From Russia With Love [Blu-Ray]

Strongly influenced by the topicality of the cold war and evolving Bond from the debonair and charming spy to a man who loses his cool and doesn’t shy away from hitting a woman in the name of espionage, From Russia With Love offers more of what Dr. No delivered, preceding the eventually canonized super-villains and absurd heroics. With helicopter and motorboat chases, in addition to a fight between two gypsy girls and a sassy slap ’em up between Bond and villain-of-the-day Red Grant, Russia ups the stakes of the game but still plays by the original rules. On this outing, Bond (Sean Connery) is detailed to go to Istanbul to find a top-secret Russian decoder from the embassy. Suspicions that the mission might be a trap become realities, as Bond helps a young Russian clerk (Daniela Bianchi) escape from employers who have convinced her that she is working for the Russian government when really it is the evil "SPECTRE” organization. Problems ensue and Bond winds up battling the evil Red Grant (Robert Shaw), an unrelenting killer. The Blu-Ray includes a commentary track that’s narrated with occasional interview clips of director Terence Young and various other cast members. The featurettes focus strongly on Bond creator Ian Fleming with "Ian Fleming’s CBC Interview,” Ian Fleming & Raymond Chandler Featurette” and "Ian Fleming on Desert Island,” which are ’60s television interviews and other various rough footage. This focus is unsurprising, as this Bond film was sadly the last for Fleming. The "Animated Storyboard Sequence” shows how the boat chase sequence was put together and "Inside From Russia With Love” covers the standard "making of” process. Also included is a "Harry Saltzman” featurette, along with an image database, trailers and TV spots, in addition to a discount on theatre admission to the new Bond movie that is affixed to the front cover in a manner that destroys the packaging when taken off.