821 replies to this topic

[DamnCoffee]

Can anyone confirm whether any Skyfall Trailers are included?

Mine should be arriving tomorrow!

Edited by DamnCoffee, 26 September 2012 - 02:07 PM.

[Royal Dalton]

On Her Majesty's Secret Service and The Spy Who Loved Me have windowboxed title sequences.

I was wrong about On Her Majesty's Secret Service. The title sequence isn't windowboxed, it's masked off at the sides.

Comparing it to the Special Edition DVD, there's a bit more picture information on both sides on the DVD, but the opticals end where the masked portions are on the Blu-ray. So, I think the titles on the Blu-ray are probably how they were meant to be seen.

Thanks for the update. Which titles do have this issue? Moonraker, Spy and ???

I've had a look at all the title sequences for the films that are said to be affected now, and compared them to the pre-Lowry versions.

The only one that's been vertically squashed is the title sequence for The World Is Not Enough.

Thunderball, On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Moonraker are all masked at the sides. But I think this is probably how they were meant to be seen. They don't look distorted, and we don't lose any picture information, anyway. Although, the side masks on Thunderball should move in at the beginning of the sequence, and out again at the end, during the opening shot of Largo arriving in Paris. Whereas on the Blu-ray this scene stays masked off until the shot changes. This possibly applies to the other films, too.

The Spy Who Loved Me is slightly different. The picture shrinks to fit into a windowboxed frame as the parachute shot fades into the title sequence, and enlarges to fill the frame again as it fades into Gogol's office.

[Messervy]

It's now on sale in France as of today. I guess I'm in for a Bond BR treat this week-end!

[Glockenspiel]

It's now on sale in France as of today. I guess I'm in for a Bond BR treat this week-end!

Yes, I've got mine!
:-)

[Kriegler75]

This is my first ever post here, got my set on Monday and so far I've got as far as YOLT and I have to say the picture quality is amazing for fills over 40'years old. I love the packaging if I had one complaint it's the lack of effort made with Quantum of Solace, hopefully we will eventually get a Deluxe Edition.

Just got to try and convince the missus why I need the films on VHS, special edition DVD and in the Ultimate Edition briefcase as well as the Blu Ray set, hopefully the flowers I've got her will help!!!

[Loomis]

Thunderball, On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Moonraker are all masked at the sides. But I think this is probably how they were meant to be seen.

How d'yer mean? Why would they be meant to be seen that way?

Why should there be a change of aspect ratio for these films' opening credits sequences? Why weren't the credits sequences done in, well, the same aspect ratio as the rest of the films they belong to? Or if they were done in the same aspect ratio, why the need for masking at the sides all of a sudden once the opening credits kick in?

Not that this side-masking business bothers me, but I'm vaguely intrigued as to the reason for it.

[Messervy]

It's now on sale in France as of today. I guess I'm in for a Bond BR treat this week-end!

Yes, I've got mine! :-)

Ah ah! Good! I'm thinking of buying mine tomorrow and having some sort of Bondathon this week-end.
Is the box nice and neat?
(By the way, where did you buy it, and how much was it?)

[Glockenspiel]

It's now on sale in France as of today. I guess I'm in for a Bond BR treat this week-end!

Yes, I've got mine! :-)

Ah ah! Good! I'm thinking of buying mine tomorrow and having some sort of Bondathon this week-end.
Is the box nice and neat?
(By the way, where did you buy it, and how much was it?)

I bought it at the Fnac, 143,99 € (185,16 USD or 114,63 GPB).
The box is very nice.
I can hardly wait to see OHMSS...

Edited by Glockenspiel, 26 September 2012 - 04:53 PM.

[Royal Dalton]

Thunderball, On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Moonraker are all masked at the sides. But I think this is probably how they were meant to be seen.

How d'yer mean? Why would they be meant to be seen that way?

Why should there be a change of aspect ratio for these films' opening credits sequences? Why weren't the credits sequences done in, well, the same aspect ratio as the rest of the films they belong to? Or if they were done in the same aspect ratio, why the need for masking at the sides all of a sudden once the opening credits kick in?

Not that this side-masking business bothers me, but I'm vaguely intrigued as to the reason for it.

I have absolutely no idea why they're like that, Loomis. Or why most of the other films don't have the same issue. All I know is what's on the Blu-ray is the full width of the frame once the junk at the sides has been removed.

Have a look at this screen grab from the OHMSS SE DVD titles: http://imageupper.co...486776271869387

See how the optical of the clock face ends before it reaches the edge of the frame? That's been masked off on the Blu-ray. So, nothing's really been lost there. They've just removed something that shouldn't have been seen in the first place.

Maybe Binder masked the sides slightly so the titles wouldn't be cropped off by an overzealous projectionist, or something? I don't really know the answer to this one myself, to be quite honest.

[Messervy]

It's now on sale in France as of today. I guess I'm in for a Bond BR treat this week-end!

Yes, I've got mine! :-)

Ah ah! Good! I'm thinking of buying mine tomorrow and having some sort of Bondathon this week-end.
Is the box nice and neat?
(By the way, where did you buy it, and how much was it?)

I bought it at the Fnac, 143,99 € (185,16 USD or 114,63 GPB).
The box is very nice.
I can hardly wait to see OHMSS...

Thanks. FNAC is my plan also. All good. That will make up for the lousy weather...

[oatesy]

Thunderball, On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Moonraker are all masked at the sides. But I think this is probably how they were meant to be seen.

How d'yer mean? Why would they be meant to be seen that way?

Why should there be a change of aspect ratio for these films' opening credits sequences? Why weren't the credits sequences done in, well, the same aspect ratio as the rest of the films they belong to? Or if they were done in the same aspect ratio, why the need for masking at the sides all of a sudden once the opening credits kick in?

Not that this side-masking business bothers me, but I'm vaguely intrigued as to the reason for it.

I have absolutely no idea why they're like that, Loomis. Or why most of the other films don't have the same issue. All I know is what's on the Blu-ray is the full width of the frame once the junk at the sides has been removed.

Have a look at this screen grab from the OHMSS SE DVD titles: http://imageupper.co...486776271869387

See how the optical of the clock face ends before it reaches the edge of the frame? That's been masked off on the Blu-ray. So, nothing's really been lost there. They've just removed something that shouldn't have been seen in the first place.

Maybe Binder masked the sides slightly so the titles wouldn't be cropped off by an overzealous projectionist, or something? I don't really know the answer to this one myself, to be quite honest.

When films are projected the image passes through an aperture plate (a metal plate with large hole in the middle in the shape of the projection screen) which ensures no light leaks into the image from the edges of film. All films are shot assuming that a small area of the captured negative on either side will not be visible when projected. On OHMSS it seems Binder did not print his opticals full frame as he assumed the aperture plate would mask out the edges

When Lowry scanned the negatives, they scanned the entire negative right up to the edges, and therefore captured more information than would normally be shown in the cinema. Previous DVDs and VHS of OHMSS would have been captured via kinescope (telecine), which projects the film onto a plate which then photographed by a video camera. There would have been an aperture plate in the kinescope similiar to one in a cinema projector.

It is interesting that only OHMSS has needed to be masked like this on blu-ray. Binder's opticals on the other films are all full frame.

Thunderball, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker and The World Is Not Enough all have black bars on the side of the image in the blu-rays, but unlike OHMSS, it is because these are squeezed, not masked. This is usually done to protect cast/crew names on a TV screen - cathode ray TVs used to cut off the edges of the image through overscan. There is no need to do this for blu-ray as HDTVs don't overscan. Quite why only these four films were squeezed in this manner seems to be a mystery. I assume there were a number of crews at Lowry all working on Bond, and one crew decided to apply a squeeze, others did not. Frustatingly TWINE was made with all the crew names well within the frame, and so this is completely unneccesary. DAF also had squeezed titles in the UE DVD, but they've unsqueezed them for the blu-ray. No such effort was made for TSWLM, and TB, MR and TWINE all have the same flawed transfers as issued in 2008

[saintade]

Has anyone attempted to remove the outer cardboard sleeve thing of the box set? I always get rid of these things, but looking at it I've got a horrible feeling the stickers will damage the actual box.

Also, I can't believe they flubbed the photo of my favourite Bond girl. Carey Lowell, standing in front of the '1989', looks like her face is melting!

Yep, on the back of that sleeve are the movie credits to all the films like you see at the bottom of the movie poster....stars, producers, director etc.
The stickers are peelable and come off quite easy, just be careful if you have long nails not to damage the box trying to find an edge to peel!
Once you take the wrap off, the back of the box is just plain black, and you lose the technical specs for each movie as well - they are not on the box itself.
Have to say the quality of the box set is amazing - really like the heavyweight outer box and the inner books are very well made and should stand a lot of use. The disc trays are much better quality than the usual card inlays used in other box sets as well.

[Henry-Jones-Sr]

Thank you, saintade!

[Royal Dalton]

Thunderball, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker and The World Is Not Enough all have black bars on the side of the image in the blu-rays, but unlike OHMSS, it is because these are squeezed, not masked. This is usually done to protect cast/crew names on a TV screen - cathode ray TVs used to cut off the edges of the image through overscan. There is no need to do this for blu-ray as HDTVs don't overscan. Quite why only these four films were squeezed in this manner seems to be a mystery. I assume there were a number of crews at Lowry all working on Bond, and one crew decided to apply a squeeze, others did not.

Thanks for your reply, Oatesy.

I did a side-by-side comparison with the Blu-rays and the SE DVDs from 2000 earlier today, and the Thunderball and Moonraker title sequences don't look squeezed to me. If you've got those discs, could you have a look at them and tell me what you think, please?

[oatesy]

Thunderball, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker and The World Is Not Enough all have black bars on the side of the image in the blu-rays, but unlike OHMSS, it is because these are squeezed, not masked. This is usually done to protect cast/crew names on a TV screen - cathode ray TVs used to cut off the edges of the image through overscan. There is no need to do this for blu-ray as HDTVs don't overscan. Quite why only these four films were squeezed in this manner seems to be a mystery. I assume there were a number of crews at Lowry all working on Bond, and one crew decided to apply a squeeze, others did not.

Thanks for your reply, Oatesy.

I did a side-by-side comparison with the Blu-rays and the SE DVDs from 2000 earlier today, and the Thunderball and Moonraker title sequences don't look squeezed to me. If you've got those discs, could you have a look at them and tell me what you think, please?

Moonraker is easy to tell. The various "moons" in the sequence are oval shape. It's particularly noticeable when the title "moonraker" is on screen, and the circular wipe afterwards. The moons are clearly spherical in both the SE and on the titleless version in "mission control; 007" on the blu-ray.

It's harder tell on Thunderball as there are no obvious visual distortions, but you can tell there is nothing missing hidden under the "mask" when comparing the ones in the blu-ray film, to the title-less version in mission control. In addition the shot immediately after the titles, of Largo parking his car in Paris, looks squashed

[Jace]

just got mine as well. i love how slim the case is, and the sleeves seem very sturdy. hopefully the discs won't get scratched. can't wait to dive in! finally OHMSS and SWLM on Blu-ray
-jason (Spy Vibe)

[Joe Bond]

Can anyone confirm whether any Skyfall Trailers are included?

Mine should be arriving tomorrow!

Other than the Skyfall blogs there are no trailers for Skyfall on the bonus disc. I was hoping they would. Honestly the bonus disc is kinda of a waste since the Being Bond is only 3 minutes with I was hoping to be much longer. I didn't buy it for this though and I'm extremely pleased with the quality of the transfers and the bonus content included on each of the movie discs.

[Royal Dalton]

Moonraker is easy to tell. The various "moons" in the sequence are oval shape. It's particularly noticeable when the title "moonraker" is on screen, and the circular wipe afterwards. The moons are clearly spherical in both the SE and on the titleless version in "mission control; 007" on the blu-ray.

It's harder tell on Thunderball as there are no obvious visual distortions, but you can tell there is nothing missing hidden under the "mask" when comparing the ones in the blu-ray film, to the title-less version in mission control. In addition the shot immediately after the titles, of Largo parking his car in Paris, looks squashed

Thanks, Oatesy.

You're quite right, of course. I checked the DVDs on a CRT set before, which, ironically, must have distorted the image slightly.

[JB007YH]

Damn Amazon! I didnt get the Poster book that was promised. I know it was pulled by the publisher due to errors but an Amazon rep said theyd ship it with my Blu ray collection

[Gt Munn]

Damn Amazon! I didnt get the Poster book that was promised. I know it was pulled by the publisher due to errors but an Amazon rep said theyd ship it with my Blu ray collection

I got mine. Definitely challenge them!

[Kriegler75]

I can't claim to understand all the technical stuff people have been chatting about on here but I can add that just watched OHMSS from the new set and I have to say the picture & sound are nothing short of outstanding. It looks like a period film that was filmed yesterday

[JazzyBond]

If this has been mentioned already I apologize but I saw how the DVDs are packaged and I love how each Bond girl stands by the appropriate year but is anyone else upset there is no individual packaging with cover art for each DVD? I guess it makes you keep the whole set together.

[DamnCoffee]

It's here. Finally!

[Matt_13]

Just got mine in! Dr. No looks and sounds absolutely terrific.

For those of you who got the poster book from amazon, have any of you seen that Casino Royale Teaser Poster concept before? The one with the Ace of Spades with the 007 shot out of bullet holes? A very cool looking bit of work.

[thecasinoroyale]

Looks very neat and compact DC - congrats!

[scaramunga]

Just got mine in! Dr. No looks and sounds absolutely terrific.

For those of you who got the poster book from amazon, have any of you seen that Casino Royale Teaser Poster concept before? The one with the Ace of Spades with the 007 shot out of bullet holes? A very cool looking bit of work.

It was a new one on me too. Very cool.
Too bad the Bob Peak Licence To Kill posters were not included in the smaller version.

The larger version looks pretty cool. Not sure if I will get to it, but would like to.

[DamnCoffee]

Interesting Casino Royale concept. I hope I get a look soon.

[Henry-Jones-Sr]

I'm pretty sure the Casino Royale poster has been around a long time.

I also loved the hand drawn concepts for Licence To Kill.

[Major Tallon]

As forecast, there's no new material on the QOS blu-ray.

[thecasinoroyale]

What a big dissapointment!