Synopsis

Michael Jackson plays Darryl, a young man returning to his troubled New York neighborhood after completing a term at an elite private school. His old friends, led by the confrontational Mini Max, suspect that education and time away have changed him. When the group challenges Darryl to prove that he is still tough, he faces a choice between street reputation and personal conscience. The story unfolds in stark black and white before exploding into a stylized subway dance sequence set to "Bad."

Factoids & Trivia

• The full version runs approximately 18 minutes and was conceived as a short film rather than a conventional music video.

• The screenplay was written by novelist Richard Price, whose work often explored New York neighborhoods, class tensions, and urban crime.

• Filming took place in Brooklyn over roughly six weeks in November and December 1986. The subway scenes were filmed at the Hoyt-Schermerhorn Streets station.

• The video's gang choreography and staging draw heavily on the visual language of the 1961 film "West Side Story," especially its "Cool" sequence.

• Wesley Snipes appears as Mini Max. At the time, he was still early in his acting career; the role helped make him more recognizable to a mass audience.

• The short film premiered on CBS on August 31, 1987, in the television special "Michael Jackson: The Magic Returns."

• The version of "Bad" used in the long film differs from the familiar album recording, including a different organ passage in the middle.

• The black-and-white opening gives way to the famous color performance, reinforcing the contrast between Darryl's internal conflict and the larger-than-life persona he is expected to perform.