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."
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This disc is the sixth in the series of digitally remastered, feature packed, DVD releases of James Bond.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the odd-ball James Bond film in the series, for the very fact that George Lazenby takes his role as Britain's ultimate secret agent for one time only, amid Sean Connery's efforts (George replaced Sean, but Sean returned to do the next film, Diamonds are Forever). After all, how can we possibly have an Australian playing the role of our national hero?
However, the film, despite an unconvincing portrayal by Lazenby, is one of the best of the series, thanks to a cracking plot, seriously good acting by other cast members, and of course: the chance to see Bond get married.
Briefly, our hero starts the film by rescuing a gorgeous Diana Rigg (playing the Countess Tracy di Vincenzo) from a suicide attempt in the ocean. She turns out to be the daughter of a one-man crime kingpin, Draco, who offers Bond the chance to finally locate SPECTRE's Blofeld if he will marry his daughter. Bond
learns that Blofeld is hiding away in a top of the mountain retreat in the Swiss Alps, disguised as a health centre to cure women of allergies. Bond disguises himself as a genealogist to visit the centre, where he uncover a plot to hypnotise the women and use them to release biological agents if Blofeld doesn't get his ransom demands met. Of course, Bond saves the day, and in the process manages to genuinely fall in love with Tracy, finally marrying her. However, a devastating finale is in store...!
It is the disc that I am principally concerned with here, and this is a lavish affair by all accounts. As is common with all of the Bond DVD remasters, the quality and quantity of extras included on this disc is mouth watering!
As you open the box you are confronted with a lush 8 page booklet, full of facts about the production such as the choosing of the new James Bond (learn about Lazenby's lucky haircut!) and how some of the breath-taking ice and snow stunts were performed (OHMSS is a stunt spectacular and no doubt about that).
Now, if you've time you can put that disc in your machine and away you go. The room explodes as the dramatic menu option comes on screen - very exciting. Now choose from all those special features you can see. For a start there is an audio commentary from Peter Hunt, the director, and other crewmembers. This is not actually very engaging I though, and a bit of a let down as some of the other Bond films have two audio commentaries.
Still, then we can go onto the splendid Inside OHMSS documentary, which features lots of archived material from the filming, and insights into the production. This is particularly strong in discussing the reasons for choosing Lazenby, and his advantages and disadvantages as the new Bond.
Then you get a (unrelated) second documentary about Q (Desmond Llewelyn) and his amazing gadgets - find out how Desmond copes with the gadgets when in fact he hasn't got a clue what he is on about - hilarious stuff, and a great extra.
As if that wasn't enough, you can see theatrical trailers form America, listen to radio stills from America and also some of the TV ads. Again this is all American fodder but worth watching once.
Less interesting is the stills gallery, which is labelled as exciting on the back of the disc, but will hardly get your blood pressure going.
The quality of the film itself is, as with the other releases superb. The video transfer is spot on, looking like a brand new film, and of course we get to see it in glorious 2.35:1 anamorphic wide screen - bliss! The film has also been split into a very generous 32 chapters as well, so pinpointing your favourite parts of the film is a breeze.
As with some of the other early films though, the soundtrack is bog-standard mono, and while being particularly clear, you will get lots of rumbles, groans and crashes to keep your surround sound system going, but it's just not the same as listening to a film encoded in 5.1 channels. Shame!
All in all, an excellent package of a good Bond film, in what promises to be the ultimate Bond home entertainment series. These discs just keep getting better.
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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
Action/Adventure - Director: Peter Jackson - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring:Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Liv Tyler, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Andy Serkis
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
George Lazenby made his first and only appearance as James Bond in this the unheralded ... more
gem of the franchise. With an incredibly affecting denouement and one of John Barry's finest scores OHMSS would show a different side to Bond and open up the char...
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James Bond goes undercover in the treacherous Swiss Alps in this action-packed epic filled ... more
with artillery-laden ski pursuits, incredible stunts and nonstop thrills! George Lazenby leaps into the role of Agent 007 with supreme confidence and undeniable ...
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Mar 19th, 2001
(Mar 20th, 2001)
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