Excellent Bond film! This is the type of adventure I'd like to see more of from Bond. Goldeneye had much of this, and I hope Casino Royale does. Robert Shaw was excellent as Grant. Surprised how good of shape he was once in.

A

A blond Robert Shaw made a great villain.

A-

B+

Great.

[font=century gothic]It's not just the best thriller in the Bond series, it's one of the best thrillers, period. The train fight is easily the best fight sequence in the series.

A+[/font]

Solid Bond film that's just a little too '60s for its own good. Some scenes are terrific (the train fight, the helicopter attack), but some are far too cheesy (most of the stuff in the first half). Connery solidifies his iconic performance, and Robert Shaw is a great villain, but the Russian Bond girl was pretty bland, and no one else really stood out. The action scenes are thrilling and the story is great, but it's quite dated and it drags at times. One of the better Bonds but not an outstanding film.

In an attempt to pretty much correct everything I've said about the Bond series before, here we are once again. After watching the film once again, I can easily say that From Russia with Love is not one of the best thrillers I've ever seen. It's not even meant to be. What it's meant to be is a spectacle and it pulls it off. With twice the budget of Dr. No, everything is twice as more larger than life in this film. The action has been signifcantly improved upon. Take the gypsy camp scene for instance. Although it's not the most well choreographed action scene to ever grace the screen, there is at least something happening.

From Russia with Love also brings us the series first great villian in Red Grant. I liked Dr. No as a villian because he was intelligent, but despite his metallic gloves crushing small golden statues, it didn't really seem like he could harm a fly let alone James Bond. With Grant, we get the first villian who could actually go toe-to-toe with 007 and kill him. The train fight is still one of the series highlights.

As for the women, I never realized how much of a stunner Daniela Bianchi actually was. She might not be as exotic as Ursula Andress or Famke Jannsen were, but she has an innocent, cute and proper look about her that now makes her one of my favorites.

I still have a couple of more Connery Bond's to rewatch (excluding Goldfinger which I will have more on later), but for now I can say that From Russia with Love is Connery's best Bond and one of the best film's in the series, if not the best.

****

This was always the most sleek and sexy Bond film, as all of Terrence Young's Bond films are.

A

Here we go. Now this is a little more like it. It's not quite the spectacle that was yet to come from the next three films, though that's pretty much to the film's benefit. It's starts off a little uneasy, and the scene at the gypsy camp feels completely out of place (still entertaining though), but there's an intelligence here that was almost completely absent from Dr. No. The plot is much more intricate. And when things get going on the train...it's Bond at its best.

****½ (A)

1. From Russia with Love (1963) - ****½ (A)
2. Dr. No (1962) - *** (B)

I can't wait for the new one, it feels like Bardem may be channeling Shaw in this film, who I think might be the best villain in the entire series.

As old as the Connery films are, I can still watch them easily over any of the Moore films, those films are truly dated, and Moore is just so unconvincing even in his younger appearances in the role. This probably is my favorite of the Bond series, but Connery's films are just so consistent.

It has one of the best storylines of a bond film...

Well well done and some great scenes and the ladies are pretty.

A-

Nice visuals, good story. Connery as classic Bond.

B