From Russia with Love 4K 1963

After the success of Dr. No, it would have been foolish to delay the release of the second film, and exactly one year later, From Russia with Love hit the screens. The film was simply doomed to success, as the producers retained everything that had impressed viewers in the first installment: black humor, violence, and sex. However, the film would not be considered a deserved classic if its success were based solely on exploiting the discoveries of the debut film. It is with From Russia with Love that Bond acquires what will soon become not only his trademark but also the subject of numerous parodies: special gadgets, and with them their constant supplier, Q.

The film itself

It begins with a small surprise: Bond dies in the first few minutes of the film. Are numerous and unprepared viewers in shock? Perhaps. But the misunderstanding is immediately resolved—this is not the real Bond, but merely a target intended for training an elite mercenary. We can begin to worry about the fate of the agent with two zeros and one seven. Then Number One appears on the scene — the head of SPECTRE (who hasn't heard of SPECTRE?) and double Soviet agent Colonel Rosa Klebb — a formidable woman with lesbian tendencies (another taboo broken) who weaves intrigues involving Bond, a Soviet army sergeant with model looks, and the Lektor encryption machine.

All this leads to shootouts, fights (in the most impressive of which Bond clearly demonstrates the difference between a real agent and an imitation), and chases (no less boring than in Dr. No). And, of course, James Bond will emerge from all these entanglements without the slightest damage to his appearance or health. In my opinion, Dr. No is one of the best Bond films. Naturally, because of the memorable scene where Ursula Andress appears, where at the beginning of the film Connery utters the famous phrase: “My name is Bond. James Bond.” But most importantly, there is no technology. 007 could only rely on his wits and martial arts skills.

No gadgets (except for a device for measuring radioactivity), no special cars (Bond drives a Bentley). Just, as they say, gorgeous women and the barrel of a gun (a Walther PPK with a silencer, which Bond didn't want, but which served him well). I don't like spiders, so when a spider crawls on the agent, Sean and I both break out in a sweat.

This film created the image of Bond. Or rather, Connery created it (and I won't even mention that he remains the best Bond of all time). And despite its enormous predictability.