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Men in Black
DVD Review by Yanman |
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"At any given time there are around 1,500 aliens on the planet. Most of them right here in Manhattan." Since the beginning of DVD collecting, movie aficionados have prepared a mental list of the films that they would most like to have on the format. For many, the film that has remained near the top of their list, MIB, is now available after years of waiting. Originally slated to be released much earlier, DVD fans were forced to wait until now for one of their favorite movies, reportedly due to executive producer Steven Spielberg's hesitation to release his films in this new digital format. We feel that the wait was well worth it; however, allowing the format to mature, and the studios time to pull together a larger amount of extras. In the 1950s a small group of men were brought together for the laughable goal of contacting alien life forms. No one took it seriously, that is no one except the aliens. You see, on March 2, 1961, aliens made contact with earth just outside of New York. It seems that some of them were looking for a neutral planet to call home. Allowing these intergalactic refugees to stay on the planet would necessitate the creation of an elite governing body, a group above the law, as we know it. This group is no longer a part of the system; they are above it, over it, beyond it - they are simply know as the Men in Black, or MIBs for short. As the original members have started to grow older, perhaps too old to do their job, they must recruit "the best of the best of the best" as their replacements. Agent Kay (Tommy Lee Jones) is on one such recruiting mission, and it leads him to one of New York's finest, James Darrel Edwards III (Will Smith), known simply as Jay after his identity change. While the wait for this movie on DVD was certainly worth the wait, we would have hoped to see a better transfer here. While it is an Anamorphic transfer at its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 (also available in a "full-screen" version on the Limited Edition), it has more than its share of flaws. Noticeable dirt, grain, the ever fun "white dots", and even a small bit of artifacting, is visible throughout the transfer. Now before you "start a ruckus", this is still certainly the best transfer of the movie we have seen being clearly superior to either the VHS version or the Laser Disc edition. It is only in the fact that we had our sights set higher that we are disappointed. Available in either a Dolby Digital 5.1 or in a DTS version, the sound
here is truly top notch, ranking just short of perfection. While there
have been many different reports written between the differences between
Dolby Digital and DTS, your ears must be the final deciding factor. The
DTS version does demonstrate a deeper bass response; most people
contribute this to a +5 Db increase in bass in the DTS spec. If you are a
DTS fan, you will have another hard choice to make, as the limited edition
version is only available in Dolby digital. We would have liked to see an
audio option offered here as well. The Collector's Series Includes: A "Tunnel Scene" Deconstruction Using Angles And one extra that deserves its own paragraph - an all-new visual commentary with Barry Sonnenfeld and Tommy Lee Jones with on-screen diagrams. Added to the "Mystery Science Theater" style video commentary, where you see the people talking (first appearing on the Ghostbusters DVD), is the idea of "John Madden or coach" style screen markings. So if Barry is pointing out something obscure on the screen, you don't have to look all over for it because he will circle it for you. If for some reason you don't like seeing the silhouettes or the markings, they can be disabled; and the commentary can be listened to without them. One thing worth noting, for those with 16" x 9" screens, you must set your DVD player to 4:3 mode to see the silhouette inserts. The Limited Edition adds the following to the above: A Second Director and Technical Crew Commentary And real cool extra number two, a small poster with the preprinted signatures of Sonnenfeld and Rick Baker. A limited number of these inserts will contain original signatures! I have heard some people say that the "Will Smith summer blockbusters" are campy, contrived, and cookie cutter. I would like to remind these people that some of us like to be entertained every now and then, and that not every film needs to be "a work of art". This is a popcorn-munching movie at its best, just sit back and enjoy the ride. …honey, this one is eating MY popcorn.
This DVD was reviewed on Yanman.com's Reference Theater #1, using a Toshiba SD-5109 DVD player, Toshiba TW56X81, and M&K 750 THX Speakers. Panamax protects all systems at Yanman.com. |
Men in Black This group is no longer a part of the system; they are above it, over it, beyond it - they are simply know as the Men in Black Staring: Will Smith Directed By: Barry Sonnenfeld Running time: 98 Min Bonus Materials
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