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Blu-ray Disc REVIEW |
 JAMES BOND BLU-RAY VOLUME THREE  Studio: United Artists (via MGM) Genre: Spy Action Thriller THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH Original Release: 1999 Length: 2 hours 8 mins Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 High Definition Widescreen Color/B&W: Color Audio:
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Release Date: March 24, 2009 Film Rating: 3 ½/5 James Bond Blu-ray Volume Three is the latest collection of Bond catalogue Blu-ray releases, this time intended to compliment the initial home video release of the newest Bond film, Quantum of Solace. For the most current trio of releases, UA has once again selected highlights from three different eras of Bond films: The World is Not Enough, Goldfinger and Moonraker. In this three-disc Blu-ray set, each disc presents its film in a lovely 1080p AVC transfer with a DTS-HD MA 5.1 sound mix and a treasure trove of extras carried over from the 2006 standard definition Ultimate Edition releases. This collection spans roughly 35 years and 17 films in the series. The first film in the collection, The World is Not Enough represents the Pierce Brosnan era with what is probably the second best of his four efforts. In this case, the film tries to bend some of the formulas of the series, both in terms of characters switching their loyalties and in terms of trying some new ideas, like staging a major action sequence right out of the MI6 building itself. It can’t quite overcome some of the creakier moments (many of the quips and the double entendres are a bit forced), but the action sequences still amaze and the film has a solid sense of scale. Goldfinger, on the other hand, represents the peak of the Sean Connery era, and while it’s quite dated at this point, it’s amazing how much of the film works on its own terms. In addition to the original cast being in their best form, the plot mostly works. (I have some questions about how Bond manages to turn one character around so quickly, but the movie goes by so quickly it’s hard to quibble.) And even after 45 years, it’s still a pleasure to see the original Aston Martin in all its glory. The final film in this set, Moonraker represents the Roger Moore era, and has a mixed history, although it’s one of the more popular Moore outings. It is known as possibly the most gadget-heavy of all the films, and the most self-referential in its humor. It brings back one of the series most effective heavies, Jaws, but then plays him almost completely for laughs, including an absolutely bizarre romantic interlude in the middle of the film’s climax. But I have to also acknowledge a grudging affection for the film. The sheer spectacle of the whole thing, ranging all the way from Venice to Rio to outer space, is breathtaking at times. And Michael Lonsdale’s Drax is given some of the best villain dialogue in the entire series. (Second only to Gert Frobe’s Goldfinger...) I should take a moment here to note the history of the multiple releases of these titles, given how many times they have been presented on home video and the resulting confusion. In the case of The World is Not Enough, this will be its third iteration on DVD, the first having come after its initial theatrical run and the second being in the Ultimate Editions released in 2006. Goldfinger and Moonraker are now in their fourth DVD releases, not including multiple VHS and laserdisc editions that span an additional fifteen years before that. On two prior releases, consumers were told the current release would be the “Ultimate Special Edition”, and yet here we are in 2009 with a new release of the title. So I feel I should address this directly here. If you have already purchased the 2006 Ultimate Edition DVDs of these titles, it’s simply a matter of whether the 1080p transfers are worth the additional purchase. In that event, I’d recommend renting them and evaluating the higher quality transfer. If, on the other hand, you’ve either never purchased these titles before or have only seen the editions available as of 2000, then the restorations and the 2006 special features are well worth your time. It’s also a more attractive price point to pick these up in the collected volume if you’re a fan of at least two of the titles. Casual observers will likely want to think about this carefully before making new purchases, so I will be as thorough as I can in describing the features to be found on each of these titles.  VIDEO QUALITY: 4 ½/5  ½ Each of the three films is presented in a lovely 1080p AVC transfer at an average of over 20 mbps, courtesy of the restoration work done by Lowry Digital around 2006. The World is Not Enough is likely not one that needed much restoration given its relatively recent production. It has a sleek look to it, with a lot of darker colors in its palette as photographed by Adrian Biddle. The high definition clarity reveals many fine details in the wardrobe and production design, and actually reveals a minor continuity error in the film’s teaser. (The opening sequence was shot mostly on location in Spain in overcast and rainy weather. So the exterior shots tend to show dark and grey skies over wet buildings and people. But the interior set used for much of the action has a translite backdrop showing the same buildings in bright sunlight. On a standard definition transfer, I could not discern this so much – but at 1080p it practically jumps at the viewer.) (I’m not saying that’s a problem with a transfer, by the way – that’s just an example of how much more you can see in a high definition image.) Goldfinger really benefits from the restoration work, with the transfer showing off a print that is remarkably clear and fresh for a film that is 45 years old! Again, there are many wardrobe and location details that jump out at the viewer, including Bond’s Miami bathrobe, and the clarity of the water in the Miami hotel pool. At the same time, the higher level of clarity makes the plate shots used for the Miami scenes stand out – it’s evident each time the actors are standing in front of projected backgrounds. There’s also one oddity I am still trying to figure out from the Flying Circus cockpit photography near the film’s climax. In at least three cockpit shots (two of which are on the team leader), large scratches can be seen on the cockpit glass behind the head of the pilot. I initially thought these were on the negative, but then realized that that the pilot’s head moves in front of them and partly blocks them from view. If anyone else notices these scratches, I encourage you to respond to this thread. You can find them at 1:28:35 to start, and then in at least two shots fairly soon afterwards. Moonraker similarly benefits from the improved clarity of its 1080p transfer, with the outer space effects coming across quite nicely. The space station reveal is particularly stunning, as it emerges into the light from an inky black. And again, the clarity is enough to give away at least one effects trick – one of the shuttle launches can clearly be seen to be on three wires pulling the shuttle and its booster rockets. Flesh tones for all three films are improved from earlier transfers, particularly on Goldfinger which has the best coloring of any of its releases to date. (I should mention here that I noted the same extreme paleness of Bernard Lee in the early scenes of Moonraker as Robert Harris has commented, but I attributed this to this being part of his final appearance as "M" and due to his age at the time. I recall John Glen noting in his book For My Eyes Only that Lee was ill during the production. By the same token, Desmond Llewelyn's appearance in The World is Not Enough makes his age quite apparent.) In short, these transfers are the best these films have every looked on home video. I should acknowledge here that I am viewing this film on a 40” Sony XBR2 LCD. If any viewers here are watching the film on a 60” or larger monitor and are seeing anything unfortunate, please put a comment here and I’ll check it out. I’m going to address another issue here, which is the reason that I am holding back a ½ star in my evaluation of all three transfers. As has been noted on threads on this site, the credits for both The World is Not Enough and Moonraker have been windowboxed both for the opening titles and the closing credits. Distortions can be seen, particularly at the center of the image when circular objects take on a more oblong appearance. The reason for this is evidently to make sure that all the credits can be read, as they tend to go all the way from the left edge of the frame to the right edge. Thankfully, each film also has a textless version of the opening titles included in the special features, so that viewers can see the full unsqueezed image, albeit without credits. I also noticed that the end credits for Moonraker actually still go a bit off the right edge of the screen, and appear to shift slightly to the right as they roll up the screen. One other controversy raised on the boards here has to do with a few frames apparently missing from one scene of Goldfinger, where Oddjob drives Mr. Solo to an important appointment. Given that Lowry Digital has already responded to this question (they restored the original negative supplied to them by UA), I see it as a moot point. There may in fact be three frames missing from that sequence, but it did not affect my enjoyment of the transfer, the scene or the film. AUDIO QUALITY: 4/5 Each of the three films is presented in a 2.5+ mbps DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix in English, and a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix in French and Spanish that lives at 448 kbps. The bitrates go up a bit during the heavier action sequences as the explosions and such go off. These are fairly energetic mixes, albeit with the dialogue tending to stay in the front channels. Surrounds get more of a workout once the action sequences get going, in addition to showcasing two effective John Barry scores. Most of the mix lives in the front channels here, including most of the atmospheric effects. Goldfinger also includes the original English mono soundtrack from the 1964 release, and Moonraker includes an English Dolby Surround mix. SPECIAL FEATURES: 4 ½/5 ½ It is in the Special Features area that things get really complicated here, so I will try to be both thorough and clear in my descriptions. The first thing to understand is that all the extras available here are conversions or lifts from the 2006 Ultimate Edition DVDs. Some features are now presented in high definition, while others are still in standard definition. Each film has a pair of commentaries and a brace of featurettes and other supplements to tell as much as possible about the making of these films. The second thing to understand is that while the 2006 releases were spread over two discs, the new Blu-rays keep each film and its supplements to a single disc. A single menu breaks everything up, and is pretty simple to follow, once you get the hang of it. Once you start each disc up, you are presented with the following options: “Initiate Mission”, “Mission Selection”, “MI6 Commentary”, “Language Decryption” and “Special Features”. Several of these are fairly obvious, but these essentially translate to “Play Movie”, “Scene Selection”, “Commentaries”, “Languages” and “Special Features”. Once you get into the “Special Features” menu, there are several submenus: “MI6 Declassified Vault”, “007 Mission Control”, “Mission Dossier”, “Ministry of Propaganda” and “Image Database”. Basically, these submenus each cover a separate area. -“MI6 Declassified Vault” holds the newer features assembled for the 2006 releases. -“007 Mission Control” mostly holds bookmarks for key moments in each film as they apply to key characters or situations. It also holds the textless version of the opening titles and a brief narrated guide to the various “exotic locations” seen in the film. In the 2006 release, this section was available on the 2nd disc and would access clips arranged on that disc. For the current Blu-ray releases, this section accesses the bookmarks within the feature itself. As a sidenote, if you turn subtitles or commentary tracks on, those will still be active when you access the bookmarks through this section. -“Mission Dossier” holds the various documentaries and featurettes carried over from the 1999/2000 editions of the DVDs, including a “Making of” documentary for each film, additional production featurettes and the occasional music video. -“Ministry of Propaganda” holds the theatrical trailer, in addition to radio and TV advertising. -“Image Database” holds a collection of production photos and promotional photos and artwork for each film. As a general warning here, I have to openly state that a good number of the special features here contain MANY SPOILERS. If you want to experience the films as a fresh and new experience, DO NOT WATCH ANY OF THE SPECIAL FEATURES UNTIL AFTER YOU HAVE ALREADY SEEN EACH FILM. I must also warn you that by necessity, my descriptions of the special features may in and of themselves contain spoilers as well. I’ll add one more thing before breaking everything down. I have once again held back a ½ star even in light of all the special features here, for a single reason. There are no subtitles available for any of the featurettes or documentaries. It may be a little peevish of me, but there are times when it can be hard to understand what people are saying, and the lack of subtitles can be really problematic. Let’s take each of the discs in order: THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH:
007 MISSION CONTROL 007 – (1080p) – This section includes bookmarks for the opening “Gun Barrel” moment, and then two further character moments during the film. In the middle are presented two versions of the film’s opening titles and song. One version is the windowboxed opening seen on the disc, and the other is a textless alternative that presents the film in its correct aspect ratio. A “Play All” function is available if you wish to view both versions of the titles back to back. WOMEN (1080p) – Bookmarks are presented for the two “Bond Girls” of the film, with Dr. Christmas Jones getting 8 bookmarks, and Dr. Warmflash getting 3. ALLIES (1080p) – Bookmarks are presented for Bond’s allies here. M gets a whopping 14, Moneypenny gets 4, Q gets 2 and Zukovsky gets 8. VILLAINS (1080p) – Bookmarks are here for the film’s villains. Elektra gets 22, Renard gets 7 and the Cigar Girl gets 3 MISSION COMBAT MANUAL (1080p) – 7 bookmarks are here for the various fight scenes in the film. Q BRANCH (1080p) – 11 bookmarks are here for in-scene demonstrations of the various gadgets used in the film.
EXOTIC LOCATIONS (3:48) (1080p, 16x9) – Samantha Bond narrates a series of clips from the film, discussing the locations used by the production. The Making of The World is Not Enough (15:06) (480p, Full Frame) – A brief making-of featurette covers much of the same ground as the longer one found in the MI6 Vault. The Bond Cocktail – (22:52) (480p, Full Frame) – This featurette goes over the typical mix of elements found in Bond films, ranging from the earlier films through this one. Tribute to Desmond Llewelyn (3:22) (480p, Full Frame) – As Desmond Llewelyn passed away one month after the film’s premiere, a brief featurette is included with clips of various scenes of Q at work. The World is Not Enough Music Video by Garbage (4:01) (480p, Non-Anamorphic) – A music video by Shirley Manson and Garbage is included here, showing a decidedly different take on the song than that seen in the film’s opening titles.
The Secrets of 007 Alternative Video Options (22:31 Total) (480p, Full Frame) – This is a mixture of on-set footage, storyboards and clips from the film of several key sequences.
GOLDFINGER:
DECLASSIFIED MI6 VAULT:
007 MISSION CONTROL
MISSION DOSSIER
MINISTRY OF PROPAGANDA
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