Anyone bought the new James Bond releases

paulst10 · 20-12-2008, 12:08 PM

I have been considering purchasing the Bluray versions, but at triple the price of the DVD's, I am not sure they are worth the extra ££ as I was planning on buying between 10 - 15 of them

So, has anyone purchased the new 2 disk DVD releases ? can anyone comment on picture quality (assuming they have been re-mastered) ?

These versions .. Play.com (UK) - Free Delivery - DVD - Bond movies only £4.99 each..

Alan Paterson · 20-12-2008, 1:19 PM

I believe the masters used for the new standard definition discs are the same ones used for the Ultimate Editions. I have some of the Ultimate Editions and while the quality is very good (ie noticeably better than previous editions), they are nowhere near as good as the Blu-rays.
In my opinion, the Blu-rays are worth the extra money. The only exception would be 'Thunderball' which does not look as good as all the other Blu-rays.
'Dr No' looks amazing in quality and detail. It shows what can be done in Hi-Def re-mastering, given the right amount of time and money.
Alan

paulst10 · 20-12-2008, 1:46 PM

Thanks, are all the Bond movies out on Bluray now ? I thought were being released in stages ?

The other reason for opting for the DVD's are, I occasionally like to watch the documentarys etc! with no surround sound, so I have the DVD player direct to screen via HDMI and my Bluray players are both routed through the amp

IAN P · 20-12-2008, 2:16 PM

There are 7 out of the 22 available now and seeing as you have a US PS3 i would import them.

Now don't take this as gospel but the US discs supposedly have the original mono tracks,whereas the UK discs don't.

You may have to double check that.

Alan Paterson · 20-12-2008, 2:16 PM

Only 6 Bond movies have been released on Blu-ray so far. When I said 'Thunderball' wasn't as good as the others, I obviously meant the other titles that have been released on Blu-ray.
Anyway, sounds like you're set on buying the SDs.
"A man oughta do what he thinks right."
Name the movie.
Alan

paulst10 · 20-12-2008, 2:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IAN P

There are 13 out of the 22 available now and seeing as you have a US PS3 i would import them.

Now don't take this as gospel but the US discs supposedly have the original mono tracks,whereas the UK discs don't.

You may have to double check that.

Yes, I noticed a few are £10.99 on MT

I heard the US do have the mono track, but I am not sure I would ever use it

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cougar

Only 6 Bond movies have been released on Blu-ray so far. When I said 'Thunderball' wasn't as good as the others, I obviously meant the other titles that have been released on Blu-ray.
Anyway, sounds like you're set on buying the SDs.
"A man oughta do what he thinks right."
Name the movie.
Alan

I am still undecided so I have put a wanted ad up in the classifieds for the Blurays as upon reading a few reviews they do seem to be a worthy upgrade over the SD versions

Alan Paterson · 20-12-2008, 2:24 PM

Oops!
7 Bond films are on Blu if you include 'Casino Royale'
I'm sure someone would have pointed this out.
Alan

IAN P · 20-12-2008, 2:25 PM

i thought the second wave were already out.

Goooner · 20-12-2008, 8:11 PM

Nope, second wave I think is March or April, probaly to coincide with a QoS DVD/BD release.

Geoff_D · 20-12-2008, 10:06 PM

Paul, the Blu-rays are excellent. To reiterate what Cougar said, Dr. No looks astonishingly good.

mattrixdesign2 · 21-12-2008, 8:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cougar

I believe the masters used for the new standard definition discs are the same ones used for the Ultimate Editions.

I have several of the DVD Ultimate Editions(the previous release) and the quality of these is brilliant, perhaps some of the best PQ for "old" movies on DVD. They are refereshing to watch, some look like the were made yesterday! Excellent restoration work, which should show up on BD also.

I can not comment on the BDs, other than Casino Royale, which looks fab. I just find the prices for Bonds BDs to be way out of my league, when I saw the price for the box set I thought it was for all the movies, then I realised it was only for 5 or 6!!! - I very rarely pay over a tenner for a disc.

paulst10 · 21-12-2008, 1:22 PM

Thanks for the info

But, I have started ordering some of the DVD's from Play, while the Bluray are no doubt very good quality, they are not movies I could really justify buying on Bluray, probably would not watch over and over again and I am also trying to keep my Bluray collection relatively small and within a certain genre (action/adventure/sc-fi etc! with a few exceptions) so do not really want the entire Bond collection in there as well

Also, since buying the Oppo, my DVD collection has been given a new lease of life, and picture quality has never looked better