From Russia With Love vs. Goldfinger

chrisisall

FRWL, Bond's second outing, and more refined than the first. Cold War coolness, and one of the greatest hand to hand fights of all time.
GF, an iconic meeting of Fleming & cinema. Almost OTT, but not quite. Yet. And... a laser.

I have no problem citing GF as my favourite of the two, despite Sir Sean's personal feelings on the matter. )

Thunderpussy

Very close but I'd pick FRWL. -{

BRIXMIS

From Russia with Love, for me. That classic fight, in fact whole train journey, give it that whiff of 50's/60's espionage.

AlphaOmegaSin

FRWL is a shining Example on how to make a Cold War Era Espionage Film -{

Ens007

AlphaOmegaSin wrote:

FRWL is a shining Example on how to make a Cold War Era Espionage Film -{

My sentiments exactly -{

Thunderpussy

..... and it's got a Train in it too !

DevilMayCare007

Give me FRWL any day a better film IMO. Sean Connery is also close to Fleming's Bond in FRWL. Not saying I don't like GF bc it is one of the best, but I just find it a bit overrated.
Also the train scenes reminds of Sherlock Holmes Terror by Night with Basil Rathbone for some reason )

welshboy78

Also a massive FRWL fan and to me the better film and a great adaptation of the book - is it me or do you really sense some danger towards Bond during the film which of course in later films the viewer doesn't really see or care about.

The two films couldn't be further apart really, one is a spy (near thriller) the other total Hollywood.

broadshoulder

Two great Titans of the James Bond series..

Minds gonna be FRWL, mainly because Fleming writing is superb. You get the build up to the best set of villains in the series ie Klebb, Kronsteen, Grant and Kerim Bey

Just nudging is Goldfinger and it actually improves on the book. T'hey plot to destroy Fort Knox seems incredible not to mention the edge of your seat climax.

AlphaOmegaSin

Guy Hamilton commented on the implausibility of getting all of the Gold out of Fort Knox.

broadshoulder

AlphaOmegaSin wrote:

Guy Hamilton commented on the implausibility of getting all of the Gold out of Fort Knox.

Thats why I think they changed from the book where they are stuck on the sidelines to the film where an atom bomb is in place and about to be detonated.

Blackleiter

Gotta go with Goldfinger, my all-time favorite. But FRWL is superb as well.

Virgil37

FRWL and GF are the templates for everything that followed. When a film is a more serious spy thriller, it's FRWL. If it's a fantasy spy, it's GF. Both of them are just the peak of the franchise IMO. If I have to pick one over the other, I'll say FRWL, just because I love Daniela Bianchi, Pedro Armendariz, Robert Shaw, the Orient Express sequence,and of course a 32 year old Connery at his very best as Bond. Based on one of Fleming's best novels, possibly his best Bond title ever, and Terence Young really making it all happen.

DevilMayCare007

Quick question. Do any of y'all think they would make a spy thriller type Bond anytime soon ?

Thunderpussy

Oh yes, Mission Impossible 5, will be out soon! )

DevilMayCare007

Thunderpussy wrote:

Oh yes, Mission Impossible 5, will be out soon! )

No ) I'm talking about if a Bond will be like Spy Thriller again?

Thunderpussy

) )

DEFIANT 74205

From Russia With Love, by a long way. It is one of the most Flemingesque of Bond films that accurately adapts the source material to film.

Terence Young, Sean Connery, Daniela Bianchi, Pedro Armendariz, the train fight (on board The Orient Express, no less), gypsy camp fire fight (and girl fight ) ... what more could one ask for? In my view, it is the best Bond film ever made - hell, I'd even say it's one of the finest films of any genre, ever made.

Goldfinger is good, but it isn't nearly as good as From Russia With Love.

P.S. All those From Russia With Love fans out there, please go to the Bond film elimination game in the Trivia forum to prevent it from being eliminated far too early

BIG TAM

From Russia With Love

I like the differences between the first few Bonds. The (admittedly enjoyable) sense of deja vu hadn't kicked in yet.

chrisisall

Blackleiter wrote:

Gotta go with Goldfinger, my all-time favorite. But FRWL is superb as well.

Just now watched From Russia With Love on Blu Ray, wow, what a great film. I haven't watched it in years... I still like DN a bit better, but this was pure awesome. My Son & I enjoyed it quite a bit, and he said it was dated, but I found it to be beautiful time capsule and a rousing Bond experience. Apart from the Popeye hat & the dodgy 'OMG' music during the gasoline drum explosions, this was a pretty flawless film IMO. Connery's most lively & engaging turn as OO7, and the best Cold War era movie ever.
I'm gonna get GF on BR next, but I already know that will be my co-favourite of Connery's early films. Jeeze, those first three were astounding.

BIG TAM

FRWL & GF are two fine examples of Bond at his best. Everything's clear-cut & well defined, be it the villains, their scheme or Bond himself. You know where you are & what's going on without it ever feeling lowbrow or condescending. Compare this approach to later Bonds (e.g. TWINE & DAD) with their tricksy plotting where it takes several viewings to work out exactly what is going on.

InternationalExports

In the docu film Everything or Nothing I was shocked to learn Thunderball outsold both. FRWL for me. Goldfinger I love but I think Bond spends to much time in captivity in the film, hes not out doing much from a majority of the movie hes behind bars. I know its central to the plot but after such a great start is troffs in the middle before peaking again at the end. FRMWL is just beautifully made, probably the most elegant bond. The story is good, The dialog is awsome and the locations are beautiful.

Silhouette Man

FRWL for me as GF was the perceptible beginning of film Bond and the beginnings of a move away from the literary Bond.

Thunderpussy

Agreed, In FRWL Connery played Fleming's Bond, while in GF, He played EON's 007.

LegoBatman008

From Russia With Love because Terence Young basically took some ques from Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest and made it his own.

chrisisall

LegoBatman008 wrote:

From Russia With Love because Terence Young basically took some ques from Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest and made it his own.

FRWL was the perfect Hitchcock film Hitchcock never made. -{

Tecolote

FRWL for me,and pretty much agree with all the pro FRWL posters. I especially agree with Silhouette Man and Thunderpussy on the transformation of Bond from Fleming to Eon.

Regards,

Tecolote

LegoBatman008

chrisisall wrote:

LegoBatman008 wrote:

From Russia With Love because Terence Young basically took some ques from Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest and made it his own.

FRWL was the perfect Hitchcock film Hitchcock never made. -{

A lot of people say the same thing about 1963's Charade as well.

chrisisall

LegoBatman008 wrote:

chrisisall wrote:

LegoBatman008 wrote:

From Russia With Love because Terence Young basically took some ques from Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest and made it his own.

FRWL was the perfect Hitchcock film Hitchcock never made. -{

A lot of people say the same thing about 1963's Charade as well.

Absolutely. Charade is an excellent movie (I own it)- it's very much in the vein of North By Northwest (I also own that), but FRWL is more like Topaz (except that FRWL is better!).

AirJordanFan93

FRWL. I think its a much better movie than GF and makes for a better spy story as well. GF maybe the essential Bond film in a lot of peoples minds but FRWL is just so damn good. GF is much easier film to watch though the fact the plot isn't as complicated as FRWL helps that.

Blackleiter

Thunderpussy wrote:

Agreed, In FRWL Connery played Fleming's Bond, while in GF, He played EON's 007.

Which works out fine for me, because I'm more of a fan of EON's 007 as portrayed by Connery than I am of Fleming's literary Bond. :007) (Fleming purists, please don't hurt me!)