Bond - The Connery Years - From Russia With Love (1963)

Director: Terrence Young

Cast: Sean Connery, Pedro Armendariz, Lotte Lenya, Robert Shaw, Bernard Lee

Country: United Kingdom

Rating: PG

Run Time: 115 min

After the breakout success of Dr. No, famed producers Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman had another Bond adventure ready to go by the next year. From Russia With Love, the second Bond film, as well as the second to be directed by Terrence Young, is a noticeably more serious Bond devoid of the over the top tropes established in Dr. No and well known within the franchise. Whereas Dr. No established both the colorful and breezy tone of the series, From Russia With Love couples said breeziness along with a more brutal and gritty tone. In fact, From Russia With Love comes as a bit of a shock considering its lack of gadgets, singular villain, and the classic, "Bond, James Bond." 

While I am completely open to a stripped down and serious Bond picture made during the initial wave of breezy and colorful Bond outings, it pains me to express my opinion that From Russia With Love is a bit of a bore. This may come as a shock to some Bond heads, as From Russia With Love is highly regarded by many as one of the all time greats. Unfortunately, the first 40 minutes are nothing but torture. If I were to compare From Russia With Love's cinematic experience to a form of transportation, it would be that of a steam powered train, as it takes awhile for the thing to rev up its engine and chug along before it kicks into gear and gets moving full speed. Although the film does feature several inspiring elements, such as memorable villains, exciting set pieces, and a romantic dynamic between Bond and a Russian agent, the film's dreadfully dull first half drags it to the lower ends of the Bond spectrum, if only for a moment.

The trustee secret agent briefcase, complete with gold shillings.

SPECTRE, the evil organization, wishes to steal a Russian Lektor, a decoder device near and dear to the country that they will pay dearly for in order to get back. However, they also hope to enact vengeance on James Bond for murdering Dr. No, one of their prized agents. Therefore, the organization enlists a Russian agent, Tatiana Romanov (Daniela Bianchi), and tells her that she must trick and seduce Bond into stealing the device for them. Red Grant (Robert Shaw), SPECTRE's super assassin, will than swoop in, steal the device for himself, and than kill both Bond and Romanov, thereby eliminating all loose ends and enacting justice for Bond's previous meddling.

From Russia With Love operates nicely as a sequel because it forces its protagonist to deal with the consequences of his actions from the previous installment. In all honesty, SPECTRE somewhat deserves their revenge, as Dr. No's master plan was only to disrupt missile launches, not murder anyone (although, he did have Strangways killed and protected his island with armed guards). Anyways, Bond learns that he cannot simply have his cake and eat it too with this adventure, as his past comes back to bite him for the entirety of the film. 

The sequel also introduced a lynchpin in the James Bond iconography, the gadgets, and their respective Quartermaster, or Q for short. Q, portrayed by Desmond Llewelyn for the next 16 films, is a classic staple of the series in that he always appears to assign James Bond a new set of gadgets that will come in handy during his mission. Although every one of Bond's gadgets are particularly convenient, sometimes coming into play a mere hour later into the film, there is something slightly humorous about it all. It's a nice wink from the film to the audience, thereby allowing us to store the information about the gadgets in the back of our minds until they come into play later. It's a classic Bond tradition, and one that I adore.

Ali Kerim Bey, From Russia With Love's answer to Quarrel, the lovable sidekick.

Speaking of traditions, From Russia With Love gets us part way to establishing the Bond tradition of starting with a cold open, typically an action scene related or unrelated to the plot, and than following it up with a song related to the film. The beginning of From Russia With Love is truly a cold open, as we see Red Grant hunt down an impostor Bond and kill him in cold blood. The sequel also ends with a song instead of opening with one. In fact, the film doesn't even feature one utterance of, "Bond, James Bond." In a franchise well known for tradition, From Russia With Love is the odd one out, sandwiched in between Dr. No, the franchise establisher, and Goldfinger, the film that cemented Bond as a worldwide phenomenon. Let it be known for the record though that I do not hold any of this against the film's quality.

From Russia With Love's plot is fairly complicated, but only upon a first watch. A second viewing or some research after one's initial screening should help clear some of those plot details quite nicely. And while I already covered how much I adore the film's plot and how well it works for a sequel of this nature, From Russia With Love's downfall is its immensely slow opening act. Not only does James Bond not appear for 20 minutes, but the film doesn't get to any action or suspense (minus the cold open or bomb explosion at Karim's place) for a whopping 40 minutes until the film takes an odd detour into gypsy-ploitation. In fact, the entire detour into the gypsy village feels extremely unnecessary and adds to the film's plot in no way other than for Bond to help Karim take out an enemy of his.

The sequel doesn't make up for its dull opening until Tatiana Romanov arrives a half hour after her initial appearance. Once she and Bond team up to steal the Russian Lektor, the film becomes immensely satisfying to watch, as well as far more interesting. The tricky relationship between Romanov, a Russian agent forced by SPECTRE to deceive Bond, and Bond, a British agent who knows he is being played one way or another, supplies the film's meatiest substance. In fact, once the two get aboard a train on its way to the United Kingdom, From Russia With Love enters grade-A bad ass territory thanks to a welcome selection of fantastic action set pieces and an increased presence of Red Grant, one of the series' most memorable baddies. The tension that precedes Grant's fight with Bond, along with the brutal fight itself, makes for one of the series' greatest selections of suspense and entertainment.

The ensuing helicopter and boat chase are also great set pieces, with the helicopter sequence offering up an action scene that seems modeled after the iconic helicopter sequence from Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest, released a mere three years before From Russia With Love. While we're on the topic of Hitchcock, one could even state that North by Northwest, a suspense thriller with a comedic edge, foretold the modern action genre before even cinematic Bond came along. And while Ian Fleming's Bond novels were written before Hitchcock's film, the precedence of North by Northwest must have slightly influenced even Dr. No in its handling of action, espionage, comedic relief, and violence on the big screen. I bet even Hitchock's early espionage films from the 30s such as The Man Who Knew Too Much and The 39 Steps had some influence on Fleming's spy novels, thereby making it all one repeating circle of influence and inspiration.

"Have you ever looked in an agent's eyes, Bond? They're kind of like dog's eyes."

From Russia With Love is unique in that it plays to audience's expectations about the Bond franchise a mere film later while also denying the tropes established in the initial film. For example, the sequel nearly duplicates the sequence from Dr. No in which Bond arrives at the airport, takes a taxi, notices that he is being followed, goes to his hotel room, and inspects it for wires and bugs all while set to the Bond theme. This duplicated sequence allows viewers the chance to get familiar with the tropes of a series, even a mere film later. However, From Russia With Love is anything but a copy of Dr. No, as it features no singular villain, no evil lair, and little to no campy elements. Instead, the sequel features an overarching villain comprised of many sub-villains and feels more like a modern and realistic spy thriller with its brutal fights and grounded action.

Bond's second adventure also further proves how essential the supporting cast is to the series' success. From Russia With Love features two excellent henchmen(women) in the form of Red Grant, a deceptive and skilled assassin, and Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya), an exceptionally terrifying SPECTRE colonel who many fans will recognize from being heavily parodied in the Austin Powers series. Shaw, most well known for his performance in Jaws, is especially fantastic as Grant, a real shapeshifter of a character. Lenya is also terrifying as Klebb and conveys a somewhat sexual domineering attitude during all of her scenes.

The other excellent supporting player is Ali Kerim Bey, Bond's lovable and kind sidekick who steps in for Quarrell from Dr. No this go around. Pedro Armendariz conveys immense charm and kindness through his actions and personality, thereby making him an immediately likable character from his first scene. While I felt bummed by Quarrell's death in Dr. No, I gravely mourned Kerim's passing here, as the guy was nothing but lovable. Rest in peace to Bond's ever lovable side kicks. I also recommend that no one ever become Bond's sidekick, because they tend to die.

As fitting a title card as they come.

Upon a first watch, From Russia With Love may prove to be a bit of a snoozer or exceptionally slow. Upon reflection, it definitely is slow, but it's still solid Bond entertainment and one of the best installments once you reach the half way point. Terrence Young pulled off the rare feat of crafting a sequel that loosely pulled elements from its predecessor while also fighting against the Bond formula that had just previously been established. The film, much like Taken 2, also forces its protagonist to deal with the consequences of his murderous actions from the previous film, a plot device that I always adore. From Russia With Love can also be credited with partially introducing the concept of the set piece, lengthy and memorable sequences of a film filled with action and suspense. While it is definitely slower than Dr. No, From Russia With Love is a rare and mature sequel that seems like it will give more back to me and viewers upon repeat viewings and years of dwelling.

Rating: 6/10 - Although slow to the start, From Russia With Love enters masterful Bond territory in its suspense-filled second half. 

Bond - The Connery Years - Dr. No (1962)

Although I refer to myself as a die hard action fan, there are two major franchises in action cinema that I have never fully delved into: the Lethal Weapon series and the James Bond series. And while I will get to Lethal Weapon one day, I have decided to make it one of my goals this year to watch every single James Bond film in order from Dr. No to Skyfall. I already reviewed the latest entry, Spectre, last year, so that one is already out of the way. To be honest, I am not entirely unfamiliar with the series, as I have already seen I have seen most of Connery's films, some of Brosnan's, all of Craig's, but none of Lazenby's, Moore's, or Dalton's.

I know the tropes, the quips, the babes, the villains, and the gadgets already, but I simply have never seen all of the films from start to finish though. To be more specific, I have already seen From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, Goldeneye, Die Another Day, Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, and Skyfall  before embarking on this journey. I haven't even seen half of the series yet! Therefore, I can mostly certainly confirm that this is going to be one fun learning experience, as well as a pleasure to dive deep into the most well known action franchise of all time. After all, the very first adventure, Dr. No, is widely considered to be the first modern action film. And speaking of Dr. No...

Director: Terrence Young

Cast: Sean Connery, Ursula Andress, Joseph Wiseman, Jack Lord

Country: United Kingdom

Rating: PG

Run Time: 109 min

The very first James Bond adventure is a lighthearted and breezy spy thriller bolstered by a wonderful pace, solid direction, and an iconic performance by Sean Connery. Director Terrence Young and Connery probably had no clue at the time that they were crafting a legacy that would go on to influence countless other filmmakers, actors, and rip-offs. But alas, that's the pleasure of retrospectively looking back on a moment in time in which a studio and a filmmaker captured lightning in a bottle and forever created the modern action film as we know it today.

Dr. No established all of the tropes of its franchise by introducing a number of firsts. It features the first gun barrel sequence, the first appearance of Bond's theme, Bond's first hat toss, Bond's first flirt with Moneypenny, Bond's first time using a Walther PPK, and most infamously, Bond's first time uttering, "Bond, James Bond," accompanied by his first reveal in cinematic history. Dr. No may have been a standalone film at the time of its release in 1962, but it means so much more when retrospectively reflected upon within the grand scheme of its franchise. Nostalgia and film history aside, Dr. No stands up fairly well as a suave and hip spy thriller with mild action and thrills. It's not particularly exciting or gripping, but it's a fun comfortable watch. 

There he is, James Bond in the flesh for the first time ever.

Dr. No introduces viewers to the iconic world of James Bond through a rather simplistic murder mystery plot that connects to the disruption of American missiles. Confused? Read on. When Strangways, a British Intelligence Chief, is murdered in Jamaica, MI6 sends James Bond (Sean Connery), one of their agents, to investigate the murder and its connection to missiles being launched at Cape Canaveral. Upon arriving in Jamaica, Bond immediately encounters trouble with assassins working for the organization linked to the murder. Bond eventually teams up with Felix Leiter, an agent of the CIA, and his trusty sidekick, Quarrel, in order to investigate an island off the coast of Jamaica where radioactive materials were located in relation to similar ones found in Strangways' office. On the island, Bond comes face to face with the scientist behind the murder and various missiles' disruption, Dr. No (Joseph Wiseman), a member of SPECTRE, an evil organization.

The first James Bond picture established Sean Connery as both a movie star in his own right and the Bond to beat. It's amazing to think that Connery wasn't always a movie star, but everyone has to have their big break somewhere. Connery imbues his suave Bond with immense confidence, badassery, and sexiness to boot. He makes the secret agent both likable and admirable, even if he does sleep around with everyone woman he meets and greets. It's almost impossible to analyze and discuss the character and Connery's performance in an objective matter, as James Bond is so iconic and known the world round. Even if you haven't seen Dr. No, or a Bond film for that matter, you are probably already familiar with the character, his knack for judo chops, and his humorous witticisms.

Dr. No introduced not only Sean Connery and the character of James Bond to the world, but also several tropes that the modern action genre would become known for. One of the obvious ones is the one liner, or specifically Bond's habit of spouting witticisms, humorous one liners that get a laugh out of the viewer, draw attention to the action genre's ridiculousness, and make the character look bad ass all in the same moment. Arnold Schwarzenegger would not have been able to build a career without the notion of the one liner, a classic staple of the genre. Dr. No also helped bring once taboo material, such as casual sex and violent gun play, to the forefront within its plot. These elements would eventually become a staple of the modern action genre as well. After all, violence and sex in cinema didn't truly flourish until the late 60s with New Hollywood productions such as The Graduate and Bonnie and Clyde. Therefore, Bond can also be credited with addressing and depicting graphic material in a more adult, realistic, and somewhat playful matter. If anything, the modern action film owes its entire existence to cinematic Bond, especially Terrence Young's Dr. No.

Bond, meet Felix. Felix, meet Bond.

Bond's first adventure takes him to the tropical location of Jamaica, a fitting setting for a film as breezy and lighthearted as this one. Although danger is afoot, Bond appears to be more on vacation than on the edge of toes, thereby allowing the viewer to sit back and relax as well. The bright colors and memorable soundtrack help establish this breezy tone as well. It's worth mentioning that the Bond series, as well as the espionage genre in general, would go on to become a globe trotting genre spanning various locations and countries. Even though Bond only travels to one location for his first adventure, he would eventually go on to traverse several countries within one film.

James Bond's adventures would be for naught if it were not for the memorable supporting players and villains that he encounters along the way on his missions. Dr. No does a great job setting up several characters who would go on to reappear in various other Bond adventures, especially Bond's arch nemesis, the dreaded SPECTRE. We meet M, Q, and Moneypenny, the flirtatious secretary of MI6, all for the first time within the film. Even the lesser known but classic CIA agent, Felix Leiter, is introduced for the first time as a friendly ally of Bond's. Other notable supporting players include Quarrell, the first true Bond sidekick, and Honey Ryder, essentially the first notable Bond girl. The notion of the Bond girl is also introduced within the film, as Bond beds various women throughout and teams up with a lead female of sorts.

Besides Connery, Dr. No's other excellent performance comes from none other than Joseph Wiseman, Dr. No himself. Wiseman's ominous voice and Shakespearean theatricality brings gravitas and danger to a minor, but unforgettable turn as the film's lead villain. Dr. No is built up to exceptionally well throughout the film too. When he appears the first time, we only hear his voice over an intercom and immediately sense his superiority over others, especially Professor Dent. When he appears a second time, he creeps into Bond's bedroom and touches him in his sleep with his mechanized hands. When Dr. No is finally revealed, it is within his dining room set in front of an aquarium in his lair, a true super villain's appearance if I do say so myself. 

The titular Dr. No, grumpy cat's favorite Bond villain.

Besides his all around creepiness, Dr. No is made all the more unique by his mechanized hands, a result of his knack for radiation. It helps establish Dr. No as more than just a devious villain, but one with a unique appearance to him as well, a strong Bond trope that would continue throughout the series. Dr. No also introduces the audience to SPECTRE, Bond's great villainous organization who will return throughout his entries in the series. If I were to fault Dr. No for anything, it would be that he is slightly insane for thinking that a tarantula is the way to kill Bond early on in the film. Seriously, a tarantula? Otherwise, Dr. No is the first official Bond villain, and one of the all time greats.

Of course, Bond would be nothing without action, as the series helped establish the modern action genre as we know it. For a film released in 1962, Dr. No holds up quite well as an action thriller, although it is a far cry from some of today's action cinema. Bond's first adventure doesn't truly feature any action set pieces, and instead paces out its action and violence in small beats spread throughout its run time. There's typically a moment of suspense, death, violence, danger, or intrigue every few minutes, thereby keeping the film from ever being a dull watch.

The most brutal and bad ass moment in the entire film lies in Bond's outsmarting of Professor Dent. Even though Dent thinks he has the jump on Bond when he enters his room and shoots at his bed, he is surprised when Bond surprises him from behind a door and disarms him. When Dent goes for his gun, Bond knocks it out of his hand and than shoots him twice in cold blood! Now that's what you call bad ass. See, even Bond shot first. Bond and Quarrel's battle against Dr. No's fire breathing tank is also pretty awesome, even if it does end in the horrifying death of Quarrel. And even the finale, while rushed and quite short, is quite exciting. With a price tag of a mere $1 million, Dr. No is one of the most efficiently made action films of all time.

The first true Bond girl, Ursula Andress.

Dr. No is an utterly classic spy thriller and arguably the one that popularized the entire cinematic sub-genre. It also helped establish the breezy tone that the action genre needed at the time, thereby allowing audiences a chance to bask in escapist entertainment that is both fun and thrilling. Connery's first outing as Bond is also great, an essential performance in action cinema if there ever was one. While some modern audiences may want to lower their expectations in case they are expecting a fast paced and action packed film, Dr. No still has plenty to offer and is immensely entertaining from start to finish. Required action viewing for the uninitiated.

Rating: 7/10 - Dr. No is a breezy and hip espionage thriller with mild thrills and memorable moments galore. Arguably one of the most important action films ever made.

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Note: I should mention that I will eventually cover the unofficial Bond films, Casino Royale (1954), Casino Royale (1967), and Never Say Never (1983), but plan on focusing on the official Eon produced Bonds for now though, as they are the main films within the series. However, and as all action fans known, one runs out of major action films to watch eventually, thereby leading them down the road to minor and obscure titles (case in point: the unofficial Bonds).

Highlander: Director's Cut (1986)

Director: Russell Mulcahy

Cast: Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery, Clancy Brown, Roxanne Hart, Beatie Edney

Country: United Kingdom / United States

Rating: R

Run Time: 110 minutes

Highlander is the first in a surprisingly massive franchise of films, television, and books. The first entry combines elements of Scottish culture, sword fighting, and the amazing music of Queen. Highlander is a cinematic blender that takes different elements and finds a way to fuse them all into a unique piece of cinema. However, do these blended elements still hold up today? Read on to find out and to discover that there can only be one!

"There can only be one!"

Highlander's opening sequence is better than the film itself. It starts off with Queen's "Princes of the Universe" blasting over the credits. We than see a wrestling match as the camera floats over the crowd and pushes towards our main character in the audience, Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert). MacLeod leaves the match and walks down into a parking garage. Suddenly, a man with Aviator shades on pops up behind him and whips out an old sword. Connor pulls a katana out of his trenchcoat and than begins to duke it out with the man on top of cars! Why can't every movie start off this great? The film immediately plunges you into an exciting and surprising action scene devoid of explanation.

Highlander tells the story of Connor MacLeod (Christoph Lambert), an immortal who has lived for many centuries. He learned of his immortality when Victor Kruger (Clancy Brown) killed him on a Scottish battlefield long ago. Now that Connor has died at his age as a mortal, he will live the rest of his life at his age as an immortal. Juan Ramirez (Sean Connery), a Spanish immortal, teaches Connor all about the ways of the immortals. He prepares him for The Gathering, a time when all of the world's immortals will feel an urge to meet in the same place. In the film, that gathering place happens to be New York City.

Being an immortal means lots of unnecessary back flips.

There are plenty of rules to being an immortal. You can only be killed by having your head chopped off, you cannot have children, and cannot fight other immortals on holy ground (i.e. churches). Therefore, all of the immortals must kill one another in order to obtain the prize. In other words: THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE! Don't worry, they say this line a dozen times in the movie, you'll never forget it. The film is essentially all mythology building and set up for a battle between the two final immortals, Connor and Kruger. There's some romance along the way too but it's pretty weak and forgetful.

Christopher Lambert (Fortress, Southland Tales) is decent in the lead role. He looks so much like actor Thomas Jane that it scares me though. Lambert puts on his best Scottish accent but doesn't come off convincing at all. The problem with the character of Connor MacCleoud is that he isn't interesting or compelling. I found the plot and mythology that surrounded Connor to be far more interesting. MacCleoud is nothing more than a one-note character surrounded by far more interesting characters. It's also worth mentioning that this character is Lambert's claim to fame (unless you watched Mortal Kombat as a kid and saw him as Raiden).

Sean Connery (Dr. No, The Untouchables) also graces us with his amazing presence as Juan Ramirez, a Spanish man with a katana. Don't you just love that in a film with so many Scottish accents that Scottish Sean Connery plays a Spanish man? He gets to be Connor's mentor and is quite affective in the role. Connery is probably the best actor in the film. Honestly, when is Sean Connery not amazing? He also gets to show his sword wielding skills in an epic sword fight between Kruger inside of a collapsing castle. It's an awesome action scene that is made that much better by Connery's presence.

"It's better to burn out, than fade away!"

The actor who clearly had the most fun in the film is Clancy Brown (The Shawshank Redemption). He hams it up as Kruger, the ridiculously evil immortal that desires to kill Connor. Kruger goes through a lot of phases in the film. We see him in an armor made of skulls, a kilt with a terrible black wig, and than a punkish leather outfit with no hair and safety pins attached to his neck. I wish I could say that Kruger wins the fashion award for this film, but Connery's poofy bright red outfit is too hilarious not to be the best outfit. These entertaining performances by Connery and Brown save Highlander from its dull proceedings.

Highlander is told in an engaging non-linear manner. It bounces back and forth between the present in New York and Connor's origins in Scotland. We get a lot of mythology explaining during the flashbacks that also serve to explain MacCleoud's back story. To be honest, I think that the mythology needed to be more fleshed out. The audience is never given an answer as to why people become immortals. We also don't get to see friendly immortals have to kill one another. That would have been an interesting conflict to see play out. Instead, the film opts for the villain to always be the one performing the beheadings instead of a friendly immortal. Much like Roland Emmerich's mythology heavy Universal Soldier, Highlander constantly feels like a film that could have been so much more.

Fans of mystical swordplay will probably enjoy this film.

The choreography of the film's many sword fights rank from bland to average. Besides the exciting opening sword fight, none of the action scenes impress. Highlander is a rare instance where I actually enjoyed the story, characters, and music more than the action scenes themselves. The issue with a poorly choreographed sword fight is that it becomes nothing more than watching two people swing there swords in the same pattern: left, right, left, right, left, right. These sword fights could have benefited from more intricate choreography.

However, there is a saving grace amidst Highlander's wonky plot, bland action scenes, and boring lead performance: Queen. Legendary rock/pop group Queen wrote numerous songs for the film and they are all incredible. Many of the songs in the film, "Princes of the Universe", "Who Wants to Live Forever?", "It's A Kind of Magic", and "Gimme the Prize", are some of the best songs I have ever heard written for a film. It is mind boggling for a film of such average quality to have such incredible songs. Whenever a Queen song plays, you will become glued to the screen. If you have no intention of every watching this film, I beg that you download the film's soundtrack. Besides Highlander's interesting mythology, this soundtrack is the biggest reason as to why the film has endured as a cult phenomena for so long. I also am a huge Queen fan so I am a bit biased on this one.

You'd think there'd be only one but there are numerous sequels...

Highlander is ultimately a victim to itself. Its cheesy fight scenes, decent acting, and faulty script help make it a perfect representation of low budget 80's action. However, Highlander is a rare flawed film that makes up for many of its missteps in great strides. The soundtrack by Queen is truly incredible. It accentuates ever scene and helps push the film into must watch territory. The film's epic scale and unique mythos also helps elevate the film beyond its low budget trappings. Sure, it's still a low budget turd. But at least it's got ambition. Overall, Highlander is a recommended action film despite its over long run time and various flaws.

Rating: 6/10 - A silly but enjoyable sci-fi/action/fantasy that fans of cult cinema need to see. Lambert and Connery's presence should be enough to salivate any die hard action fan's needs.

Franchise:
Highlander (dir. Russell Mulcahy, 1986)
Highlander II: The Quickening (dir. Russell Mulcahy, 1991)
Highlander: The Final Dimension (dir. Andrew Morahan, 1994)
Highlander: Endgame (dir. Douglas Aarniokoski, 2000)
Highlander: The Source (dir. Brett Leonard, 2007)