Well my boxset arrived this morning and it really is a thing of beauty.
I had managed to pick it up for a fantastic £74.00 from a well known supermarket, so this means each of the 22 Blu-ray films cost me just £3.36, simply astonishing value.
I'll start with the packaging, it appears to have divided opinion judging by other reviews on Amazon, it certainly is different but I think it adds a touch of class to the collection.
Firstly there is an outer-sleeve, it is solidly manufactured of a very thick and strong glossy cardboard, the dimensions are 280mm x 180mm and 45mm thick. It is simply illustrated with 'Bond 50' lettering adorning the front, and little else.
Inside are two individual books, these once again are produced from a high quality glossy cardboard with a nice strong binding and are more or less the same dimensions as the outer-sleeve, although they are both 20mm thick.
Each book contains 6 pages, and each page has 2 disc holders; the pages are once more made of sturdy stuff, 2mm thick, and I like the disc holders. Doubtless some will say that they don't offer much protection, but I disagree; the discs are held firmly in place when the 'books' are closed and then surrounded by the outer-sleeve, I personally think the discs are better protected than in normal packaging!
The pages within each book are illustrated with scenes from the accompanying films, and next to each disc holder there is lettering showing the year of the films release with a picture of one of the beautiful 'Bond girls' from said film.
The contents of each book are:
Book 1
Page 1 - Dr No & From Russia with Love
Page 2 - Goldfinger & Thunderball
Page 3 - You Only Live Twice & On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Page 4 - Diamond are Forever & Live and Let Die
Page 5 - The Man with the Golden Gun & The Spy Who Loved Me
Page 6 - Moonraker & For Your Eyes Only
Book 2
Page 1 - Octopussy & A View to a Kill
Page 2 - The Living Daylights & Licence to Kill
Page 3 - Goldeneye - Tomorrow Never Dies
Page 4 - The World is Not Enough & Die Another Die
Page 5 - Casino Royale & Quantum of Solace
Page 6 - [Empty disc holder for 'Skyfall'] & 'Bonus disc'
A minor criticism for me is that there is no information on what each disc contains alongside the feature, I don't consider this to be a big deal though as the main contents of each disc generally relate to the actual film.
The set is described as having over 120 hours of extras, here are the extra contents of each disc:
Dr No - (Over 3 hours)
Commentary with Director Terence Young and cast and crew; 6 Featurettes; Original Theatrical Trailer; TV and radio spots; Photo Galleries.
From Russia with Love - (Over 3 hours)
Commentary with Director Terence Young and cast and crew; 2 Featurettes; Animated Storyboard Sequence; Original Theatrical Trailer; TV and radio spots; Photo Galleries.
Goldfinger - (Over 3 hours)
Commentary with Director Guy Hamilton; Commentary with the cast and crew; 3 Featurettes; Original Screen Tests with Theodore Bikel and Tito Vandis; Original Theatrical Trailer; TV and radio spots; Original Publicity Featurette; Original Radio Interviews With Sean Connery; Photo Galleries.
Thunderball - (Over 6 hours)
Commentary with Director Terence Young and cast and crew; 2 Featurettes; Animated Storyboard Sequence; Original Theatrical Trailer; TV and radio spots; Photo Galleries.
You Only Live Twice - (Over 4 hours)
Commentary with Director Lewis Gilbert and cast and crew; 4 Featurettes; Animated Storyboard Sequence; Original Theatrical Trailer; TV and radio spots; Photo Galleries.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service - (Over 4 hours)
Commentary with Director Peter Hunt and cast and crew; 4 Featurettes; Original Theatrical Trailer; TV and radio spots; Photo Galleries.
Diamond are Forever - (Over 4 hours)
Commentary with Director Guy Hamilton and cast and crew; 3 Featurettes; Deleted Scenes; Original Theatrical Trailer; TV and radio spots.
Live and Let Die - (Over 7 hours)
Commentaries with Director Guy Hamilton, Roger Moore and Tom Mankiewicz; 3 Featurettes; Original Theatrical Trailer; TV and radio spots; Photo Galleries.
The Man with the Golden Gun - (Over 5 hours)
Commentary with Director Guy Hamilton and the cast and crew; Commentary with Roger Moore; 2 Featurettes; Original Theatrical Trailer; TV and radio spots; Photo Galleries.
The Spy who Loved Me - (Over 5 hours)
Commentary with Director Lewis Gilbert and cast and crew; Commentary with Roger Moore; 3 Featurettes; Original Theatrical Trailer; TV and radio spots.
Moonraker - (Over 5 hours)
Commentary with Director Lewis Gilbert and cast and crew; Commentary with Roger Moore; 4 Featurettes; Original Theatrical Trailer; Photo Gallery.
For Your Eyes Only - (Over 7 hours)
Commentary with Director John Glen and the cast and crew; Commentary with Roger Moore; Commentary with Producer Michael G. Wilson and crew; 4 Featurettes; Animated Storyboard Sequences for Snowmobile Chase & Underwater; Music Video performed by Sheena Easton; Deleted Scenes and Expanded Angles; Original Theatrical Trailer, TV and radio spots; Photo Galleries.
Octopussy - (Over 6 hours)
Commentary with Director John Glen; Commentary with Roger Moore; 4 Featurettes;
Original Screen Tests with James Brolin; "All Time High" Music Video; Original Theatrical Trailers.
A View to a Kill - (Over 6 hours)
Commentary with Director John Glen and the cast and crew; Commentary with Roger Moore; 4 Featurettes; A View to a Kill Music Video performed by Duran Duran;
Original Theatrical Trailers and TV spots.
The Living Daylights - (Over 5 hours)
Commentary with Director John Glen and cast and crew; 3 Featurettes; Deleted scenes with introductions from Director John Glen; The Living Daylights Music Video performed by A-Ha; Original Theatrical Trailers.
Licence to Kill - (Over 6 hours)
Commentary with Director John Glen and cast; Commentary with Producer Michael G. Wilson and crew; 3 Featurettes; Licence to Kill Music Video performed by Gladys Knight; "If You Asked Me To" Music Video Performed by Patti LaBelle; Opening Titles Sequence; Original Theatrical Trailers; Photo Galleries.
Goldeneye - (Over 5 hours)
Commentary with Director Martin Campbell and Producer Michael G. Wilson; 8 Featurettes; Deleted scenes; GoldenEye Music Video performed by Tina Turner.
Tommorow Never Dies - (Over 9 hours)
Commentary with Director Roger Spottiswoode and Dan Petrie, Jr; Commentary with Vic Armstrong and Producer Michael G. Wilson; 2 Featurettes; Interview with Composer David Arnold; Deleted and Extended Scenes with introduction from Director Roger Spottiswoode; Tomorrow Never Dies Music Video performed by Sheryl Crow; The James Bond Theme (Moby's Re-Version).
The World is Not Enough - (Over 6 hours)
Commentary with Director Michael Apted; Commentary with Peter Lamont, David Arnold and Vic Armstrong; 4 Featurettes; Opening Titles Sequence; The World Is Not Enough Music Video performed by Garbage; Deleted, Extended and Alternate Scene; Original Theatrical Trailer; Photo Galleries.
Die Another Day - (Over 8 hours)
Commentary with Director Lee Tamahori and Producer Michael G. Wilson; Commentary with Pierce Brosnan and Rosamund Pike; 5 Featurettes; MI6 Datastream Trivia Track with Branching Video; Opening Titles Sequence; Photo Galleries.
Casino Royale - (Over 1 hour)
Becoming Bond; James Bond: For Real; Chris Cornell Music Video.
Quantum of Solace - (Over 1 hour)
2 Featurettes; "Another Way to Die" Music Video; Original Theatrical Trailers.
'Bonus Disc' - (Over 2 hours)
'The World of Bond' - A look at the style and attitude that is signature Bond. From the cars, to the women, to the villains and the music. The World of Bond takes the viewer through the best of five decades worth of classic James Bond in one thrilling montage. The World of Bond featurette also has a Pop-Up Trivia option to challenge even the sharpest of fans with little known facts and interesting trivia from the Bond Universe.
'Being Bond' - Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig each reflect on the impact and importance of taking on such a famous role.
'Designing 007: Fifty Years of Bond Style'
'SKYFALL Videoblogs' - behind-the-scenes look at the making of SKYFALL from the cast and crew.
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The extras on the feature film discs are all the ones included on previous releases, but that is no bad thing because they are really superb and there is so much information provided.
The 'Bonus disc' does contain new material, and brings us very much up to date with some really good footage of the upcoming 'Skyfall'.
The quality of the Blu-rays is simply superb, and it is evident that a great deal of time and money has been spent on these transfers.
I have owned all the films in many formats, and for the last ten years I have been watching them predominantly on the DVD's issued in the late 90's; these were a big improvement at the time, but watching the films now in HD takes it to a new level.
I watched 'Dr No' this morning and it is so hard to believe that it is 50 years old!
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