In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the theatrical release of the first James Bond movie — “Dr. No,” in October 1962 — and on the eve of the end of the second longest drought between theatrical releases (“Skyfall” opens Nov. 9, the first since “Quantum of Solace” in 2008), MGM Home Entertainment has released all 22 official 007 movies in a “Bond 50” Blu-ray collection ($299 SRP) that offers many of the episodes for the first time in HiDef.
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The films look even more stunning here than you may remember, which is the primary pleasure of a set like this. It’s pure delight to revisit the best movies in the series in this way – all six movies starring original Bond actor Sean Connery, and one by each of the other five actors, George Lazenby in “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service,” Roger Moore in “For Your Eyes Only,” Timothy Dalton in “The Living Daylights,” Pierce Brosnan in “Tomorrow Never Dies,” and Daniel Craig in “Casino Royale.”
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You may also find surprising appeal in some installments not generally regarded well, such as “Quantum” and “Licence to Kill.”
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The packaging is glossy and eye-catching with all six Bond actors posed on the cover of the sleeve that envelopes two books filled with pages featuring a color photo of the primary Bond girl of each movie standing next to each of 22 disc slots. (The two slots of the last page feature the bonus disc and a slot reserved for the disc of the upcoming “Skyfall” – meantime, you can fill the slot with the unofficial terrific Connery episode “Never Say Never Again,” not included here since it was not produced by the official EON Productions).
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The hours of bonus features are top notch. In addition to the terrific array of extras on the disc of each movie (though not always all the extras included with previous DVD and Blu-ray versions of each film – and still no inclusion of the British extended cut of the Brosnan/Halle Berry sex scene in “Die Another Day” mentioned specifically in the audio commentary by the producer and director), a separate new disc of bonus features offers a fun array of fast-paced highlights and retrospectives.
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Perhaps the most rewarding is a collection of the title sequences from all 22 films played back-to-back, which offers an easy-to-view comparison of the evolution of the iconic opening credits, usually with exotic images and mostly nude women set to memorable theme songs. In this context, it is apparent that of all the top singers and bands that have performed James Bond songs – Paul McCartney and Wings, Madonna, Tom Jones, Alicia Keys, Nancy Sinata, and many others – only singer Sheena Easton appears in a title sequence, “For Your Eyes Only,” released at the height of the music video craze in 1981.
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Everyone will enjoy “The World of Bond,” featuring 1-min to 3-min highlight packages of cleverly edited montages of the half-century of cars, women, villains, and gadgets featured in 007 movies.
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The feature “Being Bond” offers remarkably candid interviews with one-time 007 actor Lazenby during which he describes what led to his dismissal – his refusal to shave his beard and cut his long hair, which led producers to cancel the U.S. promotional tour and spark Lazenby to coordinate his own media appearances. Brief interviews with all the other actors include one with Moore, who has previously stated he believes Connery was the best 007 actor, in which he admits he, Moore, could never pull off credibility as a cold-hearted killer.
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Ten minutes of “Skyfall” video blogs offer enticing interviews and behind-the-scenes footage of the newest Bond film.
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If for no other reason than the HiDef Blu-rays of each film, “Bond 50” is must-own set for any 007 fan, but fortunately there are many additional reasons to justify the purchase.
— By Scott Hettrick