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 Lovin' Mother Russia Oct 14, 2009
Back in the days when the studios could pump out a film in 6 months from writer to marquee topper we get the next James Bond film in just under a year - From Russia With Love. There's continuity aplenty, Sean Connery still looks youthful, M and Miss Moneypenny are along for the ride and even Sylvia Trench (who appeared in Connery's first scenes as Bond) returns as Connery's `regular' girlfriend who was intended as an ongoing character in the film series but makes her last appearance here. Really who let their hunky spy boyfriend keep tripping off on missions for months and sleeping with other gorgeous women anyway? Other firsts for the sequel are the first ever pre-credits sequence for a Bond film which actually relate to the story on this occasion and the first appearances of Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the head of SPECTRE but only his voice is heard and his hands patting his pet pussy are seen. Then there's Desmond Llewellyn appearing as `Q' short for Quartermaster, referred to as Major Boothroyd (he has a real name!)in this one. The secret service armourer responsible for supplying beloved field agents with all manner of gadgets and weapons. He only appears briefly in FRWL introducing one of Bond's most famous gadgets, a deadly attaché case complete with easily assembled snipers rifle, tear gas and a throwing knife built in and if your expense accounts dry while on mission, it has gold sovereigns as well. With a rocking weapon and even more rocking locales this Bond film has to go down as one of the classics, more a forgotten classic that's overshadowed by it's successors and distinct that it's plot doesn't follow the usual Bond Pattern of "British-agent-gets-murdered-Bond-investigates-meets-suspicious- characters-and-saucy-women-and-eventually-gets-captured-in-main-villain's-complex-that-is-eventually-blown-up-following-a-raid" Whew! Actually out of all the Bond films this one has probably the most complex plot, courtesy of Richard Maibaum, returning again as screen scribe, as does Terence Young as director and John Barry giving the film one of the most punchy and recognizable music scores of the entire series. Terence Young really maintains the style and feel he created on Dr. No and extends it with more characters and more ambitious action set pieces. The atypical storyline gives it twists and turns unusual for the series as the character of Bond himself, seemingly in control really doesn't seem to know how out of his depth he is in the game the SPECTRE is playing. The mission is all based on the MI6 being notified of the defection of a beautiful Russian cipher clerk, who has 'fallen in love' with Bonds photo (center spread from spy monthly?) She promises to aid the Brits in getting their hands on a Lektor decoding machine if James will help her defect personally. MI6 believe it's an obvious trap so obvious it has to be sprung. SPECTRE are aiming for payback for Dr. No's killing, getting a Lektor decoder for themselves and giving the British secret service a black eye - all this and incriminating footage of Bond and Tatiana in the bedroom and they nearly manage to pull this plan off! The closest the bad guys ever get to completing a flawless plan in the franchise. The setting in Istanbul and later on the Orient Express hurtling through Yugoslavia is the perfect seting for this thriller and the tension builds up thanks to the superb supporting cast including Pedro Armenda`riz playing lovable rogue and head of station T Turkey, Ali Kerim Bey, Bond's liaison. Sadly Pedro died before the film was released. Lotte Lenya as the slimy Rosa Clebb, the not-so-closet Lesbian colonel who has defected to SPECTRE from mother Russia and the delightful Daniela Bianchi who takes her orders from Clebb to do anything Bond says Bond and eventually does fall for Bond. Plus Red Grant, one of SPECTRE's best assassins played by Robert Shaw. He glides through the background shadows protecting Bond and his associates from death guiding the SPECTRE plan to its conclusion until he can enact the coup de grace. Silent and menacing for the first two thirds of the film, then totally believable as Bond's better and smarter opposite number, who first replaces Bonds contact and then gets the drop on him. He's scary every time he utters a line! Which brings us to the set pieces of this gem. None really detract from the story as they would in later entries and serve to move the plot along rapidly. The pace still holds up today. From the crowded fight between warring gypsy and Bulgarians factions in the gypsy village that including one of the earliest on screen cat-fights, to the brutal final fight scene between Bond and Grant in the dark train carriage of the Orient Express every one is a highlight. As are the final chase sequences where Bond is chased first on foot by helicopter and then by a small fleet of enemy boats that he takes care of with some petrol tanks and a flare gun. The chemistry sparks between the two leads from the moment they meet, 007 ranging from being perfectly dismissive of his Russian flame, slipping from charming to brutal toward her due to her dubious motives. As for the disc itself, it is also brutal in its total depth of colour and sound. A resplendent 5.1 surround sound mix (can you believe the first DVD release of this picture came out in mono -ouch!) and a picture of flawless quality are the perfect match, amazing to see a forty six year old movie being restored to look as if it was made yesterday - well apart from the fashions giving it away again of course. There is also a platter of delicious extras from a making of, to a look at the growing popularity of Bond. They always put a solid amount of material in these Bond DVD's. A satisfying tale, amazingly the original novel of the story was listed in President Kennedy's top ten books in 1962, a unique twist in the novel is that Bond is seemingly killed off in what is the second to last scene of the film, would have been a sad end to a Classic Bond film thankfully avoided. MORE!
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From Russia with Love (Blu-ray) Sep 29, 2009
I bought this for a friend for Christmas this year. His wife sent me a long list of blu-ray's he would like to own. So I chose this one for him along with another one. Amazon prices were so much better than store prices I could afford to buy my friend 2 for Christmas.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 From Russia, in Blu Aug 09, 2009
From Russia with Love is Connery's second go at playing James Bond, and in my opinion the best movie in the entire series. It includes everything one could want in a Bond movie - foreign locations, beautiful women, a great villain, and lots of thrills and suspense.
While Dr. No set up the premise for the Bond universe, From Russia with Love expanded upon it. People were shown to be mere pawns in a larger game (which is heightened by the fact one of the main characters is a chess grand master) and the series' most prolific bad guy is introduced: Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
For those not familiar with Blofeld, he's the inspiration for the character of Dr. Evil, as well as Dr. Claw. Bald with an affinity to Persian cats, Blofeld's face isn't revealed in the first of his six Bond appearances, but his presence and importance as the protagonist to Bond's side are certainly there. As with most Bond films the story isn't the high point; basically, a Russian defect wants to give the British a piece of decoding technology, and will only give it to Bond. Bond sets off to pick it up, the bad guys try to stop him, and there you go. Generic story aside, what sets the movie apart and makes it a BOND experience is the style and action on the screen.
When it comes to the actual cinematography and action sequences, From Russia With Love kicks it up a notch from Dr. No. While it doesn't get to the grittier levels portrayed later in the series and ultimately by Daniel Craig's Casino Royale, the film is brutal even compared to some of today's similar genre titles. In other words, the action is top notch, you'll hold your breath plenty of times, and as I'm sure you're aware, the women and more...intimate scenes are some of the more shocking from its time.
By now I'm sure all Bond fans have seen this numerous times on DVD, and likely even own a copy. So what does this new Blu-Ray release have to offer? For starters, the video transfer is on par with Dr. No. With earlier films it's hard to make a great transfer, and once again the guys at the Blu-Ray lab (or office?) bring their A-game. The picture is clear, the lines are crisp, and the colors are bright. While the 2003 Ultimate release already looked great, this new offering trumps even that. It won't threaten to blow up your HDTV with how good it looks, but strangers to the Bond franchise will be very surprised if they watch this and then find out it was filmed in the 1960s.
If the video upgrade and remastering can be compared to the Dr. No release, so too can the audio. Working with a mono track from back in the good ol' days didn't give the techies a lot to work with, but somehow they came away with a lossless 5.1 HD track which sounds so much better than the source material I'm amazed it's the same thing. Much like the other older Bond releases put out on Blu-Ray this one suffers from imbalanced audio levels, so you're going to have to adjust the audio in periods of heavy action or heavy dialogue to catch it all. A frustrating thing to do, but it's worth it to get the 5.1 track over the original.
Sadly, the regular emission of any Blu-Ray specific extras is felt in From Russia with Love. All of the extras come ported from the 2003 Ultimate Collection release, but they don't get the same re-re-treatment as the film itself, leaving several of them looking even more dated. There's the Declassified Vault, which largely looks at Ian Fleming and the pre-production of the film; Mission Control, which shows several scenes from the Bond films ranging from features on the women to the gadgets; the Mission Dossier, which has the From Russia With Love related behind-the-scene looks; the Ministry of Propaganda, which collects original trailers; and the Image Database, which provides still shots of the actors, locations, set, and production crew.
I've said this on all of the Bond Blu-Ray reviews thus far (with the exception of Die Another Day), but if you're a fan of James Bond with Blu-Ray capability, this is a must-own. From Russia with Love has never looked, sounded, or been presented in a better way. It's the ultimate Bond experience, and a release anyone who worked on the film should be proud of.
Sean Connery at his best... Aug 04, 2009
From Russia with Love
The second movie featuring James Bond, Agent 007 of her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service continues to marvel audiences the world over. James Bond is a fictional character created by writer Ian Fleming in 1953 while he vacationed in his Jamaican property by the name of Golden-eye.
The James Bond movies capture the action and romance found in the books by the author and surfaced a world of espionage, gadgets, secret weapons, beautiful women and amazing cars. The success of Sean Connery created an image so powerful that still to today, it is thought as that of the best Bond character.
From Russia with Love dazzled audiences with an action packed film where Bond is sent to help Tatiana Romanova defect in Turkey. The organization introduced during the first film, SPECTRE is now resolved to avenge the killing of Dr. No.
The first few scenes are frightening for we see James Bond following and being followed by an assassin who captures and strangles Bond, using a garrote wire. We gasp but lights go on and we realize that it was not Bond after all, but an impersonator using a mask to make believe he is Bond as SPECTRE agents train to eliminate their nemesis, Agent 007, James Bond.
Robert Shaw is magnificent in the role of Red Grant who skillfully pursues Bond throughout this film with the intention of eliminating 007. The plot starts to unfold and we learn that Kronsteen, masterfully played by Vladek Sheybal, is a Chess player who plans to steal a Lektor cryptographic device from Russia and has thought of every variation to successfully accomplish his mission.
Rosa Klebb, played by Lotte Lenya, is given leadership of the mission and she selects Tatiana Romanova, beautifully played by Daniela Bianchi as the pawn that will capture Bond.
M reviews details with Bond, telling him that Romanova has voiced a desire to defect by contacting Section T in Turkey and that she has revealed enough details about the Lektor to make her believable, but Tatiana is actually following orders from Rosa Klebb.
Bond travels to Istanbul and is followed from the airport by Red Grant and the next day, the Kerim Bey's office is bombed, so Bond spies on the Soviets through a periscope that All Kerim Bey, a Turkish spy takes him under ground and shows to him how it has conveniently been placed to permit them to know what the Russians are up to.
All Kerim Bey is played by Mexican actor Pedro Armendariz, son of a Mexican and an American and cousin of famous actress Gloria Marin. Thanks to his mother, Mr. Armendariz learns to speak English from infancy, living with them in Texas and studying in California, where he graduates as an engineer but is discovered by an acting agent visiting Mexico and is one of the many Mexican actors that becomes famous throughout the Latin world and in Hollywood. His son, Pedro Armendariz Jr., who also became an actor, will later be seen in another James Bond movie; License to Kill.
Through the periscope, Kerim Bey sees Krilencu, a rival agent and both Kerim and James go to a gypsy camp where they get involved in the lover's fight of two jealous gypsy girls and get attacked by Krilencu's men. Kerim Bey kills Krilencu with Bond's sniper rifle and when Bond returns to his hotel he finds Romanova waiting for him, in bed.
During the next days, Bond follows the man who followed him at the airport but the man gets killed by Grant and when Bond finds the body, he discovers the floor plans for the Soviet consulate so he sets up a plan to steal the Lektor. They release gas through an explosion under the building and they escape with the Lektor on the Orient Express, but Grant is on the train with them!
Bond arranges for agent Nash to meet him but Grant intercepts and kills Nash and because he had overheard the pass words exchanged by Bond with another agent, he approaches Bond making believe he is Nash. During dinner, Grant makes the mistake of ordering red wine with fish and Bond starts to suspect him. Grant drugs Romanova at dinner and then, overcomes Bond telling him that while Romanova believes she is working for mother Russia, she is really working for SPECTRE.
Dr. No introduced Number 1 at SPECTRE as a mysterious character whose face is never seen and who is always carrying and playing with a beautiful Persian white with green eyes cat. The way he eliminates agents that displease him is interesting and we see him upset with Kronsteen because his plan has failed and we witness his execution with a poisoned spike in the toe of the shoes used by one of his agents. This very same spike in the toe will later be used by Klebb.
Much action ensues and finally Bond and Romanova reach Venice where Rosa Klebb, disguised as a hotel maid, tries to get the Lektor away from Bond. Without a doubt, one of the most memorable Bond films by Sean Connery.
Bond . . . James Bond Jun 14, 2009
Let's face it: Sean Connery IS James Bond. Those other guys couldn't carry his Walther PPK. In this movie, Connery proves it. He's cool, smart, every woman's dream, and smoothly deadly. For any aficionado of red-blooded spy fiction, it doesn't get much better.
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