Men In Black Collector’s Edition (1997) [DVD] [2000]

Men in Black follows the exploits of Agents Kay (Tommy Lee Jones) and Jay (Will 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. Kay and Jay face a simple imperative: track down the interloper or Earth will be destroyed. It’s all in a day’s work for the Men in Black.
This imaginative comedy from director Barry Sonnenfeld (Get Shorty) is a lot of fun, largely on the strength of Will Smith’s engaging performance as the rookie partner of a secret agent (Tommy Lee Jones) assigned to keep tabs on Earth-dwelling extra-terrestrials. There’s lots of comedy to spare in this bright film, some of the funniest stuff found in the margins of the major action (a scene with Smith’s character being trounced in the distance by a huge alien while Jones questions a witness is a riot.) The inventiveness never lets up, and the cast–including Vincent D’Onofrio doing frighteningly convincing work as an alien occupying a decaying human–hold up their end splendidly. –Tom Keogh, store
On the DVD: This Collector’s Edition disc contains a “Visual Commentary” that features director Barry Sonenfeld and actor Tommy Lee Jones in an anecdotal conversation, but with the unique twist that they are displayed as silhouettes on your TV screen (imagine you’re sitting in the back row of the cinema and they are up front) using a pointer to highlight particular events on screen. If you have a widescreen TV, the menu prompts you to switch to 4:3 mode to see this. There is also a “Visual Effects Scene Deconstruction” in which the tunnel scene and the Edgar Bug fight scene are dissected into their constituent parts; an in-depth documentary, “Metamorphosis of MIB”, which charts the progress of the concept from comic book to screen; five “Extended and Alternate” scenes; trailers, including a teaser for MIB II; and Will Smith’s “Men in Black” music video. –Mark Walker