James Bond: Ultimate Sean Connery [DVD] [1962]

This 6-double CD set is a steal at the price, and in Sean Connery it gives you the best Bond to boot. The clarity of some of the films (especially From Russia With Love and Goldfinger), is outstanding. Only 4 stars? Well, some films are better than others. Goldfinger is the pinnacle of most 007 outings: sharp, great dialogue, a truly teasing interplay between Pussy Galore and OO7, and a well-rounded villain in the shape of Gert Frobe aided by a classy henchman, Odd-Job. FRWL is of the old school of Cold War intrigue, and rather fine to boot, with a great fight betwen Robert Shaw's assassin and Bond in the cramped confines of a railway carriage.Thunderball comes close too, with Largo an excellent, tough adversary, and a well-choreographed underwater finale. Diamonds are Forever from 1971 bags the best Bond theme ever, just ahead of Goldfinger, and has much of the sharpness of the earlier Connery films. So where do we lose a star? At times, several of the films stall for a second between chapters - more than I have noticed on other DVDs - which is especially galling when its one scene spread across 2 or 3 chapters. The extras aren't so special, to be honest. And given that the producers managed superb actor-continuity between Bond films (including Moore and beyond) in the shape of M, Q and Miss Moneypenny, it's distracting that the Bond series gives us possibly 6 different Felix Leiters, and some actors such as Burt Kwuok or Charles Grey (always the best Blofeld, in my books, cold, asexual and just a little bit camp) take different roles in almost consecutive films. Finally, despite the beautiful locations and another top theme tune, You Only Live Twice might just be Connery's worst Bond outing. It drags at times quite badly, despite having supplied some of the prime ideas (Dr Evil, volcano base etc), for Mike Myer's Austin Powers series. The run-in with SPECTRE's #11 is non-sensical, and Donald Pleasance as Blofeld is spectacularly under-used. As he is the major villain of the entire Connery run, his first real appearance as head of SPECTRE is fatally delayed and then given too little screen-time. He gets to point his pistol at Bond twice, and even gets upstaged by his cat at one point when the animal, visibly spooked by gunshots, tries to get away from him! No wonder you don't see this one so often on a Sunday afternoon on ITV1.

Firstly, it's worth noting that this works out cheaper than most of the Buy One Get One Free offers on the Bond Ultimate Editions at the moment. It contains all 6 Connery Bond films in there Ultimate Edition 2 disc formats.There is, it should be noted, a gap between You Only Live Twice and Diamonds are Forever where On Her Majesty's Secret Service should be... (which of course featured George Lazenby so shouldn't be included here).Here you get Bond at his best, but the fact that you're already looking at this means you know that! The picture on these Ultimate Editions is truly something to behold. In certain sequences in Dr. No and From Russia with Love I could have sworn that I was watching a film shot a few years ago set in the 1960's. That's not an exageration. It's probably the best restoration job I have ever seen. I upgraded from my old Special Editions and I honestly believe it was worth it just for the picture.If you have the old Special Editions... the extras are replicated here along with a few additional bits and pieces. Is it worth upgrading? If you're after improved picture and sound... yes... if you're a huge Bond fan... yes... but if you're a casual fan, already possessing the Special Editions and not that interested in improved picture quality... no.

Leaving aside 'Diamonds Are Forever', which is where the rot set in, the first five films demonstrate exactly why Sean Connery could not be bettered as Bond. Just watch that look in his eyes in 'Dr.No' when he twigs the driver at the airport is a potential enemy. Just look at the way he stalks the corridors of the rest home in 'Thunderball'. No-one who came after could match him, even though Lazenby's interpretation was perhaps a little closer to the fictional Bond. That's not the point, though. Connery's Bond was something else, a revelation. 'DAF', though, was a mistake: the producers should have left well alone.

The quality of the digital restoration is excellent. The old movies look like films shot a few years ago and not several decades ago. The special features DVD that comes with each movie is very enlightening for both the restoration techniques and interviews with cast and crew. A great companion to the main feature.Amazon's product description page states the DVD format for the Ultimate Sean Connery box set to be "Anamorphic". This is a mistake because the packaging of the DVD set clearly reads "Letterbox" and not "Anamorphic". Amazon needs to check the product more carefully and update the description page.Also, the following information is not provided by Amazon but it is worth knowing before making a purchase.Dr. No, From Russia With Love and Goldfinger all have an aspect ratio of 1.66:1 and fit onto a widescreen TV very nicely. The other movies in the box set all have a much wider aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and appear in the center of the screen with "black bars" top and bottom. The bars can be partly eliminated by changing the TV's display settings.

This Sean Connery Ultimate Edition box set is one word: AMAZING. From the first moment I put the dvd in to play "Dr. No" I realized that this isn't the same old Bond we're all used to from watching it on tv or previous dvd releases. The picture and sound is absolutely flawless and crystal clear. Don't be skeptical from yet another James Bond DVD release. I'd give the extras a grade of a "B", simply because the same things are put onto each disc, but there are some great extras, such as a BBC interview with Sean Connery himself, or the making of "Thunderball".Simply put, this is a must have for any James Bond fan, especially for a Sean Connery fan - the best Bond ever. The best DVD set I have ever purchased, I encourage any Bond fan to experience this enhanced, remastered Bond experience.

Overall quality better than expected