Don Shanahan
Just in time for Father’s Day, MGM has assembled the Sean Connery Collection for 4K-UHD disc release. This small set collects six of the beloved Scottish actor’s feature films as the iconic James Bond: Dr. No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice and Diamonds Are Forever. As usual, absent from this Sean Connery set is the much-maligned Never Say Never Again from 1983, one of two Bond films (along with 1967’s Casino Royale parody) not produced by the usual steward, Eon Productions. The standard packaged set hit store shelves and digital platforms on June 10th and is also available in collectible Steelbook packaging where they are sold. Film Obsessive was granted an advance copy of the Sean Connery Collection on 4K-UHD for this review as part of our “Off the Shelf” series. Shake up those martini ingredients and get your couch ready!
THE MOVIES
Call these movies antiquated and even offensive fos sils of the Cold War all you want, they still electrified cinema and deserve their place in cinema history for elevating the star-driven spy genre that would be admired, repeated, and ripped off for decades to come. Like the young folks say, Sean Connery walked so Daniel Craig (and Tom Cruise over in another franchise for that matter) and secret agent movies could run. Without these establishing adventures from the Sean Connery phase (albeit without Never Say Never Again), this franchise wouldn’t have endured and enjoyed its modern immortality.
Connery’s involvement began with the modestly budgeted Dr. No in 1962. The film, which nestled itself in Jamaica, also set the stage for signature elements like Maurice Binder’s gun-barrel introduction and elaborate opening title sequence, certain character catchphrases, and Monty Norman’s legendary score. The influences only grew from there as Sean Connery’s time as James Bond peaked with the three-year/three-film streak of From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, and Thunderball, all made between 1963 and 1965. The suave character charisma, production scale, stunt risks, connected global villainy, infinite style inspirations, and box office power all increased exponentially during that chunk of time.
Audiences couldn’t get enough, and an iconic hero of cinema (#3 on the American Film Institute’s list of heroes and villains) was here to stay. Even though You Only Live Twice was thought to be Connery’s last after his departure announcement during filming, the future Best Supporting Actor Oscar winner returned for 1971’s Diamonds Are Forever after George Lazenby left the James Bond series after his only entry, 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Twelve more years would pass before Never Say Never Again‘s rich deal of casting and script approval combined with a then-sizable $3 million fee, plus a percentage of the gross profits, to bring Sean Connery back to the franchise, the same year that Roger Moore was already in his sixth Bond film, Octopussy. Like the Sean Connery Collection displays, nobody wants to talk about that one.
THE DISCS
The biggest selling point of this Bond/Sean Connery Collection on 4K-UHD is the technical improvements made to the films. All six films have been scrubbed with Dolby Vision ultra-vivid imaging. That process boasts highlights that are 40 times brighter and blacks that are 10 times darker, for detail and vibrancy never seen before in these classics. After viewing the movies, their bragging checks out without sacrificing the original film grain. The colors really are striking and dynamic, and the audio is tuned to full DTS-HD and Dolby Atmos formats. As cliche as it sounds with every new format, this really is the best these old Connery films have ever looked.
Each of the six films’ disc menus are virtually identical in setup and follow the same template. The same image of a pistol-at-the-ready Sean Connery, poster collage “007” logo, and classic musical theme loop greet you upon powering up each movie. Thanks to the plain Jane menu design (an unfortunate Warner Bros. specialty), the only thing telling each disc you have apart is the different highlight color for the menu bar and the film’s title.
It would have been very easy for MGM to rest on their laurels of visual improvement and kept this updated collection bare bones everywhere else. Luckily, each of the six films brings forward the majority of the special features from these films’ previous DVD and Blu-ray special editions, especially the 2008 round of releases. Their promoted inclusions here in the Sean Connery Collection help justify the current $99.99 Amazon price point. You’re getting a keeper-level product upgrade.
The same sorted menu tidiness follows viewers into the special features submenus in the Sean Connery Collection. All six films carry three common featurettes–“Declassified: MI6 Vault” focusing on each movie’s gadgets or weapons, “Mission Dossier” covering cast and crew details, and “Ministry of Propaganda” holding whatever marketing materials did make the new disc cut. Four of the six films include a featurette on “Exotic Locations” specific to their production. Thunderball boasts a string of deleted scenes and a “Selling Bonds” featurette of TV advertisements. Diamonds Are Forever follows suit with its own group of alternate and expanded angle shot choices.
On the commentary side, the old anecdotes on each film are richly produced by John Cork and carry over from previous discs. The respective directors of each film lead a commentary with extra bits stitched in from other members of the cast and crew. Breaking that down, Terence Young has three full commentaries (Dr. No, From Russia With Love, and Thunderball) and Guy Hamilton gets two (Goldfinger and Diamonds are Forever). Goldfinger gets a second full commentary featuring the golden goose himself, Sean Connery, swapping stories with other cast members. As a second offering on Thunderball, editor Peter Hunt and screenwriter John Hopkins get their own commentary track. Rounding out the roster, director Lewis Gilbert covers You Only Live Twice.Â
