Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Men in Black-
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Writers: Lowell Cunningham (comic), Ed Solomon (screen story)
Stars: Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith and Linda Fiorentino
(From imdb.com)

What they say: Men In Black follows the exploits of Agents K (Jones) and J (Smith), members of a top-secret organization established to monitor alien activity on Earth. The two MIB find themselves in the middle of a deadly plot by an intergalactic terrorist (Vincent D’Onofrio) who has arrived on Earth to assassinate two ambassadors from opposing galaxies. K and J face a simple imperative: track down the interloper or the Earth will be destroyed. It’s all in a day’s work for the Men In Black.

What I say: Men in Black hits Blu-Ray again in a shiny new edition just in time for Men in Black III to drop. While Men in Black isn’t Oscar material it is fun stuff and it really is joy watching hard ass Tommy Lee Jones square off against hipster Will Smith. This relationship and the chemistry between them makes up for any shortcomings in the script.

The film is enjoyable if unambitious. But the true star of this release is the transfer! By no means is Men in Black an “old” movie but the film looks very impressive here. Nice color range and crystal clear sharpness are the highlights. The film also uses the 5.1 Dolby Digital in impressive ways.

Also included on the disc are a ton of extras like extended and alternate scenes, visual and audio commentaries, a trivia game, and a whole lot more!

Film: 7/10
Blu-Ray: 9/10

Men in Black II-
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Writers: Lowell Cunningham (comic book “Malibu Comics”),Robert Gordon (story)
Stars: Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith and Rip Torn
(From imdb.com)

What they say: Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith are back in black as the scum-fighting super-agents Kay and Jay – regulators of all things alien on planet earth. Their latest mission: to save the world from a total intergalactic disaster! When a renegade Kylothian monster disguised as a lingerie model threatens thesurvival of the human race, the boys of the MIB get the call to step up and get busy. With their headquarters under siege and time running out, Agents Kay and Jay enlist the help of Frank the Pug anda posse of hard-living worms to help them kick some seriously sexy alien butt!

What I say: Appearing for the first time on Blu-Ray Men in Black II really drives home the principle of diminishing returns. Nowhere near as fun as the first one, the film breaks its neck to undo the ending of the first film while trying to use the same schtick to drum up laughs.

I’m not saying the film is bad, it’s not, but it sure isn’t as good as the first one.

Like the MiB disc this one has a glorious transfer, probably one of the better ones I’ve seen lately. Colors really pop and fine detail is impressive. Also the 5.1 Dolby Digital is outstanding with meaty explosions to crystal clear dialogue.

A ton of extras round out the package, including a Men in Black PS3 game demo which is quite fun, directors commentary, Alternate Ending, Blooper Reel, 5 behind the scenes, and a lot more!

Film: 6/10
Blu-Ray: 10/10

Both films come with an Ultraviolet copy.