James Bond Blu-ray Collection Three-Pack, Vol. 1 (Dr. No / Die Another Day / Live and Let Die) [Blu-ray]

There will always be debates on who makes the best Bond, and this trilogy gives you a sampling of three strong contenders spanning 40+ years of Bond: Sean Connery in "Dr. No" - the film that started it all, Roger Moore in his first turn as Bond, "Live and Let Die" and Pierce Brosnan as 007 in "Die Another Day" the final film before the series "re-boot."

When I put the "Dr. No" Blu-ray Disc into my player for the first time, my jaw hit the floor. The luscious detailed images that appeared on a large 1080p projection screen looked more like a movie made last year than one made in 1962. The main reason the films look so good is that all twenty of the pre-Craig Bond movies were cleaned up and restored with great care by Lowry Digital Images, using the original camera negatives. The first nine films (including "Dr. No" and "Live and Let Die" from this set) were all scanned at a whopping 4K resolution, and the other eleven were re-mastered at full HD 1920x1080 resolution - a perfect fit for Blu-ray disc. While the 12 megapixel (4000x3000 pixel) mastering of the first nine films may seem like overkill, for 1080p high definition's 2 Megapixel image, the results speak for themselves.

The sound is no slouch either, with the films re-mastered in lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround (the original mono or stereo track is also included on each of the older films, for the purists). The producers went back to the original master recordings, cleaned up the audio and created a truly immersive surround sound stage for each film. If you haven't seen the early Bond movies before, then you're in for a treat with these Bond classics on Blu-ray.

As to compatibility, it is important to note that some players (notably the Samsung BD-P1500 and LG BH200) do currently have playback problems on these discs. It's important to know that if you own one of these players. But this should not be a reflection on the software, just because the player manufacturers have improperly implemented the Blu-ray specifications. Also, LG and Samsung have committed to providing firmware updates to fix any playback issues with these titles. Also, most of the current generation players (including the newer Panasonic and Sony players with the latest firmware applied) have no problems playing these discs.

Full reviews of each of these Blu-ray discs are available on Big Picture Big Sound.

These compatability issues, though iritating, are a format liability issue that will hopefully end soon. I am not sure why continuing to update would be necessary indefinitely. What I really don't like about this set is that the packaging itself presents problems if you someday hope to have a nice, clean, uniform Bond set someday. There are no hardcases for individual disks like the old DVD Bond collections. The outer case is kinda cool with slipcase, sorta fake leather texture and a nice multi-layer look into a pipe with a bond figure. However, once you open up the booklets, the holder for the discs is very cheap with just a foam knob pasted to the cardboard itself which will undoubtedly fall off over time. What one also must understand is that there are at least one or two bond films not licenced through the same studio so you are guaranteed that you will not be able to collect all the films in a similar set. The packaging will be simple blu cases on those most likely. Depending on your preferences, you should just go with the single cases to start with. For a short time after the release, you are going to get those free movie tickets(QOS)on each box anyway as long as you buy from a reputable dealer.

Blu ray collectors are getting just what they deserve! They wanted Blu Ray to win when we should have been fighting for compatibility instead of dominance. Now we all lose. Even my Blu ray of the Hulk does not play correctly on my older Blu ray player. What we as consumers should have been fighting for is to be able to play any disc on any player. Now our investments are blown.

Full disclosure: My 1-star review is for poor compatibility of these discs -- not the actual video content. The movies themselves are among my favorites of all time, but I haven't seen a single frame on any of these blu-ray discs!

I bought all 6 of these movies individually, and none of them will get past a black screen when viewed on my HP laptop (QuickPlay v3.7 blu-ray player.) I've verified that the firmware and software version are the very latest so... until someone at HP gets motivated, you might be waiting awhile to play these through your laptop. For the record, I have over 100 blu-rays and these are the first for which I've had a problem that could not be cured by updating the software. I'm sure this problem will go away in time, but it could be a few months.

As others have mentioned, all 6 of these discs have garnered irate feedback on forums all over the net for compatibility problems with an astounding variety of standalone players (Sony, Panasonic, LG, Samsungs, etc.) On the positive side, those with PS3s seem to be in good shape. Apparently, if your player can actually play the discs, you will be rewarded with an outstanding blu-ray Bond experience. It is very disheartening, however, when you can't!

My positive experience with so many other discs gives me optimistic confidence that the problem with these 6 discs will soon be a fading bad memory, but until then -- buyer beware.

You cant do any better than this. If you are a Jemes Bond fan, you will really enjoy the quality of this set. Each of the movies in this set have been remastered and are super clean. There are no artifacts or dirt of any kind. The films themselves have been cleaned from top to bottom. The sound really rocks also. Although the films in this set range from Connery, Moore and Brosnan some 40 years apart, they all look awesome. Of course the older Bond movies are dated, but they look great. Very sharp and clean. The colors are nice and bright. The fleshtones are right on the spot. There are amazing details that you may have never noticed in the past. The blacks are nice and deep, the daytime scenes are vivid and sharp. Alway's in focus even on closeups. Great facial details as well as background shots. The audio on all of these disks are remastered also. They really rock your sound system. Some are better than others, but they all do a great job. These 3 titles are a great example of how Blu-Ray can show off it's stuff on a 1080P monitor.

There are a ton of extras on these titles. You will spend hours going through them all. The menus are very cool looking and easy to navigate through. I had no problems whatsoever.

As for the movies themselves. Everyone has their own opinions on that one. I love Dr. No and Live And Let Die. These classics have never looked better. Worth every penny for the 007 fan out there. The restoration job is second to none. A+ to MGM! Now lets see volumes 3 and 4 please!