From Russia with Love

SPECTRE's number 1, the malevolent Blofeld with the help of his number 3, a former KGB dominatrix, and number 5, a world class chess champion, has developed a plan to lure 007 with a beautiful Russian spy carrying a secret decoder device under the guise of defection. Seeing this as a obvious trap, Bond travels to Istanbul to rendezvous with the stunning agent and do battle with the evil organization's muscleman (a young Robert Shaw) aboard the Orient Express. "From Russia with Love" is largely regarded as the best of the Bond series, and while it is a fun and exciting film, it is still an exercise in silliness. Unlike its predecessor "Dr. No" which started off strong and ended in absurdity, "FRWL" starts off turgidly and concludes wonderfully highlighted by the fight to the death on the train. Perhaps I got into this Bond project with the wrong impression of the series and too high of expectations. Still "FRWL" is an entertaining if a bit too campy cinematic excursion.