Smith plays Agent J, a new recruit in a super secret organization that has existed since the 60's. The Men in Black are tasked with the monitoring of extra terrestrials on the planet Earth. Think of them as INS for the planet. Well, when J, as a member of the NYPD, runs down an alien in disguise and gets a cryptic warning about someone coming and the world ending, he gets the attention of K (Tommy Lee Jones), and is asked to join the organization. Upon joining, J's background is erased, his identity is deleted and his life is now completely different.
It seems that J's first day won't be very easy either, since an unauthorized crash landing has claimed the life of one Edgar (Vincent D'Onofrio), and the being that crashed a giant bug has taken Edgar's skin and is using it as an Edgar Suit. This alien's purpose on Earth appears to be to kill an Arquillian diplomat and gain possession of "The Galaxy," which according to one of the MIB's informants (an alien dog named Frank) is the most valuable source of sub-atomic energy known to exist. Needless to say, this galaxy is a big deal, but the only clue of "The Galaxy is on Orion's belt" doesn't make much sense.
So while the pair run around New York City trying to hold off this intergalactic assassin, they will have to contend with various other alien lowlifes and a city coroner (Dr. Laurel Weaver played by Linda Fiorentino ) who seems to be learning just a bit too much.
Between the crazy cast of alien characters, their boss Zed (Rip Torn) and the alien assassin, Men in Black is just full of great content. What I especially appreciated was the movie's ability to be upscaled to HD. Since a majority of the visual effects are practicals (puppets and costumes), very little upgrades badly. The times when I could really tell something wasn't right were when the movie used a lot of CG and, of course, just didn't hold up. One such scene is J's first assignment. He is trying to deliver a baby in the back of a car and the tentacles come out, grab him and toss him about. Unfortunately, it looks a lot faker on Blu-ray than it did on DVD.
What is great about this release is the amount of special features that come on it. Sure it has the old DVD stuff like Will Smith's music video and that old featurette, but there is a good bit of added content like the ability to view scenes in various production phases (with blue screen, with composite, in story board, etc.) and even a couple of games. One is Ask Frank, where you think of various questions and Frank spits out random answers. Another is the Trivia Game. Unlike most movie-based trivia games though, just because you watched the movie, doesn't mean you know the answers. There are truly some tough questions about actors, bands and just general off the wall topics that are slightly related to the clip you just watched.
Men in Black also offers a new feature called BD Live. This is a program that gets installed on your Blu-ray player that lets you download the most recent previews and features. This means that you not only get the previews for upcoming movies from when you buy the disc, but also the previews that are being put out a year later when you go back and re-watch the movie. This program gives you a few other features, but for more information, check out the link below.
I loved Men in Black when it first came out, and for the most part, it has held up to the test of time. Nothing really dates the movie and the only parts that really don't look their best in HD are the CG-heavy scenes. Unfortunately, one of those scenes is the final fight between the MIB and the bug. If you haven't seen MIB in a long time and you already have a Blu-ray player, then this is definitely the time to get reacquainted with it.
