Casino Royale (w/Craig) 2-disc CE $9.99@Amazon + BestBuy (1967 Blu $14.99 at BB B&M?)

Pretty sure that neither of the other casino royales are, or likely ever will be, on blu ray...

I ran a search for "casino royale" on BestBuy's website, and saw a supposed Blu-Ray version of the 1967 version priced at $14.99 (with a release date of 5/29/2011). Of course, the link led to dead page, but from other threads online it should be available at B&M BestBuy stores now.

Bought this for 12.99 awhile back. 9.99 is a great price for one of my personal blu-ray favorites! This and the Batman movie are eye candy.

I just hope that Best Buy's exclusive of the 1967 Casino Royale has at the very least all of the special features from the DVD (such as the made-for-tv movie). Some of their blu-ray exclusives have been pretty sparse on the features.

If you're just getting into blu-rays, this is a must have. Beautiful picture!

In for 1. Just picked up Quantum of Solace via the BBV 5 for $20 sale. So this for $10 and QoS for $4 is a good deal.

[quote name='arcane93']I just hope that Best Buy's exclusive of the 1967 Casino Royale has at the very least all of the special features from the DVD (such as the made-for-tv movie). Some of their blu-ray exclusives have been pretty sparse on the features.[/QUOTE]

Got a chance to look at the 1967 version blu-ray today. It includes a commentary and a making-of documentary (presumably the same one as is on the DVD), but it lacks the made-for-TV version (from 1954) that is on the DVD version. I really hate when they do shit like that -- now even if I do pick up the blu-ray, I won't be able to just get rid of my DVD.

[quote name='arcane93']Got a chance to look at the 1967 version blu-ray today. It includes a commentary and a making-of documentary (presumably the same one as is on the DVD), but it lacks the made-for-TV version (from 1954) that is on the DVD version. I really hate when they do shit like that -- now even if I do pick up the blu-ray, I won't be able to just get rid of my DVD. [/QUOTE]


Although I, personally, am almost happy to have both the original and new DVDs of the 1967 CR (and now that I know this exists, the Blu-Ray will very soon be mine) I was also lucky enough to find a standalone $1 DVD of the 1954 CR at Wal-Mart about 3 or 4 years ago. If you can find that version, then you can buy another DVD so you can get rid of the one you already have.

I'm such a Bond Fanatic... sorry, Aficionado, that I went ahead and also bought the Spy Guise VHS of the 1954 CR (it should still be on Amazon) so I could see the whole thing. There's not much more, but at least it has an ending in that version.

[quote name='arcane93']Got a chance to look at the 1967 version blu-ray today. It includes a commentary and a making-of documentary (presumably the same one as is on the DVD), but it lacks the made-for-TV version (from 1954) that is on the DVD version. I really hate when they do shit like that -- now even if I do pick up the blu-ray, I won't be able to just get rid of my DVD. [/QUOTE]

It's just not worth it for MGM to add additional stuff to those BDs. They are made for budget-household. Spending an extra 100k to remastered the TV stuff just isn't going to happen.

Picked it up yesterday though. I enjoy Peter Sellers and remembered this film being pretty interesting.

[quote name='GizmoGC']It's just not worth it for MGM to add additional stuff to those BDs. They are made for budget-household. Spending an extra 100k to remastered the TV stuff just isn't going to happen. [/QUOTE]

Then throw it on the blu-ray as un-remastered SD content. There's minimal extra cost to do that, it won't be any worse than the DVD that way, and at least everything is included then. It certainly wouldn't be the only case out there of a blu-ray that comes with the bonus features in SD. So yeah, sorry, I don't buy that argument.

[quote name='arcane93']Then throw it on the blu-ray as un-remastered SD content. There's minimal extra cost to do that, it won't be any worse than the DVD that way, and at least everything is included then. It certainly wouldn't be the only case out there of a blu-ray that comes with the bonus features in SD. So yeah, sorry, I don't buy that argument.[/QUOTE]

Minimal extra cost = cost.

Most studios don't give a shit. Not having that extra version will probably lose them 20-30 sales at most. I'm sure they'll live without $300 worth of sales vs. thousands of additional dollars to add that content in. Be thankfully you even got any Special Features.

Bizarrely, the 1954 version is available to watch on Netflix streaming, if anyone's morbidly curious.

Can i pick up Casino Royale Craig version at Best Buy? Stupidly enough,the site says not available in store. That's the very thing i hate about todays brick and mortar and why i don't even bother to drive to location. Advertise shit to sell but don't bother stock at your locations.

[quote name='DynamiteShikoku']Can i pick up Casino Royale Craig version at Best Buy? Stupidly enough,the site says not available in store. That's the very thing i hate about todays brick and mortar and why i don't even bother to drive to location. Advertise shit to sell but don't bother stock at your locations.[/QUOTE]

I browsed the store in my town yesterday and you can pick it up there. Even had the sales tag on it.

[quote name='GizmoGC']Minimal extra cost = cost.

Most studios don't give a shit. Not having that extra version will probably lose them 20-30 sales at most. I'm sure they'll live without $300 worth of sales vs. thousands of additional dollars to add that content in. Be thankfully you even got any Special Features.[/QUOTE]

I get what you're saying, but by that argument, why include any special features at all? All of them are extra cost, and some of them probably more than this -- I'm sure it takes a lot more effort (and expense) to sync up a commentary track to the new video encode of the movie than it does to simply throw existing, already encoded SD content onto the disc with everything else. I'm also sure that most people who want to buy the movie would buy a bare-bones disc if that was all that was available.

Personally, I don't give a shit about most special features -- most of them are fluff anyway. I don't usually bother with commentaries, featurettes, or whatever unless I really care about the particular movie. The ones that I do care about are the ones that are additional actual content. So it just seems odd to me that if they're going to leave off a special feature, they'd choose to leave off the one that I would actually find meaningful.

[quote name='DynamiteShikoku']Can i pick up Casino Royale Craig version at Best Buy?[/QUOTE]

Yeah, you can. I've been to a few stores in my area since it went on sale, and they've all had it in stock.

I finally picked up the 1967 "Casino Royale" and I was shocked to find that I was apparently required to have my ID checked... I was HIGHLY confused until I got it home and was reminded that it's "Not Rated"...

This is obviously due to the Daliah Lavi (Yummy!!) nude scene...

As for the quality of the transfer... it's (no surprise) the exact same transfer as the anniversary DVD. It's a little softer than most Blu-ray transfers, but it's still pretty good. The sound is the most obvious upgrade and it is superb, especially for its age... not surprising considering the LP of the soundtrack is considered one of the best recordings ever available on vinyl.