Bond 50: The Complete 22 Film Collection [Blu-ray]

The biggest and best way to celebrate James Bond is here with the Bond 50 Blu-Ray box set, a must buy package that contains all 22 Bond films. With the 23rd James Bond film, Skyfall, just around the corner, there is no better time than now to invest in this fabulous box set. Bond, James Bond is an icon, a Hollywood legend and a hero to many. He’s one of cinema’s longest running franchises and deservedly so. Over five decades and now 23 films, the super spy has brought us adventure after adventure and rarely, if ever, does he let fans down. James Bond is one of cinema’s most beloved and enduring characters and it’s about time he gets his own boxset. From Dr. No right through to Quantum of Solace, every Bond film is included here, as are all of our favorite stunts, Bond girls, gadgets, cars, opening credit songs and more. The only thing missing is the 1967 Casino Royale parody and 1983′s Never Say Never Again, as both were made without EON Productions’ involvement and due to rights issues, they couldn’t be included. Having all the Bond films housed in one boxset really makes for a great viewing experience and though some films stand out more so than others (Goldfinger being one of the best Bond films ever and Moonraker being a bit too silly), every film is an absolute blast to watch. It would be redundant and rather pointless at this stage to review each of the 22 films in this box set. If you’re reading this review, you’ve likely seen most of the Bond films, if not all. So, instead of doing into depth on each one, I’ll just provide a brief overview of the box set, run down the audio, video and special features, and try to drill into your head why you NEED to buy Bond 50. Housed in a slipcover box you’ll find two books that when opened, hold the discs (two per page). The discs are arranged in chronological order and the pages of the book have images from the films. There’s even an extra spot for Skyfall. It’s an excellent piece of packaging and one that complements the classy style of the titular character himself. When it comes to the video and audio, this box set is an absolute winner. Even the older films, like Dr. No and From Russia With Love, look gorgeous (despite some dust specks and whatnot). Crystal clear and free of compression issues, this is the way that the James Bond films were meant to be viewed. The films that have already seen a Blu-Ray release are identical to their previous versions and the ones that are appearing on Blu-Ray for the first time are very easy on the eyes. Of all the films, Goldeneye is the only one with any real noticeable issues. That’s not to say that it doesn’t look great, it does, it’s just not as sharp as the rest of the film. Of course, the newer films look better than the older ones but given the circumstances, each title looks nearly flawless. Audio is equally as good. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtracks pack quite a punch. Now, a lot of the films were produced before the 5.1 era and in that case, they include the original mono and stereo mixes. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, just something to note. Dialogue is crisp and clean on the newer releases and even on the older ones it’s solid, though there is a bit of crackle and pop here and there. Add in great atmospherics and a ton of depth and you have some really good audio tracks. Now, if you already own the Bond films on Blu-Ray (13 were made available in the past with the other 9 now on store shelves), you will be double dipping here. The discs hold the same special features as the original releases did, save for a few extra bits here and there. That being said, there is a bonus disc included in the set that houses a handful of new special features. You can check them out below, though nothing particularly stands out. World of Bond: Title Sequences: All the title sequences in a row, amounts to a little over an hour. World of Bond: Gadgets: A quick montage of some of Bond’s best gadgets. World of Bond: Villains: Another quick montages dedicated to the villains. World of Bond: Bond Girls: A montage focusing on the Bond girls. World of Bond: Locations: A quick look at some of the more exotic locations that the series has visited. World of Bond: Bond in Motion: A very quick look at some of Bond’s best vehicles. Skyfall Videoblogs: About ten minutes of promo material for Skyfall Designing 007: Fifty Years of Bond Style: For about four minutes we get a look at the series from a design point of view, everything from costumes to props is touched upon. Being Bond (1080p, 3:08): For a couple minutes each of the Bond actors speak on their experience playing the character. Unless you already own a handful of the Bond films Blu-Ray, you can’t go wrong Bond 50. The new special features don’t amount to much more than fluff but considering each film has its own features ported over from the original release, it’s easy to overlook the fact that the new features are useless. That minor hiccup aside, everything else about the set is fantastic. The films look and sound beautiful in HD, even the older titles, and they’re all just so much fun to watch. Everything about the package is just so well done, right down to the packing and housing of the film. If you’re a James Bond fan who has yet to invest in the series on Blu-Ray, this is an excellent box set that will provide you hours and hours of enjoymen

I can remember for the past few decades wanting to buy the Bond movies, but the prices were just too high for me - usually around $15 a disc. I was able to pick this up for around $80 used and it was one of the best purchases I made. The version I got came with all the movies up to and including Skyfall, and I was able to buy it for around $80 which works out for around $4 per disc - awesome! I enjoyed most of the movies, but Im not a big fan the way the last movies have gone (the new Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, and Skyfall). Let me explain: in the older movies there is a clear-cut villain, with a definite plot to do something evil; hardly any shades of grey - and that is what I have come to expect from a Bond movie - action scenes, a good hero, some beautiful women, maybe a nifty gadget or two, and an Evil Badguy with some far-fetched plot to take-over or destroy the world. You might find references to older Bond movies, but each movie stands on its own, and is easy to follow. The last three in this set are more of a who-dunnit, with hidden motives, that try to look more like todays action movie, and try to be more true-to life; it is a little hard for me to explain - but when I watched these movies I found them harder to follow. They still have nice action sequences, but some scenes I could do without, like Bond being smacked in the coconuts with a knot on the end of a rope. (And then miraculously walking down a beach a few scenes later with no apparent damage). And at the end of of these, like Quantum of Solace I wasnt sute it WAS the end - had anything really been accomplished?

I remember the beginning of the 50 years of James Bond films. I was too young to see them then, but I can enjoy them at any time now. I could have bought either the Blu-Ray or DVD, but I am finding the load times of Blu-Ray to be too long. The sound on my home theater system is wonderful and the picture from the DVDs is beautiful on my high-definition television. The movies from the 1960s look almost as good as 2013s Skyfall. The boxed set is very attractive and stores 2 disks per page. I almost threw the plastic sleeves away, but I would recommend keeping them. I find that I can remove the disk without touching the surface. Some graphics from the movies would have been nice on the disks, but I guess black with gold lettering is very classy.

I have watched two movies so far. Dr. No and Goldeneye. If you are a Bond fan and have a BluRay player you have to own this set. If you already own the previous Ultimate Bond Collection in DVD (I do) and have a decent receiver that upscales well from 1080i to 1080p (mine is an Onkyo 5009) you would be hard put to it to see a difference in the picture. The sound is a different matter. The BluRay has more detail and more surround effect. Its worth it! I did not like having to pry the discs out of their slots in this set. Looks great! Takes up little room!! But it seems easy to damage them. The album has nice pictures, but there is a dearth of written information when compared with the DVD Ultimate Collection. I havent looked for special features yet on the BluRays, but the DVDs have an extra disc for each movie. Except that I was ripped off because one of the special features discs (I think it was Goldeneye) was missing from the (new?) DVD collection and I did nothing about it. (My Bad).

Great collection for Bond Lovers. Whats not to like! Great purchase. My husband enjoys the set. Nice presentation.

I found this collection to be just what I wanted. I know there are people who are critical about some of the films; however, as someone who first saw Dr No in the theater, this puts all the films into one neat package with a quality that is really good. A few things about watching these films: it is fun to watch the technological advancements from film to film; watching the Bond cars progress from a Sunbeam Alpine to the DB5 to todays cars brings back memories of all those neat vehicles; and seeing the gadgets Q provides can make you smile. If you are a Bond enthusiast, this is for you. If you want the perfect reproduction like you saw in the theater, you might want to find a copy of the original film and use a projector. As long as your firmware is up to date, you should have no problems with any of these disks. Enjoy all the pluses and minuses . . . but ENJOY these films!

Ive always loved the Bond films. Now the Complete Blu-Ray Set of virtually all the Bonds. Packaged good for holding 22 discs. This set I believe can sell itself to any Bond fan. You wont get all the new individual movie case covers pictures for the discs that are out now individually but those discs are exactly the same and its amazing to fit all the films in this condensed package for taking up much less space. It even has a blank spot in the case for the new Bond Skyfall DVD which comes out in approximately 2 weeks. Inside the case you do get various pictures that are not in the individual DVD cases. Please note that for those who do not know: A Bond rival film titled NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN is not included in this set because it was not an Albert Broccolli Bond film. It was actually a rival Bond Film and some other source books and fans say it was a remake of Thunderball. The film came out in 1983 at the same time as Octopussy did, so Connery and Moore were both out in the movies at the very same time. NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN was a Kevin McClory production, a Talia Shire Film, and at the time I think Warner Brothers released it. Anyway since its not included in this set-and its Connery as Bond, people have been wanting it and unfortunately its currently out of print and mostly out of stock for people trying to get it to complete their Bond sets. When you look on Amazon here or even sellers from eBay sources the ones being sold are for unbelievable prices. Iam sure it will be re-released in the near future and the price will come down to normal. One dissapointment I do have I would like the Bond DISC-MAKERS to know about: Every Bond film on Blu-Ray is perfect picture wise-with the best menus and best extras I have ever seen. For most of the movies the sound is great too, but I have noticed this before this set came out: I did an audio comparison of THUNDERBALL: The 2006 MGM Ultimate Edition first remastered Lowery film restored Thunderball standard DVD audio version versus the audio playback of the first remastered Lowery film restored BLU-RAY DISC that was in the Metal BLU-RAY Case also from 2006-those first releases. I notice that the voices on the BLU-RAY VERSION are much lower where the sound effects blow you out of your chair especially during that opening pre-credit fight sequence. You have to turn it up quite a bit at the beginning of THUNDERBALL BLU-RAY to hear what Bond and the girl are talking about and when Bonds first fist hit comes with the music its so loud you jump to turn it down. When you play the STANDARD Thunderball it is the same film remastered by Lowery but the sound is perfectly balanced where this does not happen. It sounds better actually because its balanced and you dont have to make any adjustments. The talking aspects are much more distinct and full throughout the entire standard disc and I even hear more background sounds on this Standard Disc versus the BLU RAY Thunderball. Iam going by the first Lowery remastered released Thunderball set Ultimate Edition 2006 MGM 2-disc set which has the louder & more distinct talking vocals which was sold separately or found in Volume 2 out of the 4 James Bond Ultimate Edition Sets. In these volume sets the cases were slimlined cases, the cover art was designed black-boarded with Connery holding a speargun and the single sold 2-disc Ultimate Edition set had the same covers but all were not slimlined cases. I dont know if the new 2013 standard is the same or not, but you will notice the audio difference on the Black-bordered 2006 Lowery Standard Edition 2-disc set. I have not noticed any other Bond film with this audio problem. All other BLU-RAY versions are perfect or near exact audio wise to their standard Lowery DVD remastered counterparts. This new 2013 BLU-RAY entire set still has the overloud audio on the sound effects versus the lower talking audios on the current 2013 Thunderball-Blu-Ray in this new set. So I hope the BOND DISC-MAKERS READ THIS TO FIX FUTURE PRINTS OF THUNDERBALL AUDIO BLU-RAY. Check it out if you dont believe me. Its not an equipment setting- and it does not matter if your playing your audio 5.1 or 7.1 or no matter how you try to adjust your sound on your equipment-- its the way the disc audio is balanced , remixed and encoded on the BLU-RAY. Still I give this set 5 stars for what you actually get is great: well packaged, complete, great menus, great picture quality, and all in one box.

It is awesome to finally be able to get all these Bond movies in one collection and in Blu-ray! Great price for the sheer amount of movies you get! and it has room for the new Bond film so that is sweet. The only surprising thing is it is missing one Bond film. One where Sean Connery reprises his role as Bond with Kim Basinger in Never Say Never Again. It has to do with the fact that a different movie studio other than MGM make that movie. They somehow had the rights to that specific Bond story and made it outside the MGM circle. So if you like that movie and want it, it wont be in this collection. A must have for all Bond Fans

Not much for reviews, but a huge Bond fan. Over the years I have purchased all the Bond collections 3 or 4 times. VHS, DVD twice and now the Blus. The picture is clearer, and with less artifacts than my Bond Ultimate Edition DVDs, although less so with some of the older titles. I really like the packaging, and it presents well on my shelf. The fore-thought of leaving a blank space for Skyfall is also greatly appreciated. I managed to get mine on sale for less than a hundred dollars, so excellent value, less than $5 a title. This helped convince me that the upgrade from the ultimate editions was worth it (my ultimate edition dvds were $75 each for 4 boxes = $300). If you are a new fan of Bond or just starting your collection this is an excellent start. If you have the ultimate editions its hit or miss on the upgrade aspect, although I would consider the packaging and improvement in picture quality a worthwhile investment if you arent replacing all the movies. Overall an excellent presentation and a good value.

OK, there has been mass confusion, so I thought it best to post this as part of the review. I had pre-ordered the BD set with the Limited Edition hardcover book James Bond 50 Years Of Movie Posters. However, while my order page still shows that I have ordered the set with the book, when I click on the item link in my order, it actually takes me to an item description page which is missing the book. That is, it is not linking to the page describing what I had actually ordered. Not a good sign. Yesterday I received the BD set but NO BOOK. After going a few rounds with Amazon customer service over email, I had them call me. Once on the phone (with a representative name Will), we were able to find the proper solution (such a solution is impossible through any other means because of Amazons having changed the item description retroactively for the pre-ordered item, a practice I find highly unusual and suspect, especially since I received no email notification of any changes to my order). In any case, as many others have pointed out, the hardcover book is available for sale individually on Amazon. While on the phone with Will, I pointed this out to him. What happened next makes up for the Amazon snafu. Will asked me to place the item into my cart, and upon examining the item himself, he was satisfied that it was the book that I was supposed to receive. So he asked me to place the order for the book, which I did, and while on the phone with him, he zeroed all the charges for the order, and changed the delivery method to next-day shipping. In other words, Amazon is sending me the book at no extra charge (total order: $0.00). Now, I have no clue whether this book is EXACTLY the same that was supposed to be included with the pre-order, but according to most descriptions, including the one on the original item page on Amazon, it appears that it is the same book. So if you have pre-ordered the set with the book but did not receive the book, this is the way to obtain it from Amazon free of additional charges. What Ive watched of the BDs so far, this set is well worth the $6.20 or so per movie.