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The specs for the complete James Bond Collection have been released and are up on Blu-ray.com .

Although it certainly looks like an impressive set at first glance, there’s a couple of glaring niggles – there are no exclusive new features on the film-specific discs (although there is a 23^rd disc with a couple of new documentaries and the SKYFALL videoblogs) and Casino Royale is the standard single disc release from 2007 rather than the deluxe 2-disc set from 2008. I’d also hoped that the rather lacklustre selection of QUANTUM OF SOLACE extras was due for beefing up too but alas, that was not to be either.

Gripes aside, the set is on sale for around £90 on Amazon and HMV, so it’s a very reasonable way to give 22 films an HD upgrade. UK release date is set for 24^th September.

DISC TWENTY THREE – Bonus Material

• NEW – The World of Bond – the 007 films have a look, style and attitude that is signature Bond. From the cars, to the women, to the villains and even the music, Bond films stand apart. The World of Bond takes the viewer through the best of five decades worth of classic James Bond in one thrilling montage. The World of Bond showcases the fascinating and entertaining interplay among unforgettable moments of danger, seduction, adventure and a dash of that distinguished humor that fans have cherished from the beginning up until now. To add to the experience, The World of Bond featurette will also offer a Pop-Up Trivia option to challenge even the sharpest of fans with little known facts and interesting trivia from the Bond Universe.
• NEW – Being Bond – there’s only one James Bond – but he’s proven too much for only one actor to play the role. In the franchise’s 50-year run, six distinguished actors have taken on the part and secured a spot in cinematic history. Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig each reflect on the impact and importance of taking on such a famous role. With this piece, gain insight into what each actor brought to the character and discover how they shaped the world’s most timeless secret agent.
• SKYFALL Videoblogs – behind-the-scenes look at the making of SKYFALL from the cast and crew

DISC ONE – Dr. No (Over 3 hours of content)

• Commentary with Director Terence Young and cast and crew
• 6 Featurettes
• Original Theatrical Trailer, TV and radio spots
• Photo Galleries

DISC TWO – From Russia With Love (Over 3 hours of content)

• Commentary with Director Terence Young and cast and crew
• 2 Featurettes
• Animated Storyboard Sequence
• Original Theatrical Trailer, TV and radio spots
• Photo Galleries

DISC THREE – Goldfinger (Over 5 hours of content)

• Commentary with Director Guy Hamilton
• Commentary with the cast and crew
• 3 Featurettes
• Original Screen Tests with Theodore Bikel and Tito Vandis
• Original Theatrical Trailer, TV and radio spots
• Original Publicity Featurette
• Original Radio Interviews With Sean Connery
• Photo Galleries

DISC FOUR – Thunderball (Over 6 hours of content)

• Commentary with Director Terence Young
• Commentary with Editor Peter Hunt and Screenwriter John Hopkins
• 4 Featurettes
• Original Theatrical Trailer, TV and radio spots
• Photo Galleries

DISC FIVE – You Only Live Twice (Over 4 hours of content)

• Commentary with Director Lewis Gilbert and cast and crew
• 4 Featurettes
• Animated Storyboard Sequence
• Original Theatrical Trailer, TV and radio spots
• Photo Galleries

DISC SIX – On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (Over 4 hours of content)

• Commentary with Director Peter Hunt and cast and crew
• 4 Featurettes
• Original Theatrical Trailer, TV and radio spots
• Photo Galleries

DISC SEVEN – Diamonds Are Forever (Over 4 hours of content)

• Commentary with Director Guy Hamilton and cast and crew
• 3 Featurettes
• Deleted Scenes
• Original Theatrical Trailer, TV and radio spots

DISC EIGHT – Live and Let Die (Over 7 hours of content)

• Commentaries with Director Guy Hamilton, Roger Moore and Tom Mankiewicz
• 3 Featurettes
• Original Theatrical Trailer, TV and radio spots
• Photo Galleries

DISC NINE – The Man with the Golden Gun (Over 5 hours of content)

• Commentary with Director Guy Hamilton and the cast and crew
• Commentary with Roger Moore
• 2 Featurettes
• Original Theatrical Trailer, TV and radio spots
• Photo Galleries

DISC TEN – The Spy Who Loved Me (Over 5 hours of content)

• Commentary with Director Lewis Gilbert and cast and crew
• Commentary with Roger Moore
• 3 Featurettes
• Original Theatrical Trailer, TV and radio spots

DISC ELEVEN – Moonraker (Over 5 hours of content)

• Commentary with Director Lewis Gilbert and cast and crew
• Commentary with Roger Moore
• 4 Featurettes
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• Photo Gallery

DISC TWELVE – For Your Eyes Only (Over 7 hours of content)

• Commentary with Director John Glen and the cast and crew
• Commentary with Roger Moore
• Commentary with Producer Michael G. Wilson and crew
• 4 Featurettes
• Animated Storyboard Sequences for Snowmobile Chase & Underwater
• Music Video performed by Sheena Easton
• Deleted Scenes and Expanded Angles
• Original Theatrical Trailer, TV and radio spots
• Photo Galleries

DISC THIRTEEN – Octopussy (Over 6 hours of content)

• Commentary with Director John Glen
• Commentary with Roger Moore
• 4 Featurettes
• Original Screen Tests with James Brolin
• “All Time High” Music Video
• Original Theatrical Trailers

DISC FOURTEEN – A View to a Kill (Over 6 hours of content)

• Commentary with Director John Glen and the cast and crew
• Commentary with Roger Moore
• 4 Featurettes
• A View to a Kill Music Video performed by Duran Duran
• Original Theatrical Trailers and TV spots

DISC FIFTEEN – The Living Daylights (Over 5 hours of content)

• Commentary with Director John Glen and cast and crew
• 3 Featurettes
• Deleted scenes with introductions from Director John Glen
• The Living Daylights Music Video performed by A-Ha
• Original Theatrical Trailers

DISC SIXTEEN – Licence to Kill (Over 6 hours of content)

• Commentary with Director John Glen and cast
• Commentary with Producer Michael G. Wilson and crew
• 3 Featurettes
• Licence to Kill Music Video performed by Gladys Knight
• “If You Asked Me To” Music Video Performed by Patti LaBelle
• Opening Titles Sequence
• Original Theatrical Trailers
• Photo Galleries

DISC SEVENTEEN – GoldenEye (Over 5 hours of content)

• Commentary with Director Martin Campbell and Producer Michael G. Wilson
• 8 Featurettes
• Deleted scenes
• GoldenEye Music Video performed by Tina Turner

DISC EIGHTEEN – Tomorrow Never Dies (Over 9 hours of content)

• Commentary with Director Roger Spottiswoode and Dan Petrie, Jr.
• Commentary with Vic Armstrong and Producer Michael G. Wilson
• 2 Featurettes
• Interview with Composer David Arnold
• Deleted and Extended Scenes with introduction from Director Roger Spottiswoode
• Tomorrow Never Dies Music Video performed by Sheryl Crow
• The James Bond Theme (Moby’s Re-Version)

DISC NINETEEN – The World Is Not Enough (Over 6 hours of content)

• Commentary with Director Michael Apted
• Commentary with Peter Lamont, David Arnold and Vic Armstrong
• 4 Featurettes
• Opening Titles Sequence
• The World Is Not Enough Music Video performed by Garbage
• Deleted, Extended and Alternate Scene
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• Photo Galleries

DISC TWENTY – Die Another Day (Over 8 hours of content)

• Commentary with Director Lee Tamahori and Producer Michael G. Wilson
• Commentary with Pierce Brosnan and Rosamund Pike
• 5 Featurettes
• MI6 Datastream Trivia Track with Branching Video
• Opening Titles Sequence
• Photo Galleries

DISC TWENTY ONE – Casino Royale (Over 1 hour of content)

• Becoming Bond
• James Bond: For Real
• Chris Cornell Music Video

DISC TWENTY TWO – Quantum of Solace (Over 1 hour of content)

• 2 Featurettes
• “Another Way to Die” Music Video
• Original Theatrical Trailers

The UK’s Studiocanal will release a quartet of Amicus adventure films on 30th July. The films include THEY CAME FROM OUTER SPACE (1967), THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT (1975), AT THE EARTH’S CORE (1976) and WARLORD’S OF ATLANTIS (1978).

The films are presented in widescreen with mono sound. The only confirmed special features are interviews with Kevin Conor and Susan Penhaligon on THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT.

Source: The Digital Fix

The US division of Redemption has been issuing its library on Blu-ray at quite a pace and things aren’t set to slow down, as a host of Mario Bava’s finest films will join those of prolific Spanish cult filmmaker Jess Franco before the end of this year. While exact dates and disc specifications have yet to be announced, you can expect to see HD versions of the following: BLACK SUNDAY, LISA AND THE DEVIL, A HATCHET FOR THE HONEYMOON, FEMAL VAMPIRE, EXORCISM and VIRGIN AMONG THE LIVING DEAD. The first titles are expected in Spetember/October.

Source: Blu-ray.com

After a series of false starts and delays, the 23^rd official James Bond film went before the cameras earlier this year and is currently in post production – it arrives in UK cinemas on 26^th October.

The film, which has been shrouded in secrecy, was written by Bond regulars Neal Purvis and Robert Wade in collaboration with GLADIATOR scribe John Logan. Academy Award-winning filmmaker Sam Mendes (AMERICAN BEAUTY) steps behind the camera to direct his first action picture. Daniel Craig is joined by series stalwart Judi Dench as M and a phenomenal cast that includes Albert Finney, Ralph Finenes, Javier Bardem, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris and Bérénice Marlohe.

The above poster was unveiled just last week so it comes as a surprise that the film’s first trailer would arrive less than seven days later, though there was some whispering about it going out with MEN IN BLACK 3.

From looking at the trailer it would seem we’re in for a treat and a fitting tribute to the characters big screen 50th anniversary but it’s going to be a long five months!

Franc Roddam’s perennial cult classic QUADROPHENIA will be issued on Blu-ray in the US this August by the Criterion Collection. Based on the concept album by the Who, QUADROPHENIA stars Phil Daniels as Jimmy, a disaffected youth who embraces Mod culture in 1960s Britain. The film co-stars Sting, Ray Winstone, Toyah Wilcox and Leslie Ash.

Made in 1979, QUADROPHENIA marked the second of three films commissioned by The Who Films, following the documentary THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT from the same year and prison drama MCVICAR in 1980. Of all the films with which the band was involved (also including Ken Russell’s TOMMY), it’s safe to say that QUADROPHENIA is probably the most popular and is director Roddam’s best-known film (he would go on to make THE BRIDE and K2).

The specs for Criterion’s disc have appeared on Blu-ray.com:

• New high-definition digital restoration of the uncut version
• Original 2.0 stereo soundtrack as well as an all-new 5.1 surround mix, supervised by the Who and presented in DTS-HD Master Audio
• New audio commentary featuring director Franc Roddam and director of photography Brian Tufano
• New interview with Bill Curbishley, the film’s co-producer and the Who’s co-manager
• New interview with the Who’s sound engineer, Bob Pridden, discussing the new mix, featuring a restoration demonstration
• On-set and archival footage
• Behind-the-scenes photographs
• 
  
• A booklet featuring an essay by critic Nick James, a reprinted personal history by original mod Irish Jack, and Pete Townshend’s liner notes from the album

Studiocanal is set to unleash more Hammer goodness in the UK this autumn when it issues RASPUTIN: THE MAD MONK as a Blu-ray + DVD combo. Considered one of the British studio’s most enduring classics, RASPUTIN stars Hammer stalwart Christopher Lee as the Russian mystic and was directed by Don Sharp (THE VIOLENT ENEMY). Barbara Shelley, Richard Pasco, Suzan Farmer and Joss Ackland co-star.

RASPUTIN will street on 10^th September along THE MUMMY’S SHROUD which will also be released as a combo pack. Directed by John Gilling (THE REPTILE, PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES), THE MUMMY’S SHROUD was the third of four Egyptology horrors from Hammer, following THE MUMMY and CURSE OF THE MUMMY’S TOMB, and followed by BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY’S TOMB. The film stars André Morell, David Buck and John Phillips.

News source: Blu-ray.com

Image source: Hammer Films

Eureka Entertainment has announced four more classic films directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini for release as Blu-ray+DVD combos as part of its Master of Cinema series.

HAWKS AND SPARROWS and PIGSTY are to be released on 23^rd July and they are followed by the portmanteau film (co-directed by Pasolini,  Roberto Rossellini, Jean-Luc Godard, and Ugo Gregoretti) Ro.Go.Pa.G. on the 27^th August. Finally OEDIPUS REX concludes this set of releases on 24^th September. This marks the first time that any of the titles has been released on Blu-ray in the UK.

Eureka will also release the Giorgio Moroder version of Fritz Lang’s classic silent sci-fi film METROPOLIS as a limited edition Steelbook on 23^rd July. The Italian-born synth king’s version of the film was constructed in the 1980s and its use of contemporary music (the likes of Queen and Kate Bush) was seen as controversial at the time but has endured to become a cult favourite.

Source: Blu-ray.com

Synapse films will unleash classic Hammer horror TWINS OF EVIL in the US as a Blu-ray + DVD combo pack on 10^th July.

Made in 1971 and directed by John Hough (THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE, THE WATCHER IN THE WOODS), former Playmates Madeleine and Mary Collinson star as the titular wrong-doers who are pitted against their righteous uncle Gustav (Peter Cushing) in this minor classic of British horror cinema.

The special features for the upcoming release are up on Blu-ray.com:

• THE FLESH AND THE FURY: X-POSING TWINS OF EVIL (84 mins.) – An all-new, feature-length documentary exploring Hammer’s infamous ‘Karnstein’ trilogy from the origin of Carmilla, to the making of TWINS OF EVIL! Featuring exclusive interviews with director John Hough, star Damien Thomas, ­cult film director Joe Dante, Video Watchdog editor Tim Lucas, and more!

• THE PROPS THAT HAMMER BUILT: THE KINSEY COLLECTION – Featurette (Blu-ray Exclusive)
• Motion Still Gallery (Blu-ray Exclusive)
• Deleted Scene (Blu-ray Exclusive)
• Original Theatrical Trailer & TV Spots (Blu-ray Exclusive)
• Isolated Music & E‑ffects Track (Blu-ray Exclusive)

On 15^th May Olive films will release Bernardo Bertolucci’s classic drama 1900 (NOVECENTO) on Blu-ray as a three-disc collector’s edition.

Made in 1976, NOVECENTO follows the trials and tribulations of two friends from the turn of the last century. Robert De Niro and Gerard Depardieu star as the friends and lead an incredible cast that also includes Burt Lancaster, Donald Sutherland, Sterling Hayden, Dominique Sanda, Alida Valli and Stefania Sandrelli.

Bertolucci’s film was previously issued on DVD in the US by Paramount Pictures and here in the UK by 20^th Century Fox. The Olive Films presentation marks the film’s high definition debut. NOVECENTO will be presented in its original two-part,  five hour version. The only confirmed extra is the 2002 documentary Bernardo Bertolucci: Reflections on Cinema (which was also included on Arrow’s recent Blu-ray of THE CONFORMIST).

Those (silly people) who boycotted the UK theatrical release of James Watkins’s atmospheric chiller THE WOMAN IN BLACK rejoice, the uncut version of the film is due for release on DVD and Blu-ray from Sony Pictures in the US this coming May.

The film was subject to 6 seconds of cuts in order to secure a family-friendly 12A rating in the UK and it looks like Momentum is issuing the same cut print for release on its home video platforms when it bows in June. Details of the cuts (courtesy of the BBFC website) are as follows:

This work was cut. The cut(s) were made at the request of the distributor to achieve a particular category. To obtain this category cuts of 0m 6s were required. Details of cuts below may contain spoilers of plot details.

Distributor chose to reduce moments of strong violence / horror in order to achieve a ’12A’ classification. Cuts made in line with BBFC Guidelines and policy. A ’15’ classification without cuts was available.

The fourth film in the recent Hammer revival (following THE RESIDENT, WAKEWOOD and LET ME IN), it stars Daniel Radcliffe and has scored more than £20m at the UK box office alone. The film is adapted from the Susan Hill novel by Jane Goldman (KICK-ASS, THE DEBT), Watkins previously directed the savage Brit horror EDEN LAKE. A sequel is currently in the works.

The full specs for the US DVD and Blu-ray release have appeared over on the Digital Fix and are as follows:

• BD: 1080P Widescreen | DVD: Anamorphic Widescreen
• BD: English 5.1 DTS-HD MA | DVD: English DD5.1
• English, English SDH & Spanish subtitles
• Commentary with Director James Watkins and Writer Jane Goldman
• Inside The Perfect Thriller: Making Woman in Black
• No Fear: Daniel Radcliffe as Arthur Kipps
• Ultraviolet Digital Copy

At present it would appear that the Blu-ray is Region A-locked and naturally, the DVD will be coded for Region 1.