From Russia with Love Reviews

Many people love ‘From Russia With Love’, they call it one of the best movie sequels of all time, and one of the best James Bond films for that matter. And for me…I happen to be one of the few people who doesn’t like ‘From Russia With Love’

I didn’t like ‘From Russia With Love’, I certainly didn’t hate it though. I don’t think there was anything bad about this film but it just didn’t hold a candle to ‘Dr. No’. This film really disappointed me as I thought I would really enjoy it!

What I didn’t like about the film was the plot was pretty boring, it has some relevance to James Bond, and the first film, but it didn’t catch my eye. The script was also overlong and pretty boring, and I don’t think there were really any action scenes that lightened me up. Those are some big parts of the film, and ones that I just didn’t like

But as usual for me, just because I don’t like or even hate a film, doesn’t mean that there’s nothing good about it. In fact some of these features prevented this film becoming more average. Once again, Sean Connery is charming as James Bond, and is really the best thing about this movie. It also has some nice cinematography and music.

To be honest, I thought the film was too long and as if there was too much going on. The dialogue really felt like several boring conversations. So my opinion of this film was that I definitely don’t hate it but it’s barely decent. But then that’s my opinion, lots of people love this film and I’m not against their opinions.

There are films that everyone loves except me, and there are films that everyone hates except me (e.g. ‘The Flintstones’, ‘How The Grinch Stole Christmas’) but if you chose to like a film, then that’s your choice. You may have an argument with someone over your different opinions of a film, but you should accept their opinion and not get so angry about it (although it’s madness to me and the public that ‘The LEGO Movie’ got snubbed at the Oscars for Best Animated Feature).

This second outing for Sean Connery as Bond sees him on his way to Istanbul to retrive a lekter machine from the beautiful Tatiana Romanova (Daniela Bianchi) with the help of Kermin Bey.
There is the usual car chase sequenes we were getting accustomed to in the Bond films, a teriffic fight between two gypsy girls, and a thrilling fight sequence on the train between Connery and Robert Shaw.
The film was further enhanced by the title song sung by Matt Monroe which struck just about the right balance, after the credits and at the end of the film.
The boat chase sequence (which was used often in later films) was also thrilling for the 1963 audience.
I have a soft spot for all the early Baond films as against some of the later ones, mainly because of the under use of gadets. The early films seemed less reliant on the gadgets as later films.
The real villian of this film for me was Rosa Klebb - brilliantly played by Lotte Lenya - small and diminutive, but as tough as nails and ruthless to boot.
Another one of my favorites of the series.
9/10

Even though the new generation James Bond with Daniel Craig is becoming more and more popular, especially after the surprising monster success of ‘Skyfall’, I still prefer the good old installments featuring Sean Connery, especially the first 3 movies. Indeed, back in those days, they were still building up the foundations of this mythical character and even if Craig is a solid Bond and his movies are damned entertaining, they are still basically repeating the same formula perfected already 50 years ago by the mighty Connery who will always remain the ultimate 007. Anyway, this second installment was already an improvement on the solid ‘Dr. No’. Maybe back then they didn’t have the same special effects as today but they did have a good story, definitely one of the best used in the James Bond franchise. Since ‘Dr. No’ was a success, they doubled the budget and it was once again a critical and commercial success further establishing what would be an everlasting franchise. As you may have noticed, I’m not really a die hard fan of those James Bond flicks. At best, they are pretty fun to watch but they are always terribly shallow, rather unrealistic and quite misogynic. I find it above all rather tedious that after all these years, they keep following the exact same template. On the other hand, why should they change it since it is apparently what the mainstream audience is asking for ? At least, back then, they had a decent script and Sean Connery was just awesome, period. To conclude, after ‘Goldfinger’, it is probably my favorite James Bond feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

The BEST James Bond movie. Excellent in all area of production. One of the most beliveable films in the series. Features a classic fight scene that I won't spoil with details for anyone who hasn't seen the movie yet. Not to be missed.