It remains one of the greatest action franchises of all time, but James Bond’s stories are also part of the most prolific action franchise of all time. With numerous iterations over multiple decades, the James Bond movies are essential films in the spy thriller genre. While fans have their favorite iterations of the character, there’s no denying the impact of Sean Connery’s Bond from the ’60s. With each new series in the franchise, there have been highs and lows, but each has been entertaining in its own way.
However, there are no James Bond movies quite like Sean Connery’s films from the ’60s. Playing the character over the course of a decade, Connery appeared in six films as Bond during that time, and each one became instantly iconic. However, none were as memorable as the original three, and while fans might still argue that Goldfinger is the best of the three, its predecessor, From Russia With Love, is the one that deserves more attention.
From Russia With Love Is Still One of the Best Bond Films Of All Time
Image via MGM
Despite having numerous iterations over six decades, Sean Connery’s Bond set the standard for how the character should be during his initial run as the character in the ’60s. With his cool and suave presence, as well as charismatic personality and witty sense of humor, Bond came to life for the first time in 1962 in the initial film Dr. No. Sean Connery’s performance, along with Terrence Young’s vision, established the way Bond films would look and feel and even inspired other kinds of spy thrillers that came out in the following years.
Starting out as multiple novels by author Ian Fleming, the James Bond franchise expanded exponentially with more than two dozen adaptations over the last 60-plus years. However, fans always discuss Sean Connery’s version of the character and especially that initial trilogy of films in the early ’60s. What Connery brought to the character was what fans would go on to see in every other iteration. Connery’s Bond was incredibly charming, had a way with women and maintained a commanding presence when taking on the bad guys.
What Connery and Young’s Bond films also did was establish an anticipation for sequels, which started with From Russia with Love in 1963. The direct follow-up to Dr. No captured the same essence of the first and took the story in a new direction. This time around, Bond is caught in the middle of a plot devised by Spectre, who is still not happy with him after his thwarting of Dr. No’s plan a year prior. Playing British Intelligence and Russia against each other, Spectre sets in motion a scheme in order to obtain the film’s MacGuffin, a “Lektor” decoder.
This even includes pitting Bond’s latest love interest, Tatiana Romanova (Daniela Bianchi), against him. Over the course of the story, Bond and Tatiana grow close, and a true relationship ensues. However, like with most Bond films, an element of distrust comes into play and is used to build tension towards an action-packed climax. What’s also memorable about From Russia with Love is the inclusion of Robert Shaw as Red Grant, who appears to be a deadly match for Bond all the way until the end of the film.
Doubling down on various elements of the spy thriller as well as the new Bond sub-genre that was being defined, From Russia with Love is remembered for being an entertaining Bond adventure as well as taking the story in an even grittier direction. This time around, Bond is forced to reckon with more formidable forces coming out of Spectre, and it means getting his hands even dirtier. However, From Russia with Love doesn’t just keep an interesting larger storyline going; it also exists as a perfect spy thriller all on its own.
From Russia with Love Is the Best Sequel of the Bond Franchise
Sean Connery’s James Bond lights his cigarette in Dr. No.Image via EON Productions
There’s an undeniable element of sophistication that it feels like From Russia with Love embodies. As entertaining as its predecessor was, it has a camp factor that it had to overcome at times. From Russia with Love goes in a more grounded direction as it features action elements that are more essential in the genre. Between a train sequence, helicopter hellfire and epic boat chase, fans got one of the most entertaining action movies of the ’60s in 1963. Fans could feel Terence Young channeling his inner Hitchcock and specifically North by Northwest when doing his first Bond sequel.
Sean Connery also feels like he’s even more comfortable in the role, highlighting a number of tense action scenes and balancing them with some of the most delectable one-liners in the franchise. Bond is funnier and more badass, but no less clever. The crux of the 1963 classic is the James Bond vs. Red Grant element that builds and builds throughout the entire film. Grant is portrayed as a mysterious and sly villain who may very well get the better of Bond. However, the writing is well executed and brought to fruition with its final moments on the train.
What’s consistent in Bond films are the set-ups and payoffs, especially with fun new toys for Bond to play around with. This is why the film features one of the best uses of Bond gadgetry in the franchise. From Russia with Love establishes the way Bond will get the better of his opponent early on when Bond is given new tools to use on his mission. In the final confrontation between Bond and Grant, these tools, as well as Bond’s own cleverness, help him overcome Grant’s upper hand on him, and it’s equally shocking and funny.
From Russia with Love has everything fans expect from a Bond film and a spy thriller. However, it also obtained a specific feat that no other Bond film has. While there have been a number of masterpieces in the franchises, they usually come along with an actor’s first, third or seventh time playing the iconic character. No Bond film aside from the 1963 sequel has been able to live up to and exceed the first. Roger Moore’s films wane initially, and then his best film comes along with The Spy Who Loved Me. Timothy Dalton’s films arguably get worse as they go, and Daniel Craig made his best film first, with the sequel a disappointing far cry from its predecessor.
From Russia with Love is the only direct sequel in the franchise to live up to the original. Even though Goldfinger is arguably still one of the best Connery Bond films, From Russia with Love deserves a lot of credit for continuing the franchise and maintaining the same allure of the original. Furthermore, From Russia with Love might actually be better than its predecessor. Highlighting key elements of the spy genre and doubling down on the greatest Bond elements, the 1963 classic is still one of the best Bond movies ever, and it is also one of the best spy thrillers ever. No spy sequel, especially a direct sequel, has ever lived up to Terence Young’s surprising 1963 hit.
From Russia with Love Is Still a Top Five Bond Movie
Image via Eon Productions
To this day, fans debate which Bond movie is the best and which one is a true masterpiece of the spy thriller genre. It’s hard to think of one of the more recent ones as superseding all the rest, but that’s exactly what happened. What’s interesting about the Bond franchise is the way it adapts Ian Fleming’s novels. Unlike most other book-to-film adaptation series, the Bond movies don’t adapt Fleming’s novels in chronological order. This is mainly because of a useful episodic feel to Bond’s adventures, but the overlapping elements are still key to the books.
Therefore, it took all the way until 2006 for someone to finally adapt the first Bond novel, Casino Royale (not including a spoof). To this day, Casino Royale remains the greatest Bond movie ever made, and only a few other films in the franchise come close to it. Among the top Bond films that do come close to it are Goldfinger, the trend-breaking Skyfall, Dr. No and From Russia with Love. All of Connery’s Bond films are iconic, but From Russia with Love will always be one of the best ever in the franchise.
James Bond (Sean Connery) illustrated near Bond Girls on 007 Dr. No poster
Created by
Ian Fleming
Latest Film
No Time to Die
Cast
Daniel Craig, Pierce Brosnan, Sean Connery, Timothy Dalton, Roger Moore, David Niven, George Lazenby
Character(s)
James Bond
