Ultimate Edition dvd issues/changes

hegottheboot

These are just things that have come to mind as I've watched the Ultimate Editions of the series.

Firstly Goldeneye has been slightly cropped on all sides when compared to the last dvd. Some say it is "creative decision" others say it was an error. Does anyone know for sure? Also the color has been changed to a very moody template that fits the film much better (was this the original color?).

Thunderball is my other concern. For some reason the color has been darkened in most shots, and the different dialogue is used-on the UE we have "Now you can tell about the one that got away." instead of "Sorry old boy. Better luck next time." and the Thunderball cue at the end instead of the theme. Even the red water shot of Largo & Co. after Quist's death is now almost clear.

Why do people see the need to change creative decisions made by those who made the film in the first place?

hegottheboot

Another dangerous development has come to my attention...
OHMSS has had its entire pre-credits sequence darkened to a point where everything is a really deep blue. The entire notion of an early sunrise setting has been completely lost. Just compare the UE to the old SE DVD or VHS tape and see the difference.
And for some reason LALD has had much of the film grain present removed. This results in a definite softness. Several websites have reported that this was fixed for the new blu-ray, but I have my doubts (plus I'm not blu yet! 8-) )

Napoleon Plural

Oh that's an old one, hego'. I took my copy back and picked up a second hand version of the Special Edition of OHMSS instead. Some say they did it to make it more like the theatre release but I don't know. If you go on YouTube, someone has done a comparison of the two scenes.
I know what you mean about LALD, also the theme song didn't seem quite right either. On MR, the space station emerges somehow darker and bluer than I remembered, it's disappointing.

blueman

The blue tint tended to fade from film stock back in those days, sometimes drastically. The UEs seem to be trying to correct this, much to the consternation of some fans who've never seen the films in the original or near-original release when the blue tint was still as or close to as intended. If you don't care for the bluer UEs, go with the SEs. But I'm pretty sure as a general rule, bluer = more accurate.

hegottheboot

I can see that making sense. These supposedly go back to original intent, and we've gotten so used to our tapes over the years. However, there are some things that are just plain wrong-such as the red water shot in Thunderball, the cropping of Goldeneye, and the cropping of AVTAK's opening sequence. And is there any reason for TSWLM and LALD not having original audio? I know I'm nitpicking, but this is Bond.

Fatsnbul

This weekend on USA network's version of Thunderball, it was the "better luck next time" quote. All of a sudden I thought wasn't that the original line but I couldn't remember. Which one is the original? "Better luck" or "one that got away".

hegottheboot

The one I've always heard is "Sorry old boy, better luck next time.". That is from my 90's VHS tapes with the Bond theme heard over the end credits. On The UE DVD the line is "Now you can tell about the one that got away." with a Thunderball instrumental over the end credits. This would indicate that the UE is the original British release version and the other is the US version. The DVD has a featurette showing alternate lines that vary from version to version but doesn't go into any detail. Not sure why there are so many versions, but it may be a bit like the multitudes of sound mixes for Star Wars.
That airing was matted weird-didn't it have tiny letterbox bars instead of 2.35:1?

hegottheboot

The UE of Thunderball has "better luck next time" for the 5.1 upmix and "one that got away" for the original mono mix. Would it have been that difficult to have both mono versions? I think that in one of them the manta ray line is present-and one it isn't.

hegottheboot

Why does it seem that in some of the films that the color is just way off?

hegottheboot

Does anyone know if there is a way to get the original audio for TSWLM besides sourcing the LD or an old VHS tape? Also, does the Blu-ray for LALD have mono instead of the weird stereo on the UE DVD?