From Russia With Love

This is one of my favorites because it's basically a old school Cold War film. More or less. Bond has to retrieve a Soviet Lektor decoding device. See, that's not hard to follow.

This is the first time we have a pre-credit sequence, and it's a very good one. I bet a lot of you thought that Bond was dead. You were wrong. If this had been a JJ Abrams film I would have thought that the film was starting with a flash forward. But it wasn't and it didn't. Besides, he wasn't even born until 1966 if IMDB is to be trusted. You never know.

The opening titles are starting to take shape. These were the work of Robert Brownjohn. Good work if you can get it.

Kitty! And a million parodies were launched. This is the first time we kind of see Blofeld, Ernst Stavros Blofeld. It won't be the last.

As Rosa Klebb once said. "Training is useful, but it is no substitute for experience." What ever could she be talking about? Some say she is a lesbian. Others that she just really loves her job. All I know is she has a blade in her right shoe.

Desmond Llewelyn begins his long run as Q by giving Bond a briefcase full of plot points.

Back in the day they really just threw the James Bond theme in every chance they got. Here he is walking around a hotel room looking for listening devices and you would think that he is in the middle of a high speed car chase. When he finds one he is moved to the honeymoon suite. In there they have cameras. Six of a dozen, point five of another. Or is it swings and roundabouts? I get those confused.

Gypsy girl-fight! That was certainly exciting while it lasted. That scene went from Russ Meyer to Sam Peckinpah a little to quickly for me. By the way, was that Alfred Molina in the pink shirt?

This is also the first of the Bond films to use the 007 theme. I really like it. It's a bouncy little number.

I hate rats.

Tania's alias was "Caroline." Well, she was pretty in pink. Certainly prettier than Gypsy Alfred Molina.

"You may know the right wines but you're the one on your knees." If I had a box of wine for every time someone said that to me I'd invite every MILF in the county over for a party.

Having said that. it is one of the best fight scenes in the history of cinema. That's the thing about the Bond films--they are always having to one-up themselves. Sometime to their detriment.

Yes, the helicopter scene was more than a bit North by Northwest.

"I'm on a boat!" "I'm in a boat chase!"

And yet again Bond ends up with the girl somewhere out on the ocean.

James Bond will return in Goldfinger.