All the 007 films from the 60s are just brilliant (Top 10 material) and have aged well -{
Well I'm not too crazy about TB, but I can agree on the others having aged well.
Perhaps TB is objectively a great film, but it's easily my least fave of the 60s Bond films.
"Hostile takeovers. Shall we?"
New 2020 ranking (for now DAF and FYEO keep their previous placements)
1. TLD 2. TND 3. GF 4. TSWLM 5. TWINE 6. OHMSS 7. LtK 8. TMWTGG 9. L&LD 10. YOLT 11. DAD 12. QoS 13. DN 14. GE 15. SF 16. OP 17. MR 18. AVTAK 19. TB 20. FRWL 21. CR 22. FYEO 23. DAF (SP to be included later)
Bond actors to be re-ranked later
Yeah, can't deny that Barry's score for TB is pretty good.
"Hostile takeovers. Shall we?"
New 2020 ranking (for now DAF and FYEO keep their previous placements)
1. TLD 2. TND 3. GF 4. TSWLM 5. TWINE 6. OHMSS 7. LtK 8. TMWTGG 9. L&LD 10. YOLT 11. DAD 12. QoS 13. DN 14. GE 15. SF 16. OP 17. MR 18. AVTAK 19. TB 20. FRWL 21. CR 22. FYEO 23. DAF (SP to be included later)
Bond actors to be re-ranked later
Ok I am currently watching all the Bond films in sequence and trying to pay attention to anything that pops up in them that I've not noticed before, since it's a few years since I've watched them all back to back 2005 in fact.
So this is one of my all time favourite James Bond films. I was lucky enough to see this in the pictures here in the UK in the late 1960s, the year before OHMSS came out I think.
I can still remember it was George Peppards WW1 film The Blue Max that was the support film.
As we know this is another Bond film that follows the novel near enough to the letter, in fact some of the Chapters of the book are incorporated into the script eg Rosa Klebb saying to Tatiana "It's real labour of love".
I really enjoyed watching this film again. An interesting point divulged by Bond is where he says "Whilst in Tokyo with M". I wonder why they went there, and maybe an explanation of that visit could be incorporated in a future film.
There is only one plot element which I couldn't understand. This is were the Russian agent and Karim are found dead in the train carriage. Why didn't Bond just get off the train at the planned stop. The guard had been bribed to stop the train, Karims sons were there waiting. To me yes it's sad that Bonds ally was dead but surely the mission comes first. We had already been told the airfield was only 20 miles away.
The train fight scene is just brutal, and I had to keep telling myself that this was 1963. The movies were completely ahead of their time, and I know why I liked watching them as a boy in the mid 1960's.
A great watch from start to finish. Next up Goldfinger tomorrow afternoon.
There is only one plot element which I couldn't understand. This is were the Russian agent and Karim are found dead in the train carriage. Why didn't Bond just get off the train at the planned stop. The guard had been bribed to stop the train, Karims sons were there waiting. To me yes it's sad that Bonds ally was dead but surely the mission comes first. We had already been told the airfield was only 20 miles away.
I've brought this up a couple times here on AJB and I don't recall ever getting a straight answer. This highlights one of the main flaws of FRWL for me because at this point it should be a tightly wound thriller where the traps is closing in tighter and tighter on Bond…but instead it just turns into confusion and plot holes. It totally falls apart.
It's ironic that the 60's films that follow the novels the closest also tend to have the most plot holes. In FRWL part of the problem was adding the additional layer of Spectre on top of Smersh vs MI6 which causes even more confusion.
My current 10 favorite:
1. GE 2. MR 3. OP 4. TMWTGG 5. TSWLM 6. TND 7. TWINE 8.DN 9. GF 10. AVTAK
There is only one plot element which I couldn't understand. This is were the Russian agent and Karim are found dead in the train carriage. Why didn't Bond just get off the train at the planned stop. The guard had been bribed to stop the train, Karims sons were there waiting. To me yes it's sad that Bonds ally was dead but surely the mission comes first. We had already been told the airfield was only 20 miles away.
I've brought this up a couple times here on AJB and I don't recall ever getting a straight answer. This highlights one of the main flaws of FRWL for me because at this point it should be a tightly wound thriller where the traps is closing in tighter and tighter on Bond…but instead it just turns into confusion and plot holes. It totally falls apart.
It's ironic that the 60's films that follow the novels the closest also tend to have the most plot holes. In FRWL part of the problem was adding the additional layer of Spectre on top of Smersh vs MI6 which causes even more confusion.
Can you both please clarify what you mean about the plot holes in FRWL? The train didn't stop where Kerim's sons were waiting, so how could Bond have gotten off?
Bond only gets off the train to tell kerims son about his death and then asks kerims son to send a message to m as he will need help to cross the border at trieste. the next time the train stops bond meets up with "Nash" who is meant to have orders from m and aid him across the border. Maybe me but where's the plot hole?
There is only one plot element which I couldn't understand. This is were the Russian agent and Karim are found dead in the train carriage. Why didn't Bond just get off the train at the planned stop. The guard had been bribed to stop the train, Karims sons were there waiting. To me yes it's sad that Bonds ally was dead but surely the mission comes first. We had already been told the airfield was only 20 miles away.
I've brought this up a couple times here on AJB and I don't recall ever getting a straight answer. This highlights one of the main flaws of FRWL for me because at this point it should be a tightly wound thriller where the traps is closing in tighter and tighter on Bond…but instead it just turns into confusion and plot holes. It totally falls apart.
It's ironic that the 60's films that follow the novels the closest also tend to have the most plot holes. In FRWL part of the problem was adding the additional layer of Spectre on top of Smersh vs MI6 which causes even more confusion.
Can you both please clarify what you mean about the plot holes in FRWL? The train didn't stop where Kerim's sons were waiting, so how could Bond have gotten off?
But thats the point everything was in place for the train to stop, but it didn't. Why didn't it stop at that point?
I've brought this up a couple times here on AJB and I don't recall ever getting a straight answer. This highlights one of the main flaws of FRWL for me because at this point it should be a tightly wound thriller where the traps is closing in tighter and tighter on Bond…but instead it just turns into confusion and plot holes. It totally falls apart.
It's ironic that the 60's films that follow the novels the closest also tend to have the most plot holes. In FRWL part of the problem was adding the additional layer of Spectre on top of Smersh vs MI6 which causes even more confusion.
Can you both please clarify what you mean about the plot holes in FRWL? The train didn't stop where Kerim's sons were waiting, so how could Bond have gotten off?
But thats the point everything was in place for the train to stop, but it didn't. Why didn't it stop at that point?
It is pretty much perfect and I've enjoyed it more and more as I've matured my only issue is some dodgy green-screening at the end and verges on languid at times.
This seems to be quite a popular opinion around AJB, one I can't identify with. Personally, I think that Pleasence is the best one due to his introduction and acting by Pleasence. He is the iconic image of Blofeld but the FRWL-TB Blofeld is menacing in the fact that you can't see his face while Pleasence IS menacing.
Pros:
.Gunbarrel music.
.Love the PTS.
.Amazing score.
.The entire cast is brilliant. Especially Amendariz and Shaw.
.Istanbul. Puts SF to shame. The other locales are great too.
.Great cinematography.
.The best Blofeld. Along with Savalas.
.Tanya is beautiful.
.Klebb is flat out scary.
.Faithful to Fleming.
.The relationship between Bond and Kerim.
.Reminds me of Hitchcock. But better.
.The gypsy fight.
.The train fight and the scene before it.
.Terrence Young is the master.
Cons:
.The boat chase isn't that special.
.The back projection at the end.
10/10 -{ . Even if you dont like this film, you have got to respect it.
Oh my god. Looking at this film's positive and negative traits, well come to think of it they're all practically positive.
I have always loved From Russia With Love and regard it as the greatest Bond film to star Sean Connery, an opinion also held by Connery himself. This movie just has so many things going for it! It is hard to fault anything at all with it, and Terrance Young clearly learned from any mistakes he made with the previous film and perfected it.
Pro's:
- Excellent all around cold war spy thriller, the first of many and still up there
- John Barry's much improved score
- All acting and supporting cast
- Locations (mainly Istanbul with some extras near the end with the action stunts)
- Bond girl - Romanava
- Kronstein, Rosa Klebb and Blofeld (first time on screen, although not seen)
- The ever amazing Kerim Bey (greatest ally Bond has ever and will ever have)
- The gypsy scenes, the train sequences - particularly the fight and suspense between Bond and Grant)
- The helicopter and boat chase
- Connery's performance
Con's:
Well, while it is hard to think of any to name I do have one or two nitpicks
- The Bond theme is played far too frequently
- Back screen projection in certain scenes
That's really it. This film just has so many things going for it and it is a true classic.
I know I have mentioned this but I'll say it again,
The train fight between Bond and Grant, the helicopter chase and boat chases and the alliance between Bond and Kerim are the elements that I would put above all the rest.
When the Bond theme is part of the score (like 'James Bond with Bongos') I love it. When it's the Dr. No recording in the hotel room, I hate it. It doesn't fit at all there. Barry could have arranged the Bond theme for that scene if they asked him to, though he probably ran out of time when working on that film considering the Dr. No music chosen for the post-train sequences.
When the Bond theme is part of the score (like 'James Bond with Bongos') I love it. When it's the Dr. No recording in the hotel room, I hate it. It doesn't fit at all there. Barry could have arranged the Bond theme for that scene if they asked him to, though he probably ran out of time when working on that film considering the Dr. No music chosen for the post-train sequences.
{[] . James Bond with Bongos has some kind of smoothness, that fits perfectly with Connery's performance in the film. The bombastic ( and sometimes even annoying) Dr No theme has no place in this film and Barry should've written a third alternative for the Bond theme. Or he could go with dropping some cues from Bond Back In Action from Goldfinger when he is distracting the guard, for when Bond checks the hotel for bugs.
It was all due to time (or the lack of it), DP, as Matt S alludes to above. Barry was on a tight schedule, writing the FRWL music by day and going out on tour with the John Barry Seven at night. Since FRWL overran, he had to move onto his next project (Zulu, IIRC) and Peter Hunt then used either the Theme or segments of the DN score to cover the gaps.
No, I think that just about covers it. MWtGG was a similar situation, if I remember correctly. I get that the hotel sequence would look a bit empty but using the Dr No Bond theme doesn't work.
I agree it might have been preferable to use (say) part of "Zagreb Express" or another variation of the title theme at that point rather than the Bond Theme but Hunt probably chose it for convenience. Barry would undoubtedly have come up with something better had he been available, and Hunt wasn't a very musical man. For proof of that, listen to his terrible edit of the Theme used during the YOLT helicopter fight.
I was referring to the same theme played in the hotel room.
At the time, he was searching for bugs in the room. I thought it was appropriate, and certainly better than complete silence when Bond was searching for bugs and planting traps in his hotel room in Dr No.
Comments
{[]
Well I'm not too crazy about TB, but I can agree on the others having aged well.
Perhaps TB is objectively a great film, but it's easily my least fave of the 60s Bond films.
New 2020 ranking (for now DAF and FYEO keep their previous placements)
1. TLD 2. TND 3. GF 4. TSWLM 5. TWINE 6. OHMSS 7. LtK 8. TMWTGG 9. L&LD 10. YOLT 11. DAD 12. QoS 13. DN 14. GE 15. SF 16. OP 17. MR 18. AVTAK 19. TB 20. FRWL 21. CR 22. FYEO 23. DAF (SP to be included later)
Bond actors to be re-ranked later
New 2020 ranking (for now DAF and FYEO keep their previous placements)
1. TLD 2. TND 3. GF 4. TSWLM 5. TWINE 6. OHMSS 7. LtK 8. TMWTGG 9. L&LD 10. YOLT 11. DAD 12. QoS 13. DN 14. GE 15. SF 16. OP 17. MR 18. AVTAK 19. TB 20. FRWL 21. CR 22. FYEO 23. DAF (SP to be included later)
Bond actors to be re-ranked later
So this is one of my all time favourite James Bond films. I was lucky enough to see this in the pictures here in the UK in the late 1960s, the year before OHMSS came out I think.
I can still remember it was George Peppards WW1 film The Blue Max that was the support film.
As we know this is another Bond film that follows the novel near enough to the letter, in fact some of the Chapters of the book are incorporated into the script eg Rosa Klebb saying to Tatiana "It's real labour of love".
I really enjoyed watching this film again. An interesting point divulged by Bond is where he says "Whilst in Tokyo with M". I wonder why they went there, and maybe an explanation of that visit could be incorporated in a future film.
There is only one plot element which I couldn't understand. This is were the Russian agent and Karim are found dead in the train carriage. Why didn't Bond just get off the train at the planned stop. The guard had been bribed to stop the train, Karims sons were there waiting. To me yes it's sad that Bonds ally was dead but surely the mission comes first. We had already been told the airfield was only 20 miles away.
The train fight scene is just brutal, and I had to keep telling myself that this was 1963. The movies were completely ahead of their time, and I know why I liked watching them as a boy in the mid 1960's.
A great watch from start to finish. Next up Goldfinger tomorrow afternoon.
"Do you expect me to talk? "No Mister Bond I expect you to die"
I've brought this up a couple times here on AJB and I don't recall ever getting a straight answer. This highlights one of the main flaws of FRWL for me because at this point it should be a tightly wound thriller where the traps is closing in tighter and tighter on Bond…but instead it just turns into confusion and plot holes. It totally falls apart.
It's ironic that the 60's films that follow the novels the closest also tend to have the most plot holes. In FRWL part of the problem was adding the additional layer of Spectre on top of Smersh vs MI6 which causes even more confusion.
1. GE 2. MR 3. OP 4. TMWTGG 5. TSWLM 6. TND 7. TWINE 8.DN 9. GF 10. AVTAK
Can you both please clarify what you mean about the plot holes in FRWL? The train didn't stop where Kerim's sons were waiting, so how could Bond have gotten off?
But thats the point everything was in place for the train to stop, but it didn't. Why didn't it stop at that point?
"Do you expect me to talk? "No Mister Bond I expect you to die"
Probably because of something Red Grant did.
Totally agree pretty much perfect.
"Do you expect me to talk? "No Mister Bond I expect you to die"
"Better make that two."
Kerim
Cons: finding it hard to think of anything there
This seems to be quite a popular opinion around AJB, one I can't identify with. Personally, I think that Pleasence is the best one due to his introduction and acting by Pleasence. He is the iconic image of Blofeld but the FRWL-TB Blofeld is menacing in the fact that you can't see his face while Pleasence IS menacing.
Agreed :007)
I have always loved From Russia With Love and regard it as the greatest Bond film to star Sean Connery, an opinion also held by Connery himself. This movie just has so many things going for it! It is hard to fault anything at all with it, and Terrance Young clearly learned from any mistakes he made with the previous film and perfected it.
Pro's:
- Excellent all around cold war spy thriller, the first of many and still up there
- John Barry's much improved score
- All acting and supporting cast
- Locations (mainly Istanbul with some extras near the end with the action stunts)
- Bond girl - Romanava
- Kronstein, Rosa Klebb and Blofeld (first time on screen, although not seen)
- The ever amazing Kerim Bey (greatest ally Bond has ever and will ever have)
- The gypsy scenes, the train sequences - particularly the fight and suspense between Bond and Grant)
- The helicopter and boat chase
- Connery's performance
Con's:
Well, while it is hard to think of any to name I do have one or two nitpicks
- The Bond theme is played far too frequently
- Back screen projection in certain scenes
That's really it. This film just has so many things going for it and it is a true classic.
I know I have mentioned this but I'll say it again,
The train fight between Bond and Grant, the helicopter chase and boat chases and the alliance between Bond and Kerim are the elements that I would put above all the rest.
Rating: 9/10
1. Dalton 2. Moore 3. Connery 4. Lazenby 5. Craig 6. Brosnan
(Happy to go into more detail if required.)
I was referring to the same theme played in the hotel room.
1. Dalton 2. Moore 3. Connery 4. Lazenby 5. Craig 6. Brosnan
I'd go further and say that it is the greatest Bond film ever, and quite possibly one of the greatest films of any era, any genre.
At the time, he was searching for bugs in the room. I thought it was appropriate, and certainly better than complete silence when Bond was searching for bugs and planting traps in his hotel room in Dr No.