From Russia With Love (Special Edition)

How awesome! Thank you...Dallas! Everything checked out as mentioned! Fantastic classic & in Technicolor! Works well with player, great sound! Thanks for having it's availability & price worked well also!

Thumbs up for this movie.Four out of five stars.

Sean Connery--need I say more? It's fun to go back and watch the bond series from the original classic films. It's a must see --Dahling! - With Love from USA - E

In the second James Bond film they pitted Sean Connery against Robert Shaw a Spectre killer. Added to that was a Soviet code machine and the second major Bond girl Daniela Bianchi. Q made his first appearance along with the first gadget, a suitcase full of surprises. From Russia With Love is the only time in the history of the 007 franchise that they tried a traditional spy story. There are no mini helicopters or midget submarines or evil geniuses trying to blackmail the world. You just have Bond, a girl, a code machine, and an assassin. For those reasons it lacked the punch of the other movies in the series. That doesn't mean it's bad it's just not as exciting as what you would hope for from James Bond.

Many sources find this bond as the best, alongside goldfinger very good,everything u expect in a bond movie,lots of action.

I saw this movie as a kid when it was first out. It was great, it was different. Pre-Goldfinger.

When the James Bond spy thriller, 'From Russia With Love', was released it came to myattention, as a young boy, that the Catholic Church's Legion of Decency had banned thisfilm (Also banned that year, 1964, was, "Of Human Bondage"). This is a PG rated film andas usual the Special Features disk is not rated.Now, I had read all the Ian Fleming 007 books and loved the almost pulp nature of theirpresentation. Bond was not as sophisticated in the books as he was presented in the filmsbut when you are a young teen viewing beautiful babes and violence galore who caredabout those details.When I saw the list of banned movies posted at my church I decided to see this film. I wasjust old enough to get into the film and loved the gritty, fun attitude it exuded. The film, tome, was the best Connory/Bond he had ever made. Characters were more fleshed outand the bon vivant attitude of the protagonist was much more refined.I think 'Goldfinger' started the bad habit of Bond films going over the top on special stuntsand bits. But that's another film and issue for another time. Although, "From Russia WithLove" did introduce the 'gadget' Bond, which became a trademark part of each Bond filmfor decades afterward.The budget on this film had been doubled from the Dr. No production due to the incrediblesuccess of Dr. No world wide. Len Deighten had been screenwriting 'Russia' but was replacedby two writers from Dr. No., who appeared to have worked on a faster time schedule for theproduction team.One of the better casting coups was Lotte Lenya as Rosa Klebb. The director had hearda musical recording of hers and like it so he cast her. True? Don't know. Makes for a goodstory though.The film was restored frame-by-frame and contains DTS 5.1 Dolby Surround sound audio.You can also play the film in the original mono if you so choose and are feeling a bit nostalgicfor the old cold war mentality...and sound. The film is presented in 1.66:1 widescreen andlooks wonderful; clean and clear.On the second disk, Special Features, there is an interview with the book's author, Ian Fleming.Mr. Fleming had actually worked for MI5 for a short time, or so he said. Whether this was apress agents imagination at work or Mr. Fleming's, who really knows. He allegedly was a deskjockey and allegedly did no 'field work' at all.There are also original trailers, TV spots and Radio communications included on the specialfeatures disk as well as Audio commentary from the director, Terence Young, and members ofthe cast and crew.If you were to see only one Connory/Bond it would be this one. Less frivolous than those thatfollowed and yet better realized than the first, Dr. No. In short ,it is just a lot of good oldfashioned fun served up with a wink and a smile.

This was actually the next to the last "novelistic" Bond movie. "Goldfinger" was the last, and, oddly enough, started the overproduction juggernaut that would eventually kill the "cool spy" genre in movies. Bond, driven mainly by "Goldfinger"'s incredible combination of music, acting, gadgets, outsized goals of the villains and Connery's charm as the hero, sparked more imitators than just about any other franchise you can name, before or since. I say "mainly", because "FRWL" also had a lot of charm...in fact, there are people who would argue that THIS is the best pre-"Thunderball" Bond film, not "Goldfinger". What set the first three Bond films apart from their successors was the "pulp" quality to the settings, the faithfulness to the print origins and the perfect casting of just about every part. Who else could play Red Grant or Rosa Kleb if not Robert Shaw and Lotte Lenya? In "Dr. No", the movie would have had a much different flavor if there had been no Quarrel or Strangways or that spitfire photographer. Compare this with the eventual condition of the franchise where ridiculously elaborate equipment and escapes were mapped out for Bond at the last minute...heck, in Brosnan's last film, his Aston Martin could turn INVISIBLE, fer crissake!! No...the first three films were 1) More realistic 2) More involving 3) More cerebral, and this one is a prime example."FRWL" starts out all business and is a mix of humor AND business from the word go. "M" calls Bond via old radiophone while the randy field agent romances Sylvia Trench lakeside somewhere in the country. Bond drops everything, heads to MI6, gets debriefed and heads off to Istanbul to meet a pretty Russan agent who, indeed, has a crush on him. There is supposed to be an exchange of a Russian decoder that the West thinks is being given them by a defector, when SPECTRE is actually behind everything. Along the way, they run into a SPECTRE-trained psychopath, Grant, as well as Ali Kerim Bey, an affable old colleague of 007's, a gypsy band that supplies local color, and the inimitable Rosa Kleb, played by Lotte Lenya, the wife of Kurt Weill, co-author of "The Threepenny Opera".Things hadn't quite gotten cartoonish yet in the Bond universe, and this was an adventure with all the cues that kept it from feeling juvenile...a good movie for Dad and older brother, rather than a puerile quip machine for pubescents and tweens like the later ones turned into.All hail Connery/Dalton/Brosnan!BOOOOO! Roger Moore!!

As if Dr No wasn't good enough, Bond returns to London on a more topical note with his outing 'From Russia With Love', which I'll always argue is not only the most interesting Bond film of the series, but also the most influential for latter films.Because the films were not produced in the order of the Books (contrary to popular belief), it would make more sense for F.R.W.L to be the first Bond outing on film, given as 'M' suggests himself that he (Bond) isn't really required for the case, given it's less active nature. However, this may be the catalyst for what is the best representation of Bond, the Spy, in the entire series of film.Ian Flemmings day's at the MoD seep right through this story, even down to Bond's clever briefcase that eventually spares his life in the second half the film. The plot is satisfyingly simple; no-one is trying to take over the world, and the gadgets are kept to the minimum. Being in the second-decade of the 'cold war', it's Bond's job to recover a decoding machine from Russia after a tip off of it's location. However, SPECTRE are behind the trap as to lure Bond and the machine into their own hands.. For Blowfelt, it's also vengance for the late Dr No who was boiled alive in radioactive water (previous film).Their are few action scenes in this film, but the excellent dialogue and progression of scenes makes this a highly enjoyable outing that's totally believable. For probably the only outing in the series, F.R.W.L actually looks and feel's like a real cat and mouse game, as the Spy not only keeps running away, but has a considerable amount of charm that was only matched in Thunderball.What's painfully obvious is the amount of scenes that have been used again over the years in Bond films too; particularly the Roger Moore era, and they've all come from this film. The train fight at night and the boat chase are two examples of scenes that set have been re-formed some 15 years later; such as Live and Let Die, The Spy Who Loved Me, The Man With The Golden Gun, and more.Another interesting element is the soundtrack and mixing down, which is a lot more ambitious and forced than other titles, because theirs more progression to the film. Note how many of the same songs are repeatedly just faded in to try to add dramatic effect to certain scenes when it's actually unnecessary; interestingly in the scene where Bond check's over his first Hotel room thats bugged. It was only in latter titles, such as Thunderball, were the orchestra conducted a wider range of material for the events in the film. The title song by Matt Monro is lovely, yet again interestingly it was kept to the end of the film rather than the start.Like any of other film recorded pre-High Definition era, I would further advise potential buyers not to be led into buying old films like this on Blu-Ray DVD thinking that it will look outstanding. What people forget is that it's not possible to take Standard Definition film and magically turn it into High Definition by 'adding' more lines... The image may appear sharper, but that's about all, and it's a shame reputable companies are marketing these products as literally jumping out of your T.V.In summary, F.R.W.L may not be as technically astounding as any of it's brothers, but this is basically it's charm. Although I love the mysterious nature of Dr No, this film puts more focus on the topic and characters, making it incredibly engaging.If you like gags, watch the scene were Bond is hiding under the rock from the helicopter. When he fires the sniper rifle, his hat is on. When it cuts back to him a second later, it's gone!

"From russia with love" is probably the most intricately plotted of all the Connery bond films, storywise it has more scope and intrigue than the rather basic "Goldfinger" and Connery is more confident than his performance ( albeit a very good one) in Dr No. The story was somewhat changed from Flemings original novel and the screenplay went through lots of re-writes with regular Bond writer Richard Maibaum sometimes delivering script revisons to the actors on the day of shooting. The script was just not gelling properly and for a while it looked like the whole Bond franchise could come tumbling down before it had chance to start!, coupled with the serious illness of a cast member and then added re-shoots this was the most problematic Bond of them all! Fortunately it all came together and the movie went onto be a huge success around the world cementing Connery as a star.This new Blu ray edition is quite superb. Lowry digitals remastering of these films is nothing short of a revelation, whilst i wouldn't say that they look like they've been shot yesterday (it looks like a 60's movie should do) all traces of dirt and other picture gremlins have all been erased leaving a very warm and rich picture with lovely fine detail present in many mid and close range shots. Look at the scene near the start where Red Grant (Robert Shaw) is lying in a garden with a girl, it looks amazing, every blade of grass can be picked out - Beautiful. These new 1080p HD editions will look even more amazing to many as a lot of the Bond films have been seen in the years gone by on small tv screens with ropey VHS quality pictures, this is how this film was meant to be seen, so if your a Bond fan or are just discovering these movies then your in for a treat.The extra's are the same as the DVD 2 disc edition remaster but it fairly comprehensive with an audio commentary with many of the cast and crew inc the late John Barry. There's the usual making of,an interesting documentary on Bond producer Harry Saltzman and several interviews with Ian Fleming which are quite rare.Great films, great extras and even greater pic quality, this surely must be a no brainer!!4/5

James Bond goes to Turkey to team up with Russian defector in order to get the British a Lektor decoder, unknown to both of them this is only a set-up by S.P.E.C.T.R.E. so they can get the decoder and get revenge on Bond for the death of Doctor No.Second film in the franchise is one of Connery's best. He grows far more into the role slightly upping the charm factor whilst keeping the rugged "real man" feel, he was becoming a more well rounded character in this film. The film also boasts excellent performances from Robert Shaw as the memorable killer "red" Grant, Pedro Armendariz as Bonds sidekick in Istanbul and the great Lotte Lenya as the villainous & lecherous Rosa Klebb. Desmond Llewelyn makes his minor Bond debut as Major Boothroyd (known as "Q" from the next film on), the gadgets start appearing from here on as well, the bobby trapped suit case a standout & Bloefeld takes his bow in this film also, as does his white cat, in a couple of small but important scenes. The film contains some of the most famous and sequences of the series, Bond's fight with Grant on the train is the one of if not the best fight scene in the history of the series, Klebb an 007's confrontation is excellent and his first meeting with Tatiana Romanova is great. Terence Young returns in the chair and delivers a past paced and thrilling adventure with something always happening to hold the viewers interest & John Barry takes over from Monty Norman on the music (1st of his 11 films) and doing arguably an even better job.If there are any minor negatives I would a say that although she is a beautiful woman Daniela Bianchi as Tatiana Romanova, never really stands out as one the great Bond Girls, not that she gives a bad performance but unlike the previous Ursula Andress and what was soon to come, she was for me not that memorable.Well written, well acted and made, fast-paced Bond adventure definitely one of Sean's and the series best. A classic. 4.5/5

There are two reasons why this is one of the weakest James Bond films featuring Sean Connery. As has been pointed out in other reviews, I feel this effort has not worn well with the passage of time. Bond even wears a hat in this film! Just as Fleming's books were set in the 1950's and had a whiff of the 1930's about them, "From Russia with love" doesn't seem quite as visionary as "Dr. No", "Goldfinger" or "Your only love twice" which seem to point towards the futuristic or at least offered the film goer of the 1960's something forward looking. Thhis film seems very much set in it's time with it's portrayal of women, subserviant foriegners and steam trains. The story is actually more modest in it's scope (the capture of a secret Russian encryption machine) that any of the other Bond efforts and reigns in the excesses of other films in the series. In some respects, it doesn't quite feel like a Bond film at all. The other problem is that although Fleming could be extremely clunky and predictable as an author (if you read something like "Moonraker", it is clear to see why this took so long to materialise on screen and then the story was radically altered!) , "From Russia with love" is actually a very well structured novel. For Fleming, it is actually quite good. Much of the first half of the novel is given over to the implimentation of the plan to assinate Bond and we learn a lot of about Donovan Grant's employment by Smersch. This is only alluded to in the film ableit Robert Shaw's portrayal is pretty much as you would imagine him to be in the book. Fleming uses the two characters of Bond and Grant to differentiate between the free society of Great Britain and the totalitarian regime of Soviet Russia. I suppose this is typified by the repulsive Rosa Klebb whose character is sanitised on the screen. Anyway, the two halves of the novel offer a dark and light perspective which doesn't translate in the film. Accordingly, we get no idea of the level of stakes at which the Soviets are operating which adds another dimension in Fleming's book. Fleming's book is resolutely anti-soviet and the references to Communist meddling in British Trade Unions is illustrative of the fact that Soviet influence is something sinister and to be feared. In the film, the protagonists are amended to be working for Spectre and even the Soviets are unaware that they are being duped. Accordingly, Fleming's message is totally lost and what is a well-constructed plot in the book is replaced with something that never quite explained. Much of the rest of the film is based on the book with the helicopter and boat chase added to make the story more exciting on screen. The characters Kerim Bey and M are just as imagined. Connery is as good as ever even if this film lacks the scenarios and excitement of some of his other efforts. In conclusion, I think this is an ok but not a patch on the other efforts featuring Connery. You could almost imagine this being performed in black and white with Connery swapped for Cary Grant - it has that kind of antiquated feel about it. The later films were far zippier and more stylish than anything Fleming could have created. Yet, in "From Russia with love", it is as if the film makers were in such a rush to release a follow-up to "Dr No" that they entirely missed the almost Orwellian message within the novel. Perhaps the tone of the book was probably too dark for the film makers and subsequently out of keeping with the way the series developed. All told, "From Russia with love" is a bit of an anomolly and certainly from this reviewer's point of view, sits at odds with the films that followed.

You know what, some films over the years genuinely never deserved to be shown the light of day. Fortunately 'From Russia with love' does not fall into that category.I've never seen it before. I'm in my late sixties. The bond films just seemed to pass me by. I've read all the books four times and am just beginning to read them again.Time I thought to watch some bond films. I am going to work through in order. This is number two and what a cracker it is.Having loved Dr No the first I can now say I loved From Russia with love the second.OK I can see how it could be possible to be judgemental over these films. But I just enjoyed the simplicity of it all. I mean Bond will get the girl, the baddies will get shot or whatever. Gadgets and kitsch it's all here.Sean Connery is the man (RIP). He just looks like the real thing, but I mustn't condemn his followers. I want to enjoy my journey with all these films.Goldfinger next.