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4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Review: NO TIME TO DIE

Home » 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Review: NO TIME TO DIE

Dec 20, 2021 Posted by in DVD/Blu-ray, Reviews | Comments

British spy James Bond (Daniel Craig) has left active duty, but still can’t help constantly looking over his shoulder. He is spending a romantic holiday in Italy with Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux) when some agents from the criminal organization SPECTRE find him and make an attempt on his life. James believes that Madeleine may have somehow been involved in the incident, and so he sadly leaves her to spend the next five years living on his own in Jamaica. But his tropical isolation is interrupted after SPECTRE breaks into a government lab, stealing a secret bioweapon and kidnapping the defected Russian scientist (David Dencik) who worked on the project. Both Bond’s old CIA friend Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright) and his MI6 replacement/new 007 Nomi (Lashana Lynch) have shown up at his doorstep to try to convince Bond to head to Cuba to help them retrieve the weapon. Bond suspects that M (Ralph Fiennes) knows more about the weapon than he’s letting on, and agrees to help Felix instead. However, he soon discovers that despite being locked away behind bars, Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Christoph Waltz), still seems to be running the shots at SPECTRE. But there is another even more deadly psychopath, Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek), who is out for revenge against SPECTRE, and has a connection to Madeline. Now Bond must stop Safin before he can unleash this dangerous new technological bioweapon on the world, but he’s going to need to need some help to do so.

No Time To Die is an excellent send-off to close out Daniel Craig’s 15-year/five-film reign as Bond. The film not only gives views all of the exotic locales, humorous quips and one-liners, dangerous car chases, and action-packed/death-defying scenarios they’ve come to expect from a Bond film, but it also finishes out this era with an emotionally-driven storyline. First let’s talk about the action sequences. There are some pretty spectacular chase scenes in this film, from a high speed car chase through the streets of Italy that opens the film, to SUVs barreling over lakes and through forests. There’s also some amazing fight sequences, such as an incredible, winding tracking shot as Bond makes his way through the stairwells of an enemy compound with hostiles lurking around every corner, or when James teams up with rookie agent Paloma (Ana de Armas) and they find themselves surrounded by enemies. Ana de Armas really steals the show in this scene, and could easily have her own spin-off franchise. The film also has some great villains and sidekicks. Blofeld is back again and as sinister as ever, but even he pales in comparison to Safin, a man with a deformed face and a love of poisonous plants, who is out for revenge against those who murdered his family when he was a child. Rami Malek is great as usual, really throwing himself into the role. And helping Safin is the bionic-eyed Primo aka Cyclops (Dali Benssalah), who is a constant thorn in Bond’s side. And on the good guy side, there’s CIA agent Felix, who’s always happy to work with Bond, as well as Bond’s MI6 support team, gadget guy Q (Ben Whishaw), and new agent Nomi, with whom there’s a bit of a competitive nature. Lashana Lynch is a great addition to the franchise, and holds her own against Bond. She, too, could have her own spin-off. But at the core of the movie, there’s this big emotional arc, particularly between James and Madeleine, whose relationship ended abruptly, but the feelings for one another never died away. But Madeleine has been keeping secrets about her past that could not just tear them apart, but also put them in danger.

No Time To Die is a very long movie, clocking in at nearly 3 hours—it almost feels like two movies back-to-back. However, the film never really drags, and there’s nothing I would cut to try to make the movie shorter. Every piece fits together like a puzzle to tell this final story. The film flows across varied beautiful locales that keep things visually interesting, with lots of fact-paced action, drama, and some great comedic moments to break things up. The story has lots of twists and turns, building to a tense, dramatic and satisfying conclusion for the Craig-era Bond. I have thoroughly enjoyed Craig’s stint as Bond. While Skyfall is probably still my favorite, this comes in close second.

Universal’s 4K UHD release looks and sounds amazing. The picture is pristine and detailed throughout, even in the darker sequences. Whether in icy Norway, the streets of Italy, the forests of the Scottish Highlands, or exotic Jamaica, the picture always looks great—there are some underwater shots in the opening sequence that look stunning. The added detail of the 4K picture transports the viewer into these remote locales, and the Dolby Vision HDR provides an excellent color palette, which really shines (no pun intended) in several sunrise scenes. The Dolby Atmos audio track is also excellent, with crystal clear sound, such as the the ice cracking in the opening sequence, or the thuds in every direction as Bond’s car is being bombarded with bullets. The track provides a fully-immersive viewing experience, with the sound of helicopters overhead, or bullets whizzing by, the rumble of explosions shaking the room, etc. At the same time, dialogue still remains clear throughout.

Universal’s 4K UHD release includes both a 4K and Blu-ray disc, packed on either side of a standard 4K keepcase placed inside an embossed slipcover, along with an insert containing instructions on how to redeem a 4K (iTunes-only) digital copy of the film as well as Universal Rewards points. All of the bonus material resides only on the 4K disc. The bonus content includes over 36 minutes of behind-the-scenes featurettes, and exclusive to the 4K release is an excellent 46-minute “Being James Bond” documentary in which Craig and the producers discuss his entire tenure as Bond.


What’s Included:

Film: (2:43:24)

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