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From Russia with Love
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - MGM Home Entertainment/Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Pat Pilon (20th November 2008). |
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The Film
 It didn't take long for SPECTRE to exploit James Bond's weakness. In only the second movie, the bad guys send a woman to lure James Bond and play him and to help them. This tactic is used even less subtly in 'Goldfinger', because in 'From Russia with Love', the girl doesn't know the whole plan. The plot in 'From Russia with Love' gets pretty convoluted – why Bond ends up in a gypsy camp with two gypsy girls is a bit of a mystery – but the basic plot goes like this: SPECTRE sends a girl – who thinks she's working for the Russian government – to Bond, in the guise of defection, so that they can get their hands on a Russian decoding machine. In other movies, the girl is in on the plan, but here, everybody is just a pawn in SPECTRE's plans. 'From Russia with Love' is more refined and more of a Bond movie that we know. Firstly, is begins with a pre-credit action sequence, which, as you learn in the commentary, was placed there to save on reshoots and editing. Second, there are gadgets. There's a nifty briefcase that ends up saving Bond's life. Third, the camera moves are much bigger and smoother. The plot is also more convoluted and intricate than that of 'Dr. No'. In short, everything is better and better, with more refinement and style. This is what a Bond movie should be. Star Sean Connery likewise knew what he was up to, and plays the part with the right amount of tongue-in-cheek playfulness and sexiness. His co-star, Daniela Bianchi is very cute and is very believable as the innocent agent sent to seduce Bond. Robert Shaw plays a nasty Russian agent, and one of my favorite Bond villains, the particularly nasty Red Grant. He's a formidable opponent and pretty cunning. The end fight between he and Bond is spectacularly tense and well made. The rest of the movie flows like any other Bond movie. He gets whisked from Istanbul to Venice, and it's all in a day's work. The locations and their photography are very nice. As I've said, the plot is convoluted, but is just about the least important element of the movie. Director Terence Young adds his own special touch to the movie, making everything look bigger than it should be, right up to the climactic explosion. It's huge and perfectly symbolic of the rest of the movie. The most ill-advised opening credits sequence aside, this is a great Bond movie, and a great action movie in general. Bond hit its stride with this movie and perfected the formula with 'Goldfinger'. Sean Connery is stellar as Bond and Terence Young's director is as assured as ever. Fans of the series will definitely enjoy this movie, and fans of Mr. Connery will undoubtedly enjoy it, as well. They’ll also get to see his weakness, if, that is, they don't already know.
Video
1.66:1 widescreen, using the MPEG4/AVC codec. As with 'Dr. No', the restoration work on this movie shows very clearly. Gone are all specs, scratches, blemishes and any wear and tear the print may have had. Colours seem to have been boosted slightly, though they're still accurate without being overly bright. Film grain is also present without being distracting or noisy. The level of detail is stunning given the age of the movie. Contrast is very nice and black levels are very strong, though shadow detail might be a bit low. However, the print is very good, showing you what the Bond movies looked like when they were released.
Audio
There's an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track for those who don't mind remixes, but MGM was also kind enough to include the original mono track. French Dolby Digital 5.1 and Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 mono dubs are also found. The lossless track is a very nice and faithful representation of the mono track, with few useless additions. The dialogue is always clear and centered. The explosions, gunfire and train sounds come from the centre, as well, but some of these are replicated in the front speakers to widen the environment. The rear speakers are used a little for score, but are otherwise pretty silent. It's a good track. English (HoH) and Spanish subtitles are present if needed.
Extras
As with other releases in the sets, all the extras from the standard DVD Ultimate Edition have been ported over. First up is an audio commentary by director Terence Young and cast and crew. Ian Fleming Foundation honcho John Cort acts as moderator, introducing interview clips and filling in the blanks, offering information when no clips are available. It's essentially the same in style and tone as the 'Dr. No' commentary. It has the same dry delivery, but the same amount of information. This track has a whole plethora of anecdotes about various cast and crew members. The funniest one happens at the start, as told by Robert Shaw about the James Bond in the pre-credits sequence. Lois Maxwell (Miss Moneypenny) and art director Syd Cain talk about their fascinating lives. It's wildly informative and, though dry, needs to be heard by Bond fans. Declassified: MI6 Vault is the first section, with four featurettes. The first is Ian Fleming: The CBC Interview (7:46) taken from around the time 'Goldfinger' was being released in theatres, I believe. The Canadian interviewer asks Mr. Fleming about the sexual themes of the books, which is pretty funny. Ian Fleming & Raymond Chandler (5:11) is an audio conversation between the two writers as they talk about heroes and anti-heroes. The discussion is a bit short, but pretty nice. Ian Fleming on Desert Island Discs (5:12) is another audio extra, this time talking about how he writes. There's also a short Animated Storyboard Sequence (1:28), which is actually quite surprising given these kinds of sequences from this era are pretty rare as extras. The disc's Credits (1:48) are also here. 007 Mission Control is basically a fancy scene-selection tool, based on various topics: '007', 'Women',' 'Allies', 'Villains', 'Mission Combat Manual', 'Q Branch' and 'Exotic Locations' The Mission Dossier has a two featurettes. First is the Inside 'From Russia with Love' documentary (33:46), which is wildly informative and consistently fascinating. There are plenty of stories to entertain viewers and talk of the troubled production is great to hear, especially considering the movie exists. Harry Saltzman: Showman (26:42) talks about the producer, and his rise to fame. They talk about this early life, which is as fascinating as Bond's, then move on to this success and his ailing health near the end of his life. It's a great watch. The Ministry of Propaganda has a Theatrical Archive with the 'Original Theatrical Trailer – SPECTRE' (3:46), the 'Bond Back to Back' trailer (2:01) and the 'The Biggest Bond Sale Ever' trailer (1:54). There are some TV Broadcasts promo spots, 'Sean Connery is Bond' (0:11), 'Bond All Over' (0:22) and 'More Thrills per Minute' (1:01)). Radio Communication are a few radio spots, 'Fantastic Bond Sale' (0:51), 'Famous Named Villains' (0:26) and 'Sean Connery Is...' (0:10). The promos are nice, but in the effort to sell the movie, they give away too many big moments. Lastly is the Image Database with extensive galleries on 'The Filmmakers', 'Ian Fleming', 'Portraits', 'Pinewood', 'Dressed to Kill', 'Lovely... Lovely', 'Tatiana Meets Rosa Klebb', 'Istanbul', 'The Gypsy Camp', 'The Orient Express', 'Scotland', 'Rats!', 'Back Projection', 'Smoke on the Water', 'The Lost Scene' and 'Around the World with 007'.
Overall
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