Men in Black turned a genuine conspiracy theory into a workplace comedy, and it's one of the cleanest high-concept setups in blockbuster cinema. Aliens live among us, a secret agency manages the paperwork, and the whole operation runs on a device that erases what you just saw.

The Smith and Jones pairing carried it. One relentlessly talkative newcomer, one utterly deadpan veteran who has done this for so long that nothing registers, and a script that lets both play against the absurdity rather than into it.

Rick Baker's creature effects deserve real credit - practical alien design at a level that most CG hasn't beaten, and a bug antagonist who is genuinely repellent.

The neuralyzer is the franchise's best invention, both as a plot device and as an image: a small silver rod, a red flash, and a very calm suggestion about what you actually saw.

This collection covers agents, aliens and the equipment. You did not read this description.