For the extra bucks you pay for this Limited Edition of one of my all-time favorite movies, here's what you get: a pasteboard box (NOT a plastic keep case!) with the disk info on the back attached with something a little more sticky than spit. That was my first, and very lasting, impression.

The extra disk, while briefly amusing, was a disappointment. The part where the Edgar Bug Fight scene (and the MiB car transformation scene) is deconstructed "using angles" merely allows you to switch through five presentations from storyboard through final edit. By using the angle button you actually destroy the evolution; if you allow it to play it will start the sequence again at the next level.

The long-awaited editing workshop is a joke. You are given three different scenes, each with three shots. Then make one of three choices for each shot and play the results. Looks good on paper, but it's actually much less interesting. Quite tedious.

There is an extra audio commentary track, but how many times do you actually watch a movie with the commentary track turned on? And if you want to watch the music video, you have to go to the second disk.

This is a GREAT movie. But the only way I can recommend this version is if you absolutely have to have the full screen presentation, which is unavailable on the "cheaper" model.


Even the Collector's Series is PACKED!   September 30, 2000
 28 out of 28 found this review helpful

I see many people have beat me to reviewing the movie, so I'll review the DVD(s). First of all, if you haven't played the DVDs, you don't know what you're missing! Compare the greatest DVD you've seen before with either of these two and you'll see just how many features we have here! The Collectors' Series has features like the two theatrical trailers for MIB, visual (or audio) commentary, a behind-the-scenes featurette, a behind-the-scenes look at the metamorphosis of MIB, the deconstruction of the tunnel scene, and studies of the 3 main CGI creatures: the Jeebs head transformation, the worm guys (carrying the cigarettes), the opening scene revelation of Mikey, extended and alternate scenes, a mess of storyboards, storyboard-to-film comparisons, behind-the-scenes photos, and conceptual art, and the music video. As you can see, this is one CRAMMED single-layer disc. But only buy the so-called "Limited Edition" if you're a DVD fan that will go to ends of the earth to get a ridiculous amount of features (some of which you won't even want) on a DVD (or two) for it. Also, only get it if you're a reluctant DVD owner and you hate having to watch movies in anything but fullscreen. Because all the Limited Edition has more is the fullscreen presentation, the Edgar Bug Fight scene deconstruction, a few extra conceptual art and the so-called "scene-editing workshop". If you're willing to pay so much extra for only those features, feel free, but you can get 3/4 of the features of the Limited Edition on the Collectors' Series and save a lot of money.


Lots of fun, lots of special effects eye candy   July 6, 2000
 20 out of 24 found this review helpful

Based on the comic book of the same name, these guys keep the aliens living among us under wraps. A lot of tongue-in-cheek humor and a new way of looking at a multitude of aliens , good and evil, small and large.

Will Smith makes the movie entertaining and the special effects quality and originality will keep you from blinking. Fun gadgets will also intrigue the sci-fi afficianado. This full-featured DVD is well-worth the money, especially with the multi-angle shots. I've already seen this on tape a number of times and I'm anxious to get this limited edtion DVD edtion.

There is some language, but not much beyond what you'd see on prime-time TV nowadays. Very enjoyable and entertaining.


What if those tabloid space alien stories were true? Blu-ray due out June 17th--Update on image/sound   May 9, 2008
 15 out of 23 found this review helpful

Men In Black is a spoof/sci-fi/action flick about a super-secret cross between the Immigration and Naturalization Service, FBI X-Files division, and a disinformation office. Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith are, respectively, a seasoned agent and a new recruit who work to find, legalize, track and police aliens from other worlds, and to hide the fact that such aliens exist. Aliens are given disguises and allowed to live among us as long as they don't cause too much trouble. There is apparently a lot of latitude in enforcing that requirement, since it turns out that Newt Gingrich, Sylvester Stallone and Dennis Rodman are actually aliens.

Beyond that set-up, the plot exists mainly as a vehicle on which to hang a bunch of gags, some very odd characters, and action sequences. And that's enough. The heroes fight aggressor aliens and save the Earth and a very small galaxy while remaining (mostly) cool and making wisecracks. What more could you ask for?

This is a fun movie with lots of elaborate special effects and sets that ought to really benefit from the hi-def treatment. The new Blu-ray release will have a bunch of special features, but only a few not taken from previous releases. Here are the new features:

-- Intergalactic Pursuit: Men in Black multi-player trivia game
-- Ask Frank the Pug interactive game
-- Alien subtitle track

Probably not much there, for most of us, but the old features are still plenty:

-- telestrator commentary with director Barry Sonnefeld and star Tommy Lee Jones (the telestrator lets them draw on the screen, as it were, like John Madden, but don't expect much extra excitement)
-- technical commentary with Barry Sonnenfeld, alien make-up effects guru Rick Baker, and three folks from Industrial Light & Magic
-- extended and alternate scenes (five scenes)
-- "Metamorphosis of Men In Black" (on how the project developed, 23 minutes)
-- Visual Effects Scene Deconstructions, with optional technical commentary (two scenes analyzed)
-- Character Animation Studies (animation of three characters analyzed)
-- Scene Editing Workshop (you get to edit some scenes)
-- Storyboard Comparisons
-- Conceptual Art Gallery
-- Production Photo Gallery
-- Men in Black music video with Will Smith and Mikey
-- 2 trailers

Specs: 1.85:1 Widescreen Transfer (1080p), English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, French Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Portuguese Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, Thai Dolby Digital 5.1, subtitles in Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin Simplified), Chinese (Mandarin Traditional), Dutch, English (UK), English (US), French (Parisian), Indonesian / Bahasa, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish (Latin Am), Thai.

Update (11 June): in a comment to this review (number 19), Kerry says he (or she?) has seen this Blu-ray DVD already and that it wasn't so much better than a regular DVD. This moved me to check several professional reviews to see what others who have already seen it thought. They all said that the Blu-ray is significantly better than even the older Superbit edition, with better detail and depth of color, and also really great true high-def sound. None of the reviews I saw had any significant complaints about the video or audio; all were very positive about it being worth it to upgrade.