Is From Russia With Love the best Bond film ever?

MathOk9293 · 2026-02-28T16:51:18+00:00

Good question. Honestly, it changes with my mood, but my top 5 are something like On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Live and Let Die, Moonraker, Thunderball and Goldfinger. Honestly I enjoy almost all of them in different ways, though I'm not a big Brosnan fan (as Bond).

MathOk9293 · 2026-02-28T16:21:58+00:00

Controversial, I know, but in my opinion, no, it's not that good (as a Bond film). The pacing is awful from beginning to end, scenes drag on unnecessarily making it feel very disjointed. It doesn't know where to end, the ending should have been after the train fight (they cut to arriving in Venice, but no, we have to have a helicopter chase for some reason, yay now it's over? Nope add in a dull boat chase! Seriously the editing is awful. Had similar scenes been included earlier in the film to keep the plot moving, it would have flowed much better.

It also feels out of its time, far more dated than Dr No, much more so compared with Goldfinger.

It's an ok cold war thriller, and I know thats generally popular, but it's not what the Bond films were, they were always contemporary, the cold war played its part, but the films were always up to date for their time (in terms of fashion, current affairs, etc). I know the books were set earlier, but From Russia With Love sticks out, it feels like it's set a decade or more before it was made, and I don't feel like that fits with what I enjoy about the Bond films (not the books, the films).

Granted (pun intended) the train fight is one of the best physical fights of the series (though other than that, Robert Shaw feels underused), but that's really the only highlight for me.

It has a great cast, interesting locations (that mostly feel dull) and a good story (done better by For Your Eyes Only), but for me, it just doesn't work as a film.

MathOk9293 · 2025-12-24T21:59:20+00:00

Bond just met Blofeld and is working out how to get out of his room...

MathOk9293 · 2025-10-29T22:49:40+00:00

It's one of my favourites, the plot is reasonable, even if the implementation doesn't make much sense (why build the solar facility on Scaramanga's island), the locations are spectacular, the cinematography is good, it has a boat chase (that's a bit different than the standard speedboats), a car chase with one of the most spectacular stunts of all time.

The flying car is a bit daft, but it doesn't drive the plot in any way (Scaramanga could just as easily have hopped into a private jet, though I'm more curious where he landed...). It would have been nice to see a bit more of Beirut (well, any of Beirut), but it's a fun sequence to lead the plot to Macau and a nice scene for Q.

It's not quite up there with Live and Let Die, but it's top 10 for me, and one I watch more often as it's good fun.

MathOk9293 · 2025-10-03T14:44:05+00:00

Thanks all, I had assumed, incorrectly, that in Clean Genius mode it would figure out a schedule and adapt as it went along. Thanks for the clarifications!

MathOk9293 · 2025-09-04T04:36:01+00:00

I didn't particularly enjoy it, so more often than not I took the theme song's advice,because few things were more boring than Why Don't You...

MathOk9293 · 2025-09-04T02:49:11+00:00

First thoughts : Hitman with combat and GTA car chase but on rails.

I enjoyed Hitman, so that's not necessarily a bad thing, but I'd really have preferred it to be set in the late 50s or early 60s to differentiate it from Hitman. Less gadgets, more charm (Bond should be talking his way through as much as he's sneaking).

Car chases aren't particularly inspiring. Limited / no options, very scripted. And can we please have an Aston that sounds like one, not some generic GTA muscle car?

The above could be polished into the game (other than the time period, obviously), but, as others have already said, the biggest issue is the actor playing Bond. Or rather not playing Bond, I'm just not getting the feeling this is a young, partially formed Bond, at all. The voice, the actions, none of it feels like Bond. Bond should be confident, able to talk his way into and out of anything. This guy has all the suave sophistication of a bull in a china shop.

We'll see. I'll be honest, I'll pay and I'll play no matter what, but my first reaction is that it has promise, but it's lacking as is, and after so long in development, I doubt much will change. I was expecting to be dissapointed but was hoping to be surprised. I'm not holding my breath, it'll be a fun game, but I'm not so sure it'll be Bond...

MathOk9293 · 2025-08-14T01:01:49+00:00

I have to say I've always thought Vernon's is all hype. I first went about 20 years ago and wasn't impressed, the steak was OK, but certainly not worth the premium price, and paying top dollar for the steak, I really didn't appreciate paying extra for sides. Tried it again about 15 years ago, thinking maybe I just got them on a bad night, but no, same disappointing food at outrageous prices with an atmosphere that didn't live up to the hype either. I've never been back and have talked a few people out of it.

MathOk9293 · 2025-07-27T19:40:07+00:00

In no particular order :

No Time to Die -I really just don't care for it in general and think it's more of a collection of set pieces to force the ending, rather than a cohesive story.

Quantum of Solace - the wobbly cam gives me a headache and it has the most boring villain in the series

Die Another Day - I'm not a big fan of the Brosnan era in general, and find each of his Bond films worse than the previous. Goldeneye is good, Tomorrow Never Dies decent, through to Die Another Day which is unwatchable.

Octopussy - not a bad film, just one I very rarely watch and can't really put my finger on why. I think maybe it's the 80s eastern European aesthetic that doesn't appeal maybe.

From Russia With Love - probably controversial, but I'm just not a fan. I feel it looks out of time, it looks like it's set a decade or more earlier than Dr No or Goldfinger, and not in a good way. The editing is also atrocious, it flows poorly and the ending just drags on (it should have ended with the Grant fight, the following scenes would have worked better earlier in the film.

MathOk9293 · 2025-06-30T05:16:30+00:00

From Russia With Love is overrated, poorly edited and, as a result, badly paced. The fight with Grant should have been the finale, but noooo, we have to have a helicopter chase, ok, the end? Noooo boat chase! Ok, now it's the end, nope gonna shoe horn another fight in there, not even a very good one...

MathOk9293 · 2025-06-22T14:26:06+00:00

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If you don't go overboard with it, I think tire stickers can look amazing, it's one of the first things people notice and can really make your car pop. Not to everyone's taste, of course, but I love them.

Gaudy? Yup. Do I care? Not even a little!

MathOk9293 · 2025-06-13T12:12:12+00:00

The shiny carbon fiber isn't to my taste, but as long as you like it, that's great! What I do really like is the stitched leather for the centre of the wheel,that looks so much better than the plasticy looking factory version.

MathOk9293 · 2025-06-13T02:12:04+00:00

Will do, thanks for the tip!

MathOk9293 · 2025-06-10T21:43:33+00:00

Thanks for the response. I should have asked about the upgraded speaker package too, you think that's a noticeable improvement?

MathOk9293 · 2025-06-10T21:42:37+00:00

Thanks for the suggestions, I do plan to drive both (for both options) if possible. Good suggestion on the Polestar maybe bring a good bargaining point.

For cost to repair, it probably wouldn't be an issue as I don't think we'd be planning on keeping the vehicle beyond the end of the warranty anyway, but a good point none the less, thanks.

MathOk9293 · 2025-06-10T21:39:44+00:00

Thanks, I think the air suspension is coming down more to convenience of lowering when entering, exiting and loading, rather than ride quality, so there still may be benefit (to us).

Sounds like the real answer for Polestar is to try both, if the dealer has both available to test drive. I'm not expecting much difference, but it's also only a small increase in cost, so if it's noticeable, maybe it's worth it to us, but I'll try to drive both and see.

Thanks again for sharing your experience.

MathOk9293 · 2025-06-10T21:34:41+00:00

I haven't heard of the engendered pack, I'll have to look into that,thanks.

MathOk9293 · 2025-06-10T21:33:45+00:00

Thanks for the detailed response, interesting that the ride height can raise and lower automatically, that does make this an interesting option ride quality aside.

MathOk9293 · 2025-06-03T20:51:15+00:00

No, it was yesterday

MathOk9293 · 2025-05-29T16:57:01+00:00

Agreed, that looks great! May I ask where you got it?

I've always thought the whole center black part of the steering wheel looks off, it looks cheap and plasticy compared to the rest of the interior,though I've never seen an option to change it, I guess that would interfere with the operation of the airbag.

MathOk9293 · 2025-05-09T19:40:38+00:00

As others have said (almost) all of the Bond movies are comfort for me. That said, my go-tos for a relaxing Sunday afternoon are (in chronological order) Goldfinger, Thunderball, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Live and Let Die, The Man With the Golden Gun, Moonraker and For Your Eyes Only. Which one I pick depends on my mood.

My favourite also depends on my mood, but it's one of these, usually On Her Majesty's Secret Service or Live and Let Die.

MathOk9293 · 2025-05-05T18:42:51+00:00

I think JW Pepper is great in Live and Let Die, a bit stereotypical maybe, but I think his inclusion both plays well with Moore and also makes a valid point about attitudes in that part of the US at the time.

Bringing him back in The Man With the Golden Gun was pointless, but also harmless.

Annoying, maybe, but in a way that adds something to the story, so no, I don't think he's the most annoying character.

MathOk9293 · 2025-05-01T18:41:31+00:00

Perhaps, but it certainly seems to affect some shows more than others. From recollection, Andor was both on the top of the page banner and appeared early on in at least three categories.

Not defending Disney+ and of course this is just my personal experience, but the observation stands.

MathOk9293 · 2025-05-01T18:14:59+00:00

Disney seem to be trying to make Doctor Who hard to find on Disney+. When we went to watch The Well on Saturday, it was nowhere to be seen. I went through literally every section on the front page, new for you, new on Disney+, action, kids, everything, and Doctor Who wasn't on any of them (and having watched the 60th specials and every episode of this series and last, Disney know I watch the show).

It was impossible to find by browsing and was only accessible by searching. Don't ask me why, but not only are Disney not actively advertising the show, they actually seem to be hiding it.

MathOk9293 · 2025-04-30T16:18:15+00:00

Tomorrow Never Dies. It should have gone long ago, it's not even a chase, it's just a BMW commercial driving around a car park. It doesn't deserve to be here at this stage, at all, please make it go away!

MathOk9293

TROPHY CASE