Review of From Russia with Love (1963) by Mark D — 08 Dec 2010
This is easily one of the best Bond films, showing Connery in his prime as the character of James Bond, while the franchise was still fresh and exciting and new. "From Russia With Love" is more of an authentic spy film than "Dr.
No" was, and it really ends up feeling very much like Ian Flemming's original novels in tone. There is much less of a focus on gadgets and ridiculous action set-pieces popping up every 15 minutes, and much more on genuine suspense and plot development.
Don't worry though, it delivers some incredible action scenes later in the film, including the legendary Orient Express train brawl where Bond takes on the physical strength of Robert Shaw as a murderous SPECTRE assassin.
In fact, the entire final act of the film is a constantly growing action scene, providing a huge pay off for the build-up of more subtle and suspenseful spy work in the film's first hour. The film also has excellent cinematography for its time, one of the all-time best Bond-girls, and it introduced the idea of a villain attack in the epilogue of the film.
It may not feel as perfectly archetypal of the franchise as "Goldfinger" does, but this still remains my favourite Bond film because I feel it is the one that really established what the Bond character would become in future installments.
This review of From Russia with Love (1963) was written by Mark D on 08 Dec 2010.
From Russia with Love has generally received very positive reviews.
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