# Men in Black (the first one): Good, or crap? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 19, 2002, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-the-first-one-good-or-crap/114919 "2002-06-19T17:25:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2002, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-the-first-one-good-or-crap/114919/21 "2002-06-20T00:59:02Z")
I like the terms that **Reality Chuck** used–a, good, fun, entertaining movie. Having kids, and a library with a huge free video collection, I’ve only seen it about 20 times. And it stays fresh to me. My 12 year old just popped in to read this and said, "Dad! Don’t forget to add what I told you the **Movie Geek** on Comedy Central said about Linda Fiorentino–One of the most underused sexy actresses currently in the movies. She tells you to _go to Hell_ and makes it worth your trip.– I have to say she is a hottie in my book. Or maybe I have a thing about morgue doctors. The casting across the board couldn’t have been more perfect. And, can anyone of us stand in the checkout line at the grocery store and _not_ think about the tabloids we scan while waiting? I believe. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2002, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-the-first-one-good-or-crap/114919/22 "2002-06-20T01:58:39Z")
> [@](#): > > I do think the scene at the beginning when Vincent D’Onofrio tells the voice in the alien ship that’s landed on his pickup that he can take his gun only when it can pry it out of his cold dead hands is classic. Indeed, man! [spoiler]EDGAR: You can have my gun when you pry it from my cold, dead hands. ALIEN: Your conditions are acceptable. GRAB!!! [/spoiler] _LMAO_ ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2002, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-the-first-one-good-or-crap/114919/23 "2002-06-20T02:25:18Z")
I guess it’s up to me to throw in the only (so far) “Hated it!” opinion. Tommy Lee phoned it in. Smith was ok. However, it is comfortably ABOVE my “gold” standard for crap movie blockbusters, which is “Independence Day” and the newer “Planet of the Apes” averaged together. Against THOSE two, pretty much everything looks like Oscar material. Come on! _Somebody_ else must think MIB reeks! Am I that detached from my own species? ---
**Author:** ![richardb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/96bed5/32.png) [@richardb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/richardb)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2002, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-the-first-one-good-or-crap/114919/24 "2002-06-20T03:01:43Z")
No way, **yojimboguy**! (Although as **bobkitty** points out, there’s “No accounting for taste, I s’pose”). I thought it was a VERY funny movie. I am always amazed at how this movie can take a single joke (that weird/strange/freakish celebrity people are actually aliens, thus explaining their weird/strange/freakish behavior) and use it over and over and over again, yet still crack me up every time! It never gets old! So of course, I am looking forward eagerly to MIB II. From what I’ve seen, however, Linda Fiorentino is not in the new movie. If true, this is very disappointing. I would have expected her and Will Smith to be the partners at the start of MIB II, and they did seem to make a great couple (of agents) at the end of MIB. Oh well. I’ll still see it, and I expect to laugh all the way through (as I did with the first one)! ---
**Author:** ![Rue\_DeDay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/41988e/32.png) [@Rue\_DeDay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rue_DeDay)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2002, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-the-first-one-good-or-crap/114919/25 "2002-06-20T11:43:08Z")
**richardb** , Linda Fiorentino is not in the second one. From what I gather, she’s… challenging to work with. But on the upside, Lara Flynn Boyle is in MiB II. So it’s not a total loss. I liked the first one. It was fun and nearly mindless, but not insultingly so. It was a movie, not cinema. -Rue. ---
**Author:** ![TelcontarStorm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ab097/32.png) [@TelcontarStorm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TelcontarStorm)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2002, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-the-first-one-good-or-crap/114919/26 "2002-06-20T13:47:11Z")
Going into the theatre to see this I expected to be perfectly underwhelmed, but walked out a Will Smith fan (Acting NOT singing) I ain’t gonna say it was great film, but Like the other posters, It still cracks me up. 2 looks as good, but you will excuse me for not waing in line on opening night. ---
**Author:** ![curwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@curwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curwin)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2002, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-the-first-one-good-or-crap/114919/27 "2002-06-20T14:03:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KXL \* > \*\*I thought the first one had a great premise, but just wasn’t “epic” enough for a film. It felt as if there was a TV series called “MiB” and this was just a two-part episode that happened to end up on screen. \*\* I liked the movie, but also felt that it was kind of short (98 minutes) . I felt the same way after Spiderman, even though it wasn’t a particularly short movie (131 minutes). I think the reason was that both were set up in a way that made sequels obvious. They didn’t feel as complete as they could have. Kind of like an appetizer at a meal. You can eat it, enjoy it - even a lot - but if your host afterwards tells you that’s it, you’ll still feel hungry. ---
**Author:** ![susan\_foster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@susan\_foster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan_foster)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2002, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-the-first-one-good-or-crap/114919/28 "2002-06-20T16:57:06Z")
Didn’t hate it - didn’t like it enough to see it more than once. Liked Linda Fiorentino - sad that she’s not going to be in the sequel. I am going to see the sequel - I owe friends dinner and a movie, and that’s what they want to see. Susan ---
**Author:** ![Dieter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@Dieter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dieter)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2002, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-the-first-one-good-or-crap/114919/29 "2002-06-21T09:24:42Z")
I think one of the better things about MiB is the commentary on the DVD with Tommy Lee Jones and Barry Sonnenfeld which they did ala MST3K. Pretty funny. The movie itself I thought was better then standard hollywood fare. It had some good moments and some dumb moments but over all I enjoy it. For me, it’s also one of those movies I could watch 100 times. Great eye candy when I just want to veg out at the television. ---
**Author:** ![bifar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@bifar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bifar)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2002, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-the-first-one-good-or-crap/114919/30 "2002-06-21T10:16:20Z")
Yep, a hilarious and very clever film. BUT it was crap that they couldn’t show any kind of developing romantic relationship between Will Smith and Linda Fiorentino. Are there really that many racists out there? ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2002, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-the-first-one-good-or-crap/114919/31 "2002-06-21T10:29:42Z")
I liked it a hell of a lot. In fact, I always hated hated **hated** Tommy Lee Jones until I saw _Men in Black_, and his performance in that alone got him over the “don’t mind him so much now” point with me. My favorite joke in the whole movie is the running gag about Will Smith’s nicknames. I can’t remember the dialogue exactly, but he says up front, “You’re not going to call me ‘chief’, or ‘junior’, or ‘champ’.” So for the rest of the movie TLJ and Rip Torn call him every derogatory nickname BUT those three. “Look here, sport…” And I can’t watch the trailer for the sequel without cracking up, but that’s mostly because I’m reminded of the line in Michael Nelson’s book where he describes him as the “Sharpei-faced Tommy Lee Jones.” ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2002, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-the-first-one-good-or-crap/114919/32 "2002-06-21T11:11:59Z")
MiB is a favorite in this house because we can watch it with Dominic (age 6) and still have fun. It beats the hell out of a family evening of the Pokemon movie, that’s for sure! ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2002, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-the-first-one-good-or-crap/114919/33 "2002-06-21T15:25:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bifar \* > \*\*BUT it was crap that they couldn’t show any kind of developing romantic relationship between Will Smith and Linda Fiorentino. Are there really that many racists out there? \*\* Two MiBs being romantic with each other just wouldn’t seem right, no mater what races they are. ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2002, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-the-first-one-good-or-crap/114919/34 "2002-06-21T15:38:39Z")
About the length of the first one: on the commentary, they said it was made _longer_ since it was originally too short to be shown in 2 hours on TV. They also joked that it’s probably the only movie that won’t have its credits shown at warp speed on TV. ---
**Author:** ![lolagranola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ea5d25/32.png) [@lolagranola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lolagranola)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2002, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-the-first-one-good-or-crap/114919/35 "2002-06-21T15:58:50Z")
For what it was, I thought it was perfect. It was a light, entertaining movie. I enjoyed seeing it in the theatre, and the movie only felt five minutes long. Time just flew by when I was watching it. I hope the sequel is as entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2002, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-the-first-one-good-or-crap/114919/36 "2002-06-21T20:14:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dieter \* > I think one of the better things about MiB is the commentary on the DVD with Tommy Lee Jones and Barry Sonnenfeld which they did ala MST3K. Pretty funny. I’ll have to strongly disagree – I’m a major fan of directors’ commentaries on DVDs (just about every DVD I own has one), and I thought the one for MIB was dull beyond tears. Barry wasn’t funny, and Tommy Lee Jones pretty much just said “uh huh” to everything. If you want a funny directors’ commentary, check out the recently-released “Weird Al” Yankovic movie, **UHF.** Victoria Jackson phones in her comments, Emo Philips sneaks into the theater, and Al takes a break midway through to get some water. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dieter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@Dieter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dieter)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2002, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-the-first-one-good-or-crap/114919/37 "2002-06-22T07:09:37Z")
One of my favourite parts in the whole movie: J: Have you flashy thinged me before? K: (deadpan) No J: You _NEVER_ used the flashy thing on me? K: (deadpan) No ---
**Author:** ![Nenya\_Elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@Nenya\_Elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nenya_Elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2002, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-the-first-one-good-or-crap/114919/38 "2002-06-22T08:22:05Z")
Linda Fiorentino’s not in the second movie. Darn! ☹ I was looking forward to hearing how the relationship with her and J developed, whether it was just professional or became romantic later. There was definitely chemistry/sparks with them in the first movie. I really like this movie. The first scene I saw in it was the part where the Bug rips the Edgar-suit off himself, where you see all the mucus and muscles of his back. YUCK!!! I thought–it actually kind of scared me. But when I got around to finally watching the whole thing, I definitely enjoyed it. Have seen it several times. Y’all think the sequel will actually be good? I’ve been waiting eagerly for it, but at the same time have been dreading finding out that it sucks. If it’s all about the cool wierd new aliens, with no plotline, I’ll be disappointed. Not that the aliens aren’t cool–I really like the MiB aliens–but I hope the plot with bringing K back in works out. When’s MiiB coming out, again?? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2002, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-the-first-one-good-or-crap/114919/39 "2002-06-22T14:42:58Z")
3 July. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2002, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-the-first-one-good-or-crap/114919/40 "2002-06-22T15:50:26Z")
> [@](#): > > Of course its not Oscar material. Actually, Danny Elfman (who hasn’t been mentioned yet) certainly deserved the Oscar that year–losing to the score for _The Full Monty_! :rolleyes: However, Rick Baker did earn a well-deserved Oscar for his make-up. Me? I liked the movie, especially because it was short and didn’t stretch a premise longer or bigger than it could. I liked the cast across the board and the production design. Would probably never own it, but would catch it on cable and will definitely see the sequel. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-the-first-one-good-or-crap/114919.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-in-black-the-first-one-good-or-crap/114919.md?page=3)