James Bond: Dr. No (Blu-ray)

I've been a Bond fan for 24yrs, I'm not going to review the film, it's a classic. I've owned it on VHS, DVD and i've seen it countless times on TV. Being as this film is 47yrs old the picture quality is outstanding, i was somewhat sceptical as i've read many a review on blu-rays made throughout 70's - 80's - 90's were people have made excuse for the poor quality Blu-ray transfer because of the films age. Having seen this, it raises and sets the standard of what should be expected of Blu-ray, regardless of the age of the film.

Well i am a avid James Bond fan of the movies and especially the early ones. I own Dr No on DVD and i must say that after watching the Blu-Ray version, I am blown away at what they have done with something that was made in 1963 compared to modern movies.

Dr No is a worthy addition to any Blu-Ray movie collection, HOWEVER the sound is reworked from Mono into DTS-HD and i must say they have done a great job. All the colours are so vibrant and in your face for detail.

This is worthy of your money as you wont regret it if you love Bond Movies.

Like many bond fans this was a must buy. And i was not let down picture quality is perfect with no graining apart from 1 scene sound quality is pretty good also

I have had to make do with watching the "old-style" Bond movies (pre Casino Royale) on ITV and ITV2 for quite a few years now. And after all these years it slowly became apparent that this is what the Bond films seemed to have been relegated to - the "nothing else is on TV so I might as well" genre. Indeed, when Casino Royale came out it just seem to compound this feeling of the old films being nearly B-grade in terms of picture quality and farcical in action sequences.

However, this Blu Ray release of Dr. No seems to have breathed new life into the actual quality of the film. It was fantastic. It felt like Bond belonged on the big screen again. The range, saturation and vividity of the colours really stood out as did how clean and sharp the image was. Video bitrate was consistently between 30-35Mbps. Motion was also smooth which always helps iron out the creases in dated action sequences. A look at the 10 min special feature of how they created a 4K restoration of the film demonstrates well the care they put into improving the quality of this film.

One of the guys who worked on the restoration puts it well "the film now [nearly] looks like it was set in the sixties rather than made in it"

Having only rented it from Lovefilm for now, if the other Bond Blu rays appear this good, it might soon be time to finally permanently add Mr. Bond to the home film collection. Highly recommended!

Just a quick reminder that this movie is actually 46yrs old...my god Bond is as old as me, fortunately the HD transfer is crystal clear and a real treat to behold. The work put into the restoration of this, the first and oldest of the bond movies, is an absolute labour of love by Lowry Digital. It apparently took 2 years to complete the work and it shows.
Colours are vibrant and bold, blacks full and edges very defined. On occasions there is an almost a 3D quality to some of the images especially where we have actors walking against large outdoor backgrounds.

The facial expressions of Sean Connery are even more noticeable in HD. Every crease and wrinkle is captured, his eyes glint and you could almost run a comb through his hair on close ups.
Nothing is lost on this transfer in terms of original content, but even though the themes are nearly 50yrs old, it could have been filmed yesterday.

The audio transfer is DTS HD and perfectly compliments the effort that went into the rest of the transfer.

Dr No is not my favourite Bond movie by any means, and I am looking forward to Goldfinger and Moonraker when they arrive. But for the transfer alone it is a must buy for any serious Bond fan.