Sean Connery 6-Film Collection 4K Ultra HD Review

THE MOVIES — 4/5

DR. NO (1962) — Agent 007 James Bond (SEAN CONNERY) battles mysterious Dr. No, a scientific genius bent on destroying the U.S. space program. As the countdown to disaster begins, Bond must go to Jamaica, where he encounters beautiful Honey Ryder (URSULA ANDRESS), to confront a megalomaniacal villain in his massive island headquarters.

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE (1963) — Agent 007 is back in the second installment of the James Bond series, this time battling a secret crime organization known as SPECTRE. Russians Rosa Klebb (LOTTE LENYA) and Kronsteen are out to snatch a decoding device known as the Lektor, using the ravishing Tatiana (DANIELA BIANCHI) to lure Bond into helping them. Bond willingly travels to meet Tatiana in Istanbul, where he must rely on his wits to escape with his life in a series of deadly encounters with the enemy.

GOLDFINGER (1964) — The powerful tycoon Auric Goldfinger (GERT FROBE) has initiated Operation Grand Slam, a cataclysmic scheme to raid Fort Knox and obliterate the world economy. James Bond (CONNERY), armed with his specially equipped Aston Martin, must stop the plan by overcoming several outrageous adversaries.

THUNDERBALL (1965) — Led by one-eyed evil mastermind Emilio Largo (ADOLFO CELI), the terrorist group SPECTRE hijacks two warheads from a NATO plane and threatens widespread nuclear destruction to extort 100 million pounds. Agent 007, James Bond (CONNERY) is sent to recover the warheads from the heart of Largo’s lair in the Bahamas, facing underwater attacks from sharks and men alike.

YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (1967) — During the Cold War, American and Russian spacecrafts go missing, leaving each superpower believing the other is to blame. As the world teeters on the brink of nuclear war, British intelligence learns that one of the crafts has landed in the Sea of Japan. After faking his own death, secret agent James Bond (CONNERY) is sent to investigate. In Japan, he’s aided by Tiger Tanaka (TETSURO TAMBA) and the beautiful Aki (AKIKO WAKABAYASHI), who help him uncover a sinister global conspiracy.

DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER (1971) — James Bond (CONNERY), equipped with an armory of hi-tech gadgets, infiltrates a Las Vegas diamond-smuggling ring in a bid to foil a plot to target Washington with a laser in space. However, as 007 prepares to tackle the evil Blofeld (CHARLES GRAY), the mastermind who threatens to destabilize the world, he is captivated by the delicious Tiffany Case (JILL ST. JOHN).

SPECIAL FEATURES – 4½/5

This 6-disc set comes housed in an HD keep case and comes with a single Digital HD code for all six films. All the bonus material has been ported over from the DVD and Blu-ray releases, so no new features here.

Dr. No:

• Audio Commentary — Director Terence Young and cast/crew members
• Declassified: MI6 Vault
  • “The Guns of James Bond”
  • “Premiere Bond: Opening Nights”
• Exotic Locations
• Mission Dossier
  • “Inside No”
  • “Terence Young: Bond Vivant”
  • “ No 1963 Featurette”
• Ministry of Propaganda has trailers, TV spots and radio ads

From Russia with Love

• Audio Commentary — Director Terence Young and cast/crew members
• Declassified: MI6 Vault
  • “Ian Fleming: The CBC Interview”
  • “Ian Fleming and Raymond Chandler”
  • “Ian Fleming on Desert Island Discs”
  • Animated Storyboard Sequence
• Exotic Locations
• Mission Dossier
  • “Inside From Russian With Love”
  • “Harry Saltzman: Showman”
• Ministry of Propaganda

Goldfinger

• Audio Commentaries
  • Director Guy Hamilton
  • Mambers of the Cast and Crew
• Declassified: MI6 Vault
  • “Sean Connery from the Set of Goldfinger”
  • “Theodore Bikel Screen Test”
  • “Tito Vandis Screen Test”
  • “On Tour with the Aston Martin DB5”
  • “Honor Blackman Open-Ended Interview”
• Exotic Locations
• Mission Dossier
  • “The Making of Goldfinger”
  • “The Goldfinger Phenomenon”
• Ministry of Propaganda

Thunderball

• Audio Commentaries
  • Director Terence Young
  • Members of the Cast and Crew
• Declassified: MI6 Vault
  • “The Incredible World of James Bond NBC Special”
  • “A Child’s Guide to Blowing Up a Car” (Ford Promotional)
  • “On Location with Ken Adam”
  • “Bill Suitor: The Rocket Man Moves”
  • “Thunderball Boat Show Reel”
• Exotic Locations
• Mission Dossier
  • “The Making of Thunderball”
  • “The Thunderball Phenomenon”
  • “The Secret History of Thunderball”
• Ministry of Propaganda

You Only Live Twice

• Audio Commentary — Director Lewis Gilbert and Cast/Crew
• Declassified: MI6 Vault
  • “Welcome to Japan Mr. Bond”
  • “Whicker’s World” — Excerpt from 1967 BBC Documentary
  • “On Location with Ken Adam
• Mission Dossier
  • “Inside You Only Live Twice”
  • “Silhouettes: The James Bond Titles”
  • “Plane Crash: Animated Storyboard Sequence”
  • “Exotic Locations”

Diamonds Are Forever

• Audio Commentary — Director Guy Hamilton and Cast/Crew
• Declassified: MI6 Vault
  • “Sean Connery 1971: The BBC Interview”
  • “Lesson #007: Close Quarters Combat”
  • “Oil Rig Attack”
  • “Satellite Test Reel”
  • “Explosion Tests”
• Alternate and Expanded Angles (33:24) for five scenes.
• Deleted Scenes (7:40) — Six scenes that either were trimmed or didn’t make the cut.
• Mission Dossier
  • “Inside Diamonds Are Forever”
  • “Cubby BroccoliL The Man Behind Bond”
  • “Exotic Locations”
• Ministry of Propaganda

VIDEO – 4¼/5

All six movies here are presented in their respective aspect ratios and given 2160p high-definition transfers. Detail on each is quite good albeit not great. However, detail was pretty good and colors appear to be well balanced. There were no apparent signs of artifacts or aliasing making for clean transfers and a moderate upgrade over the Blu-ray releases.

AUDIO – 4/5

Each film comes with the option of the Dolby Atmos or DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track, the former being the default option of course. These films already had decent tracks to begin with and while I wasn’t incredibly impressed, still dialogue comes through quite nicely and there is moderate amount of depth through the more action-oriented scenes. Beyond that the most amount of depth comes from the scores and opening theme songs.

OVERALL — 4/5

This Sean Connery 6-Film Collection comes at a fairly high price and while I do think both the video and audio are an upgrade, not big enough to splurge unless you don’t already own these previously.