Which Bond looks best on Blu ray?

ZorinIndustries

After watching Bond on Bluray, which one looks the best? FYEO and GF are fantastic.

Blackleiter

Ummm....you sure you want to go there?

ZorinIndustries

The topic has been changed for those who are confused by Blackleiter's comment.

Blackleiter

Thanks for clearing that up. Folks are often confused by my comments! )

And I agree, Goldfinger looks striking on Blu ray.

ZorinIndustries wrote:

The topic has been changed for those who are confused by Blackleiter's comment.

Mr Beech

I actually thought Dr. No looked sharper and had a nicer color to it than any of the other Connery era films. I was rather shocked by how gorgeous the outdoor scenery showed up in several scenes.

Casino Royale, however, looks remarkably sharp and lushly colored as well.

toddthatcher

boy, most of them look incredible. Was really struck by Dr. No and also Spy Who Loved Me. On the other hand, I'm watching Goldeneye right now and a little under whelmed. Not sure if it's a transfer problem or what

ZorinIndustries

toddthatcher wrote:

boy, most of them look incredible. Was really struck by Dr. No and also Spy Who Loved Me. On the other hand, I'm watching Goldeneye right now and a little under whelmed. Not sure if it's a transfer problem or what

I noticed that too... actually for LTK and TND as well. They all look mediocre compared to the DVDs. However, almost all of the others are much improved! The colors in FYEO stand out so rich and pure.

toddthatcher

i'm glad it's just not me then because I immediately noticed with Goldeneye. Haven't gotten to TND yet or the other Brosnans.

ZorinIndustries

toddthatcher wrote:

boy, most of them look incredible. Was really struck by Dr. No and also Spy Who Loved Me. On the other hand, I'm watching Goldeneye right now and a little under whelmed. Not sure if it's a transfer problem or what

I noticed that too... actually for LTK and TND as well. They all look mediocre compared to the DVDs. However, almost all of the others are much improved!

ZorinIndustries

toddthatcher wrote:

i'm glad it's just not me then because I immediately noticed with Goldeneye. Haven't gotten to TND yet or the other Brosnans.

TWINE looked very nice, especially during the Parahawk chase and caviar factory.

Theundeadkennedy

I actually thought Goldfinger looked the worst. Over processing made the depth of field look like most of the film was shot in front of a green screen.

I'm not a huge fan of most of the Moore era, but I think his films got the most out of their Blu Ray transfers. I thought Octopussy was gorgeous.

Mr Beech

Theundeadkennedy wrote:

I actually thought Goldfinger looked the worst. Over processing made the depth of field look like most of the film was shot in front of a green screen.

I'm not a huge fan of most of the Moore era, but I think his films got the most out of their Blu Ray transfers. I thought Octopussy was gorgeous.

I agree. As far as a Bond era goes, Moore's has the most consistently clear transfers on Blu-Ray to my eyes.

Firemass

This customer review on amazon lists some notes for each blu ray disc.

http://www.amazon.com/Bond-50-Complete-Collection-Blu-ray/dp/B006U1J5ZY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358464280&sr=8-1&keywords=bond+blu+ray

Just some notes on the various blu-rays. This could have and should have been a perfect set, but it's not. MGM doesn't care..they know you'll buy anyway...

Dr. No - Overall nice quality blu-ray. Colors have been driven more towards naturalistic than originally done
From Russia With Love - Overall nice quality blu-ray. Colors have been driven more towards naturalistic than originally done

Goldfinger - The gold is gone. Why screw with the color? The scene where she's painted gold has lost its golden touch and has been moved towards a more natural color. Yes, she's gold, but the original scene had a golden tint all around

Thunderball - Some color changes and slight damage, DNR, fake grain

You Only Live Twice - Original colors are lost and it's largely brown.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service - Contrast boosted way too much. Also, original colors are lost and it's largely brown. Audio issues on both the mono (Muffled in spots) and remix.

Diamonds Are forever - Changes in color and lack of detail. Original colors are lost--it's lost its "glimmer" and is largely brown now. Desaturated. Also, the scene where a cigarette is put out in Bond's chest isn't supposed to show the ashtray until he stands up, as seen in the original theatrical prints--the scene is supposed to be much darker

Live and Let Die - Okay blu-ray
The Man with the Golden Gun - Okay blu-ray, colors off
The Spy Who Loved Me - Excellent blu-ray
Moonraker - slightly squeezed and window-boxed main title sequence, okay otherwise

For Your Eyes Only - Fine blu-ray

Octopussy - Excessive edge enhancement

A View to a Kill - Image is misframed/cropped. Also, during an earthquake scene, the image/camera was supposed to shake. Lowry stabilized the image so that it doesn't shake anymore--poor attention to what they were doing. Too much DNR.

The Living Daylights - Excellent blu-ray.
Licence to Kill - Decent blu-ray

Goldeneye - Extreme use of DNR takes away the film grain, and therefore the detail contained within the grain. MGM used an old, outdated master from a few years ago. Think of how bad the original release of Patton looked... the line "You were expecting someone else?" missing from trailer

Tomorrow Never Dies - Excellent blu-ray
The World is Not Enough - Excellent blu-ray
Die Another Day - Excellent blu-ray

Casino Royale - Excellent blu-ray, but it's the North American edited version, not the uncut version

Quantum of Solace - Excellent blu-ray

DelicatessenInSteel

Moonraker is the most beautiful looking on Bluray, I think when way larger tv's are the norm, that movies rep will move up considerably.

MooseWithFleas

I agree that Moonraker looks stunning on Blu-Ray. TSWLM also looks incredible. Seeing these films restored for Blu-Ray format makes it seem like a spectacle all over again.

OHMSS also looked very good to me. Skiing scenes were already breathtaking enough!

Richard--W

Dr. No and From Russia With Love look over-scrubbed, but I'm pleasantly surprised at how well-defined, clean and sharp the transfers are. I would have preferred less DNR, but I know how dirty and damaged those old 35mm dye-transfer prints were. I'm impressed with those restorations more than any other.

ToTheRight

Frankly, having seen a few reasonably clean 35mm prints of some of the early films recently , I'd say the closest color timing to the originals was the old CBS/Fox VHS editions from the mid 80s. The Blu rays I've seen, although crisp, some don't really look like it would in the cinemas.

Absolutely_Cart

Octopussy.

walther p99

Skyfall easily

chrisisall

I've gotten a lot of Bonds on Blu Ray now, and the two that shocked me in how good they look are DN & FRWL. The worst looking is GE, but even THAT beats the DVD by some distance. -{

Matt S

chrisisall wrote:

I've gotten a lot of Bonds on Blu Ray now, and the two that shocked me in how good they look are DN & FRWL. The worst looking is GE, but even THAT beats the DVD by some distance. -{

I'm watching GE right now, and you're right that it doesn't look all that impressive. It looks no better than it did when I first rented the VHS in 1996.

chrisisall

Matt S wrote:

I'm watching GE right now, and you're right that it doesn't look all that impressive. It looks no better than it did when I first rented the VHS in 1996.

Well, the one thing that pops in the BD is the colours. For that alone I love it.

Agent Lee

Watched TB on Bly Ray last week and I thought it looked fantastic. All the underwater scenes and the great interior set design in that movie really sparkled.

Agent Purple

TB does look sweet on Blu-Ray, as does AVTAK.

GE looks good enough on Blu-Ray, but not too special.

chrisisall

Agent Purple wrote:

GE looks good enough on Blu-Ray, but not too special.

Brosnan's others look fantastic though, especially TND & TWINE.

am747

All the films that I have seen on BD, including the ones from 60s and 70s, look good .... At times, it is easier to spot the stuntman

Jag

The stuntman in AVTAK is the most obvious!

Willard Whyte

Are the blu ray versions faithful to how the films looked at the cinema ?

Is the BR version of Casino Royale the proper version seen at the cinema ?

Agent Purple

L&LD and OHMSS look great on BR.

chrisisall

Willard Whyte wrote:

Are the blu ray versions faithful to how the films looked at the cinema ?

No, in many cases they exceed the theatrical experience. The DVD's are closer to it.

superado

For thier 57th anniversary, my sister gave my parents a new 60" screen TV so I tell him, you should watch some Bond Blu-rays on it and I go and loan him my collection. So, this man who introduced me to Bond, from the generation that the Bond series was introduced to and for which the coolness factor and the "oohs and ahhs" appeal of Connery's 007 was tailor-made for...pops in TND! )