007 – From Russia With Love Review

Only the second James Bond thriller could be

more exciting than the first. You should remember

him. This man kills for pleasure. James Bond,

that notorious, amazing, Dr. No secret agent

is back. And half the world is out to kill him.

As he fits his murderous talents against the

Iron Curtain and its velvet women. Well, I'll

tell you something, Coltoni. You're one of the

most beautiful girls I've ever seen. I think

my mouth is too big. No, it's the right size.

For me, that is. From Russia with love comes

Tatyana. Bait for the trap. From the four corners

of the world come the men and women who play

a deadly, dangerous game of espionage. Do not

be alarmed, my friend. We will make you as comfortable

as possible. Codename Grant, Chief Executioner

of Spectre. My orders are to kill you and deliver

the Lector. Oh, I do. It's my business. M of

British Secret Service. The woman called Rosa

Klebb playing a double double cross. Klebb. Romano,

the door. Romano! They learn for him. They die

for him. From Zagreb to Sofia. From Venice to

Istanbul. From Paris to London. Agent 007 cuts

an inimitable path through the palaces and boudoirs

of espionage. Dems, you're hurting me! I'll do

worse than that if you don't tell me. I'm doing

this under orders I know. And what are they?

Even if you kill me, I can say nothing. This

is Mwire, movie we can review. on Twitter at

audible underscore com. And now the latest and

greatest in movies with MWIRE. Hello and welcome

to shake and not stirred and wires spotlight

on the bond films Which is brought to you by

the geek cast radio network and audible comm

I am one of your host Steve Joe and Mike and

joining me is movie revolt Dan. Hello. Hello

How are you? I am fantastic Awesome awesome.

And today we're going to be talking about from

Russia with love Again, neither one of us were

born in the 60s. So when was the first time you

saw this one? Wow, the first time I saw this

one, like Dr. No, it's probably on cable, not

straight through. I think actually when I first

sat down and watched it from beginning to end

was a few years ago when it came out on DVD,

kind of experiencing it that way. And then we

watching it again this year when it came on Blu

-ray. But yeah, probably the first time was on

cable back in the day. Just like last week, a

lot of the Connery films will be my first time

ever seeing them. In the same case here with

From Russia with Love. It was my first time seeing

it and as much as this film got critical praise,

I'm not a fan. So before we really delve into

it, let's head it over to JT from Saskatoon as

he... breaks down the plot for us and gives us

just the facts on From Russia With Love. After

the events of the first film, the villainous

Spectre organization plots its revenge on British

secret agent James Bond for killing Dr. No. The

plan, crafted by Spectre agent and chess grandmaster

Kronstein, involves tricking 007 into stealing

a Russian code -breaking device located in Istanbul,

Turkey. Under orders from Spectre leader number

one, Kronstein is aided by KGB double agent Rosa

Klebb, who plants the lure Bond into this trap

with help of Tatiana Romanov, a clerk at the

Russian consulate in Istanbul who doesn't know

that Kleb has gone rogue. Tatiana contacts MI6

saying she wants to defect and offers the Lector

code breaker, a prize both MI6 and the CIA have

been after for years, as a means of securing

the deal. 007 and MI6 head M both agree that

this must be a trap, but decide to spring it

anyway. Bond flies to Turkey and contacts local

station chief Kareem Bey, who in turn tells Bond

that the lector is in the Russian consulate and

it can be broken into despite its many defenses.

Bond then goes to check into his hotel, where

he discovers his room has been bugged and not

long after that, Bey is nearly killed by an assassin's

bomb. After briefing 007, Bey shows Bond the

flooded catacombs underneath his office and the

pair travel by rowboat to the Russian embassy.

When using a hidden periscope to spy on the proceedings,

Bay sees the assassin who planted the bomb and

nearly gets the two captured before Bond calms

them down. They later trail the assassin to his

hideout and use the turkish police to flush him

out into the open, where Bay kills him dead with

a sniper rifle. Bond later returns to his hotel

where he finds Tatiana waiting for him. They

spend the night together and Bond is unaware

that their lovemaking is being filmed by Spectre

agents through one -way glass. The next day,

Bond obtains a map from Tatiana of the Consulate

and plans to set up a small bomb as a distraction

so he can steal the Lector device. The bomb not

only covers his movements but also destroys the

communications room wall, which allows Bond to

make a clean getaway with Bay and Tatiana. The

trio then board the famous Orient Express and

escape Turkey headed for Venice, Italy. After

dealing with some Spectre assassins, Bay is killed

by Red Grant, another assassin who's been trailing

Bond this whole time. After killing Bond's MI6

contact during a brief stop in Sarajevo and taking

his identity, Grant introduces himself to Bond

and eventually gets the upper hand, holding a

gun on him. Grant then reveals that Rosa Klebb

recorded Bond shagging Tatiana early in the film

and that Spectre plans to frame Bond for killing

the young Russian and stealing the code breaker.

When Grant goes to get Bond a cigarette out of

his briefcase, a booby trap goes off blinding

Grant and allowing 007 to choke the villain to

death. Despite botching this attempt, Agent Klebb

is given a second chance by number one. After

escaping several more assassins sent by Spectre,

Bond and Tatiana finally arrive in Venice, and

while checking into their hotel room, are held

at gunpoint by a disguised Rosa Klebb. Kleb orders

Tatiana out of the room, who finally figures

out that Kleb has betrayed their country. She

fights the turncoat agent, eventually getting

a hold of her gun and shooting her dead. The

film ends with Bond being cleared of any wrongdoing,

the Lector device returned to the Russian government,

and Bond and Tatiana enjoying each other's company

as they cruise down Venice's Grand Canal. From

Russia with Love debuted in theatres on October

11, 1963 and went on to make almost $80 million

during its theatrical run. Sean Connery returned

to the role of 007 and led a cast which included

Daniela Bianchi as Tatyana Romanov, Pedro Armendariz

as Kareem Bey, Veledik Shabal as Kronstein and

Lot Lenny as KGB turncoat Rosa Klebb. The film

was directed by director Terrence Young, who

had directed Dr. No and would later return in

1965 to direct Thunderball. The film itself was

a hit with audiences, though it did generate

some mixed reviews at the time. Richard Roud

of UK newspaper The Guardian had a very backhanded

opinion of the film, saying it was immoral in

every way imaginable, but it was fun. Other critics,

such as Penelope Gilead of The Observer and Bosley

Crowther of The New York Times, both loved the

film. Gilead liked the flamboyance of the production,

while Crowther said he loved the improbable and

illogical tongue -in -cheek style of the show.

Many modern critics also love the film, saying

it's a definitive example of a Bond film, and

is refreshing that it lacks all the gimmickry

that a lot of audiences would later come to associate

with the series. From Russia With Love also holds

a 96 % fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes dot com,

just behind Doctor Knows 98%, and is considered

by many fans as the best Bond film. Trivia you

may not know about the film is that From Russia

With Love was the first film in the series to

have a title song. Entitled James Bond is back,

From Russia With Love. The song was sung by Matt

Monroe, a popular singer on the international

scene in the 1960s. The film is also the debut

of both Major Boothroyd, aka Q, Chief Armorer

of MI6, and The Requisite Gadgets. Such devices

include the booby -trapped briefcase, spring

-loaded knife shoes, and the garrote wire in

an assassin's watch. And it should be especially

of James Bond in 2005 after a 22 year absence

to voice 007 in the video game adaptation of

the film. From Russia With Love is the Bond film

in my opinion. It has it all. The intrigue, the

adventure, the suspense, the gadgets. Connery

really stepped up his game in this one refining

the character of Bond even more and creating

a definitive look and feel for the character

in a lot of ways. It just doesn't get any better

than this. This has been Just the Facts for From

Russia With Love. I'm JT from Saskatoon. Now,

back to MYR. Thank you once again to JT from

Saskatoon for providing us with the Just the

Facts for From Russia With Love. Let's run down

the cast really quick before we kind of get into

our thoughts on it. You've got once again Sean

Connery as Bond James Bond. You've got Daniella

Bianchi as Tatiana Romanova. voiced by Barbara

Jefford. What is the deal with these classic

bonds and they're acted by someone else but voiced

by... I don't get it. Usually it's probably because

the person that they hired was hired more so

for their looks than their acting ability. So

when they kind of went... back and watch the

footage or like, well, we kind of have to fix

this. Or it could be because the accent was too

thick or something like that. But yeah, it was

far more common back during this time than it

is now. Yeah. You got Pedro Arminar. You can

even pronounce his last name. As Ali Kermbe,

British intelligence station chief in Istanbul,

you got Ladi Lina as Rosa Klebb, the main villain

in X Smirsch. Colonel, now Chief Operations Officer

for Spectre. Robert Shaw as Red Grant, cunning

Spectre Assassin and one of the principal Bond

enemies. Bernard Lee again as M. Walter Gotel

as Morzini, Spectre Thug who trains personnel

on Spectre Island. Vladek Shibal as Cronster,

the chess grandmaster and chief planning officer

for Spectre. Anonymous credit for Anthony Dawson,

body, and Eric Pinshaw voice as number one. You

have Mr. or I should say Sir, probably. I think

he got knighted before he passed away. Sir Desmond

Llewellyn as Major Boothroyd, head of Q section

British Intelligence Gadgetry Department. And

a bunch of other people. Did some math here,

okay, I went on I went on Wikipedia And I looked

up because this film was out in 63, right? This

is one year after dr. No, I believe so. Yeah

I looked up Desmond Welland's age or his birthday.

He was born in 1914 according to Wikipedia And

in 1963, he was 49 years old. Wow. I didn't expect

him to be that old. He doesn't look. I mean,

yes, he has gray hair, you know, and all that

stuff. But again, for me, my first experience

with Q was Brosnan's films. And he looks really

old in those, but... Didn't expect him to be

that old because to me he doesn't in from Russia

with love. He doesn't look that old at all No,

he definitely aged pretty well Considering in

how long he was in the fun franchise He was 49

and in from Russia with love and he went all

the way up to you know the brazen days That's

you mean that's pretty impressive. He pretty

much outlasted everyone Yeah, pretty much um

When I watch this I will say later on when we

get to the Craig era that they again set up sequels

with 21 and 22 with Casino Royale and Quantum

of Boredom. And yes, I will constantly call it

Quantum of Boredom. I did not realize that Dr.

No and From Russia Would Love were set up as,

you know, first films, you know, sequel film.

No, I didn't realize either. I didn't always

assume that the Bond films were kind of separate

from one another and that Casino Royale was kind

of the first one that did it with Coctumus Solace.

But this really ties into Doctor Who with them

a lot. It's a direct result of Doctor No. I mean,

you really can't go into this without seeing

that movie. I mean, I guess you could, but I

don't think you completely understand it, especially

the beginning. My point of bringing this up is

I don't mind That this is a revenge sequel on

the part of the bad guys Now this is going to

come back into play when we get down to the Craig

era I hate the fact that Quantum Abortum is a

revenge film on Bond's part. Yes, last week we

spoke of how dark Bond can get and everything

else, and that's all well and good. He is an

assassin. He's a paid -for -hire assassin by

the British Secret Service. I understand and

get that, but there's a certain line that Bond

has that it's a very thin line that I just don't

think he should cross, and that's one of my major

issues with Quantum Abortum, and we'll get to

that when we get to it. I don't mind this, that

it's essentially the bad guys attempting revenge

on him for killing their agent, Dr. No. Yeah,

and it makes sense. And if you think Quantum

of Solace is a bad way to get to License to Kill,

because that's even more of a revenge film than

that movie. But yeah, I like seeing how the Bond...

What's strange about Bond, he's a secret agent

that everybody knows, in a way. But I was kind

of glad this kind of gave... Give us a reason

why because they knew what he did to Dr. Now

and they wanted to get revenge for it. So I appreciated

that I like seeing flow felt for the first time

but yeah, I was kind of it was not expecting

us I anticipated this movie that be completely

different than Dr. No So what I find interesting

about this and I is that You know the whole Revenge

for higher plot and everything else. I find that

interesting but I found myself having to take

breaks during this because it just It didn't

for for me watching from Russia with love. It

didn't flow as well as I thought dr. No flowed

There are a lot of scenes where it's just really

slow and just for me dragged on um, I could understand

that it's Would say I personally love from Russia

with love But it's it feels less like a bond

movie than dr. No does I think dr. No is more

better representation of the bond Formula than

then from Russia with love it when watching this

movie It feels more like like Cold War three

railings of the time or even it's cocking and

in a lot of ways like stranger from a train or

north North by Northwest like it has a lot of

use to those movies more so than a lot of you

know, the bomb It does feel completely different.

It is slow, but it's more of a slow burn than

Dr. No. Things take a while to set up. It takes

its time. It may take too much time, but yeah,

I couldn't that if you're going into this and

expecting a James Bond movie and you really get

something a little bit different. Yeah. And like

you said back in the GCR episode that we did

covering the overall. one of your first experiences

with bond was video games and my first experience

with this this movie was the video game of the

same name um and i always get stuck on that stupid

uh water level when they're in the tunnel when

they're in the catacomb yeah the boat i always

get stuck on that stupid scene because in the

game it's like right at the very beginning of

the of the game Don't know I just This movie

didn't grab me like dr. No did this movie really

has no mystery to it whatsoever No, really you're

watching you kind of know what's going on and

you're watching the like bond in Mi6 kind of

kept up with you Like a specter is kind of unleashing

their plot You're kind of you know what's going

on and you're just waiting them for them to kind

of figure it out So you're you're right there

really isn't Mystery here for us as an audience

Yeah, not at all What do you think of the from

Russia would love theme at the end of the film

being the first Well, I guess official bond theme.

Ah, it was okay. I I was not expecting it to

be honest with you I'm used to seeing the hearing

the bomb themes in the beginning. So in the beginning

Yeah, so I'm like, oh, I guess someone this doesn't

have one either but then they came on And it

reminded me a lot of Frank Sinatra in a way.

It felt like a cheap Frank Sinatra, but I enjoyed

it. I don't think it's one of the best. It's

far from one of the worst, but it's a good place

to start, but it's not one I would put on my

iPod, basically. Yeah, not at all. So getting

into my highlights for this one. I love how in

this scene when he's calling in, when Bond is

calling in to headquarters and the chick is just

constantly jumping all over him and she actually

grabs the phone out of his hand and says, no,

he won't be back, essentially tells Money Petty

he won't be back or whatever else. I like how

he smacked your hand like a spoiled child. I

thought that was great. And then the next scene

I liked, obviously, was Q Branche and the introduction

of Q as Desmond Llewellyn. Just the overall,

even in this, just the way that Desmond played

the role, just the way the character is, I just

absolutely loved it. I loved how he described

all the different gadgets in the briefcase. I

just loved every minute of it. It was just absolutely

amazing. He brings a lot of life to the movie

and like his his These are often some of the

best in the bond films and I love like his interplay

with bond I think he every bond he kind of has

a cool relationship with and we kind of see that

starting here with Sean Connery Yeah, I tell

you one moment that kind of shocked me was when

the The assassination attempt with the explosion.

I was like, well, I did not expect that I was

like what the hell Yeah, that kind of came out

of left field it was yeah, I was like whoa But

no, I didn't expect that I thought that was really

interesting and then we go to Gypsyville and

we have a 60s style WWE women's match nice Yeah,

that was kind of odd in a way Yeah, it was I

mean, obviously it was fun to watch but you're

kind of like this really makes no sense in the

plot of the movie But I can see why they're doing

it. Obviously. He's just yeah, let's let's have

two women fight for no apparent reason and But

yeah, that was interesting for sure And then

the end result is Bond gets to choose who won.

And what I can only assume, and we haven't really

brought this up, we didn't really bring it up

in Doctor No, but what I got to bring it up here

is I can only assume that he decided essentially

that it was a threesome and all three of them

had sex. Now, you know, we mentioned in the GCR

episode, go back and listen to that about how,

you know, Bond is a very sexual person, you know.

There is no such thing as safe sex here at all,

whatsoever. I don't think in any single one of

the Bond films that a condom is ever mentioned

or shown or anything, because that's just the

way that the character is. Do you think that

a threesome possibly happened? Yeah, I'm pretty

sure that's exactly what happened. I definitely

think they're hinting at it. Maybe people have

time didn't really grasp it. Maybe certain people

did but yeah bond it This is right during the

sexual revolution and that's when kind of things

were becoming a little bit looser they may say

and bond you can push it further and definitely

something like this and having the first on -screen

threesome and also the first Possibly the first

on -screen sex. It's lovely sex tape Also within

the same movie definitely kind of a little bit

shocking for the time. Yeah Yeah What are your

highlights for from Russia with love? What do

you like about the film? I'll be honest I have

a lot of highlights and I think they start I

mentioned the with dr. No, the first scene was

great and this is the first time we get the opening

title or the pre -title sequence and This one

actually ditch did surprise me What I love about

from Russia with love. I love a lot of the characters

I think it has too many characters, but it also

has some of the best James Bond characters, and

one of my favorite villains is Red Grant, and

we get to see him in the beginning and kind of

take down what we think is James Bond, but turns

out not to be. And I love that moment. I love

the Red Grant character. He's kind of a prototype

that we see repeated throughout the Bond films.

Kind of this muscular, blonde guy, often sometimes

Russian, not always. But what I liked about him,

he's not just a beat -em -up type of guy. He

is... Character that uses his my he tries to

trick James Bond. He tries to beat a spy just

like James Bond I appreciated that about the

character I love the scene with them on the Oriental

Express as at their dinner table when he's trying

to check him trick James Bond that he's an MI6

agent I like that because a lot of tension and

we didn't know what was gonna happen. I Appreciate

little like moments like that Yeah, along with

red grant. I think we have another great villain

in prostacleb Who scares the hell out of me?

I'm not gonna lie she reminds me of that elementary

school teacher that you would have that would

scare the children and she'd be the one that

will walk into the cafeteria and Everyone would

go dead silent because they were just afraid

of what would you do? She's missus. She's miss

trunchbull from Matilda You know what that's

actually Who I kind of, that's exactly who I

thought of. That's funny. I didn't want to pull,

bring that up. I'm like, I think people would

make fun of me for that, but that's exactly who

I thought of with Rosa Klebb. And it's hard not

to think of Austin Powers as well, because they

parried her so perfectly in that movie. Her weapon

of choice kind of, it seems kind of not the most

practical having a knife in your boot, but you

know, it's James Bond what you're gonna do. I

now know, the funniest thing is a couple of weeks

ago before we started the Shake and Not Stir

series here on Mwire, I don't know, it was late

night, Saturday night, whatever else, I was flipping

through the channels and I flip over to TNT,

lo and behold, guess what's on? Wild Wild West.

And I now know where the knife in the boot came

from. Because, what's his name? Gordon Artemis

Gordon in that played by Kevin Klein puts a knife

in Will Smith's Jim West's boot, so Yeah, I now

know where that came from. That's so awesome.

Yeah, and they go back I Watch I've watched another

day. I think before I saw this and they kind

of have a scene where they Show that the boot

with the knife in it too and at the time I had

no idea but when I watched that movie again after

seeing from Russia with love I'm like, oh I enjoyed

that moment a little bit more Yeah Now this is

also the film where you have the the strange

guy stroking the white cat Yes, Blofeld and being

a child of the 80s. I'm thinking they copied

off inspector gadget. That's not cool But obviously

it was the other way around but uh, but yeah,

that's uh, I I love lowfeld I love how they kind

of built him up We mentioned with dr. No how

it took a while before we saw dr Noah's face

It took a while before we saw james bond's face

and it's gonna take a while before we see lowfeld's

face It's gonna take a few movies actually, but

I I love how they built up this character gave

him a lot of mystery and I kind of enjoyed that.

What's more evil than having a white cat in your

lap as you're slowly stroking it? It's just a

little bit freaky, not gonna lie. Well, at least

the cat from Russia with Love didn't end up hairless

like in Austin Powers 2. Very, very true. That

would be even a little bit worse. Yes. What I

we talked about we talked about with the mystery

how there really isn't any in this which is true

but what I also liked is how respect with the

Java specter like we mentioned it's trying to

kind of Make a bigger rivalry between Russia

and the Allies How the my6 when they hear about

this plot they hear about what's going on They

assume it's a trap and they go over the brush

is just trying to trap us But you know, let's

take the risk anyways, but what they don't realize

is that it's really a trap by specter So I appreciated

that like, oh look, they know like all we know

what's going on But they really don't I kind

of liked how that was a little bit layered with

with the plot Lake with Jamaica, I enjoyed how

in some in San Bol was used here I don't think

it was used as well as Jamaica was. We don't

spend that much time in Sybil as much as we did

with Jamaica because all of Doctrine was in that

one location. But I enjoyed the time we had there.

I also liked Karen, Karen Bay played who played

by Pedro Armando Armando's. I liked his character.

You know, James Bond always has that one guy

that that one local that would help him out.

And I loved him. I thought it was really funny

that he had a lot of personality. He was kind

of like an older James Bond. He had all these

sons, all these beautiful women around him. You

know, it was kind of like you could see why he

kind of was very taken by James Bond because

I saw a lot of himself and and Bond. And then

I mentioned with Doctor No, there weren't many

great action sequences that I really enjoyed.

From Russia with Love had a lot of tense moments.

There was a good fight between what Rick Grant

and James Bond on the Oriental Express that I

thought was fantastic. And I liked the final

boat sequence. It was fun. Again, it's still

not there yet, but I liked how Bond kind of showed

that he's a thinker as well, and how he took

out all of these boats only using a flare gun.

I thought that was kind of cool. But yeah, those

are all my highlights. For me, boat sequences

don't get, that's just my personal opinion here.

For me, boat sequences in the Bond franchise

don't get fairly decent until, I think it's Man

with the Golden Gun. I like the boat sequence

in that. And then of course, Love the boat sequence

and in the world is not enough That was just

simply awesome I think you might like I'm sorry

to I think you might like to want to live and

let die I don't know. Okay. Well, yeah Yeah,

and and again one of the reasons not only because

we're celebrating five decades of bond between

November and December here in m wire here in

the cast or another reason is because we really

do want to go back and watch as many of these

films as we you know eighty eighteen out of twenty

three we want to go back and see them i haven't

seen live and let die in ages yeah i think so

but here's what you what what you think of that

but yeah like it i can understand because going

back and watching them a lot of the new run together

there's so many of them it's hard to kind of

remember what happen at one movie Plus, you know,

Roger Moore is the longest running Bond. So it's

too much more. For me, the lowlights, I only

wrote down two things. I kind of already mentioned

this one, but it didn't. This one for me just

didn't have the excitement and intrigue that

Dr. No had. Plus. What's your name, Miss Romanova

or whatever, Talier, Tita, Tito, whatever the

hell her name is at the end? She kept moving

her gun back and forth between Bond and the old

lady, as if she was actually deciding which one

to shoot, seriously? Yeah, that moment was kind

of weightless. Overall, I didn't really like

her character that much. I thought she was kind

of... she was she seemed like she was integral

to the pot but they really didn't do much to

expand upon her they wanted that moment to mean

something because she's trying to decide between

her country and James Bond but we have nothing

to indicate that she would choose either way

and like you and like you mentioned like we have

there really wasn't anything there that moment

wasn't nearly as good as it could have been if

they kind of did more to um you know But make

that character better maybe load out a little

bit more instead of it's just really thin and

the way that she Just the way the actress was

doing the movements of back and forth back and

forth. It was kind of like This is gonna sound

so bad and and British people I'm sorry. It was

kind of like the Queen or princess dire whoever

you know the the royal wave of sticking your

hand up and going from left to right it was it

wasn't like it you know it just seemed like it

was too fast it wasn't like she was like slowly

trying to decide between the two she was just

going back and forth back and forth back and

forth it's kind of like my rascal we are explicit

here and why ladies and gentlemen overall from

Russia with love it's not for me personally it's

not the worst Bond film but it's not one of my

favorites it isn't one that I will go back and

watch probably ever again I don't know so let's

let's take a quick break here here's some commercials

another good stuff and we'll come back with our

final thoughts on from Russia with love You can

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promo code KEYCASTRADIO when you register. We

are back, and I kind of pretty much already left

my final thought, but, you know, I'll say it

again. I just don't... This film was tough for

me to watch I don't know if it's the fact that

it's just essentially boiled down it is a revenge

plot for the bad guys or if It just like okay.

I love Q's introduction. I will always love that

that that's a great moment You know that's a

whole you know that that's what you know where

we first saw Desmond Llewellyn as Q and where

we will you know we'll see him you know throughout

the rest of franchise, but other than that the

The film as a whole, it just didn't grab me.

I don't know, what about you? It kind of came

away kind of the opposite from you with this.

I think it does appeal a lot to my personal sensibilities

as a moviegoer. I'm a fan of Slow Burn, so I

kind of love the 60s style when it comes to movies

like this. I'm a big fan of it. Like I mentioned,

I don't think it feels a lot like a mod movie.

It feels completely different at Doctor Now and

even different than GoldenEye and You Only Live

Twice. It's kind of the oddball in Sean Connery's...

Timus Bond, but personally, I love it. I love

a lot of the characters. Like I mentioned, there

are too many characters, but it also has a lot

of great characters. I love how the plot is layered

in the beginning and the last bit of the plot

is used for a lot of great tension and a lot

of great moments. I love Connery again. I think

Connery is even better from Russia with Love

than he was in Dr. No. I think he's more comfortable

with the role. I think he even has a stronger

presence. Like I do think it has issues, but

personally, I just love being in this world.

I kind of loved how it it tied in with Spectre

and kind of getting the seatbelt filled for the

first time. I thought that was a lot of fun.

But personally, I ranked this near one of the

better James Bond movies, but I could understand

why you would maybe be indifferent towards it

if it's not really in line with what you would

be expecting. Yeah, I mean, like. I agree with

you. Connery is growing into the role. He's getting

better as he goes along and he was damn good

in this as Bond. But as an overall Bond film,

I think for me, From Russia With Love is essentially

just a spy movie with Bond there. it's not yes

he owns the screen yes he does his you know he

does an amazing job but it's just like the plot

revolves around him and it doesn't really include

him i mean okay maybe that i don't know maybe

that sounds i don't know you you get what i'm

saying though where it's like all this stuff

is happening around him and and to other people

around him and yeah basically he's not propelling

the plot forward. Not at all. The events of the

movie are propelling the plot forward in the

way. Exactly. Red Grand is more responsible for

getting the movie started and kind of getting

everything going more than Bond is for the majority

of the film. I do agree with that, but I guess

that didn't really bother me. I just had a lot

of fun. I liked seeing Q again. I forgot to mention,

I did want to touch on this real quickly. I love

the first Q gadget. I love the briefcase. Obviously,

it's not the most fantastic bond it's kind of

you know more realistic but I feel it fits in

the movie really contextually really well and

it makes it seems realistic but I really like

love where it started and love where it's gonna

go even more yeah no I love the briefcase yes

it's not practical you know sitting in a gypsy

camp you know being a businessman suit and have

a briefcase but all the gadgets that are in it

and everything it can do. I love that about it.

What I didn't mention earlier, I thought I had

written it down, but I didn't, was as you said,

essentially the, what's his name, Red? Red Grant.

Yeah, Red Grant. He essentially starts the film

and I honestly thought that until that reveal,

I honestly thought that that was Bond and they

had, face mask technology back then I mean I

thought I thought that was brilliant how they

did that I thought that was great um but as an

overall the bond formula it for me this one just

doesn't work any other final thoughts um no I

think we kind of summed it up pretty well yeah

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next week when we'll be talking about Goldfinger.

That was a horrible Shirley Bassey impression.

Yes, I know. That's one thing that will never

happen in these Shagonaut's Dirt Things is I

will never sing, because I cannot sing to save

my life. For now, I am TF2 and Mike with... Movie

Revolt Dan. Thank you for listening! Until next

time... Do you expect me to talk? No, Mr. Bond,

I expect you to die!