MI6 reviews the new James Bond Ultimate Edition DVD of the 1963 outing "From Russia With Love"...

DVD Review - From Russia With Love
27th April 2007

The James Bond movies have been brought into the 21st century with special 5.1 surround sound remastering, new film transfers and extra special features in the "Ultimate Editions" series. MI6 reviews reviews the films and each of these features along with all the special new content.

Official Blurb
James Bond (Sean Connery) squares off against the evil SPECTRE organization in a pulse-pounding race to seize the Soviet Lektor decoding machine. His mission thrusts him into a thrilling boat chase, a brutal helicopter attack and a deadly brawl aboard the Orient Express, proving once again that Agent 007 cant be stopped!

Data Stream
Region: 2
Release Date: 17th July 2006
Running Time: 115 minutes
Screen Format: 1.66:1 Anamorphic Widescreen Transfer
Soundtracks: English Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 Audio
Subtitles: English HOH, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, Greek, Hindi, Norwegian, Swedish

Audio Specs
English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
English DTS 5.1 (768Kb/s)
English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)

 

Video
"From Russia With Love" enjoys one of the highest quality video transfers and digital restorations of the Ultimate Edition series. The image sharpness and shadow detail is top notch, especially when considering that the original print is over 40 years old. COlours and skin tones have been well preserved throughout the restoration process. Encoding artifacts are almost nonexistent, with only a few edge details visible in select shots.

Audio
Two new tracks (Dolby Digital and DTS) have been re-created from the original mono soundtrack, which is unfortunately absent from this release. Audiophiles may have cause for complaint that the true soundtrack for the film is not included, but the new remastered mixes are excellent and stay faithful to the original.

On The DVD

  • DECLASSIFIED: MI6 VAULT
  • Ian Fleming: The CBC Interview
  • Ian Fleming & Raymond Chandler
  • Ian Fleming on Desert Island Discs
  • Animated Storyboard Sequence
  • 007 MISSION CONTROL
  • Interactive Guide Into the World of From Russia With Love
  • THE COMPLETE SPECIAL FEATURES LIBRARY - MISSION DOSSIER
  • Audio Commentary Featuring Director Terence Young and Members of the Cast and Crew
  • Inside From Russia With Love
  • Harry Saltzman: Showman
  • MINISTRY OF PROPAGANDA, Original Trailers, TV Spots, Photo Gallery & Radio Communications
 

Bonus Features
Ian Fleming: The CBC Interview - A short but interesting interview with Ian Fleming. The grainy footage contains rare words on screen by Bond's creator.
Ian Fleming & Raymond Chandler - An interesting discussion between the creators of James Bond and Philip Marlowe about their heroes.
Ian Fleming on Desert Island Discs - Ian Fleming talks about his early military days and work in the intelligence office to the creation of the James Bond novels and their adaptation on the big screen.
Animated Storyboard Sequence - Storyboards for Bond and Tatiana's boat escape from SMERSH agents near the end of the film.

All other features were previously released on the Special Edition DVD.

One Last Thing....
The collection of Ian Fleming interviews as the new special features can not hide the lack of new "From Russia With Love" specific content. The cut scene of Kerim Bey's cigar in Istanbul must be lost forever...

MI6 Rating
Video
Audio
Special Features
Overall

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