James Bond Ultimate Edtions Surface in the uk (1 Viewer)

[Shawn.F]

Man, those look great. I'll probably pick up most of those when they hit Region One in November, except View To A Kill and Die Another Day. I thought both of those were pretty weak.

 

[John H Ross]

Wow, if true, this is VERY good news indeed! Restored burned-in subtitles is the biggest change I'd like to see on these new discs because player-generated subtitles SUCK ASS.

The only question that remains is... what region to buy. R1 with it's correct speed (assuming they come out in R1 at some point) or R2 for the uncut Die Another Day etc. And just which version of Licence To Kill are we all gonna get?

John

 

[Ryan L. Bisasky]

with sony changing shop and moving they're dvd licences to 20th century fox, we might have to wait a little bit.

 

[Lyle_JP]

Are we absolutely sure we're getting all the extras from the original discs in this new set? Based on reading the backs of the DVD cases, I find that the following items seem to be missing:

from Thunderball
* "Inside Thunderball" Featurette

from Live and Let Die:
* Live and Let Die milk board commercial

from Tomorrow Never Dies:
* Digital effects reel
* Isolated music-only track with David Arnold interviews
* Sheryl Crow "Tomorrow Never Dies" music video

from Die Anther Day:
* "Inside Die Another Day" documentary featuring
-Scene Evolution
-Inter-Action Sequences
-Title Design
-Digital Grading
-Equipment Briefing
-Image Database
* Madonna's "Die Another Day" music video
* Making of Madonna's "Die Another Day" music video
* Making of "007 Nightfire" video game (okay, nobody will miss this one)

It looks like those two Brosnan Bonds might be worth holding on to. It doesn't look like anything from the current Die Another Day's second disc is being carried over.

-Lyle J.P.

 

[Mark_TS]

>>im buying, screw SONY.
-----
I suppose you might have extrapolated that I meant screw SONY USA, as at least SONY UK have the mojos to release them NOW and with a region free player I WILL be watching them in a months time.

Personally, I have seen or heard no confirmation of a release date here in the US, or indeed if they are coming out on Standard DVD at all.
To SONY USA, this might be just the bait in their minds, to get folks to jump on the Blue Ray bandwagon.
But, if anyone knows differently, please speak up.

And yes, with all the paperwork and legal stuff to clear, the Bonds could be delayed for who knows how long-again, if they are coming out here at all(on standard DVD)

 

[RichardCrowther]

Confirmation from someone who has actually seen the UK discs that OHMSS and Licence To Kill are indeed fully uncut this time out:

http://www.zetaminor.com/dvd/dvdrevi...d_ultimate.htm

and also that the 1.66:1 discs really are 1.66:1, and not just cropped to 1.78:1, as last time.

 

[Ryan L. Bisasky]

so wait, i may have missunderstood the wording on the linked site, but do these versions contain more footage then the us pg13 version of licence to kill?

 

[RichardCrowther]

Yes.




dvdtimes is reporting that the R2 Octopussy and The Living Daylights Ultimate Editions are both missing their subtitle translations and captions, as the original R1 pressings did. Why these two films always seem to be affected in this way is puzzling in the extreme. One wonders whether, with only four weeks to go, Sony will spot their mistake, and re-press the discs.

:frowning:

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

All these really need now are their original one-sheet poster art covers and we're set!

 

[John H Ross]

Oh for God's sake, can't these people get ANYTHING right?? I'm sorry, but that's really pissed me off. And if they're fixed you know what we'll get? Yep, player-generated rubbish!

Let's hope they have time to fix the discs before they hit region 1 in November. Another reason to hold out...

JR

 

[RichardCrowther]

Agreed. :frowning:

dvdtimes also states that, oddly, whilst Tomorrow Never Dies and Die Another Day still retain their player-generated subtitles, The World is Not Enough now has burnt-in subtitles, as they should be. Given that the other two still have the old pg'ed captions, I find it odd that TWINE should now be released correct. I hope it is true, of course, but I shall wait for a second, independent source to confirm it, just in case, since it does sound unlikely in the extreme. No word yet as to the caption-status of Goldeneye. Live and Let Die retains it's original captions, as before.

So, of the six films to be affected by potential caption problems, two have been confirmed as having player-generated monstrosities, two have been confirmed as not having any at all when they should, one potentially has its burnt-in captions present and correct, and one we still don't know about. Add to that, the missing original audio mixes, and it's hardly a great score for Sony so far.

Still, they have provided correctly framed versions of the first three movies, and LTK and OHMSS are now uncut. So it could be worse.

 

[RichardCrowther]

First (R4) reviews are up:

http://www.michaeldvd.com.au/Reviews...ws.asp?ID=7052 (it might be an idea to ignore the bit about the ratio being wrong, since 1.66:1 is, of course, perfectly correct)


http://www.michaeldvd.com.au/Reviews...ws.asp?ID=7066


http://www.michaeldvd.com.au/Reviews...ws.asp?ID=7062

 

[Frank@N]

Incredible...

From my first viewing of the R1 FRWL DVD, I knew it was a total turkey transfer (dirty and incorrect OAR).

This Ultimate edition looks like the real deal, now we'll have to see how the R1 situation works out (price, release schedule, SD vs. HD).

 

[RichardCrowther]

Thunderball:

http://www.michaeldvd.com.au/Reviews...ws.asp?ID=7065

 

[John H Ross]

But for £200 (cheapest possible price so far) I expect something a little more than "it could be worse". I expect something close to definitive which these, no matter how great the picture, and how accurate the aspect ratio, are NOT since without the original captions they are NOT what was shown in cinemas!!!

I've posted a thread over in the main forum warning R1 to be on the lookout and, if the R2 discs are screwed up, to take action immediately.

John

 

[RichardCrowther]

Oh, I quite agree, but, unfortunately, I think it was almost inevitable that Sony, as with MGM before them, would put profits over artistic integrity, and use player-generated subtitles where they had the option to do so (I suspect the reason for Live and Let Die still retaining its burnt-in cpations is simply because no "clean" version exists for those shots, therefore Sony didn't have any choice in the matter, so I suppose we should be thankful for that, otherwise, that film would suffer, too). Since the first round of R1 releases also suffered in this regard, I honestly don't see the situation improving when they are released in the US, either. It is a disrespectful habit, however, and one that is far too widespread for its own good, and one that leads to far too many errors creeping in - missing captions, incorrect captions, etc., none of which would be a problem if things were just left alone. Similarly, remixing of soundtracks - this is fine if the original audio track is also provided but, again, it is a habit which can result in mistakes being made - missing sound effects, missing dialogue, incorrect levels resulting in dialogue being buried in the mix, etc. Picture clean up is all well and good (though even this can lead to errors being made if not handled with care), but if the other basics can't be achieved to an apppropriately respectful standard, it doesn't amount to much.

Let's hope that Goldeneye, at least, retains its original cpations.

We should also wait until we have at least one other confirmed corroboration that the films mentioned above are affected in the way that is described on dvdtimes. Who knows, maybe its just the advance copies that are marred by errors?


:frowning:

 

[rich_d]

First, thanks to everyone that linked reviews and screen captures.

Certainly the Dr. No screen capture I saw looked quite encouraging, with a lot more detail showing. And yes, there were other captures that look like they may have gone too soft, which is a concern.

But I'm not kidding myself, I'm going to be double dipping and buying the R1 single releases for the early Connery films and maybe a few more. I strongly doubt that I would buy or care to buy the full set (unless there is just an amazing price).

I'm not waiting for hi-def as that whole thing seems to be a house of cards with the wind coming up.

I also agree with so many others that the R2 cover art is amazingly weak. It just makes you wonder. I mean I know art is subjective but why do we have to be subjected to this?

I'm going R1, when it becomes available. I can wait a few more months. I believe that a film that was intended to run x number of minutes should run x minutes (if possible). However, I certainly don't want this thread turn into a PAL speedup thingy and congrats to those that have resisted doing just that.

 

[Mark_TS]

The FOX thing could delay, but as noted before-I wonder if SONY want to pull out the stops on Blue Ray and release the BONDs that way, either first, or exclusively (in R1)

 

[Douglas R]

Hardly. Why should they want to loose a fortune by not putting them out on the most popular DVD format.

 

[PeterTHX]

Looks like these are the same masters used for the HD marathon on the DISH network satellite broadcasts.

Not every film was run "cleaned up" by Lowry.


How does one "loose" a fortune? When it isn't tight?

(pet peeve: it's lose folks!)