From Russia With Love (1963)
The second in the series meant it hadn't yet settled into any sort of routine and is in fact a superior Cold War thriller more than a typical Bond film as such. In this Bond is attempting to get his hands on a Lektor cryptography device from under the noses of the Russians in Istanbul without knowing he is actually being manipulated by international criminal organisation SPECTRE.
Whilst gadgets and comedy are kept to a minimum From Russia With Love brought us the first very memorable villains in the Bond oeuvre with Rosa Klebb and her deadly shoe and Robert Shaw's excellent assassin Grant who is almost a match for Sean Connery's Bond in a brilliantly staged rail carriage fight.
There's so much to recommend with From Russia With Love i don't know where to begin. Wait, yes i do. Go and listen to Matt Monro's superb theme song and take it from there.
Arguably the very best James Bond film and equally a great film in it's own right.
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