Bad Boys

"There's only one person left who believes Mick O'Brien can make it... Mick O'Brien."

1983 2h 3m EN

👍

7.0

SOLID

★7.0TMDB · 321

CrimeDramaThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Mick O'Brien is a young Chicago street thug torn between a life of petty crime and the love of his girlfriend. But when the heist of a local drug dealer goes tragically wrong Mick is sentenced to a brutal juvenile prison where violence is a rite of passage and respect is measured in vengeance.

“There's only one person left who believes Mick O'Brien can make it... Mick O'Brien.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Sean Penn
Mick O'Brien
Reni Santoni
Ramon Herrera
Jim Moody
Gene Daniels
Eric Gurry
Horowitz
Esai Morales
Paco Moreno
Ally Sheedy
J. C. Walenski
Clancy Brown
Viking Lofgren
Robert Lee Rush
Tweety

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Rick Rosenthal
Writers: Richard Di Lello
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

43 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Rick Rosenthal, shot by Bruce Surtees. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Bill Conti. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Antony Gibbs shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Sean Penn and Reni Santoni and Jim Moody carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "There's only one person left who believes Mick O'Brien can make it... Mick O'Brien.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0085210 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Rick Rosenthal directs. Bruce Surtees behind the camera. Bill Conti scores. Antony Gibbs cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

143 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Directed by Rick Rosenthal, shot by Bruce Surtees. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Bill Conti. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Antony Gibbs shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Sean Penn and Reni Santoni and Jim Moody carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "There's only one person left who believes Mick O'Brien can make it... Mick O'Brien.".
7IMDB entry: tt0085210 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Bruce Surtees
Original score: Bill Conti
Editing: Antony Gibbs
Production design: J. Michael Riva
Costume design: Jay Hurley
Makeup / hair: Jay Cannistraci
Runtime: 123 min · 2h 3m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $9,190,819
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Bad Boys (1983)

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Rick Rosenthal

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Bazzjazz2018-05-08
★ 8/10
Being an early favorite of when I first discovered the potential of Sean Penn. Really gritty film centered around some youths that are ‘raging against the machine’ and learned to fend for themselves on the street. It’s a good film if you can appreciate it in it’s own time and merit.
CinemaSerf2022-11-28
★ 6/10
Sean Penn is "O'Brien" who is sent down for the accidental killing of an eight year old lad. His time in prison subjects him to the usual pressures and bullying but he allies with the shrewd electronics whizz "Horowitz" (Eric Gurry) and slowly but surely starts to learn the ropes, turn the tables and thrive. When he learns that the older brother of the dead boy has seriously assaulted his girlfriend "JC" (a few, sparing, contributions from Ally Sheedy) and is now incarcerated in the same institution, a deadly reckoning is on the cards with "Paco" (Esai Morales). Penn never did shy away from the grittier roles and here he carries off his part quite efficiently, though without much sparkle, but the rest of the cast - especially prison scumbag "Lofgren" (the always one-dimensional Clancy Brown) - really only make up the numbers as this predictable and rather plodding two hours of slowly building revenge drama heads to it's inevitable conclusion. It might have been more impactful at the time, but forty years on it is a wordy variation on a well travelled theme that is easy to watch and just as easy to forget.
RobMcJ2023-11-06
★ 7/10
Originally watched this on TV (WUTV Buffalo 29) and I vividly remembered the soda can scene - (although I thought he put them in a sock) plus the performances of Sean Penn and Esai Morales. I did not remember a young Ally Sheedy, Clancy Brown and Alan Ruck.