Bad Boys

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Bad Boys

R

1995

1h 58m

Action

Comedy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

46%

Tomatometer

70 Reviews

78%

Popcornmeter

250,000+ Ratings

Miami-Dade detectives Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) blow a fuse when $100 million worth of heroin they recently confiscated is heisted from station headquarters. Suspecting it was an inside job, Internal Affairs gives them five days to track down the drugs before they shut down the narcotics division. Action meets farce when Marcus is compelled to masquerade as his partner in order to gain the trust of a call-girl (Tea Leoni), a key witness in their investigation.

Critics Consensus

Bad Boys stars Will Smith and Martin Lawrence have enjoyable chemistry; unfortunately, director Michael Bay too often drowns it out with set pieces and explosions in place of an actual story.

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Radheyan Simonpillai

Guardian

Sep 27

Instead of drowning out his stars with this maximalism, Bay’s style instead puts them on a pedestal. That feels especially ground-breaking since this was the rare studio action movie at the time starring not one but two Black leads.

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Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

03/22/2025

3/5

Watched again now, Smith’s performance is weirdly subdued, as if all the emphasis is really on the established comic talent Lawrence, and Smith is his straight man.

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Michael Rechtshaffen

The Hollywood Reporter

04/09/2019

... the pairing of Martin Lawrence and Will Smith generates a winning comic chemistry.

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John Serba

Decider

07/08/2024

Those wondering if Bad Boys has aged well should know that it’s as feculent as ever.

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Casey Chong

Casey's Movie Mania

05/30/2024

3.5/5

Casting Martin Lawrence and Will Smith resulted in a comedy gold and their buddy-cop chemistry clicks the moment they appear on-screen, bickering and dissing each other.

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Justin Brown

Medium Popcorn

01/08/2023

4/5

I don't understand how this wasn't critically well-received when it came out but it's very entertaining.

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Musa A

@doodleflame Mar 10

This is peak 90s action - awesome gunfights, comedy and great chemistry between Will Smith and Martin Lawrence!!

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Carson P

@Parkerdean Mar 8

It’s got great acting along with witty humor and is very well directed bad boys is by far michael bay second best movie along with 13 hours with the rock being in first place Martin Lawrence and will smith are highly utilized and instead of fixating solely on explosions bay decides to give out drama within the comedy especially in the first half and it works

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Damon G

@Dmoney420 Feb 22

Best action franchise ever

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Enrique R

@NostalgicNerd Jan 26

Bad Boys, a fantastic movie. Definitely recommend it. Super entertaining. Awesome action sequences in this film, the visuals are amazing. I love Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. But, overall, I give Bad Boys a 9.4/10 or a 5/5 stars.

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Jeremy P.

@Jezza_Linko Nov 16

awesome start to the bad boys franchise

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Daniel L

@RT24087858 Oct 30

Awesome buddy cop action movie. Classic Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. Great mix of action, drama and comedy. Highly recommended.

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Michael Bay

Director

Martin Lawrence

Detective Marcus Burnett

Will Smith

Detective Mike Lowrey

Téa Leoni

Julie Mott

Tchéky Karyo

Fouchet

Theresa Randle

Theresa Burnett

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11%

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23%

78%

Bad Boys II

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Synopsis

Miami-Dade detectives Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) blow a fuse when $100 million worth of heroin they recently confiscated is heisted from station headquarters. Suspecting it was an inside job, Internal Affairs gives them five days to track down the drugs before they shut down the narcotics division. Action meets farce when Marcus is compelled to masquerade as his partner in order to gain the trust of a call-girl (Tea Leoni), a key witness in their investigation.

Director: Michael Bay
Producer: Don Simpson, Jerry Bruckheimer
Screenwriter: George Gallo, Michael Barrie, Jim Mulholland, Doug Richardson
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Production Co: Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Films
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 7, 1995, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 15, 2010
Box Office (Gross USA): $63.9M
Runtime: 1h 58m
Sound Mix: Surround, Stereo