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

[HappyGuy1984]

I’m tempted to watch the German version of The NeverEnding Story after watching a comparison video of the German/International version.

Ideally though, I would love WB or a studio like Arrow to release a great Anniversary version 4K that has both versions of the film with all the old extras and some new ones. Throw in a nice thick book to read too!

[DisneyDreamer2023]

I have a terrible feeling the mono soundtracks on the old Bond movies if they come out on 4K will be scrapped. The 5.1 mixes on the UK Blu-rays are terrible.

I picked up Snow White on 4K and Disney removed the mono which was on the Blu and apparently the upcoming Terminator 4K has no mono either.

Studios just find mono too old fashioned I guess and are too lazy/cheap with their releases.

[DisneyDreamer2023]

Originally Posted by d3nt0n

It's really not worth importing for how bad the original audio is on the BDs. You'll be much better off just searching around for the laserdisc mixes.

Ahh that’s disappointing then.. I won’t bother importing then.

[drush9999]

Originally Posted by yourmomcalled

The NeverEnding Story without Giorgio Moroder’s music? Very no thanks.

I've only ever watched the German cut once in my life and just feels duller, the standard international cut with more Limahl and Moroder is my go to for life.

[chewbabka]

I’m looking forward to a replacement program when Warner/MGM uses downmixes of the revisionist 5.1 mixes instead of original mono tracks for a random assortment of films in the 4K boxset.

[DanTheMan]

George Lazenby has announced his retirement from acting and public appearances:

This hasn’t been an easy decision but it’s time to announce my retirement from work. Therefore, I won’t be doing any more acting or making public appearances, doing any more interviews or signing any more autographs as of today. It’s been a fun ride but getting older is no fun. I would like to thank my manager and friend, Anders Frejdh, for helping me since 2013 - the best representative I ever had. I can now concentrate on spending more time with my family. My sincere gratitude to everyone out there for your love and support over the years. It has meant a lot to me. George xx

[ShortFuse98]

It's a shame Lazenby didn't get another shot as Bond, or ideally multiple. I prefer him to Moore.

[yourmomcalled]

Originally Posted by ShortFuse98

It's a shame Lazenby didn't get another shot as Bond, or ideally multiple. I prefer him to Moore.

Didn’t he turn down a multi-film contract to stay on as Bond?

[Markgway]

Originally Posted by yourmomcalled

Didn’t he turn down a multi-film contract to stay on as Bond?

Yes, the muppet.

[ShortFuse98]

Originally Posted by yourmomcalled

Didn’t he turn down a multi-film contract to stay on as Bond?

Yeah, supposedly because his manager told him the Bond films weren't cool anymore. Worst advice ever.

[chewbabka]

https://thedigitalbits.com/columns/m...ts/080724-1430

Bond 6-Film Collection (Sean Connery)

Obviously not a confirmation, but makes me think per-actor sets are more likely to come first than an all-film box. Makes some sense, considering the amount of work and likely MSRP of a complete set. Also makes me consider picking up the Craig set on sale from Gruv, rather than holding out for a complete collection.

When bond came to Blu and DVD, did the complete sets come after individual or smaller actor sets, or concurrently?

[chriszilla]

Originally Posted by chewbabka

https://thedigitalbits.com/columns/m...ts/080724-1430



Obviously not a confirmation, but makes me think per-actor sets are more likely to come first than an all-film box. Makes some sense, considering the amount of work and likely MSRP of a complete set. Also makes me consider picking up the Craig set on sale from Gruv, rather than holding out for a complete collection.

When bond came to Blu and DVD, did the complete sets come after individual or smaller actor sets, or concurrently?

Initial Bond DVDs and Blu-rays were simply individual movies. Complete sets came a little later. Actor-specific sets didn't come until well after the complete sets.

[mulscul]

Originally Posted by chewbabka

https://thedigitalbits.com/columns/m...ts/080724-1430



Obviously not a confirmation, but makes me think per-actor sets are more likely to come first than an all-film box. Makes some sense, considering the amount of work and likely MSRP of a complete set. Also makes me consider picking up the Craig set on sale from Gruv, rather than holding out for a complete collection.

When bond came to Blu and DVD, did the complete sets come after individual or smaller actor sets, or concurrently?

they did random bunches of dvds both in 1999 and 2006 for the bond movies that were released those years

the 1999 one
https://www.blu-ray.com/dvd/The-Jame...e-1-DVD/29285/

then the 2006 ones that were a 4 volume set released 2 at a time I believe, and all movies were 2 disc sets in these ultimate collections, still have my 1999 individual copies and these since the boxes were nice and each movie had booklets


https://www.blu-ray.com/dvd/James-Bo...me-1-DVD/4008/

https://www.blu-ray.com/dvd/James-Bo...me-2-DVD/8380/

[chewbabka]

Originally Posted by mulscul

they did random bunches of dvds both in 1999 and 2006 for the bond movies that were released those years

the 1999 one
https://www.blu-ray.com/dvd/The-Jame...e-1-DVD/29285/

then the 2006 ones that were a 4 volume set released 2 at a time I believe, and all movies were 2 disc sets in these ultimate collections, still have my 1999 individual copies and these since the boxes were nice and each movie had booklets


https://www.blu-ray.com/dvd/James-Bo...me-1-DVD/4008/

https://www.blu-ray.com/dvd/James-Bo...me-2-DVD/8380/

My dad still has those “random” DVD sets. I remember he brought one home because I wanted to watch James Bond (my school friends were telling me how cool he was). Dad says we’ll start with these and see if you like them. We had the whole collection within two weeks

[Bond84]

I sold my old SE dvds a looooong time ago so I can’t recall… were their original audio tracks as bad as on the blurays?

[SpazeBlue]

Originally Posted by Bond84

I sold my old SE dvds a looooong time ago so I can’t recall… were their original audio tracks as bad as on the blurays?

They were better.

Dr. No:

2000 R1 MGM DVD - Special Edition: ...light-to-moderate global hiss reduction and some crackle removal, all topped with a treble boost. It manages to sound better than the blu-ray mono track usually...

2008 MGM Blu-ray - US: A new mastering. I suppose one small positive is that loud moments are not decrackled to the point of losing their power, but this track still has more noise reduction than any previous release - so much so that ambient sound is obliterated from dialogue-heavy scenes. It generally sounds worse than any release post-1983. The first segment of the film has a very strong treble boost that abruptly vanishes at 18:24.

From Russia with Love:

2000 R1 MGM DVD - Special Edition: ...doctored with hiss reduction...

2008 MGM Blu-ray: The level of noise reduction on the mono is comical (the most of any edition), and its bass is way overemphasised.

Goldfinger:

2000 MGM Special Edition DVD: [Significant] noise reduction...

2009 MGM Blu-ray: [Further] noise reduction... There's a compensatory treble boost as well that makes everything sound harsh. Not the worst sounding mono track among the MGM Connery blu-rays, but nothing worth praising either.

You Only Live Twice:

2000 R1 MGM DVD - Special Edition: Superb. The best sounding Bond track of the first five films I've heard yet...

2012 MGM Blu-ray: Like the SE DVD but with some additional distortion above 12 kHz... There's a segment from 01:06:03 to 01:06:13 that has further noise reduction, but everything else sounds the same - which makes this the best of the mono Bond blu-ray tracks I've heard to date.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service:

2000 R1 MGM DVD - Special Edition: Strong global noise reduction... It's missing excerpts, including at 1:48:23 (blu-ray timecode) the line, "I told you that crowd would discourage them" and at 2:01:33, "His brotherhood also have exotic ways to keep it a closed shop".

2012 MGM Blu-ray: The mastering work on the mono track varies sectionally: everything until 19:44 has moderate hiss and bass removal and harsh EQ, 19:44 to 54:50 sounds much worse... 54:50 to 1:12:03 again sounds like the first section, 1:12:03 to 1:32:44 sounds poor again, and the last section varies from moment to moment.

Diamonds Are Forever:

2000 MGM DVD - Special Edition: Very detailed and quite natural-sounding...

2012 MGM Blu-ray: Slightly different EQ... I think it fares quite well (certainly much better than the previous film's BD mono track)... A ~3-minute segment about an hour in is much louder than the rest of the film.

Live and Let Die:

1999 R1 MGM SE DVD: Significant noise reduction...

2008 MGM BD: Like the SE DVD but with further bass attenuation.

[Kinard717]

So I don't have a 4k setup. It'll be awhile. My question is what are the best possible transfers currently in 1080p to get if you only have BD playback capability? Should I go for a box-set or just get each film individually? I'm new to this franchise and would like to own the best possible versions of each film minus 4k.

[iap738]

Originally Posted by Kinard717

So I don't have a 4k setup. It'll be awhile. My question is what are the best possible transfers currently in 1080p to get if you only have BD playback capability? Should I go for a box-set or just get each film individually? I'm new to this franchise and would like to own the best possible versions of each film minus 4k.

Go with whatever fits your budget. The discs are the same across all Blu-ray versions.

[zepol]

Originally Posted by Kinard717

So I don't have a 4k setup. It'll be awhile. My question is what are the best possible transfers currently in 1080p to get if you only have BD playback capability? Should I go for a box-set or just get each film individually? I'm new to this franchise and would like to own the best possible versions of each film minus 4k.

I just sold my JAMES BOND bluray collection because 4k of Sean Connery are coming out next year. That 24 disc collection is good transfers and you can find it cheap new & used between $40 & $50.

BIG 4K UltraHD Blu Ray Movie Announcements, Reveals & Studio Insider Info! Collector’s Film Chat #49 - YouTube

[Kinard717]

Originally Posted by zepol

I just sold my JAMES BOND bluray collection because 4k of Sean Connery are coming out next year. That 24 disc collection is good transfers and you can find it cheap new & used between $40 & $50.
BIG 4K UltraHD Blu Ray Movie Announcements, Reveals & Studio Insider Info! Collector’s Film Chat #49 - YouTube

Good to know. Unfortunately I don't have a 4k setup yet so I'll have to settle for the current BDs. I hope they do remaster the 1080p discs for these new 4k releases though.