Double Dippin' - Men In Black

Before we get started, here at the Arbitrary Movie Blog, we do generally four kinds of reviews: new theatrical releases, new Bluray releases, new Bluray catalog releases, and new DVD releases in the event that there’s no hi-def option available. This one is a new Bluray catalog release, so we’re judgin’ it based on whether or not it’s worth dropping cash to replace the DVD you probably already own, in addition to taking a second look at the flick.

Men In Black was released on Bluray as part of Sony’s neverending Hancock promotion; the handsome, glossy slipcover it comes with (please, every company that releases Bluray discs, start putting slipcovers on everything to satiate those among us with a horrifying addiction to collecting media) announces that if you drop $25 on this Will Smith comedy-action-adventure movie, they’ll give you $7.50 to see the new Will Smith comedy-action-adventure movie. Oh, and you have to redeem it online.

The film itself looks fantastic and was treated to a pretty great transfer. It’s not exactly showboat material – you’ll still be pulling out Ratatouille to show off your Bluray system to your slack-jawed relatives – but it looks damn good and the effects have held up pretty well. The film still feels really slight and kind of forgettable, and while it might’ve seemed edgy or hip in 1997, now it feels like a really standard summer action comedy blockbuster. Will Smith is in full “aww hell nah” mode, and it does seem like 50 of the film’s 98 minutes are spent watching a deformed Vincent D’Onofrio wander around being gross. Entertaining, but that’s about it. At least it isn’t Men in Black II.

There are some exclusive special features to the Bluray release, which is nice because it means they put a little extra effort into this release, something that is currently uncommon among studios releasing older movies on Bluray. Unfortunately they’re all pretty pointless; there’s a multi-player trivia game that asks extremely easy questions, and a repulsive “Ask Frank the Pug” feature where you select a category like “career” or “love life” and a really cheaply-animated Frank the Pug responds with generic ‘funny’ advice. Frank the Pug is pretty much the unfunniest thing about Men in Black so unless you just couldn’t get enough of his Brooklyn-accented antics in the film itself, there’s even more of him here! Other than that there’s a host of old special features from the film’s other 4 or 5 DVD releases and that’s about it.

SO IS IT WORTH IT?

Overall, it’s a very solid treatment of a fun little movie and it looks great. Right now it can be had at Amazon for under $20, and most brick ‘n mortar stores will hover around $24.99. If you can pick it up in a BOGO sale, go for it.