Title: Dr. No (1962)
Time: 110 Minutes
Studio: MGM Fox
Rating: PG
SRP: $34.98

FEATURE: A+

Nearly 50 years later, the character of James Bond is stronger than ever. The 22nd film, Quantum of Solace will surely pack theaters the weekend of November 14th because 007 is a part of our life. The ultimate male fantasy, the culture of Bond lives on: living the high life, drinking dry martinis, traveling to distant places, sitting down at a casino table, playing Goldeneye, driving an Aston Martin, or just uttering the line, “Bond, James Bond.” But every mantra has a beginning, and everyone’s favorite secret agent began as a character in Ian Fleming’s 007 pulp fiction series in 1953. Another eight years would pass until he made the jump from the tattered paperbacks to the silver screen in Dr. No, a production put forth with Fleming’s approval, and the production team of Harry Saltzman and Alfred “Cubbie” Broccoli.

In his film debut, Agent 007, James Bond (Sean Connery) is sent to Jamaica with the disappearance of a fellow British agent. He assembles a team with a CIA agent Felix Leiter (Jack Lord) and island local, Quarrel (John Kitzmiller) and a local Crab Key goddess, Honey Ryder (Usula Andress) who literally emerges from the sea. They stumble on the island of an eccentric Dr. No and his plan to attack America and their space program in Cape Canaveral with nuclear assault. I’m leaving out details but this was the making of an epic spy adventure and at the time, such a script was ambitious and grand.

It is said that we create heroes when we need them most. Movie-goers got some kind of satisfaction through Bond movies, at least with European and American audiences. He was a spy who was reluctant to follow orders, he killed when necessary, at times when not. He portrayed the playboy code, driving fast cars and sleeping with women he barely knows whether it helps his mission or not. That recklessness, the disregard for his body made him mysterious and attractive. And so our hero took center stage lit with slick title sequences to introduce him, a hip brass band as his soundtrack, the smell of sex in the air and danger around the corner–we were hooked.

PRESENTATION: B+

The packaging is a standard case in a cardboard slipcase. There are two stickers that cover the slipcase, one of which is a promotion for e-Movie Cash towards the new Quantum of Solace film. The problem though is when you pull the label off to reveal the redemption code, part of the ink of the code and the adhesive stays behind. I wound up using the the adhesive of the other sticker to clean up the case, a tedious and unnecessary annoyance.

As in all of the newer James Bond releases, the same menu design is carried through with a modern and sleek appearance. A spiraling gun barrel frames the screen as silhouettes of shapely women and clips scroll by. The navigation has a spy theme with choices like “Language Decryption” for “Audio”, and “Initiate Mission” for “Play.” Moving within each selection like the extras can be a little cumbersome moving up and down and then to the left to get out of that nav bar, and “Play All” is only an option that shows up some of the time. Once you’ve viewed a special it automatically moves down the menu when your natural instinct is to move to the next selection. Another awkward default is that in the commentary selections it starts at the last track and you have to move up to see the rest. White Subtitles are available in English and Spanish.

AUDIO: A–

There’s a new, 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track and it sounds amazing. All of the action scenes are active and appropriately you’ll feel it when things go boom. The original English and Spanish Mono tracks are included for the nostalgic, and so is a French 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack.

VIDEO: A+

We get a shiny new 1080p transfer that’s AVC MPEG-4 encoded which thanks to the Lowry Restoration Process looks amazing! The original ratio is 1.66:1 has been brought over and the thing that will catch your eye immediately is the Murice Binder title sequence. The details of the church interior make you feel like you’re not that far away. The different colored lamps show up in the shine of cast members’ hair. As said in the restoration documentary, this film may look like it was shot in the 1960’s but it doesn’t look 45 years old. Dr. No has never looked so good.

EXTRAS: A+

Like all of the Bond blu-rays, they’ve transplanted all of the extras from the recent DVD releases. They are in standard definition, widescreen and sport a 2.0 Dolby Stereo mix. Each of these Bond films have a different degree of strength concerning the extras. Some have a literal vault of archival footage, which can be nice, but also can be dull. Dr. No sports a great Audio Commentary hosted by John Cork of the Ian Fleming Foundation and interviews with director, Terence Young and cast members that weave in and out of scenes they contributed to. The biggest reason why all of these Bond films shine on blu-ray is explored in 007 Licensed to Restore (11:56). It’s a fascinating process and the tedious work of Lowry’s staff is a marvelous achievement.

A BBC special, Guns of James Bond (5:06) interviews Jeffrey Boothroyd who become a gun enthusiast after reading the Fleming novels. Touring through his gun cabinet Boothroyd puts on a show-and-tell of the actual abilities of Bond’s guns in various situations and what kind of gun he would have liked to have seen Bond use. There’s no such thing as a small Bond red carpet event. Premiere Bond: Opening Nights (13:09) is a tell-all of the spectacles and who’s who in the crowd of dashing entrances. From the Royal Premieres at the Odeon Lester Square to Hollywood Boulevard, the featurette is entertaining until the last two minutes where every charity that saw donations from the premieres is mentioned.

Inside Dr. No (42:10) spotlights the important people responsible for the Bond films. Naturally, Harry Saltzman and Alfred “Cubbie” Broccoli were spoken about well. The choice of Sean Connery was the first and most important decision. Next, his villains, the sturdy supporting cast and then… Ursula Andress recalls her memorable entrance scene. Dr. No 1963 (8:40) is a black and white style guide to James Bond showing likes and dislikes, his favorite gun for example. Terence Young: Bond Vivant (17:57) gives credit to the director who is just as responsible as Connery for creating an icon. Young did more with less to establish the franchise, and his films in particular have remained amongst the fan-favorites throughout the decades. It was his style and attitude that Connery pulled from and placed in his performance. He is remembered by past cast and crew members as a man who could have easily been James Bond himself because he shared the same swagger. It’stoo bad he couldn’t direct more.

007 Mission Control is the throw-away extra which allows users to access all of the major elements of film strung together in different branches: opening credits, women, allies, villains, mission combat manual, Q branch, and exotic location. The best purpose I see for this is to showcase the action scenes for reference material or to pull out the great Binder opening credits. In the “Ministry of Propaganda” four theatrical trailers (10:57), one TV spots (1:24) and six radio commercials (6:38). An extensive gallery full of promotional and behind-the-scenes images closes out the extras.

DR. YES –- OVERALL SHOCK VALUE: A+

On that movie lot 1961, the world famous recipe for the next action hero was drawn up. Like a treasured recipe for chocolate chip cookies, follow is and it will always taste as great as that first batch. Change the process or the ingredients and the experience changes. This blu-ray preserves the original recipe like no other previous edition of Dr. No, and I guarantee you it will taste better than what you remembered.