User reviews

Not everything that Martin can create is a masterpiece. I'm going to be honest, "Bad" was one of my least favorite songs by Michael. I had only ever seen the edited and short version of "Bad". I bought the "History" DVD. Lucky enough they had the longer version. I was pretty excited. I am a big MS fan. And same with MJ. This was just too unbelievable. Michael Jackson telling Wesley Snipes whose bad. And the look... let's just say that the Easter Bunny is a little more ittimidating than Michael is. But I do want to give some props to this video. The editing is very nice. The chorogrophy is amazing. And the story is pretty original for it's time. So, I have a soft spot for this video.

8/10

In the wake of Thriller, Bad is a bit of a disappointment. I can see the logic, getting someone even more acclaimed as a filmmaker than John Landis - here, getting Martin Scorsese - to direct might've seemed like the right kind of escalation.

But the premise here isn't as strong. The song also isn't as strong as Thriller (neither's among Jackson's very best tracks, but Thriller is better, and fits that music video like a glove). And Scorsese gives things some personality, but wouldn't Francis Ford Coppola be a better fit, given there's something of an Outsiders or Rumble Fish vibe to what happens in the Bad video?

As far as Scorsese's involvement goes, it did lead to a fantastic Last Temptation of Christ gag, where there's a poster that reads "WANTED FOR SACRILEGE - BAD" with mugshots of Scorsese on it. That was funny.

I also remember finding the pre-dancing stuff in the Bad video boring as a kid, and it's also not particularly great as an adult, besides the fun that comes from spotting a young Wesley Snipes show up.

So, as a Scorsese short film, Bad is solid. As a Michael Jackson music video, once the music/dancing starts, it's pretty good. But it is a little odd overall, and not one I love... but that might also be my feelings on the song shining through. Methinks the Michael doth boast about being bad too much (or is that the joke of the song? Maybe I'm the dense one).

This music video is honestly one of the best of Michael Jackson. He portrays a high school kid coming home from a high class, preppy school only to hang out with his ghetto friends. As the group gets back into their old ways, Michael refuses to continue with them. His opinions have changed since they last hung out and doesn't want to be the delinquent that he apparently was before hand.

After his friends give him one more chance to show that he still is BAD, Michael ditches the chance and tells his friends that they're nothing and not bad either. He goes into a lengthy dance number to show to them that he is BAD too, but just not in the way that they want him to be.

The direction and quality of film is excellent. With it's WIZARD OF OZ type feel, by having the film start off in Black and White and then at the point of the song's entrance, turning to color, only to go back to Black and White after the song's finished.

Once again, this is one of MJ's better MUSIC VIDEOS and is a must see for fans of both MJ and Scoresce.

I'm bad, I'm bad you know it. This was the chorus to Michael Jacksons hit "Bad" back in 1987.

When I look back at it, I make the conclusion, its cool. Okay, it may appear to be alittle humorus and alittle riduculous, but its still cool.

Michael plays a high school student, Darryl,(a 30 year old high school student)coming back home to visit the old neighbourhood for the holidays.

His old mates are rebelious and "bad" but Daryll has changed since hes been away. Here, we see michaels excellent acting talents. And I'm being serious, he was realy good. "Lay off me man! Get off me man, stop it!!! I'm tired of you messin wit me man, stop it!!! stop it!!!"

Beleivable, but cheesy. In order to prove himself to his old friends, he makes an attempt at robbing a poor man in a deserted train station, or at least thats how he wants to make it seem to his mates, "give me a quarter" when he realizes that the man is poor, old and helpless, "Get out of here man run!!! Run!!!"

Daryll, has gotten himself into a rough spot now. Wesley in particular is annoyed with Darryl. Befriending him, saying how he has forgotten who he is, "You aint down wit us no more, you aint bad!!"

All of a sudden its brighter, Darryl is surrounded by dancers and he is wearing tights. His hair is curly and to top it off he has allot of buckles. He dosent look bad, he looks ridicioulous.

Thats when the music sarts and the relization that youre watching a michael Jackson music video sinks in. In all honesty I enjoy watching this. The dancing is wonderfully coreographed for that type of song and Michael actually looks good.

But when the song is over, its back to black and white. Darryl has shown that he is still "Bad" but not in that way.

He makes peace with wesley and they accept him for who he is. "Thats the way it goes down huh."

Now hypothetically speaking, that wouldnt happen in real life. Dancers wouldnt show up out of nowhere and a song wouldnt solve the problem.

In my opinion, they didnt really show up in the first place, they were Darryl's imagination, his way of escaping from reality. Thats how he sees himself and he expressed that to his old friends in his way.

I hope this makes sence to whoever reads it cause I just confussed myself! Anyway, to sum it all up. Its a good music video. NO where near as good as "Thriller" or "Beat it" but its still good.

King of pop rules!!

Classic, iconic and genius film. This is with out of doubt the best work Martin Scorsese has ever done. People of all ages, gender and nationality can enjoy this masterpiece. Amazing short film by an amazing man.

When I saw this music video for the first time, I really liked it because I liked the song and also that Michael Jackson is my favorite singer of all time. Michael Jackson did a fine job in this music video and the direction and choreography were superb. Michael Jackson has done very cool music videos in the past and they were cool and this one is cool too. My favorite part was Michael saying "Who's Bad?" because it sounded cool and that it goes with the song.

Final Rating: 10/10

BAD is an incredible music video by the King of pop ! And wow he looks gorgeous in it too !!! Michael Jackson in my opinion is also the King of music video's too !! I mean...he invented them in the first place !

Jackson was a great singer and dancer but his acting style was theatrical and over the top. You can see that Wesley Snipes acting ability was several leagues better. Jackson's look also seems out of place compared to his colleagues and his poppy song doesn't fit in with the gritty vibe of the video. Michael Jackson was not a good actor at all.

It may be called "Bad" But neither the song or video are actually bad by any stretch of the imagination. While the video is maybe a bit long, and the opening is slightly nonsensical, it soon becomes an intriguing, well directed masterpiece. Michael Jackson is a surprisingly talented actor, and keeps the time before the music starts interesting.

Then, there's the song itself. The dance is incredibly well choreographed, and all the dancers are very talented. The song itself is catchy, upbeat and fun. The only thing holding this video back is the intro, which is maybe a tad bit boring. But that's easily fixed if you just watch the shortened version.

The actual music video merits 10 stars. All the stuff that comes before and after the actual video merits no more than 4 stars. I don't remember seeing this (unnecessarily) long version when the Bad album was initially released. The scenes which come before the video actually starts are almost completely disposable. These scenes do, however, seem to give some background as to why Jackson proclaims: "I'm bad!" Jackson has an obvious conflict as to where he "fits in." With his white friends or his black friends? Are any of them really his friends? Overall, the video seems to confirm some negative stereotypes. Do we blame Scorsese or Jackson for this? Ultimately, the song is everything. All the other stuff didn't need to be there. Curiously, Jackson's hair is noticeably shorter in the introductory scenes, compared to the actual video.

By the time this came out Jackson was already a joke. He'd already begun altering his appearance to try to look white. The first rumors of his abusing children had started. And he was known as much for tabloid appearances as music.

This video mostly provoked laughter. The idea that a sheltered millionaire would try to act tough. Or he'd lecture street toughs.

Plus Jackson simply could not act. Not in The Wiz or in any of his videos.

So when Weird Al parodied this silly song, it was a huge hit. Mainly because no one ever took the original video or song seriously.

Not who's bad but, "Who's Fat?"

Michael had changed a lot from the time of thriller to this video...his skin was lighter and his features seemed to have changed...but who cares, Bad is still awesome and directed by Martin Scorsese! the song is really catchy and Michael's dancing is very tough and sharp, Wesley snipes makes an appearance also...10/10 Michael delivered the goods with this

I saw it as splendid collaboration of Martin Scorsese and Michael Jackson. At the first sigh, a moral lesson about profound change. In essence , a beautiful short film , from the performance to the storytelling. Each occasion to see it is a delight for the powerful message, always actual , for the great job of Michael Jackson and for the inspired racial portrait .So, just great.