5/5 Spectacular Restoration
  by C. S. Junker (Burien, WA USA)
I've owned these films on tape, laserdisc, and DVD, and yes, it was definitely worth shelling out the bucks to buy all 20 films again on these spectacularly remastered sets.

The earlier films show the most difference, of course. The Connery Bonds and the first three or four Moores show the most improvement. Rich, vivid, colors, a sharp, crisp image, beautifully remastered 5.1 surround sound (the DTS tracks are utterly delightful) --- I'm sure there will be another repackaging of these movies before too long, but as far as I'm concerned, this is a close to an "ultimate collection" as it gets.

(I'm referring to all four sets, basically, and these comments apply to the technical aspects of the discs, rather than dealing with my opinions of each movie.)

The discs will be released individually starting in March of 2007, BUT (and it's a big but) they will be single-disc releases without any of the special features. All of the films in these boxed sets have a second disc with extras (most of them ported over from the original DVD releases). So, you'll be able to buy, say, "Dr. No" and leave "Moonraker" on the shelf, if that's your pleasure ... but you won't get any extras.

Hopefully the studio will rethink this before too long. Good marketing usually means making your customers happy.

5/5 These Ultimate Collections deserve Ultimate Respect...
  by Mike Sorge (Ontario, Canada)
Hi all you Bond fans!...

I don't understand what all the big disappointment is with the order of the films in these sets!!! Sure, it'd be nice if everything was in chronological order, but who are we to decide that?

The amount of hard work that went into the making of these sets, and the quality of the sets themselves, are nothing to disregard! I don't understand how anybody could put chronological order over the quality of something itself... If you really wanted what was in these sets, then how can you argue over the order of the DVD's in them???

To me, the makers did a fantastic job of ordering them, because then the not-so-popular movies get somewhere to live too! How would you feel if you had to release sets in an order that not so many people would buy a certain volume of, just because less people liked what was in it? You have to respect the makers' wishes, and go for it.

I, myself, am profoundly interested in these sets, and to me... they are a MUST to have! I can see how people who have already bought the previous DVD sets would be upset, but I think these sets justify re-buying them 100%. (Too bad these North American releases aren't in the attache case, though!)

As another reviewer (Eric D. Zdrojewski "Lockport Eric") said, you can sell your other DVD sets (if you wanted to), and you'd have a decent amount to go for these sets.

... and as another reviewer on here (The JuRK) said... I'm definitely getting these for Christmas this year too!!! :-D

Thanks,
Mike Sorge


5/5 I Was VERY Skeptical Of This Collection But...
  by D. Taney (Phoenixville, PA)
Before buying this collection, I was very skeptical. Being a long time James Bond fan, I invested plenty of money in the best VHS version of all these films. When DVD came out, I re-bought about half of the collection again. I must admit that the DVD releases of these films are some of the most disappointing DVDs in my collection.

My major complaints about the ORIGINAL DVD RELEASES were:
1.) Audio Mix -- The first release of the Bond DVDs featured only the original 2 channel audio mixes. The result was a disaster. The spoken dialog was BURIED under the soundtrack... resulting in me having to dive for the remote every five minutes. On top of the poor dialog / score mixing, the audio lacked definition and served as a constant distraction from watching the movie. There were no distinct lows, or distinct highs, just a lot of bland sounding audio.

2.) Picture Quality -- I suppose I couldn't complain too too much about this one. Given the age of many of these movies, I accepted the washed-out, often grainy image as nothing more than a symptom of the era the movie was made.

All in all, poor audio and poor picture makes for a pretty crappy experience. After having been disappointed by the first couple Bond DVDs I bought, I gave up on the collection. It was with this in mind that the announcement of the newly remastered series left me very skeptical.

The major criticism of this DVD set is that it is another ploy by MGM/UA to drain more money from every Bond fan's wallet. In the past, I had avoided these pathetic attempts at getting me to constantly upgrade versions of things I already owned.

However, let me tell you, this collection DOES NOT DISAPPOINT. The talk about the upgraded audio and video is NOT hype. Painstaking efforts were taken to re-scan the original prints of each film frame-by-frame. Once scanned, the image was digitally enhanced from the original prints. I was amazed at the richness and depth of color this process produced. During most parts, these movies look like they could have been filmed last year. Different color pigments are more noticeable, skin color and tone looks more lifelike, and the special effects look sharper. All in all, one couldn't ask for anything more from the picture quality of these versions. I have yet to a scene where I felt it could have been retouched better.

If the image quality isn't enough to make this collection worth buying, the new 5.1 DTS mixes seal the deal. Gone are the days of me fidgeting with volume during every other scene! The balance between dialog, ambient sounds, and score is perfect. I never would have imagined that movies made in the 60's and 70's could sound so good. Unlike the previous DVDs, these Ultimate Edition DVDs utilize my home theater to its maximum potential. Explosions rumble through my sub and the dialog comes clearly through my center channel; every word is audible. I own other DVDs from films made over the last couple of years that wish they could sound this good! Utilizing the DTS is a MUST!

Finally, while I consider myself fairly discriminating when it comes to audio and video clarity, I am by no means an audio or videophile. So, I don't think you need a $25,000 home theater setup to enjoy the enhancements these DVDs offer. I wrote this review based off of the following hardware:
32" Winbook 720p LCD HDTV
Up-converting Samsung DVD Player (connected via DVI)
Sony 7.1 (7x100w) Surround Receiver
Matching 5.1 MTX Surround Sound Speaker System

Hopefully, this will help clear up some confusion or doubt as to the value this collection offers.

5/5 It's Bond--And Beyond!
  by Tom S. (New York City)
I, for one, have no objection to this new packaging of the beautifully remastered films and their lavish extras. This series is like the old joke about pizza (and sex)--even when it's not-so-good, it's still pretty good. These films are such a big, big part of our culture--all of them. All the actors playing Bond. The whole shebang. I appreciate that there are those out there who only want certain titles--and they should be available that way--but I say, "Bring 'em all on!" I'm loving this collection!

DR. NO is the first and freshest, with Connery the first (and best) Bond and Andress the first (and best) girl. YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE has that marvelous volcano and that lovely song, possibly the best song in the series. MOONRAKER is just plain silly, but kind of fun. OCTOPUSSY is big and colorful. TOMORROW NEVER DIES is kind of blah, but it has Michelle Yeoh, who is not blah, and those stunts, which are anything but blah.

5/5 James Bond Collection #4 of 4, In the ULTIMATE Version!
  by Lonnie E. Holder (Columbus, Indiana, United States)
This collection includes various Bond movies from three of the actors that have played James Bond in the "official" Bond movies, which excludes "Never Say Never Again." I have a couple of complaints about the four collections, balanced by some significant positives.

My two biggest complaints are that the movies are not in order, which continues the tradition begun with the previous James Bond Collections, and these movies are so good when compared to the originals that fan of the James Bond movies will want to have these, which means you have to shell out a lot of money to buy these movies over again.

The most significant positives about these movies are the improved sound and picture quality, and the second disk that comes with each movie that includes material uncollected in the original James Bond Collections. If you have the previous James Bond Collections and you have watched them only once, then you can probably pass this collection over. If you watched the previous James Bond Collections and you thought the picture and sound could have been improved, and you wished for more extras, then you may want to shell out the big bucks and buy these four sets.

Two of Sean Connery and two of Roger Moore's films are in this fourth set. The first Connery film is "Dr. No." "Dr. No" launched the Bond franchise. Sean Connery set the tone for Bond; suave, debonair, and terminally cool. He drove nice cars and had a penchant for dry one-liners. Ursula Andress set the tone for future Bond women, and Dr. No was coolly ruthless. Ken Adam's sets were artistic and artfully filmed by Terence Young, who also provided the stylistic role model for Connery's Bond. In the extras you learn that Connery was mentored by Young and acquired expensive tastes and hobbies in the process.

The second Connery film was the fifth Bond film. "You Only Live Twice" had more gadgets, more exotic locations, and more jokes than previous Bond films. Someone is hijacking Soviet and American spacecraft and no one knows why. After one of the best opening credits where Nancy Sinatra sings the title song, we enter one of the weaker entries in the Bond series. There is too much reliance on gadgets and women and too little reliance on a serious plot. I also struggled to believe Donald Pleasance as the evil Dr. Blofeld.

Roger Moore's first film in this collection is another of the weaker films in the Bond series. "Moonraker" was intended to capitalize on the public's interest in science fiction movies sparked by "Star Wars." However, this movie is not close to "Star Wars," and the spaceship effects are relatively cheesy. However, the space station is reasonably well done. This time madman Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale) plans to park his chosen people on a space station while he eliminates all people on earth. His chosen people will then repopulate the earth with their perfection. Drax is a suitable madman for Bond. The popular character Jaws (Richard Kiel) appears again in this movie. Unfortunately, Moore appears generally bored with this one and this movie just never sparks.

Moore's second film in this collection is "Octopussy." When agent 009 turns up stabbed with a valuable jeweled egg, James Bond is on the case. His investigation leads him to India, where he learns that Kamal Khan is involved in a number of activities, some of them apparently involving Octopussy, a female smuggler who makes her home on an island where there are only women. As the movie unfolds we learn that General Orlov has been plotting with Kamal Khan to use the military superiority of the Soviet Union to show the world that the Soviet Union remains a potent world power. Kamal Khan's interest is money, however, and he cares little for Orlov's activities other than how he can benefit from them.

The final film in this collection is 1997's "Tomorrow Never Dies." The supporting cast this time is phenomenal, with the great actor Jonathan Pryce as Elliot Carver, Teri Hatcher as his wife Paris Carver, and Michelle Yeoh as Chinese agent Wei Lin, among numerous others. Jonathan Pryce steals nearly every scene he is in, reminiscent of some other great Bond villains. The locations are ever more incredible, digital effects abound, and the stunts are even more thrilling. That motorcycle jump was really performed! Cheryl Crow does a great job on the title song, and the excellent video is included.

Because of all the extras these DVDs require hours to watch. The value of the extras varies, but watching them gives a fan much more information about the difficulties of making each movie, and how many of the stunts were performed. I consider these movies to be among the gems of my DVD collection. I recommend this set very highly if you are just starting to collect Bond movies, are looking to replace your VHS versions, or you must have the best versions available.

Enjoy!