From Russia With Love

Rating:
Summary: The best of the Bond films in a GREAT DVD
Review: Well, it may not be your favorite, but it's mine, although Dr. No and Goldfinger were great flicks as well.

The extra treat here is that the DVD is so good! It's anamorphic widescreen, and when you slap that picture up on a digital TV the picture quality is just amazing. You start seeing new things: "Hmm, the film was a little grainy in that cut...but this one's just fine..." It's as good as being in the theater.

Note: this seems to be the Hollywood debut of Robert Shaw, who does a fantastic job in this film as the bad guy -- very very dangerous and scary dude. Shaw went on to become a major star in his own right -- "A Man for all Seasons" and "Jaws" come to mind.

Great stuff!!

Rating:
Summary: FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE.....AND BOREDOM
Review: This is my second review on From Russia With Love. My first is on the VHS tape, now it is the new DVD that came out.

For those of you who do not know the plot already, From Russia With Love is closely based on Ian Fleming's novel of the same name. The producers did not think that Bond should be political, so the villains, who were Russians, in the novel, was given allegiance to Spectre.

So what is Spectre up to? Well they hatched a very complicated plot, in a way to knock off three birds with one poison knifed shoe. They intend to Tatiana Romanova to "fall in love" with James Bond. They send in a phony letter along with a photo of the girl, telling them how she will help the British to get their hands on the Lektor machine from the Russians in order to win Bond's love. Spectre intended to film the lovemaking between the two, thus using the film itself as a blackmail ploy, at the same time, after Bond gets the Lektor, they assigned an assassin, Donald "Red" Grant, to eliminate 007, gets the Lektor and then sell it back to the Russian for a tidy little profit. So in the end, Bond will be dead, the British will be humiliated, and Spectre will make a tidy little profit.

With me so far? From Russia With Love is only the second Bond film, so all the colorful gadgets, stunts and action that dominated all the Bond films from Goldfinger on is absent. From Russia With Love is one of the few Bond films in which the actors' performances drives the film. The strongest performance is probably Lotte Lenya's Rosa Klebb. The screen drips with venom from her villainy. Too bad she was given more screen time.

Overall, From Russia With Love is a straight spy adventure. I, for one, wasn't even born when this movie came out, so I watched all the later ones instead. And if you are like me, chances are, this one will be disappointing and boring compare to later films.

It wasn't until Thunderball that the Bond films took full advantage of the widescreen, so you are not really missing out on a lot on the video tape. But the color and quality of the DVD is stunning.

The background program on From Russia With love also testify to Peter Hunt's skill as an editor. The film that we all know today originally did not have a pre-title sequence, and the scene on the Spectre boat with the Siamese fighting fishes was supposed to come AFTER Tatiana meets Klebb. There is also an unneccesarily long bio on the two girls who played the two gypsy girls Vida and Zora, both former beauty queens Martine Beswicke and Aliza Gur.

Another extra treat on this DVD is the piece on Maurice Binder, who designed all the Bond titles from Thunderball to Licence to Kill. Unfortunately, the piece center more on Binder's history rather than how he create the titles and how he come up with the ideas (but then, it is hard interviewing a dead man, I suppose).

Overall, From Russia With Love is good movie if based on its own merits. But compare it to later movies, it may be talky, slow, and boring at times. For me, the action of the film really dragged when Tatiana and Bond board the train. In fact, when I first saw this film, I was bored and disappointed. In fact, this movie didn't make me a Bond fan until I saw Moonraker. 'Nuff said.

Rating:
Summary: Style AND Substance
Review: Before gadgetry, airhead models and special effects became abundant in a 007 adventure there were a few Bond films that focused on story, suspence, character and romance. "From Russia With Love" is the finest example of one of those films.

This was the first James Bond sequel after "Dr. No". The film after "From Russia.." would be "Godfinger". That film would introduce the bizarre villians, terrific action, comic suprises and become a worldwide phenomenon. What is interesting about "From Russia.." is that it too has bizarre villians, terrific action and comic moments but it is definitely removed from the 007 film stereotype.

This film is somewhat aged due to the cold war espionage aspect, but the story and adventure is ageless. That is because of Connery's golden performance as 007. Connery's performance here shows a character that is charming and intelligent but also a lethal and cunning weapon who will kill for queen and country if needs be. He's exactly what a double 0 agent should be.

This film also benefits from a strange romantic twist. In most 007 films (excluding "On Her Majesty's Secret Service"), Bond's relationships with women are naughty liasons. He has a romance here that is one of the more personal in his spy career, as he allows himself to be deeply attracted to a beautiful Soviet officer.

Along with a strong suspense story and an affecting romance, "From Russia.." also sports some of the greatest action pieces in the 007 series as well as what may be one of the most tense showdowns between between two characters in film history. That showdown is between Bond and the late Robert Shaw's character aboard the tight quarters of the Orient Express.

Everyone has their favorite Bond actor and Bond film. "From Russia With Love" may be the finest 007 film, or at least tie with "Goldfinger". It is the film that remembers well of the genre which Bond was born from; the espionage thriller.

Rating:
Summary: A fantastic Bond adventure!!
Review: This is possibly my favorite of the Connery Bond films,it might even be better than Goldfinger!It's got a gorgeous Bond girl named Tatiana.The villainess Rosa Klebb,who was no.3 in SPECTRE,was one of the best.I'd have to say my favorite charactor,though,was Red Grant,who was assigned by Klebb to kill Bond and the girl.He was played by Robert Shaw,and I think was one of the best charactors ever in a Bond film.The film also features the debut of Q,and his fantastic gadgets.Overall this is a wonderful Bond film and is a MUST for all Bond fans.

Rating:
Summary: What Bond is Better than this?
Review: By far this is the best Bond film made. Nothing tops it, because it resembles a well-crafted spy thriller from any era. What is best about this film - close to 40 years later, is that it's limited on the elements have become terribly cliche in all Bond (and action) films.

From the opening sequence where Bond gets killed to the gritty, in-your-face train fight to the excessively beautiful Bond girl, you have it all. Plus the set pieces are amazing, look at how Terence Young uses Istanbul seemlessly in the story -- then go check out The World Is Not Enough, and see how a great, exotic location was wasted.

And Robert Shaw quite possibly is the best screen assassin -- from any movie. And SPECTRE is at the heart of this film, the one thing that makes all the Bond films post FOR YOUR EYES ONLY only mediocre at best. A great hero is made by a great villian, and Bloefeld's presence is the best antagonist for Bond.

Dismissed by some Bond fans, because it lacks the gagdets - but make no mistake the story is one of the best - tight, suspenseful and innovative.

If you get any Bond on DVD, get this one.

Rating:
Summary: The Best of The Bonds!
Review: This is by far the best Bond film of them all. It had the intricate plot and detail which stayed pretty much true to the original story. I still don't believe Dr. No or Goldfinger were among Fleming's better Bond books, while From Russia With Love was considered by many to be his best. Terence Young and Richard Maibaum kept close to the Fleming original (this was not to be seen again until OHMSS, which was another great Bond film!). The cast is terrific, the plot is terrific, Sean Connery is in his prime, and it's underated for a Bond film. I wish this had been the blue print instead of Goldfinger for future Bond films.

Rating:
Summary: What Sean Connery called the best of the James Bond films
Review: "From Russia With Love" from 1963,the second James Bond adventure,(following "Dr. No" the previous year),was probably the best all around of the series.(Though I have to admit that I never saw the ones with Pierce Brosnan ).This was perhaps the most realistic recreation of all the Ian Fleming novels.The story didn't have the farfetched subplots and gadgets of the later films in the series.Sean Connery was in his prime as Agent 007.Lotte Lenya and Robert Shaw were very effective villians,John Barry composed a very good soundtrack,all under Terence Young's assured direction.

Some trivia,author Ian Fleming has a cameo in the film in a scene at the train station.John Barry(Academy Award winner for "Born Free" in 1966 and "Dances with Wolves" in 1990),composed most of the film scores for the Bond series.At last count he composed the soundtracks for 9 films in the series. Also,this was the only film in the whole series where he didn't say the line "Bond....James Bond".Sean Connery said in an interview back in the mid '90's that he thought "From Russia With Love" was the best of all the James Bond films.The producers decided to make this the second James Bond film after President John F. Kennedy put the novel on his list of top ten all time favorite novels.And,I read where "From Russia With Love" was the last movie President Kennedy ever saw.

Rating:
Summary: FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE Cut Lines
Review: There is not much more that can be added to what has already been written or said about "From Russia With Love." It is considered to be one of the better Bond films in the series.

Before I get on to the main point of what I have to add, I do want to comment on the widescreen versions that have been issued. I am not sure what the proper aspect ratio of this film is. In a comparison of the DVD to the Laser Disc, the DVD appears to have been cropped at the top and bottom to give it a wider effect. The proportions of the prints I saw in several theaters all resembled the Laser Disc.

My more important note of curiosity however is the content of the film itself. I still have not seen any version on VHS, Laser or DVD as the ones I have seen in the theater for "From Russia With Love."

It appears that on video two scenes contain cuts.

Cut # 1: When Red Grant has Bond on his knees at gunpoint aboard the Orient Express, he editorializes in a most graphic manner about the roll of film that was shot of Bond and Tatiana in the boudoir. For its time, this was a rather risqué piece of dialogue. By today's standards it is somewhat timid. Bond's comeback is still intact on the video, responding to Grant how it took a collection of pretty sick minds to dream up such a scheme. That was a direct response to Grant's cut line and gives us an insight into Bond's moral standards that there is a line that even he would not cross given his flare for the more amorous pursuits.

Cut # 2: This cut line is more obvious and comes at the end of the film when Bond and Tatiana are floating down the canals of Venice. Bond holds up the reel of film seized from Grant. Again, Bond makes a direct reference to Grant's cut line from the train in a droll throwaway remark to a puzzled looking Tatiana. You can actually see this cut because the music jumps. Once more, this cut line of dialogue gives us another glimpse into the James Bond mystique as it was still being formed and honed for the screen. I am sure Bond is probably saying to himself, "Take all the dirty pictures you want. I'm the one with the girl and Grant, "old boy," you're the one six feet under."

Rating:
Summary: One of my top three Bond films.........
Review: This film is the total Bond package. It is much better than the original, Dr. No, and Connery does his best work as Bond. The action sequences are amazing for a 1963 film and there is not one dull part throughout the entire movie. The first five Bond films starring Sean Connery are the series' best. (I didn't care that much for Diamonds are Forever) This is a film you can watch over and over again and with all that DVD offers, you'll be busy for hours...........

Rating:
Summary: The Best Bond of them All
Review: Sean Connery was easily the best thing about Dr. No. Now, with a far better movie assembled around him, he demonstrates just why he is still the best of the five actors to play James Bond. While Dr. No was a fairly unambitious movie set exclusivley in Jamaica, From Russia With Love takes Bond all across Europe, constantly pursued by psychotic SPECTRE agents Red Grant and Soviet defector Rosa Klebb. Daniela Bianchi is easily a better Bond girl as Tatiana Romanova than Ursula Andress was as Honey Rider, and Pedro Ameguirez is excellent as Ali Kerim Bay, Bond's Turkish ally. The action is some of Bond's best also, with a good brawl scene at a gypsy camp, a gripping hand-to-hand fight in a train, and an utterly magnificent boat chase at the end. If you are only familiar with the new Pierce Brosnan movies, you owe it to yourself to see this one.