Lexmark3200
08-11-2005, 12:56 PM
Keeping inline with a "Superbit Sale at Best Buy" discussion I was having yesterday on another home theater fanatic site that I am senior DVD reviewer for, I had the chance to review this title which I picked up for $9.99 last night; let me say this before going into the review: when I first saw this theatrically, I walked out hating it and thinking "what was the point of that? Was that supposed to be funny, cool, science fiction-like, what?" Yet over the years, the more I watched it on cable, the concept of what they were going for here (and I wasn't even aware it was actually based on a Marvel Comics series) grew on me and I understood it, and I suddenly had a new found respect for these guys who were pretty much take-no-**** alien hunters, especially Tommy Lee Jones' character who is a bad-ass and has no patience for dealing with the "alien trash" his job brings along. The sequel didn't intrigue me as much as this original, but every time it's on cable now, I stop and watch it, fascinated by the comedy that's mixed with the charisma Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones have onscreen for these roles; it's not as charming as, say, the connection Smith and Martin Lawrence have in the Bad Boys films, but there is no denying the chemistry between Jones and Smith works here.
Before I get into the technical specifications for Columbia/TriStar's Superbit release of this title (which has been made available in no less than three other incarnations, one of which, the Deluxe Version, which I returned for this Superbit disc, was made solely to promote the sequel) let me go over the synopsis for a bit. Filmed in a comic-book-story kind of way (and yet there is no mention of Marvel's involvement in the project as their name is so boldly proclaimed in the beginnings of Spider-Man, Daredevil, The Hulk and The Punisher), MIB tells the story (which gets a little ridiculous at times, such as a sequence where an alien ship is firing at Earth, and yet no one---not our government nor NASA---know about it EXCEPT for the guys of MIB) of a secret agency known only as "MIB" which stands for "Men In Black." This agency works out of an underground, secluded New York City Bridge and Tunnel Authority building, and all their "field agents" wear all black suits with white shirts and black ties, along with black sunglasses. The film's premise is that there are actual aliens from other worlds living amongst our society, some of which are even pretending to be celebrities we all know, such as Dennis Rodman and Michael Jackson (which, if taken literally is not that far of a stretch, but overall is just too silly of a notion). MIB's mission is to monitor this alien life on our planet and make sure the average public doesn't know about them or any plans they may have.
In one of the opening sequences, an alien spacecraft crash lands in what appears to be a farmhouse occupied by an obnoxious and verbally abusive husband in overalls, who proceeds to go outside and see what happened. He is immediately "absorbed" by the alien which has crashed into the farm land, this alien being a very large, nasty-looking cockroach-type of lifeform which takes the shape of this farmer now because it has plans on Earth that MIB cannot be made aware of. Enter Will Smith, who comedically plays a New York City detective who we see chasing down a suspect through the streets --- a suspect which he cannot seem to catch no matter how fast he runs after him; the suspect makes some gravity-defying leaps from buildings and such, as well, leading Smith to believe this is not your ordinary criminal. Upon confronting the fleeing suspect up on a rooftop, the man makes some strange comments about the world coming to an end, as his eyes exhibit a very strange vertical "blinking" which leads Smith to mutter "what the hell are you........" before the man leaps to what seems like a suicide off the building.
Upon returning to police headquarters, Smith is questioned by internal affairs about what happened during this chase, and explained the strange eye movements of this suspect --- when Tommy Lee Jones, a senior member of MIB, arrives at the police station with a secret weapon which erases the memories of folks who may have been exposed to alien lifeforms so they dont remember anything they may have seen or heard; Jones arrives to talk to Smith because he was made aware of the fact that Smith chased down a very fast alien (which he thought was a robbery suspect) by foot, and that impressed Jones, who is looking to recruit a new member for the Men in Black. He makes a proposal to Smith to join the organization, after explaining that they monitor and police actual alien life forms living on Earth disguised as humans, and after thinking about it for a night, Smith decides to join up.....in a most amusing part of the film, Smith arrives at MIB headquarters to brag about his "skills" as a police officer, while he is given a written test along with other candidates for the job, mainly from the U.S. military. When a shooting test then ensues, Smith, out of all the other candidates, ends up shooting the representation of a little girl instead of all the aliens that were coming after them in the simulation; after being asked by Rip Torn's character why Smith found a need to shoot this cardboard cutout of the girl instead of the aliens, his reply is pretty hilarious.
And so Smith becomes a new member of Men in Black----being given the rules that from this point on, his identity will be completely wiped out, with no hint that he was ever even born, erasing his fingerprints, history, personal documentation-----everything. He puts on his new black suit and assumes his new title-----simply as "AGENT J" (as Jones is AGENT K).
From here, the film gets funny in many places, as Smith is sent on his first few new assignments with Smith, and gets a tour of the Men in Black facility, where strange looking aliens are everywhere----pouring coffee in a break room, operating computers, etc. Smith's first REAL field assignment with Jones makes for a funny moment, as Jones goes after an alien (disguised as a normal human man) attempting to leave the confines of New York City illegally; they pull this guy over and as Smith questions him about his alien intentions, Smith is busy being whipped around by an alien "squid" creature which is being given birth to by the man's wife in the backseat of the car; its a pretty funny scene. Once Smith is covered in the squid baby's "vomit," Jones asks him, once back in the car, "Did any of that seem strange to you?" Smith's facial response is classic.
The film then switches focus to this alien cockroach creature in the farmer's body and what his mission is on Earth, which seems to be to secure a "galaxy" which is actually the size of a small marble and belongs to an enemy alien race which is also on Earth. The "bug" as it is known, must secure this "galaxy" (which ends up around the neck of a cat which beloned to one of the enemy aliens of this bug creature) and the resulting possession of this item will cause an interstellar war, which the Men in Black are caught right in the middle of, as the race who wants this "galaxy" back from the cockroach alien creature threaten to destroy Earth if they dont get it back; the plot at this point gets a bit silly, but you have to just go with it. Like I said earlier, there is a part when this alien battlecruiser hovering above Earth takes some shots at our planet as warnings to "deliver this galaxy" to them, but yet the U.S. government never saw this giant spaceship coming towards Earth and firing weapons at us, nor did NASA? ONLY the Men in Black knew about this ship? This seemed a little far fetched. Sure, the whole premise of these films is that the Men in Black possess these weapons which allow them to erase people's memories so they dont actually remember seeing aliens on Earth --- but how do they explain being able to cover up this giant space ship taking pot shots at our planet?
At any rate, its all in good fun, and then the film leads into (a rather hot looking) Linda Fiorintino, working for the city morgue, who has the dead bodies of the aliens killed by the cockroach creature sent to her lab; Smith and Jones arrive to investigate the bodies, knowing they're aliens, but needing to keep it under wraps so Fiorintino doesn't catch wind of whats going on----that is, until her and Smith are witness to one of the what appears to be a human head opening up on one of the victims, exposing a small green alien inside who was using the outer human shell just as a disguise. Just before dying, the alien mentions something about "the galaxy being on Orion's belt" and that the only way to stop war with the cockroach creatures is to secure this "galaxy" --- which eventually they figure out is around the neck of a cat named, you guessed it, "Orion." The cockroach creature hiding in the farmer's body discovers the location of this "galaxy" as well, and takes Fiorintio hostage from the morge as he finds the galaxy around the cat's neck and steals it just as Smith and Jones arrive back at the morgue.
The strange kicker at the end comes when this cockroach creature has Fiorintino drive him to an area in Queens, New York, where the World's Fair was once held outside of New York's Shea Stadium (where the New York Mets play); it seems there are two towers there (which actually DO stand in this real area of New York; I have been there) which have actual working spaceships of some kind on top of them----this premise gets even sillier than the other plots I described earlier; the cockroach creature's plan is to steal this "galaxy" and leave Earth, even though the enemy alien race is ready to wipe out Earth if the Men in Black dont get this galaxy back from the bug creature. Smith and Jones arrive at the Queens, New York location where the bug is attempting to escape in the spaceship on top of these towers, but the Men in Black blast the ship with special weaponry which brings the ship down into an exploding fireball (after flying over Shea Stadium during a Mets baseball game, making an outfielder miss a ball which hits him in the head and knocks him out because he was staring at the UFO flying overhead---its pretty funny). Smith and Jones ready their laser shotgun weapons as the bug creature makes its way out of the crashed ship, still hiding in the farmer's body.....but when he is advised by Smith to "put your hands on your head and step away from your busted ass vehicle," the bug sheds its human skin and shows itself for what it really is-----a MASSIVE cockroach-like creature which simply kicks Smith and Jones around like they're plastic figurines. When the creature sucks down their shotgun weapons, Jones intentionally has the creature eat him, so once inside his body, he can grab the gun and blast his way out from inside his digestive system. In the meantime, Smith is attempting anything to avoid the bug getting on that ship and leaving Earth --- throwing rocks at the creature, waving fireballs and yelling "Where you goin'? Just gonna eat and run, huh? What about desert? This party's just gettin' started....."
But as the creature is halfway up the ladder leading to the spaceship, Smith steps on and crushes some real cockroaches that are crawling around outside a dumpster, making the bug creature jump back down and head for Smith, really pissed off. Seems this is the big bad bug's "soft spot" which he uses to distract the alien while Jones is inside his stomach, getting ready to blast his way out, which he does, splitting the alien roach in two. But as they sit there covered in bug slime, Jones and Smith are not aware of the fact that the bug is indeed not dead----until it jumps up from behind them and Fiorintino blasts it with one of their guns, saying "interesting job you guys have....." This sets up the end of the film, where Jones advises Smith that he is stepping down from the job and wants Smith to take over his position (which changes in the sequel, as Jones comes back as a member of MIB once again); Smith uses the memory flasher device on Jones, who goes back to his wife he left years ago to join MIB.....in the meantime, in replacement, Fiorintino becomes Smith's new partner to end the film.
This a fun, leave-your-brain-at-the-door comedic take at science fiction which takes repeat viewings to really appreciate; at least it did for me. You simply must get past the downright silliness of it all at times. I think this first one is better than the sequel, while with the Bad Boys films, I think the second one upped the first one. At any rate, let's take a look at Columbia's SUPERBIT preperation for this title, which has had multiple releases already to say the least.
VIDEO SPECIFICATIONS:
As all SUPERBIT titles do, the film is presented in its original widescreen presentation, which filled my screen with no letterboxing, indicating this was definitely not a 2:35 or 2:40 aspect ratio; for all Columbia's marketing hype about their Superbit technology and how the elimination of extra features and commentary tracks frees up bitrate space for video and audio quality, there were actual signs of grain in certain scenes on this transfer. Dont get me wrong----for the most part, it IS the typical Superbit show-no-flaws type of print with rich colors and a smooth overall look, yet I was surprised when moments of grain popped up in certain scenes and then suddenly dissapeared.
AUDIO SPECIFICATIONS:
Most home theater enthusiasts --- if not all --- look to Columbia's usually more expensive line of Superbit titles for the inclusion of a DTS audio track which would otherwise not be available on a "standard" release of a title from this studio; all Superbit titles carry a Dolby Digital AND DTS track choice, as the studio's marketing intentions with this line of product was to cater to hardcore home theater enthusisats. I sure was bitten with THAT bug, and try and upgrade and/or buy Superbit titles when I can, as I have found --- especially and most notably with Black Hawk Down --- somewhat night and day differences mainly with the audio tracks on these Superbit titles when compared to their original releases.
Running the DTS mix for this film, I gotta say.....while DEFINITELY rich in dialogue, dynamic and with lots of "energy" behind the mix, this track didn't "wow me" as expected; I detected a slight --- VERY slight --- lack of surround usage, and tended to think most of the audio was coming from the front soundstage. But there ARE definite moments of directionality use from the surrounds, such as when the cockroach's ship is crashing at the end in front of Smith and Jones, and the scene where Smith accidentally launches a wild ball-thing of some kind and it whips around the MIB offices; we can hear this thing ping from channel to channel during the scene, and it was pretty effective, although I was simply expecting something a BIT more satisfying from this Superbit release, audio wise.
Of course, this being a Superbit title, the disc was devoid of extras to free up bitrate space.
In summary, this was 10 bucks well spent, because aside from the fact that I had no use for the second disc of extras on the Deluxe Edition of this title, it must be assumed that the Superbit is the best the film is going to look and sound, so it would be a mistake to go with any other more expensive version of this title on DVD----that is, until that Superbit sale at Best Buy ends.
Hurry up friends, if you're Superbit fans, because those 10 buck Superbits aren't going to last......get over to your local Best Buy when you can.....
Happy viewing, friends!
Before I get into the technical specifications for Columbia/TriStar's Superbit release of this title (which has been made available in no less than three other incarnations, one of which, the Deluxe Version, which I returned for this Superbit disc, was made solely to promote the sequel) let me go over the synopsis for a bit. Filmed in a comic-book-story kind of way (and yet there is no mention of Marvel's involvement in the project as their name is so boldly proclaimed in the beginnings of Spider-Man, Daredevil, The Hulk and The Punisher), MIB tells the story (which gets a little ridiculous at times, such as a sequence where an alien ship is firing at Earth, and yet no one---not our government nor NASA---know about it EXCEPT for the guys of MIB) of a secret agency known only as "MIB" which stands for "Men In Black." This agency works out of an underground, secluded New York City Bridge and Tunnel Authority building, and all their "field agents" wear all black suits with white shirts and black ties, along with black sunglasses. The film's premise is that there are actual aliens from other worlds living amongst our society, some of which are even pretending to be celebrities we all know, such as Dennis Rodman and Michael Jackson (which, if taken literally is not that far of a stretch, but overall is just too silly of a notion). MIB's mission is to monitor this alien life on our planet and make sure the average public doesn't know about them or any plans they may have.
In one of the opening sequences, an alien spacecraft crash lands in what appears to be a farmhouse occupied by an obnoxious and verbally abusive husband in overalls, who proceeds to go outside and see what happened. He is immediately "absorbed" by the alien which has crashed into the farm land, this alien being a very large, nasty-looking cockroach-type of lifeform which takes the shape of this farmer now because it has plans on Earth that MIB cannot be made aware of. Enter Will Smith, who comedically plays a New York City detective who we see chasing down a suspect through the streets --- a suspect which he cannot seem to catch no matter how fast he runs after him; the suspect makes some gravity-defying leaps from buildings and such, as well, leading Smith to believe this is not your ordinary criminal. Upon confronting the fleeing suspect up on a rooftop, the man makes some strange comments about the world coming to an end, as his eyes exhibit a very strange vertical "blinking" which leads Smith to mutter "what the hell are you........" before the man leaps to what seems like a suicide off the building.
Upon returning to police headquarters, Smith is questioned by internal affairs about what happened during this chase, and explained the strange eye movements of this suspect --- when Tommy Lee Jones, a senior member of MIB, arrives at the police station with a secret weapon which erases the memories of folks who may have been exposed to alien lifeforms so they dont remember anything they may have seen or heard; Jones arrives to talk to Smith because he was made aware of the fact that Smith chased down a very fast alien (which he thought was a robbery suspect) by foot, and that impressed Jones, who is looking to recruit a new member for the Men in Black. He makes a proposal to Smith to join the organization, after explaining that they monitor and police actual alien life forms living on Earth disguised as humans, and after thinking about it for a night, Smith decides to join up.....in a most amusing part of the film, Smith arrives at MIB headquarters to brag about his "skills" as a police officer, while he is given a written test along with other candidates for the job, mainly from the U.S. military. When a shooting test then ensues, Smith, out of all the other candidates, ends up shooting the representation of a little girl instead of all the aliens that were coming after them in the simulation; after being asked by Rip Torn's character why Smith found a need to shoot this cardboard cutout of the girl instead of the aliens, his reply is pretty hilarious.
And so Smith becomes a new member of Men in Black----being given the rules that from this point on, his identity will be completely wiped out, with no hint that he was ever even born, erasing his fingerprints, history, personal documentation-----everything. He puts on his new black suit and assumes his new title-----simply as "AGENT J" (as Jones is AGENT K).
From here, the film gets funny in many places, as Smith is sent on his first few new assignments with Smith, and gets a tour of the Men in Black facility, where strange looking aliens are everywhere----pouring coffee in a break room, operating computers, etc. Smith's first REAL field assignment with Jones makes for a funny moment, as Jones goes after an alien (disguised as a normal human man) attempting to leave the confines of New York City illegally; they pull this guy over and as Smith questions him about his alien intentions, Smith is busy being whipped around by an alien "squid" creature which is being given birth to by the man's wife in the backseat of the car; its a pretty funny scene. Once Smith is covered in the squid baby's "vomit," Jones asks him, once back in the car, "Did any of that seem strange to you?" Smith's facial response is classic.
The film then switches focus to this alien cockroach creature in the farmer's body and what his mission is on Earth, which seems to be to secure a "galaxy" which is actually the size of a small marble and belongs to an enemy alien race which is also on Earth. The "bug" as it is known, must secure this "galaxy" (which ends up around the neck of a cat which beloned to one of the enemy aliens of this bug creature) and the resulting possession of this item will cause an interstellar war, which the Men in Black are caught right in the middle of, as the race who wants this "galaxy" back from the cockroach alien creature threaten to destroy Earth if they dont get it back; the plot at this point gets a bit silly, but you have to just go with it. Like I said earlier, there is a part when this alien battlecruiser hovering above Earth takes some shots at our planet as warnings to "deliver this galaxy" to them, but yet the U.S. government never saw this giant spaceship coming towards Earth and firing weapons at us, nor did NASA? ONLY the Men in Black knew about this ship? This seemed a little far fetched. Sure, the whole premise of these films is that the Men in Black possess these weapons which allow them to erase people's memories so they dont actually remember seeing aliens on Earth --- but how do they explain being able to cover up this giant space ship taking pot shots at our planet?
At any rate, its all in good fun, and then the film leads into (a rather hot looking) Linda Fiorintino, working for the city morgue, who has the dead bodies of the aliens killed by the cockroach creature sent to her lab; Smith and Jones arrive to investigate the bodies, knowing they're aliens, but needing to keep it under wraps so Fiorintino doesn't catch wind of whats going on----that is, until her and Smith are witness to one of the what appears to be a human head opening up on one of the victims, exposing a small green alien inside who was using the outer human shell just as a disguise. Just before dying, the alien mentions something about "the galaxy being on Orion's belt" and that the only way to stop war with the cockroach creatures is to secure this "galaxy" --- which eventually they figure out is around the neck of a cat named, you guessed it, "Orion." The cockroach creature hiding in the farmer's body discovers the location of this "galaxy" as well, and takes Fiorintio hostage from the morge as he finds the galaxy around the cat's neck and steals it just as Smith and Jones arrive back at the morgue.
The strange kicker at the end comes when this cockroach creature has Fiorintino drive him to an area in Queens, New York, where the World's Fair was once held outside of New York's Shea Stadium (where the New York Mets play); it seems there are two towers there (which actually DO stand in this real area of New York; I have been there) which have actual working spaceships of some kind on top of them----this premise gets even sillier than the other plots I described earlier; the cockroach creature's plan is to steal this "galaxy" and leave Earth, even though the enemy alien race is ready to wipe out Earth if the Men in Black dont get this galaxy back from the bug creature. Smith and Jones arrive at the Queens, New York location where the bug is attempting to escape in the spaceship on top of these towers, but the Men in Black blast the ship with special weaponry which brings the ship down into an exploding fireball (after flying over Shea Stadium during a Mets baseball game, making an outfielder miss a ball which hits him in the head and knocks him out because he was staring at the UFO flying overhead---its pretty funny). Smith and Jones ready their laser shotgun weapons as the bug creature makes its way out of the crashed ship, still hiding in the farmer's body.....but when he is advised by Smith to "put your hands on your head and step away from your busted ass vehicle," the bug sheds its human skin and shows itself for what it really is-----a MASSIVE cockroach-like creature which simply kicks Smith and Jones around like they're plastic figurines. When the creature sucks down their shotgun weapons, Jones intentionally has the creature eat him, so once inside his body, he can grab the gun and blast his way out from inside his digestive system. In the meantime, Smith is attempting anything to avoid the bug getting on that ship and leaving Earth --- throwing rocks at the creature, waving fireballs and yelling "Where you goin'? Just gonna eat and run, huh? What about desert? This party's just gettin' started....."
But as the creature is halfway up the ladder leading to the spaceship, Smith steps on and crushes some real cockroaches that are crawling around outside a dumpster, making the bug creature jump back down and head for Smith, really pissed off. Seems this is the big bad bug's "soft spot" which he uses to distract the alien while Jones is inside his stomach, getting ready to blast his way out, which he does, splitting the alien roach in two. But as they sit there covered in bug slime, Jones and Smith are not aware of the fact that the bug is indeed not dead----until it jumps up from behind them and Fiorintino blasts it with one of their guns, saying "interesting job you guys have....." This sets up the end of the film, where Jones advises Smith that he is stepping down from the job and wants Smith to take over his position (which changes in the sequel, as Jones comes back as a member of MIB once again); Smith uses the memory flasher device on Jones, who goes back to his wife he left years ago to join MIB.....in the meantime, in replacement, Fiorintino becomes Smith's new partner to end the film.
This a fun, leave-your-brain-at-the-door comedic take at science fiction which takes repeat viewings to really appreciate; at least it did for me. You simply must get past the downright silliness of it all at times. I think this first one is better than the sequel, while with the Bad Boys films, I think the second one upped the first one. At any rate, let's take a look at Columbia's SUPERBIT preperation for this title, which has had multiple releases already to say the least.
VIDEO SPECIFICATIONS:
As all SUPERBIT titles do, the film is presented in its original widescreen presentation, which filled my screen with no letterboxing, indicating this was definitely not a 2:35 or 2:40 aspect ratio; for all Columbia's marketing hype about their Superbit technology and how the elimination of extra features and commentary tracks frees up bitrate space for video and audio quality, there were actual signs of grain in certain scenes on this transfer. Dont get me wrong----for the most part, it IS the typical Superbit show-no-flaws type of print with rich colors and a smooth overall look, yet I was surprised when moments of grain popped up in certain scenes and then suddenly dissapeared.
AUDIO SPECIFICATIONS:
Most home theater enthusiasts --- if not all --- look to Columbia's usually more expensive line of Superbit titles for the inclusion of a DTS audio track which would otherwise not be available on a "standard" release of a title from this studio; all Superbit titles carry a Dolby Digital AND DTS track choice, as the studio's marketing intentions with this line of product was to cater to hardcore home theater enthusisats. I sure was bitten with THAT bug, and try and upgrade and/or buy Superbit titles when I can, as I have found --- especially and most notably with Black Hawk Down --- somewhat night and day differences mainly with the audio tracks on these Superbit titles when compared to their original releases.
Running the DTS mix for this film, I gotta say.....while DEFINITELY rich in dialogue, dynamic and with lots of "energy" behind the mix, this track didn't "wow me" as expected; I detected a slight --- VERY slight --- lack of surround usage, and tended to think most of the audio was coming from the front soundstage. But there ARE definite moments of directionality use from the surrounds, such as when the cockroach's ship is crashing at the end in front of Smith and Jones, and the scene where Smith accidentally launches a wild ball-thing of some kind and it whips around the MIB offices; we can hear this thing ping from channel to channel during the scene, and it was pretty effective, although I was simply expecting something a BIT more satisfying from this Superbit release, audio wise.
Of course, this being a Superbit title, the disc was devoid of extras to free up bitrate space.
In summary, this was 10 bucks well spent, because aside from the fact that I had no use for the second disc of extras on the Deluxe Edition of this title, it must be assumed that the Superbit is the best the film is going to look and sound, so it would be a mistake to go with any other more expensive version of this title on DVD----that is, until that Superbit sale at Best Buy ends.
Hurry up friends, if you're Superbit fans, because those 10 buck Superbits aren't going to last......get over to your local Best Buy when you can.....
Happy viewing, friends!