The NEW 4K James Bond/Sean Connery Collection

[Barry]

The 4K James Bond/Sean Connery Collection
 
 This week I got the 6 disc Sean Connery 4K steel box.  I have been waiting for this for 45 years! Frankly, this just terrific, top notch.
 
The box contains Dr. No, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, Diamonds Are Forever.  It leaves out On Her Majety’s Secret Service (the sixth Bond Movie with George Lazenby) and Connery’s Last Bond Movie, Never Say Never Again (Now owned by the Bond Producers, but originally produced by another company)
 
I have only seen the first three movies. The pictures are amazing, almost startling good. The colors are remarkable and the sharpness is too. I am incredibly surprised and happy. The images are in Dolby Vision and it shows. It is an incredible step up from the Blu Rays of a decade ago.  When a spider crawls up Bond’s arm, you see Bond’s hairs. The Beaches in Dr. No look great and so does Ursula Andress.
 
You are given a choice in sound, the original soundtrack or a Dolby True Audio 7.1. Both are really good. I used the Dolby because it sounded very good and filled up the room better.
 
There is NO printed listing of contents or formats.  However, the discs are full of bonus material and it seems most of it comes from the previous Blu-Ray releases. That will take time and effort for me to check out.
 
There is a “censored” part here that the producers took out of the original film.  About 50 minutes in, a bad guy, Dent, comes to assassinate Bond. Thinking Bond is in bed, he shots 6 times. Bond is behind him and when he tries to shot him again, Bond originally says, “You have a Smith and Wesson, you had your six shots, here’s mine.”  And Bond shoots him six times.
 
But in ALL home media, going back to 1980, Bond just says, “You have a Smith and Wesson, you had your six shots.” And Bond shoots him twice.
 
I should mention that in their theatrical run scenes were cut out of the five Daniel Craig movies, to get a lesser than “R” rating.  These scenes were restored in the 4K discs.
 
The boxes come with pictures on the cover, I put up the one from Dr. No. They also come with an envelop with a Certificate inside.
 
One little controversy:  In order not to have the “letterboxed, black bars” on the left and right sides, the camera zooms in a small bit, cutting out a bit of the top and bottom.  I never noticed this when watching, it looks perfect.  But I am sure there will be people complaining.
 
If you like the Bond films, these discs are the way to go. 18 months ago, I rated and reviewed the Bond films for us.  It’s at https://discuss.avscience.com/index.php?topic=4390.0
 

[Barry]

 I am putting this in as a separate kind of post.
 
In discussions of “Who was the best Bond?” Connery always wins, hands down.  And I enjoyed his movies the most.
 
But in a funny way, Connery was not the “best” Bond.  Thar was probably Timothy Dalton or Daniel Craig. Connery was the best Connery.
 
The James Bond of the books was not Sean Connery. First, Fleming said he looked like Hoagy Carmichael. Bond made 1,500 pounds a year back in 1952, with a 1,000 pound, tax free bonus, if he completes his missions.  One reason he went on missions is because he had an unlimited spending limit. Also, Great Britain was still under war rationing in the 1950s, so Bond had an older car not a “vintage” one. One thing Bond did not have was a sense of humor. Connery had a great one.
 
So he could NOT use the clothes he does in the movies. And, in fact, Dalton, made a point of this in his movies.
 
So at the Beginning of Dr. No, Bond is a member of an expensive club, with a casino, appearing in a tux, and betting a fortune.  He then tells us his name is “Bond, James Bond.” It is all very glamorous. But in the VERY FIRST paragraph of the very first BOND NOVEL, Fleming writes: "The scent and smoke and sweat of a casino are nauseating at three in the morning. Then the soul erosion produced by high gambling – a compost of greed and fear and nervous tension – becomes unbearable and the senses awake and revolt from it."
 
The movie Bond was created by Connery, of course, but hugely by the director, Terance Young, and Jack Whittingham, who wrote the actual first Bond screenplay which became Thunderball.
 
Fleming did say to the producers, “I like your Bond more than mine.”
 
Perce Bronson was the best “Connery” replacement.  Roger Moore though Bond to be more of a super-hero.  But Dalton especially returned to the books. Bond, today, has to be non-smoking (In the books he smoked 60 cigarettes a day), drink less (He drank a half a bottle a day) and treat women better. Daniel Craig did a fine job as a  21^st century Bond.

[David Vaughn]

I've been going through the films and plan on having a review out next week sometime. So much to watch in one week. Thanks for chiming in Barry!

[Barry]

I've been going through the films and plan on having a review out next week sometime. So much to watch in one week. Thanks for chiming in Barry!

I can’t wait for your review! I hope we agree, but it’s always fun even if we don’t. Isn’t that right Kemosabe?

I put mine up now because I thought many people might be considering getting these discs. But I didn’t wanna rush myself either and I am going to put off watching the other movies for a few days maybe a week or two. I didn’t wanna rush. But boy am I enjoying what I am seeing.

 I saw a Goldfinger on TV, when it was first broadcast on ABC. It was a pan and scan picture, interrupted by commercials, edited for television, and nothing like the movie experience. Welive in a different world now.

[AVSCraig]

I've got my set arriving tomorrow. As for the " One little controversy:  In order not to have the “letterboxed, black bars” on the left and right sides, the camera zooms in a small bit, cutting out a bit of the top and bottom.  I never noticed this when watching, it looks perfect.  But I am sure there will be people complaining " - 

"Dr. No was shot by cinematographer Ted Moore (A Man for All Seasons, Goldfinger, Clash of the Titans) on 35 mm film (specifically Eastman 50T 5250) using Mitchell BNC cameras with spherical lenses. It was finished photochemically with an intended aspect ratio of 1.75:1, though it was exhibited theatrically in the UK framed at 1.66 and in the US at 1.85. For its first ever disc release on Ultra HD, MGM commissioned a new 4K scan of the original camera negatives (I’ve confirmed this with WBDHE—the work was apparently done in 2024). Extensive digital remastering was completed as well and the image was graded for high dynamic range (compatible with both Dolby Vision and HDR10). The film is persented here at the originally intended ratio of 1.75 and it’s been encoded for maximum data rates on a 100GB disc. (The video rate alone averages around 70 Mbps with peaks of over 100 Mbps.)"

007: Sean Connery 6-Film Collection (4K UHD Review)

[bmoney]

Now you e got me itching to watch classic bond films

[Paul Heroy]

I've got the previous 50th anniversary, 23 film Blu-ray box. It was fun going back and watching some of the old movies until - as much as she likes Connery - my wife rebelled at the blatant sexism. So we skipped ahead to another of her faves, Pierce Brosnan. Then watched the Dalton ones. I never liked Moore so we skipped those too even though I suppose some are considered good. 

I may have to wait for a deal on the 4K versions, they sound definitive but I'm at the point of having to get rid of stuff for space to store any new physical media!

[David Vaughn]

I've got the previous 50th anniversary, 23 film Blu-ray box. It was fun going back and watching some of the old movies until - as much as she likes Connery - my wife rebelled at the blatant sexism. So we skipped ahead to another of her faves, Pierce Brosnan. Then watched the Dalton ones. I never liked Moore so we skipped those too even though I suppose some are considered good.

I may have to wait for a deal on the 4K versions, they sound definitive but I'm at the point of having to get rid of stuff for space to store any new physical media!

The sexism is off the charts. In fact, it's quite humorous (even my wife laughed). In Goldfinger, SC slaps his lady on the rear end and says "time for you to go, it's man talk time" (or something to that effect). My wife and I both LOL'd. I joked with her I'd try that the next time we have friends over--she warned me that it wouldn't end well for me if I tried