Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #44069 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-10-09
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 104 minutes

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

THE FIGHTING IRISH
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.

Excellent Film Is Butchered For Video, But Penn Still Shines
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.

Why has this movie been edited?
One of my all-time favorites; saw it many times on HBO in the early 80's. However, the DVD that I recently purchased from a big retail store was strangely edited. I can recall at least 3 scenes that were completely omitted, for no apparent reason: 1) when Mick's girlfriend is picking out Paco Moreno from the police line-up; 2) when Tweety is released and picked-up by a vanload of his thug friends; and 3) when Mick gets to assign "sh-thouse" duties to Paco and Paco subsequently spits soda on the floor in front of him. There could be more scenes missing that I can't recall; it's been 15 years since I've seen it. However, all of those scenes add to the greatness of this film and I can't think of ANY reason for them to be cut. One of the great features of DVD is that you usually get MORE movie, not LESS. This DVD has absolutely NO extra features. But, I guess you get what you pay for...still a fantastic movie, with great performances by Sean Penn, Esai Morales, Clancy Brown, Reni Santoni and several others. Although the edits are disappointing, this is still well worth watching.