From Russia With Love

Director: Terence Young
Starring: Sean Connery, Daniela Bianchi, Robert Shaw
Viewed: On TV


007 has had quite a long run on the silver screen. His last appearance was just 2 years ago in the action-heavy and confusingly-plotted Quantum of Solace, and in 2006, Daniel Craig wowed us in Casino Royale. Old Jimmy B started out way back in '62 with Dr No, and he followed that one with this, From Russia With Love.

It's clear from the outset that Connery's Bond (the original, I suppose) is a real suave dude, as he has to be. He's got lines like, "Your lips are the perfect size-- for ME that is". Oh, Mr Bond, please, I'm swooning. Blergh.
Despite some lame wisecracks and a pervading sense of narcissism, you can see how Bond could be seen as so desirable in this movie. He's sexy, successful and savvy, plus he's got a really awesome job- getting rid of baddies. Connery's 007 is cleary different from Daniel Craig's Bond in that he makes no attempt to give the character an intriguing or mysterious charm, he's more of an all-out ladies' guy with SEX written all over his smirking, swarthy face. The campiness has strong nostalgic value.

The plot here isn't exactly memorable, it's straightforward Russian spy business, so I won't really go into that. It's briskly paced as Bond hops from one European location to the next, deaths are quickly dealt, and characters rapidly drawn out. The villains are suitably villainous and the good guys appropriately jokey and genial. They are caricatures, but they serve their place in the drama of it all.

There's some humour to be derived from the more dated aspects of the film that have now become Bond stereotypes. The unbelievably chesty Bond girl, the cat-stroking anonymous villain and the ridiculously complicated gadgetry gave me a few giggles, as did the absolute seriousness with which the film regards itself.

From Russia With Love has all the Bond staples- sex, violence, exotic locations, beautiful women, evil foreigners and handy gadgets. If you want to see the essence of a Bond film, it's all here.

Rating: 8

Verdict: Fast, interesting and exciting- Classic Bond.