 With the release of Dr. No, early 1960s audiences were given something they've just never seen before. Here, all of a sudden, you had a character totally different to the standard cinema hero. They were introduced to the suave political incorrect secret agent that would charm several beautiful women into bed, including the bad ones, only to have them be arrested moments later. He would kill in cold blood and transport you to the most beautiful exotic locations, mesmerizing the audience in Technicolor. After all, travel wasn't common yet to the average person in the early 60s. Bond was the ultimate escapism and fantasy, and audiences simply loved it. Dr. No had a budget of one million dollars, Mr. Long. But the film managed to gross 59 million at the worldwide box office. The studios initially had doubts whether Saltzman and Broccoli could turn these books into something successful. And though none of the filmmakers could have foreseen its enormous success, they did have the balls to market Dr. No as the first James Bond film, suggesting there were more to follow, which, of course, was exactly what happened, only one year later. In 1961, a reporter from Life magazine thought it would be a fun idea to have President John F. Kennedy create a list of his ten favorite books to be published in an upcoming issue. As soon as readers saw the unfamiliar title from Russia with Love by Ian Fleming and learned that Kennedy was a big fan of some British spy named James Bond, sales of Ian Fleming's books skyrocketed. Obviously, it was a no-brainer for Coby and Harry to adapt this book next. From Russia with Love is generally regarded as one of Fleming's best Bond novels and was partially inspired by a trip Fleming took to Turkey and his return ride home on the Orient Express. It is definitely one of my favorite Bond novels too and you can hear all my thoughts on it in detail in my reading 007 episode covering that book. Following Dr. No's success, Terence Young would return in the director's seat and Connery, who was praised for his role as 007, would return in the tuxedo. John Barry would, however, take over as the composer for the film, replacing Monty Norman's Tom & Jerry-esque soundtrack. Coby would forever lay the groundwork cementing the way a Bond film should sound. The filmmakers had Richard Maybaum and Johanna Haerwood make the screenplay for the film and some crucial changes would be made. The biggest being that Bond wouldn't go up against the Russian counterintelligence organization Smersh, like in the novel, but against the fictional crime syndicate Specter, which they, of course, already had Dr. No be part of in the first film. To avoid any political backlash and alienation of audiences, they went with Specter instead. Coby always believed the Cold War wasn't forever. In retrospect, he probably made the right call, though I also appreciate the authenticity of the novel. You will see me compare this film to its source material a couple of times in this video as I lay out some points I want to raise. So in October 1963, James Bond 007 made his cinematic return, once again walking onto the screen in the now-signatured gun barrel that would grow out to be the standard opening to a Bond film. The film opens up with a tense opening of James Bond being followed by an assassin called Red Grant, played by Robert Shaw. Immediately you notice something is off. There is an uncertainty in Connery's portrayal and the in control, confident agent is not seen here. Grant definitely is the one that is in control here. It's a pretty good opening. John Barry immediately amps up the tension, jump-starting you straight into the quiet danger, perfectly setting up the tone of the film. Before you know it, Grant pulls out a strangulation wire from his watch, the music amps up and like a predator targeting his prey, he strikes. And Bond is killed. Well, of course not. The film pulls out James Bond is killed at the start of the film, while it actually turns out to be a routine specter exercise. And Bond isn't really Bond, but just a random dude wearing a ridiculously convincing Sean Connery mask. This immediately sets up Grant as a lethal professional adversary Bond will be dealing with in this film as well as pumping you up for the adventure ahead. This would be the first Bond film to feature a pre-title sequence, which would also become a part of a Bond film's DNA. A Bond film opens up with a gum barrel. The Bond theme blazes out, exciting the audiences, and we're warmed up with a tense and often action-packed sequence before we are launched into a title sequence, often featuring Sheila Wetz of Half-Naked Women dancing to the title song of a Bond film. From Russia With Love is the Bond film that put these elements into place, though the titles would not feature a song, but simply an instrumental version of the song. Matt Monroe did the title song and is only featured in the end credits. While under normal circumstances it would feel very off to not have a title song featured in the opening titles, but it works for this film and I honestly prefer it to having Monroe's song played over these titles. The music is very good. Besides, Dr. No didn't have an opening song in its titles either, if you don't count the Free Blind My song that faded into the opening of the film. So there was no norm yet to feature a title song here. The way the lights are projected onto the belly dancers, it's really charming. It's a classic opening that honestly has aged very well. So after the titles we move to Venice, or, well, mainly an exterior shot of Venice. We're actually taken to a studio set of a grand chess game. Production designer Tan Adam did not return for From Russia With Love set design as director Stanley Kubrick was so impressed by his work on the film sets of Dr. No, Tan Adam was asked to design the film sets for Dr. Strainsloff at the time. Instead, production designer Sid Cain was brought on board and he has a very different style compared to Can Adam's film sets. Though I feel Can Adam's film sets have a certain signature x-factor that made them so recognizable and unique, Cain's work certainly impresses too. Notice how the floor continues the pattern of a chessboard. It's pretty cool. It's here where we are introduced to the character of Cronstein, played by Fladek Sheboll. He totally is casted perfectly for the part. You can't imagine this guy would ever have been the lead in a romantic comedy. He just has the face of a creepy genius, which is exactly what the character comes down to. A creepy chess grab master secretly working for Spectre. So as I stated before, the villains for this movie were changed from the real life Soviet counterintelligence smirks to Spectre. Though it's probably the right move cinematically to change these villains up, it also potentially brings forward some problems I'll get into. But first, the head of Spectre is seen for the first time here, now just known as number one. In a way, he's iconic. Menacingly stroking his white cat while his minions do his dirty work, the influence of a faceless supervillain sitting in a chair while stroking a cat, it's very influential and obviously the inspiration for so many similar characters found in various forms of media since. And fun fact, though we don't see his face, it's actually Anthony Dawson returning from Dr. No sitting in that chair. So from Russia with love has the villains devised a plan to lure the British Secret Service and mainly Bond into a trap. To do this, Cronstein dreamed up a plan to have Bond come down to Istanbul to acquire a McGovern, a valuable decoding machine from the Russians called the Lector. And as debates, they will use a beautiful woman that wants to defect to the West, or so they want Bond to believe. It's actually quite a simple premise in the novel. The East wanted to lure the West into a trap using a valuable machine and a beautiful girl. Here's a potential problem with this for first time viewers though. Now having Spectre as the bad guys could overcomplicate and confuse viewers unfamiliar with Bond. Obviously to us Bond fans who are so familiar with this film, there's nothing really complicated about all this, but in my experience, having watched these movies with some friends and my girlfriend before, they usually seem kind of overwhelmed at first and it can be confusing for them to keep track of all the different sides the characters are on. You see, just like the novel, Smurz is actually in fact still in the film. They're not the main bad guys though, but their member Colonel Rosa Klepp is. She's basically a colonel working for Smurz who secretly is also working for Spectre. And for people who don't really have a clue what the difference is to Smurz and Spectre, they are potentially left confused and an average conversation between a first time viewer and a Bond fan would go, Okay, so basically this crazy mean old bitch is working for the villains, but is also working for some other villains? No, no, no, no, no. Smurz aren't necessarily the villains in the movie. Wait, but you just said that Smurz were the villains in the novel. Right, right, I did, but not here. But isn't this movie set in the Cold War? Aren't the Russians supposed to be the bad guys? Well, of course, there is turmoil, but they're not the ones causing the trouble. Spectre is, and she's also secretly working for Spectre though, so they are the real villains. Oh, but why didn't they just have her work for Spectre alone and leave out Smurz entirely to avoid confusion? Well, it's because they need Smurz to have the story make sense, because they need Bond to believe that Smurz are the bad guys and they still need Rosa Klep to recruit the innocent beautiful Russian Tatiana Romanova as the bait for the trap. You see how all this could cause confusion to first time viewers? This isn't to say that this film isn't allowed to be more complex or to say that first time viewers are stupid or that the film is bad. I mean, the film does explain itself moving along. I'm just saying, from Russia with love requires more thinking than the average an agent got killed 007, fly out to Jamaica and find out what happened, will you? So Spectre aren't villains just seen on some yacht near Venice? This film also uniquely features Spectre Island, which was never really seen since. It's kind of cartoony in a way that these villains would have training grounds for all the goons, but somehow it still manages to fit with the tone of the film, never feeling out of place or to camp. Red Grand is also seen again, being chosen to be the executioner as part of Spectre's big scheme. And I always liked this little moment taken straight from the novel. He seems fit enough, have him report to me in Istanbul in 24 hours. Speaking of the crazy mean old bitch, Rosa Kleb was played by Lotta Lenya and supposedly she was one of the sweetest kind-hearted women on set. Which says a lot about her acting, she's another brilliant casting choice. Despite her short length, she's very commanding and scary, even with those silly glasses. So the beautiful Russian innocent girl selected as debate for 007 is to be Tatjana Romanova, played by the Miss Italia at the time, Daniella Bianchi. And much like Ursula Andrus before her, she's another actress to be dubbed. She's pretty good for the part too, obviously very hot, heck even Kleb seems to think so. Then we finally move to Bond. Despite it taking a good 18 minutes before we get to our main character, I still feel all the needed exposition with the villains went over pretty quickly. One thing I really enjoyed about the novel is how the first third of the book focuses on the villains in great detail and how the whole trap slowly comes together and sets up the rest of the story. Obviously for a movie, this is different. If they ended up focusing the first third of the movie just on the villain scheme, it would have very likely alienated the viewers. The filmmakers managed to keep it concise while still having all important details about the villain plot laid out with great pacing. So Bond is out reviewing an old case, Sylvia Trentz returning from Dr. No in another small part. She was actually supposed to become a reoccurring character that Bond would appear with every time he would be called off to the Secret Service. Obviously that never happened, but it's always fun to see the rare little moments of continuity in Bond films. Also, you got to appreciate Bond's classic Bentley. Definitely something unique, never seen before or since. It's even equipped with a phone. So Bond arrives at the office. For my next miracle. And I always really liked that moment. M's authority is felt with his dismissive look. Oi, stop playing 007. It's really good. Here's the most tiny bit of nitpick I have of Bond's interview with M. It's barely worth mentioning, but having read the novel again recently, I thought the moment of M telling Bond that somehow a Russian girl has fallen madly in love with Bond is really good. That's good, said Bond. Might be useful to have one of their cipher girls. But why does she want to come over? M looked across the table at Bond. Because she's in love. He paused and added mildly, she says she's in love with you. In love with me? Yes, with you. That's what she says. Her name's Tachana Romanova. Never heard of her? Good God, no. I mean no, sir. M smiled at the mixture of expressions on Bond's face. But what the hell does she mean? Has she ever met me? How does she know I exist? Well, said M. The whole thing sounds absolutely ridiculous. But it's so crazy, it just might be true. It's a great moment in the book. However, here the movie skips over that whole fun part of the conversation pretty much. Bond and the sedour, and the movie plays the trick, mostly for the pacing of M having already told him about this twist of camera. I've never even heard of a Tachana Romanova. Ridiculous, isn't it? Again, I know it's minor because in the dialogue following we soon learn what M has told him off-camera anyway, but it's such a fun part that I wish they simply kept in there from the novel. Also, M must have told him about Tachana Romanova really fast in that moment off-camera, even before Bond had timed the close to door and sat down. There's this girl that fell in love with you after seeing your foul picture. Her name's Tachana Romanova, a Russian working as a cyber clerk in Istanbul. But I've never even heard of a Tachana Romanova. Ridiculous, isn't it? This is also where Desmond Llewellyn makes his first appearance in a Bond film, taking over from Peter Burton as Major Butroit, the character that would eventually grow out to be much better known as Q. Here, the character hasn't evolved yet to be the fun-loving, grumpy, lovable Q he would become, and is mainly a functional character just to get Bond his first proper gadget before the mission, an Atachi case. Which, seriously, is one of my favorites, because at this point, we haven't reached the period of exploding pens or watches turning into saws yet. Here, the gadget is what you could imagine real-life spies in the Cold War would receive, a throwing knife that can pop out, a tear gas booby trap when the catches are turned a certain way, the sniper rifle, the compartment for golden coins. It's really classic espionage, and I just eat that shit. So after some routine flirting with Moneypenny, Bond is dispatched to Istanbul, going for Specter's Bait to try and obtain a lector and help Tachana Romanova defect to the West. Good luck. Ciao. Ciao. And you gotta appreciate the way the Bond theme was used in the old days, whereas now we mostly associate the Bond theme for its big, bombastic sound, usually punctuating action scenes. Here, in its humble beginnings, it's often used as a theme to highlight Bond himself with all his suave-ness and sex appeal. Just like in Doctor No, when he walked smoothly onto the airport or walked past some front desk secretary in his hotel, checking him out, it's very easy to sell this when you have Connery in his prime here. He just is James Bond, and he is so believable as a professional who's seen it all before. Can I borrow a match? I use a lighter. It's better still. Until they go wrong. Exactly. I'll get the car, sir. From Russia with love, just is this, that perfect peak of the Cold War feeling. Istanbul in this era almost has a Berlin feeling to it, with it being controlled by both the British and the Russians here, with Bond's driver being perfectly aware that he's being followed by the Russians. There's the, they follow us, we follow them, sort of understanding. It all just adds to the espionage charm of the film. So Bond meets up with the head of station T-Turkey, Karen Bey, played magnificently by the wonderful Pedro Amarindaris, and Karen Bey honestly is one of the best allies to ever grace a Bond film. Charming, funny, and once again perfectly casted. It's even more heartbreaking to know that he was terminally ill during the filming of this film, and he tragically committed suicide in the hospital after the filming. It's a very sad story. Going back to the plot, I was always kind of puzzled by this line. But let's talk about this business of US. Well, M thinks I'm wasting my time here. This seems very odd, considering M, in fact, was total opposite to thinking Bond was wasting his time here, as he said this. If there's any chance of us getting electoral, we simply must look into it. It's another minor detail, but worth pointing out. I know I just mentioned how I love it when the early Bond films played a Bond theme when Bond is simply walking to punctuate his smooth character. But here, as he's arriving in his hotel room, checking for bugs, it does feel especially dated. It's no longer the... But they blaze out the... Which you can't really help but associate with explosions or, well, any form of action, really. And Bond's really only tipping the doorman and looking behind paintings. Spector's presence throughout the film is constantly felt as Bond's room is bugged, the hotel room staff is clearly bribed by them, too, as they were hoping for Bond to switch to the bridal suite, and they're killing off Russians to cause turmoil between them and the British. Meanwhile, one of Karen Bay's girls seems to get exceptionally interested in his station D. Well, he just has the far more important crossword puzzle to deal with. Not long after that, the place is suddenly bombed by the Russians as revenge for the framing that Spector did. And I always really liked the banter between Bond and Karen, with this being among my favorite lines. The girl left me hysterics. Bound your technique to violent? Connery and Armand Daris just have exceptional chemistry together, and you can completely imagine these two very likely got on very well off-camera, too. So in order to find out why the Russians broke the truce, the pair heads out to Karen's underground sewer system that takes them directly under the Russian consulate building, where he has a periscope planted. More brilliantly charming moments of espionage in this film. You would assume that it should be possible to somehow plant a microphone into that periscope to actually understand what is being said, or that Karen, who obviously is a very influential man, could easily hire a lib reader to translate what these people are saying every time he goes down there to spy on these guys. But oh well, it doesn't take away from the charm of the scene by any means. Anyway, we mainly find out that the Russians have hired Kurienko, a Bulgarian hitman. So in order to hide from Kurienko for the night, Karen visits some friends over at a gypsy settlement. Both the book and the movie include the fight between the gypsies fighting over a man that really has very little to do with the rest of the plot. But for some reason, I always exceedingly enjoyed watching this fight. Can't put my finger on why. Then shit goes down. The Bulgarians hired by the Russians attacked the settlement and a big shootout commences. Probably the biggest action scene up until this point in the series. Karen gets shot and Bond almost gets it too. He's saved by Red Grant, secretly overlooking the fight, protecting Bond because they still need him to get the letter. It's a fantastic though somewhat chaotic scene. Sometimes it's hard to differentiate the Bulgarians and the gypsies. They're both wearing dark colored clothes. Even Bond doesn't seem to care telling them apart. Gypsy, Bulgarian, who cares? You're going in the water. So eventually Kurienko retreats and Karen Bay decides he need to get his revenge quickly before to take him out. But not before Bond gets to the side between the two gypsy girls who were fighting over some guy before. And if one is in a gypsy camp, one should delve deeply into its treasures. So he banks them both. They somehow don't seem to care anymore for the gypsy dude they fought over. For all they care, Bond pushed him in the water before. They're fully into him now. So after that visit, Bond and Karen head out to Kurienko's hideout, putting Bond's sniper to use. It's a pretty tense sequence of the injured Karen insisting on using Bond's shoulder to take the shot. Kurienko escaping from the mouth of the billboard. Bond's little one liner at the end. Great scene. She should have kept the mouth shot. And also a fun bit of trivia here. In the novel, the hideout was a Marilyn Monroe billboard. And I always assumed that just changed it to Anita Eckberg to update with The Times. But it's actually advertising for another Eon produced movie that came out at the time. Call me Buona. Broccoli insultsman's names even appear on the poster. Great little Easter egg. As Bond gets back to his hotel room, we finally get the scene that the movie was leading up to. Bond meeting up with Dajana, who sneaked into his hotel room naked. And somehow Bond never goes, she's here now. For fuck's sake, I just had a freeze of two hours ago. It's an iconic moment. The scene that would be used as one of the audition scenes for future Bond actors. I wonder if they still use it today. And I wonder if someone can ever play it as effortlessly cool as Connery. The scar on Bond's lower back always puzzled me as a bizarre choice for Dajana to recognize Bond with from his file. It's not taken from the novel, nor did it ever reappear in later movies. It's a bit out of place. It was probably chosen because in the book, Bond has a scar on his face, which they obviously couldn't do. So they went with something different with the film. But yeah, anyway, the scene also features one of the best innuendos. Thank you. But I think my mouth is too big. No, it's the right size. He means his cock! But neither Bond nor Dajana are aware that Spectre is secretly filming the whole thing. Spectre? Spectre. Special pornographic executive for candid, top-recorded entertainment. Though from Russia With Love features a lot of studio film scenes, you would almost forget the film also features some gorgeous on-location shots in the city itself as well. Something I wish this film featured more of. Sure, we do get some driving shots earlier on and lots of exterior establishing shots, but I wish there was just more of these scenes taking place in the city itself. It looks amazing. There was to have been a sequence that really seemed to utilize the location to the fullest. Unfortunately, that sequence had to be dropped as it didn't make any sense within the narrative. Check out this deleted scenes video I did where I talked a little bit more about that one. Anyway, we do get filming inside the St. Sophia Mosque where Dajana leaves Bond the plans of the Russian Consulate Building so we can steal the Lector. This continues on a boat tour on the Bosporus with some more talk between Bond and Dajana to verify the authenticity of the Lector leading to this very amusing moment of MI6 listening along with the conversation. Am I as exciting as all those Western girls? Oh, once when I was with them in Tokyo we had an interesting experience. Thank you, Miss Malipenny, that's all, that's all. All of these scenes were added for the movie. The big difference in the novel was that the Russians just let Dajana take the Lector freely or the Spectre as it was called in the novel. As it was all part of their plan. In the book, the device was booby-trapped. Here, since the Russians have no clue their Lector is to be taken and that Spectre is behind the idea, the filmmakers had to find a clever way of Bond stealing the Lector with Dajana. So they use a bomb that Karim planted under the Consulate Building to distract everyone. It's a clever tie-in to the novel as there it was actually mentioned that Karim had a bomb under the building if things ever got too rough. So Bond, Dajana and Karim take the Orient Express back to the West. I always thought it was a shame how the movie doesn't address why they take the train. In the novel it was explained that Dajana was under specific orders to take the train back as it was all part of the trap. Here, it's kind of left unanswered and it seems far from the safest and most efficient option to take the Lector back to the West. That doesn't take away from the fact that all of the best scenes in the movie take place on board of the Orient Express. Similarly to the novel. This is where I think from Russia with Love reaches its peak and becomes a fantastic spy thriller. The movie spends a good half hour on this train and never falls flat or becomes boring throughout this whole duration. By the way, have you ever noticed that Dajana's dubbing stops at this particular moment? Her lips are still moving, but the dubbing just isn't there. Your name's Caroline. Caroline, I like that name. You're accompanying me on a business trip on the way back to Derbyshire. I like big families myself. In fact, my whole life has been a crusade for larger families. So I heard. It's really weird. Anyway, I think it's here in the train where the love between Bond and Dajana becomes more genuine, at least from Dajana's side. After all, these are two characters whose fates were put together unwillingly. Dajana was just blackmailed into pretending to fall in love with a British spy. I'll say nothing to anyone. If you do, you will be shot. Well, Bond was just told about her falling in love with his picture and he needed to help her defect to the West. Neither characters are aware of Spectre's involvement. It's hard to pinpoint where exactly the love becomes genuine, but it's easy to see these two characters were genuinely attracted to each other from the beginning. It's not hard to believe she would have fallen for him just as easily had she not been under orders. As much as I enjoy their dynamic, I do have to admit there are also some moments that are quite melodramatic. I know I love you, James. I love you. Just tell me. I love you. I love you. It's true. It's a bit soap opera-y in that particular moment. Also, until last year, I was always convinced that the farmer outside of the train here was Ian Fleming himself making a cameo. I always assumed so because there were several on-set pictures of Fleming wearing that exact outfit this farmer seems to be wearing. But apparently, this was never confirmed and some even debunk it. So I'm not sure anymore, but I guess it's not Fleming. So the movie takes a dark turn with Karim suddenly getting killed, leaving you feeling very similar to Quarrel's death in Doctor No. This is where the movie really ramps up the tension and I think part of why the tension works so brilliantly is because we as the audience know that Spectre is behind it. We know the real danger is Red Grant. We know that he slipped aboard the train. We're ahead of Bond who still believes he's up against the Russians. The shot of Grant shadowing Bond from the train, his reflection being visible in the window as he's overlooking the conversation, it's brilliant filmmaking by Terence Young. This of course all leads to Grant posing as an allied to Bond, Captain Nash. Even using the same code line he overheard when Bond was meeting with one of Karim's sons earlier. All of this still works so extremely well because we as the audience feel like we need to tell Bond that he can't trust this guy. We know this guy's been training his strangle dudes wearing Sean Connery masks. Spectre's strap is coming full circle. Both Connery and Robert Shaw are so good in this. I love how Connery's rational thinking tells him this must be the guy that M sent, but his instinct feels something is off. Like when Grant gives him his card and he does a the fuckish dish face. The same holds when Grant orders a red wine with fish. Bond's look is very subtle but definitely wary. It's a lot better than in the novel where Bond becomes wary of Grant because he's wearing a Windsor knot. So Grant drugs Tatjana. Another thing Bond clearly catches on to but awaits to confront him about until they get back to their compartment. Having picked up multiple red flags and with Grant clearly lying Tatjana must be dealing with exhaustion. You can see Bond made up his mind. This guy can't be trusted. So he pulls out his PPK. Take it easy, R7. 007. He's clearly a casual Bond fan. Buy escape routes only for one. What are you after? The girl of the Lector. I guess you could buy this alibi but this raises the question. Bond goes along with it. What if Grant really turned out to be Nash of MI6 that happened to have an escape route just for him? Would he have just left Tatjana behind? All dragged up from the chloral hydrate? I guess he would. It tells us more about Bond's character. Sure, he cares about her but the mission comes first. He knows his government is interested in the Lector only and the girl is disposable. Of course, things turned out differently. Grant reveals himself. Bond has now fallen straight into Spectre's trap and is at the exact point that Cronstein planned out he would end up on. Red wine with fish. That should have told me something. This whole scene between Grant and Bond is probably my favorite moment in the entire film. The way Bond tricks Grant into opening his booby-trapped Atachi case followed by one of the best fight sequences in all of Bond. It's super raw. No music is playing over it. Just the noise of the train. Grabbing each other's jaws, kicking. It really feels like this is life or death. Connery and Shaw really went all in here and it's just as tense here as it was back in 63. Grant pulling out his strangulation wire. We know he's capable of killing with and Bond desperately trying to reach his throwing knife. Eventually striking Grant in a last attempt using his own strangulation rope and getting the knife in the back of his neck. This is a brutal fight scene. This is the point where the film steers away from the novel whereas the novel ends with a climax with Rosa Clapp in a hotel room in Paris. Here the filmmakers felt the need to implement some welcomed action sequences. So they have Bond and Tatjana go on the escape route that was supposed to be for Grant. The Spectre Goons show up in helicopter in a sequence that is supposed to be a direct homage to North by Northwest. It may not have held up as well as the Red Grant fight but it's still decent for early 60s standards. And I like Bond reusing his sniper again to take down the helicopter. The boat chase sequence I always found to be much better soon being spotted again by the Spectre Goons. Where is Spectre Island supposed to be at anyway? We know Blofeldt's boat is supposed to be somewhere out in Venice and here Bond is sailing the Adriatic Sea making his way over there. So I guess Spectre Island is supposed to be somewhere in that region. Bond using his flare gun to trigger a huge explosion is still fantastic. They actually set stuntmen on fire here. From what I heard some of the panic was genuine as supposedly things got pretty out of hand here. It's moments like these where you truly notice that from Russia with love has a budget double that of Dr. No. By the way, in between all this the film tries to trick you into thinking Klepp is about to be killed for her people failing to catch Bond but then the film does a ha! Cronstein dies instead because it was his plan and though Cronstein wasn't a prominently featured character anyways it does mostly serve as a great foreshadowing of the effectiveness of the poison tipped shoe. So the pair shake off Spectre and are now safely back within the borders of the West or so they think. Of course Klepp shows up disguised as a mate for one final confrontation ordering T'Chana around to take the Lector. It's here where you can see the doubt in her mind. She was never told about this but now her feelings towards Bond became genuine and she pulls out the poison tipped shoe we as the audience know kills you with a simple stab. It's a great little detail that really adds to the scene because Bond just overpowering an old lady wouldn't have been very thrilling without this thing. So T'Chana is in doubt but ultimately is the one taking down Klepp. This of course was changed from the novel where she wasn't even present in the climax. My guess is the filmmakers might have taken inspiration from the climax of Thunderbolt, a novel that had only been released for two years at a time and saw how Domino turned against the main villain killing him there too. Who knows? Of course the original novel ended on a cliffhanger of Bond collapsing to the floor where he does get stabbed by Rosa Klepp's poison shortly before her arrest. Some say Ian Fleming wanted to end his Bond novels with From Russia With Love, killing him off but I don't buy that for the simple fact that Fleming wrote that letter to the real Boothroyd about that Walter P.P.K and was already mentioning a subsequent novel. So I don't believe Fleming ever intended Bond to just die at the end of this book but it was simply an effective cliffhanger. Would that same cliffhanger have worked for the movie as a fateful adaptation? Maybe nowadays but at a time I'd say probably not. I think they made the right call in going with the audience fulfilling ending of Bond and Tatiana romantically kissing at the end of the film with some terrible back projection. It would have been great to see these two actually be on location in Venice as that would have looked so much better cinematically and I guess the waving away of their porn movie is a bit silly too. But oh well, it is what it is. So with that, the second Bond adventure comes to an end and the filmmakers already were confident enough to bank on its success and announce that James Bond would return in Goldfinger. So that was another look at From Russia With Love. I mentioned before that the original book is easily among my favorite Fleming novels of all time. It's one of his crown achievements that he's ever put the paper and is definitely a highly recommended page turner. But for me, arguably the best book doesn't automatically mean this is also the best Bond film. Despite being a very faithful adaptation, there's a difference between what works on the page and what works on the screen. For one, I do believe the filmmakers made the right call politically in changing the villain's inspector for this film. And yet at the same time, I do also think this took away some of the authenticity of the original story and most of all, made the movie less accessible and perhaps overly complicated for new viewers. There's a lot of characters and double crosses and motives to keep track of that definitely changed the straightforward story to be far more complex than it initially was. And I believe this could be off-putting to some unfamiliar viewers. Putting aside new viewers and just looking at this through my own eyes and seeing it as the solid Bond film that it truly is, it does take many boxes. Sean Connery electrifies the screen once again being in his absolute prime here, totally selling that he is James Bond. And the casting for this film was spot-on from the beautiful Daniela Bianchi as the innocent Tatjana Romanova, totally making the chemistry with Connery believable and fun, the scariness that Lotta Lenya brought to Rosa Clape and the absolute brilliant performance by Robert Shaw as Red Grant with the fight between him and Connery being among the many highlights of the film. Compared to Dr. No, the series took a serious step up in its soundtrack, its action, its title sequence and even in its characters. I rarely see anyone rank this film below Dr. No. Dr. No is the more accessible Bond film though, I'll give it that. So from Russia With Love is classic Bond in its purest form. This was made at a time where the films still felt like they resembled the novels and were on the verge of finding its own cinematic identity because the Bond formula still wasn't perfected and still was yet to be shaped into what it would later grow out to be. That gives from Russia With Love a very unique feel as a movie it could stand by itself and works pretty well as a thrilling tale of espionage. A movie that does have some dated moments but at the same time also brought forward sequences that are simply timeless and should still be recognized as brilliant filmmaking. It's complex yet charming. It's pre-formula Bond yet at the same time it is also classic Bond in every meaning of the word.