From Russia with Love (1963) (Not Rated)
Directed by Terence Young
Starring: Sean Connery, Lotte Lenya, Robert Shaw, Pedro Armendariz
Daddy Says:
We were going to watch Dr. No before this one, but my disc arrived broken so we'll just have to watch them in reverse order. Oh well.
From Russia with Love is the second James Bond movie, coming after the debut Dr. No and before the fantastic Goldfinger. Sean Connery returns to the role of James Bond 007, this time beginning his long-running battle against the international crime syndicate known as SPECTRE. We're introduced to its leader here, Ernst Blofeld, but we only get to hear his voice and see him forever stroking his cat (that's not a euphemism, he really is stroking a cat).
Bond is supposed to make contact with a Russian woman who wishes to defect, offering in return a translating device that just about every nation has their eyes on. She is only willing to do this with Bond because she supposedly falls in love with him after seeing his picture. Of course, en route to returning to England with her and the device, Bond must deal with all manner of people trying to kill him. And he has to keep up the snappy one-liners as he goes, and look good doing it as well.
The plot to this entry in the long-running series is fairly complex, and as this was only the second film, it hadn't yet established the pattern that was put in place with the next film, so this one actually feels less like a Bond movie, and more like a really good action/spy movie. And I mean that in the best possible way. It's nice not being able to predict what's going to happen next when watching a Bond movie, something later films in the series would be unable to accomplish.
There's plenty of action to keep things moving. The fight scene which takes place in the tight confines of a sleeping car of a train between Connery and assassin Robert Shaw is particularly well-done. It's choreographed, but in a very realistic way, so that you're never sure from one moment to the next who is actually winning the battle. It's a type of fight choreography that was copied many times in the Jason Bourne movies more recently, but it's cool to see one of the original inspirations for them.
Rating for From Russia with Love: ****3/4.
Daughter Says:
From Russia with Love is once again another great James Bond movie. I’m starting to think that Dad is only going to show me the good Bond movies so I’m forced to say that I like Bond.Directed by Terence Young
Starring: Sean Connery, Lotte Lenya, Robert Shaw, Pedro Armendariz
Daddy Says:
We were going to watch Dr. No before this one, but my disc arrived broken so we'll just have to watch them in reverse order. Oh well.
From Russia with Love is the second James Bond movie, coming after the debut Dr. No and before the fantastic Goldfinger. Sean Connery returns to the role of James Bond 007, this time beginning his long-running battle against the international crime syndicate known as SPECTRE. We're introduced to its leader here, Ernst Blofeld, but we only get to hear his voice and see him forever stroking his cat (that's not a euphemism, he really is stroking a cat).
Bond is supposed to make contact with a Russian woman who wishes to defect, offering in return a translating device that just about every nation has their eyes on. She is only willing to do this with Bond because she supposedly falls in love with him after seeing his picture. Of course, en route to returning to England with her and the device, Bond must deal with all manner of people trying to kill him. And he has to keep up the snappy one-liners as he goes, and look good doing it as well.
The plot to this entry in the long-running series is fairly complex, and as this was only the second film, it hadn't yet established the pattern that was put in place with the next film, so this one actually feels less like a Bond movie, and more like a really good action/spy movie. And I mean that in the best possible way. It's nice not being able to predict what's going to happen next when watching a Bond movie, something later films in the series would be unable to accomplish.
There's plenty of action to keep things moving. The fight scene which takes place in the tight confines of a sleeping car of a train between Connery and assassin Robert Shaw is particularly well-done. It's choreographed, but in a very realistic way, so that you're never sure from one moment to the next who is actually winning the battle. It's a type of fight choreography that was copied many times in the Jason Bourne movies more recently, but it's cool to see one of the original inspirations for them.
Rating for From Russia with Love: ****3/4.
Daughter Says:
Sean Connery does another spectacular job playing James Bond. He is starting to come close to my favorite Bond. (I still like the newest Bond the best.) At least he wasn’t as much of a man-hoe as Connery is. He went through four women this time and two at the same time. I find it outrageous. You know what’s worse? They don’t seem to mind. I find it strange that all the girls fall in love with Bond so fast. I find it very unrealistic.
Other than that, this movie was top notch. It was definitely different from most of the other Bond movies. For once Bond was blind to the bad guy. I thought this brought out the real spy in him and apparently his real personality too. (Still can’t get over how immature Bond acts around girls and everyone is okay with it.)
Besides that there were some really cool fighting scenes. On the other hand, some were better than others were. I know Dad praised the fight scene in the train because it was so well done. But I didn’t find it all that good. Yes it is very realistic, but sometimes realistic isn’t the best for me. I don’t enjoy watching realistic things very often. I watch TV to see the impossible and so when I see realistic fight scenes I’m just not that happy about it. (Maybe that’s why I don’t like reality TV.)
As much as I complain about all the semi-bad stuff, I must recommend this movie because I don’t think you’ll find another spy out there like Connery was. There have been other Bonds out there and I’ve only seen one that compares to Connery. And even he plays Bond differently than Connery. So if you’re looking for an older Bond movie that is good, then I’d recommend this one.
Rating for From Russia with Love: ***1/2.
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