From Russia With Love

Though it more closely resembles a prototypical James Bond adventure than its immediate predecessor, From Russia With Love nevertheless suffers from the same sort of pacing issues and erratic structure that plagued Dr. No – and yet there’s little doubt that the film’s action-packed final half hour proves instrumental in smoothing over its flaws. This time around, Bond (Sean Connery) must work with a Russian defector (Daniela Bianchi’s Tatiana Romanova) in an effort to retrieve a Soviet encryption device stolen by SPECTRE. It becomes clear fairly quickly that screenwriter Richard Maibaum has suffused From Russia With Love with elements designed to pad out the running time, with a bizarre (and entirely needless) interlude set at a gypsy camp clearly the most apt example of this. The deliberately-paced build-up eventually gives way to a thoroughly enthralling final half hour, however, as Bond finds himself forced to battle his way out of one sticky situation after another (including an encounter with Robert Shaw’s villainous Red aboard an Orient Express Train). The introduction of several Bond-movie staples, including SPECTRE’s Persian-stroking mastermind Blofeld and Desmond Llewelyn’s gadget-friendly Q, certainly cements From Russia With Love‘s place as a pivotal entry within the series, yet the relentlessly uneven vibe does ensure that the film can’t quite live up to its reputation as one of Bond’s best.

*** out of ****