Men In Black Blu Ray Review

Posted by Film-Critic

August 26, 2008

In 1997 Will Smith was the new golden boy of cinema. With 1 reasonable action hit under his belt in 1995 (Bad Boys) and 1 utter blockbuster of an action hit in 1996 (a little film called Independance Day) he was becoming a bankable name in Hollywood cinema. With episode 146 of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air [still repeated on Virgin 1 and still funny] bringing to an end his TV career, we arrived in 1997 with that year’s Will Smith film being the first film in which he got to properly stretch his comedic legs in cinema. The result was a smash hit, just like Independance Day and just like countless other Will Smith films since then which followed the same formula (Wild Wild West, Bad Boys II, MiB II, Hancock) and even those which don’t (I Am legend, Pursuit of Happyness, Ali). In 2008, 11 years on, Will Smith is not just an A list actor in Hollwood, he is part of that mythical A* list of actors who you can stick in a film and guarantee a certain return along with names like Hanks and Cruise. But that’s not what I’m here to talk about, I’m here to talk about the first of Will Smith’s early work to finally get the Blu Ray treatment: Men In Black.

Men In Black - Blu Ray

Not too many people know this, but Men In Black was based on a comic book of the same name, originally published in 1990. Obviously, the success of the film far outweighs that of the comic book and it is, by all accounts, a very successful film. It’s always hard to review a film as if it’s new that has become so ingrained in one’s own conciousness. I used to play my VHS copy of the film over and over until most of the lines had been memorised, but it has been a solid 5 years since my last encounter with the film, which meant I was free to enjoy the experince over again. There’s always that fear that the film won’t be as good as you remember it; the laughs won’t be as many or the SFX will look a little (or a LOT) dated. For the most part, that isn’t the case with Men In Black. The writing is punchy, the humour still witty 10 years later and whilst some will say the effects look a little dated (this is true), we really do have to be forgiving. For the most part, they stand up to the test of time and really are in keeping with the tone and character of the film. Let’s face it, the Worm guys are going to be the Worm guys regardless of how dated the effects are, its the writing and voice-acting that sets them apart and gave them such an expanded role in the sequel.

I focussed earlier on Will Smith and how this, along with Independance Day, really pushed his career into the stratosphere and he is good in this film. He looks and sounds like he’s having a lot of fun with the script and I would happily hold this up as one of my favourite Smith performances, but it’s important to remember that there are 2 names above the title. Tommy Lee Jones just about steals the film and walks out of the room with it. His humour is dry and he is probably the best foil they could have found for Smith. He is really the body and soul of this film; a man who uses intergalactic technology but is growing acutely aware of his own age. As he so succinctly puts it: “i’ve just been down the gullet of an interstellar coackroach, that’s one of 100 memories I don’t want”. His performance is reason #1 to watch this film. Unbelievably, neither he nor Smith were first choice for their roles in MiB. David Schwimmer and Chris O’Donnell were both offered the role of J, whilst Clint Eastwood was offered K. (Actually, let’s take a second and imagine Clint Eastwood trying to cope with Chris O’Donnell….and we thought Batman & Robin was bad…damn!).

Bad MSPaint job aside...you get the idea

The transfer to Blu Ray simply works. I’d say Men In Black was always meant to be seen and heard this way. the lines are crisp and the quality really does stand out. What you sacrifice in special effects quality (ok…perhaps not ALL of it was meant to be seen this way), you make up for in the detail in Edgar’s gradual decomposition or the incredible opening sequence when K takes out an illegal boarder-hopper. Blue gloop has never looked so good. The bonus features are pretty much a copy of the old DVD (with the telestrater commentary from Jones and Sonnenfeld standing out) and the Blu Ray extras consist of a reasonable trivia game and, bizzarely, a subtitle track for the film presented in some sort of alien language. “Why?” i hear you ask. Answers on a postcard for that one.

All in all, Men In Black’s Blu Ray transfer is well worth looking into. The film itself is still as good as it ever was with the transfer to hi-def not likely to win any new viewers but it will certainly entertain those of us who have enjoyed the film for so long. The sound clarity alone, along with the relatively good price of £15-£18, is reason enough to pick it up. In my opinion (and as this is my review…it IS my opinion ) this is a fun film, a more than pleasant way to pass a couple of hours and well worth placing into your home-cinema system to get that extra bang for your buck.