Directed with consummate skill by Terence Young, the second James Bond spy thriller is considered by many fans to be the best of them all. Certainly Sean Connery was never better as the dashing Agent 007, whose latest mission takes him to Istanbul to retrieve a top-secret Russian decoding machine. His efforts are thwarted when he gets romantically distracted by a sexy Russian double agent (Daniela Bianchi), and is tracked by a lovely assassin (Lotte Lenya) with switchblade shoes, and by a crazed killer (Robert Shaw), who clashes with Bond during the film's dazzling climax aboard the Orient Express. From Russia with Love is classic James Bond, before the gadgets, pyrotechnics, and Roger Moore steered the movies away from the more realistic tone of the books by Ian Fleming. --Jeff Shannon
Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating: Summary: Meet James Bond Comment: FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE while being the second in the series to DR. NO is the first in which the James Bond popular culture came to know and love makes his appearance and is often considered the best of them all. Sean Connery plays Bond a bit different from the character on the pages of Ian Fleming spy novels as well as turning in an improved performance over his previous effort in DR. NO. Connery made a Bond better fit for the screen, giving the character more personality, more charisma and humor than Fleming's buttoned-up, bland English gentleman spy. As one co-producer of the Bond films says,"We always start out trying to make another FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE and end up with another THUNDERBALL". Well, THUNDERBALL is just another good Sean Connery Bond action film while FROM RUSSIA.. is film classic. Customer Rating: Summary: The Best Bond Film Comment: I am a James Bond purist. I've seen each James Bond movie (except Quantum of Solace) at least twice, and own all of the Special Edition DVDs from 2002. I have come to the conclusion that this is the best of the Bond films.
I've read several of the James Bond novels, and I believe that starting with Goldfinger, the film series began to rely too heavily on gadgets and other things that distracted from the plot. This and Dr. No are the most faithful to the novel series, and they also have the best production values. FRWL is the better of the two.
Since I already own all of the films on DVD from 2002, I was reluctant to re-purchase them when they were released as "Ultimate Edition" DVDs a couple years ago. I wound up not re-purchasing them, and I'm glad I didn't. I just bought Dr. No and FRWL on Blu-ray, which feature better picture and sound quality than the DVDs, and also have better extras. I highly reccommend picking this (and Dr. No) up on Blu-ray!Dr. No (James Bond) [Blu-ray] Customer Rating: Summary: Ray, Blu Ray Comment: Since this is 2008, you have probably seen From Russia with Love. If not, seek out one of the other hundreds of reviews here that talk about the plot points, set pieces and Sean Connery. They can fill you in better than I can. What I will concentrate on is this new Blu-Ray release. Having owned just about every other version of this movie (Beta [Yes Beta...I blame my Dad for that], VHS, Laserdisc, and DVD), I can easily say this high-def release is the best. If you also own this movie on another format and are waffling about buying the Blu-Ray release, do it...especially if you are a Bond fan.
With a nice DTS 5.1 soundtrack and a slew of extras, this will be a great addition to your Blu-Ray collection. I know it is to mine.
Customer Rating: Summary: Good, but not as good as others say. Comment: The plot is confusing and the villain is bland, but Connery is great are as his Bond girls. And it slowed down, but had a stellar ending. Worth a watch. Customer Rating: Summary: Oustanding! Comment: This film has never looked so beautiful. The Blu-Ray edition is outstanding and plays perfectly on my PS3. Can't wait to see more Bond releases on Blu-Ray!
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