James Bond: The Ultimate Collection (1962-2012) + Volume Collections

[Dreamliner330]

Oh man. Thunderball was horrible. Hokey acting, bad dialog, forgettable Bond girl and dumb villain. It also felt a good 30 minutes too long. Dragged on forever.

Dr No was okay (The Jamaican music made the movie feel really old) but good otherwise. From Russia With Love was better, Goldfinger was better still (even if the score was overused). Thunderball was just felt like an enormous step down and makes me even more nervous going forward. (I've only seen Brosnan and Craig before).

[Nada]

Originally Posted by Dreamliner330

Oh man. Thunderball was horrible. Hokey acting, bad dialog, forgettable Bond girl and dumb villain. It also felt a good 30 minutes too long. Dragged on forever.

Dr No was okay (The Jamaican music made the movie feel really old) but good otherwise. From Russia With Love was better, Goldfinger was better still (even if the score was overused). Thunderball was just felt like an enormous step down and makes me even more nervous going forward. (I've only seen Brosnan and Craig before).

I'll give you that Thunderball is too long and the underwater action drags, but the rest of the movie is aces. And in a way, the slower pace kind of compliments the film and makes it feel more epic than the previous films. It just feels sophisticated and brash and colorful. So much more the Goldfinger. Terence Young really knew how to make these movies lavish and extravagant without losing the plot. Whereas I think Hamilton was kind of a bore of a director.

[thelwig14]

Originally Posted by Dreamliner330

Oh man. Thunderball was horrible. Hokey acting, bad dialog, forgettable Bond girl and dumb villain. It also felt a good 30 minutes too long. Dragged on forever.

Dr No was okay (The Jamaican music made the movie feel really old) but good otherwise. From Russia With Love was better, Goldfinger was better still (even if the score was overused). Thunderball was just felt like an enormous step down and makes me even more nervous going forward. (I've only seen Brosnan and Craig before).

Without an emotional or nostalgic attachment, most of the older bonds are tough to watch. Most of them would be much better if trimmed by 30 minutes.

[teenagecaveman]

Can anyone tell me which subtitle languages there are on the UK Blu-Ray? And are they the same for each disc? Specifically Dutch and Portuguese subtitles.

[BNex99]

Originally Posted by Dreamliner330

Oh man. Thunderball was horrible. Hokey acting, bad dialog, forgettable Bond girl and dumb villain. It also felt a good 30 minutes too long. Dragged on forever.

Dr No was okay (The Jamaican music made the movie feel really old) but good otherwise. From Russia With Love was better, Goldfinger was better still (even if the score was overused). Thunderball was just felt like an enormous step down and makes me even more nervous going forward. (I've only seen Brosnan and Craig before).

I was actually never a huge fan of Thunderball myself. When I rewatched the whole series a couple of years ago, I felt that the earlier Connery flims ironically held up better than the later ones. It could be because they focused more on espionage, while the later ones more on action, and unfortunately, late-60s action is just pretty dated any way you look at it.

The 70s films get pretty silly, but most of them are still fun, although I think Diamonds Are Forever is actually worse than anything Moore ever did.

[Dreamliner330]

Originally Posted by thelwig14

Without an emotional or nostalgic attachment, most of the older bonds are tough to watch. Most of them would be much better if trimmed by 30 minutes.

That is what concerns me about watching a lot of old films, personally.

Originally Posted by BNex99

I felt that the earlier Connery flims ironically held up better than the later ones. It could be because they focused more on espionage, while the later ones more on action, and unfortunately, late-60s action is just pretty dated any way you look at it.

I think you hit the nail on the head there, the action movie element fell pretty flat with me.


I bought all of the individual collection sets that just came out on Blu-ray and I'm watching through the entire series for the very first time.

My initial intent was just buy the Brosnan and Craig collections but felt I owed it to myself to at least see them all.

Now it kind of hurts to think that I'm going to break up the sets and not keep them all but it really doesn't make sense to keep something I'll never watch again and I will never watch Thunderball again. (And I'm sure the inevitable 4K set will be coming.)

Never Say Never Again, am I right?

(Now I'm really curious to see that remake.)

[Markgway]

Thunderball >>> Skyfall

[JamesBenjamin]

So I splurged and bought most of the new actor collection sets, but I have a question for you guys.

The Dalton collection and Lazenby "collection" listed on Amazon don't have HD copies included:

http://www.amazon.com/007-Timothy-Da...rds=007+dalton

http://www.amazon.com/George-Lazenby...0_SR127%2C160_

Is that right, they *DON'T* have the digital HD copies?

Also, does the artwork at least line up with the collections that were just released (meaning, the white slip cover). I picked up all of them except those two and the Moore vol 2 (my Target was sold out, Amazon is too high so I've got a price alert set for now), so I might watch for these versions to get cheap just to have a matching set... But if the cover's don't match anyway I'll just pick up those three flicks individually down the line.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by teenagecaveman

Can anyone tell me which subtitle languages there are on the UK Blu-Ray? And are they the same for each disc? Specifically Dutch and Portuguese subtitles.

They're not the same, movies highlighted in red have both, and I've bolded the ones with only Dutch or Portuguese subtitles.

Dr. No
English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish

From Russia with Love
English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Mandarin (Simplified), Norwegian, Swedish

Goldfinger
English SDH, French, German, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish

Thunderball
English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish

You Only Live Twice
English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish

On Her Majesty's Secret Service
English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish

Diamonds Are Forever
English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish

Live and Let Die
English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish

The Man with the Golden Gun
English SDH, French, German, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish

The Spy Who Loved Me
English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish

Moonraker
English SDH, French, German, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish

For Your Eyes Only
English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish

Octopussy
English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish

A View to a Kill
English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish

The Living Daylights
English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish

Licence to Kill
English SDH, French, German, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish

GoldenEye
English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish

Tomorrow Never Dies
English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish

The World is Not Enough
English SDH, French, German, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish

Die Another Day
English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish

Casino Royale
English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Italian, Norwegian, Swedish

Quantum of Solace
English SDH, Spanish, German, Danish, Finnish, Italian, Norwegian, Swedish

Skyfall
English SDH, Spanish, Danish, Estonian, Finnish, Icelandic, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Mandarin (Simplified), Norwegian, Russian, Swedish

[JamesBenjamin]

And... I just did a little more digging and it appears as though Best Buy has single versions of those three movies (the Lazenby and Dalton ones) with HD codes but in different packaging. So I might just pick those up and have a mis-matched set. Are they worth owning? I only know the older Connery ones and from Brosnan forward

[chip75]

Originally Posted by JamesBenjamin

And... I just did a little more digging and it appears as though Best Buy has single versions of those three movies (the Lazenby and Dalton ones) with HD codes but in different packaging. So I might just pick those up and have a mis-matched set. Are they worth owning? I only know the older Connery ones and from Brosnan forward

They're all decent movies, Dalton's two are still two of my favourites and Lazenby's is very faithful to the novel.

[teenagecaveman]

Originally Posted by chip75

They're not the same, movies highlighted in red have both, and I've bolded the ones with only Dutch or Portuguese subtitles.

Thank you so much!

[Dreamliner330]

Man...the Connery Bonds really went in the dumper after Goldfinger.

I didn't like Thunderball at all because it felt boated, had hammy dialogue and dragged badly.

I liked You Only Live Twice better but it was still lame and Japanese Connery totally looked like Spock.


Diamonds Are Forever had a decent plot, but man, it's like making the film was simply a chore for everyone involved.

How can a crew make something as good as Goldfinger and go in the dumper so quickly?

I'm scared for Moore. Next is Lazenby though, I wanted to finish Connery first.

I like having the full set, but it's pointless if I'll never watch it again. Especially with the eventual 4K set...

[shaysaysHAHA]

The black set is back up on Amazon!

[BNex99]

Originally Posted by Dreamliner330

Man...the Connery Bonds really went in the dumper after Goldfinger.

I didn't like Thunderball at all because it felt boated, had hammy dialogue and dragged badly.

I liked You Only Live Twice better but it was still lame and Japanese Connery totally looked like Spock.


Diamonds Are Forever had a decent plot, but man, it's like making the film was simply a chore for everyone involved.

How can a crew make something as good as Goldfinger and go in the dumper so quickly?

I'm scared for Moore. Next is Lazenby though, I wanted to finish Connery first.

I like having the full set, but it's pointless if I'll never watch it again. Especially with the eventual 4K set...

Obviously, you can go in whatever order you want, but you know OHMSS came before Diamonds Are Forever, right?

[imsounoriginal]

Originally Posted by Dreamliner330

Oh man. Thunderball was horrible. Hokey acting, bad dialog, forgettable Bond girl and dumb villain. It also felt a good 30 minutes too long. Dragged on forever.

Dr No was okay (The Jamaican music made the movie feel really old) but good otherwise. From Russia With Love was better, Goldfinger was better still (even if the score was overused). Thunderball was just felt like an enormous step down and makes me even more nervous going forward. (I've only seen Brosnan and Craig before).

If Thunderball's first act didn't drag and the action scenes didn't go on forever, it might be the best Bond.

[Dreamliner330]

Originally Posted by BNex99

Obviously, you can go in whatever order you want, but you know OHMSS came before Diamonds Are Forever, right?

I know, but the series sets are by actor.

Originally Posted by imsounoriginal

If Thunderball's first act didn't drag and the action scenes didn't go on forever, it might be the best Bond.

Perhaps. I really wish it had a tighter edit.

I tend not to always go with the flow (Example, I despised Birdman last year, I had the misfortune of listening to critics and having to suffer through it in theater...at the expense of missing out on Nightcrawler! I also think Interstellar is the greatest film ever made. I cried in different spots each one of the 4 times I saw it in 70mm IMAX and once in Digital IMAX, no lie). I will say though, in a lot of ways, Goldfinger really stands out so far, so I tend to agree with many people in regards to the reverence of Goldfinger.

Quick side note, was it super super common to redub everone back in the 60's? So many of the actors in Bond had their dialog redubbed to someone else...lol.

But honestly, even though I grew up with Brosnan, nothing holds a candle to Craig. I do think that if Brosnan did Casino Royale, it would have turned out just as well. It had the same director as GoldenEye and I really do like Brosnan. I was really disappointed in November Man. I was hoping for a 007-esk film/series again with Brosnan.

I couldn't stop thinking of bits from Austin Powers while watching these. I'll definitely have to pick up the Austin Powers trilogy once I've finish all these Bonds.

I'm doing about 2 bond films per day. With the bonus features (even playing at 1.5x) it's taking quite a bit of time to get through each disc.

[MattO]

Originally Posted by Dreamliner330

I'm scared for Moore. Next is Lazenby though, I wanted to finish Connery first.

I like having the full set, but it's pointless if I'll never watch it again. Especially with the eventual 4K set...

I think I've seen all of the Bond films at some point, but it's probably been 20 years for most. I bought them all in the last week and I'm working my way through the Connery films, too. I'm half way through Goldfinger and it's probably my favorite so far, as well. I've watched a lot of films from the 60s and I'm fine with many of the conventions they use, but I think a lot of these films don't hold up so well. I'll be okay not watching them for another several years. I'll probably sell the Blu-rays and keep the digital copies around.

One thing that they seem to be taking a while to calibrate is the use of the music. It felt a little random in From Russia with Love. You get the full on orchestral theme while watching Connery walking around looking for bugs in his hotel room. It's a little weird.

It is cool to see a young-looking Q, though. It's pretty remarkable how long he stuck with the series.

Don't be afraid of Roger Moore. I might be biased because those are some of the first Bond films I ever saw, but those are some good ones. When I get to those, I guess we'll see if they're as enjoyable as I remember.

[Dreamliner330]

Originally Posted by MattO

I think I've seen all of the Bond films at some point, but it's probably been 20 years for most. I bought them all in the last week and I'm working my way through the Connery films, too. I'm half way through Goldfinger and it's probably my favorite so far, as well. I've watched a lot of films from the 60s and I'm fine with many of the conventions they use, but I think a lot of these films don't hold up so well. I'll be okay not watching them for another several years. I'll probably sell the Blu-rays and keep the digital copies around.



One thing that they seem to be taking a while to calibrate is the use of the music. It felt a little random in From Russia with Love. You get the full on orchestral theme while watching Connery walking around looking for bugs in his hotel room. It's a little weird.



It is cool to see a young-looking Q, though. It's pretty remarkable how long he stuck with the series.



Don't be afraid of Roger Moore. I might be biased because those are some of the first Bond films I ever saw, but those are some good ones. When I get to those, I guess we'll see if they're as enjoyable as I remember.

I have trouble with a lot of cheese. Old movies tend to be really full of it and the acting just seems generally bad. I know technology was limited, but a lot of the time when I watch an old movie I feel like I'm watching people 'act'. That hasn't really been an issue with these Bond films so far, mostly.

Dude, the music is totally wack. The 007 theme walking around the hotel had my laughing. Also the music beats that add emphasis/"sound effects" to actions. Like Connery smashing the spider with his shoe in Dr No and full on orchestra beats for each shoe hit.

I kinda look forward to watching Q get old. Before a few days ago I've only seen him in the Brosnan films. I love how he always plays pissy and tired of Bond's crap. It's excellent.

As I mentioned earlier I have a hard time with cheese. If Diamonds Are Forever is any indication, I'm going to have a rough few days.

Connery for me:

Goldfinger
From Russia With Love
Dr No
You Only Live Twice
Thunderball
Diamonds Are Forever

Thunderball would be higher if the edit was tighter, but I have no interest in seeing the...theatrical...edit again.

As it stands, I think I'll keep Connery Vol 1 and sell Vol 2....if anyone is looking.

[Nada]

Originally Posted by Dreamliner330

But honestly, even though I grew up with Brosnan, nothing holds a candle to Craig.

There it is. I don't think you like James Bond. Craig's movies, aside from Casino Royale, are mostly for people that think they're above a Bond movie, that a Bond movie shouldn't be campy or colorful or fun. I think that's the kind of viewer you are.

Originally Posted by Dreamliner330

Dude, the music is totally wack. The 007 theme walking around the hotel had my laughing. Also the music beats that add emphasis/"sound effects" to actions. Like Connery smashing the spider with his shoe in Dr No and full on orchestra beats for each shoe hit.