The successfully gritty reboot of the Bond franchise with Daniel Craig will get it's second entry 'Quantum of Solace' in a couple of weeks and what better way to welcome the old boy back than with MGM's impressive Blu-Ray releases of six of their past Bond hits with Connery, Moore and Brosnan all representing.
Carrying on the faintly annoying tradition of their past DVD collections where the films are packaged together with little rhyme or reason (all six Blu-Rays are also sold separately), MGM packages together 'Dr. No', 'Live and Let Die' and 'Die Another Day' for Volume 1 and 'From Russia With Love', 'Thunderball' and 'For Your Eyes Only' for Volume 2.
I believe both these Volumes are also sold on the cheap together as an exclusive at Amazon for those wanting the cheapest method of getting all six.
Volume 1 gives us the first film of the franchise, the first Bond film starring Roger Moore and the last Bond film to star Pierce Brosnan. Why these three? No idea, but who am I to whine about Bond in Blu? All of these Bond films look great in high-def with the older pics given very nice restorations. Let's dig in, shall we?
The one that started it all, 'Dr. No' came out in 1962 and was an immediate success that shot Sean Connery to superstardom. As it's the first in the series, there are many elements that became mainstays for Bond over the course of decades but for those first watching 'Dr. No' or returning to it after many years; they may find that it's not quite the Bond they've become familiar with.
Slow-paced by contemp standards but undeniably entertaining due to the extremely charismatic cool-cat presence of Connery, 'Dr. No' is also, with the recent exception of 'Casino Royale', probably the closest representation of Ian Fleming's novels where the films eventually got so far away from the novels as to only borrow the name.
With the majority of the Bond flicks, the plots are almost beside the point with the pics being most identifiable by their locations, action set pieces and villains. 'Dr. No' sets this template early.
We first find Bond investigating the murder of a fellow British agent Commander John Strangeways in Jamaica where trouble immediately finds him. Overcoming deadly assassins, femme fatales and poisonous tarantulas, he joins up with CIA agent Felix Lighter (Jack Lord of 'Hawaii Five-O) who seems to be on the same trail he is.
Also along for the ride is the first Bond gal Honey Ryder (Ursula Andress) where they all eventually end up at the remote island of Cray Key, the hidden lair of Dr. Julius No (Joseph Wiseman), a maniacal mastermind that’s part of the terrorist organization SPECTRE, a group Hellbent on world domination.
Can they stop Dr. No before he's able to capitalize on the Cold War and effectively wipe out the United States?
Originally wanting a 34-year old Roger Moore for the part of this first Bond pic, he was under contract for 'The Saint' where Producers Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltkand then discovered a rough Sean Connery from 'Darby O'Gill and the Little People'.
Famously enlisting director Terence Young to pitch the pic to Connery and imbue him with a bit a class, Young instilled the character and Connery's persona of Bond with a little of his own flair and sophistication - apparently the first meeting being in a rather appropriate smoky London casino.
Maybe not the best, but certainly up there, 'Dr. No' is also notable for being a bit ruthless for the era, with a more sadistic edge that subsequent films toned down a bit until 'Casino Royale'. With Bond killing in cold blood, himself getting a severe beat-down from some thuggish guards, a broken flashbulb being scraped across a dude's face, the famous bedtime arachnid scene, all this was pretty tense and vicious for 1962.
And most iconic of course would be Ursula Andress emerging from the ocean in a bikini that no doubt led to many a teenage boy locking themselves in the bathroom excursions.
No matter that Andress was dubbed in the film as her accent was too thick, she will always be known as the definitive Bond girl with a sequence which was later aped by Halle Berry for 'Die another Day'.
The film is presented in a 1080p 1.85:1 widescreen transfer and being the oldest film of the bunch, it's understandable that it can't quite keep up with the more contemp pics due to some light grain inherent to the source but there's no doubt this is the best this pic has ever looked.
Great detail, solid contrast, and vibrant colors add up to one sharp-looking transfer for 1962. A lossless DTS-HD 5.1 track is also provided along with the original mono mix and the lossless is impressive as expected. Music and dialogue is all crystal clear with nice but not overdone rear effects.
What will be common with all these Bond Blu-Ray pics, all the special features from the previous 'Ultimate Editions' have been carried over with nothing new for the Blu-Ray releases.
Special Features include an audio commentary from Director Terence Young and members of the cast and crew, 'Top Level Access 007: License to Restore' a featurette on the restoration process, 'Declassified: M16 Vault' the guns of James Bond, 'Premier Bond', '007 Mission Control' interactive guide into the World of Dr. No, 'Inside Dr. No', 'Terence Young: Bond Vivant', 'Dr. No 1963 Featurette' and original trailers, TV Spots, Photo Gallery and Radio Communications.
Next is Roger Moore's first foray in the Bond franchise, the fun but notably campy 'Live and Let Die', the franchise's attempt at Blaxploitation that was all the rage in 1973, the year of it's release.
One of the more notable aspects of the pic is the theme song 'Live and Let Die' from Paul McCartney which is arguably the best Bond theme song to date. It seems the filmmakers knew they had a winner as they riffed on the theme throughout the pic to great effect.
For fans of 'Superfly' or 'The Mack', this Bond is for you as there's enough pimps, afros, 'honkeys' and pimpmobiles to satisfy even 'Dolemite' fans and Moore brings a lightness to the proceedings that only seems to add to the camp.
This time around, Bond is again investigating the deaths of some British agents as three all up and gets murdered when checking out a drug trading ring.
These clues lead to Harlem, San Monique, New Orleans and the bayou where he finds the killers Mr. Big (Yaphet Kotto) and Dr. Kananga who plan to flood the US with a billion dollars worth of Heroin. Getting involved with Dr. Kananga's tarot-reading Solitaire (the film debut of a young, hot Jane Seymour) whose fortune-telling powers are only good to Dr. Kanaga if she isn't touched, Bond and Solitaire's relationship result in a bit of a sore spot for the bad doctor.
Running afoul of a redneck Louisiana sheriff Pepper (Clifton James) who provides some comic relief and causing a bit of minor controversy at the time with bedding another Bond gal (Playboy model Gloria Hendry), Bond's first African American (on-screen at least), this pic is all over the map as far as quality.
Tongue firmly planted in cheek, there are a few nice action sequences, some laughs and some entertainment value from the camp but I wouldn't rate this one as one of Moore's best.
At the time of writing this, I've now seen four of the six Bond films and the transfers are across the board excellent. The theater experience for these films finally comes home. This transfer has been meticulously restored with great detail, color and contrast. These high-def releases certainly breath new life into the films. DTS-HD lossless is provided along with the original mono.
Special Features include an audio commentary from Roger Moore (drier than you would expect), a commentary from director Guy Hamilton, a commentary featuring screenwriter Tom Makiewicz, 'Bond 1973: The Lost Documentary', 'Roger Moore as James Bond, Circa 1964', '007 Mission Control Interactive Guide into the World of Live and Let Die', 'Inside Live and Let Die', 'On Set with Roger Moore' and conceptual art, a image database, and trailers and TV Spots and Radio Spots.
Finishing off Volume 1 is the highest-grossing non-adjusted Bond film of the franchise 'Die another Day', the last pic of Brosnan's successful run, which was a big hit in the Fall of 2002 despite a number of problems not the least of which was the rather obnoxious Madonna theme song (she also cameos...) and expensive but extremely cheesy special effects. Did they borrow that surfing scene from Carpenter's 'Escape from L.A.'?
The film opens with Bond getting double-crossed while on a mission in North Korea and captured and held in a torture camp for more than a year. Released in a prisoner exchange for Korean terrorist Zao (Rick Yune), whose face is riddled with the remnants of diamonds due to a previous dust up with Bond, Bond traces Zao to a British billionaire Gustav Graves (Toby Stephens) whom of course has set up a plan for mass destruction through a satellite that unleashes more than just sound and fury.
Miranda Frost (Rosamund Pike) and Jinx (Halle Berry) provide the sexy intrigue with Berry's presence being key casting for adding some star charisma to balance against Brosnan.
Unfortunately, the casting of Berry is one of the film's few bright spots. The action and plot is almost full-blown preposterousness by the climax with invisible cars and ice palaces zooming around without much thought.
The first half has a few nice action sequences including the opening and the fun fencing scenes but the film as a whole is a mostly awkward hodgepodge of old-school Connery, the camp of Moore and the grittiness of Dalton with none of it done particularly well. It's no surprise the producers decided to move to a more realistic take with 'Casino Royale' despite the success...
As the newest film, it's not unexpected that the transfer is quite good but by being the newest, it also doesn't have that 'wow' factor that accompanies the great restorations of the older pics. Some funkiness with the burned-in text aside (oddly blurry), this is pretty much what one would expect from a contemp action pic high-def transfer. The DTS-HD mix is as bombastic as expected and presents the over-the-top action well.
Special Features include an audio commentary with Pierce Brosnan and Rosamund Pike, a commentary with director Lee Tamahori and producer Michael G. Wilson, a 'MI6 Datastream Trivia Track', 'From Script to Screen', 'Shaken and Stirred on Ice' featurette, 'Just Another Day' featurette, 'The British Touch: Bond Arrives in London' featurette', 'On Location with Production Designer Peter Lamon', '007 Mission Control Interactive Guide into the world of Die Another Day' and a image database.
Volume 2 starts off with a bang with 'From Russia with Love', widely regarded to be one of the best Bond pics and certainly the film to solidify this series was here to stay along with cementing Connery as the definitive Bond. The second film in the franchise, the flick got a bigger budget due to the success of 'Dr. No' which allowed for a lot of the franchise mainstays - special effects and relentless action.
SPECTRE is back for revenge after the defeat of their very own Dr. No so megalomaniacal Ernst Stavro Blofeld aka 'Number One' sets up a plan to trap Brit intelligence and 007.
Sent to Istanbul to steal a classified decoding machine from the Russian embassy, the lure being a gorgeous Russian cipher clerk Tatiana Romanova (Daniela Bianchi) who thinks she’s working for the KGB when she's actually working for SPECTRE, Bond finds himself everywhere from Istanbul to Venice to the Scottish moorlands.
Terence Young returning to direct gives us one of the best Bonds mostly due to everything being comparatively credible and also featuring two of the better villains with the switchblade toed Rosa Klebb and Robert Shaw's powerhouse Donald Grant whom Connery takes on mano e mano with some brutal fisticuffs on the Oriental Express.
We also get a great speedboat chase, a nifty shoot-out at an Istanbul gypsy camp and one of the first great catfights, this time between Martine Beswick and Aliza Gur.
It's my firm opinion that almost all the Bonds were a bit plot heavy and could have used a nice fifteen, twenty minute trimming (my wife looks up from her magazine about an hour and a half into 'For Your Eyes Only' and aptly asks 'Are we at the three hour mark?') but 'From Russia With Love' is one of the best and speeds along on some genuine plot. For Bond newbs, I generally steer them to this one for their first Connery experience.
Though not quite as flawless as 'Dr. No', the 1080p 1.66:1 widescreen transfer is nothing to sneeze at. For 45-years old, the film looks outstanding and is genuine proof that if the studio has a vested interest and reverence for the property, it's perfectly within their means to provide a great-looking picture.
Special Features include an audio commentary from Terence Young, 'Ian Fleming: The CBC Interview', 'Ian Fleming & Raymond Chandler' featurette, 'Ian Fleming on Desert Island Discs' featurette, 'Animated Storyboard Sequence', '007 Mission Control Interactive Guide into the world of From Russia With Love', 'Inside From Russia With Love', Harry Saltzman: Showman' featurette, image database and trailers, tv spots and radio spots.
Skipping Guy Hamilton's enormously successful 'Goldfinger' in 1964, we return to Terence Young for the bigger, badder 'Thunderball' in 1965 which has an underwater fight climax (that is worth the price of admission alone), jet packs and the first use of franchise villain staple - sharks (albeit without freaking laserbeams attached to their heads).
If 'From Russia with Love' was plot heavy, 'Thunderball' is decidedly plot light despite a lengthy running time of 130 minutes. SPECTRE simply won't go away and now they have gotten their hands on a few nuclear missiles, never a good thing for an organization focused on world destruction.
Inspecting the theft, Bond arrives in Nassau where he soon suspects wealthy playboy Emilio Largo (Adolfo Ceri).
Swiping his cash from the Baccarat tables and his woman Domino (Claudine Auger), Bond soon becomes at odds with Largo where a breathless climax, between dozens of black-clad SPECTRE frogmen face off against brightly-colored NATO troops underwater, decide the success of SPECTRE’s nefarious plan.
The underwater sequence is an exquisitely choreographed and lit battle zone with spearguns, knifes and well-timed kicks all being freely used. I'm not sure an underwater hand-to-hand action sequence involving this many men have been attempted since as the staging of these scenes look quite daunting.
A few complain the scene goes on too long but I disagree - in fact, it's that one scene that pretty much makes the film for me.
Like the other Blu Bond pics, Lowry Digital's 4K-mastered transfer looks great and is a substantial improvement over previous DVD incarnations. As a nice chunk of the film is filmed underwater, the color and detail that comes with high-def becomes extremely important as on past DVDs, these scenes were understandably murky. A DTS-HD 5.1 lossless track and original mono is also provided.
Special Features include an audio commentary from director Terence Young, an audio commentary with editor Peter Hunt, Co-Screenwriter John Hopkins, 'Selling Bonds' original 1965 TV commercials, 'On Location with Production Designer Ken Adam', 'A Child's Guide to Blowing up a moter car', 'Bill Suitor: The Rocket Man Movies', 'The Secret History of Thunderball', 'Thunderball Boat Show Reel', The Making of', The Thunderball Phenomenon', '007 Mission Control Interactive Guide into the world of Thunderball', 'The Incredible World of James Bond original 1965 NBC TV Special and Trailers, TV Spots and Radio Spots.
Last but close to being least in these two volumes is Roger Moore's fifth Bond pic 'For Your Eyes Only', a back-to-the-basics effort after the pure absurdity of 'Moonraker', Bond's unfortunate capitalization on 'Star Wars'. Most of Moore's Bond films were falling more on the camp side of the fence and this one is no different but the film at the very least tries for a bit of credence.
The story revolves around the secret ATAC system, a device which can send nuclear missile launch signals to British submarines (wouldn't the very existence of such a device be a bit foolhardy?), which becomes all the rage after a British surveillance ship that’s carrying it sinks in the Mediterranean.
Naturally, the Brits don't want this in the wrong hands and have a Greek scientist searching under the ruse of an archaeological expedition.
The scientist is found out and both him and his wife is murdered, leaving his daughter Melina (Carole Bouquet) to team up with Bond to seek revenge against the assassin who killed her parents. When the trail leads to smuggler Emil Locque (Michael Gothard), Bond attempts to find who he's working for but the price to prevent world domination doesn't come easy.
Widely regarded to be one of Roger Moore's better Bond efforts due to the credibility of the script and his slightly aging Bond finally seeming to be able to handle a skirmish without some smirking, I never really responded to this installment much.
The plot seems to meander from one set-piece to the next and I'll be darned if I can remember much about it later on despite multiple viewings over the years.
Probably more a nostalgic pic for most, it has it's fair share of decent action and great locations but the Sheena Easton theme song and Bill Conti music also cement the fact that the film is a firm product of it's time - unfortunately that time was the early eighties.
Well, I feel like I'm being redundant, but once again, the 2.35:1 1080p transfer is immaculate. Color, contrast and detail is all very film-like and a notable improvement over the DVD. The DTS-HD 5.1 lossless and original mono tracks are also provided and probably couldn't get much better.
Special Features include a audio commentary from director John Glen and members of the cast, a commentary with co-screenwriter Michael G. Wilson and crew members, a commentary with Roger Moore, Deleted Scenes and Expanded Scenes, 'Bond in Greece' featurette, 'Bond in Cortina' featurette, 'Neptune's Journey' featurette', '007 Mission Control Interactive Guide into the world of For Your Eyes Only', 'Inside For Your Eyes Only' featurette, Animated storyboard sequences, image database, Sheena Easton Music Video and Trailers, TV Spots and Radio Spots.
Like Lay's potato chips, it's hard to have just one; particularly when they look as great as they do here.
The video and audio is impressive, bar none, with MGM/Fox going above and beyond in assuring that their golden goose sparkles in the high-def format. While the lack of any new features, say maybe some BDLive features, is somewhat of a disappointment and makes this a tougher call for the owners of the previous 'Ultimate Editions', these 50GB discs are still packed to the gills with content and an extremely easy recommend for Bond fans.
James Bond Blu-ray Collection Six-Pack is now available at Amazon . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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