From Russia With Love
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Movie Reviews of From Russia With Love
Movie Review: Villain #1: "[My plan] was perfect!!" Villain #2: "Except for one thing. They were dealing with Bond!!!"
Summary: 5 Stars
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It's difficult to believe that this movie is 45 years old (counting from the year of this review)!!!
(Sir) Sean Connery made six EON (or "official") movies with him starring as James Bond. They were: (1) Dr. No (1962) (2) From Russia with Love (1963) (3) Goldfinger (1964) (4) Thunderball (1965) (5) You Only Live Twice (1967) and (6) Diamonds are Forever (1971).
As you can see from the above list, "From Russia With Love" is the second spy film of the British Bond series. As well, it is the second to star Connery as the fictional MI6 agent Commander James Bond (code number 007).
This movie is based on the 1957 novel of the same name as the movie by Ian Fleming (1908 to 1964).
Briefly, SPECTRE (SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion) has devised a plot to steal a decoding device from the Russians, sell it back to them, and teach the British Secret Service a lesson for foiling Dr. No's plans. ("Dr. No" was the title of the very first Bond movie.) Bond begins his mission by being sent to Turkey to assist in the defection of Corporal Tatiana Romanova (Daniela Bianchi whose voice was dubbed), the main Bond girl.
The title song is presented as a lively instrumental version during the opening credits and eventually segues into the James Bond theme music. The title song is actually partially sung with lyrics by singer Matt Monro in the movie on the radio and sung to completion during the rolling of the end credits.
This movie has several "firsts" that would continue in the Bond series: the Ernst Blofeld character (Blofeld is the head of SPECTRE and is addressed as "Number One"), a gadget for Bond, a helicopter scene, a postscript action scene after the main climatic scene, a theme song with lyrics (as described above), and the line "James Bond will return" in the end credits.
A note on the gadgets. The fact that there was not as much attention to gadgets and vehicles was critically appreciated. But there are a few gadgets for both Bond and even the villains have gadgets! This movie also marks the first appearance of Desmond Llewelyn (who appeared in 17 Bond films) as Major Boothroyd, known as Q. (Q also appeared in the previous film, "Dr. No," but was played by a different actor and was addressed as "Armourer" and Major Boothroyd).
Sean Connery brings his characteristic savoir fare to the movie. There are actually three major villains in this movie and all three are memorable: Kronsteen ("Number Five") played by Vladek Sheybal, Rosa Klebb ("Number Three") played by Lotte Lenya, and especially Donovan "Red" Grant (a SPECTRE assassin) played by Robert Shaw.
This movie was filmed in Istanbul, London, England, Scotland, Switzerland, and Venice.
When first released, this movie made about seventy-nine million dollars. That's about five hundred and fifty-six million in today's dollars.
The DVD (the one released in May, 2007) is flawless in picture and sound quality. This movie has been digitally restored and I'm sure the picture is just as good (if not better!!) than when it was released 45 years ago. There is also superior sound. As well, there is one extra in the form of an audio commentary.
Finally, here is some information to consider. This DVD is actually the first disc of the two disc "Ultimate Edition." Bond fanatics might want to purchase this two disc Ultimate Edition since the second disc has "the best collection of special features ever assembled for Bond." (Unfortunately, this Ultimate Edition is no longer available but it can be purchased second-hand.)
In conclusion, this is one of the best Bond movies ever made and was Sean Connery's favourite. It was so good that a video adaptation of it was made!!!
(1963; 2 hr, 55 min; wide screen; 32 scenes)
<<Stephen Pletko, London, Ontario, Canada>>
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Movie Review: Come for the movie, stay for the extras ...
Summary: 5 Stars
From Russia With Love, the second James Bond film, is one of the best (in my view, second only to Goldfinger). Unlike the later films in the series, From Russia With Love is extremely faithful to the Ian Fleming novel with only slight variations on the story. In order to obtain a Russian decoding machine, 007 must travel to Istanbul, Turkey to aid a beautiful Russian defector ... even though he and the British Secret Service know it's probably a trap. But unbeknownst to Bond SPECTRE is playing the Russians and the British against each other. This is the most realistic of the Bond films with a story that could probably happen in the real world of espionage. The film does contain a gadget -- a trick briefcase (also in the Fleming novel) that contains throwing knives, ammunition, a folding sniper's rifle, 50 gold sovereigns and a tear gas cartridge that explodes when the case is opened improperly. The film, however, takes a very realistic approach to the story with none of the cartoon antics present in many of the later Bonds.
Terence Young, who also helmed Dr. No and Thunderball, does an outstanding job of directing. He makes wonderful use of the locations, especially in Istanbul. As with his other two Bond efforts, Young eschews a cartoon approach to the action in favor of a more brutal, realistic approach. And unlike many later Bond directors, Young concentrates on developing characters, making them real people with real emotions. The audience feels for the characters emotionally -- something unheard of with the cardboard cutout characters of the later films.
Peter Hunt's editing is a marvel. The action scenes are tightly edited and the film's pacing and continuity are flawless. In addition, the DVD documentary shows just how much Hunt helped shape the final project. He went beyond simply editing the film and actually helped shape and improve the story.
However, the best thing about the film is the casting. Young must have taken great care to properly cast From Russia With Love because every part matches their novel counterpart down to the last detail. Sean Connery, of course, is, and always will be, the best James Bond. Newcomer Daniela Bianchi is terrific as pseudo defector Tatiana Romanova. She is beautiful, sexy and appealing. It's too bad she didn't have more of a screen career. Lotte Lenya (Threepenny Opera), the famed German musical star, does a wonderful villainous turn as Rosa Klebb, former SMERSH agent who is now working for SPECTRE. Robert Shaw (A Man for all Seasons, Black Sunday, Jaws) is chilling as SPECTRE assassin Red Grant. And Pedro Armendariz, in the performance of his career, plays Ali Karim Bey, the head of Station T, Turkey. Aremedariz's performance is especially poignant because he was dying of cancer during the filming. He shot himself while in the hospital soon after he was through filming.
From Russia With Love is not only a good Bond film, but a good film alone, apart from the series. Along with Dr. No and Goldfinger, From Russia With Love represents a high point that the later films never quite matched.
The DVD transfer is spectacular, with terrific sound and picture quality. What makes the DVD special, however, are the special features which include three documentaries, trailers, TV and radio spots and cast & crew profiles. The main documentary is especially interesting as it details how the filmmakers drastically changed the story progression during the shoot. As with all of the Bond DVD's, MGM has done a superb job, giving the buyer much, much more than just the film to view.
Movie Review: The apex of 007
Summary: 5 Stars
Purists may have to get over how far (and how quickly) the Bond franchise moved away from the template of this foreboding, deliberate spy adventure that has always ranked as one of the very best films in the series. "From Russia With Love" was probably always going to be an anomaly: more realistic than "Dr. No", though just as creepy; as intense as "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" though not as tragic, the film exercises a deliberateness and severity that make it splendidly enjoyable in a different sense than most other Bond films are. It's delicious viewing, but not exactly "fun" in the way, say, "You Only Live Twice" or even "For Your Eyes Only" might be. It was always going to be easier to spin another version of "Goldfinger" than it would be to mint "From Russia With Love", and so the 3rd film became the model.
Like the "Godfather" films, this is a movie where you have that disturbing sense, no matter how many times you watch it, that anybody could die at any moment. The Istanbul locations exude menace, creeping into the very pores of the celluloid. By the time we're aboard the Orient Express, we're immersed in the most frightful and tingling 3rd act in the series. Never has a Bond film played things more "straight", nor has Bond ever got caught more closely in a mousetrap than he does here.
The heavies in this film are uniformly splendid (including Blofeld's Cat). Part of the film's mystique surely rests upon the highly ruminative dialogue bestowed upon them: Blofeld's contemplations upon his "brave but on the whole stupid" Siamese fighting fish; Kronsteen's wry intellectual hubris; Col. Kleb's workplace harassment-- and then of course Red Grant's Garboesque silence, broken by his unsettlingly all-too-easy banter.
But poor Daniela Bianchi's (and voiceover artist Barbara Jefford's)Tatiana may be the film's most unheralded treasure. Romantic, sweet and girlish, she is played and preyed upon by SPECTRE to perform dirty deeds for patriotism. Which, poor girl, she does, and convincingly. So much so that Bond doesn't know what to do with her and, indeed, he resorts to some ungentlemanly manuevers to get the truth. We feel how tenderness surprises and overtakes her the longer she stays in Bond's company, and we feel how excruciatingly her fantasy life bursts when Kleb returns on the scene in Venice, reminding her of her almost-forgotten "duty." So much so that, for all we can tell, until the last moment when she fires she may not have known what she would end up doing. Even at the end, as Bond tosses the "incriminating footage" (oh, but hardly by the standards of the present age!) into the canal, we feel, as the series has never bothered to underline since, how short may be Tatiana's time on the arm of her dream man. But such time as they share onscreen is among the most genuinely erotic, tense, and affecting companionship we've seen in a Bond picture. Minus the great Diana Rigg's Tracy ("On Her Majesty's Secret Service" always commands special privileges) Tatiana may be the most luminous and satisfying of all Bond's onscreen companions.
Connery, of course, is at his best here. A masterful thriller, ceaselessly sexy, suspenseful, and exciting.
Movie Review: [4.5] Slow pacing gives us time to take in a brilliant movie
Summary: 5 Stars
Certainly not the most exciting James Bond flick ever created, still, From Russia With Love is one of the most loyal to Ian Fleming's imagination. This 2nd entry into the Bond movie franchise is certainly a step up from its predacessor - Dr. No - with budget increases being one of the obvious factors. The improved experience is actually saying a lot, since Dr. No was teriffic and seen as one of the best Bond films by many fans.
From Russia With Love is a very intelligent, in-depth and well plotted story. It is certainly what a great spy movie is all about. Sean Connery gives us one of his best performances of his career as he is already a natural at the part of James Bond just after two films (though many will argue he really peaked in Goldfinger, the next film in the series). Action has definetly picked up in this film compared to Dr. No, but it is still far away from what the Roger Moore films are going to bring. Though those films are action packed, many argue they just don't have the great stories that the original Bond movies had, and that is when From Russia With Love is always mentioned. The action is certainly not enough to make up for the slow pacing, but most will argue it just isn't necessary, as the story is strong enough to hold its own.
SPECTRE makes a stronger return in this film, and will continue to be present for many films to come as the center of conflict for Bond. The organization's leader is finally acknowledged in this film, who wasn't mentioned in Dr. No. He does have two very important scenes of dialouge, yet we do not get to see his face (which will not happen until "You Only Live Twice"). A reference is made to Dr. No, which is a nice reminder of continuation from the first film. The villains strike a little harder this time, as SPECTRE has now several top agents working for them. Grant (Robert Shaw) is a hired KGB, who makes his presence sit quitely and patiently in the shadows until his exciting entrance later in the movie, confusing Bond at first and then giving us a very real and suspensful train cabin fight that is done very well. In addition to the villains, you've also got Tatiana thrown into the mix, a Russian girl that one of the SPECTRE agents hires to confuse Bond, but eventually falls for him instead (go figure).
Ah, there's nothing quite like the good old classic days of Bond with Sean Connery. From Russia With Love is definetly a film that the more mature audience fans of Bond will love. It isn't loaded with all the adrenaline that some of the newer Bonds have, but it has the smarts and the raw-power to make it very successful.
Acting - 4.5
Action - 3.5
Characters - 4.5
Story - 5
Overall - 4.5
Movie Review: From Russia With Love: Sean Connery's Best Outing
Summary: 5 Stars
Following the successful introduction of Bond in "Dr. No," "From Russia With Love" ups the ante in what in my opinion is one of the best movies of the series. Fantastic locations, quick dialogue, and a maniacal plot collectively make this movie great, but it is the main villain, who is very much Bond's equal, that sets "From Russia With Love" apart from the others.
Lured by the potential acquisition of the mysterious Lektor device, Bond is sent to Turkey to meet with Tatiana Romanova, a woman whom he is told will help him retrieve it from the Soviet consulate where she works. On the other end, Tatiana has been secretly hired by Rosa Klebb, who she believes to be a Soviet operative, to mislead Bond as a matter of national security. Adding to the deception further, Klebb is secretly no longer a member of Soviet counterintelligence, but is instead a SPECTRE agent and is part of a much larger and more deadly plan.
The movie plays out much like a cat-and-mouse game with Bond's plan to steal the Lektor from the Russians. In the meantime, we are treated to some great side-plot scenes involving Kerim Bey, one of Bond's best allies of the series; the subterranean water passageway (Kerim's "daily workout"), the Gypsy camp, and staking out rival Krilencu's hideout are all fantastic scenes that progress the movie neatly without losing focus of the main plot.
Operating behind the scenes is SPECTRE assassin Red Grant, hired both to ensure Bond successfully obtains the Lektor and to instigate tensions between the East and the West ("The Cold War will not remain cold for very much longer," Klebb proudly boasts). Grant is a silent, highly trained killer, who works effectively and efficiently to lay the trap that Bond will inevitably fall into. The foreboding glimpses of Grant hiding in the shadows or crouched behind a wall (acting as Bond's "guardian angel" as he sinisterly puts it) greatly add to the movie's suspense and build anticipation to when Bond and Grant finally meet in Zagreb.
Sean Connery is superb in what I believe is his best outing as Bond. From his self-assuredness in Miss Moneypenny's office early on to his genuine terror after being bested by Grant in the latter half of the movie, Connery brings his best in "From Russia With Love." He truly epitomizes Bond in this movie.
From the opening teaser on SPECTRE Island ("Exactly 1 minute, 52 seconds, that's excellent") and Kronsteen's chess match in Venice, to the memorable fight aboard the Orient Express, "From Russia With Love" is a fantastic movie with all the right elements. For those who love smart action thrillers, this movie is not to be missed.