James Bond on Blu-ray/4K

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  • Posts: 366
    As nice as they look I'll be reserving money for the 4k versions.

    Come on Eon, sort it out!
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,372
    Same. Barring never before seen collector's editions, I'll be saving my money for 4K upgrades.
  • jake24jake24 Sitting at your desk, kissing your lover, eating supper with your familyModerator
    Posts: 10,586
    Those Brosnan steelbooks look like something I have to own, but really can’t justify buying more copies if they aren’t in 4k.
  • Junglist_1985Junglist_1985 Los Angeles
    Posts: 1,006
    There’s still time to announce a fall/holiday season drop of 4K products… but it should be soon.
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,518
    I've made a deal with a friend of mine; if they release an expensive 4K boxset with all steelbooks, we're going to split it; he can take the 4K discs (he just got a 4K tv, I'm still on 1080p) and I get the steelbooks ;)
    He may be getting the better deal, but I just want that steel.
  • Posts: 0
    In the UK we still don't get Bond 4K on Prime, I am jealous.

    In the UK, 4K Bond is exclusive to Apple.
  • Posts: 0
    I've made a deal with a friend of mine; if they release an expensive 4K boxset with all steelbooks, we're going to split it; he can take the 4K discs (he just got a 4K tv, I'm still on 1080p) and I get the steelbooks ;)
    He may be getting the better deal, but I just want that steel.

    A Bond box set (all 25 films) wouldn’t be presented that way. It would either be a cardboard wallet with 25 slots. Or 3 cases packaged together.
  • We need better releases of QOS, Spectre and NTTTD
  • MalloryMallory Do mosquitoes have friends?
    Posts: 2,036
    Red_Snow wrote: »

    Thats a distinct improvement from the first steelbook at least.
  • MeanwhileMeanwhile Brooklyn
    Posts: 32
    I’m sure I’m one of maaaany who love the title sequence incorporation on these steelbook cases. Brilliant and vibey, especially for the films with more striking and unique titles. I’ve never been able to find HQ scans or images of these covers but they’re the dream for my OST entries, sometimes custom, on iTunes.
  • Posts: 0
    ToTheRight wrote: »
    If the films were re-released with new transfers other than the Lowery restorations, I'd be more than happy to double dip.
    Unless I'm mistaken all the re-releases since 2006 have used the same Lowery transfers.

    You’ve noticed a lot of faults with the Lowry masters? I’ve noticed a few myself.
  • edited August 2022 Posts: 15,785
    V40LLY wrote: »
    ToTheRight wrote: »
    If the films were re-released with new transfers other than the Lowery restorations, I'd be more than happy to double dip.
    Unless I'm mistaken all the re-releases since 2006 have used the same Lowery transfers.

    You’ve noticed a lot of faults with the Lowry masters? I’ve noticed a few myself.

    Mostly just preference. I find the color timing a bit too on the magenta side on a handful of those transfers. The 007 Dossier site had an article some time back comparing various home video transfers to a 35mm print of DR NO. The Blu-ray looked impecably sharp, but the flesh tones looked a bit magenta by comparison.
    I've always felt TLD and GE looked bland on the Lowery versions.
    I think the old CBS FOX Home Video VHS and Laserdisc edition of TLD looked the most like the cinematic prints, except in pan and scan.
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,000
    Yeah, when I made video transfer comparisons the blu-rays did have that touch of a magenta push. The 4K versions online did away with that.

    https://007homemedia.blogspot.com/2021/11/dr-no-1962.html?m=1
  • Posts: 15,785
    Yeah, when I made video transfer comparisons the blu-rays did have that touch of a magenta push. The 4K versions online did away with that.

    https://007homemedia.blogspot.com/2021/11/dr-no-1962.html?m=1

    Love your website, @MakeshiftPython.
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,000
    :)>-
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    edited August 2022 Posts: 7,518
    V40LLY wrote: »
    I've made a deal with a friend of mine; if they release an expensive 4K boxset with all steelbooks, we're going to split it; he can take the 4K discs (he just got a 4K tv, I'm still on 1080p) and I get the steelbooks ;)
    He may be getting the better deal, but I just want that steel.

    A Bond box set (all 25 films) wouldn’t be presented that way. It would either be a cardboard wallet with 25 slots. Or 3 cases packaged together.

    I'm sure you're right, but releases like this give me hope:
    DragonBallSuperBox_Spread.jpeg

    I'm not a huge DBZ fan, but that is a beautiful collection.
  • Posts: 6,682
    ToTheRight wrote: »
    Yeah, when I made video transfer comparisons the blu-rays did have that touch of a magenta push. The 4K versions online did away with that.

    https://007homemedia.blogspot.com/2021/11/dr-no-1962.html?m=1

    Love your website, @MakeshiftPython.

    Yeah, very nice indeed.

    The iTunes 4K copy of Dr. No has more contrast and less magenta than the 2008 Blu-Ray, but the darker colors appear to be crushed, at least on my screen. Look at Bond touching Miss Taro's hair. The details on his suit are lost.
  • tonesmalones09tonesmalones09 Minneapolis
    Posts: 28
    mattjoes wrote: »
    ToTheRight wrote: »
    Yeah, when I made video transfer comparisons the blu-rays did have that touch of a magenta push. The 4K versions online did away with that.

    https://007homemedia.blogspot.com/2021/11/dr-no-1962.html?m=1

    Love your website, @MakeshiftPython.

    Yeah, very nice indeed.

    The iTunes 4K copy of Dr. No has more contrast and less magenta than the 2008 Blu-Ray, but the darker colors appear to be crushed, at least on my screen. Look at Bond touching Miss Taro's hair. The details on his suit are lost.

    Yeah ideally HDR or even Dolby Vision on a physical release would fix some of this. Have to remember that the iTunes 4k copies don't have that added feature.
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,000
    And from what I saw of Amazon’s 4K playback, the films appear grainier. I have no idea what’s going on with that. Watch the scene with Bond holding Mollaka hostage in CASINO ROYALE and the image looks rougher. On iTunes it appears smoother but not in a way that suggests DNR. I’ll have to look more into that because it really jumped out at me.
  • HildebrandRarityHildebrandRarity Centre international d'assistance aux personnes déplacées, Paris, France
    Posts: 467
    There definitely won't be any proper new edition before the sale of MGM to Amazon is completed and the current home video distribution deal for home entertainment with Warner expires, with Amazon being able to make decisions then. No party would start a major plan of physical releases, particularly in this economy and without any new film that would help with the promotion, if they're not sure that they can recoup their costs. Repackaging an existing disc in a Steelbook is just marketing to take advantage of the 60th anniversary and it doesn't take much investment for it.

    According to a friend of mine who knows MUCH better than me about the industry, current contracts between studios are now mostly signed on a three-year base (it was five-year in the past), so changes could happen starting with Q3 2023, as the Warner deal took effect in Q3 2020.

    And, for the record, the current Blu-ray for Goldeneye is quite problematic. It's obviously based on an older transfer than the rest of the Lowry Digital bunch, and they've applied a ton of DNR and edge enhancement (you can spot this through the halos on any shot with a strong contrast between light and dark areas) to make it look cleaner, similar to what Universal tended to do with their catalog titles in the early HD DVD and Blu-ray days.
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,000
    This makes me wonder if the steel book for DN will be a reissue of the same disc or a brand new encoding. Because all the blu-rays up to SPECTRE were distributed by Fox.
  • HildebrandRarityHildebrandRarity Centre international d'assistance aux personnes déplacées, Paris, France
    Posts: 467
    The first two editions of Casino Royale were on Sony.
    The full set with all titles up to Spectre was reissued under the Warner flag around the end of 2020, at least in France. I haven't seen any report that this reissue used new discs or had even changed the logos that play at the beginning from Fox to Warner.

    I also remember that the Craig UHD collection had a clause that allowed Fox/Disney to distribute the titles or the sets for a little longer than the regular end of the main distribution contract for all the MGM catalog. It was done to allow Fox to recoup the costs and sell most of the units produced.

    The Steelbook edition is typically a repackaging thing. Warner is notorious for it. They had a ton of "Special Editions" that simply bundled the existing disc with some reproduction of the original artwork, a couple of trinkets, and maybe an extra disc with a new-ish documentary, but no new transfer. Otherwise, it's specified in the press release.

    So, if Dr. No is a single disc affair, and the extras are exactly the same as in the previous disc, without any new featurette, it's obvious it's still the 2008 disc. There was no egregious defect in the current encoding, so no need to restart it, while a re-encoding isn't a free operation (as there are many things to check and control afterwards). It was also an AVC encoding, which is still the standard, while many Blu-ray discs released around those days were in VC-1 or MPEG-2, which are now basically discontinued for new discs (as they're not as efficient).
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,372
    This makes me wonder if the steel book for DN will be a reissue of the same disc or a brand new encoding. Because all the blu-rays up to SPECTRE were distributed by Fox.

    It's a reissue of the same disc.
  • DB5MNDB5MN USA
    Posts: 47
    So we are due for another big physical release of all the films 4k and bluray? The 4k format seems to be adding more films but bluray is still way ahead in terms of number of releases?
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,372
    We've only got the Craig era in 4K so far, and considering it's August and there's been nothing even rumored about other 4K titles, I'd imagine it's not happening for the 60th anniversary, at least.
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    edited August 2022 Posts: 8,000
    Between the US not getting the same 25 Bonds in theaters weekly like the UK and no 4K disc of all films, this is a pretty underwhelming 60th anniversary.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,372
    Incredibly underwhelming. There's always the opportunity for a nice surprise come October but I'm not holding my breath.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,449
    Neither am I. It is a bit of an underwhelming 60th for the cinematic Bond. Maybe we'll get something better next year? If I recall correctly, 13 April 1953 is when Casino Royale was first published. 70 years of Bond then? I'm probably hoping for something that won't happen.
  • DB5MNDB5MN USA
    edited August 2022 Posts: 47
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    We've only got the Craig era in 4K so far, and considering it's August and there's been nothing even rumored about other 4K titles, I'd imagine it's not happening for the 60th anniversary, at least.

    That's kind of disappointing all other big franchises have the 4k treatment already.
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