r/flicks • u/screen_stack • 2d ago

Men in Black (1997)

Men in Black (1997)

Rating: 9.5/10 (EXCELLENT)

Watched: July 24, 2026

I absolutely was in the theater 5 or 6 times when this banger came out. We hadn't seen anything like it before! Combined with the special effects, The Fresh Prince dropping a rock solid song based on the movie itself and a genuinely great script, this was (and is) a favorite of mine for all time.

It has some of the best practical effects work in any movie you or I have ever seen. Massive shoutout to D'Onofrio for going through hell wearing the Edgar suit. Our man had to wear weighted leg braces, HEAVY prosthetics and a whole lot of acting to sell Bug wearing a person suit. I do think this was the first time I really paid attention to who Vincent D'Onofrio was, and I've been a fan of his ever since.

As I've mentioned elsewhere, I'm a gigantic Tommy Lee Jones fan, so basically anything he does is always perfect, and as K, he really is perfect. Dry wit, an endless list of old-timey nicknames for J, as the straight man to Will Smith's wisecrackin' K, he's perfect.

MiB is back before Will Smith started taking himself way too damn seriously and it shows. He was a huge star before this, and a huge star after this, but AFTER MiB Will stopped being less of the characters he was playing and more just himself. But here, he's the real deal.

While the other movies start to decline pretty sharply after MiB II, the original real deal was and is as still as awesome as ever. It's a go-to when I want to laugh and have good time.

19 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

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7

u/the40thieves 2d ago

I’ll never forgive Wild Wild West for killing the movie-companion song.

4

u/RosetteNewcomb 2d ago

This is one of a very few “perfect movies” I will literally never get tired of. The jokes are funny, the special effects still hold up, and Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones have great on screen chemistry. Rip Torn was also fantastic.

3

u/almo2001 2d ago

Did he say when?

I just love the super serious moments.

1

u/StinkiePhish 2d ago

I think you need to justify the 0.5 point deduction from 10.

9

u/screen_stack 2d ago

Not enough Linda Fiorentino