From Russia with Love

Red = Spoilers 

From Russia with Love is the second film in the James Bond franchise. It’s about 007 being in the middle of a trap by his new archenemy, SPECTRE. They’re trying to lure him into the trap with a decoding machine that MI6 desperately wants to get their hands on, while at the same time, a hot, Russian double-agent is trying to play a honeypot on him.  

What’s it about? It’s a good while in the movie before you even see James. You’re mostly seeing different villains and different locales before you get to where Tania gets interviewed by Colonel Klebb and given her orders to double-cross Bond. She’s supposed to deliver a “lektur” to Bond. A code deciphering device that MI6 has been trying to get their hands on for some time. Bond thinks that something is amiss and decides to investigate. They make their way onto this train and spend a good portion of the movie there. Bond fights the main villain of the film on the train. They make their way off the train and into a fruit truck of some sort, where Bond proceeds to take down a helicopter. Then they make their way onto a motorboat, where they blow up some other motorboats that are following them. Eventually, Bond and Tania are in a hotel room when Klebb comes in, dressed as a maid and tries to steal the lektur and kill Bond. Tania decides to choose her love for Bond over her love for Mother Russia and she kills Colonel Klebb and saves Bond.  

What’s good? For being only a year after the first movie, the special effects really took a step up. The practical special effects, at any rate. I mean, there really were no visual special effects. The green screen still looked like it was a green screen. It was still 1963 after all. What are you gonna do? But the explosions and gunfire were better. 

What’s bad? If anything, I think just the general graininess of the film being from 1963 is the only thing that’s really bad. Nothing in the film is really that bad. The sound, the angles, everything is good. 

The acting? From Russia with Love is one of the better Bond films. The acting is top notch. And I’m not just saying that because it’s the original James Bond. He really was the best. 

The effects? The effects do just a little better than they did from the last movie. Not a whole lot more, because it’s only been a year, and technology really hadn’t advanced all that much. But it did look a little better than the last movie. You can tell just a little bit.  

SPECTRE? This is the introduction of SPECTRE, (Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion). An international organized terrorism unit that becomes James Bond’s arch-nemesis throughout the series. SPECTRE has unlimited resources and relentlessly sends assassins to kill James Bond. 

Fun gadgets. This is also the introduction of Bond getting fun new gadgets before missions. He gets his briefcase with a pop-out knife and an exploding talcum powder bomb. Just the first in a long line of fun items that W has worked up in the MI6 laboratory. 

Sean Connery Sex-Machine And, as usual, the Sean Connery version of James Bond makes time with at least 3 beautiful women in this movie. It’s like, is that really what being a secret agent is really like? Drinking martinis and seducing gorgeous women? Because my god… Being a secret agent sounds pretty cool… 

So yeah, watch From Russia with Love. All of the James Bond movies are great, but this is one of the better ones. And if you’re gonna watch them in order, this is number two. So, you wouldn’t be that far into it. And as always, keep on watching, with a smile on your face…