James Bond Blu ray Collection - Volumes 1 & 2 (1 Viewer)

[John_S]

I have a Samsung BD-P1500 player with the latest firmware 2.0 and purchased "From Russia With Love", "Live and Let Die", "Moonraker", and "For Your Eyes Only". All work fine except "For Your Eyes Only", which froze with a black screen at the point where the main menu loads.

 

[Ted3000]

No news yet but my email has been elevated past the usual "Have you tried turning the player on" boilerplate. Hopefully some information soon.


"Hi Ted,

Your information will be sent over to our corporate office. At this time we have no other information in regards this matter.

Again sorry for this inconvenience.

Fox Support"

 

[Tim Gerdes]

I just received the latest Sony firmware update (v. 4.10) for my player, the BDP-S1, and the Bond discs are working properly now.

 

[Paul Hillenbrand]

My Samsung BD-P1000 keeps on sending the following message:


Wonder if this will solve first generation playability issues?

Paul

 

[RickER]

My second system has a Sony BDP300 (latest firmware, from Aug.) hooked up via component, to a 1080i Toshiba Plasma. I tried For Your Eyes Only, it plays. But the bootup time is damn slow!
This is what it does:
You can tell the player is trying to identify the disc once the tray closes, lots of gyrating sounds (also does this on my Sony 350). The disc starts with the blue download icon along the bottom (You know the one if you have the Sony 300. Its a blue line that fills in from left to right, like a computer download), then it goes to the spinning circle download icon. THEN it plays the copyright notice and all the legal crap. Nope, it doesnt go to the menu after that, not yet. It goes back to the blue download icon at the bottom of the screen.
Then it plays. Looks damn fine too. Now if you make the mistake of going back to the main menu, the machine takes a good 30 seconds, or more to think about it.

The only disc i dont own is From Russia With Love. They all play on my Sony BDP 350 (also has latest firmware) with no problem, other than i can hear the machine "thinking" about the disc once the door closes, and it takes a minute. My 350 is hooked up with HDMI to a Sony 1080P LCD. The only icon that shows for this machine is the spinning circles, and they do their thing pretty fast. Then its to the menu, with no other problems.
But its not an analog copy problem, that much i can tell you. Cause the one disc i tried on my older setup works....just slow.

 

[Paul Hillenbrand]

Thanks for the response RickER.

Now I can E-mail Samsung and tell them the message from the BD-P1000 is incorrect and there is NOT an "Analog Restriction" as you state.

Regards,

Paul

 

[RickER]

Paul, i will try out the other Bond discs i own, right now, and see if i get the same results i got with FYEO.

Edit:

I wonder what the hell FOX, or MGM did with these discs?
I can play them all, on both of my machines.
However!
On my older Sony BDP300 if i try to watch any of the extras, they may, or may not play. If i try to go to the discs main menu AFTER i am in the doc, it wont return. It will return to the main menu, if i am in the movie only, its just slow to do so.
All of them load the same way on my old Sony with the component, Paul. They all play. But they sure are slow, and it seems its a toss up if the extras will play.

Wish i had a copy of FRWL as that seems to be the one giving the most fits. Or so it seems, after all i have read.
Then again, glad i dont own it yet.

 

[Nelson Au]

Interesting and important thread!

After reading the problems you guys are having, I took a look at a thread at AVS focused solely on playback issues with these James Bond blu ray discs.

There was a new posting quoting Bill Hunt at the Digital Bits that has information that Sony is top of this and preparing a new firmware update to be released very soon to correct the playback problems. Presumably the other manufacturers will follow soon. That seems like great news.

I don't have a blu ray player yet, and this franchise was one of 3 that was going to turn me to the blu side. I hope this is all the problem is. I was going to go for the new 550 Sony player and I've read that most of those owners don't have an issue.

I hope the firmware fix will take of this problem for you guys! I want to join you!

 

[Mark Hawley]

I have the same player and the exact same problem. All seem to work fine ( I haven't watched them all the way through yet, just loaded them and skipped through the chapters), but FYEO freezes at the exact same point you mentioned.

 

[Jeff_HR]

I'm assuming this is referring to a AV Receiver &/or Blu-Ray player connected via the component outputs & TV inputs? If so, I fall into this slot. If not, PLEASE correct my mistaken belief!!! My S500 Sony (Which has THE LATEST 4.00 Firmware) is connected to an Integra 5.9 AVR via HDMI, but the AVR is connected to my 32 inch Hitachi 32UDX10S via component cables. None of the 007 Blu-Ray discs will play for me. :frowning:

Earlier today I went to my local Hi-Fi/Video retailer because I'm eventually going to purchase a Pioneer Elite KURO PRO-111FD. They have the same model Sony Blu-Ray as mine connected to an Integra AVR (A more upscale model Integra AVR) which is connected to the Pioneer Plasma. The difference is that both connections are via HDMI. I tried two of the Bond discs. both started up & played without issue.

So is connectivity via component cables an issue in the inability of my Bond discs to start & play? Or is it all firmware related? Or is it the way the discs are manufactured? Or a combination of all or part of the above? Not having a very deep expertise in these matters, I need to know exactly what the problem is here. I don't want to continuously be sending the two sets back to Amazon trying to get discs that play if it is a hardware issue. If new firmware will solve the problem, I can wait. If I need to wait for the purchase of a HDTV with HDMI inputs to solve the problem, I can wait. Now if FOX needs to manufacture the discs differently to get them to play properly, I need to know so that I don't just sit on the Bond Blu-Rays waiting for a hardware fix & lose my ability to exchange them with Amazon. Am I making sense?!?

 

[RickER]

Jeff, if its the discs, i dont think an exchange will do much good at this time.
Oh, and by the way, my Sony 300, is straight to the TV with the component, and i use my optical for audio.

In my main system, they play fine, just a tad slow to start. So i am betting its a firmware issue. I will hold on to what i have and wait for a firmware.

 

[Jeff_HR]

Well Rick it is beginning to sound like a Firmware issue & not connectivity related. I guess I'll send back my 1st shipment of 007 Blu-Rays to Amazon and keep the ones I got yesterday & hope Sony gets the 4.xx Firmware update for my S500 online as soon as is prudent. I do plan to upgrade to a S550 in 2 to 4 months.

 

[Edwin-S]

I didn't buy the boxsets due to the lack of chronological release. I decided to buy the individual steelbook versions of DR NO and FRWL, since those were the first two in the series. i decided I had better check the discs out after reading that a lot of you guys were having playback trouble.

I found that both DR NO and FRWL played with out incident on my PS3, including the extras. So far I have had good luck with the PS3 as a BD player. The only problem I have is that the PS3 has some kind of syncing issue when it is hooked up to a VP50pro video processor. I haven't been able to correct the issue. It makes the PS3 very bad at playing 480i content.

 

[Paul_Scott]

Was expecting to pay slightly over $20 each for these in a future DD sale, so when I found out Target had them for $19.99, I bought a couple titles more than I'd originally planned to.
Then I found out about the playback issues. I was hoping my BDP-300 with it's original firmware might be able to dodge the bullet but of course it couldn't. Slow load time to get to the menu screen with nothing accessible after that. I only tried Thunderball and FYEO. If I was going to be stuck for weeks waiting to get a firmware disc, I'd more than likely be returning the others unopened just for spite.
Then I had the bright idea to just buy a new 2.0 player, check the already opened discs out to make sure I didn't get stuck with lemons, then pack it up and return it. Normally I would be just a bit ashamed to admit such unethical behaviour in public, but this format, and the slipshod behaviour of its key players, continues to piss me off. I just don't care anymore.
So I went into one of the box stores today expecting to have to (temporarily) drop about $500-$600 when, lo and behold, I found they were clearencing out the Panny BD30s for $239. At that price I would be very tempted to just outright replace the Sony, which I've long hated anyway, assuming the Panny didn't need firmware to boot up the Bond titles.
It didn't. They loaded blisteringly fast and with no issues with any of the menu selections. Just for reference, the circle clock loading icon, zips thru its cycles in less than 5 seconds bringing up the menu screen. Selections within the menu are so zippy, it is easy to overshoot a selection. I threw a bunch of other slow loading titles at it, and not one hitch. The deck doesn't impress as to build quality even in comparison with the Sony, but PQ/AQ is better all around from what I see-especially with standard def content which is a huge concern as this will be the primary player.
This deck looks like a keeper and I'm thrilled to be done with that POS Sony.

 

[Holer]

aftere upgrading firmware on my Sony BDP-S301, the Bond movies played and I could access the special features. Before that, all I could see was the menus. Firmware update was 4.20 I believe.

 

[Paul_Scott]

As for the actual AQ/PQ of the discs- FYEO was the one I was most curious about since it wasn't from a 4K transfer. Doesn't appear to be a huge upgrade from the UE disc, but it is an upgrade nonetheless. Some scene/shots still seem to me to be more filtered (photographically) and washed out than I remember-Bond and Melina dragged behind the boat, for example- but on the whole the mellower look of the image in terms of contrast and color is more in line with how I remember movies looking theatrically in the early 80s, so I'm happy that if they erred, they erred in that direction.
Thunderball looks to me a bigger improvment over the UE. The contrast levels and color seem more natural to me here, while the UE seems somewhat 'clipped' and harsher.Dr No looks amazing, but then the UE already looked sensational-more impressive than a few Bds we could all name.As sick as I am of upgrading these, I'm still looking forward to the next wave.

 

[Jeff_HR]

Well I decded to try my 1st shipment FRWL one last time before giving the 2nd shipment Blu-Rays a try. Lo & Behold, the disc did all of its startup loading & the movie started and played all the way thru without issue! I couldn't believe it after the way it had been behaving. I let the disc play all the way to it switching back to the Menu post-credits. Then it decided to FREEZE SOLID! I left the player on all night hoping for some reaction. NADA!!! This is getting DAMNED bizarre! What the hell is going on here??????????????????????????????????????????????

I want a BD-Live player eventually to go with my near Future purchase of a Pioneer Plasma. So recommend a brand & model that is going to be (HOPEFULLY) pretty much issue free. Or is that hopeless pipe dream.

 

[Douglas Monce]

I also got the 3 films I was interested in (Dr. No, From Russia With Love and Thunderball) at Target for $19.95!

I've had zero problems with them playing in the PS3.

They look spectacular. There is an amazing amount of detail. I was particularly surprised by Dr. No which is just sharp as a tack.

Doug

 

[Douglas Monce]

double post

 

[Peter Raber]

I am only going to pick and choose the ones I really want. I have the whole collection from the UE and there are plenty of Bond movies I have no interest in updating past that.

I will get the first 4 Connery Bonds (well when Goldfinger finally comes out) and maybe Octopussy and Goldeneye (when they're released), but I think that's it.

I wasn't even going to do that, but since all the reviews I have read are pretty stellar, then I'll have no qualms about upgrading my favorite Bonds.

I have the Panny BD10A so I don't know how that would be playing them. I looked for a firmware update the other day but there has not been a new one recently.