MEN IN BLACK
BEFORE COMIC-BOOK adaptations became their own industry, this action-comedy take on Lowell Cunningham’s lesser-known creation about “MIB” government agents who monitor extraterrestrial activity on Earth, became a runaway hit, spawning a popular movie/tv franchise.
The first in a series of four movies, the original Men in Black finds the newest MIB recruit, Jay (Will Smith), receiving much-needed on-the-job training when a particularly nasty alien lands with ill intent for the galaxy. Jay’s winning chemistry with his world-wearier partner, Kay (Tommy Lee Jones), combined with many highly imaginative sight gags, yield plenty of laughs. At a brisk 98 minutes—the plot was cleverly streamlined after negative test audience feedback— Men in Black is definitely a fun re-watch.
Surprisingly, this is the first time MIB— one of Sony’s biggest go-to titles— has been released as a 4K single. The disc arrives in a handsome Steelbook case with great cover art and enjoys an upgrade to Dolby Vision from the standard HDR10 processing used for 2017’s 20th Anniversary Trilogy pack. Director Barry Sonnenfeld, an accomplished cinematographer known for bringing visual panache to his films, does an excellent job of conveying a quasi-cartoonish look and feel to the film. Though the 25-year-old special effects hold up, the newfound level 4K clarity pushes some perilously close to coming undone, while bringing the tight weave of the signature black suits into crisp focus more often than not. Contrast is a somewhat of a mixed bag. While the addition of high dynamic range (HDR) accentuates bright highlights, shadow detail is at times compromised by some pretty significant black crush.
In keeping with MIB’S highly caffeinated action, the reimagined Dolby Atmos soundtrack is gleefully (and appropriately) aggressive, with unabashed exploitation of the seven core channels plus frequent use of the overheads while the brave agents dodge projectiles, alien creatures, and zig-zagging spaceships. On the other hand, except for a couple of spectacular crashes, the low-end was more restrained than I would have liked—or expected. A DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 option is also supplied in several different languages.
New to the 4K disc are two substantial on-camera interviews with Sonnenfeld, one solo and one alongside production designer Bo Welch, both apparently recorded specifically for the film’s 25th anniversary. The accompanying HD Blu-ray is a previously released disc that is loaded with extras, including two terrific audio commentaries and a telestrator-aided visual commentary that dates all the way back to the DVD era.