Hi, I'm Andy and I used to be a teacher in Bath ... but I'm not now. I want to be an astronaut when ...
Hi, I'm Andy and I used to be a teacher in Bath ... but I'm not now. I want to be an astronaut when I grow up and visit Mars. And I want Christina Ricci to knock on my door and say, "Hello, big boy, where have you been all my life."
Member since:26.09.2000
Reviews:180
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You know it's Bond when that music starts, and here we have the second Bond film from 1963, 'From Russia With Love'. It may be the second film, but it's the first to feature those wonderful silhouetted females cavorting over the theme tune, leaving us all gasping for the outline of nipples and gasping at the amazing gymnastics! (Well, that's what it used to do for me anyway!)
It's also the third film to be released in the wonderful remastered DVD series, packed full of ultra-special extras. Just what a DVD should be like!
While I'm concentrating on reviewing the DVD and not the film here, suffice to say that Connery's second outing is a far more relaxed affair - Connery looks and sounds much more the part, and while it lacks the grittiness that Dr No had, it makes up for it in the hints of exotic locations and multiple women that is a familiar trademark of the Bond's to come. It's also a complicated plot, lacking in gadgetry but making up for it in action, concerning a beautiful female (naturally!) Soviet agent, Titiana Romanova,
who wishes to defect into Bond's arms, and is willing to bring a secret decoder with her. However, the plan is really a trap with SPECTRE seeking revenge on Bond for killing Dr No in the previous film. It's also the film that features that great scene where Bond is attacked by the ugly woman with steel spiked shoes - remember? Rosa Klebb was her name in case you were wondering!
Anyway, back to the disc. Open up the case (which in case you hadn't figured it out, if you collect all the discs and stand them next to each other will make a pretty Bond logo along their spines - great fun for rainy days!) and you will find the now familiar glossy book. If you've read my previous reviews on the DVD Bonds, you will know that this 8 page booklet boasts lots of facts and background info on the film. Find out what JFK, the American president, has to do with this film, and all about that great fight between Bond and Grant, the SPECTRE bouncer, on the Orient Express.
Once the menu intro has blasted its way onto your screen (turn up the volume high before you load it in your player!) you will be able to bask in the glory of all those extras fighting for your attention.
You can skip quickly past the theatrical trailer, which is Americanized and gives far too much of the story away while that American bloke's voice tells you that this is a Bond film about 20 times. There are also TV and radio ads, which all sound exactly like the trailer and are all American, so are not worth repeated watchings.
Each disc in the Bond DVD series features a speical documentary on some aspect of the Bond films in general, and on this disc you will find a documentary on Harry Saltzman, one of the Bond producers (along with Broccoli) who made the Bond dream come true, and this documentary details his relationship with Broccoli (love-hate) and his passion for bringing the Bond books to film. It's good, but not very groundbreaking - if you are a Bond fan you will know a lot of this already.
You can switch on an audio commentary with director Terence Young if you so wish, though once again I didn't find him particularly riveting to listen to for the duration of a film (you need to be quite a dedicated sort of person to listen to audio commentaries don't you?)
Once again the best extra feature is the behind-the-scenes documentary which isn't just the 15 minutes jobs you see on TV these days, but a full blown affair with Patrick Macnee narrating (imaginary prize for the first person to tell me which Bond film he appeared in, and what was his character's name), and this certainly is worth watching again for the film footage from the actual making, see Connery hanging around looking very un-Bond like.
However, that's it for the extras (apart from a useless Stills Gallery - buy a book if you want to look at photos), and while it's great to find DVDs with this many extras, it's relatively sparse compared to some of the other discs (Thunderball for instance).
The picture quality is up to the standard of the other discs I'm pleased to say, with good definition. The age of the film means the picture looks slightly soft, but it still looks great on my widescreen telly thanks to the anamorphic presentation in 16:9 ratio.
And guess what I'm going to complain about now? Once again, mono soundtrack - it drives a Bond fan crazy! Did I buy a DVD player, widescreen telly and Dolby Digital 5.1 speaker system to listen to a mono soundtrack? If they can remaster Thunderball in Dolby 5.1 there's no excuse not to do it with the other films!
Usual grumble aside, the disc is divided into 32 chapters for accurate access, leaving you with a Bond disc that is probably worth buying more the quality of the film rather than the quality of the extras. And with a Bond film full of action and macho acting from a Connery who looks as if he is really enjoying playing Bond, you will be guaranteed a great night in with this disc!
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Production Year: 2008 - Action/Adventure - Director: Christopher Nolan - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring:Maggie Gyllenhaal, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
Production Year: 1996 - Action/Adventure - Director: Tom Clegg - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring:Daragh O'Malley, Oliver Cotton, Jason Durr, Sean Bean, Allie Byrne
007 BOND always excites! I love all his films, would love the DVD even more..alas must buy myself a stand alone DVD player (the one I have is on my PC!) a superb opinion written with such passion!
TRACY1471 08.04.2001 18:57
lots of great info...good op :-)
elspeth334 27.03.2001 19:40
Bond is a big favourite in our house Great op Cheers Elspeth
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Mar 26th, 2001
(Mar 23rd, 2001)
very helpful by (100%):
