The New ‘Casino Royale’ Bonus Features Are Worth It

Posted by Kevin Carr (kevin@filmschoolrejects.com) on October 22, 2008

Casino Royale

In 2007, the 2-disc DVD of Casino Royale was released, letting Bond fans the world over take the new Daniel Craig incarnation home with them. Like so many other DVDs before it, there was still more to the story.

This week, Columbia Pictures has dropped a new release of the Casino Royale movie, this time in a 3-Disc Collector’s Edition. To accompany it, you can also pick up the Blu-Ray release which includes all the same features on two discs.

It can be frustrating for the consumer to have a new carrot dangled in front of his nose every eighteen months or so, and we always must weigh carefully whether it’s worth buying the new release. This collector’s edition of Casino Royale is timed to coincide with the upcoming release of Quantum of Solace. It could be a ruse, after all.

So, is it worth it? Should you get this new release of Casino Royale? Or is the studio bluffing?

If all you want is the movie, I wouldn’t bother. Even if you just want it in hi-def, both the standard DVD and the Blu-Ray release have been out for more than a year. However, if you love Bond history and like to roll around in bonus material, this release is definitely worth a look.

Why? Here’s a quick break-down of some new special features:

ORIGINAL SPECIAL FEATURES: If you don’t have the old DVD or Blu-Ray of Casino Royale, there’s the original bonus features to consider. Featurettes on “Becoming Bond,” “James Bond: For Real” (featuring stunts and practical effects) and “Bond Girls Are Forever” with Maryam d’Abo.

NEW COMMENTARIES: Two new tracks include Director & Producer Commentary and Crew Commentary.

NEW FEATURETTE “THE ROAD TO CASINO ROYALE”: This one is for Bond historians and fans of the series. It explains the rocky journey for the book Casino Royale to be made into a film. Originally a television play (with a CIA agent named Jimmy Bond) to a 60s spoof to the film we know and love today, Casino Royale was steeped in rights issues and studio squabbling. It’s amazing it ever got made.

NEW IAN FLEMING CONTENT: Two new featurettes take a look at Ian Fleming as a man, a writer and a spy. We learn his history, his inspirations for the James Bond series and how he became one of the most famous writers in history.

MORE FREERUNNING: The new featurette “The Art of the Freerun” includes a history of the sport of freerunning with a spotlight on Sébastien Foucan, the founder of freerunning and the actor used in the freerunning sequence of the movie. Some of this material is covered in the original bonus features, but this short documentary gives a closer look at the sport and its founder.

ADDITIONAL FEATURES: Other new features include “James Bond in the Bahamas,” “Death in Venice” (which dissects the sinking-building sequence), storyboard sequences and ten-minute profiles on the filmmakers.

ADDITIONAL BLURAY FEATURES: Picture-in-picture commentaries and “Know Your Double-0,” a James Bond trivia quiz.


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  • 3 discs. Deluxe. Collectors. Ooooo the DVD collector in me quivers with excitement at those words. Man well over a thousand and not even a second thought as to whether I'ma double dip or not.
  • djjeffhall
    Coming from the music industry, this is the same crap that music labels pull on fans that have driven them away in droves. How many times do you really need to purchase the White Album? (Even Men In Black alluded to that joke.)

    I love Casino Royale, purchased the DVD the week it came out and now I feel cheated. If I love Quantum Of Solace, should I purchase the DVD or wait until the next Bond film comes out to get the "definitive" version? (You could also apply this to the Dark Knight, Iron Man or any other recent blockbuster that is going to have at least one sequel.)

    The bigger question is this, if I wait, will I care about purchasing the DVD in two years?

    The trend that I've seen in the music industry is no. (I understand that DVD sales are down also in the same way the music industry has crashed.) Folks feel ripped off by this kind of marketing and I think it is a disservice to the fans who support films. (And music.)
  • well the re-release is quite cheap so if you don't want it don't get it but I see some big differences between music and film which is that I feel owning films is more desirable than owning music which is shoved on an ipod and listened to.
  • Why could'nt they release it like this the first time the DVD came out!? I do not like it when the studios re-release older movies already out on DVD.In this case it's called a "double dip".
  • Well without the double dip we would miss out on a lot of fantastic releases like the 3-disc gladiator, alien quadrilogy, 3-disc clerks etc
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