I just got the first six MGM/UA Blu-rays of the James Bond series: Dr. No (seen above), From Russia With Love, Thunderball, Live and Let Die, For Your Eyes Only, and DIe Another Day. My aesthetics (and nostalgic leanings) being what they are, I’m most concerned with the Connery Bonds, and I have to say I’m really pleased. The restorations/remasterings were done with an eye to getting the most out of the image, and not so much with digitally “fixing” stuff. Hence, the awkward rear-proejection stuff in the Venice finale of Russia remains awkward; Francois Derval’s meeting with his double Angelo Palazzi—the same actor of course—looks like an effect (they couldn’t get the lighting in the hallway to really match with the rest of the shot), and so on. These putative flaws represent the best the technology could do at the time, and contribute to the overall character of the films; fix them, and you’ve got different movies.
What the Blu-rays do is present the movies with spectacular, but not overwhelming, detail and vividness. From casino to island cove, the Bond world is vibrant. The images above and below were shot with my camera, off of my 50-inch monitor, so they’re not ideal. (Should I but a tripod, or a Blu-ray drive that’ll let me rip images directly on to my computer? Bet the tripod would be cheaper…) But I think they do convey some of the beauty of the Dr. No Blu-ray. Both Dr. No and From Russia are in the medium-wide 1.66: 1 aspect ratio. Some DVD studios—such as the U.K.‘s Eureka!/Masters of Cinema crew—handle this shape by placing the picture so it appears there are vertical black bars on both sides of the screen. These discs handle it differently, doing something like a “picturebox,” wherein the picture information is “set” a little further “into” the screen; there a slight borders on all sides of the screen. Works pretty well.
It really is gorgeous. Watching Dr. No, of course, you can’t help be reminded of just how great Sean Connery was in the first three Bond films. Connery’s always been a great physical actor (his hurried walk to discover Marnie’s shipboard suicide attempt in Marnie is one of that film’s great moments), and the way he carries himself in his introductory scenes—flirting with Sylvia Trench, preparing to get chewed out by M—really establishes Bond in a succinct but still complex way. For myself, and many other Bond fans, the character’s apotheosis comes with the inafmous line “You’ve had your six.”
By the time we get to Thunderball, Connery’s already started phoning it in—although of course he’s such a distinctive presence in and of himself that it matters less than it might have if it was a different actor playing the part. Which it soon would be.
Haven’t looked at the two Moores yet, but the siren call of Halle Berry in a bikini compelled me to have a look at Die Another Day, which looks as fine as one would expect. Can’t wait for Goldfinger…
My favorite Bond film has always been “You Only Live Twice”; I can’t really put my finger on it, but I enjoy it a lot more than “Goldfinger”, which certainly is quite good.
One thing I always felt about “Thunderball”; while the underwater finale does seem like a bad idea on paper, I always thought they actually pulled it off with alacrity. I think part of it is just the fact you rarely see anything like it; the lack of firearms really helps make it more tense, at least in my opinion.
Oh, lest I forget, don’t see “Max Payne” unless you have to. It’ll be up for Razzies this year, in a big, big way.
Good to hear they’ve respected the original image and not scrubbed it clean. Robert A. Harris also gives good marks to Dr. No in his review, so I hope that’s the consensus across the board. Question – the specs also list the original mono track as being there – just want to make sure it really is.
“You Only Live Twice” is a sentimental fave as it was the first Bond film I ever saw—at a drive-in, in 1967. I was about 8. Wore my Jonny Quest-style black turtleneck to mark the occasion. The film also rocks because it features the dynamic duo of Mie Hama and (cue Roy Orbison “Pretty Woman” growl here) Akika Wakabayashi, also seen in “Kagi no Kagi,” later known as “What’s Up, Tiger Lily?”, not to mention “King Kong Versus Godzilla.”
That said, I still think “Goldfinger” is the best, with “Russia” a close second.…
I love Dr No. It’s my favourite of Connery’s Bond movies. For me, there’s just something so charming about the simplicity of it all (despite the fact that Doctor No’s plan is incomprehensible).
The blazing blue skies of Jamaica, the total coolness of Joseph Wiseman and his metal hand, Bond singing on the beach in rolled up trousers … it’s magic.
Moonraker was my first cinematic Bond. Four years old, at the Odeon with my Dad. He later told me I was so excited I wore myself out and fell asleep just as it started.
The Spy Who Loved Me is my favourite Bond. Absolutely can’t wait to get these Blu-Rays.
@Peter A: Yes, the “Dr. No” Blu-ray has the mono track. Watching the film in mono gives you more of the film’s original character (a very ’60s experience, as it were!…), although the Dolby track sounds fine too.
@Dan: The underwater scenes of “Thunderball” are awe-inspiring on the Blu-ray disc.
I have fond memories of “You Only Live Twice”, as well, mainly the scene of Bond running along the rooftop, punching people as he goes.
The thing about James Bond is, death and danger are his various breads and various butters.
Yeah, I love that rooftop shot, too. He’s in a foreign country, stuck on a roof, with lots of bad guys coming in for the attack. Bond just says, “come on, then!” and clocks them all right in the face.
Awesome.
The thing about You Only Live Twice, is that it’s vast and impossibly stylish. Can’t go wrong, see.
I do see. Plus, it was written by Roald Dahl. I haven’t seen it in ages, though.
At this juncture, I would like to point out that the cover designs for these Bond Blu-Rays are brutally ugly.
When it was announced that these Blu-Rays were coming, I fantasised that Eon might … just might … go back to original poster designs. The original posters haven’t been used for any home video releases since the early 90s (here in the UK, at least), so I figured they’d make the Blu-Rays look really fresh. Sadly, it was not to be.
Incredibly, these Blu-Ray covers actually look WORSE than the previous Ultimate Edition DVDs. That’s quite an achievement.
“From Russia With Love” just doesn’t do it for me. It’s well put together but I don’t think time has been as kind to it as “Goldfinger” or “You Only Live Twice.” But, hey, at least it’s not “Moonraker!”
Moonraker is fantastic.
The trick is to pretend that you imagined the bit with the pidgeon. And the bit with the theme from The Magnicent Seven. And Jaws’ girlfriend. And the Close Encounters keypad tone.
Apart from that, it’s cinema cinema cinema. The opening skydive chase is astonishing, possibly the most spectacular pre-credit sequence.
Mr. Wilson, here you and I will have to part company. It doesn’t get any worse than “Moonraker”. Isn’t there also a Tarzan yell in that one, or am I thinking of a different Roger Moore movie? (And no, I’m not thinking of “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”).
Love that rooftop scene in You Only Live Twice, I think because of its excellent use of John Barry’s theme for that film.
From Russia with Love? Best Connery Bond film because it hasn’t yet descended to the more “spoof-able” level it would later end up at.
But had Connery been convinced to appear in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service that could have been the most impressive one. As it is, with Lazenby in the role, it’s a bit underrated, and certainly better than 90% of the Roger Moore films.
Bill, what can I say? I’m a child of the 70s. Roger is my man. I make no apologies.
But I will apologise for the Tarzan yell. That was Octopussy, if memory serves. Makes me wince.
Roger Moore had some terrific movies and some bad movies, but I love them all the same. I’m one of those people. Octopussy is probably his worst. Man, that film is boring. But what saves it is the incredible stunt work on the roof of the private jet at the end. World class.
I haven’t seen any Roger Moore Bond film in a very long time, but I do remember thinking “The Spy Who Love Me” was pretty damn good. And yeah, it was “Octopussy”. Maybe that one’s the worst. Anyway, it reminds me of, as so many things do, of “The Simpsons”:
Homer: You know what I like about you English? “Octopussy”. I must’ve seen that move twice!
You know, chaps, I do think it’s great that the Bond movies came and went in different styles over the years. If every single one of them were like From Russia With Love or On her Majesty’s Secret Service, the Bond movies would have died a long time ago.
The fact that they evolved over the years – for better or for worse – means we get to enjoy all kinds of different Bond movies. There’s the lean drama of From Russia With Love, the cool style of Goldfinger, the gigantically surreal Spy Who Loved Me, the bone crunching Casino Royale …
We all have our own favourite eras and favourite Bond actors, but it’s all great stuff. Don’t you think?
I would say it’s “great” in that it has been fascinating to watch the films evolve (and devolve) over all these years, although when I was a kid the pickings were pretty slim. In the theaters, I had the latter-day Moore films, “Never Say Never Again”, and Dalton. As an adult, I was unable to work up any enthusiasm over Brosnan, who I generally like, and have thus far only seen one of his Bond films. I can’t even remember which one it was. But I was really bowled over by “Casino Royale”, so my interest in the franchise overall has been rekindled.
I like the evolution myself, as well as what different actors bring to the character, although I’m of the minority opinion that Timothy Dalton got epically screwed and the only truly good Brosnan was “Goldeneye” (oh Dear Lord, that car chase. That brilliant, brilliant car chase.)
Owain, I get where you’re coming from, and there are good bits to “Moonraker”, but it’s a bit like having a good cheesecake and every other bite, you get kicked in the crotch. Beyond a certain point, the pain overwhelms the pleasure.
I slogged through the dreary Brosnan years, optimistically hoping for a return to the sparkling magic of old, but was badly let down by all four of his films.
Brosnan himself is a very charismatic performer, with a nice sideline in slightly eccentric character work (Mars Attacks springs to mind). But the problem with the Brosnan era is that a Bond actor is only as good as his Bond movies. I dare say that in years to come Brosnan will never have hordes of nostalgic fans swearing devotion to his tenure.
Shame.
Once a Bond man, always a Bond man, is how it works for me. Some of the most awful stuff is, well, not redeemed, but given interest via sheer weirdness—Michael Lonsdale as a Bond villain, that’s pretty odd. But “Octopussy” really is pretty unforgivable.
I’m looking at “Live and Let Die” right now, which also looks great. And that whole, um, shall we say, “kill whitey” pre-credit sequence never fails to make my jaw drop…
Okay, Dan. I admit it. Moonraker is shit. But it’s still awesome.
I totally agree that Dalton was screwed. A classic example of bad timing. He did then what Craig is doing now, but in the late 80s nobody gave a chuff. Tragic. The man was brilliant.
In fact, to this day I believe that if he returned to the role in 1995, GoldenEye would have had an even bigger impact. His two films may not have been especially successfull, but I think he was liked and accepted in the role. At the time he WAS James Bond.
If it was Dalton in that GoldenEye teaser trailer – “Were you expecting somebody else?” – I would have pulled my trousers down right there and then.
Owain, my vision blurred a bit, so I read your remark about From Russia With Love’s “lean drama,” and thought you had written about its “teen drama.” I suddenly pictured Chad Michael Murray as Bond, and Hilary Duff as Tania…
I don’t mind Octopussy– it’s first half-hour or so is good, before it falls apart into the Moore-wearing-clown-makeup silliness of the finale. I would argue the same is true about Moonraker– the second half is unwatchable, but everything up through that chillingly edited chase with the dogs through the forest is a lot of fun, if different from the sixities Bonds.
To my mind, A View To A Kill is the worst Moore film– aside from Duran Duran’s tongue-in-cheek theme song, there’s nothing to enjoy in the picture. And Tanya Roberts is awful. It does, however, have one of my favorite incorporations of the title into dialogue, as someone (Grace Jones? It’s been awhile since I’ve seen it) says, “That’s quite a view…” and Christopher Waken hammily barks, “…to a KILL!”
Timothy Dalton is underrated– I quite like The Living Daylights, and if he’d gotten a script as good as the one Daniel Craig got for Casino Royale, he might have been spectacular. Craig is great, too.
Heh, I wasn’t trying to wear you down, Owain, just expressing my personal opinion. I’m glad you enjoy it. 🙂
As for Brosnan, no love for even “Goldeneye?” Ouch! I actually quite liked it, although I remain annoyed Eric Serra was never allowed to come back.
Gotta agree with Brian here, and I’m a big Moore fan. Absolutely the worst Moore, possibly the worst, period. Moonraker is over the top, but it’s at least fun, which AVTAK isn’t. Octopussy isn’t great, but it’s saved by its exoticism and by Maud Adams. And I haven’t subjected myself to Die Another Day, but The World Is Not Enough is certainly another candidate for the bottom of the barrel.
Nice to see the love for You Only Live Twice (which is much better than Thunderball and Diamonds Are Forever), and especially for The Spy Who Loved Me, which is also my favorite. Moore certainly gets a bad rap, though I can understand why many prefer Connery’s physicality. The first decade of Moore films are at least distinctive–Live and Let Die is completely different from The Man With the Golden Gun (which did the “personal vendetta” thing before Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace), as are both from The Spy Who Loved Me. Let’s also not forget For Your Eyes Only, which was seen as a welcome return to more action and less goofiness, and should be remembered more fondly.
For Your Eyes Only has to be my favourite Moore-era Bond; I mean, it’s got Carole Bouquet, and that tremendous chase scene with the 2CV, like something out of an 1980s Jackie Chan flick with crazy stuntwork down narrow streets and roads. Personally, I’ve found the Thunderball underwater work doesn’t really do it for me: it’s confusing and over-extended.
Lazarus, I really like For Your Eyes Only, which was the first Bond I saw in a theater (I was eight). Julian Glover is a wonderful villain, and Moore has good chemistry with Topol (the raid on the warehouse– with Topol tossing the pistachio shells to track the footsteps of the thugs– rivals the action scenes in From Russia With Love). I can’t say a lot for Man With The Golden Gun– although it’s been a good ten years or so since I’ve seen it, so it might be up for re-evalution– but The Spy Who Loved Me is a complete delight, easily Moore’s best and a wonderful blend of action and humor. I prefer Connery, but Moore has a place in my heart, too, for introducing me to the character (I should add that I also admire Moore for his extensive UNICEF work, and that he always came across as a very nice man in interviews).
I think Lazenby is, if anything, underrated, the final scene of “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” is arguably one of the best acted in the entire history of Bond. And the “Thunderball” underwater battle still knocks my socks off. But my favorite will always be “The Spy Who Loved Me”. Have any of guys seen Steve Coogan’s reenactment of the beginning of the film in the show “I’m Alan Partridge”? It’s worth checking out.
Here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srA862GJ2JI
This one’s better: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnVzwcM6wjI&feature=related
My favourite Bond film has always been The Living Daylights. The pre-credits Gibraltar chase, “the sniper was a woman”, Dalton’s reaction to his fellow agent being killed, an amazing score from John Barry, the fight between Bond and Necros hanging out the back of the plane. Dalton was magnificent, and it’s nice to see Brosnan’s terrible set of films being recognised as such and critical opinion of Dalton’s tenure being re-evaluated.
I’m with you Brian, For Your Eyes Only is terrific. Definitely Moore’s best Bond.
I’m liking Daniel Craig’s interpretation of Bond. I’ve always wanted the Bond films to be imbued with the characteristics that Ian Fleming gave him in the books. I was born in the early 70’s, and therefore Moonraker was my first Bond cinema visit, the Moore era is definitely too light-hearted with too many gags and gadgets for my liking. As a Scotsman I may be a little biased but for me big Tam Connery is unsurpassable in the role. As you’ll most likely know, Fleming displayed disgust when, as he called it, “a Glasgow truck-driver” was heralded as Bond, but after seeing him committed to celluloid, he completely reversed his opinion. In fact he even went as far as to describe Bond’s parentage as that of Scottish and French-Swiss parentage – Andrew Bond and Monique Delacroix (killed in a climbing accident)
The damage done for me is when Dahl’s overly fantastic script for You only live twice really becomes too unbelievable and as far removed from Fleming as is humanly possible.
Lazenby didn’t do a bad job for an untrained actor/model and had a similar script been presented to a willing Connery, OHMSS would have been the best film in the series.
I liked Dalton’s Bond, particularly Licence to Kill which moving with the times was seeking to emulate the success of tough nut action flicks such as Die Hard and Lethal Weapon (also scored by Michael Kamen)and was disappointed when the 6 year hiatus due to legal wrangles, saw Brosnan step into his shoes. The Brosnan era for me has been fairly woeful. Apart from David Arnold writing a similarly bland, unmemorable soundtrack for every film – can you tell them apart? – they’re badly written parodies of earlier, better movies. I recall being extremely disappointed after walking out of Goldeneye.
So it’s with great gusto that I embrace Daniel’s tenure as it’s back to basics stuff to emulate Bourne.
Eon productions formula is less formulaic than one might think. They’ve always had to adapt to move with the times. How else would a cold war product of the 50’s be alive and kicking in the Noughties?
A few things, after reading Mr Sharpe’s comment.
There was a lot of talk during Brosnan’s era that he was ‘the best Bond since Connery’, but looking back he and his movies were basically just a rerun of late-period Moore … without the entertainment. As far as I can tell, all four Brosnan movies may as well be A View To A Kill.
I can’t stand Eric Serra’s GoldenEye score. The whole thing sounds like a mobile phone ringing inside a dustbin while it rolls down a hill.
I equally can’t stand David Arnold’s score for The World Is Not Enough. The cue which sums Arnold up is the speedboat chase. What an incrdibly unexciting and glum piece of music. His score for Casino Royale was a massive improvement, though.
I, too, find it astonishing that a character that was massively popular in both print and cinema during the 1950s and 60s is STILL as popular today. Just incredible.
I know this is meant to be a discussion for Bond on Blu-ray, but as the superior audio is unveiled, I thought I’d expand on my disdain for David Arnold’s run as composer of the soundtrack for the Bond films. I was disappointed but not surprised at his reappoinmtent for QOS in all honesty. I think he made a reasonable attempt at Tomorrow Never Dies and Casino Royale but I don’t rate any of the others he’s done. He doesn’t have an ear for a good musical hook.
Monty Norman’s score for the first film, Dr No is good, it’s legend assured thanks to his writing of the James Bond theme itself. (The soundtrack album is disappointing as it omits the great incidental music of the film, instead replacing these with calypso/jazz music that doesn’t even feature in the film.)
In 1963, John Barry – in my opinion the greatest Modern Composer of our time – takes over and starts weaving his magic. Just imagine if you will the opening credits to From Russia with Love blending into the Bond theme and the music known as ‘007’ which features in 5 films – the fight at the Gypsy camp (FRWL), the underwater sequence in Thunderball, Little Nellie construction in You Only Live Twice, Oil rig scene in Diamonds are Forever and the Speedboat chase before the waterfall in Moonraker. Goldfinger – think of the tension that he cranks up in the laser beam sequence or the chilling ‘golden girl’ music as Oddjob becomes part-time painter and decorator. Not to mention the theme song itself. Then there’s capsule in Space music from You Only Live Twice and so on and so forth.
The point I’m making is this. A soundtrack can often enhance a film’s reputation and elevate it further than it may have gone. Take Star Wars for instance or the haunting Morricone themes for the Spaghetti Westerns or Bernard Herrman’s score for Psycho (consider the tension he builds in the scene where Janet Leigh drives away with the stolen money – she’s only driving a car with a worried expression. The music elevates the intensity.
David Arnold provides mediocrity. Granted he’s obviously a talented musician and his sound is of the age but his efforts even fall short of the superior scores for Live and Let Die, The Spy Who Loved Me, For Your Eyes Only and Licence To Kill, delivered admirably by Beatles producer George Martin, Marvin Hamlisch, Rocky Scorer – Bill Conti and Michael Kamen respectively. Apart from the last one mentioned, they all stepped in when Barry was unavailable.
I’d like to see someone else write the score for the next film and try and recapture the verve of the earlier years please if anyone’s listening.…nope, didn’t think so!
If anyone is interested in a recommendation – Capitol reissued some of the Barry soundtracks in 2003, remastered with almost double the number of extra tracks that were left out due to the limitations in length of an LP (from which the first CD’s released were drawn from)
The best is undoubtedly OHMSS which I implore you to get your hands on. I’m not on commission or anything equally sinister – just passionate about Barry’s work for the series and in general. You can get it for £4.99 inc delivery at play.com.
Here endeth the rant – apart from saying – ‘Eric Serra stick to Sci-Fi, mon amis. You occupy the bottom rung below Arnold who I think compared your score to ‘a shopping trolley being dropped down a lift shaft’
I agree Owain. As a big Dalton fan I was extremely disillusioned to be the ‘odd one out’ re: critical appraisal of the Brosnan films. So its nice to be vindicated 13 years on, with Dalton’s tenure gaining critical acceptance and the Brosnan films being recognised as the lazy tat they were.
Nice posts David. I have a few of the Barry Capitol CDs, my favourite probably being The Living Daylights, the last truly great Bond score IMO. Standout tracks for me: The Sniper Was A Woman, Kara Meets Bond, Koskov Escapes, Mujahadin and Opium and Air Bond. Thrilling stuff.
David, I agree that Tomorrow Never Dies was a strong score, but that’s mostly because he put the classy Barry sound back in to a series that needed it badly.
And that’s the thing about Arnold. He’s a great arranger, but not much of a composer. His brassy arrangement of the Bond theme throughout Tomorrow Never Dies was excellent, and his arrangement of All Time High (minus the appalling Jarvis Cocker vocals, of course) actually improved on Barry’s. It’s those trumpet stabs and strings, man.
But to be honest, I can’t think of anyone who could do a better job right now. That Michael Giacchino fella who did The Incredibles and those JJ Abrams movies is a name which comes up often, but has he ever written a memorable melody?
Those remastered Capitol soundtrack CDs are excellent, BUT … steer well clear of A View To A Kill. For some reason, this score was given a TERRIBLE, tinny remaster. I got rid of my original Japanese edition for the remaster, but after hearing the new version I had to buy the Japanese one again. It’s far superior to the Capitol CD.
Honestly, I could talk about James Bond all day long.