Another new Bond movie (Quantum of Solace), another home video rollout of the Bond films that will leave fans stirred if not downright shaken, since this is James' debut in Blu. James Bond Blu-ray, Volume One compiles three titles, including Dr. No (1962), which introduced secret agent 007 to movie audiences and made an international superstar of its leading man, journeyman actor Sean Connery. Modestly produced and disarmingly straightforward, the series opener establishes Bond as a suave but ruthless spy (at one point he cold-bloodedly kills a disarmed adversary). Ursula Andress, the first Bond girl, can't act her way out of a paper bag, but fetchingly fills out her teeny-weeny bikini. In Live and Let Die (1973), Roger Moore takes the mantle from Connery and plays the part straight (which he would be less prone to do in subsequent series installments), as Bond tackles the drug-dealing dictator of a small Caribbean island and woos luscious young Jane Seymour. The lesser film in this set is Die Another Day (2002), which marks Pierce Brosnan's swan song, while giving him a capable counterpart in Halle Berry, whose character was so well received that producers thought about spinning it off into a separate series. James Bond Blu-ray, Volume Two also features a trio of titles, starting with From Russia with Love (1963), Connery's second Bond outing, an exotic but rugged tale of international espionage chronicling 007's efforts to obtain a Russian decoding device while being stalked by an assassin (Robert Shaw). Thunderball (1965), Connery's fourth Bond opus, reflects the series' increasing emphasis on gadgetry and lavishly mounted action set pieces (in this case a climactic underwater battle between 007's allies and the baddies led by Adolfo Celi's Emilio Largo), but it also teems with beautiful Bond girls (Claudine Auger, Luciana Paluzzi, Martine Beswick) and effectively exploits Connery's insouciant charm. Finally, For Your Eyes Only (1981), starring Moore, is a strictly-by-the-numbers entry involving the theft of a sea-based weapons system, featuring one of the lamest, most forgettable villains—Julian Glover as Aristotle Kristatos—007 ever faced. All of the films (also available separately for $34.98 each) look super on Blu-ray, and include the same outstanding extras found on the “ultimate edition” two-disc sets released in 2006, including audio commentaries, documentaries, “making-of” featurettes, deleted scenes, screen tests, interactive features, and photo galleries. Both compilations are highly recommended. (E. Hulse)
James Bond Blu-ray, Volume One; James Bond Blu-ray, Volume Two
MGM, 3 discs, 359 min., PG/PG-13, Blu-ray: $89.98 Volume 24, Issue 1
James Bond Blu-ray, Volume One; James Bond Blu-ray, Volume Two
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