Sure hope the blu is the uncut version. I seem to remember two versions of the old DVD floating around, one of which was about 4 minutes shorter.
There was a pressing error with the first batch of discs that caused 4 minutes of footage to be skipped. It was purely a manufacturing glitch; there is no actual "short" or "cut" version of the film. (I recall that before the source of the problem was discovered, all sorts of insane conspiracy theories appeared online, many of them having to do with the fact that Connery introduced himself as "Bond, James Bond" during the missing footage.)
I saw the film in the theater as a kid and really liked it. I still do to this day. It's not a "great" Bond film, but neither are most of the Roger Moore entries. The music isn't so hot, but compared to "The Spy Who Loved Me," it's fine. The opening song is listless, but miles ahead of "The Man with the Golden Gun." Connery looked actually younger and fitter in this film than he did in "Diamonds Are Forever" (that was a horrible toupee and those eyebrows were super bushy).
How it stacked up in the pointless press-initiated Battle of the Bonds: I still prefer it over "Octopussy." However, the earlier "For Your Eyes Only" blows it away.
The Ion Films didn't contain 20+ masterpieces. There were amazing as well as shitty films in the series. "NSNA" qualifies as middle of the road filmic Bond for me. Not nearly in the top ranks but nowhere near the bottom. It's as deserving of "official" status as any other film in the franchise. And it has Sean Connery doing good work as 007. Count me in.
