The main problem of From Russia with love...

There is great drama to the chases because there is an immediacy to them since 007 must get the Lektor out and SPECTRE is out to stop him at any cost. Compounding this is that he is on his own and must take Tania along as well. And it builds in terms of both scale and pacing which finally culminates in the fire at sea.

And they are done with such style and realism that they are truly great. I love the style in the burning plate shot of the helicopter as Sean is perfectly staged in shot embracing Daniela to deliver the killing blow of a line "I'd say one of their aircraft is missing."

The problem with TWINE has always been to me that the first and second unit materials simply are not meshed properly with one another. The action scenes run way too long and have a different energy to the first unit and thus the film gets bogged down.

Oh okay, I didn't notice a difference in energies in TWINE between the first and second unit and it meshed well for me.

ironpony wrote:

Why does the boat chase come crashing to a halt for TWINE though?

Once the bomb goes off in MI6 HQ, Renard's objective is achieved.

Renard: "Here's wotcher do, Cigar Girl: wait outside in a boat and shoot at Bond or anyone who pokes their head into view through the hole. If they happen to have a boat handy, I'll make sure you have a grenade launcher. If that doesn't take care of them, head for the Millennium Dome..."

Narratively, they could have gone to the titles right after the bomb goes off. The boat chase accomplishes nothing except to entertain with some admittedly cool stuntwork.

TWINE'S pre-credits sequence originally ended after Bond's escape from the banker's office, but it was felt that it wasn't 'enough' (pardon the pun). So they went back to the drawing board and came up with the boat chase, and we ended up with the longest pre-credits sequence in the series to date.

Yeah that's true, the boat chase could have come after the credits sequence, if that would have been better.

As for the cigar girl waiting to finish off Bond, I suppose things like this happen in most of the Bond movies, to have bigger action sequences.

From russia with love is now one of my fave in the series,but that was not always the case, whilst the plot is easy to follow for an adult ,as a young lad seeing FRWL at the cinema i found it a bit polarising. Another criticism was with the action sequences which were probably edge of the seat stuff in 1963 but which i always thought were a bit Meh. With maturity and a less critical mindset i now consider the Bond v Grant train fight one of the best in the series and the boat chase still holds its own, the helicopter chase i can happily live without. FRWL is Connerys favourite Bond and i suspect that is because it is a true espionage thriller in the same vein as say Ipcress file, he also sites the Script, locations and beautiful Danniella bianchi as the main reasons he holds this film in such high regard. So 57 years after its release and with 23 further films in the can FRWL still holds up as one of the best

This thread must have been called "The Main Problem of FRWL' for a reason.

For me, it's the theft of the Lektor. Tania was supposed to steal it from the embassy and bring it to Bond. Her 'offer' was meant to be perceived as an opportunity for MI6 to get a Lektor without deliberately antagonizing the Russians and risking bloodshed. Bond, however, decides instead to risk an international incident by bombing the embassy and stealing it himself.

He must have read the novel and knew that, left up to the Russians, they would give Tania a bomb in a Lektor case to deliver to the boffins at MI6. But EON had a cool sequence planned, and damned if logic was going to get in the way.

That's an interesting point, AMC. However, I always thought it was a parallel to Kerim's office being bombed. The Russians initiated an attack and now they're returning a blow.

Also, knowing how villainous the Soviets were, I'm not sure I really care Bond deliberately antagonises them in this case. Besides, it's a means to keep the protagonist active. Bond waiting around for Tanya to deliver the Lektor to him puts Bond on the back foot for something that originally makes the mission so enticing for Bond/MI6.

I only got to see FRWL when it was shown on TV, and it sits in my list of top five Bond films. A s a Bond fan you can see " The formula " is still being polished,  we get our first Pre-credits scene, a brilliant idea and sets up the audience for the thrill ride to come. Once again the titles themselves are very inventive with names projected on to the body of a belly dancer.
      First "Gadget"  it's another " What might have been" moment to wonder what the films would have been like if Peter Burton had been available to play Q , we'd never have had the legendary Desmond Llewelyn ( Who wanted to use his welsh accent, but happily was talked out of it ).
       So many memorable sequences but the undoubtable climax is not the boat chase but rather the claustrophobic and  brutal train fight between Connery and Shaw. The build up to the fight takes its time, Bond in a seemingly  impossible position but able to turn the cards on his adversary. No Marquess of Queensberry Rules here, Both men are out to kill each other. For 1963 this must have been a very brutal fight and  not matched in my opinion until the staircase fight in CR. Several countries like Australia censored parts of the fight.
   So far with Bond we've had a Madman in his secret lair story followed by a European espionage adventure, Bond was anything but predictable.

What truly makes that fight between Bond and Grant, I think, is not the physicality itself - as impressive as it is - but the build up: Connery's handling of Bond's vulnerability in those moments on the train is superb-- especially so when you watch and rewatch, noticing Connery registering every little response Grant gives him from the moment they meet. It's just as much a mental challenge as it is physical. The physical fight seems to come as a great pay off, the cherry on top, to everything else leading to that moment.