Sean Connery Movie:

		List Price: $34.98		Label: Fox/MGM Salesrank: 14014 Released: October 21, 2008
		Our Price: $12.33
		Used Price: $13.93
		MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) Media: Blu-ray

Editorial Review:
Studio: Tcfhe/mgm Release Date: 10/21/2008 Run time: 110 minutes Rating: Pg

Description of Dr. No (James Bond) [Blu-ray]:
Released in 1962, this first James Bond movie remains one of the best, and serves as an entertaining reminder that the Bond series began (in keeping with Ian Fleming's novels) with a surprising lack of gadgetry and big-budget fireworks. Sean Connery was just 32 years old when he won the role of Agent 007. In his first adventure James Bond is called to Jamaica where a colleague and secretary have been mysteriously killed. With an American CIA agent (Jack Lord, pre-Hawaii Five-O), they discover that the nefarious Dr. No (Joseph Wiseman) is scheming to blackmail the U.S. government with a device capable of deflecting and destroying U.S. rockets launched from Cape Canaveral. Of course, Bond takes time off from his exploits to enjoy the company of a few gorgeous women, including the bikini-clad Ursula Andress. She gloriously kicks off the long-standing tradition of Bond women who know how to please their favorite secret agent. A sexist anachronism? Maybe, but this is Bond at his purest, kicking off a series of movies that shows no sign of slowing down. --Jeff Shannon

Dr. No (James Bond) [Blu-ray] Reviews:
One of the best...
2009-10-25 - Dr. No has elements none of the other Bonds have. Aside from being the first 007 adventure, it is more like a old fashioned spy story than a "Bond film", and it shares being one of the best along side From Russia With Love. The film stays the course it sets out to do in that Bond is really a detective in this one, sluething and walking around as if no one can come close to him. The scenes in the hotel quite clearly are the establishing scenes that this is a man to be reckoned with, a spy who does his duty, a man with licence to kill. It has the look and feel of a Bond novel and this makes the action intense. Sean Connery makes the film, and, of course the rest of the series, in that he prowels around every scene like a tiger. When he finally meets Dr. No, the chemistry between them is on fire and we see the true acting talents of this new, young actor. Dr. No is a menace and Connery's Bond shows pain and suffering at his Dr. No's hands, making both characters quite real and believable, something missing from later Bond films. Of course one cannot go on without mentioning the incredible "coming from the sea" scene of Ursula Andrews. This scene is a classic and she too shows her talents as she suffers at the steel hands of Dr. No. All in all, Dr. No, like Sean Connery, is a force to be reckoned with.

Bond + BluRay + Honey Ryder = WOW
2009-10-07 - I won't bother with the details of this movie. It is an all time 007 classic to say the least. The Blu Ray version of this film is absolutely stunning and spectacular. Viewing it on your HDTV will make you feel like you are on actually on the set while the filming is taking place. The scenes filmed outside are gorgeous and filled with deep, rich natural colors...unbelievable....and what can I say about the infamous Honey Ryder beach scene? My jaw was on the floor and I felt as if I was on the beach with the characters. Top to bottom, you won't be disappointed at all. The extras on the Blu Ray are great too. Highlights from the extras are: (1) Behind the scenes at Lowry Digital Films which talked about the process for restoring the original film with before and after scenes from the restoration; how they did some of their "magic" was beyond me but I'm so thankful for it. Geeks will appreciate the views of Lowry's operation center with 500+/- G5s, 300+ G4s, and 1GB ethernet network connecting it all. (2) Backstory of how Dr. No came to be on the big screen which included in-depth interviews with several of the actual producers, writers, actors, and players involved. How impressed was I overall with the Blu Ray version of Dr. No? I haven't written a review on amazon.com since March 2006 and was compelled to do so for this version of the film. I will definitely be buying the Blu Ray version of "Goldfinger" (which Lowry Digital re-did as well).

"Blu-ray was made for Bond" indeed!
2009-10-06 - Having recently bought a PS3 mainly as a Blu-ray movie player, I was very curious of how well an older movie would look when enhanced to 1080p resolution for Blu-ray discs. So I decided to choose one of my favorite classic films of all time. I must say that I am totally blown away by this release of Dr. No!

The picture is vastly improved well beyond any of the DVD releases! Colors are very vibrant and there is so much more depth to the picture with the enhanced 1080p resolution! I'm so pleased to see that those responsible for this conversion didn't just re-use the aged copies of the original, but actually used the original negatives to get the purest, cleanest picture quality possible for the old 1962 film. The 5.1 surround sound is great too considering the age of the film's audio tracks and it sounded great on my surround system. I do wish that some new special features were added to the list, but I'm glad that they carried over all of those from the DVD releases.

As far as all of the loading problems people have had with getting the movie to start and keep playing, IT ALL DEPENDS ON YOUR PLAYER and its FIRMWARE updating capabilities. I watched it on my PS3 with the current updated firmware available and it loaded up very quickly, NO PROBLEM AT ALL!

I Highly recommend this Blu-ray release. It is a must have for any Bond fan who wants the true definitive experience. This is THE BEST release of the film thus far, bar none.




Connery, Sean Connery
2009-10-06 - Yes here is the beginning of what would become the worlds most megalithic and longest running film series in terms of both entries and longevity. It starts out here as an unassuming little British spy thriller, whose main character just happens to be called Bond...James Bond. The words are drawled out by an unknown Scottish actor making his big mark on the film world, the one and only Sean Connery who many decree to be the best James Bond. Certainly from his first scene tuxedo-ed and lazily lighting a cigarette at the Bacarrat table he seems to own the part. All the base elements for the Bond films are there from the beginning just not thrown in the audiences' faces as they would be later. Bond the charming no-nonsense agent, all about ladies, martini's and gambling, his gruff boss M, brilliantly played by Bernard Lee, his flirting secretary Moneypenny played by the come hither Lois Maxwell and the far reaching locales, in this case Jamaica. This first Bond outing sticks close to the novel source material of the 1958 Ian Fleming novel - an unusual choice for the first outing of the super spy but was huge legal trouble trying to adapt Thunderball as the first film. The pace is slower than later films and more downbeat and really shines as being a product of the times. Its style and essence scream "the sixties" from the hairdo's and cars to the fashions, check out Jack Lord's funky sunglasses. Even smoking is far from being poo-pooed as it is today. But what do you expect from a story shot in 1962? Still it's the solid story buoyed by solid acting that make it a cut above other action films of its time. It's starts off with 3 blind assassins gunning down the MI-6s man in Jamaica who has inadvertently stumbled across too much information about the mysterious Dr. No. Making the good doctor the prime suspect in a locale where radio beams have been detected diverting and destroying American Space launches. So 007 is assigned to his first screened case. Connery certainly shows Bond at his most ferocious and raw. He appears a charming gentleman to anyone on his side but shows no mercy to his enemies. An example being the most ruthless Bond moment in the whole near 50 year old series history in his casual gunning down of Professor Dent played shiftily by Anthony Dawson, when he's outed as one of Dr. No's stooges. A moment passé now but shocking for it's time and Connery's ice-cold delivery gives it an edge. Mention must go to Ursula Andress without whom the phrase `Bond Girl' would never have made it into the modern day lexicon. She only appears well over an hour in and yet there's quite a bit of character background for her and she doesn't just throw herself into Bond's arms as so many do in future films. The emergence of her tall blonde and bronze physique from the sea wearing only a white bikini and knife belt would make anyone sit upright at the cinema...well there's a possible double entendre. Bond's quips are actually few and far between too, not yet a staple. A Bond film is not yet complete without it's villain and here we get the dangerously silky smooth Joseph Wiseman cast as metal handed Dr. No - director Terence Young originally wanted Noel Coward to play it. He's the first representative from the deadly organisation of SPECTRE and one who begins the tradition of Bond villains with a notable physical deformity. Dr. No seems so unshaken from his icy menace by Bond you can really believe the hero isn't a match for him. In fact before Bond finally gets the better of him the far-from-super spy gets irradiated, electrocuted, drugged and beaten up by Dr. No's foot soldiers and endures because of his tenacity and ingenuity. Hawaii Five-O's Jack Lord plays the first and best of the many screen incarnations of Bond's CIA counterpart Felix Leiter and Jack Kitzmiller plays Quarrel the local islander who eventually becomes a loyal ally of both. Much is made of Bond's womanizing and here he only uses it to route out the spy in the Briitish embassy. In all a lazy Sunday afternoon's viewing all brilliantly brought together with the directing flourish of the original Bond director Terence Young who set the tone with not only the elements that made James Bond a hit but the style and look from the `looking down a gun barrel' opening to the soundtrack to the flashy opening titles by Maurice Bender that are accompanied by the original and best James Bond theme for the first and only time in the series history. Producers Broccoli and Saltzman and a major hit on their hands roll on the 60's! Though with the meticulous re-mastering of picture quality and 5.1 surround sound on this edition, much better than the first releases mono sound track - it feels like you could walk right into the clear scenes and dive into the Jamaican sea. The Special features as always for the Bond releases are forever special from all the promotional materials and especially the making of documentary on how the whole phenomenon started nearly 50 years ago with so little ambition and so much to gain.

Dr. No Blu-Ray DVD
2009-09-14 - The Dr. No Blu-Ray DVD worked as promised and the color, sound and music makes it a DVD to keep for your collection so that the Grand Children can see and hear what I mean when I say that Sean Connery was and is still the best James Bond ever!