The James Bond DVDs again?

Thank God! I only need four to complete my collection...

Thunderball
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Live and Let Die
Moonraker

Okay, make that five...Die Another Day, although I'm not sure Die Another qualifies as a movie.

What 007 DVDs have mono tracks?

Mine kick 5.1 ass.

The first NINE have mono tracks with the exception of Thunderball which was remixed in 5.1 for the THX laserdisc and this is the transfer used on the SE DVD. They are currently remixing and remastering the early films into 5.1 for the next release.

Ernest Rister You didn't like "Die Another Day" with Rosemund Pike~Miranda Frost or Halle Berry~Jinx and the Aston Martin Vanquish AKA Vanish? What a cool movie 'no pun intended'. I even have James and Miranda with her bedroom 'eyes' as my picture memory on the CX475P Sony Progressive DVD changer. Turning the changer on to that scene, turns me on!



I am only missing "In Her Majestys Secret Service" I have in on Vhs, but I never watch it.

I'll take "Die Another Day" over "A View to a Kill" any day!

Ditto

I'll take a kick in the nuts over View...

I'll gladly provide it.

I rank A View to a Kill just above Die Another Day and License to Kill. Die Another Daydidn't work for me - I like the semi-remotely-even-wildly-plausible Bond films. The goofier they get, the more I'm bored. License to Kill is a flat-out low budget stinkbomb. It looks like it was made for TV. A View to a Kill has a good chase on the streets of San Fran (as if it is possible to stage a bad car chase in San Fran), but thoe whole thing is just tired. Die Another Day is so "out there", it makes Moonraker blush.

I'd rather they just put out the old DVDs in singles - that way I can get Thunderball, From Russa With Love, Goldeneye, and the World Is Not Enough. The Connery and Prosnan films were the only ones I could watch over and over again.

that took my breath away, Ernest.
i still consider LTK one of the only truly well concieved, intelligent, and well crafted films in that series.
in fact, after each new Brosnan film, it only goes up further in my view.

the biggest plus for me is not whether it 'looks' like a tv movie ( i don't really think it does any more that most of them), but that the protagonist concocts a plan that doesn't rely so much on outracing fireballs as it does in manipulating certain, relatively benign events, manipulating the antagonists perception of these events, and chipping away at the villians organization from within.
that is the way i expect a 'secret agent' to operate.

i don't care if the film uses the same "threat" as the average episode of Miami Vice- it's how it uses these elements that is important to me.

Does this series hold the record for the series most discontinued and rereleased for DVD in the shortest time?

Percebe,
yes i believe the remasterd films will see issue as conventional dvds before any HD dvds become avail.
they will get released when the next Bond film hits theaters, so figure about fall '05 or summer/fall '06.

HD dvd still won't be a factor in that time frame
(and even if they were, how good will the first generation discs really be?)

Agreed. Along with On Her Majesty's Secret Service, it's one of the series' most underrated entries IMO. And I don't think it's a coincidence that the films star Timothy Dalton and George Lazenby, the two most maligned Bond actors.

It's got great action sequences, an effective villain, a believable plot, and a refreshingly dark tone with a moody, vengeful Bond that hadn't been seen since Sean Connery played the role. About the only thing the movie got wrong was the music. The late Michael Kamen did some great action film scores, but no one can compete with John Barry.

I used to love the memory of License to Kill -- Even though I hadn't seen the film in over ten years, I was ranting and raving about the thing, just to make sure I received it as a Christmas present.

Wow, what ten years can do to a guy -- what I remembered as streamlined now just looked cheap. The entire opening "parachute wedding" sequence was like toothpicks under my gums. Here I am, working off ten year old memories, telling all my friends who hadn't seen it how the film was the most plausible and realistic of the Bond films, then here comes the opening, with Bond dropping out of a Coast Guard helicopter to place a noose around he tail of private plane. Oy. You guys think you give me hell when I put my foot in it, that's nothing like the grief I took over License to Kill.

Yet another example of how age-old memories can be way, way, way off. Still, the brilliant making-of documentary on the DVD - which details the huge budgetary mess the filmmakers were in before shooting - is worthy of the purchase of the disc all by itself. I also think Timothy Dalton was never given his proper due -- a solidly-funded film and an excellent script. License to Kill could have been something special, but it was cut off at the knees by the producers and a director who looked like he was sleepwalking.

The truck chase at the end is still amazing, however, even today.

I can see why people have great feelings toward it - so did I -- but then I watched it again for the first time in a decade and realized it was sort a stinker after all.

Great plot. poor execution. If only the Bond films would return to a plot as lean and mean as License to Kill, with a director and producer willing to invest such a story with energy and excitement. Tarantino is jumping up and down offering to direct a Bond film, and Brosnan has said he would return to work with Tarantino -- Tarantino wants to return Bond to his roots. After Die Another Day and an army needing a fleet of hovercraft to pass over landmines (as if hovercraft don't exert pressure on the ground) and a giant satellite death ray (Christ, again with the space-ray)...Bond needs to get real again, stat. I'm all for Tarantino doing Bond, but it will never happen. Such good ideas are always rejected by upper management. They make too much sense.

As long as you drink my urine afterwards!

Cheers!

(drinks urine toast to Colin)

This is the kind of thing that really bothers me about the Home Video Industry. It's all about money. At least Warner Home Video generally waits until it has an ultimate edition of something before releasing it (i.e. King Kong). But THREE waves of James Bond in about a 6 year period? Shame on you!

D'ya think MGM will leave the burned-in subtitles intact this time, i.e. preserved the way they were originally seen in theatres?

Nope, I didn't think so :-(

John

But it's not like MGM are making the releases different and adding materials to make up double/triple/quadruple dip. From what I understand, these are all the same as the DVDs that came out in 1999/2000. There's no reason for anyone to repurchase them, so what's the big deal? Sure, it's annoying for those who DON'T have them and want to get them, but I see no reason for complaints from those who already have them...

Apparently they are being remastered in 5.1 this time around, so they are different. The question is will they be true 5.1 (stereo music tracks, etc.) or like the fake pseudo-stereo Chace mixes.

Considering how comprehensive the recent DVDs are in terms of extras (the "Inside..." docs are the best I've ever seen on DVD), I'd be surprised if MGM really can come up with the "never before seen" stuff they're promising.

As a huge Bond fan, it would still take an awful lot for me to re-buy all the films next year.

Buying these Bond movies isn't double dipping, it's a freaking bath!

To be quite honest I'm not very impressed with the SE's that have been released so far. Until the Bond flicks have at least a passable 5.1 track (Dolby at least but DTS would be a definite plus) and THX certification I'm not buying the rest of the collection.

The only ones I'm interested in upgrading are the 60's Bond films (first 6) Dr No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice & One Her Majesty's Secret Service.

For me to upgrade they'd have to do some major restoration, digital cleanup or whatever it takes to improve the image quality, otherwise I could care less about a 5.1 mix with the same old transfer.


I also like Goldeneye but the latest SE is acceptable.