Looking back, 1995 action comedy Bad Boys might have been one of the most influential movies of the decade in retrospect. It marked the feature directorial debut of Michael Bay, who would go on to become one of the most recognizable and commercially successful directors in the industry, while the two stars haven’t done bad for themselves, either.
Will Smith was still the Fresh Prince of Bel Air when Bad Boys hit theaters in April 1995, with the sixth and final season of the beloved sitcom not premiering until five months after the R-rated smash hit was released. As for Martin Lawrence, he was still best known as a comedian and was himself in the middle of headlining his own small screen comedy when they teamed up for the buddy cop actioner.
Fast forward to the end of the 90s and Bay had massively successful blockbusters The Rock and Armageddon under his belt, while Smith rapidly ascended up the Hollywood ladder to become the biggest star in the business after going on to headline Independence Day, Men in Black and Enemy of the State, none of which would have happened without Bad Boys.
To celebrate the 26th anniversary of the movie’s release, Smith and Lawrence reunited once again, and you can check out their video below.
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Three installments in 26 years is hardly a great return in the era of franchise filmmaking, but Bad Boys For Life became the highest-grossing entry in the series yet and one of the biggest box office successes of last year after earning over $426 million. A fourth outing was put into active development shortly after, too, but hopefully we don’t have to wait another seventeen years to see Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett again.