--- title: "From Russia with Love" year: 1963 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/from-russia-with-love" fi1m_score: 84 critics_score: 81 critics_reviews: 12 published: "2026-09-18T11:01:22.669897+00:00" updated: "2026-09-18T11:01:23.104731+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # From Russia with Love (1963) Directed by Terence Young · 1h 55m · MPA PG · Action, Thriller, Adventure **Fi1m score: 84** · Critics 81 from 12 reviews *In a sentence:* A blond man with a wire in his watch, a train across Europe, and for once a villain who could actually kill him > Terence Young’s second Bond film is the leanest the series has made: Istanbul in daylight, a train across Europe and Robert Shaw as a killer Bond cannot talk his way past. The women are short-changed and the last reel is padding; the rest holds. ## Synopsis Istanbul, 1963. SPECTRE, the international crime syndicate, wants a Soviet Lektor decoding machine and wants James Bond (Sean Connery) dead, and it means to get both in one operation. Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya), a Soviet colonel secretly working for SPECTRE, orders a cipher clerk at the Russian consulate, Tatiana Romanova (Daniela Bianchi), to tell the British she has fallen for Bond’s photograph and will defect with the machine if he collects her in person. M (Bernard Lee) suspects a trap and sends him anyway. In Istanbul, Bond is met by Ali Kerim Bey (Pedro Armendáriz), head of the British station, and shadowed by Red Grant (Robert Shaw), the blond killer the pre-credits sequence has already shown strangling a man in a garden at night. ## Review The second Bond film reached British cinemas on 11 October 1963, and it is the one the series has been trying to get back to ever since. Terence Young directs again and Richard Maibaum adapts Ian Fleming’s novel. SPECTRE wants a Soviet decoding machine and wants Bond dead, and arranges both by dangling a cipher clerk in Istanbul who claims to have fallen for his photograph. There is no volcano and no laser; there is a city, a train and a man who could actually kill him. It is the best-made film of the Connery run, and we would send almost anyone to it. Ted Moore shoots Istanbul as a working city rather than a postcard. The mosques are there, but so are ferries, back streets and a flooded cistern under the Soviet consulate where the British station keeps a periscope. Pedro Armendáriz plays Ali Kerim Bey, who runs that station, as a man who treats espionage as a family business, and his scenes with Sean Connery are the warmest the series has produced between two men. They drink, they compare notes on women in a way that has not aged well, and they seem to like each other. When the film leaves the city we missed it. The other reason it works is Robert Shaw. Red Grant is introduced before the titles, stalking a man in a Bond mask through a garden at night and strangling him with a wire pulled from his wristwatch, and for the next hour he follows Bond across Istanbul without saying a word. Blond, blank, in a pale suit, he stands on a station platform and watches. We were more frightened of him than we remembered being. It is the silence that does it: Bond talks his way through every room, and here is a man with no use for talk. When Grant finally opens his mouth, it is worse. Lotte Lenya’s Rosa Klebb is a small woman in a uniform who inspects Daniela Bianchi’s Tatiana as if buying a horse, and Lenya plays her without a flicker of camp. Connery has stopped demonstrating that he is Bond and simply is. Tatiana is written as bait and stays bait, and the script’s idea of her inner life is that she likes Bond’s mouth. Jocelyn Rickards dresses her in a ribbon and not much else for her first scene, which tells you where Maibaum’s interest lay. Lois Maxwell and Bernard Lee do what they will go on doing for a decade. John Barry’s first full score gives it a pulse the first film did not have, brass over a walking bass, and he holds Matt Monro’s title song back for the end credits. Peter R. Hunt cuts hard and short, and nowhere harder than in the compartment on the Orient Express where Bond and Grant finally meet. It is two men in a space the size of a wardrobe, and Hunt slices it so fine that you feel every blow without quite seeing one. It lasts perhaps two minutes and has been copied for sixty years. The flaws are real. After the train, Maibaum has a reel to fill and fills it with chases, one in the air and one on the water, and the film’s grip loosens with each. The plan requires Bond to do exactly what he does at every turn, and the chess champion who devises it is presented as a genius and is nothing of the kind. A fight between two women at a Romany camp is staged for Bond to watch, and we found ourselves looking at our shoes. Against the series’ own standards it sits at the top with *Goldfinger* and [*Casino Royale*](https://film.one/film/casino-royale), and it is leaner than either: 115 minutes, most of them in daylight, and one explosion of note. Most critics agree with us. Time Out found it less memorable than the louder entries that followed; we think the noise is what it is better off without. Watch it in the evening with the curtains drawn, and watch Shaw whenever he is in frame. He is doing more than anyone else while appearing to do nothing at all. *Fi1m score 84, published 18 September 2026.* ## What the critics say The reviews lean firmly positive, with eleven of twelve favourable and several critics placing it near the top of the Bond series. The praise clusters around Connery, who most feel has settled comfortably into the part by this second outing, and around the supporting cast, with Robert Shaw and Lotte Lenya named again and again. The close-quarters fight on the Orient Express is the sequence nearly everyone singles out, alongside the Istanbul location shooting, Terence Young’s direction and John Barry’s score. The reservations are mild and mostly date from the film’s first release. Variety calls the plot preposterous and notes the female roles are thinly served, while The New Yorker finds the direction often incoherent and enjoys it anyway. The Guardian judges it a shade less fresh than Dr No. Time Out is the lone mixed voice, finding it less memorable than later entries and short on their exotic flamboyance. The spread is narrow. ### Reviews we read (12) - **Radio Times**, Adrian Turner (5/5): The critic calls it one of the most popular and best Bond films, a terrific thriller with a marvellous atmosphere of foreign intrigue. They single out the superb location shooting in pre-touristy Istanbul and the memorable performances by Lotte Lenya and Robert Shaw. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-vgtcfo/from-russia-with-love/) - **Empire**, Kim Newman (90/100, inferred): The second James Bond film remains one of the best in the series, with a clever plot involving SPECTRE's scheme against 007. It features memorable set-pieces like the train fight and helicopter attack, along with strong supporting performances. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/russia-love-review/) - **Evening Standard**, Derek Malcolm (85/100, inferred): From Russia with Love is the critic's favourite Bond film, excelling due to Connery's comfortable performance in the role and a strong, watchable cast including Robert Shaw and Lotte Lenya. The expert direction by Terence Young, John Barry's score and vivid sequences like the Orient Express fight make it stand out. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/licence-to-thrill-7219862.html) - **RogerEbert.com**, Gerardo Valero (85/100, inferred): The critic calls it one of the best Bond films, with a complex but easy-to-follow plot, strong sense of menace, and standout fight scenes. He singles out the chemistry between Connery and Pedro Armendariz and the intense confrontation with Robert Shaw. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/far-flung-correspondents/from-russia-with-love-in-the-bond-canon) - **The AV Club**, Noel Murray (85/100, inferred): The critic finds From Russia With Love super-awesome for its tight construction, clever opening, SPECTRE-focused stretch, and intense train-bound climax that echoes classic thrillers. The Blu-ray presentation enhances its Kennedy-era cool, mood, locations, and music cues. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/better-late-than-never-from-russia-with-love-1798215190) - **The Telegraph** (85/100, inferred): The piece calls the film a taut, stylish espionage thriller that is slick, deeply sexy and one of Bond’s early masterpieces, singling out the gritty, influential close-quarters fight on the Orient Express for praise. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/from-russia-with-love-sean-connery-james-bond-007/) - **The Guardian**, Richard Roud (75/100, inferred): The review finds the film almost as good as Dr No, praising its fun despite being less fresh and fast-moving, and highlighting Lotte Lenya's superb tough performance as Rosa Klebb. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/sep/25/from-russia-with-love-review-archive) - **Variety**, Variety Staff (75/100, inferred): The review calls it a preposterous but skillful slab of hard-hitting, sexy hokum with a zingy pace after a slow start. It praises Connery's wise-cracking and the performances of Robert Shaw and Pedro Armendariz while noting the female roles are less well served. [Read](https://variety.com/1962/film/reviews/from-russia-with-love-1200420414/) - **The New Yorker**, Brendan Gill (70/100, inferred): The critic describes the film as idiotic yet engaging, with an elaborate plot full of twists and a sense of fun. He notes the direction by Terence Young is often incoherent but embraces that quality, praising Connery's performance. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1964/04/18/another-writer) - **Time Out**, Derek Adams (3/5): The critic finds it one of the better 007 films but marginally less memorable than many others, lacking the exotic flamboyance of later entries. They single out the evocative closing-credits song by Matt Monro for praise while noting the solid spy-caper plot and side characters. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/from-russia-with-love) - **Eye for Film**, Stephen Carty (90/100, inferred): The critic hails the film as one of the best in the Bond series, noting its grander scale than Dr. No while remaining gritty and avoiding later excesses. Connery's assured performance and the memorable train confrontation are singled out for praise. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/from-russia-with-love-film-review-by-stephen-carty) - **Den of Geek**, Mark Pickavance (4/5): The critic praises the film's darker tone, visceral espionage, strong characters, action sequences, and memorable moments, positioning it as a key step in the Bond franchise's development after Dr. No. The Blu-ray restoration is highlighted for improving visuals despite some grain issues in low-light scenes. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/from-russia-with-love-blu-ray-review/) ## Details - **Director:** Terence Young - **Director:** Terence Young - **Screenplay:** Richard Maibaum - **Novel:** Ian Fleming - **Cinematography:** Ted Moore - **Editor:** Peter R. Hunt - **Music:** John Barry - **Costume design:** Jocelyn Rickards - **Producer:** Albert R. Broccoli, Harry Saltzman - **Cast:** Sean Connery as James Bond; Daniela Bianchi as Tatiana 'Tanja' Romanova; Pedro Armendáriz as Ali Kerim Bey; Robert Shaw as Donald 'Red' Grant; Lotte Lenya as Rosa Klebb; Bernard Lee as M; Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny; Eunice Gayson as Sylvia Trench - **Runtime:** 1h 55m - **Certificate (MPA):** PG - **Release (the US):** 27 May 1964 - **Genres:** Action, Thriller, Adventure - **Budget:** $2 million - **Box office:** $79 million ## Where to watch in the US Not streaming, renting or buying in the US at the last check. Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HU, ID, IE, IN, IT, JP, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PH, PL, PT, SE, SG, TH, TR, UA, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *North by Northwest* (1959), Fi1m 89: Hitchcock’s cross-country chase, with the lightness Bond borrowed and never quite returned. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/north-by-northwest.md) - *The Lady Vanishes* (1938), Fi1m 88: A train, a disappearance and strangers who are not what they claim; the template. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-lady-vanishes.md) - *The Ipcress File* (1965): The same producer’s answer to Bond: glasses, supermarkets and a spy who fills in forms. - *Topkapi* (1964): Istanbul again, this time for a heist, with Peter Ustinov sweating through every scene. - *Casino Royale* (2006), Fi1m 86: The series finally remembered what this film knew: bruises hurt and villains should be frightening. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/casino-royale.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. 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