James Bond Ultimate Dvd's Are Here

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nagina_005

New member
Got the 40 disc case today and its awesome.
Subtitle problems on 2 of the movies (Octopussy & TLD) are present and need correcting,but the rest of the set is great.
New restored pix are excellent and a choice of DTS or DD 5.1 for all movies,although some are a little heavy on the bass.
Goldeneye,TND and LTK are all uncut at last.
Best dvd release for years.
God knows how long it will take to get through it all,even without the multiple commentaries on most movies
 
Have anyone noticed that some of the BBFC cetrificates have been changed as well. I saw it in the shops that Tomorrow Never Dies has been given a 15 instead of a 12 as it was before.
 
The UE are so much better than the SE its not important how you buy them as long as you actually get them.
The improvement in picture quality on the Connery movies is startling
 
most of the reviews I read were split between

yeah better picture quality

and

there's not that much different with the extras (so are actually missing)

not sure I'm that bothered about the headbutting missing from my Goldeneye DVD

Bond DVD I've got are

Goldfinger
Thunderball
OHMSS
Spy Who Loved Me
Living Daylights
Licence To Kill
All of Pierce's Bond's

leaving aside improved Goldfinger picture and aforementioned cut Goldeneye scene, can someone give pro's & cons of new versions over old ones

I might be even be tempted to get Live And Let Die & Dr No

ta
 
Grrr, I only recently bought Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough...and now they do thiss...hmmm undecided at the moment as to whether or not to bother forking out money for it...
 
The new ones are better than the old ones because the picture quality on all titles is improved,especially on titles up to Licence To Kill,and major wow factor on the early Connery's (not just Goldfinger).
The first uncut releases of Goldeneye,TND and LTK is a bonus for R2.
Out of the 20 films I believe only one Pierce Brosnan title has some extras mssing that were on the previous edition.
All the others have all the earlier extras + all new ones including at least 3 new 50-60 minute documentaries across the set.
For me ,before I saw the picture quality,the number one reason I went for them was the 5.1 remixes to the series,especially the pre 80's movies.
Bond was made for surround and the new mixes really bring the movies to life ,assuming you have a good surround setup of course.
Personally I'm not into commentaries but if you are then Roger Moore has recorded them for all his movies.
Some of the pedantic nitpickers on other sites are moaning about the lack of the original mono tracks,and there are a couple of audio annoyances on OHMSS thanks to the remix,and some of the colour is a bit out on a handful of shots,but unless you have the 2 releases side by side you would not notice.
The advantages and improvements far outweigh the odd glitches
 
If they are the only 2 you want,then don't bother.
The improved picture and sound quality on those 2 would be hardly noticeable as they are so recent.
There are some cuts in TND aswell as audio alterations,but it depenRAB on how fanatical you are whether they matter on a single title if you don't have the rest
 
I bought OHMSS and thought the impovement in sound was brilliant. Also Goldfinger. Also bought Octopussy as the first dvd was not 5.1 but have decided not to buy the other later Roger Moore ones as these have 5.1 already. Of the earlier ones what is the most impressive improvement sound and vision wise? How about DiamonRAB Are Forever and Live And Let Die? Are they worth getting. I bought the "uncut" titles and watched Goldeneye yesterday but cannot see what has been added. The only headbutting was when he was trapped in the module but he headbutted a switch and I remember this scene before.

Finally whcih soundtrack is best? 5.1 or DTS? Or does it not make any difference?
 
The films are in lovely condition having been restored frame by frame.
The 5.1 mixes,both DTS and DD open up the sound spectacularly.
If ever there were movies made for 5.1, its the Bond films.
Goldeneye and Tomorrow Never Dies have all the cuts from the previous releases restored.
Licence To Kill is now completely uncut.
Originally released in 1989,the cinema and VHS versions were censored by almost a minute.Those cuts were restored for the previous dvd,but 10 seconRAB of extra gore never seen before,even on R1 (MPAA cuts I think) have also been restored.
All the extras from the previous releases are back,but there's lots of new stuff too.
Some sections are pointless,but much of the new material is excellent.
There are at least 3 new one hour tv specials we have not seen before on DVD.
One from 1965 was on the LD release.
Another is a clips collection made in 1987 for the 25th anniversary that was shown back then by ITV.
If you are sitting down to peruse the set to see whats on offer before delving into a complete movie,then be prepared for the annoying copyright warning and Sony commentary RABclaimers that are not skippable or FFable and start all 40 discs.(They appear on Disc 1 when starting the movie,and Disc 2 when the first programme begins)
But regardless of the minor imperfections,its definitely 007Heaven
 
The previous releases had scenes of violence toned down,mostly involving headbutts in the fight scenes.
TND also had audio alterations.
Licence To Kill was cut by almost a minute on its original 1989 release,but the BBFC cuts were restored for the SE dvd.
However,MPAA cuts taken from the film before its intial release and never seen before anywhere on dvd have also been put back in for the new UE dvd
 
The most improvement picture wise is without a doubt the first 3 Connery pictures.
The scene where 007 and Honey are washing themselves down in the river (Dr No) is a real eye opener.
But if you put an SE in your player then the UE of any of those 3 the improvement is obvious.
The sound is improved (if you're not a pedant after the original mono) on all of them up to A View To A Kill.
The 5.1 mixes on some of the Moore titles previously were a very mixed bag.
But its the Connery ones again that finally come to life,apart from Thunderball which already had 5.1 on its original dvd release.
If by 5.1 you mean Dolby Digital,then there's little difference between DD and DTS.
On paper DTS should be better but to the ear I don't think you'll notice any difference unless you have a super high end setup.
Of course if you have an older player or amp,you need to check that you are hearing DTS in its full 5.1 glory.
Earlier amps without a genuine DTS encoder will generate DTS as a Pro-Logic type mix.
Regarding Goldeneye cuts,the main one is at the point where Bond is lying on the ground in the jungle and Onatopp absails down from a helicopter and kicks him.
Natalya gets up to attack Onatopp and she receives a headbutt for her trouble.
That was missing on the previous R2 and if you switch to the commentary at that point (even on the new UE)you will hear director Martin Campbell noting the cuts.
Various headbutts were also missing from various fight scenes.
 
I have all the bond movies on DVD from about 4 years ago when they were released. Are these the same discs with a different box?
 
dth - thanks for the info

the only BonRAB I love enough to buy again would be Goldfinger, Spy Who Loved Me, Goldeneye and maybe OHMSS - buy I'm not sure yet

I'm sure I read in Empire/Total Film about some missing extras from the earlier BonRAB, but I might have misread that
 
I've not checked,but as there were actual cuts aswell as audio alterations the new version will be longer,albeit adding up to only seconRAB.
Don't compare the US and UK dvd's as the NTSC/PAL difference will show the UK disc as 4% shorter
 
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