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

Well this one is a no brainer, its Bond so of course its awesome. Well ok its awesome if you disregard Casino Royal which was just crap in my opinion. The movies look absolutely wonderful in HD, however in some of the movies which mind you Ive only watched about four of the films so far. Some of the colors are too crisp and you do loose some of the luster that you had in the original movies. Like in Goldfinger the room as a whole is no longer lit up in essence of gold when he finds the gal covered in gold and there were other scenes where it just didnt seem like the gold gave off as much of a presence. I think that changes like this is just mainly do to the fact that the movies have been sharpened up and some of those fixes could have just been glare from light sets that was never suppose to be in the scene.

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.

] This is a wonderful transfer to Blu-ray for this great series. There is no doubt that this Blu-ray package represents the very best picture for these movies since their original theatrical release. I have owned this James Bond series on every medium released. VHS, Laser Disc, DVD and now this Blu-ray release. There is no comparison. This has stunningly exceptional video quality. The sound is also excellent. There are only a couple of the films where the sound mix levels were a little uneven (dialogue volume versus background music) but these are just a few instances and therefore quite negligible. Particularly at this price, I highly recommend the purchase of this Blu-ray set. I have just one complaint which is why my rating is a 4 and not a 5. The book that the Blu-ray discs are housed in, does not have the conventional center clasp that securely holds the Blu-ray disc in place. Instead, the discs are housed in a slot that you have to slide them in and out of. This is quite poor because of the risk of damaging the discs. I think that springing for the additional expense of proper disc holders within the book would have been worth it, even if it meant charging a little bit more for the product.

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

Overall, I found this production to be all that I expected it to be. Yes, there are one or two discs that get stuck in a DVD player due to data corporation during its original recording, but I was able to accelerate my player to by-pass the damaged areas. The other difficulty is with the Excellent packaging in the area of the slips the discs are in. They are hard to get a disc to slide out. Just slip a fingernail under the top part opening above the disc and pull it up a bit and slide the disc out with a finger on your other hand. Worked well for me.

I had read another review which was very helpful. They had listed all the movies this series had and one thing I understood was Skyfall was not included in this series so I went ahead and purchased it separately, which was not the case. It wasnt until Birthday boy opened it that we discovered that Skyfall WAS included even though the online info on this item even said there was a slot in the back of it to hold the DVD, which also lead me to believe I needed to purchase it separately. Anyways, the birthday boy was extremely happy with his gift and I ended up taking the extra Skyfall movie! We Like how all DVDs are neatly organized & protected in their own slot. We love us some James Bond!!!! BH, Mishawaka, IN

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?

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

Half price is realistically what it should go for anyhow. Yes it is a bit cumbersome to get the discs out, I can manage but some folks certainly will have issues with that. I like the book style packaging nonetheless, and they look classy too. The book of Bond posters is a nice touch, but I wouldve really liked a detailed timeline book like the Planet of The Apes collection came with. As far as the movies, Ill only comment on the one Ive really been waiting for in blu ray, Golden Eye. Beautiful, crisp, detailed presentation well beyond what the DVD offered, and the sound is astounding too. Its been a long wait but Im reasonably satisfied with the overall package, it wouldve been nice to have a slot to put my Never Say Never disc in though seeing they couldnt included that disc.

This review is for the product; it is NOT a critical review of the James Bond series of movies, which everyone on the planet should have seen at least once by now. First, the box is heavyweight and contains 2 books which have sleeves into which the BDs tightly slide, one disc per double cardboard page. As the discs are supposed to be much more scratch resistant than DVDs, I wasnt overly concerned about that risk. However, its nearly impossible to get the damned discs out of the sleeves. Each sleeve has a slit opening with a slightly larger crescent opening to retrieve the disc, however, the center hole of the BD is completely covered by the sleeve, leaving owners having to grasp the disc on both sides (thumb and forefinger opposed) to yank it free of the tight sleeve, leaving finger prints on the readable side of the BD, while bending (flexing) the disc each time it is removed. I think most rational owners would object to this. And it doesnt improve with age (except for the one sleeve which tore as I fought to get the disc out. Second, the damned discs wont play. Please forgive me for the following rant, but Im so GD sick and tired of movie factories corrupting the discs we pay for with special security encoding so that no one can possibly in any way humanly possible steal their precious property (the movie); even the federal government threatens us every, single time we watch the movie WE PAID FOR, with the FBI WARNING. Every time! And we cant even skip ahead (except on some Universal series like Murder, She Wrote, and Northern Exposure, as examples -- thank you Universal)! Now, with high-tech BDs, we get high-tech security coding; its so goddamned effective, I cant even watch the discs I paid through the nose for! All was well for the first couple of viewings, but then Goldfinger wouldnt play...just sit blankly on a black screen at 0/81. Then For Your Eyes Only did the same thing, even though I watched it the previous night with no problem! BTW, my equipment is a 2-year-old Samsung 3-D BD player matched to a Samsung Smart TV. After spending about 2 hours on the Internet trying to track down the problem, the Net proclaimed the problem to be the security encoding on the disc, and the only glimmer of hope was the suggestion to unplug the BD player and let it reset itself. It worked! But why in hell should I have to maneuver my furniture out from the wall to access the electrical plug to reset the BD player to get it to work with the security coding on the disc whose content Ive paid for the right to watch??! When in hell is our government going to start protecting the working class citizens of this country from the greed of the Hollywood machine? Why is their right to protection from pirating so much more important than my right to view the product for which Ive paid? Damn, Im angry. Absolutely enraged...! So, that said (thanks for your patience while I got that off my chest), I can NOT recommend this expensive 22- or 23- disc set until the government steps in to protect us from the security coding of the studios. Noteworthy, I have had absolutely NO trouble with nearly 2500 DVDs which have been played on this and other players, and virtually no trouble with other BDs. No, I do not think there is a problem with the discs, other than the security encoding the studios are allowed to insert to protect themselves at the expense of the legitimate buyers of their product. DISCLAIMER: For all those who think Amazon movie reviews should be Siskel and Ebert-esque, sorry. As I said earlier, in a product review, I want to know the good and the bad about the product. The movies are great, and the discs (when playable) are very good quality; however, even after the e-reset, they continue to fail to play whenever they feel like it, so they get a ONE-STAR rating. And I caution movie lovers to be careful about going full-tilt buying BDs to replace your beloved DVDs until someone starts insisting that consumers have rights, too. ADDED 4/14/14: Take a look at the 1-star reviews for