Spectre Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Spectre Blu-ray Movie Review

We've Been Here Before

Reviewed by Michael Reuben February 7, 2016

Spectre, the twenty-fourth Bond film from EON Productions, racked up impressive box office returns, but it also divided fans. "It's no Skyfall!" was a common reaction among the disappointed (which included my colleague Brian Orndorf). Then again, I recall when Skyfall was similarly dismissed with "It's no Casino Royale!" As far as I know, no one has ever cited Quantum of Solace, Daniel Craig's second Bond outing, as a standard to which other efforts should aspire, but the trend seems clear: Each of Craig's followup Bond films has left part of the fan base with the nagging sense that the new film somehow falls short.

What accounts for this continuing sense of letdown? My theory is that it's driven by a change in the way Bond films are written, one that began with Casino Royale's "reboot" of the franchise. Following the path that Ian Fleming mapped in the first of his Bond novels, Craig's debut burrowed more deeply into Bond's character than any previous film (with the possible exception of George Lazenby's one-off turn in On Her Majesty's Secret Service). In the film as in the novel, Bond found his emotional vulnerabilities exploited and the last of his illusions stripped away. As Casino Royale's ad campaign promised, the film showed us how Bond became Bond—that is, how the newly licensed-to-kill 007 became the emotionally contained, self-sufficient hero who, in so many previous films, blithely walked into danger.

But the franchise's creators didn't stop there. In each of Craig's successive outings, the focus on Bond's inner life has remained an essential element (and yes, I hesitated before writing the phrase "Bond's inner life", which would have been an oxymoron for the character played by Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan). In each subsequent film, Craig's Bond has remained a man battling personal demons, some present and some past. Despite his repeated assertions that nothing bothers him, that he doesn't reflect on his choices in life, that he's an emotional cold fish who leaps from one adventure and bed to the next, Craig's Bond always finds that his latest mission stirs up a deep well of feeling, whether it's love for Vesper Lynd, devotion to Judi Dench's M, or sorrow for his lost family. Principal screenwriters Neil Purvis and Robert Wade have admitted to mining every scrap of information tossed out by Ian Fleming for inspiration in their effort to "deepen" Bond's character. No one seems to have questioned whether relentlessly excavating Bond's history and psychology was a wise decision for a franchise that has survived over fifty years because its hero always manages to emerge from disaster unscathed, both inside and out.

Spectre represents the apotheosis of the Purvis/Wade approach, as it systematically revisits and reformulates Craig's previous Bond outings, purporting to reveal an ultimate enemy who has lurked unidentified behind the scenes of three feature films and billions of dollars in box office. The marketing made no secret of the fact that, in what amounts to yet another "reboot" of the franchise, Bond's chief enemy isn't just a Serious Bad Guy. He's a figure from Bond's own past, one who mockingly informs 007 that it's Bond who is responsible for the villain's career as an evil genius. Such intimate ties between a hero and his nemesis are the stuff of Greek tragedy, Shakespearean drama and comic book franchises, but how many times do the impresarios of EON think they can get away with it for Bond?

As so often in the past, Bond in Spectre is forced into the role of rogue agent, pursuing a lead from an unlikely source that eventually brings him to the mysterious Franz Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz) and his shadowy criminal organization with its octopus insignia. The path to Oberhauser begins in Mexico City, where director Sam Mendes stages an elaborate chase during the Day of the Dead celebration, complete with collapsing buildings, aerial hijinks and a massive crowd of extras. The pursuit continues to Rome, where Bond secures further information—and spends a few memorable hours—with Lucia Sciarra (Monica Belucci), the widow of a recently deceased Spectre assassin. In Rome, Bond catches his first glimpse of Oberhauser (whom he recognizes as a figure from his past) and manages the first of several escapes from an apparently indestructible Spectre assassin named Hinx (WWE star Dave Bautista, who played Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy). The trail then leads to Austria, where an encounter with an old adversary sends Bond to an Alpine clinic seeking the gorgeous Dr. Madeline Swann (Léa Seydoux), and then to Tangier, where Bond discovers the location of Oberhauser's lair in the Moroccan desert.

Back in London, the new M (Ralph Fiennes), along with Q (Ben Wishaw), Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) and Tanner (Rory Kinnear), are facing the dismantlement of MI6 at the hands of Max Denbigh, a/k/a "C" (Andrew Scott, Sherlock's Moriarty), apostle of a shining new age of electronic espionage. As Denbigh moves forward with his plan to consolidate the intelligence services of Britain and eight other nations in a secure London headquarters over which he will have sole dominion, no one except M seems concerned that privacy and democracy will be thrown out the window along with the "00" section. (Is no one even a little troubled that the construction of Denbigh's spiffy steel-and-glass tower was funded by private contributions? )

The conclusion of Spectre attempts to unite these many moving parts in a grand finale with the requisite pyrotechnics, narrow escapes and just desserts for the villains, but there's something off about the whole affair—and not just because we're asked to believe that Bond emerges from the fray a changed man. The late Richard Maibaum, screenwriter of twelve Bonds, used to say that the film's story should be driven by the villain's evil objective. A plot to subvert the entire Western intelligence apparatus sounds like a grand scheme, but when it's motivated by what amounts to sibling rivalry, the whole affair is trivialized. Skyfall lost some momentum at the end, because it turned out that its villain's elaborate machinations boiled down to a simple act of revenge against "Mommy". But Spectre collapses entirely, because it doesn't even try to hide the fact that Oberhauser is doing it all to get even with Bond.

Spectre Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Unlike the digitally originated Skyfall, Spectre was shot on film, with select shots captured digitally. The cinematographer was Swiss-born DP Hoyte Van Hoytema, whose previous credits include Interstellar and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. If IMDb is to believed, post-production was completed on a digital intermediate at 4k, which makes sense for a film that was intended to be widely exhibited on IMAX screens as well as in regular theaters. The DI process, together with contemporary film stocks and lenses, results in a detailed and fine-grained image on MGM's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray, which renders even the darkest sequences with exceptional clarity. The shadows that frequently conceal Christoph Waltz's Franz Oberhauser are deep and black, and they lift with precision at just the right moments. Digital color grading provides a distinctive palette for each location, from the yellowed air of Mexico City (with its legendary pollution) to the cool blues and whites of the Alpine clinic where Bond connects with Dr. Swann. Fine detail is so good that even the aerial shots of crowds in the Day of the Dead sequence reveal individual figures on the ground.

Spectre has the longest running time of any of EON Productions' Bond films to date, and MGM has mastered the 148-minute feature with an average bitrate of 24.09 Mbps. Between the letterbox bars and obvious care taken in the compression, the image has transferred to Blu-ray without artifacts or other interference.

Spectre Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Spectre's lossless DTS-HD MA 7.1 track announces its authoritative presence with deep bass drum beats that initiate the Day of the Dead sequence, and the rest of the track reflects the same approach that director Mendes followed in Skyfall: a near-constant cacophony of organized sound accompanying Bond and his allies through every phase of the adventure. The Mexico City sequence surrounds the viewer with street bands and revelers, then explodes (literally) into a boisterous chase that includes a helicopter fight where the sound of whirring blades shifts with the perspective onscreen. A car chase through Rome is a whirlwind of engines, collisions and fire effects. A snowy mountain pursuit involving multiple vehicles and an airplane is . . . well, you'll just have to hear it for yourself. Even the quieter scenes, in rooms with humming computers and multiple screens, have a distinct sonic identity. Like Skyfall, Spectre could be listened to without the picture, and it would never be boring.

Mendes' favorite composer, Thomas Newman, returns for scoring duties, and the unenviable job of following up Adele's Oscar-winning theme from Skyfall fell to Sam Smith, who co-wrote and performs "Writing's on the Wall" over the inky title sequence.

Spectre Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

By comparison to the impressive batch of extras accompanying Skyfall, including a great commentary by Mendes, Spectre's supplements seem flimsy. Some fans have predicted a special edition with additional material like that done for Casino Royale, but that was a Sony release. Don't count on MGM to go the extra mile.

• Spectre: Bond's Biggest Opening Sequence (1080p; 1.78:1; 20:12): Once you get past the promotional tone, this detailed look at filming the Day of the Dead sequence in Mexico City provides a good sense of the challenging logistics involved. The featurette concludes with the film's Mexican premiere.



• Video Blogs (1080p; 1.78:1; 9:09): These featurettes are entertaining but all too brief. A "play all" function is included.
• Director—Sam Mendes
• Supercars
• Introducing Léa Seydoux and Monica Belucci
• Action
• Music
• Guinness World Record



• Gallery (1080p): Production and behind-the-scenes photos.



• Theatrical Trailers (1080p; 2.38:1; 5:18): A "play all" function is included.
• Teaser Trailer
• Theatrical Trailer #1
• Theatrical Trailer #2

Spectre Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Despite its problems, Spectre is a Bond film, and Bond fans are loyal. With repeat viewings, I suspect that Spectre's flaws will retreat from attention, and fans will concentrate on individual sequences that are memorable, primarily in the film's first half. Though light on extras, the Blu-ray is a first-rate production and recommended.