Men in Black

Question: When K and J are about to leave the police station, J says that he has a report to do. At that moment, his boss arrives and tells him he did a good report. Who did his report? It couldn't have been the MIB, because J was the only person who saw the entire chase.

Answer: The MIB - or K specifically - had already erased the memories of all the police that were involved to cover up the alien sighting. It stands to reason therefore that theyd already have a cover story in place - that is the report that the captain is reading, and for which he congratualtes J.

roboc

Question: When we first see MIB headquarters, K says that the little destructive energy ball thing is "a little practical joke by the Great Attractor." As far as I can tell, the Great Attractor is just a gravitational anomaly, so how could it play practical jokes?

Answer: Yes, "the Great Attractor" can refer to a specific anomaly in the Centaurus Supercluster, but that is a far cry from saying that the term can only refer to that specific anomaly. It is completely possible for a high-tech prankster and/or performer to use the name "the Great Attractor." It's like saying "the Boss" when referring to Springsteen. The term means a manager over a group of people in a place of work, but he can still use it as a stage name.

Garlonuss

Question: When I watched both films in succession, I noticed the same person played both the man on desk at the morgue and Newton, the video store owner in the second film. Is there a reason for him being in both films?

Answer: The person in question is actor/comedian David Cross. In the first MIB film, Cross is listed in the credits as "Morgue Attendant," and he ends up glued to the morgue ceiling, presumably killed by The Bug. If he had survived, the Men in Black would have certainly neuralized him, anyway, and he would have no memory of the alien encounter or the Men in Black. In MIB 2, David Cross is listed as "Newton" (the video store nerd) who apparently recognizes K, because K had asked Newton to reserve a videotape for him at some time in the past. K made this video request before he ever met J, and then K neuralized himself after leaving a trail of clues leading to the video store. Newton remembers K, so Newton hasn't been neuralized in years. Therefore, Newton in MIB2 cannot be the same character as the Morgue Attendant in MIB.

Jazetopher

Answer: David Cross plays Newton in both movies. In the first he is attacked by the Bug but survives and something went wrong with his neuralyzing as in the sequel he knows small things about the men in black like how they appear and he recognises the neuralyzer from his previous encounter with it, which isn't a coincidence. It appears J's neuralyzing of Newton did work and we don't see him in the 3rd movie (probably because he is in jail for the murder of his mother).

lionhead

Chosen answer: He was an NYPD Detective. Police Detectives, while high-ranking, typically dress in more discreet civilian clothing when on duty.

Charles Austin Miller

Question: How does K holding the galaxy and calling Zed to let the Arquillians know they have it prevent them from destroying Earth?

Cody Fairless-Lee

Answer: The Arquillians are prepared to destroy Earth so that the Bug doesn't escape with the galaxy. MiB having it isn't a concern.

LorgSkyegon

Answer: Presumably the Arquillians consider the galaxy to be in safe hands at this point and agree to hold off their attack provided the Men in Black deliver the galaxy to them.

Phaneron

Question: Did J and K really save the Earth in under 8 minutes after Zed sees the eight-minute warning?

Answer: Yes, of course. That's what they do. As soon as K phoned in they had the galaxy the attack was cancelled. This was before the 8 minutes were over.

lionhead

Question: I loaded the film up on Netflix, and it seems that the dialogue in one scene was edited. In the standard cut of the film, Jeebs says "You insensitive prick!" to K, but in the version I saw on Netflix, Jeebs says "You insensitive jerk!" What's the deal with the Netflix version changing this one single line? The original "prick" line appears to be on both the VHS and Blu-Ray edition I own.

TedStixon

Answer: After a little research, I discovered that the line was changed in the UK release from "prick" to "jerk." So the most likely explanation I can find is that the Netflix version is taken from a UK master of the film. As mentioned in other comments, Netflix doesn't censor their films, so the other answer regarding the film being edited like movies shown on airplanes isn't accurate. (Not to mention, it'd make no sense for Netflix to edit this one profanity while leaving all the others intact if they were editing it for content).

TedStixon

I agree it's the UK version. I don't know if it's a licensing thing or cheaper, but I've notice Netflix will use the UK release version on a number of films. I'm not familiar with "prick" as a UK slang but I believe it's more graphic than US slang, similar to the word "fanny", and edited for the UK release.

Bishop73

Answer: In fact, it's done twice. When talking about Frank the pug, the standard edit has K saying "I just hope the little prick hasn't skipped town." The streaming version doesn't. I say streaming version because I just discovered that the Amazon version of this film edited out the word "prick," and I didn't realise the Netflix version had too. I'm in the US, so what's going on here?

Generally the changes people notice in films when watching Netflix or other services come from the fact that they're airing the UK release version (for whatever reason). I remember the first time people really noticed this was when Scooby-Doo 2 changed the product placement from Burger King to KFC (which I commented on).

Bishop73

Answer: As more films become available online and are accessible to a wider audience, the studios edit mature content that is unacceptable to under-aged viewers. It's the same as movies that are shown on airplanes where the adult content is edited or removed altogether.

raywest

Netflix doesn't censor their movies, though... So this explanation makes no sense.

It just seems odd, as Netflix basically never censors content in other films they host (since they're supposed to be hosting the officially released versions anyways), and the rest of the profanity/violence in this particular film is unedited.

TedStixon

Men in Black mistake picture

Continuity mistake: Just before the diner scene, where the two aliens are discussing the galaxy, we see the outside of the Russian restaurant. The neon sign says "haroshaya" meaning "good" all the way across the window, in the next shot inside the restaurant, the "ha", which looks like the English letters "xo", is gone and the sign is centered. (00:41:00)

More mistakes in Men in Black

Beatrice: I'll tell you something right now; I know Edgar and that wasn't Edgar. It's like something was wearing Edgar like a suit. An Edgar suit.

More quotes from Men in Black

Trivia: After reading the script with his wife, Barry Sonnenfeld (the director) turned to his wife and said "Tommy Lee Jones". She turned to him and said "Will Smith", and that is how they were cast. This is confirmed by Barry Sonnenfeld on the DVD commentary.

THGhost

More trivia for Men in Black

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