From Russia with Love

[RobertScorpio]

From Russia With Love was a brilliant movie and book. It's my favorite Bond story. Pedro Armendariz, in particular, stole every scene he was in.

I don't find Grant and Bond's showdown disappointing. After all it's much longer than Rob Scorpio indicates. It occurs nearly the entire duration of the train trip. That's an entire act.

Odd bit of Cold War trivia-- FRWL was both the favorite novel of John F. Kennedy and the favorite movie of his Soviet counterpart, Nikita Kruschev.

I guess its a matter of taste..I found the plot very plodding and really, not much is going on...and the dialog is very stilted...And as for Shaw? He comes all this way and falls for some lame old trick with the brief case??? Bad bad bad....

Nope..to me this movie suffers from being too boring, very moderate score, and a villain who spends too much time lurking around in the shadows...

Goldfinger later this week....

Rob
Scorpio

 

[sidious618]

From Russia With Love is my favorite pre-reboot Bond movie. It's a fantastic film.

 

[RobertScorpio]

From Russia With Love is my favorite pre-reboot Bond movie. It's a fantastic film.

Since it is the biggest inspiration for Austin Powers, I guess it isn't that bad afterall..wink wink..I am a person who just happens to believe that Sean Connery is the best Bond, but his Bond movies are relics from their time and just don't stand the test of time...For Your Eyes Only, to me, does..and so did The Spy Who Loved Me...but so far, FRWL and Thunderball have been letdowns...though, it is just a matter of opinion...


Rob..

 

[Kelthaz]

I'm curious to see what you think of Goldfinger. It's the first Bond film to be a blockbuster rather than a small scale spy film, so it'll definitely hold up better than From Russia With Love or Dr. No did.

 

[trevanian]

I'm curious to see what you think of Goldfinger. It's the first Bond film to be a blockbuster rather than a small scale spy film, so it'll definitely hold up better than From Russia With Love or Dr. No did.

You think the scale of the thing is what makes it hold up? Really? Guess that means MR and SPY and DAD are the apex of Bond for you?

 

[RobertScorpio]

the SPY WHO LOVED ME is one of the better Bond movies, so whats your point? I think these movies are all a matter of taste. But when I watched FRWL, I was suprised at how BORING it was....

Rob

 

[trevanian]

the SPY WHO LOVED ME is one of the better Bond movies, so whats your point? I think these movies are all a matter of taste. But when I watched FRWL, I was suprised at how BORING it was....

Rob

Spy has always played like a medicore parody of a Bond movie to me, so you'll never see me ranking it highly (only reason I own it is for Ken Adam and Derek Meddings; ditto for MOONRAKER.)

Plus SPY is schizophrenic in the extreme, with the ridiculous humor as well as really ODD violence (the four shots Bond takes to finish off Stromberg is just weird) and the 'serious' scene (when there's a man behind you at 40 miles per hour ... ) well, that is like hearing Freddy Prinze jr ask 'what does it mean to be a pilgrim in WING COMMANDER, Moore is so awful.

We're looking at this stuff through different ends of the telescope, man. EDIT: And I KNOW I've got the lens cap off the thing on both ends, so it isn't like I'm going Hubble on this.

 

[CaptJimboJones]

FRWL is an excellent Bond film, it's among the small handful of 007 movies that are actually serious spy thrillers rather than sci-fi/action comedies. That's why it's No. 3 on my personal rank of Bond films (after Goldfinger and Casino Royale).

That doesn't mean I totally dislike the action-comedies that make up the bulk of the Bond series. TSWLM is a sentimental favorite of mine, for example. The opening ski chase in that movie is an incredibly exciting sequence, and I still pump my fist and shout "Yeah Bond!" when, after he jumps off the cliff, his parachute opens and is revealed to be the British flag. Plus, when I was about 10 years old, Bond's Lotus Esprit/submarine was the coolest thing imagineable.

But yeah, FRWL is definitely meant to be a fairly serious adult thriller. The novel it's based on, as others have said, is also one of the best of Ian Fleming's works.

 

[Smiley]

I don't know what to say if you truly think FRWL is boring. For me, there's always something interesting going on. Whether it's the charismatic Kerim Bey, the lovely Tatiana, the sly Grant, the fiendish Klebb, dancing gypsies, or Bond himself, I always find myself invested in the characters and their actions. It is a product of its time in terms of technology, action style, and pacing, but that alone should not be enough to put off viewers.

 

[Kelthaz]

I'm curious to see what you think of Goldfinger. It's the first Bond film to be a blockbuster rather than a small scale spy film, so it'll definitely hold up better than From Russia With Love or Dr. No did.

You think the scale of the thing is what makes it hold up? Really? Guess that means MR and SPY and DAD are the apex of Bond for you?

I didn't say anything like that. Two posts ago I even said that I enjoyed Dr. No. You know, the oldest and lowest budget of all the Bond films. I enjoy some of the smaller scale Bonds and some of the over-the-top Bonds such as Moonraker.

I was talking to someone who doesn't care for the older Bond films and considers them relics of the past, so I was saying that Goldfinger should hold up better because it is the first film to feel like a modern Bond.

 

[trevanian]

I'm curious to see what you think of Goldfinger. It's the first Bond film to be a blockbuster rather than a small scale spy film, so it'll definitely hold up better than From Russia With Love or Dr. No did.

You think the scale of the thing is what makes it hold up? Really? Guess that means MR and SPY and DAD are the apex of Bond for you?

I didn't say anything like that. Two posts ago I even said that I enjoyed Dr. No. You know, the oldest and lowest budget of all the Bond films. I enjoy some of the smaller scale Bonds and some of the over-the-top Bonds such as Moonraker.

I was talking to someone who doesn't care for the older Bond films and considers them relics of the past, so I was saying that Goldfinger should hold up better because it is the first film to feel like a modern Bond.

The first modern-feeling Bond movie is the one that opens with Bond wearing a rubber seagull on his head?

Man, I can't wait to see Daniel Craig get to do his third movie if he has to open it up with that same bit of ridiculousness. Might make up for having to watch him onscreen for the rest of it.

 

[Starbreaker]

I don't care much for From Russia With Love either. It just didn't hold my interest.

 

[Broccoli]

as well as really ODD violence (the four shots Bond takes to finish off Stromberg is just weird)

In an early draft, Stromberg was suppose to be Blofield (and Bond was to be facing off against SPECTRE). Bond's killing of him was written to be that strong as his revenge for Tracy. That, of course, was changed due to litigation. However, the overkill was apparently kept in later re-writes.

 

[nx1701g]

I'd say FRWL is my second favorite of the Connery era (Goldfinger has the number one ranking).

 

[trevanian]

as well as really ODD violence (the four shots Bond takes to finish off Stromberg is just weird)

In an early draft, Stromberg was suppose to be Blofield (and Bond was to be facing off against SPECTRE). Bond's killing of him was written to be that strong as his revenge for Tracy. That, of course, was changed due to litigation. However, the overkill was apparently kept in later re-writes.

Didn't know that myself. I had heard that the early SPECTRE drafts had the old SPECTRE bosses killed off by new young terrorists who take over, but then the litigation thing happened. However, your info jives better with the on-screen stuff.

 

[CorporalClegg]

Ah, Kevin O'Donovan McClory, how ever would would have been without you?

 

[trevanian]

Ah, Kevin O'Donovan McClory, how ever would would have been without you?

Real competition from McClory in the mid to late 70s would have forced the Moore Broccoli bonds to improve, instead of just get 'bigger' (read: dumb & bloated.)

Biggest lawyers always win, unfortunately, so mcclory spent his life getting shafted by the system. Not saying he was a genius, but he was entitled to more than he got, as were serious Bond fans going nuts during the Moore era (I survived it, mainly because they still re-released Connery double bills to revival houses into the 1980s in my area.) Otherwise, I'd prefer a gap of no Bond between Connery and Dalton to the crap we did get then.

 

[nx1701g]

^ Some of the Moore Bond pics weren't bad. Live and Let Die and The Spy Who Loved Me for example.

 

[Skywalker]

I thought Live and Let Die was awful. The only Moore films I really like are The Spy Who Loved Me and For Your Eyes Only.

From Russia With Love remains my absolute favorite Bond movie, however, and Connery my favorite Bond.