JAMES BOND ULTIMATE COLLECTION (1 Viewer)

[Random Hero]

I haven't picked up the 3rd and 4th Ultimate sets, but looking at some of the screen captures for OHMSS, I'm a bit confused.

I popped in my SE of the film, and the pre-credits sequence appears as in the screencaps, with the sunrise look and all.

However, I remember watching the film recently as it aired on television on one of the Encore channels. The colors in the pre-credits sequence looked just like the colors in the screen captures of the UE. Also, the film was riddled with dirt, scratches, and markings, so Encore sure as heck wasn't using the same masters as the UE.

It's very confusing as to what the correct color timing is for that film. For all we know, maybe it is supposed to be as it appears on the UE. Maybe MGM screwed up on the SE. Unless, has anyone seen an original theatrical print of the film?

As for GoldenEye, I'll actually have to rent or buy the UE to see about the cropping. Maybe the UE is correct after all, as some have said. The only screen captures that seem to be a bit off are the gunbarrel sequence and the scene in the facility with 007 and 006.

As for AVTAK, it only seemed a bit off to me during the gunbarrel sequence. Otherwise, I was able to enjoy the film and it didn't seem messed up.

Also, I saw the uproar over Live and Let Die, and I looked at my SE disc recently. During the opening credits, there is definitely a bit of orange tint to the picture. Not much, but it is there. It's not a true, pure black background as the screen captures make it seem. The only question is: How much orange tint is there supposed to be?

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Just wanted to quickly pop in here to let you know
that John Lowry has responded to me.

Now that he is aware of these issues he plans to
issue some inquiries and (hopefully) get back to us.

 

[John H Ross]

Excellent! Thanks very much, Ron!

 

[Dave - A]

Finally got to TSWLM the other night after chugging through the previous movies in chronological order. I have to say that this is absolutely the worst looking film in the series so far. And I was especially disappointed as this is my favourite Bond of them all! The EE/sharpening is just completely off the the scale. Luckily when I cranked the High and Mid sharpness adjustments on my DVD player all the way down it looked alright. But, seriously, how does something like this happen in the first place? Simply atrocious! I'd definitely like Mr. Lowry to address this issue.

 

[John H Ross]

I watched the new TSWLM on Friday night and the EE pissed the hell out of me too - and I don't normally notice stuff like that. I guess knowing it was there, and looking out for it, made it seem even worse than it was - but it was pretty bad. And it's all the way through the movie too, not just the first half which, I believe, has been suggested elsewhere.

I just can't get over the inconsistency in these discs. Some of them are absolutely gorgeous. Others seem to cover the full range of possible disasters!

Can't wait for Mr Lowry's comments, although I don't relish the possibility of a million little sub-recalls!

 

[Paul_Scott]

TSWLM was the first or second film from any of these sets that I sat down to watch start to finish, and as such that experience colored my impression of the total value of these sets (which wasn't very high imo).

I felt that while the EE on TSWLM was atrocious, it was far worse early on in the film due several things. Scenes and backgrounds like at the Egyptian club and the Egyptian apartment. are full of small, intricate, repeating patterns and backgrounds. Adding EE and/or ringing to these things makes the shots monumental eye-sores. later in the film, backgrounds aren't as full of such tiny intricate details, and the films palatte at that point is also darker and more subdued in general (as opposed to the bright Egyptian settings early on).

Its a horrible disc, no doubt about it. But then again, its MGM so I don't really expect a high level of competence or consistency.

 

[Frank@N]

Based on the feedback here, I'd say that at least two or three UE discs should be recalled and replaced.

But I don't think that's ever happened for bad transfers, since studios usually see that as an opportunity for quadruple-dips.

I'm going to A/B the worst culprits and then sell off the lesser transfers (either SE or UE) in the boxset cases, since I prefer the SE cases.

Places like GameStop will buy anything as long as there's some copy of the movie in the box.

 

[James Bond]

OHMSS Is Suppose to be the SE color, sunrise, colorful look. One of the special features has someone (Peter Hunt I think) Saying how difficult it was to get the shot because of the timing involved with the sunrise. The UE tints over the picture with a bluish night shot, which destroys the hard work and time put into filming. Also theres a shot at the end of the movie, where the helicopters are flying at night with the sky and mountains in the background. The UE took away that once beautiful scene.

LALD should be the SE way, have you saw the UE? There is no black left to identify, it blows everything up in red (ok maybe not that bad, but going off memory, and when directly comparing it, the UE is extremely bad)

Hope that might of helped.

 

[Random Hero]

Thank you for the information on OHMSS. That answers my questions.

Still, it's incredibly odd that there is a non-Lowry print out there with the blue color timing. That's what really confused me.

Also, thanks for the info on LALD.

I should be set either way. I plan on picking up the last two volumes eventually, but I'm still keeping all my SE copies. They were all originally gifts from many years ago, and they have sentimental value. Plus, if I'm not happy with any of the changes in the UE versions, I will always have my SE copies to turn to.

 

[James Bond]

Yup, always good to keep the SE copies, most of the UE's are an improvement, but for parts you don't like, you'll always have your SE.

As for the other blue color timing transfer, perhaps there could be, i'm not familiar with any, but also it could be many other things. Like TV/TV Settings (I know on the UE the higher I have my brightness set, the less blue it looks.. . and the less bright the more darker/blueish it looks... [but I'm not sure how/if that would effect a tv version].. but why try and figure out all the possibilities, it is what it is unfortunately.)

 

[GlennWD]

I just finished watching all of the films and their special features. Overall I was very happy with the four volumes. My only problem with the set is I guess the menus and the cover art. I wish the menus had not been so similar for all the films. It would have been better if the were unique and had more to do with the film itself. Perhaps it could have been the different sets and locations from the film. And with the covers. I do wish the had done original poster artwork, because those old james bond posters where just so much fun.

 

[rich_d]

Well, looks like the picking and choosing is here sooner than some of us thought.

Amazon has For Your Eyes Only (UE) as a pre-order on their site.

http://www.amazon.com/Your-Eyes-Only...?ie=UTF8&s=dvd

It is to be released February 6th. It is priced at $11.19 as a pre-order as are Goldfinger and Thunderball.

Didn't check the full list but I noticed that Dr. No and FRWL are not up yet. This may mean that it is only titles from the first two boxsets up as individual titles (at this point) but that is only a guess.

 

[MikeRS]

FYEO was in volume 3.

 

[Jim-M]

These are the 6 coming out on Feb. 6:

For Your Eyes Only
Goldfinger
Goldeneye
Licence To Kill
The Spy Who Loved Me
Thunderball

 

[Jim-M]

Finally got my replacement set and the FRWL disc in that set plays fine on my Denon and PC.

 

[Blair G]

Luckily my FRWL plays just fine on my Denon.

However, the booklet for FYEO is in rough shape.
Some of the pages were stuck together and when separated there is little or no ink on the area that was stuck.
Has anyone seen this ?

Wonder if Sony will replace it for me...

 

[Ray H]

You mean Fox.

 

[Blair G]

Geez......you are right.

Sony must be laughing at the nice e-mail I sent them

I'll try Fox.

 

[Yumbo]

Is Amazon's sale price of 50% off all 4 bundle worth it? $180 for all 20 movies as UE 2 discers.

 

[Frank@N]

With tax, that's what I paid for all four from FYE's used 'buy three, get one free' sale.

I don't buy anything online, I must like the 'thrill of the hunt'.

So I guess $180 was my 'price', but I'm struggling with some buyer's remorse as I sort through and decide which titles I'm going to keep (vs. the SEs).

After the purchase, my wife immediately said she wanted to give any spares to her sister.

I wish they would announce a recall on non-OAR/EE-riddled UEs, so I could just keep the UEs.

As it is, I have some difficult choices to make.