James Bond Collection [Blu-ray] [2017]

Product Information

The Ultimate Bond Collection Set on Blu-Ray was released in November 2017 and consists of all 24 James Bond films On Blu-ray. When it comes to iconic film characters, you'd be hard-pressed to find one as well known and loved as James Bond. I recently read an article that mentioned that James Bond and his code name 007 have a 97% world-wide awareness among consumers. That's a pretty startling number that most corporations would kill for. It is also an amazing statistic considering the character's humble origins as the subject of a series of pulp novels from English writer Sir Ian Fleming. As Britain's most famous export, Bond has been revered for half a century around the world. Today, his popularity is at an all-time high. Now that " Quantum of Solace is in theaters, Fox and MGM felt that now would be a great occasion to release a new collection of Bond classics on Blu-ray. Featuring Dr. No, Live and Let Die and Die Another Day what follows is the first volume of what should prove to be a steady stream of Bond classics.

The Complete Special Features Library: Mission Dossier" - Audio Commentary -Featuring Director Terence Young and Members of the Cast and Crew All the Bond films are gathered together in this one-of-a-kind boxed set– every gorgeous girl, nefarious villain and charismatic star from Sean Conneryto Daniel Craig. Experience BOND with this fitting tribute to the most iconic and enduring secret agent in movie history.Roger Moore lends humour, elegance and lethal charm to his final performance as James Bond in A View to a Kill. Bond confronts Max Zorin (Christopher Walken), who has devised a plan to corner the world's microchip market, even if he has to kill millions to do it! But before Bond can stop the madman, he must confront Zorin's beautiful and deadly companion, May Day (Grace Jones). Daniel Craig stars as the latest incarnation of James Bond in the 21st instalment of the franchise. Based on one of the original Ian Fleming novels, the story follows a young Bond at the beginning of his career having just received his double-0 status. For his latest mission, 007 travels to Montenegro to investigate the highly exclusive Casino Royale where Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), a money man for an international terrorist group, is raising funds for their misdeeds through high-stakes gambling. The rookie MI6 agent, aided by British Treasury agent Vesper Lynd (Eva Green), is tasked with infiltrating the group and ultimately defeating the rogue player, both on and off the tables.

Having seen the majority of these special features on DVD, there weren't any real surprises on this Blu-ray release. I particularly enjoyed the Terence Young featurette that focuses on the director's work within the Bond franchise as well as the fun and informative the Guns of James Bond feature. My favorite feature, however, was the "License to Restore" featurette that documents the painstaking Lowry restoration process that was applied to the film. But (and this is a key point) missing from this Bonus Disc are the 6 Skyfall Video Blog featurettes that were included on the Bond 50 set’s Bonus Disc. Presumably, they were omitted for disc space reasons, but it’s a real shame to lose them (note that they have not been added to the Skyfall BD in this set). It’s also worth nothing that this set continues to omit a some of the legacy Die Another Day DVD features (listed here in our previous Blu-ray review)and some of the 2-disc Casino Royale: Collector’s Edition Blu-ray features (listed here), which means this set isn’t truly the “ultimate” box it claims to be. Still not sure if you should upgrade your old Bond DVDs for the new versions? Well here's 7 more reasons why you might want to add the James Bond Ultimate Editions Boxset to your collection. The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) - Nobody does it better than Bond, and he proves it once more in this explosively entertaining adventure that takes him from the Egyptian pyramids to the ocean floor and to a gravity-defying mountaintop ski chase. Roger Moore brings inimitable style to Agent 7 as he teams with beautiful Russian agent Anya Amasova (Barbara Bach) to stop the megalomaniac Stromberg (Curt Jurgens) from unleashing a horrific scheme for world domination.

Die Another Day (22) - James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) pulls out all the stops to take you on an unforgettable, adrenaline-pumping ride across the globe in this action-filled adventure. From a dark cell in a North Korean prison to the beautiful beaches of Cuba, 7 is on the trail of a diabolical genius who’s hell-bent on slicing up the Earth literally. Dr. No (1962), From Russia With Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967), On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Live and Let Die (1973), The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Moonraker (1979), For Your Eyes Only (1981), Octopussy (1983), A View to a Kill (1985), The Living Daylights (1987), Licence To Kill (1989), Goldeneye (1995), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The World is Not Enough (1999), Die Another Day (2002), Casino Royale (2006), Quantum Of Solace (2008), Skyfall (2012), (space reserved for Spectre DVD 2015). Dr. No (1962), From Russia With Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967), On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Live and Let Die (1973), The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Moonraker (1979), For Your Eyes Only (1981), Octopussy (1983), A View to a Kill (1985), The Living Daylights (1987), Licence To Kill (1989), Goldeneye (1995), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The World is Not Enough (1999), Die Another Day (2002), Casino Royale (2006), Quantum Of Solace (2008), Skyfall (2012), (space reserved for Spectre Blu-ray 2015). Dr. No (1962), From Russia With Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967), On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Live and Let Die (1973), The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Moonraker (1979), For Your Eyes Only (1981), Octopussy (1983), A View to a Kill (1985), The Living Daylights (1987), Licence To Kill (1989), Goldeneye (1995), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The World is Not Enough (1999), Die Another Day (2002), Casino Royale (2006), Quantum Of Solace (2008).

Also newly-produced for this set (and included here) are The Shadow of SPECTRE (8:41) and The Story So Far (10:22) featurettes. In the first, current Bond screenwriters Robert Wade and Neil Purvis discuss all the Bond films in which SPECTRE has played a role and talk about the organization itself. In the second, they run down a basic plot summary of the Daniel Craig Bond films thus far. Both featurettes are obviously designed to catch people up in time for the new film. The man formerly known as Simon Templar in The Saint took the unenviable task of stepping into Connery's gritty shoes but gradually won over many with his own brand of suave charm. The longest running 007 with a total of 7 films including Live and Let Die which stands up as one of the best Bond movies to date. Being Bond (HD, 3 min.) – This promotional featurette assembles vintage interview clips with each of the six actors that have played the Bond role. There's not much depth to it. Anyone who owns (or has seen) Fox’sprevious Bond 50 Blu-ray collection might reasonably ask: “What could Fox possibly add to a new Blu-ray box set that we don’t already have?” This review will attempt to answer that question for you. Top Level Access 007: License to Restore" – Featurette Detailing the Bond Ultimate Edition Film Restoration ProcessEach Bond film has its own DVD so that’s 23 in total or 24 once you buy the Spectre DVD when it comes out in 2016. Because the James Bond franchise is its crown jewel, MGM went all-out to load up the 2006 Ultimate Edition DVDs with multiple audio commentaries, documentaries, vintage footage and more. The studio not only ported all of that content to Blu-ray, but in many cases added even more. Wading through these many hours of extras will be the most time-consuming portion of this review process. The 'Bond 50' box set also includes an exclusive bonus disc not available separately. I wish that the content on it was a little more substantial. His name is Bond, James Bond, and here, in his explosive film debut, Ian Fleming's immortal action hero blazes through one of his most spectacular adventures. Sean Connery embodies the suave yet lethal cool of agent 007 as he battles the mysterious Dr. No, a scientific genius bent on destroying the U.S. space programme. In addition to the above, the 1967 ' Casino Royale' parody and the 1983 ' Never Say Never Again' were also licensed from author Ian Fleming's writings and both legally use the James Bond name. However, because these movies were made without the involvement of EON Productions (gatekeepers of the Bond film franchise), they're not part of the official canon and are not included in this box set, even though they're also already available on Blu-ray from MGM.