Bond 50 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		5.0

Bond 50 Blu-ray Movie Review

From MGM with Love

Reviewed by Casey Broadwater September 26, 2012

The gadgets. The guns. The girls. The exotic locales and sexy cars. The white-knuckle action sequences. The suave flirting and cheeky double entendres. He’s been played by six actors—Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig—but there’s only one Bond, James Bond. Every man wants to be him, and every woman wants to be with him. (Some men too, I'm sure.) He's the epitome of super-spy cool, and for fifty years now—fifty years!—he's been an indelible part of our pop-culture consciousness. In terms of universal recognition, Bond is right up there with Mickey Mouse and Darth Vader and Superman. Everyone knows his name, knows he likes his martinis "shaken, not stirred," and knows his favorite pistol is the compact Walther PPK. You're probably even humming or whistling the iconic 007 theme song to yourself right now, and if you aren't, I guarantee it'll worm its way into your brain sometime in the next five minutes. Instantly, more like. Admit it, it's playing on a loop in your head right now. Bond isn't just a franchise, it's a revered institution. Yes, there have been a few duds along the way, but over the span of twenty-two films—soon to be twenty-three, with the upcoming Skyfall—the series has defined the international espionage sub- genre, all the while reflecting the cultural and political changes of its times. Sure, in one sense, these are just action movies—popcorn entertainments—but for their fans, these films are the height of cinematic escapism.

If you're one of them, this is the week you've been waiting for, although I kind of feel bad for you if you've purchased the thirteen Bond films MGM has previously put out on Blu-ray. This new Bond 50 set is a complete collection—and, at $150, a great deal—that includes every 007 movie from Dr. No to Quantum of Solace. (Minus the independently produced Never Say Never Again.) It even has an empty disc slot "reserved for Skyfall." Instead of a massive write-up summarizing and critiquing each film in the series and their A/V presentations, below you'll find links to our reviews of the previously released titles— the audio and high definition transfers haven't changed—and you can expect comprehensive reviews of the nine remaining movies to pop up on the site over the next two weeks. If you have been buying the Bond films individually, you should be able to find these nine new-to-Blu titles as standalone releases on October 2nd, split three apiece to big box retailers as timed exclusives. Walmart gets GoldenEye, Octopussy, and Diamonds are Forever, Best Buy will have On Her Majesty's Secret Service, The Spy Who Loved Me, and You Only Live Twice, and Target gets A View to a Kill, The Living Daylights, and Tomorrow Never Dies.

Without further ado, let's take a look at exactly what's included in this massive, 23-disc set:

• Dr. No: In his first mission, Sean Connery’s Bond heads to Jamaica to face off against Dr. No, setting up several of the franchises’ staples in the process. Look out for Ursula Andress’ Honey Ryder, the quintessential Bond girl.
• From Russia with Love: Istanbul! A cryptographic device! Jaws’ Robert Shaw as a SPECTRE assassin!
• Goldfinger: Pussy Galore? Yes, please. Plus, Sean Connery really came into his own in this one, which has him protecting Fort Knox and saving the world economy from collapse.
• Thunderball: Bond traipses to Nassau to locate two stolen nuclear warheads. Lots of cool underwater sequences.
• You Only Live Twice: Bond heads to the Land of the Rising Sun to find out what happened to an American spacecraft that disappeared in orbit. Megalomaniacal villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld would be famously parodied in the Austin Powers series. NEW TO BLU-RAY.
• On Her Majesty's Secret Service: One-off Bond George Lazenby goes up against Blofeld and his beautiful young “Angels of Death” in the Swiss Alps. NEW TO BLU-RAY.
• Diamonds Are Forever: Bribed back to the franchise with a $1.25 million salary, Sean Connery returns to infiltrate a diamond-smuggling ring. NEW TO BLU-RAY.
• Live and Let Die: Roger Moore’s inaugural outing is half espionage thriller and half drug-smuggling blaxsploitation film—oddly enough—featuring Gloria Hendry as the first African- American Bond girl.
• The Man with the Golden Gun : The series took a goofy turn under Moore’s tenure, and Golden Gun goes defiantly over-the-top, with kung-fu fighting and a duel inside a neon-colored funhouse. Not a high point for Bond.
• The Spy Who Loved Me: Bond and the sexy Agent XXX—wink, wink—take on a Captain Nemo-style underwater anarchist. NEW TO BLU-RAY.
• Moonraker: Yes, Bond in space. One of the more ridiculous and campy franchise entries.
• For Your Eyes Only: After the high camp of Moonraker, the series came back down to earth, so to speak, with the grittier For Your Eyes Only. Still, a middling, forgettable film.
• Octopussy: With a name like that, it’s a pity Octopussy (Maud Adams) isn’t one of the better Bond girls, and Roger Moore’s Tarzan imitation goes down as one of the most cringe-inducing moments in Bond history. Still, a decent adventure film. NEW TO BLU-RAY.
• A View to a Kill: This was Roger Moore’s last and least favorite Bond film, but it at least features a loony Christopher Walken as a ruthless Silicon Valley industrialist and one of the series’ best villains. NEW TO BLU-RAY.
• The Living Daylights: Timothy Dalton’s debut as Bond brought the series back to a more realistic tone, with a Cold War, sniper-versus-sniper plot that takes 007 from Vienna to Afghanistan. NEW TO BLU-RAY.
• License to Kill: Dalton’s second and final turn as Bond goes darker still, and more violent. 007 loses his license to kill, but that certainly doesn’t stop him.
• Goldeneye: Pierce Brosnan’s stint as Bond starts with the ever-popular GoldenEye, which revamped the series for the post-Cold War era. Beware of Xenia Onatopp, the cold-blooded sexual sadist. NEW TO BLU-RAY.
• Tomorrow Never Dies: Brosnan’s second turn has him taking on an insane media mogul—think a more deranged Rupert Murdoch—bent on manipulating China and the U.K. into war. NEW TO BLU-RAY.
• The World is Not Enough: Here’s where Brosnan’s Bond started to go mediocre, with an emphasis on big dumb action over plot. This one also features Denise Richards as Dr. Christmas Jones, arguably the worst Bond girl.
• Die Another Day: Too many gadgets, too many explosions, too much CGI. It was time for another change, which brings us to:
• Casino Royale: This is how you reboot a flagging franchise. Like Batman Begins, Casino Royale goes rawer, realer, grittier than any of its predecessors. And despite initial wariness on the part of Bond fans worldwide, Daniel Craig proved to be a terrific 007, steely but vulnerable, and ready for action.
• Quantum of Solace: Craig continues to make the role his own in Quantum Solace, a direct sequel to Casino Royale. The film was maybe unfairly maligned by those who miss the comedy of the older entries, but it’s sharp, smart, and exceptionally stylish.

Bond 50 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

We'll have comprehensive reviews of the new-to-Blu-ray titles up shortly, but for now, after spot-checking all nine, I can at least happily report that—for the most part—they look fantastic, along the same lines quality-wise as the previously released films. Clarity is much improved, color accurate, and there are no wanton compression or encode issues. Some of you may have gotten wind that GoldenEye has been given a heavy digital noise reduction scrubbing, and yes, you will be able to see some fairly egregious DNR at times, though it's rarely taken to that gross, waxy-face look. (It's no Predator reissue, if that's what you're wondering.) Just skipping through the chapters, I spotted a few instances of characteristic "frozen grain" in some of the other titles as well—a bit in The Living Daylights, some slight softening in Diamonds Are Forever—but I'm honestly not too hung up on it. From what I've seen so far, the films appearing in high definition for the first time here are much sharper and more detailed than their corresponding DVD editions. And minus GoldenEye—where the noise reduction is visible from a distance—what little DNR is present in the other titles simply isn't noticeable once you get more than two or three feet from your screen. I'm really pleased with how these films have turned out.

Bond 50 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The nine new releases in the set each feature a remastered lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track, along with the usual assortment of dubs and subtitles. (See links to individual titles for details.) Like the picture quality, the audio seems to be in line with what we've what we've heard from the previously released films, with effects, ambience, and music satisfyingly expanded into the surround channels. Look out for full audio reviews in the days ahead, but buy with confidence—taking into account their respective ages, these films all sound great.

Bond 50 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

You'll be glad to hear that nearly all of the bonus content from the previously released DVDs and Blu-rays has been ported over here. (See individual titles for details; with the exception of Casino Royale, the discs in the box set are the same as the individual releases.) In total, it amounts to over 120 hours of audio commentary, behind-the-scenes featurettes, retrospective documentaries, and in-depth interviews. Enough, that is, to keep you occupied for several straight days on the off-chance that you embark on some freakishly epic week-of-nothing-but-Bond marathon. Good luck with that.

Missing in action is some of the "Mission Control" DVD material—which, honestly, didn't amount to much anyway—and the Inside: Die Another Day documentary by Charles de Lauzirika. Additionally, the Casino Royale disc included here mixes material from the original Blu-ray and the 2008 re-release. Included are Deleted Scenes, The Road to Casino Royale, Ian Fleming's Incredible Creation, James Bond in the Bahamas, Ian Fleming: Secret Road to Paradise, Death in Venice, Becoming Bond, James Bond for Real, and Chris Cornell Music Video. Unfortunately, we lose the forty-minute Bond Girls Are Forever and four featurettes—Chasing A Plane: From Storyboard to Screen, The Art of the Freerun, Storyboard Sequence: Freerun Chase, and Filmmaker Profiles.

The set also contains an exclusive bonus disc, but there's not much of substance on it:

• World of Bond: Title Sequences (1080p, 1:02:32): Yes, if you care to, you can watch the title sequences of all twenty-two films in a row, observing the changes in graphic design across five decades.
• World of Bond: Gadgets (1080p, 3:03): A montage of Bond's most memorable gadgetry.
• World of Bond: Villains (1080p, 2:22): A quick introduction to all of Bond's antagonists.
• World of Bond: Bond Girls (1080p, 1:24): The sexiest montage of them all.
• World of Bond: Locations (1080p, 1:40): A quick tour through the exotic locales featured in the Bond franchise.
• World of Bond: Bond in Motion (1080p, 1:43): All of Bond's vehicles through the years.
• Skyfall Videoblogs (1080p, 10:51): A collection of hype-building promo material for the upcoming Bond film. Includes Skyfall: Behind the Scenes, Sam Mendes, Naomie Harris, Berenice Marlohe, Production Update from Shanghai, Dennis Gassner Takes Us Inside the Look of Skyfall, and Jany Temime on Dressing 007 for Action.
• Designing 007: Fifty Years of Bond Style (1080p, 4:01): Curator Bronwyn Cosgrave guides us through a retrospective exhibition looking at all 23 Bond films from a all-around design perspective, from architecture to costumes and props. Here you'll see models, set sketches, and an up-close look at the famous golden gun.
• Being Bond (1080p, 3:08): Each of the six Bond actors say a few words about playing the iconic role. Sourced from vintage interviews.

There are several subtitle options for the supplementary material on this bonus disc: English SDH, Spanish, French, Catalan, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Swedish, Mandarin, Czech, Mandarin Traditional and Simplified, Korean, Polish, and Indonesian.

A Note on the Packaging: MGM certainly can't please everyone, but I personally think this is a rather classy-looking box set, and sturdy too. Inside the thick, glossy cardboard slipcover are two "books," labeled 1962-1981 and 1983-2012, that are very similar in construction to the one used for the Alien Anthology set. The pages on the left feature promo images and stills, while the right pages house two discs each, which slide in and out—with a little difficulty—of scalloped slits. The cardboard under the discs has been coated with some kind of smooth plastic, so I wouldn't worry about scratches. It's a well-built set, and it looks good on a shelf.

Bond 50 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you're a James Bond fanatic—and you haven't already purchased the thirteen previously available films—the Bond 50 box set is a must-buy release. Fifty years of franchise history is here, complete with 120-odd hours of bonus material. Considering the wealth of content you're getting, and the satisfaction of seeing these iconic films anew in high definition, the current $150 asking price is nothing. The movies do look fantastic—minus the unfortunately DNR'd GoldenEye—and the sleek, sturdy box they arrive in is quite a looker too. I have a feeling MGM will be selling lots of these during the holidays, but if you're buying for yourself, don't wait; that price—unlike diamonds—may not last forever. Highly recommended!