I hope they go back to the original artwork too. I've been looking at these "new" images since the mid-90's when they first debuted on VHS (the artwork that is, not the movies themselves).

also for posterity...the old thread

Plans to rerelease the early Connery and Moore James Bond films? (merged)

^has rundowns on other regions extras/cover art/etc.

So it's definite that there will be no single releases (just sets)? That's really lame, netflix here I come...

Another slap in the face! It looks like Japan is getting all twenty of their Ultimate Editions in an attache case along with a bonus DVD on November 22...

http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B...194563-2412202

I'm really tempted to order the set from the UK, but after reading all the discussions that's been raging in various forums online, I don't want to settle with having a cropped Goldeneye with an ugly transfer in my collection, even if it is just one film out of twenty. Also, based solely on screenshots I've seen posted online (not the best way to opine on video, I know), it seems that the only films that are significantly improved visually are the early Connery films. The rest appear to run the gamut from slightly improved to awful (Goldeneye).

It might just be wiser to buy only my favorites now (if not R1, then R2) and wait for the eventual HD releases of all the Bond films.

But then again, I'm still holding on to a slither of hope that all the problems in the R2 release, as triffling as some may be, would be fixed in the R1 release, and that Sony/MGM would surprise us with an attache case of our own next May when the second wave of box sets is supposedly released.

For anyone rushing to buy that Amazon.jp set I think Japan is the only Amazon area where you can't log in with your .com, co.uk, .fr, .de, .at, .ca login.

Last I looked anyway.

The UK (and Japanese I assume) is a beautiful set and it's worth beholding. As it's limited I can't see any money loss in aquiring it.

I have seen screen caps that look wonderful on Dr. No, but have heard that the menus are generic for all the discs (not custom for each film like in the SE's) and that the color is all off on the later films. I will be passing on this set until they release HD editons. I am sure that is not more than a few years off. Double dipping at this late date (HD is upon us) in the game we call DVD buying would kind of a waste I think.

No Sale here....

I'm just pissed that Goldeneye is zoomed/cropped all to hell.

I'll pass and keep the sets I have now. The complete case from the UK looks cool through.

well this stinks. I wanted individual releases. I really only wanted a few to begin with, and already two of the ones i want most (Thunderball and Diamonds are Forever) are on different sets. And $90 MSRP seems really steep for a 5 movie set.

Am I correct in assuming the price of the attache case in Japan is around $420? :jawdrop:

The only thing cheap in Japan is the tourists :D

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0...V60244195_.jpg

Looks like the bonus disc is the Bond Girls are forever best buy exclusive from when die another day came out....there were two more bonus disc out there. The suncoast "driving machines of bond" and circuit city had one...not sure what it was

CC had a promotional documentary disc "Shaken and Stirred on Ice" for Die Another Day. The BB Bond Girls disc, tho, was what most people opted for (and was, IMO, a better disc).

From http://www.thedigitalbits.com/

so...we get all four sets same day...but not altogether...

The first two sets will be released on 11/7, so three and four will be released a month afterwards. At least if I do decide to buy, I won't have to wait until May...

leaving casino royale the oddball out of the sets in a few months

Since Casino Royale is considered a "reboot" of the franchise and breaks the prior continuity (a la Batman Begins), IMO it shouldn't be included in a box with the previous films.

There was prior continuity to the James Bond films?

the recent James Bond article in Esquire certainly made mention that only twice was there a cross over in terms of story and time between the movies - other than that each movie is distinctively seperate.

When your James Bond is initially getting his "Double 0" status in the movie, I'd call that a reboot.

While the plots didn't necessarily overcross, the character himself was meant to be the same person with the same history (albeit he aged a lot more slowly than the rest of the world around him). Casino Royale starts over with Bond as a new MI6 recruit.

And there's more than two instances of crossover. The character of Blofeld appeared in several Bond movies across Connery, Lazenby, and Moore. Jaws appeared in both The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker. That stupid hick sheriff was in Live and Let Die and The Man with the Golden Gun. For Your Eyes Only explicitly references the death of Bond's wife at the end of On Her Majesty's Secret Service. And Die Another Day has subtle references to a great many of ther previous Bond films (his Thunderball jet pack, Halle Berry in Ursula Andress' Dr. No bikini, etc.).

Let's not forget Kronsteen mentioning James Bond killing Dr. No in From Russia With Love. Or Bond mentioning the Dr. No mission in Jamaica to Felix Leiter in Goldfinger. Or gadgets from the previous films that Bond takes out of his drawer in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Or Agent Triple X mentioning Bond's late wife in The Spy Who Loved Me. Or Leiter telling his ill-fated wife that Bond was married once "a long time ago" in Licence To Kill.

Yes, there's continuity in the Bond series.:)

Actually, that's more of a strike against continuity. It makes no sense for Bond to be the exact same person over that many years, especially with the changes in age and actors. Never Say Never Again probably has the best continuity, since it at least mentions Connery's aging, but that film's not even part of the "canon."

You may as well mention M, Miss Moneypenny, Q, and Felix. They are all in numerous Bond films, much more than any single villian. Several of them will appear in Casino Royale as well. Yet, this is just continuity of characters, much like Bond, and not continuity of storyline, which is what I thought you were referring to when trying to discount Casino Royale from it.

And that's probably one of the two specific storyline continuities in the series that the Esquire article mentions. Still, one or two mentions of a previous instance do not a "prior continuity" make. The films more often break or ignore continuity than they follow it.

Again, probably more a point against continuity than for it. If it really was the same Bond in that film as in all the past ones, with a knowledge of all past exploits, wouldn't it be a little suspicious for all these past references to suddenly occur in his most recent mission?

Really, every Bond film "resets" the series somewhat, the ones that introduce a new actor for Bond moreso. Bond is always ready for the next mission, past love interests forgotten, past missions unreferenced. The films reset age, and even sex and race, of characters without batting an eye. Characters like Felix can even get re-introduced to Bond. Bond gets reinvisioned for each new decade and threat; I don't see how Casino Royale is that drastically different.

I just find it lame that the uber set is going to be in multiple countries...but not the usa. Did the planet of the apes set not sell in great numbers??? People want it, make it available...the end.

I just don't want to purchase 4 box sets, to find out that a few months down the line a suitcase version with the new movie will be out and about....

I would like to have this...i have the Suncoast exclusive, if anyone wants to trade...email me

Still no info on individual releases?

Makes me mad i passed up on the few movies i did want when someone traded them in at EB about a month ago. :(

Amazon.com has listed them and they are available for preorder. The MSRP is 89.99, Amazon has them for 58.49 each, super deal!! Here are the links:

James Bond Ulitmate Collection Vol. 1

James Bond Ultimate Collection Vo. 2

Wouldn't that be 10 discs/5 movies just as has been reported?

Arrrggghh!! You are correct. I forgot that they are going to be 2 discs and Amazon doesn't mention them as 2 discs. But, yea your right, my bad. My original post has been edited.

Exactly! I can't see how someone would seriously think that the upcoming Casino Royale should be considered a separate release from all the past Bond movies. 'Tis a silly argument.

The most obvious crossover in my mind is On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Diamonds Are Forever with Blofeld killing Tracey at the end of the OHMSS, and the beginning of DAF picking up with Bond having looked high and low for Blofeld ever since. Come to think of it, M allowed Bond some time away from the job to keep hunting for Blofeld in OHMSS at the beginning of the film, having crossed paths from You Only Live Twice?

Instead of trying to please everyone (individual releases and a complete release) MGM has decided to please no one by randomly tossing these into four different box sets.

I'd say they're only trying to please their stockholders if anything. There's enough people that will bite the bullet and buy all the boxes just to get the Connery's (for example)

Surely there should be individual releases??

I'm not spending $90 when I don't want every film in a set! :(

They're using the same sales strategy they did the last time out. By "randomly" mixing and matching films within each box set they can essentially force people to buy weaker titles like Moonraker and A View to a Kill by including them in a box with stronger titles like Dr. No or Goldfinger.

Hopefully the older editions will be dumped in favor of the new sets and those discs will be easier to find.

I only need 3 Bond movies to complete my Bond collection and i'm not going to blow $90 so i can get a set that includes movies i do not want or need.

I liked Moonraker though :(

same here, lol...

Where are you? Why do you hide?
Where is that moonlight trail that leads to your side?
Just like the Moonraker goes ...