- Casino Royale Review
- Carrie (1976)
- Two-Lane Blacktop (1971)
- Trainspotting (1996)
- Rain Man (1988)
- Fatal Attraction (1987)
- Targets (1968)
- An Education (2009)
- Mirror, The (1974)
- Fargo (1996)
- Fight Club (1999)
- Do The Right Thing (1989)
- Report (1967)
- Is "The Sting" The Best Gambling Film Ever Made?
- Pink Flamingos (1972)
- Ox-Bow Incident, The (1943), Or 28 Angry Men
- Rome, Open City (1945)
- Spring in a Small Town (1948)
- Drive (2011)
- Vinyl (1965)
- Seconds (1966)
- Rosemary's Baby (1968)
- A Hollywood Invasion of Casino Halls
- Thin Man, The (1934)
- In The Heat of the Night (1967)
- All In: The Poker Movie, Player’s Best Tricks
- Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
- 1001 Club - Skyfall (2012)
- 1001 Club - When Harry Met Sally... (1988)
- 1001 Club - Rain Man (1988)
From Russia With Love (1963)
Bond
James Bond
James Bond
Bond: Sean Connery (Goldfinger • You Only Live Twice)
Bond Girl: Tatiana Romanova Played By: Daniela Bianchi (OK Connery)
Bond SuperVillain: Number 1 (Credited as '?') Played By: Anthony Dawson (Dr. No • Thunderball)
Bond Villain: Rosa Klebb Played By: Lotte Lenya
Villain's Goon: Donald 'Red' Grant Played By: Robert Shaw (Force 10 from Navarone • Jaws)
Genre: Action Adventure Thriller (UK)
Directed By: Terence Young (Dr. No • Thunderball)
Overview: SPECTRE, a global terrorist organization formulates a trap intended for James Bond. Bond smells that trap, but heads to Istanbul anyway, finding the prize too tempting: a Lektor cryptographic device, and of course the beautiful Tatiana Romanova defecting from Russia with it.
From Russia With Love is a surprisingly serious edition to the Bond cannon. The gadgets are believably realistic. There are no insanely evil underground nuclear bases to be uncovered. The villain, Dr. Claw, isn't some half-robot, and the assassin isn't some gimmicky caricature, like say a killer Korean Top Hat-Tosser. Sadly though, this critic found it a little on the slow side. Perhaps the lack of insane gadgetry and weird characters served as a double edged sword for my entertainment value, but with scenes that include my favourite bond girl yet, a worthy nemesis of a goon, and a helicopter chase scene - falling grenades included - it's no surprise this is considered one on the best Bonds out there.
From Russia With Love, though not yet on board for the naked dancing credits, is the first that includes a post gun-barrel, pre-credits opening segment, and a dramatic - dare I say, titillating - one it is indeed. However I was surprised at the lack of presently-known Bond film commonalities: we don't find Bond driving a fancy car, and we don't once see him order his favourite drink.
Bond Cars: Oddly enough, Bond does not drive at all, except for a crappy red truck for a moment. I'd love to know what make and model truck that was.
Bond Gadgets: Aside from containing a collapsible sniper rifle, throwing knife and bribe money, the special feature of the case what that if it was opened wrong, it would detonate a tear gas canister.
From Russia With Love is certainly a worthy addition to the Bonds we all know and love, and though not filled with explosive action, that blatant tribute to Hitchcock's North by Northwest with a swooping helicopter chase scene, well that certainly gets a nod from me.
No really! What is it about having a gun pointed at their skulls that gets these women off?
Performance: 8 Cinematography: 7 Script: 7 Plot: 8 Mood: 8
Overall Rating: 76% (Well, A Whole Lot Of 'Like' At Least)
SuperSpyStats
Personal bodycount: 4
Foiled Assassinations: 2
Near Misses: 1
Dames Bedded: 2
Martinis Drank: 0!
Post new comment
Syndicate
The 2005 video-game based on From Russia With Love is surprisingly fun, due in part to Sean Connery retaking his role as Bond. While he did get to basically play a younger version of himself, I believe the deciding factor for him to take this on was that his grandkids told him it would be cool.
They did take some gadgets from later films to give it some more gameplay punch. You should try it!