Bond On Blu-ray: Wave 2 – Five New Entries
I have two suggestions out of the five recent releases
Finally, we come to the latest installment in the James Bond franchise, Quantum of Solace, a Bond film that didn't exactly receive a resounding applause from all corners, but I personally believe it is much better than Casino Royale, especially in terms of rewatchability. However, I have said just about everything I could ever think of saying about this film already.
I gave the film a "B+" in my review. Here's a snippet from the opening in which I compare it to Casino Royale:
Both have a comparable amount of action, but Quantum of Solace isn’t as interested in over developing its story thus removing nearly 45 minutes of Royale’s running time, a move I applaud and welcome. As good as Casino Royale was the first time around, it does not hold up as well on repeated viewings due to a story that is far more bloated than it need be. Quantum has no such problem as action set pieces are the story and they are quite fun to watch.
Then I took some time to examine the negative reviews which includes comments from Roger Ebert saying, "James Bond is not an action hero! Leave the action to your Jason Bournes. This is a swampy old world. The deeper we sink in, the more we need James Bond to stand above it." Again, I'll defer to my own original commentary:
It plays very similar to an Empire Strikes Back in the middle of a trilogy. There is an obvious attempt to set up a SPECTRE-like global crime organization that could be unraveled in the 23rd Bond film or set in action for several films to come. Fortunately, none of the downer, middle-of-the-road reviews kept audiences away as the film opened to a franchise record $70+ million and could become the first film in franchise history to approach, and possible exceed, the $200 million mark domestically.
The film actually went on to make $168 million domestically, which barely places it at the top of the Bond franchise list, edging out Casino Royale by less than a million dollars. Royale, however, still holds the worldwide Bond record.
As for this Blu-ray release, the film itself is as impressive as it gets. I can't imagine this looks any different than its theatrical presentation with a solid preservation of film grain, deep blacks and an emphasis on the impressive cinematography by Roberto Schaefer. However, the special features are more-or-less garbage.
The only feature worth a moment of your time is the 25-minute "Bond on Location" featurette, which even still is over produced and feels as if it was made for television and I wouldn't be surprised if actually had aired somewhere prior to the film's release. The rest of the featurettes are all around 3 minutes long and were previously seen online during promotion of the film. Other than that you get the music video of the new Bond theme song "Another Way to Die" by Alicia Keys and Jack White and teaser and theatrical trailers.
Despite the lack of supplements and absence of a commentary, which I can only assume will come when Fox gets around to releasing a special edition version, I think this is a solid buy, but only because I love the film so much. This, of course, means if you were so-so on the film and were looking to benefit from solid supplemental material you may want to hold off because this is not what you are looking for. How Fox decided to release a Bond Blu-ray without a single Blu-ray exclusive feature taking advantage of the media is beyond me. How do studios expect to get consumers to buy these things for an increased price if they don't give them added incentive?
In summary, if you have stayed with me for this long (congratulations on that), of the five new Bond titles I would say only Goldfinger and Quantum of Solace are worth adding to your collection. I am sure completists will be torn on which way to go with the lesser titles, and I feel for you being a completist myself, but when it comes to Moonraker and The World is Not Enough, if you already own them do you really need them in high-definition? As for Never Say Never Again I can see picking that one up considering it does hold a little place in Bond and film history, but still, how many times are you really going to watch it?
To buy any of the titles mentioned here you can click here and take your pick.
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it may be to late now but bust buy was selling Quantum of Solace in a bluray 3-pack
with licence to kill and the man with the golden gun. licence was my first introduction to Dalton's bond and i have to say i am a Dalton fan but never really saw him as a bond but he did not dissapoint me in the slightist. And i must agree with you on the Rodger morre aspect, having never seen Lazenbury's bond, Moore is my least favorite. but ironically the man with the golden gun is a favorite of mine, perhapes it was Christopher lee but i always find his assistant stuck in my memory as an essential Bond Villian, up there with jaws and odd job.
Looking at Roger Moore Bond films…Live and Let Die was the best, The Spy Who Loved Me and A View to a Kill where good. Octopussy and Moonraker where the worst. I don't really remember For Your Eyes Only or Man With the Golden Gun so they must not stick out one way or another.
pierce brosnan is the best and great james Bond…..more power pierce!
When will Braveheart be released on Blu-Ray?
The next two Bonds on Blu ray are Licence To Kill from 1989, and The Man With With The Golden Gun from 1974. When will You Only Live Twice from 1967, be released on Blu ray? I want to see Bond in Japan in HD!
Forgot to say this but LTK and TMWTGG are going to be released on May. 12.