Product Details

• Actors: Eugene J. Anthony, Erik Barefield, Clancy Brown, Ray Caballero, Dean Fortunato
• Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
• DVD Release Date: October 9, 2001
• Run Time: 104 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005NKSN
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #54,101 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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• For more information about "Bad Boys" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Prior to starring in the hard-edged 1983 drama Bad Boys, Sean Penn had proven his early promise in the TV movie The Killing of Randy Webster, played a memorable supporting role in Taps (with fellow newcomer Tom Cruise), and created the definitive California surfer dude as the perpetually stoned Jeff Spicoli in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. But it was Bad Boys that cemented Penn's reputation as a rare talent--an actor whose skill transcended his youth, revealing a depth and maturity that the majority of his acting peers could only aspire to. That gravity and emotional dimension is evident throughout Penn's performance here as Mick O'Brien, a chronic offender whose path to a Chicago juvenile corrections facility seems utterly preordained. The institution is hardly conducive to reformation--it's a jail for problem kids, and a cauldron for all the societal ills that sent kids there in the first place. Mick's there because he was involved in a shootout during a botched robbery of drugs from rival street gangster Paco Moreno (Esai Morales), whose little brother was killed when Mick accidentally ran him over with his getaway car.

Overcrowding results in Mick and Paco's being sent to the same facility (one of the film's few stretches of credibility), and this leads to a rather predictable showdown that will take the juvie prison's violence to its inevitable extreme. It's a shame this conclusion ultimately doesn't live up to the film's superior first hour, but Bad Boys remains a remarkably authentic, even touching portrait of troubled youth whose torment is conveyed through thoughtful and richly emotional development of characters. Director Rick Rosenthal (who had previously helmed Halloween II) maintains a vivid sense of setting within the correctional facility's cold walls, and through the performances of Penn and a superb supporting cast (including Ally Sheedy in her film debut as Mick's girlfriend), Bad Boys emerges as one of the best films of its kind, forcing the viewer to ask difficult questions about at-risk youth and the proper way to improve or at least preserve their endangered lives. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE FIGHTING IRISH, September 2, 2004

By	B. Fitzgerald "mr. fitz" (salem, or) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It is a shame that nowadays when you ask someone if they have seen Bad Boys they automaticaly think of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence because the 1983 Bad Boys is far superior to the later Bad Boys movie.
Set almost entirly inside the claustophobic boy's prison, this movie is one of Penn's best performances, and that is saying alot.
Penn quickly rises throgh the ranks in the prison and overcomes alot of adversity to become the top dog, and soon learns that earned respect is a sweet thing.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Film Is Butchered For Video, But Penn Still Shines, September 24, 1999

By	[e-mail] (Madison, WI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bad Boys (DVD)

Much has been said about the overall merits of this most entertaining and provocative Sean Penn starrer. However, not enough can be said about Penn's stellar performance as the brooding Mick O'Brien. His best performance, Penn does wonders with little dialogue. Through his expressions and body language, Penn tells us more about his character's frustration, rage, and sorrow than any verbal barrage ever could. And it's a helluva lot more convincing.

Jeff Shannon's highly informative review mentioned just about everything EXCEPT that all available home video versions of this fine film (VHS and DVD) are CUT by nearly twenty minutes. The original U.S. theatrical release was 123 minutes, but all video copies (including the earlier releases) are 104 minutes. The out-of-print laserdisc did run the full 123 minutes as did the print HBO ran years ago.

It's still quite a satisfactory film, but the mystery remains as to why nineteen minutes of crucial and interesting character development was cut. The film gets a five-star rating, but sadly I can only give the video and DVD versions a one-star rating.

The ridiculous final line: The DVD offers a THEATRICALLY-FORMATTED (letterboxed) transfer of a film that's been CUT FOR HOME VIDEO.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Early Sean Penn Movie....Highly Recommended !!!, August 26, 2005

By	The Jaundiced Eye (Texas, USA) - See all my reviews

I picked this DVD off the rack as a random selection, mainly because I don't believe that Sean Penn has ever appeared in a bad movie....and this has got to be one of his best (even though he was probably still a teenager when it was produced in 1983).

He portrays a young delinquent purse snatcher and mugger named Mick O'Brien, who is rapidly escalating the violence of his crimes. Ultimately, during an attempted drug robbery his best friend is murdered and he accidentally runs over the young brother of his bitter enemy, Paco Moreno (fairly well portrayed by Esai Morales....he is definitely no Sean Penn).

Because of his youth, Mick is sent to a grim, grimy, violent juvenile detention center presided over by the "usual suspects": inattentive, seemingly deaf guards who allow atrocities to be perpetrated daily and with no consequences....prison trustees (Clancy Brown portrays one) who flaunt the rules, sexually abuse at will, and terrorize the inmates....and a warden who is a weak, fickle joke.

By standing up to the trustees and demonstrating his talents for mayhem and maniacal violence, Mick becomes the dominant inmate....in effect, ruling the place, until two things happen to challenge him: Paco rapes Mick's girlfriend (revenge for the death of his brother) and gets sentenced to the same juvenile detention center as Mick. They now hate each other more than ever, and are trapped within the same hellish institution....you KNOW that something horrific is going to happen.

Sorry, but if you want to see how this incredible set-up plays out, you'll have to rent or buy the DVD....and I assure you, it will be money well spent. The acting is superb (Sean is incredible, even as a teenager, exuding an undercurrent of barely-controlled violence); the plot is suspenseful and bloody but always makes perfect sense; the direction, cinematography, sets, sound, etc. are terrific. This is a genuinely excellent movie....I give it my highest recommendation.