Viewer)

ThomasC

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Being the J6P that I am, I didn't catch that all those shanty-houses were occupied by drug people, so it disturbed me.
 

Runar_R

Second Unit
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Dec 4, 2001
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259
I'm aware that they explained that cocaine was produced there. I guess your tolerance for 'collateral damage' among people living in slums are greater than mine. ;)
Hopefully in Bad Boys 3 they'll air-bomb areas of LA to rid the city of the drug-problem. That would've looked great! F-16s dropping 250lbs bombs in the streets where it's obvious distribution of crack is going on. And ended by a funny scene with the ghetto-dwellers shaking their "crack producing" tools.


But seriously; why no commentary track?!
 

Brent M

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Personally, I like the way justice is handed out in Michael Bay's world. The bad guys always die and sometimes really f**ked up s**t happens to them. It's not reality, but it makes for some very entertaining moments on screen.
 

Ryan_TD

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Feb 8, 2002
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211
i'm going to wait for the super-duper 3 disc set w/dts & michael bay/jerry bruckheimer/will smith/martin lawrence and a few hundred other cast & crew commentaries a la Pear Harbor Vista Series or Black Hawk Down Ultimate Edition
:D
 

Paul_Ptaaty

Stunt Coordinator
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Oct 16, 2003
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Video and Audio are top notch...I'm getting it!! only slight issues with edge enhancement, but it looks 3d :)

I could live without the morgue scene but overall I was expecting the movie to be much worse. It is a good action movie with lots of laughs (camcorder scene was great), great car chase, etc.

THe nice things about movies and video games are that they don't have to always be PC or high brow.

I am EXTREMELY sensitive to PC issues, as my attractive girlfriend is an engineer (nearly totally male dominated) and I have african american friends who are well in the minority in my area. But you have to realize, just because a charachter in a movie does something you wouldn't do in real life does not mean it is grounds to trash everything and call it tasteless. It should be an R rating and proper content warning to those who wish not to expose themselves or children to it.

my 2 cents :)
 

Brent M

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Just got done watching this and all I can say is WOW! This is one of the most 3-dimensional looking transfers I have ever seen. I know a lot of people use the term "HD-like" for DVD releases, but this really is one of the most gorgeous transfers you're going to see(vibrant colors, great detail, etc). As good as the picture is, the sound is equal or even better. Tons of action scenes with MAJOR use of the surrounds and good, clean bass make this my new piece of demo material. Overall, this is an awesome release and I'm sure the eventual SuperBit version will be even better(although right now I don't really know how they can top this one).
 

ThomasC

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Thank goodness for DVD. Skipping some of the scenes made the movie a whole lot better. This just might be a keeper.
 

Jeff Adams

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Dec 13, 1999
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Keep in mind this title is more than likely going to be a Superbit within the next year or two.
I did keep that in mind when I purchased it but the way I look at it, is 1. One to two years to wait for Superbit? Forget that. Most blockbuster big budget dvd's coming out today are of very very high quality. Reference type of dvd's. Take the last three dvd's I have purchased, T-3 P.O.T.C. and Bad BoysII. They can't get any better than this other than HD-DVD. I do not see how Superbit or DTS for that matter can make much of a difference. I watched Bad BoysII last night and I was literally blown away.
2. In one to two years, HD-DVD should be a reality, so why buy a Superbit title in one to two years. I do however think that if they do decide to do a Superbit of this release, they will do it in the next 6-8 months. But like I said, the picture IMO is really as good as it can get for standard dvd. And I enjoyed this movie so much at the theatre that I do not want to wait around and wonder when and if a Superbit title is coming.
 

PerryD

Supporting Actor
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Aug 28, 2000
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736
The scene with the 15 year old kid picking up Lawrence's daughter for a date and being threatened to be killed by Lawrence & Will Smith wasn't funny, and was uncomfortable probably because it was a poorly written scene. They might as well had the kid in the movie crap his pants, and then Lawrence & Will Smith could have a had even bigger laugh about it afterwards.

But, overall, I did enjoy the movie, the stunt scenes and special effects were very worthy of a summer blockbuster. The car chase scene rivaled (and perhaps surpassed) Matrix Reloaded since the crashes looked much more realistic.
 

Jeff Adams

Screenwriter
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Dec 13, 1999
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Yeah, I do have to admit that a lot of the quote humor scenes should have been cut out of the movie and saved for deleted scenes or something. I actually though that, although over done and over blown, the scene where that kid comes over to pick up Marcus's daughter, was actually pretty funny. The scenes that I though twere totally stupid were
1. The morgue scene.
2. When Marcus was on ex and went to the captains house. It was funny for a while but went on way too long.
3. The rats screwing. That was way too supid.
Those scenes right there could have cut out 20 minutes of the movie.
 

Brian Thibodeau

Supporting Actor
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Dec 10, 2003
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992
Hey, folks. New here.

I find the Tarantino/Bay styles and the critical response they invoke from the mainstream media reviewers to be fascinating. Another contributor already mentioned this, but like him, I find Michael Bay to be an arguably talented hack and Tarantino to be a talented-but-overrated auteur.

It's interesting how many mainstream critics lauded Kill Bill and how many slammed Bad Boys 2. It seemed predestined that this would happen (I'm sure many of you here, myself included, could smell it coming a mile away). You'll never convince me that critics and writers DON'T precondition themselves to slag a Michael Bay film just because his films are so BIG and COMMERCIAL (and successful), while accepting just about anything Tarantino does on the basis of his love for a medium they adore on the same level that they do, and his innate sensibilities towards offbeat characters, eclectic music and inventively "cool" staging.

So many writers seem quick to praise a filmmaker like Tarantino, much like they did when they first "discovered" Reservoir Dogs not only because it was a truly unique concoction, but because they need to feel some worth in "discovering" it and unveiling it to the world at large. Tarantino's critical, if not financial, success with that little film, at least to me, goes a long way to explaining the different critical approaches to the work of both men. I personally think critics (and film buffs) have always been enamoured of what they see as Tarantino's "hard-won" success with an edgy little film that came out of nowhere, by a filmmaker who came out of nowhere but who clearly had a deep appreciation for the kinds of films he freely referenced in his debut work. I often wonder if many critics don't secretly envy the man because, not only does he think on their film culture level, but he actually went out and DID something about it. Just a thought.

Bay, on the other hand, has an innate skill at creating spectacle, but never seems to create works that are truly spectacular (parts of each notwithstanding). His works are long, they're loud, they're often tasteless but there's obviously more than enough room for them at the boxoffice since they don't require a heavy amount of brainwork or an ear for quirky dialogue. There's far less challenge in watching them that there is in a Tarantino film, where the more popculturally saturated you are, the more enjoyable the films tend to be. Again, I sometimes think many writers could envy Bay because he's unafraid to open the worlds biggest cinematic toybox and smash everything to pieces. Who knows.

I used to write reviews for the daily newpaper in my city until about 1997, so I managed to review, I think, two movies each by these gents (Dogs, Bad Boys, Pulp Fiction and The Rock) and I must admit, my inner film geek enjoyed (and enjoys) the Tarantino pieces, which would then flavour the tone of my review accordingly, while my inner child enjoyed Bay's films, since as a child I used to smash up my Legos and Hot Wheels while recreating the movies of my mind, and thus my reviews of his films tended to be prefaced with a warning to check your brain at the door, or some such. For the fun of it, I also dumbed down my writing a bit, a la Joe Bob Briggs, when reviewing films like Bay's, then alternately tried to come off all hip when telling people why they just HAD to go see the new Tarantino film.

Oh, the confused, sad, unenviable little life of a film critic ;)

That said, I'm alternately amused and put off by how each director appropriates prior material in his films, and the dregree to which they acknowledge it publicly. Tarantino's near-constant referencing of other styles, genres and shots is always praised, most likely because he ADMITS IT. On the other hand, and this is the point I had in mind before I got so long winded (apologies to the moderators if this violates any rules on length!). Michael Bay's tendency to downplay or ignore the films he steals from tends to make some folks think he just doesn't realize how unoriginal his films are. Two glaring examples in Bad Boys 2 have probably been discussed here ad nauseum, but I'll check 'em off anyways: The shantydown smashup is practically lifted wholesale from Police Story , Jackie Chan's breakthrough contemporary action film from nearly 20 years ago. Funny thing is, Chan's film was probably the more politically incorrect of the two in regards to this sequence, as the shantytown in that film was not hiding any drug labs at all, but just a convenient escape route for the bad guys with Chan in pursuit. No real service was payed to the fact that people's homes were being destroyed. The other sequence is the bodies on the freeway, something I saw about 10 years ago in a little-seen Charlie Sheen chase picture called, er, The Chase, in which a medical truck starts spewing dead bodies all over the freeway, onto cars, under cars, etc. Then again, that kind of humour was surely to be expected of a director like Adam Rifkin. It's a film virtually devoid of cult status, which may have meant Bay could appropriate its standout tasteless sequence without anyone really noticing. I'd have more respect for him as a cinemagoer if he'd just acknolwedge his sources.

Bad Boys 2 isn't likely to join my collection any time soon, but not because I don't like it (my inner child quite enjoyed it, actually!): I just can see where there's almost $28 (Canadian with tax) worth of content on those two discs, not by today's standards at least. It's so obvious there's gonna be a bigger set down the road and even then, I'll probably pick that up used before I'll pay $40 for it.
 

Jeff Adams

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I ALWAYS shop at Circuit City due to they price match anyone, so does BB, but Circuit City is A LOT more convenient.
 

CraigF

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My opinion: it's a shame when movies like *this* get such good DVD treatment. Bay's stuff is generally good eye candy. But I only need so many demo movies...actually, one is enough, just to prove to myself how fabulous my system is( :rolleyes:)...the rest I watch for content. I like stuff blowing up and weird stuff...jeez, that's soooo hard to find on disc, never seen it before.
 

Brent M

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Personally, I'm glad movies like *THIS* do get reference audio and video treatment. I mean, if effort is not put into the picture and sound quality for a big action blockbuster like this then what releases should get top-notch treatment, Gigli and From Justin to Kelly? It's DVDs like Bad Boys II(and T3, Matrix Reloaded, X2, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc) that make me glad I spent a lot of money on my A/V equipment because they make good use of it.
 

ThomasC

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My opinion: it's a shame when movies like *this* get such good DVD treatment. Bay's stuff is generally good eye candy.
That's probably because Bay won't accept any less. Directors have a say in how the DVD should be done, right?
 

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