DVD Review: From Russia With Love (1963)

From Russia With Love (1963)
based on a novel by Ian Fleming (DVD From)

Mad at Bond (Sean Connery) for taking out Dr No, members of SPECTRE devise a plan to lure him out. They trick a Russian agent named Tatiana Romanov (Daniela Bianchi) into claiming she wishes to defect and will also turn over a Russian decoder machine called a “Lektor” as part of the deal. MI6 and Bond know this is a trap but as it’s too good to be true they send him anyway. Bond meets Tatiana in Istanbul where they break into the Russian Consulate and steal the Lektor. They then board a train posing as a married couple. A Soviet Secret Agent (Robert Shaw) is also aboard the train. Bond kills him and jumps off the train with Tatiana. Following that there is a boat chase scene where the bad guys try to throw explosives at him from their boats. Bond releases fuel barrels which were on his boat and then shoots at them with a flare gun, alighting the fuel and the bad guys. It seems that Bond and Tatiana have succeeded and make it all the way to Venice when Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya), the SPECTRE Agent in charge of this plan, shows up at the hotel and holds Bond at gunpoint. Tatiana knocks the gun out of her hands, Bond kills Klebb, and as always, the movie ends with Bond and the Babe getting together.

 

There were a lot of random moments in the one, including a whole scene where Bond hid at a Gypsy camp and was forced to pick a woman to marry another man…but it also had its moments and with a few good one-liners it was a worthy addition to the Bond collection.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try any of the James Bond movies or books — check out our exhaustive The Name is Bond…James Bond list here on BookGuide!]

[Also available in traditional print format.]

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this film ] | [ official James Bond web site ]

 

Recommended by Carrie R.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

DVD Review: Dr. No (1962)

Dr. No (1962)
based on a novel by Ian Fleming (DVD Dr)

A British agent and his secretary go missing in Jamaica. Agent 007, aka James Bond (Sean Connery), is assigned the case and goes to Jamaica where he gets help from a boat captain named Quarrel and a CIA agent named Felix Leiter (Jack Lord, before he starred in Hawaii 5-O). Bond learns the missing British agent was investigating a mysterious island called Crab Key. Upon his arrival at Crab Key he meets Honey Ryder (Ursula Andress), a blonde in a bikini (of course) collecting sea shells. They’re soon under attack by armed guards and are forced to hide. Unfortunately, they’re caught and are covered in radiation. After being cleaned of the radiation by the staffers of Crab Key they’re then tricked into drinking spiked coffee, and forced to eat supper with a mysterious metal-handed man named Dr. No. After further investigation Bond discovers Dr. No (Joseph Wiseman) is planning to destroy a NASA rocket that is about to be launched. Dr. No places him in a prison cell, which Bond breaks out of. He then disguises himself as a worker and sabotages Dr. No’s plan by blowing up his base. Bond and Honey Ryder escape Crab Key in the nick of time before it’s blown to pieces. The movie ends, as most Bond movies do, with him and the Bond Babe getting together.

 

While this movie was not the first James Bond movie to be filmed (there was a 1954 adaptation of “Casino Royale” for the American TV series “Climax”, which starred Barry Nelson as an Americanized James Bond), it is still considered by many to be the first “official” James Bond movie. I had never really seen any of the early Bond movies but did enjoy this one as it introduced many of the important characters — M, Moneypenny, Felix, Q, etc. — while also laying the groundwork for future recognizable James Bond themes.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try any of the James Bond movies or books — check out our exhaustive The Name is Bond…James Bond list here on BookGuide!]

[Also available in traditional print format.]

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this film ] | [ official James Bond web site ]

 

Recommended by Carrie R.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you watched this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Quantum of Solace: The Complete James Bond Short Stories
by Ian Fleming [Compact Disc Fleming]

This is a collection of nine short stories by Ian Fleming. There is a good variety of story lines in this set, featuring the iconic James Bond. Some are told in the present, some as a conversation looking back at a story in the past, and some as a mix. The settings also vary greatly, including London, Paris, the tropics, and the sea. All the stories are full of excitement and would appeal to readers who enjoy a mix of adventure, travel, war and spy stories. The library only has this on book on CD, but don't let this disappoint you. Because of the high quality narration and the page turning plots, you won't want to turn it off. -- recommended by Kristen A. - Gere Branch Library

[ official Ian Fleming estate web site ]

If you like this, you may also wish to check out our James Bond booklist -- The Name is Bond...James Bond

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

New Booklist - The Name is Bond, James Bond

A new booklist, celebrating the world of Agent 007, upon the 50th anniversary of the launching of the film franchise, has been posted to the BookGuide booklists page.

Scott C., one of BookGuide's mystery and thriller fans, has contributed a brand-new fiction list entitled The Name is Bond...James Bond, and covers every authorized "official" Bond novel, from those written by his creator Ian Fleming through the recent new releases by such authors as Sebastian Faulks and Jeffery Deaver.

In addition to the mainstream novels, the list includes the Young James Bond series, written for young adults, and the Miss Moneypenny novels, focusing on M's secretary and her fascination for the spy life.

Finally, since this list was inspired by the film series' 50th anniversary this year, you'll also find all of the official and not-so-official James Bond films, from 1962's Dr. No through 2008's Quantum of Solace.

If you like your vodka martinis shaken, not stirred, your sidearms of the Walther PPK variety, and your villains of the world-threatening megalomaniac flavor, you need to explore the world of James Bond!

My Word is My Bond

My Word is My Bond
by Roger Moore and Gareth Owen [Biography Moore]

Actor Roger Moore, best known as "The Saint" and James Bond 007, recounts his life, nearly chronologically, from his childhood in Englad, his plays, his movies, and his work with UNICEF. He mostly sticks to his ideal of "if you can't say anything nice about someone then say nothing at all" so this is NOT a kiss-and-tell book with nasty gossip about celebrities. As all good biographies do, this one has photos in the middle of the book. [If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Elizabeth: The Queen Mother: A Twentieth Century Life by Grania Forbes.] -- recommended by Charlotte K. - Bennett Martin Public Library


[ Page for this book on the official Sir Roger Moore web site ]

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month.

Staff Recommendation - Silverfin

Silverfin

by Charlie Higson

First in what is expected to be a 5-book series called Young Bond, looking at the life and adventures of future spy James Bond, when he was 13 and slightly older (2 are out in the U.S. and four in the U.K.). Teenaged Bond series have been done before, but with awful results. I was expecting more of the same, and thus was surprised to discover that this book was quite good. Instead of trying to modernize Bond as a contemporary teen, Higson sets his stories during the 1930s, and tries very hard to fit them into the continuity established in Fleming's adult Bond novels. The adventure in this first novel takes place as Bond is a first-year student at Britain's Eton boarding school (according to Fleming's story's, Bond will later be expelled), and continues as he visits relatives in the Scottish highlands over "the holidays". The characters are all sharply drawn, and the typical types of scenes common to adult Bond novels appear in modified form here -- the villain holding Bond at his mercy and explaining his whole scheme, exotic women (in this case a teenager), laughably bizarre character names, etc. This is an unexpectedly enjoyable series, aimed at teens, but as an adult I also liked it. My only complaint is that James acts and sounds like he's in his late teens instead of 13, but that's only a minor quibble. -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library/Reference

[ official Young Bond web site ] [ Charlie Higson page on Wikipedia ]

Have you read this one? What did you think?

Ten new reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog over the course of the entire month.

R.I.P. John E. Gardner

John E. Gardner, the British thriller writer who became the official authorized James Bond novelist from 1981 until 1996, died August 3rd in England, from suspected heart failure.

Gardner established himself as a proper thriller writer from his first book (The Liquidator, 1964), which introduced series character Boysie Oakes (star of 8 books), and was an impressive choice to pick up where Ian Fleming had left off with the iconic espionage character. Between 1981 and 1996, Gardner wrote 16 original James Bond adventures, though he was quoted in interviews as being somewhat ambivalent about writing adventure novels featuring a character not of his own creation.

Retiring from "Bond-age" in 1996, Gardner returned to writing his own completely original fiction, although from 1997 until 2001 he went unpublished, dealing with both medical issues and the death of his wife in 1997. He had recently achieved critical acclaim for his historical mystery series featuring a 1930s female Detective Sergeant named Suzie Mountford.

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Here are some links to additional John E. Gardner information:

Gardner books in the Lincoln City Libraries collection
John E. Gardner's official website
Obituary and Tribute on MI6 Bond fansite