Second film in the original Bond series is generally regarded as the best, or at least among the best in the history of the franchise. The plot, strongly influenced by then ongoing Cold War, shows how James Bond (played by Sean Connery) comes to Istanbul in order to retrieve Soviet decoding device from beautiful embassy employee Tatiana Romanova (played by Daniela Bianchi); she is, however, KGB operative with the task of seducing Bond. However, this is all just part of plan hatched by international criminal organisation SPECTRE with the aim to assassinating Bond. From Russia with Love is often described as the most realistic of all James Bond films; Istanbul locations are among the least exotic in the series. Yet, the film provides the audience with immense entertainment thanks to superb direction of Terence Young that provides good amounts of action and humour and allows audience to follow what would otherwise be too complicated plot. The main asset of the film is Connery at the top of his game, and he is also aided by many talented character actors in supporting but memorable roles. From Russia with Love has set the bar of quality high for all future sequels to reach.
RATING: 9/10
