James Bond Blu-ray Wave Two/Volume Three: Goldfinger/Moonraker/The World Is Not Enough (MGM/Fox/United
Artists)
NOTE: This review is dedicated to the
now-defunct Perfect Vision Magazine, where my debate about the Goldfinger print and transfer
started. The owners of Absolute Sound
have folded it for the second and final time.
It was a fine publication and it will be missed.
Picture/Sound/Extras/Film:
Goldfinger (1964) B/B-/B+/B+
Moonraker (1979) B/B/B/B
The World Is Not Enough (1999) B-/B-/B-/D
To my
surprise, though these play better than the DVD versions in many shots, the
higher definition images also reveal new issues and problems with the upgraded
transfers done at 4K progressive scan digital HD video. 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:
Goldfinger/The World Is Not Enough
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4785/James+Bond+Ultimate+Edition++Vol
Moonraker
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4709/James+Bond+Ultimate+Edition
We
covered the previous Bond Blu-ray wave at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7716/James+Bond+Blu-ray+Wave+One:+Dr
All the
extras are once again 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.
We will
list the title, aspect ratio, bitrate of the picture and then explain and relay
what we experienced:
Goldfinger (1.66 X 1/AVC @ 29.25 MBPS) The
big issue here has been the problematic quality of the prints used over the
years in previous versions of the film and if the new 4K version can put the
gold back into Goldfinger
.
Well, the
gold color looks really good in the credit sequences, when Shirley Eaton is
killed and to a good extent in Fort Knox, but there is a problem when you get
to that golf scene. Bond throws down a
bar of Nazi Gold and Goldfinger reacts.
The image is shiny when it should be showing the richness of the smelted
gold cooled in that state for a few decades.
Instead, it is washed out by the sun as the transfer artists did not
hold the color correctly. You cannot see
the deep shadow of the Nazi Swastika impression and it does not look heavy
either. It ruins the scene. Unless you see it in a faithful still, three-strip
dye-transfer Technicolor print of the film, a good lesser color print that
retains the richness of that bar or the out-of-print Criterion 12 LaserDisc of
the film, you will not see it how it as intended.
As hoped
for, Video Red is improved and some shots are superior to the DVD in a way a
DVD could never capture them, but the transfer is plagued with more motion blur
than I would have liked and there are more than a few soft shots that show the
negative needs some work. Also, the
greener grass in the golf scene is a bit less pale than I had hoped, but at
least it is not yellow like the older 30th Anniversary upgrade.
As for
the sound, the DTS 5.1 mix has been upgraded here for DTS-HD MA (Master Audio
lossless) 5.1 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. I wondered if
Lowry Digital/MiCasa Multimedia used original music masters for the mix. Well, we still dont know, but the sound is
not as good a Dr. No or From Russia With Love for whatever
reasons, no better than the DTS on the DVD and seems transferred at a lower
volume than it should, while some sound seems too much towards the center screen. Oddly, the music score by John Barry is
improved, making the other flaws more obvious.
Moonraker (2.35 X 1/AVC @ 22 MBPS)
We
expected Goldfinger to look the best
in this set, but Moonraker is
actually more film like and more consistent overall, but also has its share of
issues. The color format is not as good
as Goldfinger, yet is more
consistent and detail is also not bad, though some shots can look
strained. However, with a budget that
jumped to #33 Million (from $13 on The
Spy Who Loved Me), there is some impressive production design and location
shooting that puts the best digital work today to shame.
In the
best shots on this disc, you can imagine how good 70mm blow-ups looked. It reminded me how rich-looking this was in
35mm and is easily my best screening of the film since I saw it opening weekend
1979, but there are some odd problems with the transfer. Grain is limited, but it is noticed where
there is matte and optical work, while a little more depth and detail would
have been nice. Oddest of all, the
racing boat sequence has water that turns yellow where it should be white (dirt
notwithstanding) and when the next to last boat blows up in a ball of fire, the
fire bleaches out. That does not happen
on the DVD, so what happened?
Otherwise,
no complains and as for the sound, the DTS 5.1 mix has been upgraded here for
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio lossless) 5.1 and the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix dropped
altogether. The results are equal to the
DVD in some ways and slightly better in others, but not enough to give it a
higher letter grade. The music, the
opening title song by Shirley Bassey and laser noises when the two armies of astronauts
laser blast each other outside the space station are particularly good. The centrifuge sequence is not bad and even
if they did not have the original music masters, it does sound like they got to
work with the 4.1 70mm soundmaster for blow-up film prints.
The World Is Not Enough (2.35 X 1/AVC @ 25 MBPS) One of
the two worst of all the films in the series (along with Die Another Day) is worse than ever with a transfer that is far
softer and grainier than it should be for this format. In addition, not only is it now the second
worst Bond Blu-ray transfer next to Never
Say Never Again, but the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio lossless) 5.1 is a mess
and much worse than we would have suspected.
This was a Dolby EX/DTS ES theatrical sound release, but something has
gone wrong in this upgrade. The sound is
compressed, soundfield a mess, sound pulled too much towards the screen and is
so bad, we would call it a defect. It is
bad enough that we recommend you buy the other two separately and skip this
box, unless you are completists.
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
You can
also read about the Quantum Of Solace
& Never Say Never Again Blu-rays,
released the same day as these titles, at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8377/Quantum+Of+Solace+(2008/MGM+Blu
- Nicholas Sheffo
