The editions still don't have a U.S. release date but it's suppossedly around Nov/December. They will be issued in 5 boxes of 4 films or 4 boxes of 5 films -- not in order. No word yet if they'll be issued individually. The Ultimate Editions are suppossed to have the same content worldwide.
Here are reviews from
Michaels DVD.
Goldeneye: Ultimate Edition Plot Synopsis Goldeneye was the first Pierce Brosnan Bond film in 1995 and quite possibly the best of them. Some even consider it the best Bond film ever. Goldeneye was a stunning return to form for the series, both critically and at the box office, coming as it did after the Timothy Dalton films and a 6 year break due to a disagreement between Danjaq and United Artists. It has previously been released twice in Region 4, once in 1999 and then as part of the special editions in 2001.The reviews of the previous versions can be found here and here, the second one containing an excellent plot summary. This new version is significantly different to both previous releases. The main differences can be summarised as follows:
Very clean from a film artefacts perspective but I have some problems with it (See below).
Audio Transfer Reduced bitrate Dolby Digital 5.1 (384 Kb/s) Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) Remastered Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) and DTS 5.1 (768 Kb/s).
Features: Everything from the previous edition plus many new extras on a separate disc
It's a bit of a toss up whether or not an upgrade to this new version (from the SE) would be advisable as the video quality seems to have gone backwards in some areas, however, there is a marked increase in audio quality and extras. If you only have the original version then this is definitely worth purchasing.
This is a top flight Bond film featuring excellent villains including probably the first one who could be described as both sexy and completely evil, some fantastic action sequences and stunts, a great new Bond, excellent casting (even Minnie Driver strangling her cat), and the usual cars, girls, gambling and humour.
In the Bond series, this film is notable due to the first appearance of Dame Judi Dench as 'M' and also the first (for a long time) without titles by Maurice Binder as he died in 1991. The title sequence used, however, certainly keeps to the pattern he developed. One element of this new film which got some of the fans jumping up and down was the different style of score from what had previously been used. Eric Serra's score is more modern than previous scores but to my mind does an excellent job. Another interesting change for this film is that the team created their own new movie studio on the site of an old Rolls Royce factory, thereby moving away from Pinewood.
Great Bond film.
Video The video quality is disappointing considering the excellent reviews given to previous versions.
The feature is presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio 16x9 enhanced which is the original aspect ratio.
The Lowry restoration process has certainly resulted in a very clean and clear image throughout. The sharpness, however, was somewhat variable with the occasional scene such as the one around 44:00 featuring M and Bond having an argument being a little soft and showing some grain and even mild macro-blocking in backgrounds. Generally, however, the transfer was very sharp. The shadow detail was excellent.
The colour was excellent and, to my eyes, natural throughout.
The main problem I have with this transfer is the introduction of quite noticeable aliasing and jagged edges which occur regularly. Most occurrences are mild, however considering that this was not present on previous versions of this film (based on the previous reviews) this is quite disappointing. Examples can be seen on the Aston Martin grille at 12:30, 14:00 and 16:40, buildings at 16:20, a roof at 21:01, buildings at 25:15, a grille at 33:38, a computer at 49:25 and a plane at 91:25. Additionally, the dam in the opening sequence has quite a few jagged edges and shimmering. This list is not exhaustive but indicates a level of aliasing and shimmering which is not acceptable when this is marketed as an Ultimate Edition. If this was just a normal release of a 10 year old film, I would not make such a big deal out of this problem, but considering this was not a problem on the other film in this new edition which I have reviewed, Octopussy, and was not a problem on previous releases of this film, I think my disappointment is justified.
There are 11 subtitle streams including English & English for the hearing impaired. The English subtitles were clear and easy to read but a little summarised. Two of the other streams are commentary subtitles.
The layer change occurs at 61:04 and was not noticeable during playback.
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(Note how Campbells name is in the title of every feature and Pierce's name is not -- not even for his own Press Conference -- Dalton's name is on that feature for TLD -- and it's only "featurette" -- feh )
Disc 1Commentary - Director Martin Campbell & Producer Michael G Wilson.
This commentary appeared on the previous versions of the disc and I found it quite enjoyable compared to other more recent commentaries I have heard.
Credits DVD Production Credits
Disc 2Declassified : MI6 Vault -Deleted Scenes with introductions by Director, Martin Campbell **NEW**
Four cut scenes are included in this section, all of which are non-essential but some are good for a laugh. 16x9 enhanced. The scenes are
* Dodging the Guards (1:47) - Scene from the opening showing how he gets onto the dam before jumping off it.
* No Deal (1:34) - Amusing scene involving Robbie Coltrane and an incompetent arms dealer.
* Bond rides with Wade (1:34) - Fairly pointless scene with CIA agent Wade.
* No Bugs in the Program (1:12) - Short transitional scene.
Anatomy of a Car Chase : Remy Julienne (2:55) **NEW**
Short featurette about the opening car chase between Bond and Onatopp featuring interview footage with the stunt co-ordinator for the chase. 4x3
Anatomy of a Stunt: Tank Vs Perrier (6:07) **NEW**
Interesting featurette hosted by the director and featuring footage of the stunt being filmed on their studio lot and interview footage with the second unit director. 4x3.
Building a Better Bond : Pre-production Featurette (9:01) **NEW**
A featurette made before production started to raise media interest in the project. Includes footage of the announcement of the new James Bond and details of the new studio built especially for the project. 4x3.
Goldeneye : The Secret Files (28:30) **NEW**
A worthwhile and reasonably interesting making of featurette which covers the new studio, Pierce Brosnan, budgets, effects, miniatures, props, locations and how specific scenes were put together. Includes interviews with important cast and crew members.
Goldeneye : The Secret Files : The Cast (12:20) **NEW**
Featurette focusing on the supporting cast showing behind the scenes footage and interviews. Includes coverage of Dame Judi Dench, Robbie Coltrane, Famke Janssen, Sean Bean, Isabella Scurupco, Alan Cummins & Desmond Llewellyn.
Location Scouting with Peter Lamont (12:32) **NEW**
Another interesting extra which consists of film taken by production designer Peter Lamont as he scouts locations all over the world. It is accompanied by his commentary.
Making It Small in Pictures : Derek Meddings (2:38) **NEW**
A short tribute to miniature maker Derek Meddings who died just after production wrapped, featuring the work he did for the film.
The Return of Bond : The Start of Production Press Event (5:28) **NEW**
This is footage of the press event to launch the production featuring the cast and crew plus backstage footage. OK.
Pre-title Storyboard Sequence (1:32) **NEW**
Introduced by the director, this shows the opening sequence in storyboards.
Directing Bond - The Martin Chronicles (10:17) **NEW**
Featurette on the director including a lot of behind the scenes footage of him spitting the dummy about things going wrong. Quite amusing and certainly refreshing to see something which is shown warts and all. Includes interviews with cast, crew and the man himself.
Optional Commentary Segments by Martin Campbell (1:04 & 0:52) **NEW**
Two segments of the previous featurette with Martin Campbell commentating over them. In one he discusses why he was so annoyed and in the other talks about his DOP, Phil Meheux.
007 Mission Control **NEW**
This fairly pointless set of extras consists of highlights from the film separated into small segments and categorised into 007, Opening Titles, Women, Allies, Villains, Mission Combat Manual, Q Branch & Exotic Locations. The only thing I noticed that wasn't in the film was a version of the title sequence with text.
Mission Dossier
This sub-menu includes a number of quality featurettes which all appeared on the special edition. Specifically they are: * World of 007 - A Documentary (41:43) - Very worthwhile show made for television and hosted by Liz Hurley. It is a retrospective of the Bond films and includes sections on Ian Fleming, the various Bond actors, the girls, the films, stunts, accidents, cars, villains, gadgets, music and more. Only goes up to Goldeneye.
* The Goldeneye Video Journal (14:15) - Short making of featurette with cast & crew interviews, behind the scenes footage and stunt details. There is some crossover between these and the new featurettes.
* Promotional Featurette (5:08) - Exactly what it says - a glossy promo featurette. Very poor video quality.
* 'Goldeneye' Music Video (3:25) - Original music video for the theme song. 4x3.
Ministry of Propaganda This sub-menu includes two trailers and 12 TV spots for the film, all of which were included on the special edition.
Image Database **NEW**
This is a large selection of image galleries on various topics. The photos included are stills from the film, publicity material and behind-the-scenes shots. The galleries are presented with one text page each describing the topic and are timed rather than requiring you to click through each photo. There are segments on the stars plus scenes, girls, extras and publicity.
Censorship
There is censorship information available for this title. Click here to read it (a new window will open). WARNING: Often these entries contain MAJOR plot spoilers.
R4 vs R1
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
These new Ultimate Editions are the same globally except for colour system differences and subtitles. Draw.
Summary: A great entry in the Bond canon.
The video quality is disappointing.
The audio quality is excellent.
There are a huge array of high quality extras on this 2 disc set.