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The World Is Not Enough (1999)
The World Is Not Enough (1999) poster

The World Is Not Enough (1999)

Adventure, Action, Thriller • 2h 8m

Director: Michael Apted

MGM Blu-ray 

Best English-friendly & video release · updated 10 months ago

Overview

Greed, revenge, world dominance and high-tech terrorism – it's all in a day's work for Bond, who's on a mission to protect a beautiful oil heiress from a notorious terrorist. In a race against time that culminates in a dramatic submarine showdown, Bond works to defuse the international power struggle that has the world's oil supply hanging in the balance.

Release details

Best Audio Release

Dolby 5.1 EX: MGM Blu-ray or Japan LaserDisc. EX rear center channel maintained on all releases.

Dolby Stereo SR: Japan LaserDisc or US VHS Hifi

Featured Lists
Length
128 mins
Type
Movie
Alternative Titles
James Bond - The World Is Not Enough, 007: The World Is Not Enough, James Bond 19 - The World Is Not Enough

Part of James Bond 007

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Director: Terence Young

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

WB 4K Blu-ray, despite prevalent frozen grain

Best Audio:

1991 Criterion LaserDisc with end credits from 1992 MGM LaserDisc

Additional Info:

Criterion LaserDisc includes an exclusive commentary, which was later banned by EON and caused the release to be recalled.

Director: Lewis Gilbert

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Director: Guy Hamilton

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

1988 MGM VHS Hi-Fi, 1988 LaserDisc analog

Additional Info:

Criterion LaserDisc includes an exclusive commentary, which was later banned by EON and caused the release to be recalled.

Director: Terence Young

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

WB 4K Blu-ray despite frozen grain

Best Audio:

UK mix: 1984 CBS Fox VHS Hifi but missing one scene
International mix: WB 4K Blu-ray though source origin is unknown

1995 MGM stereo remix: 1998 LaserDisc and 2000 DVD fix gunbarrel dropout

Director: Terence Young

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

WB 4K Blu-ray despite some frozen grain

Best Audio:

1992/1993 MGM LaserDisc

Additional Info:

Criterion LaserDisc includes an exclusive commentary, which was later banned by EON and caused the release to be recalled.

Director: Guy Hamilton

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

MGM 1990/1993 LaserDisc

Director: Martin Campbell

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

MGM 4K Blu-ray

Director: Sam Mendes

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

MGM 4K Blu-ray

Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga

Best English-Friendly & Video:

US Universal 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

(for original forced subtitles font)

Additional Info:

IMAX sequences have not been released on home video to date

Directors: Val Guest & Ken Hughes & John Huston & Joseph McGrath & Robert Parrish

Best English-Friendly:

MGM Blu-ray 

Best Video:

MGM Blu-ray despite dated master

Best Audio:

Sony Columbia 1994 LaserDisc Mono

More from Michael Apted

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Director: Michael Apted

Best English-Friendly & Video:

2D: 2011 Fox Blu-ray

3D: 2011 Fox 3D Blu-ray

Video Notes:

(exclusive with Sony 3D TV bundles in the US)

Best Audio:

2011 Fox Blu-ray

Additional Info:

All home video releases are open matte 16:9. No home release in the theatrical scope presentation.


The original theatrical 7.1 mix has not been given a home release.

Director: Michael Apted

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Original matrixed Dolby Stereo: 2003 Sony/Columbia NTSC DVD 2.0
5.1 remix: 2024 Sony Blu-ray

Additional Info:

The 5.1 track on the UHD is a remix originally included on the 2024 Blu-ray, but missing the LFE track. The UHD 2.0 track is a downmix of the faulty 5.1, severely lacking bass.

The digital track on the earlier LaserDisc is most likely the same as DVD, minus the lossy compression.

Director: Michael Apted

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Universal 4K Blu-ray

More from MGM

See more →

Director: Victor Fleming

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

2D: Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray

3D: Warner Bros 3D Blu-ray or Apple Vision Pro

Best Audio:

1989 MGM LaserDisc

Audio Notes:

(caveat: "there's" in first "there's no place like home" utterance in final Kansas scene truncated)

Director: Vincente Minnelli

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Best Audio:

1991 MGM LaserDisc

Director: Stanley Kubrick

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Criterion Box Set coming October 20th with FiM encode, work done to un-Nolan the 4K master, the first ever appearance of the 35mm mono track on physical media and a new restoration/remastering of the 70mm 6-track mix.

Video Notes:

(early pressing has errors of a shot, later pressings fixed)

Best Audio:

1997 MGM LaserDisc, 1998 MGM DVD

Director: John Huston

Best English-Friendly & Video:

WB Blu-ray

Best Audio:

1992 MGM VHS

Director: John Frankenheimer

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

1994 MGM LaserDisc

Director: James Cameron

4K · Worse Than BD
Best English-Friendly:

2013 MGM Blu-ray, or 4K Blu-ray if you MUST have the mono mix, 1997 Image DVD/2001 MGM DVD for a purist version with original colors and the international mono mix

Sources: vimeo.com (opens in a new tab) · facebook.com (opens in a new tab)

Upcoming Release:

Capelight 4K Steelbook and Mediabook announced for 2026

Best Video:

2013 MGM Blu-ray for non AI transfer, 1997 Image DVD/2001 MGM DVD for a purist version with original colors and the international mono mix

Best Audio:

1991 Image Entertainment LaserDisc for the US mono mix, 2001 MGM DVD for the International mono mix

Audio Notes:

Comparison between the US and International mixes: https://vimeo.com/246332731

Additional Info:

The 4K Blu-Ray and the 2001 MGM DVD have exclusive extras.

Director: David Lynch

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

 Criterion 4K Blu-ray or Germany Plaion 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Upcoming Release:

UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray in December

Video Notes:

Subtle difference in encoding to the Criterion in encoding, trading blows in different shots, with Plaion taking a slight edge with less highlight blocking

Best Audio:

1993 MGM LaserDisc/2000 Region 1 MGM DVD

Audio Notes:

Criterion's 2.0 sounds muffled due to noise reduction and EQ.
Plaion's 2.0 lacks bass and has a very bright EQ, more resembling the 5.1 remix. Plaion’s 2.0 doesn't have any filtering unlike the Criterion, see https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=23831289&postcount=110

Director: Norman Jewison

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Kino Lorber Blu-ray

Best Audio:

1993 MGM LaserDisc

Director: Alexander Mackendrick

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion or Arrow Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Not sure about France

Best Audio:

1989 MGM LaserDisc

Director: Martin Scorsese

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Imprint Australia 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · blah-ray.blogspot.com (opens in a new tab) · facebook.com (opens in a new tab)

Upcoming Release:

Capelight 4K announced for 2026

Video Notes:

Imprint Australia 4K Blu-ray has slightly better compression than Criterion 4K Blu-ray.

The master in DV looks all but identical to the Criterion’s HDR grade. Detail-wise, FiM’s encode looks like it uncovered a tiny bit of extra high-frequency information that got filtered on the Criterion. See nicolas review

Best Audio:

1990 Criterion LaserDisc/1993 MGM LaserDisc/2002 R2 MGM DVD

Audio Notes:

1990 Criterion LaserDisc/1993 MGM LaserDisc/2002 R2 MGM DVD are the best. See blah-ray https://blah-ray.blogspot.com/2018/01/raging-bull-1980.html

Imprint Australia 4K Blu-ray has better audio than Criterion 4K Blu-ray, from nicolas:

I believe that what’s on Imprint’s 4K is one of the good mixes MGM and Criterion released during the LaserDisc days. Music is powerful and detailed, dialogues have excellent fidelity and ambient sounds have perceptible depth. I compared the "new" 2.0 with the anemic 5.1 as well as the Criterion 4K mix and could clearly hear the improvements.

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Researched and maintained by

captainsolo

· last reviewed 10 months ago

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