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

Just received this today, and watching Dr. No as I write this. Love the way this is packaged. Little difficult to remove the disks, but its not like Im going to remove them every day. The positive side is that the disks are very secure and will not slide around inside the case. They even give you a space for the upcoming, Skyfall. The included book 50 Years of James bond Posters was a pleasant surprise to me since I didnt remember reading about that in the description. Absolutely love this set. UPDATE 13 October 2012: I started watching some of the Bond movies, and when I reached chapter 22 of You Only Live Twice the screen froze. After playing with it for a few minutes, I discovered that chapters 22-28 were damaged. The disk looked fine, but these chapters simply would not play on any of my blu-ray players. After that, I decided to watch all of the bond movies to see if I had other bad disks as well, but all of the other disks were good. So, I called Amazon, and they promptly sent a new set asking me to return my set after the new set arrives. By the way, I still love this set. Great customer service Amazon.

Well, we are back on the better, better, and best technology merry-go-round with this latest deluxe release of all 22 official Bond films. (And yes, as much as I like Never Say Never Again, its not an official-sanctioned and produced Bond release. I remember when this film came out in 1983 and I recall seeing interviews that some dude named Kevin McClory was upset that he was not cashing in on the 007 franchise and that he was a co-writer with Ian Fleming for Thunderball. So, some court granted him the rights to remake Thunderball under the clever guise of Never Say Never Again and of course, the big magnet to get butts in the movie theater seats was to bring back Sean Connery as Bond. And of course, that star status trick worked, as I recall that the theater was packed!) But, I digress....a few years ago, I purchased the 4 Bond DVD box sets in a Christmas fire sale at Best Buy and I thought to myself, Cool! I have all of the Bond movies on DVD - now I can get rid of my scratchy, old VHS tapes! I watched all of the DVDs (in 007 release order, of course!) and I enjoyed all of the extra commentary and cast interviews and I thought that it would never get better than this. Then, a couple of years ago, came the arrival of Blu-Ray technology and I thought that I was not going to give in and purchase any DVDS on Blu-Ray, especially since the Blu-Ray players at that time were ridiculously expensive. Then, I saw MGM/UA started releasing Dr. No, From Russia With Love, and Goldfinger on Blu-Ray and I almost gave in and purchased Goldfinger. But, then I started getting suspicious about the intent of MGM/UAs release tactics. I was going to hold out to see if they released anymore of the films and they rolled out Thunderball, On Her Majestys Secret Secret Service, Live And Let Die and a few others from the Bond franchise. BUT, when MGM/UA did not release For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, and A View To A Kill from Roger Moores Bond heyday, then I became especially suspicious and I started putting it all together that 2012 would be the 50th anniversary of Bond films when Dr.No was released in 1962, so I held out to see if anything major would be released from the studios and Im delighted that I did! I did have the opportunity to see Goldfinger in Blu-Ray from a friend of mine who regrettably purchased the multi-film packs and I will have to admit that the visual and audible effects were stunning! Watching Goldfingers all-out assault on Fort Knox was a tremendously enjoyable viewing experience and it was like I had never watched this film before! Make no mistake about it - I didnt want to plop down $184 for these films, but its like $8 a Bond film in Blu-Ray no less! I pre-ordered my Bond set last week from Amazon and I dont regret the purchase one bit. September 25th could not come soon enough for me and Ill admit that I never purchased any Daniel Craigs Bond DVDs, although I did see the two films in the theater. (To the fans who are wondering why there is only one empty slot in the forthcoming Blu-Ray set, its simple: If Skyfall does not have an awesome box office take and goes the way of Quantum of Solace a very low-grossing Bond film, then there may not be anymore James Bond movies!) These films not only have to continue being edgy and impactful, but they have to profitable in order to get any further studio endorsements and budgets. One last thing to consider in this purchase.....I did purchase this set from Amazon and Im excited to watch the films in Blu-Ray, but if MGM/UA tries to get cute about it a year or two from now and try to call it something like, Never-Before-Seen, Super-De-Duper, Extremely Deep Blu-Ray Bond films, then Im afraid, Ill have to cut Mr. Bonds tightrope from a helicopter and let him fall back to Earth because this is one Bond fan who is tired of the movie studios extortion plots and capers to get more money from us devoted 007 fans! Enjoy the Blu-Ray box set!

If you are a fan of James Bond, this is a great collection to own. These include all official movies made by Eon Productions up through Quantum of Solace. While Skyfall is not included, there is a space for the disc to be housed when it comes out on DVD. The whole set is like a coffee table book, which I love. Each movie has a Bond girl from the movie by the disc slot. The special features on making the movies are great as well (if you are into that sort of thing, which I am). Overall I love the set. I only have two issues: 1) On the DVD menu, to start the movie you must select Initiate Mission. Its cute, but when I first popped a disc in, took me a few minutes to figure out which option started the movie. Just a play option would have been fine. 2) the slots the discs are held in arent very good and have no padding. As the whole thing is made of cardboard, you have to be careful taking out the discs to ensure they do not scratch.

Ive been a Bond fan since my parents took us to see Dr. No at the drive-in when it arrived in 1962. I saw every film in the theater upon its release, owned the VHS collection, owned the DVD collection, and now this. I have watched James Bond films 100s of time, but seeing these classics in blu-ray was a life altering experience. Seeing a young Sean Connery at his best in the sharpness and clarity of blu-ray was like seeing the film for the first time. I saw things I never noticed before and am amazed at the crisp, precise details that have been hiding from my eyes all these years. I havent gotten through the 120 hours of bonus materials, but trust me, I WILL. From the off handed coolness of Sean Connery and George Lazenby, to the corny movies of Roger Moore, the bad hair films of Timothy Dalton, the over acting of Pierce Brosnan, to the much needed re-imagining of the character by Daniel Craig, there is everything you could want or need in the James Bond lore here. These are 22 films you will be proud to own.

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.

Picked this up when it was $129.99. Even though itll most likely go down to $99.99, like it did once before and I foolishly missed it, I just had to pick this up and Im so glad I did. I never got a chance to see most of these movies in the theater, being 24 and all, but now Ive had a chanced to see the remastered versions on blu-ray. I had heard most of these movies were remastered very well, a couple were not, I really didnt have anything to compare it to, so to me they all looked superb. Ive seen movies on blu-ray that were bad upconverts and were quite grainy, these werent even close. All 22 films together, plus the one slot for Skyfall (which I have as well) means I can watch all 6 reincarnations of 007 anytime in glorious HD! The only problem is that it leaves me wanting for more.

I purchased this set a few months ago and have finally viewed them all starting in August with a Sony BD player. I dont understand what the many negative comments are referring too. The color was perfect on all of them, once I selected the correct A/V mode. On my 80-inch Sharp, Movie mode gave perfect color and sharpness reproduction on all the movies, from Dr. No, to the two Danial Craig versions. It also works on DVD and BD movies. The sound was absolutely awesome reproduced through my 7.2 sound system. Keep in mind that the old movies were recorded in stereo, not surround. (A/V modes vary from various manufacturers, so youve got to try them all for each media youre playing.) Not a single movie exhibited coloration or other distortion, which is a result of the oldest being remastered frame-by-frame at 4K from the original film from the cameras. As to the complaint that later remasters were done at 2K, also, thats more than enough for BD 1080p. (Consider that the later films were not 40 to 50 years old masters and were better preserved, not needing the extensive corrections.) Note: Remastering at 4K allowed more corrective digitizing, and also prepared the old films to be re-released in digital projector theaters or as 4K BD, which is the latest 4K flat-screen TVs. (Some new movies are also shot at 5K.) The only complaint I can muster, and its my opinion, is that all of the James Bond actors varied in talent, but thats for another heated discussion.

ARRIVED ON TIME AND IN EXCELLENT CONDITION. MY REVIEW MAYBE LATE I HOPE CONSIDERED APPLICABLE. OUTSTANDING COLLECTION. THE MEDIA BE PACKED DIFFERENT TO PREVENT POSSIBLE DAMAGE BY USER TO ACCIDENTALLY DAMAGE IN USING THE DVDS. EXCELLENT COLLECTION OF THE EARLIER PRODUCTIONS. EVEN A PLACE FOR THE NEXT TITLE. THE QUALITY OF VIDEO IS VERY WELL COMPENSATED AND IMPROVED OVERALL AND REPAIRED GREAT MAKING A TREAT TO VIEW. PRESENTED CORRECTLY IN ACCURACY AND UNCHANGED FROM THE ORIGINAL. I LOOKED FOR A COMPREHENSIVE AND COMPLETE OF ALL THE TITLES MADE FOR VIEWING AND THIS COLLECTION AS MY FATHER REALLY ENJOY BEING ABLE TO PICK ANY TITLE MADE. MY FATHER VERY RARELY WATCH ANY MOVIE ONLY ONCE NEVER TO SEE IT AGAIN. BEING THIS HE WILL WATCH DIFFERENT TITLES ONCE IN A WHILE WHICH I ENJOY HIS TIME WITH ME IS VERY PRECIOUS. I WILL HAVE IT IN MY COLLECTION WHICH IS SEVERAL HUNDRED IN TITLES AND IT HAS TO BE EXCELLENT IN ITS PRESENTATION QUALITY REPRESENTATION AND PICTURE QUALITY. I AM WEIRD TO WATCH MORE AND GET NEW SLANT OR ITEM IN TO SEE SO I DO FREQUENTLY. THE NEXT TITLE PRODUCED AS TO THE NEXT TITLE IS COMPATIBLE IN PRESENTATION AND STORY LINE AS NOW IS TO BE A REALLY GREAT CHANGE IN THE PERCEPTION OF THE PERSONIFICATION OF BOND!!!! .

My set arrived today (yippie!)... I wont go into detail on the movies themselves (7 are classics, 8 others are watchable, the rest are garbage, and YMMV), but into the set and its packaging itself. The booklet format is divided up into 2 books: 1962-1981 (Dr No-For Your Eyes Only) and 1983-2012 (Octopussy - Skyfall Bonus). Each book contains a terrific graphic design layout, with the discs embedded within. The discs are not easy to remove from the sleeves, but Blu-Rays coating makes scratches a lesser problem than youd think. Still, its disconcerting that you have to poke and prod in there to grab and drag out the disc, and why I dropped a point off. But I will say this - those of us who bought the 3-pak Blu-Ray sets might find this book packaging a big improvement despite it all... and in that 3-pak, one of the discs was loose and had jostled all around. But there were no scratches on that disc, reaffirming the higher quality Blu-Ray has all around... Blu-Ray video quality is what youll expect - clean, sharp visuals with a fair amount of noise removal but leaving some grain intact - too much noise removal also removes sharpness and detail. Colors are vibrant, with no bleed that I can find. It does not get much better than this, for the Blu-Ray format, for Bond. Sound tends to be crisp and clear for the movies as well. Not much - if anything - to say for discernible hiss. The 5.1 mixes arent always the greatest, but these films deliver where it counts the most - fine handling of the audio restoration process speaks for itself. No pun intended. Im not seeing much difference between the movies in this package compared to what was released in the past... its just all the movies finally available. And its bizarre to see FOX HOME VIDEO logo appear when popping in a disc for a MGM franchise film series! Bond fans finally get ALL the Bond films on the best home video format, and at $149 its a steal.

Previously, I had only seen the Daniel Craig Bond movies, but I wanted to formally get into the series by starting from the very beginning Yes, I know its not required to watch the films in order. But for that reason, and for the reason that James Bond is one of pop cultures biggest icons and an indelible piece of film history, is why I picked up Bond 50. Chances are, if youre deciding whether or not to pick this set up, you already know what to expect. 22 films, 1 spot reserved for Skyfall, and 1 bonus disc, all housed in fairly attractive Digibook cardboard casing. In addition to the films, you get over 120 hours of supplemntary features to enhance your movie pleasure and James Bond knowledge. Yes, some of the discs have restoration problems, and yes GoldenEye shows signs of heavy DNR, but for the most part all of these films are a significant upgrade to their DVD counterparts. For its asking price, if the asking price is still within the reasonable range of $150.00, its a bargin. In their review of Skyfall, Red Letter Media astutely pointed out that James Bond has been around for almost half of all movie-making history! Thats an incredible feat of longevity. So if youre interested in James Bond, spy movies, or even film history, you owe it to yourself to see why the series has lasted half a century. Im already looking forward to the next 50 years.