Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Betrayed by Vesper, the woman he loved, 007 fights the urge to make his latest mission personal. Pursuing his determination to uncover the truth, Bond and M interrogate Mr. White who reveals the organization which blackmailed Vesper is far more complex and dangerous than anyone had imagined. Forensic intelligence links a Mi6 traitor to a bank account in Haiti where a case of mistaken identity introduces Bond to the beautiful but feisty Camille, a woman who has her own vendetta. Camille leads Bond straight to Dominic Greene, a ruthless businessman and major force within the mysterious organization.

Casino Royale was a great reboot to the Bond franchise and actually adapted the first novel in the Bond series by Ian Fleming. Rather than adapt the next book in the series, Live and Let Die, MGM worked in a new story that completes the character arc and storyline the first film sets up. This further establishes the new Bond and his grittier personality. While I didn’t find this film quite as engaging as the brilliant first outing it still holds up considerably better than most of the older Bond films and is a great addition to the franchise. Some have complained that the new Bond is too reminiscent of the Bourne films but the character is actually far more in line with the original Bond written by Fleming, who was a rough brute and not a debonair playboy. I love the new direction this series is taking and hope to see much more of it.

Casino Royale was delivered by Sony on Blu-ray but this time MGM is taking the reins and Fox is delivering the presentation. The video is outstanding and sports the spit and polish one would expect from a big budget action thriller like this. Marc Forester gives us a very stylized film that has beautiful photography and stunning backdrops that really show off a great HD display. The film has a bit more grit than the last Bond film but the scenery changes throughout with some scenes revealing obvious film grain and others giving clean, sharp detail. The color palette favors gold and amber and it does tend to push skin tones a bit but I didn’t find this overly distracting. Contrast is strong throughout and shadow detail is solid giving the image a very dimensional image.

MGM delivers this one with a DTS-HD Master Audio mix that has a great sense of control and balance. I’ve heard a lot of mixes lately that seem a bit pushed in the lower end but this one has great resolve and the balance of low bass energy with the rest of the mix is excellent. There are some nice infrasonics that really punctuate the impact of the action sequences but don’t make you feel like your house may give way at any moment. The surround soundstage is really alive in this one with nice directional effects and some very nice subtle cues littered throughout the mix. Dialogue sounds natural with only a slight annoyance of noise floor. Overall a very compelling mix that delivers some demo worthy sequences.

Extras are geared toward the production but fall a bit short of the lavish attention we’ve seen from most of the bigger new releases hitting Blu-ray lately. You get a lot of behind the scenes footage that includes interviews with both the cast and crew and an inside look at most of the stunts and major action sequences. You also get the music video for the theme song and the trailers.

The new Bond continues to deliver the goods with a more rugged approach to the genre that is both refreshing and far more grounded. This Blu-ray does a spectacular job with the presentation but comes up a bit short in the collector’s supplements. Still, a must have for any Bond fan.