Men In Black II 4K Ultra HD

Five years ago, J (Smith) and K (Jones) were agents working for the government in search of aliens. In "Men In Black II," J still works for the secret department but K, who had his memory of his former self erased, is now living the simple life of a civilian. When Serleena (Boyle), an evil alien who disguises herself as a lingerie model, hits town intent on destroying the earth's population, J springs into action. Turning to his former partner, J restores K's memory, and the two join forces to save the world from all things evil. Based on the Malibu Comic by Lowell Cunningham. (Tricia Spears)

Special features include commentary with Director Barry Sonnenfeld; an alternate ending (HD 02:13); a blooper reel (HD 05:09); nine featurettes: MIB: ADR (HD 09:25), Design In Motion: The Look Of MIB (HD 10:01), Rick Baker: Alien Maker (HD 10:46), Squish, Splat, Sploosh: The Stellar Sounds Of MIB (HD 08:04), Cosmic Symphonies: Elfman In Space (HD 12:52), Barry Sonnenfeld's Intergalactic Guide To Comedy (HD 06:00), Creature Featurettes (HD 25:53), Serleena Animatic Sequence (HD 01:51), and Multi-Angle Scene Deconstructions (HD 07:42); the music video “Black Suits Comin' (Nod Ya Head)” by Will Smith (HD 04:39); BD-Live functionality; D-BOX® Motion Code™; and an UltraViolet digital copy.

The 1.84:1 2160p HEVC/H.265 Ultra HD HDR10 picture, reviewed on a Sony Bravia Z9D 4K Ultra HD HDR display, was photographed on Kodak film stock using Panavision Panaflex Millennium XL and Panavision Panaflex Millennium camera systems and sourced from a fully restored 4K master Digital Intermediate format. As with Men In Black, the second installment's picture is gorgeous throughout and exhibits a wide dynamic range, thanks to HDR encoding, with black levels that are consistently elevated, shadow delineation with excellent visual information in the darkest scenes, and bright white levels. While grain appears light, the appearance results in a complimentary cinematic image, as is true for all three films. The HDR color palette displays an even stronger saturated wide color gamut with bold, punchy hues that pop and dazzle with a wide range of shades and intensities. The color stylization exhibits natural vibrancy in every scene. The MiB suits seem to appear blacker against the contrasting bright and crisp white shirts and matching black neckties. Fleshtones are strongly hued and incredibly refined and detailed. Resolution is precise and incredibly crisp, displaying fine detail in skin pores, hair, clothing and object texture. The production design appears enhanced and reveals the finest of texture, as in dense city streets and in MiB headquarters. Dimensionality is impressive, conveying an almost three-dimensional quality. A WOW! segment is at the end from 01:17:34 to 01:18:32. This is definitely yet another exemplary catalog title 4K Ultra HD HDR presentation that will thrill fans. (Gary Reber)

The Dolby Atmos/Dolby TrueHD 7.1-channel soundtrack has been remixed specifically for the home theatre environment. As with the first installment, the soundtrack is remarkable, with a loud energetic presence that delivers an appropriately dynamic, action-paced Holosonic® spherical surround listening experience. The soundfield is expansive, with wide imaging and generous split surround envelopment that at times is effectively aggressive and directionalized. Both nuanced and dynamic clarity is terrific, with superb environmental ambience sonics. Bass is very deep and nicely defined, with occasional intensity that will test the mettle of your system. Low-frequency extension is extremely deep, to sub-25 Hz in all channels when fully energized, and at extremely loud levels. The orchestral score has a pervasive, expansive presence that is well recorded and integrated into the sound mix. The dialogue production is clear and intelligible and nicely integrated spatially. The Immersive Sound element, as is the first MiB sound design, is well produced. In addition to a prominent orchestral score, atmospherics and sound effects include directionalized flying space ship, crashing space ship and debris, city sounds,a talking alien, whizz sounds, subway train clanking, a man's voice, thunder, outside MiB headquarters flying craft sounds directonalized, car sound, birds, Michael Jackson announcer voice at MiB headquarters, alarm lockdown, loud toilet bowl water flush, alien choir, loud voice (Tommy Lee Jones), suck-out sound, industrial ventilation fans, machine gun fire, explosion, female MiB headquarter announcer, screaming alien, rocket shots, alien squeal, distress voice (Will Smith) and firecracker sounds. As noted, the extended overhead music is powerful throughout. And object-based sound effects are well produced as overhead elements, for an effective Immersive Sound experience. As with the original, this is an impressive soundtrack, with a loud, energetic presence that delivers an aggressive soundfield experience. (Gary Reber)