Bad Boys

Bad Boys (1995)

  • 43% of critics liked it
    (46 reviews)

  • 79% of users liked it
    (593,725 ratings)

Former video director Michael Bay had his first big hit with this action comedy, which also returned producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson to the big-budget, high-violence movies that they successfully churned out in the '80s. Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) are… More

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R, 1 hr. 58 min.
Directed By
Michael Bay
Genres
Action & Adventure
In Theaters
May 19, 1995 Wide
On DVD
Jun 27, 2000
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Critic Reviews

  • Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

    The cops never seem to know what they're doing, but then neither do the filmmakers, though I can't imagine that casual audiences will care since there are plenty of big explosions at the end to reward them.

  • Todd McCarthy, Variety

    Even when it's not particularly funny, their interplay is engaging, and their lively, raucous personalities keep the proceedings punchy and watchable for the slightly overlong running time.

  • Caryn James, New York Times

    This film isn't aiming for high-toned drama, just high-energy entertainment, which is what it delivers.

  • Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

    It's all special-effects noise and nonsense.

  • Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

    Given how much good Bad Boys is going to do for Martin Lawrence's feature career, it's a pity the film couldn't do any more for itself.

Read all 15 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Christopher H


    Michael Bay's first feature film. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence have a great chemistry together. The plot is basically Lethal Weapons with a hardcore comedy style. It's nothing special, but the action and comedy keep things going.

  • Ken S


    This film was originally called Bulletproof Hearts, and was supposed to star Dana Carvey and Jon Lovitz if you can believe it. But when Dana Carvey experienced Don Simpsons' insane drug habit first hand he pulled out of the project. Then Michael Bay was attached and with more or… More

  • E.J. B


    Bad Boys is a screamer of an action flick, Michael Bay's first and best film. It's classic Bruckheimer, and thanks to the one two punch team of superstars Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, it's one of my favourite buddy cop movies. Smith was still riding the popularity of… More

  • Jeff "


    Semi decent action film and director Michael Bay's big break in cinema. The film is quite entertaining, but is limited to a wooden script and the film tends to have so much going on all at once. Still it does manage to be fun, but its uneven ride as we follow these two bad assed… More

  • Conner R


    Quite frankly, I'm sick of people endlessly bashing Michael Bay and his movies. His debut here is great for what it wants to be and brings back what was becoming an extinct genre in movies. This takes the buddy cop style and retrofits it with a highly stylized Miami backdrop,… More

Read all 20 featured audience ratings

Cast

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