Plot Details: This opinion reveals no details about the movie's plot.

NOTE: This covers the movie and the Limited Edition version of the DVD though most of the info applies to the currently common release as well.

When people talk about adventure comedies from the 80’s they usually include Ghostbusters, for the 90’s it’s Men In Black. It’s not the funniest comedy, it’s not the most amazing sci-fi, but it’s the best fusion of the two from that time. Let me tell you a little about the movie.

MIB is not a government agency as the trailers say, but a super-secret organization that polices alien activity on Earth. The visitors here mostly do not cause trouble, Earth is considered a refuge for many species. But there’s something here that the bug race wants, and the Arquillans would rather destroy the planet than let the bugs have it. Earth is caught in the crossfire unless the MIB can stop the bug. Armed with alien technology that sometimes causes as much trouble as it solves, agent K goes on a bug hunt with rookie agent J.

The plot is simple but solid. The focus, though, is on comedy and odd creatures. This means that make-up and special effects play a major role in making the movie look good, and that’s exactly what they do. While some improvements could be made with current technological advances, the creatures, ships, and other effects look smooth and realistic. There isn’t much that makes me fall on the floor laughing, but it draws a lot of smiles and chuckles. If you hate slapstick you will probably be put off.

The actors truly own their roles and make the characters believable to the extent a couple of alien chasing super-agents can be. Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones make a great team. Rip Torn is perfect, and while some people complain about Vincent D’Onofrio, I think he’s outstanding. He really brings to life the frustration of the bug forced to hide uncomfortably in a human form and dealing with a race he sees as inferior. From his inability to get his body into certain positions no matter how hard he tries to his mindset of seeing humans as low on the evolutionary scale, there are a lot of little characterization nuances that Vincent adds to the role. Linda Fiorintino does a decent job, but there are a couple of scenes I don’t think she sells satisfactorily. This isn’t a world-changing movie but it’s a fun viewing experience. It’s worth a rental if you like alien movies or want to see something humorous.

Content:
Language is the biggest questionable thing, but it’s not terrible. It’s not like every other word or anything. There are a couple of mild sexual jokes that don’t necessarily have to be taken as perverted. The nudity amounts to a very quick shot of Linda’s undies when she’s being attacked by the bug, no big deal at all. The violence is mild and mostly against aliens. I don’t think there is any actual blood. There are some gross scenes depending on how sensitive you are, but they’re slime gross, not gore.

DVD:
There are 5 versions of the DVD. The original single disc came in Widescreen or Pan & Scan and had fewer extra features than the others. The Superbit offers superior picture quality but few if any extras at all. The Limited Edition and the newer Deluxe Edition are both 2 disc sets and are very much alike except for some packaging differences and additional MIB2 promos on the latter version. It is the Limited Edition that I want to talk most about since I have not personally seen the others.

I’ll start from the outside. One thing that sets the LE apart from the others is the packaging. The case is a hinged cardboard box with plastic trays. It looks quite nice with its solid black coloring and silvery logo. You will have to use a little more care with it than plastic cases as the cardboard tears easily at the corners. My big complaint, though, is with the info card on the back. The box would look much nicer without it, and it looks like it’s meant to be removed, but the glue used on it tore the paper cover on mine leaving a white circle on the otherwise uniform black. Highly annoying.

The CD art features Tommy on D1 & Will on D2 against blurry starfields. There are a number of inserts that jut lie in the box. They fall and scatter easily if you’re not careful since nothing holds them in place. Some of it is just promo cards - Check out MIB online! – and stuff like that.

There is a book made up to look like an MIB training manual that has production notes, images, and other info. There is also a conceptual drawing poster. While that sounds neat, I was disappointed with mine. I was hoping for a weird alien like the Worms or something and instead got Farmer Edgar which looks like little more than a quick sketch of actor Vincent. If I’m going to have nothing more than someone’s mug to stare at I would at least prefer one of the lovely ladies.

You get the choice of Widescreen or Pan & Scan, 5.1 Surround, and subtitles. The menus are great featuring well-done animation, sound effects, voices, and music. You actually get to explore the MIB headquarters a little with the menus taking up different sections or rooms of the HQ. The breakroom with the Worms is especially funny.

Where this DVD excels, even for the moderate fan, is in special features. It’s loaded and not just with behind the scenes video clips. There are a number of creative and unusual features that are often more interactive than hitting play and sitting back to watch. I’ll give you a rundown of them all, but it’s going to be a long list.

The first innovative feature you’re likely to notice is the commentary. Tommy Lee Jones talks with Barry Sonnenfeld which is interesting to hear in itself, but there are also visuals to go along with it. Barry and Tommy are silhouetted much like Mystery Science Theatre so you get to see their gestures, but wait, there’s more! Barry has a device that lets him draw on the screen so you get graphics as well. The downside is that the program is real picky about DVD player setup. You may have a hard time getting it to play exactly right.

There’s a second technical commentary that’s full of great stuff for all you tech heads.

Will Smith’s Men In Black music video is included with the VHS release so it’s no surprise that it’s included here. It’s a good song if you like rap music and a well-done video. The editing is tight and the graphics almost as good as the movie.

The deleted scenes are a bit of a letdown. They are actually just extended or altered from what’s in the movie, and some require close attention to pick out any differences. One that doesn’t really fit the description of an extended scene is the Bouncing Ball without Special Effects. It’s exactly the same as the movie scene but without the CG effects of the ball causing the damage. There are 5 scenes in all.

Some of the most interesting features are the Special Effects Deconstructions. There are 2 that look at scenes from 5 different angles. Angle 1 is the storyboard, angle 5 is the finished product, and the others are in-between. It’s a great look at the process at seeing something go from being a lame machine to a life-like organism. There’s also an intro to the section and an optional commentary.

There are 2 behind the scenes videos. One is short and looks like a TV promo. It’s got a few good spots, but overall it’s not great. The other is longer, better, and while some of the info is repeated from commentaries, there is some original stuff including pieces of the original plot.

There are 3 Character Animation Studies that are similar to the SFX Deconstructions. This set is much shorter & rather than letting you choose the angle it just plays one after the other in order. You see the aliens as they look in various stages of creation from a guy holding a stick to the fully animated creature. There are 4 angles for each and an intro for the set.

If you like picture galleries you will love this release. There are 12 regular galleries, 5 storyboard galleries, and 5 creature galleries that feature morphs between concepts to the finished products. There are 3 Storyboard Comparisons which go through the boards for a scene in sequence beside the related video clips.

One of the most unusual features is the scene editing workshop. 3 scenes from the movie have been included for editing. Each has 3 different takes split into 3 smaller segments. For each scene you preview the segments, choose the one you like best, go to the next segment, repeat the process, and, when you’ve finished, play back your original edit. You can then compare it to the scene in the movie to see if you and Barry agree on what the scene should look like. It’s a lot of fun and more releases should do something like this. There is also a humorous intro by Barry.

Most DVD’s have cast and crew bios. This one has 11, but they are short.

The original teaser trailer and theatrical trailer are included, more interesting to watch than usual because the plot was changed after they were made. There are a number of differences you will pick up on if you’re familiar with the movie.

There are also 5 previews including a short teaser for MIB2.

The DVD-ROM stuff is not that great. You get the standard web links on both discs. Disc 2 includes 8 alien profiles from the viewpoint of an MIB agent. It’s fun if you really want to immerse yourself in the MIB universe. Along that same vein are 6 weapons profiles, and 7 non-lethal device profiles (you need shockwave for this one).

There is an MIB recruitment game that isn’t all that great. The graphics and gameplay lack. It’s mostly just point the mouse and shoot.

Finally we have the 3D MIB HQ tour, the most disappointing part of the DVD-ROM. Disappointing because it sounds really good but isn’t worth the time. You have control of a camera and can pan and zoom anywhere in the room. It’s a cool concept, but the graphics, necessary for such a feature, are horrible.

Final thoughts:
Whew, that’s a bunch of stuff. I enjoyed most of these features a great deal and can highly recommend the disc because of them. In fact, I would go so far as to say this is one of the best DVD releases I’ve ever seen in that department. It will take you a few hours to really go through them all if you’re paying attention so you need a long rental period if you’re not going to make a purchase. You get a lot for your money, though, with a lot of stuff you may want to go back to in the future. It’s more bang for your buck than most DVD’s.

I debated on the rating for a while. It's really 4.5* but since I said it's one of the best I've seen for extra features, I thought only rounding up would suit it. My biggest complaints are the glue tearing the box, the poor DVD-ROM features, and the weak deleted scenes section. I would also liked to have seen Danny Elfman and the score get some attention.

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older