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Review added January 13, 2005.
Men in Black Limited Edition
:: DVD Review |
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Studio:
Columbia TriStar |
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>> Review
Equipment |
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Video:
1.85:1 (Enhanced for 16:9) |
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Length:
94
Minutes |
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Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 (384kbps) Eng/Fr/De |
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Subtitles: Eng/Fr/Por/De/Du/Sv/No/Fi/Cz |
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Dolby
Digital 2.0 (192kbps) Eng |
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Dan/Pol/Hu/Ice/Heb/Hi/Ar/Bu |
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Video Format:
PAL |
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Disc Format:
RSDL DVD-18 |
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Layer Change:
47:11 |
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Disc Capacity Utilised:
X.XGB |
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Average Bit-Rate (A+V):
X.XMbps |
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Region Coding:
2/4 |
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:: The Film
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>> Skip to
Audio/Video Details
After a three year delay, courtesy
of Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, Men In Black has
finally arrived on DVD. Men In Black was for a time Columbia
TriStar's highest grossing blockbuster film, and announced
as one of their first DVD titles back in 1997 when the young
format's future was far from secure. I eagerly awaited the
disc's arrival, having just bought my first DVD player, but
the title was cancelled mere weeks from its announced
release date.
Oh well, better late than never I
guess. Men In Black's super-hip dialogue, cool premise and
killer cast (including the then red hot Will Smith, fresh
from 'Independence Day') virtually guaranteed the film would
be a box-office success. As an added bonus Men In Black
turned out to be a genuinely entertaining little film (and I
do mean little, the film's running time, minus end credits,
clocks in at only 87 minutes).
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Its sense of humour is quirky, ranging
from the subtle to the obvious, a sense of humour enhanced
enormously by Tommy Lee Jones' deadpan performance: the
perfect counter to Will Smith playing, well, Will Smith. Men
In Black's other standout performance comes courtesy of
Vincent D'Onofrio, whose portrayal of 'Edgar' is truly
amazing. Add some great CGI effects and tight direction by
Barry Sonnenfeld ('The Addams Family', 'Get Shorty') into
the mix, and you have a film that's sure to entertain.
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Video
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Hmm, I wonder what happens when Columbia TriStar, one of
the kings of the DVD format, decide to release their
highest grossing film of all time on said format? Will it
look any good? Is the Earth round? Well, all joking aside,
the answer is an emphatic "yes". This is a very good
transfer indeed, and well up to Columbia TriStar's usual
high standards; if not quite as good as the very best.
There's nothing much to complain about here: the picture
is very sharp, with lots of fine detail and few
distractions in the way of film artefacts.
Colours are vibrant and clean, ranging from
the subdued to the spectacular, the entire range of which
are handled with ease. Blacks are deep and stable, shadow
detail is above average, and I couldn't spot any aliasing
or shimmer no matter how hard I looked. The only things
depriving this transfer of reference status are a few
minor niggles with skin tones, and some slight edge
enhancement. The edge enhancement is very subtle, and I
doubt most viewers would even notice it; as is the
variation of skin tones, which manifests itself as
slightly pale or slightly green skin tones in interior
sequences. Skin tones and the film's general colour
palette look very similar to those in Barry Sonnenfeld's
'The Addams Family', so may be an artistic decision. Grain
is occasionally visible, but not distracting, and the
grain visible at 26:48 is about as bad as it gets, which
isn't too bad at all. This is a cracking transfer, and
earns four and a half stars.
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| :: Audio
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The best word to describe this disc's Dolby Digital 5.1
soundtrack is "fun". Like the disc's video transfer, this
soundtrack is very good. Surround effects stretch across the
front channels, and extend right around to the surround
soundstage. Naturally, the front soundstage contains many
accurate audio pans and directional effects, and dialogue is
always clear, but sounds a little harsh. The surround channels
are used throughout the film, and the front and rear channels
blend superbly, often producing phantom front/rear sound
effects, truly enveloping the listener in sound.
The surround channels contain quite
a few discrete effects, but often blend into the background,
filling the room with discreet ambient effects. Left alone,
the surrounds don't overtly call attention to themselves, but
turn them off and the soundfield collapses quite dramatically
into the front soundstage: always the sign of good surround
channel use in my books.
One of the soundtrack's biggest
pluses is the bass on offer: deep, well controlled and
"punchy", for lack of a better word. The LFE channel is used
extensively to support both music and audio effects, and often
reaches down to subterranean depths. Listen to the descending
bass tones produced whenever the MiBs' car is turned off, or
supporting the score during the film's opening credits:
impressive, and extension well below 30Hz. This is the sort of
stuff that makes you glad you ponied up the cash for a decent
subwoofer. Dynamic range is very good, and louder scenes may
have some grabbing for the volume dial. I noted some minor
distortion in the left surround channel at 22:44-22:53, but it
seems to be an isolated incident. Five stars.
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