Casino Royale (Deluxe Edition) [Blu-ray] [2006] [2008][Region Free]

Mads Mikkelsen, Judi Dench, Jeffrey Wright, Jesper Christensen, Giancarlo Giannini Director: Martin Campbell

When you get to a modern James Bond film, your expectations are surely that you’ll get expensive action sequences, expensive locations and a production that doesn’t skimp on anything. That holds particularly true for the Blu-ray versions of such films, where the hope is for a best-in-class transfer and sound mix. With Casino Royale, not only do you get that, but you also happen to get one of the finest 007 movies of recent times, too.

A reboot for the franchise that ushers in Daniel Craig as a rawer, younger Bond, Casino Royale works a lot better than its follow-up, Quantum Of Solace by simple virtue of having a much better story at its core, going back directly to an Ian Fleming novel for it. Furthermore, in the casino sequence itself, it has a tense event to glue everything around, and it’s only in the final sequence or two where Casino Royale starts to feel like a conventional Bond film. That aside, it’s a superb piece of modern action cinema.

The film also looks stunning in high definition. From the overhead shots of a glistening beach, to the darker, faster car chases and action sequences, Casino Royale is a fabulous workout for a home cinema rig. The audio mix punches hard, mixing in subtlety when needed with the bombastic subwoofer-workout you might well be hoping for. And the end result is pretty much demo material. Given the strength of the film too, this is surely one of the best Blu-rays of a modern-day film you can buy. And what a way to keep watching the film… --Jon Foster