Spy Vibers, check your mailboxes. Bond 50 on Blu-ray has arrived! The 22-film collection is housed in two hard-cover cases that fit into an outer slipcase. It's surprisingly compact on the shelf, which should satisfy my fellow collectors who still have the series in its past released formats. Fans on the Commander Bond Network have been discussing a few titles sequences that seem to have been filmed in slightly different aspect ratios than the movies, but everyone seems to be raving about the quality of the transfers. I believe that most, if not all, Bonus features have ported over from the 4-volume DVD sets, and the new box includes a bonus disc with a number of short features. I've looked at most of them, and found them a great way to amp up the momentum for a Bond marathon. They focus on the Bond actors, the Designing-Bond exhibit, and video celebrations of elements like the title sequences (watch them all in order!), villains, women, gadgets, locations, and vehicles from the franchise. The Skyfall video blogs also add context and anticipation for the new film. See the reviews on DVDBeaver for more details. I'm very excited about finally seeing my fave 007 film, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, in Hi-definition, not to mention two runners-up also new to blu-ray, The Spy Who Loved Me and The Living Daylights. My only complaint so far in looking at SWLM is that dialog sounds great at a setting of about 33 and music and sound FX sound good at about 25. This is not exclusive to Blu-ray, of course, and I wish people who mix movies would correct this trend. I find that I either have to use subtitles or constantly change the volume. Fans who pre-ordered Bond 50 also received an abridged version of the new James Bond poster book. The edition is 74 pages (compared to the complete book listed at 304 pages on Amazon). I'm waiting to hear from readers who have both editions for a clear comparison. Image below from DVDBeaver.
