Help! Which Bond dvd collection?

Comments

• fire_and_ice

  November 2012 edited November 2012 Posts: 6,432

  the James bond ultimate edition is a great bond box set on dvd.
  
  there is a dvd version of 50th box set. i have not viewed the content though i think it is likely the blu ray version will have content on it that dvd won't have.
• SJK91

  November 2012 Posts: 1,310

  Unfortunately, there are no special features on the Bond 50 DVD set.
  
  If you are getting the DVDs, I would hunt down the older 2-disc Ultimate Edition DVDs. Here's an example:
  
  http://www.amazon.com/James-Bond-Ultimate-Edition-Goldfinger/dp/B00000BLFI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352852073&sr=8-1&keywords=james+bond+ultimate+edition
  
  Make sure you get the 2-disc editions, as the single disc editions are without bonus features.
• Libera

  November 2012 Posts: 12

  Thanks for the info, seems bizarre that the latest 50 bond set would have nothing on it.??
• acoppola London Ealing not far from where Bob Simmons lived

  November 2012 Posts: 1,243

  I would buy the special editions which came out before the Ultimate. They have the same special features and there is less revisionism. Lowry applied a lot of DNR to the UE'S. And Goldeneye is cropped.
• Libera

  November 2012 Posts: 12

  Thanks for the advice, is the picture quality too messed with then? I thought Lowry done a good job?
• SJK91

  November 2012 edited November 2012 Posts: 1,310

  It really depends on how much you care about the picture quality and preserving the original feel of the older films. The special editions are still great DVDs, but the older films have considerable grain and other artifacts typically present in films of that era. It's not necessarily a bad thing, mind you, but it is just a different presentation.
  
  Personally, I believe that Lowry did a fantastic job for the restorations on the Ultimate Editions and would recommend those over the special editions, but that's just me.
• acoppola London Ealing not far from where Bob Simmons lived

  November 2012 edited November 2012 Posts: 1,243

  Libera wrote:

  Thanks for the advice, is the picture quality too messed with then? I thought Lowry done a good job?

  
  
  Lowry have a program they use that tries to make the film grain look even throughout. The problem is that some Bond films were shot using different film stock in the same movie. And that can make some scenes look odd.
  
  As for the Blu Ray. Some were 4k transfers and some were 2k. And the sound mixes are different on some of the UE's to the original film. Some effects are not as they were in the original films.
  
  I have both the SE and some UE's. If you have a good quality DVD player that upscales well, then I recommend the SE'S.
  
  Goldeneye being cropped means on the UE you are getting the wrong aspect ratio.
  
  You can buy a good Blu Ray player like the Sony BDP S790 that upscales DVD real good.
  
  And the SE's feel more like film in the sense of the imperfections in the print which I like. I don't remember seeing prisitne prints of Bond in the cinema and I loved it.
  
  I prefer my SE of TND to the UE. And the colour timing is different which I do not like in some of the UE's.
  
  OHMSS is better on the SE as is TLD to name a few. And DAF as well as TMWTGG looks better to me. I am not a fan of them making the old Bond films look like too new.
  
  
• acoppola London Ealing not far from where Bob Simmons lived

  November 2012 Posts: 1,243

  SJK91 wrote:

  It really depends on how much you care about the picture quality and preserving the original feel of the older films. The special editions are still great DVDs, but the older films have considerable grain and other artifacts typically present in films of that era. It's not necessarily a bad thing, mind you, but it is just a different presentation.
  
  Personally, I believe that Lowry did a fantastic job for the restorations on the Ultimate Editions and would recommend those over the special editions, but that's just me.

  
  Grain is a good thing. It makes up the picture and sometimes removing it with DNR makes the picture look more like video than film. Grain removal means detail loss and waxier faces.