From Russia With Love - A Review
Sweepy the Cat
Halifax, West Yorkshire, EnglaPosts: 986MI6 Agent
The Bond Tradition is finally starting to set itself up. Just like the first James Bond, "Dr No", "From Russia With Love" sticks very close to Ian Fleming's novel which is one of his best. Sean Connery plays a slightly darker Bond than he would go on to play in the later Bond's "You Only Live Twice" and "Diamonds Are Forever" but it's all fantastic really.
The pre credits sequence is one of quality, simple but effective. The films plot is one of the best of the series and you could actually believe it could happen. James Bond is informed by M that a beautiful Soviet agent has fallen in love with him and wishes to defect. She promises to steal a valued decoding machine called the Lektor which MI6 desperatly wants. Bond is warned it could be a trap and indeed it is. Unbeknown to the defector, Tatiana Romanova, the soviets and British are being used as pawns in an inspired scheme masterminded by SPECTRE. Tatiana is unaware that her immediate superior, Colonal Rosa Klebb is actually working for SPECTRE. The plan is for Bond and Tatiana to steal the Lektor then be executed by assasin Red Grant. Spectre will then recover the machine and sell it back to the soviets, embarrasing MI6 in the process and murdering Bond in revenge for his killing of Dr No. This is real classy stuff, something that todays Bond films need to rediscover.
There are no real gadgets in From Russia With Love, they would not come in properly untill Goldfinger but Bond is given a suitcase by Major Boothroyd [ Q ] who makes his first of 17 appearances in the Bond films. The suitcase has a built in knife compartment down the side of the case with two strips of gold soveriegns embedded in each end. The case also has a built in powder so if the case is opened incorrectly you will get a cloud of smoke in your face.
Sean Connery brings the literary character to life with a delicious mix of suave sofistication hardened by an underlying threat of cold brutality. Unfortunately later films watered down the effect instead relying on the effects and stunts.How does something this simple work this well? It's a plot as simple as that of Dr. No, but where that one drags a bit, this never lets up! The film also has some of the most beautiful locations of any Bond film. Finally, it introduces Blofeld which (after Goldfinger) will dominate the series until the end of the Connery era.
Without question, this is my favourite Bond movie. It contains none of the gimmicks and far-fetched story-lines that some of the others contain. It`s pure espionage at its best. From the exciting and unique opening, to the final scene this movie gripped me. Kerim Bey makes a very likeable and intelligent sidekick for Bond, and the villains are very strong. Robert Shaw is great as Red Grant. He has a remarkable presence in the movie even though he does not say a word in its first half. Rosa Klebb is eerie, and perhaps the strongest female Bond character in the entire series. Some people consider the fight scenes to be the best in the Bond series, and the action scenes are wonderful.
Hard to believe, but the movie is actually an improvement on Fleming's novel. Basically, it's a quiet little plot focusing on an elaborate "sting" operation. Until the end, the pace is kind of slow, and might lose more "modern" audiences, particularly those used to incredible stunt sequences every 20 minutes. Sadly, this excellent adventure in the James Bond series is often overlooked because it precedes Goldfinger; but I believe that this adventure surpasses Goldfinger with ease.
It's more concerned with espionage than stunts, with character than supposedly cool one-liners, it has that gorgeous look of the best 60s films, it's not remotely self-referential and it doesn't have to struggle against competing spy/action franchises because it's so far ahead of the few rivals it had back then anyway. The Bond films vary in quality even more widely than the books, but this is still, hands-down, the best Bond film.
9.7/10
The pre credits sequence is one of quality, simple but effective. The films plot is one of the best of the series and you could actually believe it could happen. James Bond is informed by M that a beautiful Soviet agent has fallen in love with him and wishes to defect. She promises to steal a valued decoding machine called the Lektor which MI6 desperatly wants. Bond is warned it could be a trap and indeed it is. Unbeknown to the defector, Tatiana Romanova, the soviets and British are being used as pawns in an inspired scheme masterminded by SPECTRE. Tatiana is unaware that her immediate superior, Colonal Rosa Klebb is actually working for SPECTRE. The plan is for Bond and Tatiana to steal the Lektor then be executed by assasin Red Grant. Spectre will then recover the machine and sell it back to the soviets, embarrasing MI6 in the process and murdering Bond in revenge for his killing of Dr No. This is real classy stuff, something that todays Bond films need to rediscover.
There are no real gadgets in From Russia With Love, they would not come in properly untill Goldfinger but Bond is given a suitcase by Major Boothroyd [ Q ] who makes his first of 17 appearances in the Bond films. The suitcase has a built in knife compartment down the side of the case with two strips of gold soveriegns embedded in each end. The case also has a built in powder so if the case is opened incorrectly you will get a cloud of smoke in your face.
Sean Connery brings the literary character to life with a delicious mix of suave sofistication hardened by an underlying threat of cold brutality. Unfortunately later films watered down the effect instead relying on the effects and stunts.How does something this simple work this well? It's a plot as simple as that of Dr. No, but where that one drags a bit, this never lets up! The film also has some of the most beautiful locations of any Bond film. Finally, it introduces Blofeld which (after Goldfinger) will dominate the series until the end of the Connery era.
Without question, this is my favourite Bond movie. It contains none of the gimmicks and far-fetched story-lines that some of the others contain. It`s pure espionage at its best. From the exciting and unique opening, to the final scene this movie gripped me. Kerim Bey makes a very likeable and intelligent sidekick for Bond, and the villains are very strong. Robert Shaw is great as Red Grant. He has a remarkable presence in the movie even though he does not say a word in its first half. Rosa Klebb is eerie, and perhaps the strongest female Bond character in the entire series. Some people consider the fight scenes to be the best in the Bond series, and the action scenes are wonderful.
Hard to believe, but the movie is actually an improvement on Fleming's novel. Basically, it's a quiet little plot focusing on an elaborate "sting" operation. Until the end, the pace is kind of slow, and might lose more "modern" audiences, particularly those used to incredible stunt sequences every 20 minutes. Sadly, this excellent adventure in the James Bond series is often overlooked because it precedes Goldfinger; but I believe that this adventure surpasses Goldfinger with ease.
It's more concerned with espionage than stunts, with character than supposedly cool one-liners, it has that gorgeous look of the best 60s films, it's not remotely self-referential and it doesn't have to struggle against competing spy/action franchises because it's so far ahead of the few rivals it had back then anyway. The Bond films vary in quality even more widely than the books, but this is still, hands-down, the best Bond film.
9.7/10
Comments
I think that FRWL is flawless because at not pint do I wish it was different, there really is for me not a moment that I would change if I could. True by todays standard the pacing is slow and the back projection creaky, but judged by the prevailing standards of the time it's about as good as it gets, with OHMSS running a close second for me.
"Sean Connery brings the literary character to life with a delicious mix of suave sofistication hardened by an underlying threat of cold brutality. Unfortunately later films watered down the effect instead relying on the effects and stunts."
If you're going to steal, Sweepy, at least correct the original spelling mistakes. Pathetic in all senses of the word.