Men in Black: 25th Annivesary Steelbook - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Men in Black: 25th Annivesary Steelbook



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:



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Movie
Wooowhee, It’s been an interesting year. There were hints at a TRUE Men in Black 4 film a couple years back, then we had Will Smith smacking Chris Rock like he owed him money at the Oscars, and Will’s fall from public grace. Well, at least bad press is still good news in Hollywood. Either way, Sony is re-releasing the classic first film in the Men in Black franchise with new Dolby Vision, a couple of new extras, and a snazzy collector’s edition steelbook for the first time outside of the trilogy, so buckle up for the ride!

There are few sci-fi monster movies as popular in the last 20 years as Men in Black. It starred a young Will Smith (who was just coming into his own after making it big with films like Independence Day and Bad Boys), and was filled with all of the special effects and explosions that modern cinema goers was craving. Tommy Lee Jones was also the veteran actor who was just coming off of a legendary career, and he acted as the perfect straight laced foil to Will Smith’s famous improvisational work, as well as Sonnenfeld’s explosive script. What went in was a decent idea with some great actors, but what came out was a franchise that has actually grown and become one of the most well known action/sci-fi trilogies of the last 20 years.

James Edwards (Will Smith) is a fleet footed, and smart mouthed, detective who has just gotten an eye opener. After chasing down a perp in New York City, he finds out that the world is filled with creatures a little bit different than just the standard humans. Most people would just shrug off his experience as seeing things, James gets a chance to peel back the curtain when a member of a super secret organization (so super secret that entire governments have no idea of its existence) named Agent Kay (Tommy Lee Jones) decides to recruit young James into their own. It seems that Aliens HAVE been on Earth for decades, and they have been living among us in secret while policed by the men in black (said super secret organization). Dying at a piece of the action, James (now dubbed agent Jay) is given a chance to become a part of something bigger than he thought.

They say that the first few weeks on a new job are the roughest, but this takes it to a whole new level. Right after Jay is given his new suit and partner (Agent Kay of course), he finds out that not all aliens are easily manageable. A bug from the out limits of the galaxy has come to look for a powerful artifact here on Earth that could be used as a power source for his people. Something that NO ONE wants to have happen, as the bugs are a vicious warlike race of creatures and giving them a power source like that would give them enough power to wipe out whole solar systems. Thus, it’s time for the Men in Black to rack em, stack em, and kick some alien butt.

Men in Black is a fairly simple movie at heart. We’ve seen it all before. The old wizened mentor is looking to create a replacement for the job he does, and in the process they form a fantastic friendship while saving the world. Rinse and repeat with a new shiny veneer on top. What makes the movie special is that its basically a live action cartoon (something which seems to be intentional) with two actors that really give it their all (three if you count a nearly unrecognizable Vincent D’Onofrio as the bug’s “skin”) creating the legendary film. Will Smith is young and brash, using the charm and charisma that made him so popular in Independence Day and Bad Boys to his advantage. Tommy Lee Jones is fantastic as the straight man in his films, and he gives a rock solid performance as the stoic, but soft in the middle agent who’s more than a bit battle weary after giving his life for this agency. With Smith’s young hotness (yes, I brazenly stole that parallel), and Tommy Lee Jones obviously superior acting ability, the duo just WORKS in ways that most people didn’t expect to. I have to give a nod to Vincent D’Onofrio as “the bug”. His off the wall portrayal and visceral body movements made it so that you almost couldn’t recognize the veteran actor, allowing him to goof off and create a hulking persona (or more hulking for the already tall man) that just is spot on perfect.




Rating:

Rated PG-13 for language and sci-fi violence




4K Video: Video:

Lets get to the goodies. The 2008 Blu-ray for Men in Black was considered a fantastic looking Blu-ray for the time, and it holds up quite well today. The only problems seem to be some washed out black levels and a little bit of crush. HOWEVER, when compared to the 4K UHD there’s absolutely no comparison. The 4K disc is leaps and bounds better than the old Blu-ray which shows improvements in just about every way. The standard 4K resolution jump with detail is there in spades (mostly small textural details as well as a cleaner facial mapping). The big thing comes with the use of HDR (duh) and the details in the black levels. Comparing the silky blacks of the 4K disc to the Blu-ray yields a shocking comparison. The Blu-ray seems almost green tinged at times, with washing out in the night sky (look at when the bug ship crashes into the truck at the beginning) and a mush feel. The 4K disc is deep and black, with picture perfect detail in the night sky. The colors are also the biggest leap, with the dull oranges of Smith’s pants looking solid enough, but the 4K makes them vibrant and punchy, with a saturation level that really shines in 4K. The only change from this disc from the 4K trilogy disc is that Sony has gone back and added Dolby Vision to the disc as well (like they did with The Bridge on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia). Comparing the two discs back and forth it's really hard to pick a winner. The Dolby Vision (like pretty much all of the films that Sony has DV and HDR included) shows very minute increases in black level performance over it's HDR counterpart. However, those increases are VERY slight and for those not nitpicking you won't notice a difference.




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Audio:

The audio track includes the Atmos from the previous release, but ALSO the original 5.1 track in DTS-HD MA lossless as well (and about a gazillion DTS-HD MA alternate language tracks for those not native to English). Needless to say, it is a KILLER audio mix with pounding bass, great spacial separation and amazing overhead dexterity. The scene where the bug tries to escape in the saucer is just phenomenal, rocking you to your core with low end and a nice set of discrete overhead sounds as it soars overhead before crashing. Action is pulse pounding and incredibly immersive, while the quieter moments of the film are crisp and clean. Basically, perfect audio.










Extras:

4K UHD
• Notes from the Director's Chair
• Designing Men in Black

Blu-ray Legacy Features
• Audio Commentaries
- Telestrator Commentary with Director Barry Sonnenfeld and Tommy Lee Jones
- Audio Commentary with Director Barry Sonnenfeld and Tommy Lee Jones
- Technical Commentary with Barry Sonnenfeld, Rick Baker and Industrial Light & Magic Team
• Intergalactic Pursuit: The MIB Multi-Player Trivia Game
• Ask Frank The Pug!
• Extended and Alternate Scenes
• Metamorphosis of Men In Black
• Original Featurette
• Visual Effects Scene Deconstruction
• Character Animation Studies
• Creatures: Concept To Completion
• Galleries
• Storyboard Comparisons
• Scene Editing Workshop
• Music Video: “Men In Black”
• Men In Black Trailers

Final Score: ​

The Sony disc is still as near flawless it was in 2017 for the trilogy release, just with a few minor tweaks like a couple of new extras, some Dolby Vision, and a really classy looking 25th Anniversary steelbook edition packaging for those who just want the first film. It’s nice, and just like owners of previous re-releases, this is more for the collectors and the ones who don’t want a trilogy box set. The disc is fantastic technically speaking, and the steelbook is better than your average artwork that we see for these. All in all, for those who have the set, may not be worthy of an upgrade. For steelbook collectors or those who want the first film only, easy grab.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith, Johnny Knoxsville, Ript Torn, Vincent D'Onofrio
Directed By: Barry Sonnenfeld
Written By: Lowell Cunningham, Ed Solomon
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 HEVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, English DTS-HD MA 5.1, Czech, French (Canada), Hungarian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai DD 5.1
Subtitles: Dutch, Norwegian, Hungarian, Czech, Romanian, Arabic, Thai, Finnish, Indonesian, Mandarin Chinese, Danish, Korean, German, Italian, Swedish, English, Portuguese, Japanese, Polish, Turkish, Spanish, French, Greek, and Slovak
Studio: Sony
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 98 minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: July 19th, 2022

Recommendation: Great Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. This is a great movie to have.