La La Land Records to Release Expanded Score for THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH

La La Land Records has announced another expanded James Bond score! Hot on the heels of their unexpected but extremely welcome Die Another Day expanded score last year, the specialty label has another David Arnold score on tap. On November 27, they'll release a remastered and expanded 2-CD set of Arnold's stellar second Bond score, 1999's The World Is Not Enough. It will be packed with previously unreleased music, including tracks fans have been clamoring for for nearly two decades like "Snow Business" and the gun barrel music, along with hitherto undreamed of rarities like two early song demos performed by Arnold himself (one for the title song, and another for "Only Myself to Blame," which was intended for the closing credits and not used, but included in its final version on the original soundtrack CD). Unlike La La Land's Die Another Day, which omitted the Madonna title track (some would say mercifully), this new The World Is Not Enough release will include the songs! (The excellent theme performed by Garbage, and the album version of "Only Myself to Blame," performed by Scott Walker, who also performed the greatest Bond theme not written for a Bond movie, "Deadlier Than the Male" from the terrific Eurospy film of that title.) Liner notes by Tim Greiving will include new remarks from Arnold, legendary Bond lyricist Don Black, and director Michael Apted. This special expanded score will be strictly limited to 5,000 copies. It will go on sale on the La La Land website at noon, Pacific Time, on Tuesday, November 27, retailing for $29.98. I really hope this trend continues, and La La Land eventually releases expanded editions of all of David Arnold's James Bond scores!

Here is the full track listing for this one:

TRACK LISTING:

Disc 1
Score Presentation

1. Gun Barrel*† / Bond Has Left The Building*† 3:13
2. Show Me The Money† 1:27
3. Come In 007, Your Time Is Up† 5:20
4. Balloon* 1:03
5. The World Is Not Enough 3:54
-Performed By Garbage
6. Dr. Warmflash* :30
7. Access Denied 1:34
8. M’s Confession 1:35
9. Welcome To Baku 1:42
10. Snow Business* 1:15
11. Ice Bandits 3:42
12. Out Of The Snow* / Stay With Me Please* 1:27
13. Casino Jazz* 2:12
14. Casino 2:56
15. Card Game* 1:27
16. Devil’s Breath* 2:08
17. Elektra’s Theme 2:06
18. Body Double 3:00
19. Welcome To Kazakhstan*† 1:32
20. Going Down - The Bunker (Extended Version)**† 8:50
21. Bond’s Bedroom Bombshell* :38
22. Pipeline† 4:16
23. Elektra Turns* / Renard’s Plutonium Gift* 1:38
24. Remember Pleasure (Extended Version)** 3:14
25. Caviar Factory (Extended Version)**† 6:03
26. Submarine Surfaces* / Renard Greets Nik* / M Clocks Locator* 1:52
27. Bomb* 2:30
28. Torture Queen 2:24

Total Disc 1 Time 73:58

Disc 2
Score Presentation Continued

1. I Never Miss 3:32
2. Submarine #1 4:11
3. Submarine #2** 6:26
4. Sub Gets It* :46
5. Christmas In Turkey 1:28
6. Orbis Non Sufficit*† 4:01
7. Only Myself To Blame 3:36
Performed by Scott Walker

Total Score Time 97:58

Additional Music

8. Gun Barrel (Separate Elements)*† 1:14
9. Welcome To Baku (Film Version)** 1:42
10. Snow Business (Alternate)* 1:27
11. Elektra’s Theme (Alternate)* 2:05
12. Going Down - The Bunker 6:26
13. Pipeline (Full Mix)**† 4:15
14. Remember Pleasure 2:45
15. Caviar Factory† 6:01
16. Submarine 10:19
17. The World Is Not Enough (Demo)* 3:59
Performed by David Arnold
18. Only Myself To Blame (Demo)* 2:56
Performed by David Arnold

Total Additional Music 43:09
Total Disc 2 Time 67:40

* Previously unreleased
** Contains previously unreleased material
† Contains “James Bond Theme” written by Monty Norman

Thanks to Neil for the heads-up!

Mondo To Release Danny Elfman's MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE Score on Vinyl... Plus More Info on La La Land's MISSION Plans

Austin-based T-shirt company turned record label Mondo announced today that they would release Danny Elfman's terrific score for Brian De Palma's original 1996 Mission: Impossible movie on vinyl in October. It will be that score's first ever vinyl release, as the film came out between the "death of vinyl" in the early Nineties and the format's miraculous resurrection in the past decade. (The movie's version of "The Mission: Impossible Theme" by U2's Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, however, was released at the time as a 12" single for the DJ market.) Mondo's 2-disc release, sporting a retro-style record sleeve that will make a nice companion piece to the original 1960s Lalo Schifrin Mission: Impossible LPs, and liner notes by Austin composer Brian Satterwhite, will be pressed on 180 Gram colored vinyl. There will be a "Red Light/Green Light" edition (in honor of the film's explosive chewing gum), limited to 1,000 copies, and an unlimited translucent red version. (Hm... that's a tough call!) Both retail for $35, and are available for pre-order on the Mondo website, shipping in October. (Hopefully that gives them time to correct the spelling of Lalo Schifrin's name on the back cover!) Here's the track list:

Side A
01. Sleeping Beauty
02. Mission: Impossible Theme
03. Red Handed
04. Big Trouble

Side B
05. Love Theme?
06. Mole Hunt
07. The Disc
08. Max Found
09. Looking For “Job”

Side C
10. Betrayal
11. The Heist
12. Uh-Oh!
13. Biblical Revelation

Side D
14. Phone Home
15. Train Time
16. Ménage à Trois
17. Zoom A
18. Zoom B

For those who want even more music from that movie, La La Land Records recently mentioned in a post on the Film Score Monthly Forum that they're working on an expanded, double CD release of Elfman's score that was supposed to be out for the 20th anniversary in 2016, but has (obviously) been held up. They hope to have it out next year. That will certainly be exciting! (They also mention they might do an expanded release of Joe Kraemer's score for Rogue Nation... but not until that movie's 10th anniversary in 2025. I would sure love to see all the source music from the opera included on that release should it happen!)

Meanwhile, La La Land's Mission: Impossible - Music from the 1988 Television Series, announced last week, is now available to buy from their website... which also offers some more intel on the album's contents. The 2-disc set seems to include nearly all the music original theme composer Lalo Schifrin (The Liquidator) wrote for the revival series (three episodes' worth) along with a good sampling of Ron Jones' (Star Trek: The Next Generation) work. While the official copy claims this release "showcases the series’ musical highlights over its two season run," all the episodes on the track list are actually from its first year, the 1988-89 TV season. So I remain hopeful (which is to say, greedy!) that perhaps in a few years we'll get a second volume containing some more Jones tunes and a healthy selection of John E. Davis's (Matt Houston) music for that series (a few tracks of which can be found on the GNP album The Best of Mission: Impossible... Then and Now). But before we get ahead of ourselves, let's just be thrilled about what they're offering right now!

Finally, to celebrate the release of that new set, the company are offering their indispensable 6-CD box set from the original series, Mission: Impossible - The Television Scores (normally $100; details here) at the bargain price of just $80. Fewer than a hundred units of the limited run remain, so the fuse is burning rapidly down! The sale price is in effect through August 13.

Thanks to Mike for the heads up about the vinyl!

Read my review of Mission: Impossible III (2006) here.
Read my review of M:I-2 (2000) here.
Read my review of Mission: Impossible (1996) here.
Read my review of Mission: Impossible: The Seventh TV Season here.
Read my review of Mission: Impossible: The Sixth TV Season here.

Read my review of Mission: Impossible: The Fifth TV Season here.
Read my review of Mission: Impossible: The Fourth TV Season here.
Read my review of Mission: Impossible: The Third TV Season here.
Read my review of Mission: Impossible: The Second TV Season here.
Read my review of Mission: Impossible: The First TV Season here.

Easton Press Publishes Signed, Leatherbound Limited Edition of THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD

Connecticut-based publisher Easton Press, renowned for their beautiful, leatherbound editions, have announced a new release sure to interest all spy fans. John le Carré's seminal 1964 masterpiece The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, still inevitably cited as a touchstone every time a new, twisty, brooding, serious spy novel comes out, is the latest le Carré title to receive the Easton treatment. In addition to each copy being hand-signed by the author, according to the publisher, "this Easton Press exclusive edition features premium leather binding, a hubbed spine accented with true 22kt gold, gilded page ends, moiré endsheets, and a satin bookmark." Dimensions of the 256-page book are 5 1/2” x 8 1/2”. Easton's signed edition of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy came with a certificate of authenticity that was itself signed not only as le Carré (a pen name), but also as David Cornwell (the author's real name)... which I found quite neat! I would expect that to be the case once again with this book.

Easton doesn't report the limitations of their books, but they are limited. Once the signed stock sells out, it's gone, and the books become collectors' items inevitably commanding high prices on Ebay. Their last le Carré release, for example, a 3-volume set of the Karla Trilogy with the first, the aforementioned Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, signed by the author, is now all sold out. For now, however, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold can be ordered directly from the publisher for 4 monthly installments of $32.

While other le Carré books (including Tinker, Tailor) have had previous leather editions in the past, this edition surprisingly marks the first ever time that what is arguably the author's most famous work has been published in leather. (It did, however, receive an excellent illustrated, slipcased treatment from The Folio Society last year, which is still available--and highly recommended!)

Other notable Easton Press spy titles over the years include leather editions of le Carré's A Perfect Spy (this is a really cool book, with a "secret code"-themed pattern on the cover), William F. Buckley, Jr.'s Saving the Queen, Robert Ludlum's The Parsifal Mosaic, James Grady's Six Days of the Condor, the entire run of Ian Fleming James Bond titles (From Russia With Love actually got the Easton treatment twice), and Anthony Horowitz's first Bond novel, Trigger Mortis. All together, they make for a very impressive shelf or two in any good spy library!

New Trigger Mortis Limited Edition from Easton Press

Connecticut-based publisher Easton Press, who specialize in high-end, leather-bound limited editions, has just announced a beautiful new signed edition of Anthony Horowitz's bestselling 2015 James Bond continuation novel Trigger Mortis. The Easton edition is the same dimensions as the first American edition, but bound in leather with 22kt gold accents and a hubbed spine. The pages, printed on acid-neutral paper, are sewn, and there's a ribbon bookmark sewn in as well. Easton are no strangers to James Bond. In 1990 the publisher produced a gorgeous illustrated, leather-bound edition of From Russia With Love as a one-off; later that decade they created slip-cased facsimiles of all the Ian Fleming UK firsts as "The James Bond First Edition Library," and in 2005 produced "The Complete James Bond Collector's Edition," a beautiful leather-bound set of all 14 Fleming novels. Both of those sets, long out of print, are now highly sought after collectors' items, selling for many times the publisher's original price.

It's unclear what the limitation is on Easton's Trigger Mortis, but the signed volume is available from the publisher's website for three monthly installments of $44 until the edition sells out. Unfortunately, signed books cannot be shipped to California because of a well-intentioned but idiotically executed law passed in 2015, which is sure to annoy a lot of fans.

Other notable Easton Press spy titles over the years include leather editions of John le Carré's A Perfect Spy (this is a really cool book, with a "secret code"-themed pattern on the cover), William F. Buckley, Jr.'s Saving the Queen, Robert Ludlum's The Parsifal Mosaic and James Grady's Six Days of the Condor. Last year they produced a beautiful set of le Carré's "Karla Trilogy," featuring a Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy signed by the author that also comes with a certificate of authenticity signed by (and this is neat) both le Carré (a pen name) and David Cornwell (his real name). This set is still available.

Network to Release ITC Spy Soundtracks on Vinyl in 2013

Following the success of their multi-disc CD soundtracks for such Sixties and Seventies spy staples as The Saint, Danger Man, Department S, Man in a Suitcase, The Prisoner, Jason King and other ITC adventure series, Network has announced that they will begin releasing soundtrack albums for these series on vinyl in 2013. These editions will be aimed at audiophiles and collectors. The first such release is a limited edition EP called Themes for Action! coming out on Record Store Day and available exclusively in participating record stores on that day, containing themes and cues from a handful of those ITC series. Then in September we'll see "newly restored original soundtrack albums" for Man in a Suitcase, The Saint, The Prisoner and The Protectors containing "the very best themes and cues from each show." Newly created, retro sleeve retro artwork evokes the style of each show's era. (I love what they've come up with!) Department S and Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) will follow in October, with more titles slated for 2014. Meanwhile, I remain ever hopeful that someone uncovers the supposedly lost masters for Ken Thorne's incidental music for The Persuaders! and that Network releases a full set of that Holy Grail...

I Spy Comics Collected

Spy Vibe points the way to some very exciting news for fans of Sixties spy television and comics: the long-awaited collection of Gold Key I Spy comics from Hermes Press is now officially on the publisher's schedule! Amazon lists the release date as June 19. The 256-page hardcover compendium I Spy: The Complete Series reprints all six issues of Gold Key's comic books based on the globetrotting Robert Culp/Bill Cosby TV series, as well as (per the publisher) "informative essays about the creative team behind the comic book and loads of never-before seen publicity photographs featuring stars Culp and Cosby." Paul S. Newman scripted the stories, and Al McWilliams and Mike Roy provided the art. SRP is $49.99, but you can pre-order this baby from Amazon for just $31.49 right now! Best of all, this book is hopefully just the tip of the iceberg for fans of Gold Key's TV-based Sixties spy comics. A Hermes representative told me at last year's Comic Con that the publisher hopes to follow their I Spy volume with subsequent collections featuring all the other Gold Key spy properties, including The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and The Girl From U.N.C.L.E., and I think the Dell ones as well, like Mission: Impossible. I can't wait!

Upcoming Spy DVDs: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)

It's not even in theaters yet in America, but in Britain Tomas Alfredson's new theatrical version of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is all set for a DVD debut in January. According to Sherlockology, the John le Carré adaptation starring Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Hardy (among many others) will hit Region 2 DVD (PAL) and Region B Blu-ray on January 30. The Blu-ray's copious special features (which may offer a preview of what Region 1 viewers can eventually expect as well) include an audio commentary with Oldman and Alfredson, a new interview with le Carré (his umpteenth since his so-called "final interview"—not that I'm complaining!), deleted scenes(!), a featurette on Smiley, an "Inside the Circus" featurette, a "Shadow World" featurette, a featurette on the UK premiere, interviews with Firth, Hardy, Alfredson and screenwriter Peter Straughan, a Sky Movies featurette, a photo gallery and trailers. Whew! The DVD, sadly, only contains a fraction of those extras: the commentar, the le Carré interview and the deleted scenes.

UK online retailer Play.com is offering a couple of exclusive variations. There's a "steelbook" DVD/Blu-ray combo, and a really cool "limited edition pack" (pictured above) loaded with further, physical extras! Normally, I'm against stupid trinkets to inflate the cost of DVD sets (like the recent Region 1 It Takes A Thief box), but in this case, I actually think all these items look pretty neat. Best of all, though, is that awesome faux book (complete with a stylized theme reflecting Smiley's lighter, which is integral to the story) that houses them all! Inside the "book," you'll find the DVD and Blu-ray, the original soundtrack CD, le Carré's superb novel upon which the film is based, a bespoke notepad based on the moleskin one used by Smiley in the film, bespoke playing cards an exclusive set of Gary Oldman’s on-set photographs an exclusive film still (okay, that one is dumb) and a certain chess piece significant to the story.

New Spy CDs: From Russia With Love Video Game Soundtrack Offer

Buysoundtrax is offering another exclusive James Bond score CD as a premium when you spend $100 or more.  Once again, I'm really bummed that that's the only way to get this CD, but it is.  And I never happen to have $100 extra cash lying around.  But if you do, spend it at the soundtrack site and you'll get composer Christopher Lennertz's score for the 007 Electronic Arts video game From Russia With Love for free!  (Er, free plus $100, that is.)  This is a factory-pressed promotional CD, not available in stores.  And it's got such cool cover artwork!  You can sample tracks at BSX or on the composer's website (which also offers some cues from his Quantum of Solace game score).  I really wish they'd officially release these Bond video game soundtracks.  I certainly hope they do when David Arnold scores the new GoldenEye game this fall.  I'd love to be able to add an Arnold GoldenEye soundtrack to the Pierce Brosnan section of my Bond CD shelf (even if the new version of the game weirdly stars Daniel Craig in his stead).

COMIC-CON: More Bond Girl Barbies

Mattel had all of its Bond Girl Barbies on display at last week's Comic-Con International in San Diego, both the previously announced (and currently available) Jinx, Honey Rider and Pussy Galore who comprise Wave 1, and the forthcoming Wave 2.  Wave 2 of Mattel's James Bond series includes Barbie dolls based on Jane Seymour as Solitaire in Live and Let Die (in the high priestess dress, of course) and Maud Adams as the title character in Octopussy, apparently clad only in that white bathrobe.  Wave 2 cases include three dolls–one Solitaire and two Octopussies.  (So grab those Solitaires when you see them!) The dolls in Wave 1 are currently available through multiple outlets (very reasonably priced, too–at least compared to that expensive FAO Schwartz exclusive James Bond Barbie set from 2002–at just $34.95 a pop); Wave 2 is due out in August.  Cases are currently available for pre-order from Entertainment Earth.

Photos of the dolls in Wave 1 can be seen here.

Judging A Book By Its Cover: Anthony Horowitz's Stormbreaker Limited Edition

While Charlie Higson's Young Bond novels are highly collectible thanks to the obvious, built-in audience of James Bond collectors, Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider books have sparked less of a collector's market.  That's certainly not to say that they aren't collectable, just that they inspire less of a mania than a nearly six-decade-old franchise like 007.  Like the Young Bond books, the early books in the Alex Rider series were first published only in paperback in their country of origin, and pristine copies of these first editions are rare and fetch a decent amount on Ebay.  As with any series, the first book, Stormbreaker, is the most sought after, and the most collectible editions (judging by the exorbitant prices on Bookfinder.com) seem to be the American hardcover first edition (which was the only hardcover first, and had a small print run) and a slipcased, limited edition hardcover put out in 2005 by Walker Books in the UK.  While the first four Young Bonds have all been published in similar slipcased editions, to date Stormbreaker is (sadly) the only Alex Rider novel to receive this deluxe treatment.  There's very little information about this edition available on the web, so it seems like a good candidate for my occasional series, "Judging a Book By its Cover," in which I do exactly what the age-old adage cautions against and evaluate books based on their physical characteristics alone.

Starting on the outside, the slipcase itself is kind of ugly.  It's a flimsier cardboard than the Young Bond limited edition slipcases, and the lime green text across the front declaring ">> LIMITED EDITION >> STORMBREAKER << LIMITED EDITION" in a digital font (designed to look like the readout on a computer screen) isn't pretty.  The silver embossed Stormbreaker logo, however, with a lightning bolt through a globe, is cool.  The red bottom of the case is marred by a giant barcode, the original £20 price mark, and the assertion that "This special limited edition has been signed and numbered by the author."  Personally, I prefer it when barcodes and prices for limited editions come on a removable sticker outside the shrinkwrap rather than printed on the slipcase.  This edition was originally sold with an ugly cardboard band that wrapped around the book further emphasizing the fact that it was a limited edition.  While the collector in me couldn't reconcile throwing it away, I did remove the band for reasons or aesthetics and convenience of accessability. 

Inside the slipcase is a different story.  The book itself is very handsome indeed, with black boards and black endpapers.  There is no dust jacket.  The embossed silver logo appears again on the front cover and on the spine.  It and the letters in the author's name are presented in a subtler "digital" font that can really only be discerened by close scrutiny.  It works much better than the text on the slipcase.  The size of the book, the texture of the boards, the gilt embossment and the letters in Horowitz's name on the spine distinctly remind me of the Jonathan Cape Ian Fleming first editions.  The lettering isn't the same, mind you; it just reminds me of that.  And that's a good thing.  It's a nice looking book.  Unfortunately, it's bound with glue (the prevalent British preference of the moment, also afflicting the Young Bond limited editions) rather than sewn, but oh well.  That's hardly detremental. 

The copyright page reads "First published 2000 by Walker Books Ltd," then adds "This special limited edition published 2005."  The signature page is the first one after the endpaper, coming before the title page or copyright information.  The edition is limited to 750, and signed by Anthony Horowitz in blue ink. 

The book fits snugly into the slipcase, but not so snug that it becomes a challenge to remove it, an annoying factor affecting some of the Young Bond limited editions.

All in all, the Stormbreaker Limited Edition is a very handsome volume packed in a slightly less handsome slipcase.  A crucial cornerstone of the series, it's certainly worth seeking out for Alex Rider and spy fiction collectors.  And as Alex Rider is one of the most influential spy series currently being published, it will only appreciate in value. I wish there were more Alex Rider limited editions.

COMIC-CON: Spy Swag Part 1

I'll have some of those Prisoner comics to give away next week. Stay tuned for more Comic-Con coverage, including the Burn Notice panel and the new Prisoner...

The Spy Fan’s Holiday Shopping Guide

Some people might call such a list a "last minute holiday shopping guide" or something, but if you’re like me, then last minute isn’t until the stores close on Christmas Eve! Personally, I’m planning to get an early start on my Christmas shopping this weekend... So for those in the same boat who have spy fans on your list, here’s a roundup of the many things available this holiday season for espionage enthusiasts...

DVDs

Several snazzy complete series box sets have been released just in time for the holidays. At the top of my own list is HBO Home Video’s Get Smart - The Complete Series. True, it’s been available for a few years now–but only as an online exclusive from TimeLife, which may have made it a tad prohibitive as a gift in Christmas Past. This year, it’s available for the first time from retailers and etailers at deeply discounted prices. The twenty-five disc set includes not only every season of the classic Sixties spy comedy starring Don Adams, but also loads of bonus material like interviews, commentaries, documentaries, commercials featuring cast members and even pertinent excerpts from awards shows.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. - The Complete Series is another, equally feature-laden former TimeLife exclusive that recently got retail release–and the price drops that go with that. This is a truly fabulous collection of all four seasons of action-packed spy adventure, from the gritty, black and white premiere season to through the technicolor high camp of Season 3 to the somewhat more grounded swan song. The only reason this one isn't at the top of my personal wish list is because I already got it for Christmas last year; I couldn't possibly wait for America's answer to James Bond to end its window of exclusivity! Speaking of Bond, the extensive documentaries cover Ian Fleming's involvement in the conception of the series, including the entirety of his original memo to ABC.

Paramount has collected all four previously available seasons of the classic spy western starring Robert Conrad and Ross Martin as The Wild Wild West - The Complete Series. Sweetening the deal, they’ve also included the two Wild Wild West TV reunion movies (from 1979 and 1980) on a bonus disc available exclusively in this set. The packaging’s kind of weird on the inside (collecting all the discs in their own little cardboard file folders in some flimsy cardboard "saddlebags"), but the attractive box would wrap up nicely and makes for some satisfying opening come Christmas morning.

A&E has created an interesting box set this holiday season that makes the perfect sampler for spy fans into British adventure series with their Spy Collection. This set features the first sets (of two each) of The Protectors, starring Robert Vaughn, and The Persuaders!, starring Roger Moore and Tony Curtis along with half of The Champions (the cult show about secret agents with superpowers that’s currently being remade for the big screen with a script by Guillermo Del Toro)–which is all that A&E has released of that show to date, unfortunately. In addition to all that, you also get a taste of the ultimate cult spy series, The Prisoner with the first two discs of the renowned Patrick McGoohan vehicle (amounting to three episodes). If the spy fan in your life doesn’t have The Persuaders! yet, then this set is worth its price for that alone–and everything else makes it a great bargain! The whole bundle is much cheaper than what the individual volumes of these series originally retailed for. It's currently available exclusively from A&E's store, but hits Amazon in February.

If you’re looking to spend a little bit less (and who isn’t this Christmas?), there are plenty of individual TV seasons available as well. Paramount’s Mission: Impossible: The 5th TV Season presents a top-notch collection of episodes, every bit equal to the earlier seasons. This one gets a bad rap, but that’s unfair. It’s classic spy TV, and an essential stocking stuffer for every spy fan. Previous seasons (including this year’s Mission Impossible: The 4th TV Season) are also available individually, as well as in bundles from Amazon. Spy seasons worth getting from earlier in the year include the first season of Get Smart on its own (and sans extras), all three seasons of I Spy (starring Robert Culp and Bill Cosby) at ridiculously low prices, the sole season of Honey West (America’s delectable answer to The Avengers in the shapely form of Anne Francis), and the Canadian spy drama Intelligence.

Intelligence would make an especially nice gift for the die-hard spy fanatic who has all that other stuff, because this series probably slipped under the radar of even those die-hard fans. Playing like a cross between MI-5 and The Sopranos, Intelligence follows agents of Canada’s domestic service (and the criminals they’re spying on) as they attempt to form the nation’s first foreign spy agency. It’s compelling television, and I certainly hope further seasons are forthcoming in 2009.

24: Redemption, the TV movie based on the hit Fox series not only makes a great stocking stuffer, but also the perfect segue from TV DVDs into movies...

The absolute must-have disc of the holiday season for any spy fanatic is Sony’s luxurious new three-disc Collector’s Edition of Daniel Craig’s James Bond debut, Casino Royale (2006). This is a thoroughly classy production, inside and out. The packaging is downright beautiful, with a satisfying heft to it that will keep Bond aficionados guessing as they shake their presents the night before Christmas. And what we have inside is quite simply the best James Bond DVD ever produced. The first disc boasts not one but two amazing commentary tracks that manage to remain informative and entertaining all the way through while the second ports all of the special features from the original two-disc release of the title. The third, though, is the main course. Here you’ll find a series of amazing, in-depth documentaries on every aspect of production that go off on fascinating tangents covering the entire history of James Bond 007. Producer John Cork boasted that even the most well-versed Bond fans would learn at least one thing they didn’t know from each documentary–and he’s right. There’s a trove of knowledge here that will delight the 007 fanatic in your life. This is the must-have disc of the season. And it's also available on Blu-Ray!

It’s not the only Casino Royale Collector’s Edition, though. MGM has rather confusingly called their newest release of the 1967 spoof version a "Collector’s Edition" as well–but you’re not likely to mix up the two movies. The new MGM disc also comes in a nice package, utilizing the film’s original poster art and including reproductions of the famous door posters on the inside. I’ve always contended that the behind the scenes story of making this movie was far more compelling than the movie itself, and that story is well told in a five part documentary produced by Bond luminary Steven Jay Rubin. Rubin and Cork also provide an informative commentary track.

The seemingly ubiquitous Cork also produced the special features on another one of the season’s classiest releases, MGM’s new Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection. Included are the spy titles Sabotage and Notorious (the latter long out of print as a Criterion Edition) as well as Spellbound, Lifeboat, Rebecca, The Paradine Case, The Lodger (looking better than it ever has before) and the little-seen gem Young and Innocent. Not only is this a wonderful assortment of movies, but the special features are every bit as gripping and educational as we’ve come to expect from Cork’s Cloverland Productions. Best of all, Amazon is offering this set at half price right now!

Another appealing MGM collection out in time for the holidays is The Pink Panther Ultimate Collection, which collects (almost) all the movies (even the one where Roger Moore played Clouseau!) as well as seemingly every Pink Panther and Inspector cartoon ever produced, along with a hardcover book on the series.

If you’re not after box sets, try the individual James Bond Blu-Ray discs (for the most technologically up-to-date spy fans on your list) or a pair of recent theatrical hits out on DVD just in time for Christmas: Traitor and Burn After Reading. Anchor Bay’s Traitor, starring Don Cheadle, is a slight but enjoyable post-Bourne "War On Terror" spy flick that makes excellent use of its globe-hopping exotic locations. The Coen Brothers’ Burn After Reading, from Focus Features, is easily one of my favorite movies of the year and another must-have for fans of the genre. The brothers delightfully send up the entire CIA genre in a comedy about intelligence... and lack thereof. The DVD is a little short on features, but the ones included are surprisingly good for their brevity.

There's also a revered cornerstone of the genre that's just been given the Criterion treatment: Martin Ritt's 1965 film of John Le Carré's The Spy Who Came In From the Cold. This amazing disc not only features a stunning new transfer that blows the old Paramount release out of the water, but also some of the best supplemental material you could hope for. The second disc contains a lengthy, brand new interview with Le Carré as well as an insightful hour-long documentary on the man. Between the two of those things, it's the best portrait we've got on film of one of the towering figures of the genre. There are also ample features focusing on the filmmakers.

Books

The book that better be under every Bond fan’s Christmas tree this year is Roger Moore’s new memoir, My Word Is My Bond. The star of The Saint, The Persuaders! and the most James Bond films of anyone is also a great raconteur–as anyone who’s ever heard one of his DVD commentaries already knows. You can open up to any page of this book and find a great behind-the-scenes story that will have you laughing out loud thanks to Moore’s self-deprecating sense of humor. Even if Sir Roger isn’t your favorite 007, his book is sure to entertain.

‘Tis the season for actor memoirs, apparently, and other secret agent stars with autobiographies out this winter include Robert Vaughn (The Man From U.N.C.L.E.), Robert Wagner (It Takes A Thief) and Tony Curtis (The Persuaders!). For some reason, all of these books have remarkably similar covers (especially Moore’s and Wagner’s), so you might not want to give too many of them to the same person...

DK released two very nice gift books in conjunction with Daniel Craig’s current theatrical Bond outing: the behind-the-scenes photo book Bond On Set: Filming Quantum of Solace, and the all-ages-oriented James Bond: The Secret World of 007 in a brand new updated edition. The latter would make a great gift for the younger Bond fans in your life; the former is essential supplemental material for fans of Craig’s 007.

Digging back to earlier in the year, Robert Sellers’ The Battle For Bond is the best book about the Bond movies to come along in quite some time. Every year a new movie hits cinemas, there’s a slew of books riding its coattails–and many of them are very good–but rarely do they offer truly new insight for the seasoned Bond fan who’s read them all, including the staples like The James Bond Bedside Companion and The James Bond Legacy. The Battle For Bond is the rare tome that actually offers all sorts of new information, mainly thanks to its steady focus. Sellers’ book tells the whole thorny story of the Thunderball lawsuit. Of course, that case ends up encompassing a good chunk of Bond’s cinematic history, from Fleming’s first attempts to get a movie off the ground with Alfred Hitchcock directing up through Sean Connery’s Bondian comeback, Never Say Never Again. Absolutely essential reading for anyone interested in the Bond films, the entertainment industry or copyright law. And it's now available in a new, more affordable (if slightly censored) version.

There’s new spy fiction out from John Le Carré (A Most Wanted Man), Stella Rimington (Deadline) and Mark Gatiss (Black Butterfly, a hilarious Bond send-up with a dead-on Richard Chopping style dust jacket). There’s also that much ballyhooed Centenary James Bond novel by Sebastian Faulks, but it turned out to be pretty lousy, unfortunately. So instead of saddling the Bond fan in your life with a subpar read, how about stuffing their stocking with a far more interesting, more unique take on Ian Fleming’s world with Samantha Weinberg’s The Moneypenny Diaries? While the whole trilogy is out in England (Final Fling hit paperback this fall), we’re only at Volume 1 here in America–and that’s the perfect place to start. These Bond novels from the point of view of M’s famous secretary really transcend what admittedly sounds like a gimmicky premise, and deliver first rate spy reads. Alternatively, the other series of Bond spinoff novels, Charlie Higson’s Young Bond books, also deliver the goods much better than Mr. Faulks’ pastiche. By Royal Command closed out the initial cycle in style in England this year; America is again behind, with the third volume, Double or Die, still being the most recent.

Finally, for the avid spy reader who’s already burned through every Bond book, ever Ludlum and Le Carré–and everything else in between–get them started on Greg Rucka’s Queen & Country. This series may have eluded even the most voracious spy fiction readers merely because it happens to be primarily comprised of graphic novels. As I’ve said before, Rucka’s tales of SIS operative Tara Chace and her Director of Operations, Paul Crocker, are still the best spy story going in any medium, so they’re sure to please even readers who normally turn up their noses at books with pictures. (They’re also a good way to enlighten such people!) Oni Press have handily collected the entire series into three volumes (with a fourth due in 2009) of Definitive Editions. Each one contains several of the original graphic novels together, making them the ideal way to hook new readers. If you know someone who lives and breathes spy novels but hasn’t yet opened their mind to comics, the Queen & Country Definitive Edition Volume 1 is the ideal stocking stuffer.

Music

There's plenty of new spy music available this holiday season as well. Foremost amongst it has to be Network's fantastic box sets of score music from classic Sixties spy shows. Most recent are two boxes worth of Edwin Astley music from Danger Man (aka Secret Agent) one comprising the soundtracks to the half-hour episodes, the other the hour-long ones. Also available are sets for The Prisoner, Man In a Suitcase and Department S.

If you're just looking for stocking stuffers, try Varese Sarabande's recent single-disc release of Dave Grusin music from The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. Or pick up David Arnold's stellar score for Quantum of Solace, one of the movie's most successful elements. If you prefer Jack White's theme song, "Another Way To Die" (performed with Alicia Keys), you can also get that as a single with a cool instrumental-only version as a B-side.

Happy shopping–and Happy Holidays as well!

Random Intelligence Dispatches For September 22, 2008

New Saint DVD Release

Our man down under, David Foster (of Permission To Kill) wrote in about another cool new DVD so far exclusive to Australia. The Saint - A Fan's Guide appears to be an unauthorized companion to the TV series. According to the copy on EzyDVD, "The DVD shows how the series began as a straightforward mystery series, but over the years adopted more secret agent and fantasy-style plots... The film focuses on [Roger] Moore's portrayal of [Simon] Templar as it was considered a training ground for his later work as James Bond." It's hard to tell much from the information given, but I'm certainly curious about this one. I wonder who they interview? I wonder if it treads the same ground as Network's documentaries available on the UK Saint sets, or entirely new territory?

Limited Edition Ian Fleming Golf Balls

Chris Wright of FelixLeiter.com sent in a heads-up about a cool Ian Fleming Centenary collectible that I hadn't previously heard of: limited edition Penfold Hearts golf balls, like those used by James Bond in Goldfinger. Penfold Hearts balls (not to be confused with Penfold the hamster)haven't been produced for decades, and this special release is limited to just 500 dozen sets, so golfing Bond fans would be wise to pick them up while they can! Each set comes with a card of authenticity and a commemorative slipcase. Order directly from Penfold for £50. No word on whether Slazenger will produce a villain's edition...

80s Patrick Macnee Movie Coming To DVD

Patrick Macnee hasn't made a whole lot of movies, but with The Avengers in all its incarnations well behind him, the Eighties were definitely his most prolific decade for films. Although spy fans will be most familiar with his turn as the doomed Godfrey Tibbett in A View To A Kill, the majority of that output was horror movies like Waxwork and, most famously, The Howling. While those two are on DVD (MGM's Howling DVD contains some hilarious Macnee outtakes), most of his Eighties film work remains fairly hard to see. Now, DVD Drive-In reports that one of Macnee's best regarded films, Sweet Sixteen (1983), will get a DVD release next month. Macnee plays the father of a promiscuous teenage girl, all of whose male conquests suddenly turn up dead immediately after sleeping with her. Is she to blame? The Code Red director's cut DVD comes out October 14 with ample special features.

3D James Bond Soundtracks?

Anyone who's recently perused the James Bond section of their local record store (that is, if they're lucky enough to have a local record store anymore, and if that local record store is cool enough to have a James Bond section) may have noticed some fancy new stickers on the Bond soundtracks. The stickers proclaim them to offer "Limited Edition 3D Packaging!" Problem is... there doesn't seem to be anything remotely 3D about the CD covers, which appear to be exactly the same as the last reissue, when six titles were remastered and expanded. Track listings also appear the same, so no one needs to plan any re-buying. In other words, everything's exactly the same. Except that sticker! So what's the story with the stickers? Are there supposed to be new 3D versions out there? Are they hidden inside the packaging? Was it an error on the part of the record label that they're not actually included? Or was the error putting the stickers on there in the first place? If anyone has actually seen a 3D James Bond soundtrack CD, please let me know!

UPDATE: Well, that didn't take long! Reader Delmo has commented below, pointing the direction to a year-old thread on the subject on the CommanderBond.net forums. Apparently these discs have been in stores longer than I thought. Anyway, someone on the thread got to the bottom of the situation and concluded that the stickers were erroneously affixed to a number of EMI releases, including the Bond scores. This does, of course, contravene my own previous contention that collectors needn't worry about re-buying the discs! Some soundtrack completists will no doubt want to track down the CDs with the erroneous stickers, owing to the rarity of the error!