# Bad Boys II: the most insanely entertaining movie ever?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-boys-ii-the-most-insanely-entertaining-movie-ever/419952>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [September 21, 2007, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-boys-ii-the-most-insanely-entertaining-movie-ever/419952 "2007-09-21T03:32:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 13\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-boys-ii-the-most-insanely-entertaining-movie-ever/419952/21 "2007-09-21T18:32:38Z")

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I’d add the first _Star Wars_ movie. Still good fun after all these years, if you put all the Lucas BS out of your mind. _The Incredibles_ rocks, and always will. _Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan_ and _Star Trek: First Contact_ are also a blast. And how could we forget _Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl_?

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**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-boys-ii-the-most-insanely-entertaining-movie-ever/419952/22 "2007-09-21T18:38:04Z")

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[QUOTE=OneCentStamp]  
Damn you, you just gave me residual Emily Watson wood. :mad:  
[/QUOTE]

Good God, man! She was like 11 years old in that movie!

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**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-boys-ii-the-most-insanely-entertaining-movie-ever/419952/23 "2007-09-21T18:46:36Z")

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I’m not a huge fan of Bad Boys II, and I like Out of SIght but I’m not entirely sure I’d classify it as my most entertaining movie. I like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang but it misses out too.

Here’s mine:

1. Raiders
2. Back to the Future
3. Die Hard
4. Batman (Keaton)
5. Tombstone (specifically Doc Holliday)

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**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-boys-ii-the-most-insanely-entertaining-movie-ever/419952/24 "2007-09-21T18:48:46Z")

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[QUOTE=Mosier]  
Good God, man! She was like 11 years old in that movie!  
[/QUOTE]  
No way, dude. [35, and in the juicy peak of ripeness.](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001833/) Oh, shit. Now I’m a sense offender.

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**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-boys-ii-the-most-insanely-entertaining-movie-ever/419952/25 "2007-09-21T19:01:22Z")

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[QUOTE=drm]  
I’m not a huge fan of Bad Boys II, and I like Out of SIght but I’m not entirely sure I’d classify it as my most entertaining movie. I like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang but it misses out too.

Here’s mine:

1. Raiders
2. Back to the Future
3. Die Hard
4. Batman (Keaton)
5. Tombstone (specifically Doc Holliday)  
[/QUOTE]

Shit yeah, I never get tired of _Tombstone_. Such a perfect “guy movie,” and one of my favorite Westerns ever. Val Kilmer is spot-on perfect as Doc.

Two other insanely entertaining movies for me are _Ghostbusters_ and _Last Man Standing_. The latter is a remake/retelling of _Yojimbo_ and _A Fistful of Dollars_, and all three are based on Dashiell Hammett’s novella _Red Harvest_. It is set in a dusty Texas border town during Prohibition, where Bruce Willis is a laconic mystery man who breezes into town and ends up playing two violent gangs against each other. It’s film noir, it’s a gangster movie, it has elements of a Western, it has Christopher Walken as a heavy and typical Bruce Willis badassery, and I highly recommend it.

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**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-boys-ii-the-most-insanely-entertaining-movie-ever/419952/26 "2007-09-21T19:46:53Z")

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and here’s my short list for sheer brainless entertainment:

Pirates of the Caribbean (the first, of course)  
Ocean’s 11 (the remake)

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**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-boys-ii-the-most-insanely-entertaining-movie-ever/419952/27 "2007-09-21T19:56:19Z")

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Terminator 2  
Pirates of the Caribbean  
Red Dawn  
Die Hard  
Star Wars IV, V, and VI

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**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-boys-ii-the-most-insanely-entertaining-movie-ever/419952/28 "2007-09-21T22:50:43Z")

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[QUOTE=OneCentStamp]  
No way, dude. [35, and in the juicy peak of ripeness.](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001833/) Oh, shit. Now I’m a sense offender.  
[/QUOTE]

Don’t know how, but I got her mixed up with the main guy’s little daughter.

Yes, she is hot. Yes, we’re both going to be slaughtered by Grammaton Clerics.

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**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-boys-ii-the-most-insanely-entertaining-movie-ever/419952/29 "2007-09-21T23:19:07Z")

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_ **Shaun of the Dead** _!

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**Author:** ![kurilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ea5d25/32.png) [@kurilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kurilla)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-boys-ii-the-most-insanely-entertaining-movie-ever/419952/30 "2007-09-21T23:23:09Z")

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[QUOTE=OneCentStamp]  
In more recent fare, _Shoot 'Em Up_ is still in the theaters and is basically a 2 hour roller coaster. They mangle the laws of physics and probability so badly that by the end of the movie, you’re laughing out loud at the giddy chuzpah of the whole thing.  
[/QUOTE]

Seconded!

It’s completely over the top and doesn’t take itself too seriously – just what you need for sheer insane entertainment.

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**Author:** ![MilTan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@MilTan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MilTan)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-boys-ii-the-most-insanely-entertaining-movie-ever/419952/31 "2007-09-21T23:44:27Z")

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[QUOTE=Big Bad Voodoo Lou]  
Such a perfect “guy movie,”  
[/QUOTE]

It should be illegal to talk about “guy” movies without mentioning _From Dusk 'Til Dawn_, which is both a quintessential “guy” movie and insanely entertaining. I mean, come on… it’s got:

[ul]  
[li]vampires[/li][li]strippers[/li][/ul]

And, honestly, what more do you need than that?

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**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2007, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-boys-ii-the-most-insanely-entertaining-movie-ever/419952/32 "2007-09-22T00:30:00Z")

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[QUOTE=Big Bad Voodoo Lou]  
Funny, I’ve never seen it, but I rank Die Hard and Raiders as two of the most perfect, flawless, FUN movies of all time, and I just rewatched Kiss Kiss Bang Bang the other night and remembered how much I love it. I thought Out of Sight was merely okay, but I’ll definitely give Bad Boys II a chance now. I’ve never seen the first one, though – would that be a problem? (You’re not the only person to say how good II is without mentioning I.)  
[/QUOTE]  
I’m not a fan of movies that blow shit up just to be blowing shit up, but the original _Die Hard_ is an absolute jewel of an action movie; there is not one thing that happens in the setup of the film that doesn’t ultimately contribute to the plotting of the film, including the advice the salesman gives McClane on the plane (“Take off your shoes and socks, and make fists with your toes.”), and Ellis’ give of a Rolex (“It’s real.”) to Holly. Plus, the villians, from Alan Rickman on down, are all outstanding. Never mind that the film is basically an amped up version of _The Taking of Pelham One Two Three_ with Bruce Willis surveying the role that Walter Matthau played in that film; Willis owns this role, and Bonnie Bedelia is perfect as his estranged wife.

There’s nothing to be said about _Raiders of the Lost Ark_ that hasn’t been said before and probably better (except that, claims to the contrary, that pig Ebert originally gave it a negative review). There’s no deep philosophy here, and even the fact that had Indy stayed home they would have had essentially the same result doesn’t keep the movie from being a vertiable classic.

_Bad Boys II_? You’re talking about the Michael Bay shitfest, right? I respect Will Smith and all, and you could put him in a long-distance phone commercial opposite Tommy Lee Jones and it would be a blockbuster, but this movie is just one string of meaningless, poorly plotted nonsense action. It’s not even fun, self-aware nonsense like _Shoot 'Em Up_ or _True Lies_, it’s just crap. It doesn’t even deserve to be listed in with the first two.

[QUOTE=Reno Nevada]  
How is it possible that nobody posting to this thread has ever seen _Big Trouble in Little China_?

You know what Jack Burton always says at a time like this…  
[/QUOTE]  
“…It’s like I told my last wife, ‘Honey, you know I never drive faster than I can see, and besides, it’s all in the reflexes.’”

_Big Trouble in Little China_ is a great film, but it’s really more of a parody of action films than an action film itself. The effects were pretty dated even in the day (it was clearly done on a Carpenter budget, even if it was a post-_The Thing_ budget) and of course the central joke is that Jack is actually the comedic sidekick rather than the hero. Great lines, though. “What is that stuff?” “Black blood of the earth.” “You mean oil?” “No, I mean black blood of the earth!”

[QUOTE=Mosier]  
What about _Equilibrium?_ Has everyone just forgotten about this gem?  
[/QUOTE]  
I don’t get it. I find the film to be a button-pushing pastiche of dystopian cliches. And the central premise–that everybody’s emotional responses have been supressed by a drug everyone takes faithfully–is a conceit beyond belief. This might work as a 20 minute short, but by the time you get to the second reel it’s just too improbable. I almost walked out when they literally started killing puppies–even Steven Speilberg doesn’t pull emotional strings as blatently as that–and wished I had because the ending made no sense whatsoever.

I think Terry Gililam’s _Brazil_ is an utter classic of dystopian film, but of course, it’s not and doesn’t intend to be just a mindless action film. Well, not until Sid Sheinberg got is grubby talentless paws on it, anyway.

Stranger

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**Author:** ![DirkGntly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DirkGntly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DirkGntly)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2007, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-boys-ii-the-most-insanely-entertaining-movie-ever/419952/33 "2007-09-22T01:01:21Z")

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/hijack  
Somewhere up-thread, someone mentioned Monica Bellucci. I just had to stop in and say…  
Probably one of the HOTTEST 43-yr-old women on the planet. rrrrrooowwrrrrrr…

/end hijack

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