The Single Biggest Mistake Every James Bond Film Has Made

23. From Russia With Love: The Slow Start

The Man With The Golden Gun Ending
United Artists

The second James Bond film, From Russia with Love is a terrific, endlessly exciting Cold War thriller with one of the best final acts in the franchise's long history.

In fact, it's a very strong contender for the finest Bond film of them all.

Of course, no movie is perfect and From Russia with Love does have one jarring flaw: it takes its time to get going and it makes for a slow viewing at first. James Bond himself doesn't even show up for 20 minutes and therefore the film does have a bit of an uneven first act (much like its predecessor).

Still, aside from this pacing issue, a mediocre Bond Girl and that dodgy scene involving the two Gypsy women fighting to the death (that sure as hell aged poorly), this is a definite classic and a worthy adaptation of one of the very best James Bond books.

Contributor

Film Studies graduate, aspiring screenwriter and all-around nerd who, despite being a pretentious cinephile who loves art-house movies, also loves modern blockbusters and would rather watch superhero movies than classic Hollywood films. Once met Tommy Wiseau.