September`s MI6 Bondathon is `From Russia With Love`

To celebrate the spate of upcoming Bond film anniversaries and the pave the way to Bond 23, we thought it was high-time the forum (Keeping The British End Up) pulled together for an official review of the whole series.

A film will be presented each month for viewing, discussion and review; running in conjunction with the main site, overall ratings and a selection of the best reviews will be published at the end of the month on mi6-hq.com.

From Russia With Love, the 1963 film starring Sir Sean Connery is the fourth film to go under review in the MI6Forums Bondathon...

Introduction

Only one man would willingly walk into a deadly trap. Only one man could hope to come out alive…

Sean Connery is Ian Fleming’s James Bond 007 in From Russia With Love.

From his luxury yacht, the leader of SPECTRE, the world’s largest and most powerful criminal organisation, plots to humiliate, scandalise and kill the British Secret Service’s best agent, James Bond. Slowly and insidiously, the cold and ruthless hand of Ernst Stavros Blofeld commands the cunning genius of Vladek Kronsteen and the fearsome lesbian brutality of Rosa Klebb, as together they weave an intricate net around their prey – until it’s time to strike.

Bond Producers Salzman and Broccoli originally intended James Bond’s second adventure to be based on Ian Fleming’s novel On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, but decided to run with From Russia With Love instead, as this was one of American President John F. Kennedy’s favourite novels. Casting the die for future Bond movies with a pre-title sequence, a theme song with lyrics, an action dénouement, and the line “James Bond will return” in the end credits, From Russia With Love delivers simmering sex, action and drama in one Bond-shaped package. Containing what is arguably Ian Fleming’s only cameo appearance, the movie is also critically acclaimed one of the definitive Cold War movies of its time.

Shot through with action and intrigue, From Russia With Love goes from the darkly gothic streets and sewers of Istanbul to the deadly jaws of the Black Sea, as James Bond is lured into SPECTRE’s dark killing bottle. The bait is the beautiful Tatiana Romanov, who may be all she seems, but in reality has a secret agenda that even Bond and his friend and ally Kerim Bey cannot work out until it’s too late. Shadowed by the deadly assassin Donovan “Red” Grant, Bond and Tatiana flee through the Balkan states on a train that can lead only to death. And all the time, the trap closes, leaving Bond alone, vulnerable, and on his knees at the mercy of a warped and psychotic killer.

When the light of hope goes out, only one man can prevail…

- Introduction by Sisillius

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