11 Things You Learn Rewatching From Russia With Love

By Jack Pooley / April 4, 2018

5. The First Act Shamelessly Rehashes Dr. No

Though From Russia with Love does indeed make some clever and brave choices, and also introduces a number of iconic new elements to the franchise - namely Desmond Llewellyn's beloved gadget-monger Q - large chunks of the first act do admittedly feel overly-indebted to the previous film, Dr. No.

This is almost laughably abundant when Bond arrives in Istanbul, is met by a driver and is immediately tailed. He then arrives at his hotel room and spends time checking his room for bugs. Sound familiar?

While the rest of the movie at least forges its own path, it's a shame there's so much familiar material in the early-going, even if Connery's sheer, confident charm ensures it never dares to be boring.