Casino Royale 1967 blu ray available exclusively at Best Buy!!! (1 Viewer)

[Osato]

Casino Royale 1967 is now on blu ray at Best Buy. It is an exclusive blu ray release to Best Buy.

I didn't see a thread on this news and thought there would be many others who did not know and would like to pick it up.

I don't think Best Buy did a very good job of advertising this release and it's been a bit under the radar.
They have several exclusive MGM and WB blu ray's and they are listed in this week's ad. However Casino Royale 1967 is not listed under the MGM blu ray ad titles for some reason.

For some other very odd reason the Casino Royale 1967 blu ray is NOT listed on the Best Buy website.


Hopefully we'll get a review of the title very soon.

Good luck!

 

[Walter Kittel]

Tim - as I posted in the other thread; I was able to pick up a copy during lunch today at a nearby Best Buy. There were two copies on the shelf. I searched their website before going over and could not find a reference; but decided to take a chance.


I may try to view this title tonight and if I do so I will post my impressions in this thread.


This has always been a fun guilty pleasure for me and I hope the transfer delivers the goods. (I used to play trumpet, so the title song by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass always kept me coming back to this film. I've always liked the entire soundtrack for Casino Royale and find it to be one the film's more endearing aspects.)


- Walter.

 

[Osato]

Originally Posted by Walter Kittel

Tim - as I posted in the other thread; I was able to pick up a copy during lunch today at a nearby Best Buy. There were two copies on the shelf. I searched their website before going over and could not find a reference; but decided to take a chance.


I may try to view this title tonight and if I do so I will post my impressions in this thread.


This has always been a fun guilty pleasure for me and I hope the transfer delivers the goods. (I used to play trumpet, so the title song by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass always kept me coming back to this film. I've always liked the entire soundtrack for Casino Royale and find it to be one the film's more endearing aspects.)


- Walter.

Thanks for the post! I need to pick up a copy of the score.

I do really love the theme for the film.

Looking forward to a review on the video and audio!!!

 

[Jeff Robertson]

I'm gonna hijack this thread a little to talk more about possible Best Buy exclusives. I could've swore there was already a thread started on it but I cannot seem to find it now.


I picked up the "Back to School" Blu-Ray today for $9.99. It mirrors what was included in the 2007 SE DVD. Most of the extras are in Hi-Def now and the movie's picture looks pretty good. I would say it is taken from the same master used for the 2007 release. There's some dirt here and there but the image quality itself appears to have no digital processing applied to it and is consistent with what you would expect from an 80's movie.


So I'm happy to see this MGM catalog title emerge and hope to see more.


My short list:


Easy Money (obviously!)

Valley Girl

The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai

War Games

The Manhattan Project



Feel free to add your own!

 

[Walter Kittel]

Just finished viewing the Blu-Ray release of the 1967 version of Casino Royale.


The video transfer is competent - with decent color performance and reasonable clarity. Image quality varies from sequence to sequence, which I assume is a reflection of the source material and the nature of the film production with its five directors. Some scenes are a little soft but others exhibit decent resolution considering the age of the film. There is some edge enhancement present with haloing of dark hats and hair against lighter backgrounds. This is more prevalent earlier in the film - where the majority of the exterior shots exist and appears less frequently in the second half of the film. On the other hand the closeups of the actors tend to look nice with good detail. Ursula Andress in particular, if I may say so. All things considered the video transfer is decent and is probably limited, somewhat, by the source material.


The disc offers up a DTS-HD Master track. Audio is really not my forte; given my living arrangements I generally do not listen at reference levels so take what I say with a grain of salt. There is very little surround activity in this track, with the sound being anchored on the L/C/R speakers. The music is well rendered and is generally pleasing and the dialog is clearly reproduced. I'd rate the audio as fine for a film of this age.


Overall, I'd give the disc a moderate recommendation. This is one of those titles that is not going to blow you away with its image quality but it does offer a reasonable and noticeable step up (with room for improvement) over the DVD release. Worth a rent for the curious and worth a purchase for fans of the film or those wishing to have all of the Bond films in their collections.


- Walter.

 

[Nailwraps]

What about extras and is the mono track included?

 

[Walter Kittel]

Okay, while not to be confused with a proper review here are the features (accessible by menu) on the disc:


Audio Selections

English 5.1 DTS-HD

Espanol Mono

Francais Mono

Italiano Mono

Deutsch Mono

Castellano Mono

James Bond Historians Commentary (also listed in Extras)


Subtitles

English for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Espanol

Francais

Italiano

Deutsch

Castellano

Dansk

Nederlands

Suomi

Norsk

Svenska


Extras

Audio commentary with James Bond Historians Steven Jay Rubin and John Cork

The Making of Casino Royale (Std. Definition)

Theatrical Trailer (HD)


- Walter.

 

[Osato]

Originally Posted by Walter Kittel

Just finished viewing the Blu-Ray release of the 1967 version of Casino Royale.


The video transfer is competent - with decent color performance and reasonable clarity. Image quality varies from sequence to sequence, which I assume is a reflection of the source material and the nature of the film production with its five directors. Some scenes are a little soft but others exhibit decent resolution considering the age of the film. There is some edge enhancement present with haloing of dark hats and hair against lighter backgrounds. This is more prevalent earlier in the film - where the majority of the exterior shots exist and appears less frequently in the second half of the film. On the other hand the closeups of the actors tend to look nice with good detail. Ursula Andress in particular, if I may say so. All things considered the video transfer is decent and is probably limited, somewhat, by the source material.


The disc offers up a DTS-HD Master track. Audio is really not my forte; given my living arrangements I generally do not listen at reference levels so take what I say with a grain of salt. There is very little surround activity in this track, with the sound being anchored on the L/C/R speakers. The music is well rendered and is generally pleasing and the dialog is clearly reproduced. I'd rate the audio as fine for a film of this age.


Overall, I'd give the disc a moderate recommendation. This is one of those titles that is not going to blow you away with its image quality but it does offer a reasonable and noticeable step up (with room for improvement) over the DVD release. Worth a rent for the curious and worth a purchase for fans of the film or those wishing to have all of the Bond films in their collections.


- Walter.

Thank you! Nice review and recap. I was curious if the DTS-HD MA track was 5.1, saw your later post which confirms that it is. Very cool.

Sounds like MGM did a decent job with the release.

it's too bad they dropped the Climax Barry Nelson Casino Royale tv movie. Seems like that should be included.

 

[Terry Hickey]

My disc has vertical banding throughout most of the movie. In some places, it's very distracting. I exchanged it for another copy, but still have

the banding issues. On the documentary, though, when it shows scenes from the movie, there isn't any banding. I have a plasma tv. Oh well,

I still have the SD DVD.

 

[Ferdinand Hudson]

Originally Posted by Walter Kittel

Okay, while not to be confused with a proper review here are the features (accessible by menu) on the disc:


Audio Selections

English 5.1 DTS-HD

Espanol Mono

Francais Mono

Italiano Mono

Deutsch Mono

Castellano Mono

James Bond Historians Commentary (also listed in Extras)


Subtitles

English for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Espanol

Francais

Italiano

Deutsch

Castellano

Dansk

Nederlands

Suomi

Norsk

Svenska


Extras

Audio commentary with James Bond Historians Steven Jay Rubin and John Cork

The Making of Casino Royale (Std. Definition)

Theatrical Trailer (HD)


- Walter.

Ah, so this is the same disc that will be released June 15 in Sweden! Oooh, now I don't know what to do. Should I get the US release or should I get the Swedish one which only costs $32.10 plus shipping...? Decisions, decisions.

 

[Walter Kittel]

My disc has vertical banding throughout most of the movie. In some places, it's very distracting. I exchanged it for another copy, but still have the banding issues. On the documentary, though, when it shows scenes from the movie, there isn't any banding. I have a plasma tv. Oh well, I still have the SD DVD.

Terry - I viewed the Blu-ray release on an Epson 8500UB Front Projector. I cannot recall seeing any banding during the presentation.


- Walter.

 

[Terry Hickey]

Originally Posted by Walter Kittel




Terry - I viewed the Blu-ray release on an Epson 8500UB Front Projector. I cannot recall seeing any banding during the presentation.


- Walter.

Thanks Walter, must be something with my player then. "The Italian Job" is another one that I've had banding issues throughout the movie.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Terry - I guess I should have mentioned my player also. I viewed Casino Royale on an Oppo BDP-83 player patched to recent firmware. I took a second look at Casino Royale last night after watching Once Upon A Time In The West and could not see banding. Anyway, good luck with your player and HT setup.


- Walter.