James Bond Blu-ray Wave One: Dr. No/From Russia With Love/Thunderball/Live & Let Die/For Your
Eyes Only/Die Another Day
(MGM/Fox/United Artists)
Picture/Sound/Extras/Film:
Dr. No (1962) B+/B/B/B
From Russia With Love (1963) B/B/B/B
Thunderball (1965) B/B/B+/B
Live & Let Die (1973) B/B/B/B
For Your Eyes Only (1981) B+/B/B+/B+
Die Another Day (2002) B/B+/C+/D
We have
previously covered all of the Bond Film restoration DVD sets and here are the
links to our previous coverage of these titles now on Blu-ray we are covering
in this review, including advanced technical information, origins on the films,
their stories and other details:
Dr. No
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4709/James+Bond+Ultimate+Edition
From Russia With Love/Live & Let Die/For Your
Eyes Only
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4708/James+Bond+Ultimate+Edition
Thunderball/Die Another Day
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5056/James+Bond+Ultimate+Edition
All the
extras are the same on these Blu-rays as those DVD sets and that is very
extensive. All are on a single Blu-ray
disc, have AVC high definition transfers, have similar art & menus and all
are superior to their DVD counterparts.
For
starters, this is an interesting selection to start with, with only half of the
films being in the scope aspect ration, while the others are flat. You also get the Sean Connery and Roger Moore
debuts, as well as the first five being some of the most imitated films of
their kind ever made. They looked good
on DVD, but as compared to what Blu-ray can deliver, the upgrades were looking
a little limited despite the great improvement in 99% of the cases the new DTS
DVD sets offered. So now, we look at how
much more improved the Blu-ray versions really are.
We will
list the title, aspect ratio, bitrate of the picture and then explain and relay
what we experienced:
Dr. No (1.66 X 1/AVC @ 29 MBPS) - Some
shots on the DVD looked too dark, no matter how we readjusted the image (on our
well-calibrated equipment) and also wanted the color to be a bit more vibrant;
something Blu-ray could deliver. Was it
a limit of the DVD format? Yes. It turns out the darkness was not an issue
here and the color actually improved, all to the point that this is one of the
two best looking Blus in the whole wave.
Though grain can be an issue since this is a
camera-negative-to-4K-digital transfer, color and definition are truly the best
the film has looked in a very long time and despite some minor motion blur, the
image had many film-like demonstration quality moments. However, the color would have been even
better and grain less prominent had this been a three-strip dye-transfer
Technicolor print from these materials, so this (like the recent upgrades of
the first two Godfather films) will
have to be close calls in the image quality department, though like those
Coppola classics very close at times.
This is
the first and oldest of the Bond films, released at a time when so few older
films have been issued in the 2+ year history of Blu-ray, the fact that it looks
better than so many new films and as good as most of the best back catalog
titles should give you an idea of how good this looks. Only a few large-frame format films look
better (Sleeping Beauty for
instance) and is proof that classic films can look great.
As for
the sound, the DTS 5.1 mix has been upgraded here for DTS HD MA (Master Audio
lossless) and the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix dropped altogether. The results are equal to the DVD, with a tad
more clarity from a fine remix to begin with, though the original monophonic
sound is here for purists.
From Russia With Love (1.66 X 1/AVC @ 26.5 MBPS) - The
color was underwhelming on even the restored DVD, so we were hoping this
problem was fixed for Blu-ray and some of the obvious rear projection was also
fixed so it would not look more shot and old than it needed to. The color is better, the rear projection the
same, but a bit less problematic, but there is a new problem here with Video
Black that was not as prominent on the DVD that the DVD’s lack of definition
minimalized. This starts with the
pre-title and continues in spots throughout the film. Though better than the Blu-ray, it is by a
slimmer margin as color improvements, clarity and definition win out, but it is
sadly not as good as Dr. No. Again, too bad this does not look more like a
three-strip dye-transfer Technicolor print.
As for
the sound, the DTS 5.1 mix has been upgraded here for DTS HD MA (Master Audio
lossless) and the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix dropped altogether. The results are slight improvements in
playback, but instead of getting the stereophonic tracks to the film and
reintroducing them with more clarity, the mixers solution is to slightly pump
up the bass. That does not work, but the
original monophonic sound is here for purists, who will get mixed results when
comparing the John Barry score with the recently remastered CD soundtrack.
Thunderball (2.35 X 1/AVC @ 23 MBPS) - The biggest problem with the previous upgrade
is that the restoration persons forgot to restore the (literally) “Technicolor
Blue” look of the underwater sequences, rendering the opening gun barrel piece
pale and underwater sequences “water tank” exciting. Well, they still look grey when they should
look blue, but the color, definition and overall picture are better throughout,
except for the same Video Black problem on From
Russia With Love that was not as prominent on the DVD that the DVD’s lack
of definition minimalized. This too was
a film originally issued in three-strip dye-transfer Technicolor prints, which
sometimes shows in some scenes from previous restoration work, but it is too
uneven in the Video Black, plus transition scenes look sloppier as it is more
obvious here with improved definition that the negative could use more work and
too much of the material is either second generation or may only survive as
such.
In one
odd change, the title sequence has been windowboxed, which actually diminished
its impact versus the DVD, then the shot of Largo (Adolfo Celi) parking his car
in the wrong space looks bad, only to clear up dramatically when he arrives
near the entrance of what turns out to be a SPECTRE front hiding their
headquarters. It is the epitome of the
problem I speak of.
As for
the sound, the DTS 5.1 mix has been upgraded here for DTS HD MA (Master Audio
lossless) and the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix dropped altogether. The results are slight improvements in
playback, going back to the Dolby Pro Logic upgrade for the old 12” LaserDisc
box set, making this sound like no other soundtrack we will get on these
Blu-rays. Dialogue can sound good, then
compressed, while other times sound directional. At least the correct music is still in place
from the old box set.
Live & Let Die (1.85 X 1/AVC @ 29 MBPS) - This
one was softer than I would have liked it for DVD, so we had hoped the Blu-ray
would bring out how exceptionally good this film looks and though some color,
textures, definition and depth have improved, the new clarity also brings new
issues and problems that almost sabotage this overall. It does look better than the DVD, but now you
can see how color is often mismatched throughout the film, this time being the
Rank Color process. However, the DVD’s
lack of definition was masking color mismatching issues.
INCLUDES
SPOLIER: In the scene when Bond goes to
a Filet-O-Soul bar in Harlem, New York, the Video Red is not 100% correct for
the whole scene, until it ends with the booth spinning 180-degrees and the red
is correct and film like only in the final seconds; that is not an isolated
case and Video Black is not accurate in more than a few spaces. With a multi-racial cast, this is more
prominent. However, there are still too
many good shots, but this needs some serious color timing work and makes us
wonder the condition of the negative footage.
As for
the sound, the DTS 5.1 mix has been upgraded here for DTS HD MA (Master Audio
lossless) and the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix dropped altogether. The results are slight improvements in
playback, but instead of getting the stereophonic tracks to the film and reintroducing
them with more clarity, the mixers solution is to slightly pump up the bass
somewhat. That does not work, but the
original monophonic sound is here for purists, who will get mixed results when
comparing the George Martin score and the classic Paul McCartney & Wings
theme song with the recently remastered CD soundtrack. Unlike the restored DVD, this actually
includes the original monophonic sound.
For Your Eyes Only (2.35 X 1/AVC @ 26 MBPS) - One of
the last great-looking all around Bonds before they tried new looks and started
trying for grittiness, this was one of the best on DVD and we hoped it would be
one of the best for Blu-ray. Despite
some minor blur troubles, this is only equaled by From Russia With Love as the best of this first 007 Blu-wave. Color is impressive, depth better than before
and detail surprising often. Alan Hume
did some amazing work here and this does a decent job of showing it. One of my favorite Bonds, it has a look like
no other and offers many demo-quality moments despite its limits. It could look a little better, but will
impress anyone who likes this film unless they are grain-cleansing, HD
obsessees.
As for
the sound, the DTS 5.1 mix has been upgraded here for DTS HD MA (Master Audio
lossless) and the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix dropped altogether. The results are equal to the DVD, with a tad
more clarity and distortion from a mix plagued with some troubles from the
original Dolby A-type analog noise reduction the film arrived with in theaters
in its 35mm 1981 run to begin with. The Bill Conti score sounds good here, but
sounds so much better on CD since the Rykodisc upgrade (reissued by Capitol as
part of those remasters) and those masters should have been reintroduced in
this Blu’s mix as it still needs some more work. Otherwise, the actual sound mix from the
original film has not been tampered with, unlike some other Lowry upgrades.
Die Another Day (2.35 X 1/AVC @ 22 MBPS) - Still
one of the least-memorable looking and worst of all the films in the series and
in the action/spy genre, one of two poorest Bond films ever made and loaded
with more bad jokes than Moonraker could
ever hope to; this upgrade is barley better than the restored DVD and between
the image degrading, the grain and Video Black is the worst of the six films
here! Add the awful-on-arrival digital
effects that were awful in 2002 and a disaster now (save the title sequence)
make this an embarrassment nothing could save.
Even the ice palace still looks bad versus the better stills we have seen
of it. This was a Dolby EX/DTS ES
theatrical sound release and the DTS 5.1 mix has been upgraded here for DTS HD
MA (Master Audio lossless), with the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix dropped
altogether. Too bad the mix is gimmicky,
lame, lacks character, has a flat David Arnold score (but what could he do) and
is not exactly a demo mix. That the
sound is barely better than the rest of the films here says something and you
can see why the series went on hiatus for a few years.
For more
on Bond, try this link to all 21 films on DVD from the Casino Royale remake to the original 20 films in the series as
featured in all four of the first DTS DVD remastered box sets, in one giant set,
at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5930/James+Bond+–+Ultimate+Collector
- Nicholas Sheffo
