James Bond Ultimate Edition – Vol. 4 (Dr. No / You Only Live Twice / Octopussy / Tomorrow Never Dies / Moonraker)
*Dr. No Disc #1 -Movie with DTS 5.1 Surround and original mono/stereo -Language selections -Audio Commentary Featuring Director Terence Young and Members of the Cast and Crew
Disc #2 -TOP LEVEL ACCESS 007: License to Restore – Featurette Detailing the BOND Ultimate Edition Film Restoration Process -DECLASSIFIED: MI6 VAULT The Guns of James Bond -Premiere Bond -007 MISSION CONTROL Interactive Guide Into the World of Dr. No -THE COMPLETE SPECIAL FEATURES LIBRARY: MISSION DOSSIER -Inside Dr. No -Terence Young: Bond Vivant -Dr. No 1963 Featurette -MINISTRY OF PROPAGANDA Original Trailers, TV Spots, Photo Gallery & Radio Communications
*You Only Live Twice Disc #1 -Movie with DTS 5.1 Surround and original mono/stereo -Language selections -Audio Commentary Featuring Director Lewis Gilbert and Members of the Cast and Crew
Disc #2 -DECLASSIFIED: MI6 VAULT Welcome to Japan, Mr. Bond Whicker’s World – Highlights From 1967 BBC Documentary On Location With Ken Adam -007 MISSION CONTROL Interactive Guide Into the World of You Only Live Twice -THE COMPLETE SPECIAL FEATURES LIBRARY: MISSION DOSSIER -Inside You Only Live Twice -Silhouettes: The James Bond Titles -Plane Crash: Animated Storyboard Sequence -MINISTRY OF PROPAGANDA Original Trailers, Photo Gallery, TV Spot & Radio Communications
*Moonraker Disc #1 *Movie with DTS 5.1 Surround and original mono/stereo *Language selections *Newly Recorded Audio Commentary Featuring Sir Roger Moore *Audio Commentary Featuring Director Lewis Gilbert and Members of the Cast and Crew
Disc #2 *DECLASSIFIED: MI6 VAULT 007 in Rio – Original 1979 Production *Featurette *Ken Adam’s Production Films *Bond ’79 Learning to Freefall *Skydiving Test Footage *Skydiving Storyboards *Circus Footage *Cable Car Alternative Storyboards *007 MISSION CONTROL Interactive Guide Into the World of Moonraker -THE COMPLETE SPECIAL FEATURES LIBRARY: MISSION DOSSIER -Inside Moonraker -The Men Behind the Mayhem – Special Effects Documentary -MINISTRY OF PROPAGANDA Original Trailer & Photo Gallery
*Octopussy Disc #1 -Newly Recorded Audio Commentary Featuring Sir Roger Moore -Movie with DTS 5.1 Surround and original mono/stereo -Language selections -Newly Recorded Audio Commentary Featuring Sir Roger Moore -Audio Commentary Featuring Director John Glen
Disc #2: -DECLASSIFIED: MI6 VAULT Shooting Stunts: Crashing Jeeps & The Airplane Crash -Ken Burns On-Set Movie -On Location with Peter Lamont -Testing the Limits – The Aerial Team -James Brolin Original Screentests -James Bond in India – Original 1983 Featurette -007 MISSION CONTROL Interactive Guide Into the World of Octopussy -THE COMPLETE SPECIAL FEATURES LIBRARY: MISSION DOSSIER -Inside Octopussy -Designing Bond – Peter Lamont -Rita Coolidge ‘All Time High’ Music Video -Storyboard Sequences -MINISTRY OF PROPAGANDA Original Trailers & Photo Gallery
*Tomorrow Never Dies Disc #1: -Movie with DTS 5.1 Surround and original mono/stereo -Language selections -Audio Commentary Featuring Vic Armstrong and Michael G. Wilson -Audio Commentary Featuring Roger Spottiswoode and Dan Petrie Jr.
Disc #2″ -DECLASSIFIED: MI6 VAULT Deleted and Extended Scenes Introduced by Director Roger Spottiswoode -Expanded Angles Introduced by Director Roger Spottiswoode -Highly Classified: The World of 007 -”The James Bond Theme” (Moby’s Remix) -007 MISSION CONTROL Interactive Guide Into the World of Tomorrow Never Dies -THE COMPLETE SPECIAL FEATURES LIBRARY: MISSION DOSSIER -The Secrets of 007 -Storyboard Presentation -Gadgets -Sheryl Crow ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’ Music Video -MINISTRY OF PROPAGANDA Original Trailers & Photo Gallery
Dr. No: Released in 1962, this first James Bond movie remains one of the best, and serves as an entertaining reminder that the Bond series began (in keeping with Ian Fleming’s novels) with a surprising lack of gadgetry and big-budget fireworks. Sean Connery was just 32 years old when he won the role of Agent 007. In his first adventure James Bond is called to Jamaica where a colleague and secretary have been mysteriously killed. With an American CIA agent (Jack Lord, pre-Hawaii Five-O), they discover that the nefarious Dr. No (Joseph Wiseman) is scheming to blackmail the U.S. government with a device capable of deflecting and destroying U.S. rockets launched from Cape Canaveral. Of course, Bond takes time off from his exploits to enjoy the company of a few gorgeous women, including the bikini-clad Ursula Andress. She gloriously kicks off the long-standing tradition of Bond women who know how to please their favorite secret agent. A sexist anachronism? Maybe, but this is Bond at his purest, kicking off a series of movies that shows no sign of slowing down. –Jeff Shannon
You Only Live Twice: The film boasts the best of the Bond title songs (this one sung on a dreamy track by Nancy Sinatra), but the movie itself is one of the weaker ones of the Sean Connery phase of the 007 franchise. The story concerns an effort by the evil organization SPECTRE to start a world war, but the not-so-super villain behind the plot is the awfully civilized Donald Pleasence. The thin script is by Roald Dahl (shouldn’t we have expected a better Bond nemesis from the creator of mad genius Willy Wonka?), and direction is by British veteran Lewis Gilbert (Alfie). But the movie can’t hold a candle to Dr. No, From Russia with Love, or Goldfinger. –Tom Keogh
Octopussy: Roger Moore was nearing the end of his reign as James Bond when he made Octopussy, and he looks a little worn out. But the movie itself infuses some new blood into the old franchise, with a frisky pace and a pair of sturdy villains. Maud Adams–who’d also been in the Bond outing The Man with the Golden Gun–plays the improbably named Octopussy, while old smoothie Louis Jourdan is her crafty partner in crime. There’s an island populated only by women, plus a fantastic sequence with a hand-to-hand fight that happens on a plane–and on top of a plane. The film even has an extra emotional punch, since this time out 007 is not only following the orders of Her Majesty’s Secret Service, but he is also exacting a personal revenge: a fellow double-0 agent has been killed. Two Bond films were actually released in 1983 within a few months of each other, as Octopussy was followed by Sean Connery’s comeback in Never Say Never Again. The success of both pictures proved that there was still plenty of mileage left in the old license to kill, though Moore had one more workout–A View to a Kill–before hanging it up. And that title? The franchise had already used up the titles to Ian Fleming’s novels, so Octopussy was taken from a lesser-known Fleming short story. — Robert Horton
Tomorrow Never Dies: Pierce Brosnan returns for his second stint as James Bond (after GoldenEye), and he’s doing it in high style with an invigorating cast of costars. It’s only appropriate that a Bond film from 1997 would find Agent 007 pitted against a media mogul (Jonathan Pryce) who’s going to start a global war (beginning with stolen nuclear missiles aimed at China) to create attention-grabbing headlines for his latest multimedia news channel. It’s the information age run amok, and Bond must team up with a lovely and lethal agent from the Chinese External Security Force (played by Honk Kong action star Michelle Yeoh) to foil the madman’s plot of global domination. Luckily for Bond, the villain’s wife (Teri Hatcher) is one of his former lovers, and at the behest of his superior M (Judi Dench), 007 finds ample opportunity to exploit the connection. Armed with the usual array of gadgets (including a remote-controlled BMW), Brosnan settles into his role with acceptable flair, and the dynamic Yeoh provides a perfect balance to the sexism that once threatened to turn Bond into a politically incorrect anachronism. He’s still Bond, to be sure, but he’s saving the world with a bit more sophisticated finesse. –Jeff Shannon
Moonraker: This was the first James Bond adventure produced after the success of Star Wars, so it jumped on the sci-fi bandwagon by combining the suave appeal of Agent 007 (once again played by Roger Moore) with enough high-tech hardware and special effects to make Luke Skywalker want to join Her Majesty’s Secret Service. After the razzle-dazzle of The Spy Who Loved Me, this attempt to latch onto a trend proved to be a case of overkill, even though it brought back the steel-toothed villain Jaws (Richard Kiel) and scored a major hit at the box office. This time Bond is up against a criminal industrialist named Drax (Michel Lonsdale) who wants to control the world from his orbiting space station. In keeping with his well-groomed style, Bond thwarts this maniacal Neo-Hitler’s scheme with the help of a beautiful, sleek-figured scientist (played by Lois Chiles with all the vitality of a department-store mannequin). Despite Moore’s passive performance (which Pauline Kael described as “like an office manager who is turning into dead wood but hanging on to collect his pension”), Moonraker had no problem attracting an appreciative audience, and there are even a few renegade Bond-philes who consider it one of their favorites. –Sean Axmaker
Beyond James Bond Ultimate Collection – Vol. 4
Rating: List Price: $ 59.98 Price: $ 26.99
James Bond Ultimate Collection – Vol. 1
James Bond Ultimate Edition – Vol. 2
James Bond Ultimate Edition – Vol. 3
Stills from James Bond Ultimate Collection – Vol. 4 (click for larger image)
(out of 49 reviews)
Review by C. S. Junker for James Bond Ultimate Edition – Vol. 4 (Dr. No / You Only Live Twice / Octopussy / Tomorrow Never Dies / Moonraker)
Rating:
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.
Review by Mike Sorge for James Bond Ultimate Edition – Vol. 4 (Dr. No / You Only Live Twice / Octopussy / Tomorrow Never Dies / Moonraker)
Rating:
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!!!
Thanks,
Mike Sorge
Review by D. Taney for James Bond Ultimate Edition – Vol. 4 (Dr. No / You Only Live Twice / Octopussy / Tomorrow Never Dies / Moonraker)
Rating:
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.
Review by Tom S. for James Bond Ultimate Edition – Vol. 4 (Dr. No / You Only Live Twice / Octopussy / Tomorrow Never Dies / Moonraker)
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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.
Review by Lonnie E. Holder for James Bond Ultimate Edition – Vol. 4 (Dr. No / You Only Live Twice / Octopussy / Tomorrow Never Dies / Moonraker)
Rating:
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!