Amazon.com: Seven films. Four Bonds. One set. This sprawling collection surveys over 30 years of James Bond skullduggery, from the cold war tensions of the 1960s to the international free-for-all of the present. Sean Connery remains the coolest of the Bonds, a ruthless agent with dry martini wit and a way with the women, and in Goldfinger his steely presence helped forge the Bond formula of tongue-in-cheek wit, wondrous secret agent toys created by Q, and megalomaniac supervillains bent on world destruction. Thunderball upped the Bond ante with the most ambitious adventure--and budget--to date. Roger Moore brought an altogether lighter tone to 007 with Live and Let Die, softening Connery's rough edges with a more romantic persona as the films became even more exotic. After a brief digression into outer space, For Your Eyes Only returned Bond to globetrotting high adventure and teamed him with his most endearing ally (Topol as a gregarious smuggler). Timothy Dalton made his second and final appearance as Bond in Licence to Kill, the toughest of the Bond films since Connery's early efforts. Though not a fan favorite, it's a sleek, solid adventure with an edge missing from the Moore pictures. Pierce Brosnan is the latest to take on 007's licence to kill, combining the best of Connery's cool and Moore's humor. GoldenEye is the best Bond film in years, a grand globetrotting adventure with lovely Bond girls and a tough new M (Judy Dench). Tomorrow Never Dies doesn't recapture that magic mix of action, gadgetry, and romance, but does feature the first Bond girl to match 007 blow for blow: Hong Kong action superstar Michelle Yeoh. Taken together, this set is a veritable cross-section of the many faces of James Bond. All that's missing is George Lazenby. Do I hear a nomination for set 2? --Sean Axmaker
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Better idea for Bond
Okay, these sets suck. Come on, this is James friggin' Bond here!!! We can do better than this. Here's my idea of how to handle the Bond box sets, and with any luck in 2010 they'll this to me. As much as I'd love to see one huge box set, that just wouldn't work. First of all it would be simply too big and too expensive, and second of all with new Bond movies every few years it would be out of date rather quickly. So do them by decades. Dig it - the Bond collection volume 1: The 60's. You could do all the movies released after 62's Dr. No but before 1970, and still have room for a really cool bonus disc. Granted, some volumes would be heftier than others (the 90's would be a bit slim), but with no end in sight for the Bond franchise this seems the best way too go. Plus, if you're like me, your a completist. You HAVE to have the whole franchise, even if most of the movies suck (which is why I'm buying the Exorcist and Superman box sets). This way, you get "On her Majesty's Secret Service" and the Dalton movies, but you don't have to feel cheated. Come on, somebody back me up. This is an idea that's come.
Rating: - The James Bond Collection VHS
Not a bad collection of Bond material, however, this is a mix of various Bond movies with a variety of leading Bond actors. I recommend looking into the 1996 Collections that have the videos in chronological order and primarily by actor. JAMES BOND 007 Collector's Set, Vol. 1 includes all six Broccoli-produced Sean Connery Bond films, to include a 1995 documentary video. JAMES BOND 007 Collector's Set, Vol. 2 includes all seven Roger Moore films and Timothy Dalton's first film. Although these sets are out-of-print, they are still available as used and collector's sets through Amazon.com's Marketplace. If you're like most fans, you'd prefer to have the movies that include your own favorite "leading-Bond-man"!
Rating: - 007 Beats the Devil
James Bond goes up against some of the toughest forces of evil in this collection. GOLDFINGER contains a well-balanced level of depth and action leaving one emotionally charged. This is Sean Connery's finest James Bond film. The golden girl, Oddjob's bowler hat, Goldfinger's lethal laser, the Astin Martin DB5 with modifications introduced by Q, and Shirley Bassey's legendary rendition of the theme song belted out over the titles immediately became an integral part of the James Bond lore and remained in the psyche of the public. Production designer Ken Adam and art director Peter Murton gave the production a stunning and lavish distinction. The Fort Knox set and Goldfinger's playroom at his stud ranch was a testament to imagination and achievement. John Barry finally honed his distinctive style to perfection with this memorable score. In THUNDERBALL 007's Astin Martin DB5 returns and so do the evil forces of S.P.E.C.T.R.E. In his fourth film Sean Connery is self-assured, inimitably virile and an infallible James Bond. Adolfo Celi as Emilio Largo devises and implements a plan that ultimately draws 007 to the Bahamas in search of a missing Vulcan jet lost on a NATO training sortie. This is a lavish Bond film where most of the action takes place underwater. What makes the film very memorable is John Barry's rich and esoteric score combined with Lamar Boren's beautiful and picturesque underwater photography. The cover of the THUNDERBALL dvd is very impressive and haunting. LIVE AND LET DIE is the one film in this series that stands out from the rest. It does not even seem like it is part of the series. The character of James Bond as played by Roger Moore was totally revamped in LIVE AND LET DIE. Bond seems to have traded in cigarettes for cheroots. Gone were the "Martinis shaken not stirred," the Dom Perigone, Bond's virility, worldliness and sardonic wit. Instead Bond uses his urbane sagacity and charm to follow the pipeline from New York to a Caribbean island to destroy a drug empire protected by a voodoo legion of hoodlum Mr. Big. LIVE AND LET DIE is a very entertaining film. In FOR YOUR EYES ONLY 007 gets rough as he goes up against an international tycoon on the payroll of the Soviets. This is an action packed film, with picturesque European and Mediterranean locales and a very exciting score by Bill Conti. The sinking of the St. Georges, the attack on Kristatos' warehouse and Bond kicking Locque's car, with Locque still inside, off the cliff were high points that were excellently filmed. LICENCE TO KILL has Timothy Dalton as an avenging James Bond turned rouge agent out to eliminate drug lord Sanchez in Isthmus City. There are many great action scenes on the land, on and under the sea and in the air. The best element of the story line is having Bond place doubt in the mind of Sanchez that henchmen in his organization were plotting against him. The film's greatest asset is Benicio Del Toro's performance as Dario, a Sanchez henchman. GOLDENEYE is Pierce Brosnan's first film as James Bond and seems more like a hybrid of Sean Connery and Timothy Dalton, combing the best elements that each brought to the role. He possesses intelligence, wit, charm and dedication and delivers these with no-nonsense passion and drive. GOLDENEYE is a great looking film beautifully filmed for mood and action. Some of the film's high points are the miniatures by Derek Meddings; probably his best work in the series, the return of the Astin Martin DB5 and Eric Serra's original if controversial score. Serra's interpretation of "The James Bond Theme" over the opening gun barrel trademark is powerful and very innovative. One can not appreciate Serra's contribution to this film unless the DVD is played through a surround stereo system with a good amount of bass and volume pumped up. This boxed set boasts some outstanding graphics. Outstanding!
Rating: - bond,james bond
this 7 video set of james bond is the very best on the market with titles like "goldfinger" "goldeneye" and "tomarrow never dies" just to name a few.mgm did a very good job putting this collection together all of the best of james bond. thanks,mgm.
Rating: - BOND...JAMES BOND
Ok, i'm a huge James Bond fan. And, as a distinguished ametuer film critic, I know what I like. And these films I like. From the dry-as-a-vodka-martini wit and charm of Sean Connery to the hard-edged Pierce Brosnan, the James Bond films vary in quality, but for the most part they are entertaining without being too political. And this first collection presents some of the best films in the series. Directed by Guy Hamilton, GOLDFINGER IS the best Bond film. No question. It epitomizes the entire franchise's appeal, with the brilliant Connery oozing charm, the terrific title villain played by Gert Frobe, to Shirley Bassey's powerful title tune to 007's ultra-cool Aston Martin. One line from Bassey's song sums it up nicely: "The man with the midas touch". Almost as good is THUNDERBALL, another great addition to the early "Pow! Bang!" Bond films, with stunning underwater photography, foxy bathing beauties and hungry sharks! Monty Norman's fantastic score adds another layer of panache, and the terrific action and endless one-liners (Bond dispatches a villain with a spear gun, then coolly says "I think he got the point") makes this one one of the best. Roger Moore's first outing as the debonair secret agent in LIVE AND LET DIE is somewhat disappointing, but there are still some good action set-pieces and witty one-liners. But for me, the best bit was Paul McCartney's smashing title song. FOR YOUR EYES ONLY saw the serious James Bond return after they norsed it up with MOONRAKER. There are a number of great action bits, and it's Moore's best performance (In this humble critic's opinion) in the whole series. The second Timothy Dalton film LICENCE TO KILL is ok, but it's unnecessary violence and lack of witty humor parts it from the usual Bond fare and places it somewhere in hard-man action territory. That said, there are some good villains, but it's really just not as fun as THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS. And then everything clicked with GOLDENEYE, the best of the Brosnan flicks so far, with amazing action, spectacular stunts and a thumping title track by Tina Turner. TOMORROW NEVER DIES has great action and stunts, but lacks a meaty villain to pump up the story. It's good, but not great. All put together with an impressive bunch of DVD extras, this is a must-buy item for any Bond fan.
- Better idea for Bond
- The James Bond Collection VHS
- 007 Beats the Devil
- BOND...JAMES BOND
