Review of From Russia with Love (1963) - The Astonishing Encore
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- Опубликовано: 4 сен 2024
- Note: I finally got a full video version past the bots, so while this one is remaining here, the better version is available here: • Review of From Russia ...
In Dissecting Bond, we now move onto From Russia with Love. Considered the favorite Connery film of many fans (unless they pick Goldfinger), is it too dated for modern audiences or does it stand against the test of time? Spoiler: It does.
Next in the series: Goldfinger
I have been binging your channel lately and something I have realized that I find refreshing is that you have a reasonably varied reference pool. Oftentimes, I get the impression from watching a channel that the person who runs it has a shallow pool of references and has little perspective outside their niche, and you thankfully demonstrate variety and a decent degree of depth outside your niche, and that is so nice. I'll definitely be recommending your videos in the future.
That sole always makes me so hungry. Never eat fish with red wine, that’s what I learned about this movie. What a film… 60 years old. Time to rewatch it again.
"Well, that should have told me something!"
Excellent analysis of the best Bond film!
I actually find it to be one that improves on repeat viewing. It's also one that I think appeals to a more mature audience. It felt dull to me as a kid, but is a favorite as an adult. It's got some of the best pure acting performances, particularly Shaw and Armendariz. It's the one film that you could kind of see actually happening in the real world.
Nice timing on this video for me as I just rewatched the movie a few days ago so it's very fresh in my mind. Your opinions really echo what I was feeling on almost everything -- it's not a perfect movie of course, but it gets so many things right that it really sucks you into its world. The Bond films are always great "comfort movie" viewing, but this one really has that Cold War spy dynamic nailed down with great characters and some good suspense, even if there isn't as much action as some of the other films. For example, the interplay between Bond and Kerim Bey is a big highlight for me, and Kerim Bey in general is just so much fun to watch. (And I would never have guessed that Pedro Armendáriz was in the last stages of cancer during filming. His performance was wonderful!) Also, it's a small thing, but the music during the hotel room search having such big differences in volume was something I was glad you called out in particular, as that really felt jarring on this particular viewing for me.
Another pleasant surprise! Your content always seems to arrive when I'm craving quality Bond. I just rewatched this on Saturday night, so perfect time for this to arrive. Excellent piece on an excellent film. Show this to anyone as one of the best espionage movies, let alone Bond movie. And Connery just is perfect. Thanks for this Stephen
My favorite Bond film. It took me at least 30 years to decide though. When I was a kid, my instinct was to pick The Spy Who Loved Me. It had Jaws, it had the car, it had all the action, and Barbara Bach. But it never quite sat right with me, and although it's still top 5, it never felt right at #1. From Russia With Love was always nagging away in the back of my head. I was too young to understand how it could be better than an action movie, but eventually I realized why I like it: the plot, the realism, and it being Bond vs Spectre rather than Bond vs Evil Billionaire + 1 goon. I like how Rosa Klebb is the "main villain" but she's just some old pencil-pusher, a kind of commie George Smiley gone bad. I love Kronstein too, and I wish he did more rather than less. I don't know why, I just like it when there are a lot of villain characters rather than faceless henchmen. It's why I like Live and Let Die too.
Definitely requires more of an adult taste than most Bond films.
Red Grant was a SMERSH agent only in the book, because in the book SMERSH was the antagonist, not SPECTRE. Even there, he was not filled with Communist ideals. He was simply a psychopath who enjoyed killing people and SMERSH let him do it. In the movie, he is strictly a SPECTRE agent and his motives are told to us by Klebb when she meets him. I believe her line there is straight out of the book. Now, in the book where she is a SMERSH agent, it is reasonable to say she has Communist ideals but in this movie, where she has defected to SPECTRE for reasons never identified, that would not seem to be the case.
I agree, this is my all time favorite Bond movie, for all the reasons you cite. Ali Karim Bey is my absolute favorite Bond partner (helper? companion?). I think this s because he is Bond's equal in every way. Bond in no way upstages him and they truly work as partners.
Well, this is the third of your videos I have watched, the other two being your rankings of villains and henchmen. I have subscribed. If you have not done a ranking of partners/helpers, I hope you do, I would love to see it.
Thank you for the support. I truly appreciate everyone here.
I'm sure some time down the road, I'll do the allies. Right now, I'm working on two videos, one of them being the Bond Women ranking.
@@stephenjarvis534 Girls, Bond girls, don't be politically correct. I will very much be looking forward to that one, I almost requested that too.
Allies! Good word.
Reading the chapter entled, "The Slaughterer" still makes my blood run cold.
Hanging on anticipation for the gold finger review
Assuming I don't have any more trouble with the copyright bots, sometime this week.
Definitely need a ranking of Bond assistants/partners. I guess the Felix Leiters would have to be combined like you did with the various Blofelds. Kerim Bey and Tiger Tanaka are two of my favorites. Some Bond Girls could also qualify: Aki, Kissy Suzuki, Goodnight, and Pam Bouvier come to mind.
It'd be an interesting "what if" the Bond series continued with the tone and style of From Russia with Love for future instalments.
Michael G. Wilson has said, "We always start out making From Russia with Love and we always end up with another Thunderball." I love bombastic Bond every so often, but if I could, I'd have more of Russia's spy thriller soup most of the time.
If not for Casino Royale, From Russia with Love would be my all time favorite Bond movie.
Terence Young's FIRST choice for Tatiana was German actress Elga Anderson-Gimbel (1939-1994). This is how Terence tells the story: Many actresses were tested for the part, but Elga was our first choice. She was in a film called Bird of Paradise and she got the part on those merits. She was going to be announced the next day to the press, but there was a disastrous screening of a new Judy Garland film ( I Could Go On Singing) and no one was in the mood for announcing anything. Then a top United Artists executive who had been trying to sleep with her, told us plainly that we couldn't use her because of her reputation. It was completely untrue. I found out later that she was a woman of impeccable character. But between the bad taste in everyone's mouth at UA about the Garland film, and this character's unfounded accusations, I couldn't get anyone to approve her casting. I liked Daniela very much, but Elga would have been better.
I had never heard that story. Fascinating.
@@stephenjarvis534 That pervert executive at United Artists was probably the Harvey Weinstein of the studio.
I completely disagree with your take on Kronsteen. I feel he is essential to the plot, though it doesn't become clear why until the film is nearly over.
In the scene where Blofeld brings Klebb and Kronsteen before him for an explanation as to why the plan failed, Kronsteen is killed when every indication suggests Klebb will be instead. In addition to being a shock to the audience, this tells us a few things. One, that the knife in the shoe weapon is poisoned, which is relevant for the final scene with Klebb and Bond, and Two, the Blofeld is the type of villain who is willing to kill a very well known public figure (A world renowned chess champion) after he fails him one time. Without Kronsteen this scene can't exist and Blofeld's character doesn't leave nearly as much of an impact.
I think that first point could be illustrated in some other way, but I like your second suggestion. It does indeed add to Blofeld's character (which is useful for the series), but it means that Kronsteen is entirely an extra entity to serve for other characters' stories. It doesn't fully fix my problem if he's supposed to have such an important role in constructing the plot. I feel like he needs to be a more prominent figure in the plan (like actually out in Istanbul helping out or giving orders to Klebb over the phone). Does that make sense?
@stephenjarvis534 I kind of see your point, but the impression I got when I watched the movie, based on the actor's mannerisms, is that Kronsteen's involvement in Spectre isn't his life's objective or anything, it's just a feather in his cap. He thinks incredibly highly of himself and his intellect, and involves himself in Spectre as a way to feed his ego since they are willing to recognize his talents. He doesn't seem to me the type of character who would be on hand for updates with Klebb. He considers himself to important to do anything except show up, explain to them his perfect plan, and leave. That's what makes his sudden death so gratifying, that it wipes that sly look off his face.
On another note, I am really enjoying these Bond retrospective videos of yours and plan to watch them all. I think you're crazy for not having Connery as your favorite Bond, but you do argue your points and preferences very well, so well done.
Really unfortunate that you couldn't use video clips for this!
Yeah, no one will be more surprised or pissed off than I about that. This is one of my favorites in the series and I always edit with film clips in mind; I often tweak the edits or audio to match the film. If RUclips decides to actually let me do what apparently so many others can do without issues, I'll replace this with the actual review, clips and all.
@@stephenjarvis534How does Calvin get to use actual clips?
@@darcyj19I know he sometimes has to deal with copyright bots. If I remember correctly, he had to battle a bit with them on his massive No Time to Die review. I wonder if 1) his use of self-footage plays a role, 2) he now uses picture backgrounds behind his footage, and 3) he's a big enough channel now to get past some of the challenges.
@@stephenjarvis534 Point to Calvin's use of clips as a point of evidence in your appeal?
@@darcyj19 If I could deal with an actual person and not an automated system, I would probably bring up Calvin and DutchBondFan