James Bond Ultimate Edition - Vol. 4 (Dr. No / You Only Live Twice / Octopussy / Tomorrow Never Dies / Moonraker)

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James Bond Ultimate Edition - Vol. 4 (Dr. No / You Only Live Twice / Octopussy / Tomorrow Never Dies / Moonraker)

List Price: $59.98
Lowest Price: $32.98

Product Description:

James Bond investigates the disappearance of a British agent in Jamaica, works with the Japanese secret service to stop space hijackings, looks into the disappearance of a space shuttle, investigates the connection behind a murdered agent and a Faberge egg, and tries to stop a media mastermind from starting a third world war.g, and tries to stop a media mastermind from starting a third world war.
Genre: Feature Film-Action/Adventure
Rating: NR
Release Date: 6-NOV-2007
Media Type: DVD

Amazon.com:

Dr. No: Released in 1962, this first James Bond movie remains one of the best, and serves as an entertaining reminder that the Bond series began (in keeping with Ian Fleming's novels) with a surprising lack of gadgetry and big-budget fireworks. Sean Connery was just 32 years old when he won the role of Agent 007. In his first adventure James Bond is called to Jamaica where a colleague and secretary have been mysteriously killed. With an American CIA agent (Jack Lord, pre-Hawaii Five-O), they discover that the nefarious Dr. No (Joseph Wiseman) is scheming to blackmail the U.S. government with a device capable of deflecting and destroying U.S. rockets launched from Cape Canaveral. Of course, Bond takes time off from his exploits to enjoy the company of a few gorgeous women, including the bikini-clad Ursula Andress. She gloriously kicks off the long-standing tradition of Bond women who know how to please their favorite secret agent. A sexist anachronism? Maybe, but this is Bond at his purest, kicking off a series of movies that shows no sign of slowing down. --Jeff Shannon

You Only Live Twice: The film boasts the best of the Bond title songs (this one sung on a dreamy track by Nancy Sinatra), but the movie itself is one of the weaker ones of the Sean Connery phase of the 007 franchise. The story concerns an effort by the evil organization SPECTRE to start a world war, but the not-so-super villain behind the plot is the awfully civilized Donald Pleasence. The thin script is by Roald Dahl (shouldn't we have expected a better Bond nemesis from the creator of mad genius Willy Wonka?), and direction is by British veteran Lewis Gilbert (Alfie). But the movie can't hold a candle to Dr. No, From Russia with Love, or Goldfinger. --Tom Keogh

Octopussy: Roger Moore was nearing the end of his reign as James Bond when he made Octopussy, and he looks a little worn out. But the movie itself infuses some new blood into the old franchise, with a frisky pace and a pair of sturdy villains. Maud Adams--who'd also been in the Bond outing The Man with the Golden Gun--plays the improbably named Octopussy, while old smoothie Louis Jourdan is her crafty partner in crime. There's an island populated only by women, plus a fantastic sequence with a hand-to-hand fight that happens on a plane--and on top of a plane. The film even has an extra emotional punch, since this time out 007 is not only following the orders of Her Majesty's Secret Service, but he is also exacting a personal revenge: a fellow double-0 agent has been killed. Two Bond films were actually released in 1983 within a few months of each other, as Octopussy was followed by Sean Connery's comeback in Never Say Never Again. The success of both pictures proved that there was still plenty of mileage left in the old license to kill, though Moore had one more workout--A View to a Kill--before hanging it up. And that title? The franchise had already used up the titles to Ian Fleming's novels, so Octopussy was taken from a lesser-known Fleming short story. -- Robert Horton

Tomorrow Never Dies: Pierce Brosnan returns for his second stint as James Bond (after GoldenEye), and he's doing it in high style with an invigorating cast of costars. It's only appropriate that a Bond film from 1997 would find Agent 007 pitted against a media mogul (Jonathan Pryce) who's going to start a global war (beginning with stolen nuclear missiles aimed at China) to create attention-grabbing headlines for his latest multimedia news channel. It's the information age run amok, and Bond must team up with a lovely and lethal agent from the Chinese External Security Force (played by Honk Kong action star Michelle Yeoh) to foil the madman's plot of global domination. Luckily for Bond, the villain's wife (Teri Hatcher) is one of his former lovers, and at the behest of his superior M (Judi Dench), 007 finds ample opportunity to exploit the connection. Armed with the usual array of gadgets (including a remote-controlled BMW), Brosnan settles into his role with acceptable flair, and the dynamic Yeoh provides a perfect balance to the sexism that once threatened to turn Bond into a politically incorrect anachronism. He's still Bond, to be sure, but he's saving the world with a bit more sophisticated finesse. --Jeff Shannon

Moonraker: This was the first James Bond adventure produced after the success of Star Wars, so it jumped on the sci-fi bandwagon by combining the suave appeal of Agent 007 (once again played by Roger Moore) with enough high-tech hardware and special effects to make Luke Skywalker want to join Her Majesty's Secret Service. After the razzle-dazzle of The Spy Who Loved Me, this attempt to latch onto a trend proved to be a case of overkill, even though it brought back the steel-toothed villain Jaws (Richard Kiel) and scored a major hit at the box office. This time Bond is up against a criminal industrialist named Drax (Michel Lonsdale) who wants to control the world from his orbiting space station. In keeping with his well-groomed style, Bond thwarts this maniacal Neo-Hitler's scheme with the help of a beautiful, sleek-figured scientist (played by Lois Chiles with all the vitality of a department-store mannequin). Despite Moore's passive performance (which Pauline Kael described as "like an office manager who is turning into dead wood but hanging on to collect his pension"), Moonraker had no problem attracting an appreciative audience, and there are even a few renegade Bond-philes who consider it one of their favorites. --Sean Axmaker

Beyond James Bond Ultimate Collection - Vol. 4

James Bond Ultimate Collection - Vol. 1

James Bond Ultimate Edition - Vol. 2

James Bond Ultimate Edition - Vol. 3

Stills from James Bond Ultimate Collection - Vol. 4 (click for larger image)

Customer Reviews:

Rating:
Date: 2008-05-14
The Ultimate Sets are the way to go! Dump the Special Editions when you can!
After waiting for a very long time to acquire the Bond Ultimate Edition sets at a reasonable price, I finally ditched my Special Editions in favor of the new ones. I, perhaps like many others, was always reluctant to give up my Special Editions because frankly I spent a lot of time and money putting the original, Special Edition set together.

After watching the Special Edition and Ultimate Edition of "Dr.No", I finally realized how "ultimate" the new discs are. Gone are the film scratches, imperfections and faded colors that plagued most of the Bond early films such as the Connery & some of the Moore films. The new Dolby & DTS 5.1 surround sound are fantastic! The 1962 "Dr. No" looks like it was filmed yesterday. The special features on "Dr. No" includes a segment on the outstanding work put into the frame by frame restoration. A truly tremendous effort and much appreciated!

I like the slim-line cases for the new sets. My entire Bond collection now only takes up less than half the space on my shelves than it did before. Although I tend to agree with other reviewers that it's kind of cheesy how the booklets for each film are stored in the box and not the individual cases, the overall quality of the DVD's negate any negatives. I spend more time watching the films than browsing the booklets. Forget buying any of the Ultimate Editions individually which are single discs because the DVD's in the Ultimate Edition box sets are double-disc sets. One disc for the feature film for optimized quality and one disc for the special features.

I'm not bothered in the fact that all films in all four volumes are not packaged chronologically, since I went through the same process when I purchased the Special Edition box sets. I understand the studio's logic for "mixing it up", since a chronological DVD order would mean more popular sales for the Connery sets and lower sales for the Moore/Daulton sets. I'm a fan of all the Bond films as I appreciate all of the different actors from Connery, Lazenby, Moore, Daulton, Bronson to Craig and for what each one of them has contributed to the Bond Legacy. Many thanks to Daniel Craig for resurrecting this franchise with his outstanding debut in "Casino Royale". Looking forward to "Quantum of Solace" later this year.

VOLUME 4; This is my third favorite volume, but "Dr. No" (the Bond & Connery debut film) is a classic containing one of the most, iconic moments in Bond film history. Ursalla Andress in the white bikini walking in the beach from the ocean. Somehow I never get tired of that scene? Connery's other effort "You Only Live Twice" features some exotic Japan locations. Love that volcano base set! "Moonraker" is one of the most campiest Bond films for Moore, but having Jaws in it entertains. "Octupussy" should have been Moore's last film and I think it would have been a great send off film for Moore because it was quite good. "Tomorrow Never Dies" is a decent effort for Bronson featuring the acrobatic, martial arts, superstar Michelle Yeoh.

Rating:
Date: 2008-01-07
Outstanding
The seller was really honest. He gave me a great product at a great price. It even arrived a lot earlier that I was expecting. Great service.

Rating:
Date: 2007-06-27
The best bond vol. of all times
Yes I loved the movies plus the documentaries were just fasinating.

It got me into watching the movies more ,and more. And the quality of the picture, and sound that it made them like seeing them for the frist time in years.. I cannot wait to buy the other volumes ..

Rating:
Date: 2007-06-14
Picked up whole collection in one pack - great deal
Great deal for the hardcore Bond fan.

Rating:
Date: 2007-06-08
Offbeat Collection of Bond Titles, Superbly Remastered...
The brilliantly remastered library of James Bond films continues with "James Bond Ultimate Edition - Vol. 4", a collection of titles that may have you scratching your head about the choices, but will dazzle with their pristine beauty, nonetheless!

"Dr. No" (1962), was, of course, the first 007 film, and a huge gamble for both Broccoli/Saltzman's Eon Productions, and United Artists. With a tiny budget, a little-known leading man (Sean Connery), and a daring concept for a more conservative era (missions of a ruthless hero whose job was murder, and hobby, copious amounts of sex), the film succeeded because of tongue-in-cheek humor, explosive action, breathtaking women (personified by Ursula Andress), and Connery's charismatic presence. Until Daniel Craig's debut, this was as close to author Ian Fleming's vision of Bond as you could find, and what the film lacks in polish, it makes up for in intensity. (4 stars out of 5)

"You Only Live Twice" (1967), has, over time, earned the ire of many Bond fans as the film Broccoli decided to do as Connery's first swan song, instead of the vastly superior "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (Japan offered a very lucrative production deal). As worldwide Bond mania subsided, this strange entry has a bored Connery machine-gunned, resurrected, piloting a toy helicopter, pretending to be Japanese, and often playing second-fiddle to Ninjas, while facing his LEAST threatening villain, Donald Pleasence. Even a beautiful theme song and breathtaking volcano finale can't save this entry. (2 stars out of 5)

"Octopussy" (1983), is best-known as Roger Moore's entry in the year of competing Bond films (as Sean Connery's "Never Say Never Again" was also released). While both actors were 'long-in-the-tooth' as 007 (Moore was 55, Connery, 53), the Moore film offered Eon's customary opulence, a leading lady who could act (Maud Adams), and the unintentional humor of villain Louis Jourdan lisping "Octopussy". Great action scenes and beautiful locations (much of the story is set in India) were marred by the campiness that was, sadly, a trademark of the Moore films. (2 1/2 stars out of 5).

"Tomorrow Never Dies" (1997), Pierce Brosnan's second outing as 007, finds him far more at ease and mature in the role than in "GoldenEye", and offers one of the best Bond leading ladies, Michelle Yeoh, as his Chinese counterpart. Jonathan Pryce, as a nerdy 'Ted Turner'-type media mogul, provides a wry spin on the traditional Bond villain. On the down side, Teri Hatcher's performance as a Bond ex-lover is amateurish, and the derivativeness that would plague all of Brosnan's films gives it a "been there, done that" feel. (3 1/2 stars out of 5)

"Moonraker" (1979), one of the dumbest ideas for a 007 film, ever ("James Bond in Space!"), is, basically, a reworking of the vastly superior "The Spy Who Loved Me", moving the venue from the sea to Earth orbit. Silliness abounds, from Jaws and his blond nymphet girlfriend, to a gondola on wheels cruising the streets of Venice, to the ray-gun space battle climax. Michael Lonsdale looks more bored than villainous, and even a fabulous free-fall opening sequence can't save this Roger Moore entry. (1 1/2 stars out of 5)

While only "Dr. No" qualifies as a Bond 'classic', these remastered films are all still worth a new viewing, if you haven't seen them, lately; the loving restoration work makes each look as fresh as the day they were released!

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