Men In Black
Limited Edition
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Details At A Glance
General
|
Extras
|
Category |
Comedy |
Booklet
Disc 1
Main Menu Audio & Animation
Scene Selection Audio & Animation
Dolby Digital City Trailer
Audio Visual Commentary (Barry Sonnenfeld-Director & Tommy
Lee Jones-Actor)
Audio Commentary (Barry Sonnenfeld-Director, Rick Baker-Alien
Make-Up Effects, Eric Brevig-Visual Effects Supervisor/Second Unit
Director, John Andrew Berton Jr.-Computer Graphics Supervisor
& Rob Coleman-Animation Supervisor)
DVD-ROM Extras
Disc 2
Menu Audio & Animation
Visual Effects Scene Deconstructions (2 + intro +/- commentary - Multi-Angle)
Featurette-Metamorphosis of MiB (23:13)
Extended & Alternate Scenes (5)
Character Animation Studies (4 + intro +/- commentary - Multi-Angle)
Creatures: Concept To Completion (5)
Storyboard Comparisons (3)
Storyboard Gallery (5 Galleries)
Conceptual Art Gallery
Scene Editing Workshop (with intro)
Production Photo Gallery
Cast & Crew Biographies
Featurette (6:37)
Men In Black Teaser Trailer
Men In Black II Teaser Trailer
Men In Black Theatrical Trailer
Stuart Little Theatrical Trailer
Music Video-Will Smith-Men In Black
DVD-ROM Extras |
Rating |
|
Year Released |
1997 |
Running Time |
94:00 minutes |
RSDL/Flipper |
Disc 1 Widescreen Side: RSDL (47:10)
Disc 1 Fullscreen Side: RSDL (47:10)
Disc 2: Dual Layer |
Cast & Crew
|
Start Up |
Menu |
Region |
2,4 |
Director |
Barry Sonnenfeld |
Studio
Distributor
|
Columbia Tristar
|
Starring |
Tommy Lee Jones
Will Smith
Linda Fiorentino
Vincent D'Onofrio
Rip Torn |
Case |
Collector's Box |
RPI |
$59.95 |
Music |
Danny Elfman |
Video
|
Audio
|
Pan & Scan/Full Frame |
Pan & Scan |
MPEG |
None |
Widescreen Aspect Ratio |
1.78:1 |
Dolby Digital |
5.1 |
16x9 Enhancement |
|
Soundtrack Languages |
English (Dolby Digital 2.0 ,
192Kb/s)
English (Dolby Digital 5.1, 448Kb/s)
French (Dolby Digital 5.1, 448Kb/s)
German (Dolby Digital 5.1, 448Kb/s)
English Audio Commentary 1 (Dolby Digital 2.0 ,
192Kb/s)
English Audio Commentary 2 (Dolby Digital 2.0 mono, 192Kb/s) |
Theatrical Aspect Ratio |
1.85:1 |
Miscellaneous
|
Macrovision |
Yes |
Smoking |
Yes |
Subtitles |
English
French
German
Dutch
Polish
Arabic
Bulgarian
Czech
Danish
Finnish
Greek
Hebrew
Hindi
Hungarian
Icelandic
Norwegian
Swedish
Turkish
French Audio Commentary 1
German Audio Commentary 1
Dutch Audio Commentary 1
Polish Audio Commentary 1
English (AV Commentary)
French Audio Commentary 2
German Audio Commentary 2
Dutch Audio Commentary 2
Polish Audio Commentary 2 |
Annoying Product Placement |
Yes, mildly |
Action In or After Credits |
No |
Plot Synopsis
Men In Black is a movie that I quite enjoy simply
because it doesn't take itself too seriously, and manages to poke fun at
many other far more serious science fiction movies. The special effects
are incredible, the comedy is delivered in a suitable laconic manner, and
the sheer fun and silliness of the movie is overwhelming.
Jay (Will Smith) is a New York policeman with
attitude who is also very good at his job. Kay (Tommy Lee Jones)
works for the super-secretive Men In Black, a quasi-government super-secret
agency that concerns itself with the comings and goings of aliens on Earth,
an activity that we learn has been going on for some years beneath the
noses of all of us. Jay is recruited into the Men In Black by Kay
just as an intergalactic conflict is about to erupt between the Arquillians
and the Bugs, with the Bugs being represented on Earth by the comically
uncoordinated Edgar (Vincent D'Onofrio). It is up to our heroes
to save the Earth and the Galaxy from total destruction, ably assisted
by a morbid coroner (Linda Fiorentino) and by an array of fantastic
Men In Black gadgets.
Transfer Quality
A Note On The Limited Edition Packaging
Men In Black: Limited Edition is elegantly packaged
in a sturdy black cardboard box embossed with silver printing which is
slightly larger than the usual Columbia Tristar DVD case. The box opens
up in similar fashion to a standard case, revealing two DVDs: one on the
inside of the front cover and one in the usual rear cover position. The
packaging looks excellent, but I do have one minor criticism of the packaging
- the clips holding the DVDs in place are different to any that I have
seen before, and do not comply at all when you press on them. To extract
the DVDs, you must use a fair degree of force to avoid bending the DVDs
excessively. Trying to gently lever these DVDs off their holding mechanism
will not work, merely bending the DVDs alarmingly - you need to sharply
pull
on them to get them out.
Video
Two words sum up this transfer. Columbia and
Tristar.
It is essentially flawless and most certainly of reference quality.
The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1.
It is 16x9 enhanced. The other side of this DVD carries a Pan & Scan
version of the movie which seems extremely cramped in composition, and
is most definitely not the preferred viewing experience. Of particular
note is the fact that this is the first DVD-18 released in Region 4. That
is, both sides of this DVD are dual-layered, making for a total of 4 layers
of data on the one disc.
The transfer is razor sharp and crystal clear with
both foregrounds and backgrounds immaculately resolved in this image. The
amount of fine detail on offer within this transfer is breathtaking to
behold and makes for a magnificent viewing experience. Much of this movie
takes place in darker settings, and the shadow detail is brilliant, with
subtle gradations and nuances the likes of which I have never seen before
on offer in the darkness. There is not a shred of low level noise to mar
the image at any point.
The colours were perfectly rendered, from the subtle
colouration of the darker scenes to the vibrant colouration of the few
brightly-lit sequences, such as the scene where Jay helps to deliver the
alien baby. At no point does the transfer either oversaturate or undersaturate,
and at no point is there even a hint of colour bleeding.
There were no MPEG artefacts nor aliasing seen, and
film artefacts were all but absent except for the tiniest of bursts around
the middle of the film. This is transparent compression at its best, even
by Columbia Tristar's lofty standards.
The disc is dual layered,
with the layer change coming at 47:10,
during Chapter 13. Both the widescreen and the fullscreen sides of the
disc have the layer change at the same point. It is only mildly disruptive
to the overall flow of the movie.
Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness |
|
Shadow Detail |
|
Colour |
|
Grain/MPEG Artefacts |
|
Film-to-Video Artefacts |
|
Film Artefacts |
|
Overall |
|
Audio
There are four soundtracks on this DVD and two commentary
tracks. Inexplicably, the default audio soundtrack is English Dolby Digital
2.0 surround-encoded, requiring a quick press of the remote to flick it
over to the much more appropriate English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack.
French and German Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks are also present on this
DVD.
The dialogue was essentially easy to make out and
clear at all times, even during some of the heavily processed dialogue
sequences. Audio sync was acceptable at all times, although it was clear
that some looping had been done, with Tommy Lee Jones' dialogue
in particular appearing to be on the verge of being out of sync at times.
The score by Danny Elfman was not particularly
remarkable, although it did show some signs of his typical comedic and
off-beat style.
The surround channels are frequently and aggressively
used throughout the movie to create an enveloping soundfield. You are placed
smack-bang in the middle of the action, which comes thick, fast and all
around you, aggressively immersing you in the movie. There are lots of
directional effects and also lots of subtler ambient effects placed throughout
the entire soundfield, giving all of your speakers a decent workout.
The .1 channel was aggressively used to support the
special effects and the music, whilst being well enough integrated into
the overall sound mix to never call attention to itself.
Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue |
|
Audio Sync |
|
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts |
|
Surround Channel Use |
|
Subwoofer |
|
Overall |
|
Extras
Booklet
This contains an introduction to the DVD by director
Barry
Sonnenfeld, profiles of the main characters, brief descriptions of
many of the special features on the DVD, some conceptual art and a chapter
listing.
Disc 1
Menu
This is 16x9 enhanced on both sides of this DVD
and is the first time I have seen the new and improved Columbia Tristar
DVD logo, presented in no less than 5.1 audio. It is an enormous improvement
over the old logo.
Comprehensive and apt animation and audio accompany
the main menu with a suitable menu entry sequence setting the scene for
what is to come.
Scene Selection Animation & Audio
Dolby Digital City Trailer
Audio Visual Commentary (Barry Sonnenfeld-Director & Tommy Lee
Jones-Actor)
This commentary track is formatted along the lines of
the Ghostbusters and the Muppets
From Space commentary tracks, but with one additional and crucial difference.
Throughout the course of this AV commentary, Director Barry Sonnenfeld
makes annotations on-screen to highlight what he and Tommy Lee Jones
are talking about. This one crucial difference makes all the difference
between this being a gimmicky feature and a genuinely useful feature, although
Barry Sonnenfeld does tend to get a little carried away with his "magic
marker", particularly towards the end of the commentary. Nonetheless, by
the addition of this feature to the AV commentary, Columbia Tristar have
proven that this can be more than a cute gimmick and can indeed add significantly
to the depth of information provided in such a commentary track as distinct
from an audio-only commentary track.
Having said all of that, this is a strictly middle-of-the-road
commentary track, with only a moderate amount of useful information imparted
by the participants. Tommy Lee Jones heads off on an annoyingly
off-topic tangent at around the half-way point for an excessively long
period of time.
On a more technical note, this AV commentary track,
like the others preceding it, can only be played back when your DVD player
is set to 4x3 letterbox mode or 4x3 pan & scan mode, and will not play
back in 16x9 widescreen mode. This is a minor inconvenience.
Audio Commentary (Barry Sonnenfeld-Director, Rick Baker-Alien
Make-Up Effects, Eric Brevig-Visual Effects Supervisor/Second Unit
Director, John Andrew Berton Jr.-Computer Graphics Supervisor
& Rob Coleman-Animation Supervisor)
This is described as a Technical Commentary on the menu,
and is comprised of mainly Barry Sonnenfeld and Eric Brevig
talking separately about the special effects and design considerations
of Men In Black. Occasional comments by Rick Baker, very
obviously recorded elsewhere and in sub-optimal conditions are cut and
pasted into the gaps. The other participants say very little and have also
clearly been edited in during moments of silence. There is a fair amount
of information imparted by this commentary, but to be honest, it isn't
all that great, and in fact gets quite boring at times.
DVD-ROM Extras
This merely comprises a link to an as-yet empty Men
In Black: Limited Edition DVD web site.
Disc 2
Menu Audio & Animation
The menus on Disc 2 are similarly themed to the Disc
1 menus and similarly visually and aurally enhanced. There are two menu
choices offered on the Disc 2 menu; Creating MiB and Meet The MiB, both
of which lead to a plethora of extras.
Visual Effects Scene Deconstructions (2 + intro +/- commentary - Multi-Angle)
In a word - brilliant! This is some of the best and
most appropriate use of multi-angle content that I have ever seen. Two
key scenes from the movie (the Tunnel Scene and the Edgar Bug Fight) are
presented in progressive stages of completion. Angle 1 shows us the storyboards
for the scenes. Angle 2 shows us the basic shots of the actors against
the live backgrounds and bluescreens. Angle 3 shows us the composited blue
screen footage. Angle 4 shows us the effect of adding lighting and animation
to the shots, and Angle 5 shows us the final result. The angles progressively
increment automatically, or you can manually change them on-the-fly. You
also have the option of listening to either the production soundtrack or
to a technical commentary on the scenes.
This is compelling and fascinating stuff, brilliantly
presented. The only minor negative comment I will make about this content
is that there is a lot of aliasing in the video image, particularly
during the storyboard sequences. Overall, however, the incredible value
of this extra far outweighs any image quibbles. The seamless integration
of the final product will astound you when you see the rough elements that
make up the shots.
Featurette-Metamorphosis of MiB (23:13)
This is a very decent featurette, perhaps padded with
a little too much footage from the movie, which offers a number of insights
into the production. Well worth watching.
Extended & Alternate Scenes (5)
These are very interesting and enlightening when seen
after
listening to the commentaries, but most certainly should not have been
included in the movie. Of particular interest is the way in which they
show how the plot of the movie was able to be altered for the better in
post-production.
Character Animation Studies (4 + intro - Multi-Angle)
These are very similar in concept to the Visual Effects
Scene Deconstructions, but are all too brief and subsequently of limited
interest.
Creatures-Concept To Completion
A series of still frames that morph from early creature
concepts to the final creature design. Mildly interesting, particularly
to see the evolution of the multiple concepts that were considered for
Mr. Gentle.
Storyboard Comparisons (3)
Nicely presented split-screen, I personally find these
uncompelling. Your opinion may differ.
Storyboard Gallery (5 Galleries)
Conceptual Art Gallery
Lots and lots of conceptual art stills.
Scene Editing Workshop (with Director's Introduction)
In this workshop, you are offered the chance to put
together a short sequence from Men In Black by choosing the takes that
you want to use. There are 3 takes available for each of 3 shots, making
a total of 27 possible combinations for each of 3 sequences. You can then
compare your choices with the Director's. Barry Sonnenfeld provides
a brief introduction to this section of the DVD. Whilst it is an innovative
extra, it isn't particularly compelling, and it won't be an extra you linger
over.
Production Photo Gallery
Lots and lots of still photos. Of particular interest
are the saucer crash sequential stills which show how this effect was created.
Cast & Crew Biographies
Featurette
This is your stock-standard promotional featurette.
Some of the behind the scenes footage is quite interesting and not seen
anywhere else, so it is worth watching.
Trailers
There are four trailers to be found, all of excellent
quality, and most 16x9 enhanced with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound.
-
Men In Black Teaser Trailer
-
Men In Black II Teaser Trailer
-
Men In Black Theatrical Trailer
-
Stuart Little Theatrical Trailer
Music Video - Will Smith-Men In Black
A dancing Mikey is cute, but Will Smith is not
my cup of tea. Nonetheless, a most appropriate inclusion on this DVD.
DVD-ROM Extras
This is basically a mirror of the Men
In Black web site.
R4 vs R1
This DVD appears to be identically featured worldwide.
Summary
Men In Black is a good, fun movie that doesn't
take itself too seriously.
The video quality is superlative and is of reference
quality.
The audio quality is excellent and is almost of reference
quality.
The extras are comprehensive, generally interesting,
and genuinely innovative.
Video |
|
Audio |
|
Extras |
|
Plot |
|
Overall |
|
© Michael Demtschyna
(read my bio)
15th August 2000
Review Equipment
|
|
|
DVD |
Marantz DV-18/Loewe Xemix 5006DD, using S-Video/RGB output |
Display |
Loewe Art-95 95cm direct view CRT in 16:9 mode, via the
S-Video/RGB inputs. Calibrated with the NTSC DVD version of
Video Essentials. |
Audio Decoder |
Denon AVD-2000 Dolby Digital AddOn Decoder, used as a
standalone processor. Calibrated with the NTSC DVD version of Video
Essentials. |
Amplification |
2 x EA Playmaster 100W per channel stereo amplifiers
for Left, Right, Left Rear and Right Rear; Philips 360 50W per channel
stereo amplifier for Centre and Subwoofer |
Speakers |
Philips S2000 speakers for Left, Right; Polk Audio CS-100
Centre Speaker; Apex AS-123 speakers for Left Rear and Right Rear; Hsu
Research TN-1220HO subwoofer |