Dr. No [DVD]

James Bond's cinematic debut is an exotic mystery with a few classic moments along the way; Sean Connery's introduction and the first shot of Ursula Andress walking out of the sea have passed into cinematic legend, whilst the film itself is an involving adventure, and a very close adaptation of the original novel. Connery brings a ruthless edge to the character of Bond that would diminish as the series progressed, whilst Joseph Wiseman's Dr. No is a fine villain, and Jack Lord's Felix Leiter was never bettered either. Certainly one of the more satisfying Bond films.
Echoed throughout all the `Ultimate Edition' DVD two-disc sets for the Bond movies is the strong selection of extras featured here. Along with the customary Patrick Macnee-narrated documentary, the pick of the special features on the Dr. No release is the short film entitled `The Guns of James Bond', in which a Colonel Blimp-type solves the age-old mystery of what happens when you fire a .44 Magnum at a can of tomato soup...

Hard to believe now, but on its first release the film that started it all was sold as much on the scenery as anything else. In the days before foreign package holidays really took off, the glamorous locations gave the low-budget film an exotic look that helps hide some of its limitations.

Terence Young, Cubby Broccoli and co-writer Richard Maibaum had all previously worked together on the Alan Ladd starrer The Red Beret - indeed, many of the Bond regulars had worked on Broccoli's fairly undistinguished British pictures - and at times the initial uncertainty of tone is noticeable, with the film occasionally threatening to turn into a predictable British `quota quickie' at times. Young's direction of some of the early scenes is, it must be said, rather ham-handed - indeed, turn down the colour and you could be watching an early episode of The Saint. You can even see the arc lights reflected on the paintwork of the getaway car at (something that would become one of the series less recognised trademarks in the Connery years!).

Its attitude to the black characters is also rather less than enlightened - not just Bond treating Quarrel like a houseboy ("Fetch me my slippers, Quarrel.") but also the way John Kitzmiller is required to turn into Stepinfetchit in the `dragon' scene. Considering British films' strong record on tackling racial issues in the 50s and 60s up to the sixties, this may possibly be attributable to the fact that the Bond films, while British, were always produced by an American and a Canadian: certainly Hollywood was somewhat lagging behind British cinema on the race relations front at the time. But if you can ignore that, there's much to enjoy: Connery introducing himself with the immortal "Bond, James Bond" for the first time and Joseph Wiseman's superb villain's equally memorable entrance ("One million dollars, Mr Bond."); Ursula Andress emerging from the sea; the spooky Sisters Rose and Lily; and some good action scenes.

The film also has a darker tone than any its successors until Casino Royale. Bond is quite cold blooded in a way he never was again during Broccoli Sr and Saltzman's watch, be it sleeping with a girl while he waits for the police to arrest her or waiting for Dent to empty his gun before killing him ("That's a Smith and Wesson and you've had your six."). Similarly, Honey is not above the use of a Black Widow spider on those who have wronged her ("It took him a whole week to die," she tells Bond matter-of-factly).

Sadly, while pitched as the `Ultimate Edition,' the transfer on this repackaged two-disc edition is still problematic. The picture quality is certainly improved over the original single-disc issue, but rather than the original British 1.66:1 ratio, it's presented in the cropped 1.85:1. There aren't many new features - featurettes on restoring the films, the premiere and a 1964 archive featurette `The Guns of James Bond.' Most of the features from the original release have been carried over (with the exception of a double-bill trailer which can be found on the From Russia With Love Ultimate Edition), though accessing the film is more laborious than it needs to be as you work your way through logos, promos, dull but unskippable `set' menus that take you to another menu that take you to a sub-menu that take you to another logo and not one but two copyright warnings before you can get anywhere near the film or a special feature (a feature on all the Ultimate Editions, as are the poorly designed, slow and far too small stills galleries). By the time you've gone through all that, you'll feel like Jack Lemmon in The Apartment. So, not quite the ultimate presentation...

Let's face up to facts here, well lets face up to popular opinion. You can have whatever opinion you want of Dr. No but in my opinion it reminds me what Bond really should be according to Ian Fleming, a suave secret agent that relies upon his resourcefulness and not high tech gadgetry, okay so we all love the gadgets but I think that Bond was intended to survive with only his wits and Walther to protect him. Not enough of the main Baddie but hey, lot's of Sean Connery. A damn good film, forget about what the special effects look like, it doesn't depend on them unlike now for today's consumerist audience. Convoluted plot, exotic locations and one of the best looking Bond girls ever. Buy now, BUY NOW!