007 Countdown Part 1 - From Russia with Love

Hello everyone and welcome to Some Like It Scott's latest Countdown miniseries: the 007 Countdown. This time, in honor of the upcoming release of the 25th film in the franchise, NO TIME TO DIE, Scott, Scott, and Jay will be revisiting an abridged selection of 007 films to see how James Bond has evolved across decades, storylines, directors, and actors. Starting with the legendary performances of Sean Connery in FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE and GOLDFINGER and ending with the full retinue of Daniel Craig's performances across the last decade and a half, the countdown crew will give their thoughts on 10 different Bond films. Join us each week as we dissect a different Bond film!

 

On the first episode of the countdown, Scott, Scott, and Jay venture all the way back to 1963 for the sophomore film in the franchise and the one that is known for establishing the Bond formula, FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE. Directed by Terence Young in his second outing, FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE finds Sean Connery's James Bond shortly after his successful mission in Jamaica, foiling the plans of and slaying SPECTRE member, Dr. No. SPECTRE want their revenge on Bond, and so they set a trap for him in Istanbul using an unwitting Tatiana Romanova (Daniela Bianci) to lure Bond in for specially trained Irish SPECTRE assassin, Donald "Red" Grant (Robert Shaw), to murder him. Once in Istanbul, things don't go as planned for either Bond or SPECTRE, as a game of cat and mouse leads ultimately to a famous showdown on the Orient Express. The countdown crew give their thoughts on one of the earlier entries in the franchise, whether Sean Connery lives up to his renown for the famous role, and whether this particular film has aged well nearly 60 years later.