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sambart93 · 6 years ago

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Messiah: Genya no Koku [Movie Review]

Another quick review I wanted to do. So I got to see this twice and I got to theorise with one of my friends after both reviewings and we were both going crazy with fanfic ideas after this.

In true Messiah style, I watched this and fell right back into the hell pit that is Messiah. I love this series. I don’t think I’ll ever leave it. But that’s what DV does to you xD

Official Site here Press/Pics/Videos 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

The Story

The story is set just after Tsukuyomi where Itsuki agrees to trading himself in so they could get Ariga back. During the transfer, Ariga makes it back to HQ safely but Itsuki, along with Saryut, goes missing. They have been captured by the real Nightmare and he makes them do a little treasure hunt before they can escape his clutches. Meanwhile the rest of the boys, including Suku, try to track them down, and save them. But past actions make a reappearance.

We also have a side story of Sakura having to protect a Prince with the help of his shady bodyguard. And they also end up being connected to the main plot.

Entering SPOILER TERRITORY!

*This is a huge series so I don’t recommend you jump into this one without scene the previous work from it*

Spoiler Story

So Itsuki and Saryut wake up in Nightmare’s Lair and they are trapped inside with a bunch of people who, one way or another, want to take revenge on either Itsuki or Saryut. So they attempt to kill them but obviously our boys are more than capable and handle the entire situation on their own. But they keep one of them alive. However, Nightmare kills the man’s daughter for failing to kill Itsuki and Saryut and for siding with our boys. Itsuki and Saryut stop the man from committing suicide and persuade him that ‘you should take revenge on Nightmare because he’s the one that killed your daughter, not us.’ So Nightmare lets them move from room to room, but in each room is a hint or a scene that reminds Itsuki/Saryut of something terrible they’ve done in the past. And they cannot move onto the next room without facing what happened and explaining that terrible scene/situation.

While they are trying to get out of there, Sakura (on one side), and Suku & Doctor X (on the other side) are trying to find their boys. Eventually they find the same trail and the same hints, end up meeting up, and they momentarily join forces so they can get their boys back.

We also have this Prince who Hinamori and Kogura are in charge of protecting a prince, but after being caught transporting the Prince to safety, shots are fired and the Prince runs away, even leaving his bodyguard behind. Turns out the Prince is also wanting revenge of Itsuki (for killing/assassinating his father) and that Nightmare had invited him to watch their stream (of them going through the rooms), and he eventually makes his way to the location of the boys.

In a horrible twist though, when Saryut and Itsuki make it to the last room, they’re both knocked out. Saryut knocks of Itsuki after making a deal with Nightmare behind Itsuki’s back. And Saryut is then knocked out by Nightmare. When the Prince makes it to the location, he revenge shoots Itsuki (who has a bag over his head), but turns out it was his bodyguard who Nightmare had wrapped in Itsuki’s clothing and put a bag over. Nightmare enjoys that fact that he tricked the Prince to kill his only true friend and is reveling in the fact that the Prince has now actually fall into a Real Nightmare (the entire theme of the movie is that death is not the nightmare, living is the real nightmare).

Itsuki wakes up after being knocked out and Nightmare reveals himself. He was actually the guy they decided not to kill right at the very beginning! He just pretended to be someone else. Itsuki wants to know why. Nightmare reveals that he is actually the Prince’s older brother, and that when Itsuki killed their father, their father actually had all his child heirs and child relatives locked up; with his dying breath their father had hit a switch that gassed and killed all the children. Nightmare’s daughter was one of them. So he wanted revenge on Itsuki.

Although Itsuki does blame himself for all those children dying (and still has PTSD/nightmares/flashbacks from it), it’s actually revealed that the father/King was using the children for his own sick experiments --> he wanted to create people who couldn’t feel any pain (turns out Saryut’s group was helping to conduct those experiments). And when Itsuki found the King, he actually decided not to shoot because the King was threatening to turn the switch on (to gas the children) if Itsuki did shoot. But the guards in the palace came bombarding in and one of those gun shots hits the King. So as a last ‘I will not go down alone’ sick selfish way, he pressed the switched and killed them all.

However, it is very important to note that only the audience knows the truth. Itsuki never reveals to Nightmare, to Saryut, nor to anyone what really happened. He just purely and honestly feels it was his fault all those children died.

So now that Nightmare has Itsuki alone, and Nightmare himself was one of the past experiments (and successful) who can feel no pain, he asks Itsuki to fight him til one of them dies. Unfortunately, Nightmare gets the upper hand because of his lack of feeling, and just before he shoots Itsuki flat in the face, Ariga walks in!

Ariga literally woke up, quickly found out what happened, and got his ass over to save Itsuki! Together they kill Nightmare and walk away, with 2 or 3 bullets in them each xD but thank god they survived!

Suku also finds Saryut in the very first room Itsuki/Saryut woke up in and helps him out. Saryut asks why someone like Suku wanted to help save him, claiming that Suku usually doesn’t care for anyone else. Suku replies ‘because it would be so boring without you,’ and they leave.

That’s all the main points!!

Comments

☆ I absolutely loved the plot of this story! I loved all the twists! I absolutely loved this trapped building/room theme! I absolutely LOVED the twist with the Nightmare reveal, switching Itsuki for his bodyguard, the Prince shooting his bodyguard, Ariga running in at the last final minute. Every single reveal was amazing and I was just like ‘OMG!!!’

☆ I absolutely loved how Hinamori and Kogure’s friendship and trust grew! There were so many scenes and moments in this movie that they kept hidden from Ichijima! They were both like ‘lets not tell Ichijima,’ many times. Their friendship is getting so good!

☆ I absolutely loved seeing this vulnerable side of Suku. He’s trying not to care for Saryut but it’s so obvious that he does care! Even Doctor X says ‘it’s unlike you to care about/trying to find someone,’ and he always claims ‘I’d be bored if he wasn’t around’ or something like that but YOU CARE! YOU CARE!!!

☆ There’s a scene where Hina and Kogure are in a dark piping room, and I just saw the sexual tension go everywhere!! There’s one moment

☆ Unfortunately, I figured out straight away who Nightmare was. But this was from pure luck and pure random thoughts. Because you don’t hire Namioka Kazuki for a simple role! He never has a simple role! He is such a popular and well known actor! As soon as he popped up as this ‘poor guy wanting revenge’, my brain instantly went ‘Namioka never plays small roles. He always has a main role. He always plays a bad guy too,’ so when it’s revealed that he’s Nightmare, I was like ‘I KNEW IT!!’

☆ I adored the opening scene where we had a badass female murdering some mad scientist. It did give many fangirls hope that we were going to have a badass female (finally) in Messiah. But alas she ends up committing suicide in the end, and Hina and Kogure find her body.

☆ I love, love, love that they kept the bathroom for this movie too! We still have HQ at the bathhouse! And we still had some bathhouse scenes! There is a hilarious bathhouse scene with Kuroko, Ichijima and the bodyguard, Kuromatsu, just after they catch Kuromatsu betraying his prince somewhat. And Ichijima is not impressed and has this ‘-___-’ expression on his face while Kuromatsu is trying to defend himself. Also Kuroko splashes water in this scene and Ichi doesn’t flinch at all! I was giggling so hard at this scene! Also, while I don’t particularly like Ichi, I have to admit that the actor has kept his body in amazing shape! His chest and torso looked so damn good in that scene!!!! I was dying xD

☆ Apparently the Prince and the Bodyguard are going to stay in the series. But so far, I think they’ve had a lukewarm welcome. The Prince is a totally dick to his bodyguard, but all of a sudden cares for him at the end, and the bodyguard was very cold towards the Prince; for most of the film, he said ‘it’s just business’ but then he tries to save the Prince? So right now what we know about them is not much, and it’s also very all over the place. So we’ll see...

☆ I absolutely adored some of the action scenes in this! I think the first fighting scene (Saryut and Itsuki VS the revengers), and the final scene with Itsuki/Ariga and Nightmare were very well shot!!

☆ I also, as I always do, loved the opening theme song and sequence!! I absolutely adored the colours and effects that they used this time around!

☆ There are many moments in this movie where Itsuki and Saryut have to face what they and what their group have done to people. And I absolutely loved how both of them felt justified in their actions but where then condemning the other’s actions. There’s a beautiful moment/line from Saryut (to Itsuki) where he says ‘just because you were told to (do it), you think you’re in the right (for your actions)’ and it was a really powerful line and moment.

☆ I thought this one was such a good, high quality production. The colouring was great, the cinematography was great, the effects were great, the fighting scenes were great, some of the dialogue was gold. I thought this was probably the best produced Messiah movie we’ve had! Everything aesthetically pleased me!

☆ Speaking of effects!! Fucking Hinamori is BADASS. His very first scene is him and Kogure trying to meet the Prince and get him to safety but obviously terrorists turn up, and there’s also a sniper of a far off building. But Hinamori can find/see where the sniper is, so every time the snipe took a shot, Hinamori moved ever so slightly and DODGED the bullet! EVERY TIME he so easily and so smoothly DODGED the bullets! I absolutely LOVED this moment! I also loved his posture and body language as he dodged the bullets. Hina looked so fucking kool!!

☆ There’s another comedy gold scene, where Ichijima suggests something (not so nice), and Kuroko immediately got his green plastic slipper out and smacked Ichi over the head! Ichi’s hair spiked up but Ichi kept him ‘-_____-’ face and continued his lines. I was dying of laughter.

☆ Another adorable scene was right at the very end as Itsuki and Ariga walk/limp out, after killing Nightmare, and Itsuki had a very emotional moment towards the end and was in tears. So as they walked out, Ariga was like ‘by the way.... why are you crying?’ and Itsuki’s like ‘I ain’t crying!’ and it was such an adorable moment that I couldn’t help but giggle in happiness and amusement xD

☆ As I hadn’t seen the previous stage, it was so weird for me to see Kuroko as the leader and in Ichijima’s leader coat!

☆ Upon my first viewing, I had no idea Ruka (the Prince) was MALE until he took his turban off! He has very girly features that I thought for the first 30 minutes or so that he was actually a girl!! I was so surprise, I was like ‘a-WAH?!’ xD

☆ Ichi is still keeping secrets in this movie. Throughout there is a card with an ‘S’ on it, but even when Kuroko asks, Ichi just says ‘now isn’t the right time for people to know.’ UGHHHH fuck you Ichi!!!

☆ Towards the beginning of the movie, Itsuki has a dream where Ariga betrays him and points a gun to him and pulls the trigger. I was losing my shit in my seat the first time around!!

FanFic Ideas!

Me and my friend had so many dang fanfic ideas going around while watching this!! But the main two I had:

☆ There is a scene where Hina and Kogure are in a dark, pipping area, and Kogure lightly comments ‘I hope Itsuki is okay...’, and I was immediately thinking ‘Hina get angry! Ask ‘Itsuki? What about me?’ and kiss him!!!’. They were SUPER close during that scene too. Also this scene is split into two parts in the movie; the first part, it’s still day time, but when we come back to this scene, it’s night, and my brain was like ‘I bet I can guess how they passed the time there mwahahaha’ xD

☆ Another scene is when Suku first finds out Saryut has been taken and is trying to find out where he is. Doctor X comments ‘it’s not like you to care about someone else’ and my brain was like ‘ARGHHHH THEY LOVE EACH OTHER!!!’. AND at the end when Saryut is like ‘why did you come and save me?’ and Suku replies ‘it’d be boring without you’, I was DYING in my seat!! ARGH!!!!

And that’s all! I’m super excited for the dvd and I hope many of you get a chance to watch this movie! It was great!

#izawa yuuki #sugie taishi #yamamoto ikkei #hashimoto shinichi #yamada james takeshi #yamada james #miyagi koudai #miyagi kodai #namioka kazuki #messiah #messiah series #2.5D #2.5次元 #メサイア #review #movie review

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v-e-l-v-e-t-g-o-l-d-m-i-n-e · 6 years ago

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[1] what a great idea of yours about mandy and curt being fellows in misery of sorts! which brings us to shannon, because she stayed by brian's side till the end but is sadly unexplored as a character (that makes sense though since she is binded to the 80s-brian who is, well, a sad affair). as for brian, yeah, he loses himself between money, fame, etc., but that's what makes me think he lacks something - curt for example held his own? which is fascinating on reflection for curt seems

[2] to be waaay more self-destructive, and yet! he’s just too winsome and radiant during that last talk with arthur. but that baby’s-on-fire sequence? never ceases to amaze me, i keep rewatching it and can’t get enough. so sensual, bestial, carnal, forbidden, dark and deep… arthur’s secret is revealed while brian’s following curt and leaving for good (“like a heifer to the slaughter”): both face an existential journey to an actual self,

[3] and though arthur’s is presumably more successful, brian’s is longingly tragic and thus more… powerful? or at least more interesting and profound for me, i love those who lose even if they do not arise. thank you so much for the nice chat, it matters a good deal to me! (and i’m sorry i’m on anon, i just don’t have a blog)))

(answer under the cut):

I think when we go into deep analysis of Velvet Goldmine, it’s good to remind ourselves of its roots. VG was originally meant to be a David Bowie biopic of some sort, but Bowie heavily disliked the idea, so the plot was changed so it doesn’t play any of his songs and doesn’t speak about him… except, of course, it totally does.

Velvet Goldmine is a story of its own right, but it’s also a glam rock fairytale, like using a myth to tell a real story, and that was how the characters were shaped. Brian Slade is basically David Bowie, with a little of Marc Bolan; Curt Wild is a mix between Lou Reed and Iggy Pop; Mandy Slade is basically Angela Bowie. I don’t believe that Bowie ever fell in love with neither Iggy nor Lou, but he did share a deep friendship with both of them (even if he and Iggy drifted apart later on life), and I think it’s pretty likely that sex may have happened between them (especially with Lou).

And Bowie, obviously, did not pretend to be assassinated on stage to return on the 80’s with a new identity… but Bowie very much did turn his back on his early expression of bisexuality (and open sexuality, generally speaking) for a few years, in order to court the attention of the more conservative american fans. And during the conservative 80’s, I can see how such an attitude could feel like such a betrayal for a devoted gay fan, just as huge as Brian did in the film when he turned into Tommy Stone (basically Serious Moonlight Bowie).

Anyway, this wall of text is just to say that I think that Shannon was heavily inspired in Coco Schwab, Bowie’s lifelong friend and personal assistant that was with him for most of his life. I’m a massive Bowie fan and I know a lot about him, but I know next to nothing about his relationship with Coco, except that they were very close and he had immense consideration for her. My impressions of her is that she’s a very discreet and loyal woman, which are the general impressions that Shannon give me in the film, but I know and understand very little about her personal goals and feelings.

If I am to use this line of interpretation, I can say that Curt mirrors both of Iggy and Lou’s careers - for example, Iggy’s most acclamed works were on late 70’s, followed by a few lukewarm works on early 80’s, which are my impressions of Curt by the end of the film - he doesn’t appear to be a massive sucess per say, but he does’t seem to be in a decadent fall either. And Brian/Tommy mirrors early 80’s Bowie; massive commercial sucess, but considered a bit soulless and a sell-out for some people, famous and popular but also sort of empty.

Forgetting for a minute the real life comparisions, yeeeah, I love the Baby’s on Fire sequence so much! Not sure if it’s my favorite in the film but it’s like top 3. It’s very sexy and downright sexual. And yes, the parallels between Arthur’s true identity coming to life to his homophobic parents and Brian’s very much real infactuation becoming crystal clear for his wife... it’s brilliant, it really is!

Powerful is the word, ha! Like I said, we have very few insights in what Brian is really like, only getting snippets from Curt and Mandy (the people who presumably knew him better), and I sort of like it, I like how mysterious a figure he is to us. Makes him so much more attractive a character for me!

Ha, you’re welcome! This is a lot of fun for me, I love to talk about this film. I wondered about that, but if you ever make an account here, do stop by to give a hello ~~

#ask #anon #replies #-#--#anonymous #vg anon #velvet goldmine #Anonymous

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one-of-us-blog · 7 years ago

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From Russia with Love (1963)

Today Drew is forced to watch and recap From Russia with Love (1963) directed by Terence Young, the second James Bond adventure. Bond is tasked with heading to Istanbul so he can meet a beautiful Russian agent who promises to provide a valuable cryptographic device in exchange for help defecting. Bond soon becomes entangled in yet another of SPECTRE’s plot, and he must use all of his wits and gadgets to get back to England in one piece. Can he escape Russia before it’s too late?

Keep reading to find out…

Eli, it feels so weird for you to have gotten two recaps done since I posted my last Bond adventure! Your recaps for “Never Yell Fire in a Crowded Nursing Home” and “Henny Penny – Straight, No Chaser” were both delightful, and I totally agree on your issues with the latest clip show. I’ve always been interested in Sophia’s shady (pun intended) backstory, but that didn’t quite get delivered as spectacularly as I would have liked. I agree that “Henny Penny” made for a good finale, though, and I’m glad you enjoyed it! You did a great job, Chief, and I can’t wait for you to dive into season seven with the Girls! For now, though, I have an appointment I need to make in Mother Russia.

Buttocks tight!

Screenplay by Richard Maibaum, film directed by Terence Young

We start off on a dark (and not so stormy) night, and see our hero, James Bond, being pursued by a distinctly Aryan fellow (Robert Shaw). Much to my surprise, the Aryan guy manages to get the drop on Bond, and kills him with the help of a garrote wire. We don’t have to be in suspense for too long, though, because it turns out the guy who just died was actually just a Bond impersonator in a suddenly very unconvincing mask and this was all some sort of training exercise.

With a lot of unanswered questions, we head to the very colorful, very jiggly opening credit sequence.

After wading through that ocean of technicolor ladyflesh, we head to Venice where some gents are in the middle of a chess game that everyone’s taking very seriously. One of the players, Kronsteen (Vladek Sheybal), gets a message from SPECTRE and quickly wraps the game up so he can get down to his shady business. Kronsteen heads to a yacht, where a man with a cat and a woman (Lotte Lenya) without a cat watch some Siamese fighting fish tear each other apart. The woman is identified as Number 3, and Kronsteen, who enters, is referred to as Number 5. Kronsteen lays out his plan to pit British and Russian intelligence agencies against each other so that SPECTRE can get its slimy paws on something known as the Lektor cryptographic device. The man with the cat, Number 1, lets us know that Number 3, who’s defected to SPECTRE from Russian intelligence, is going to put a loyal Russian operative in place to get the plan working. Kronsteen lets Number 1 know that in addition to getting a hold of a Lektor device, this plan also gives SPECTRE a chance to get revenge for the death of Dr. No as British intelligence will almost certainly put none other than James Bond (the real one this time) on the case.

From here, we jump to see the Aryan man sunbathing while a busty blonde woman oils him up. This is interrupted by the arrival of a helicopter, bearing Number 3. She’s here to collect the Aryan man, whose name, it turns out, is Donald Grant. Number 3 is led through the training area on SPECTRE Island (no joke, that’s what this place is called) and brought to Grant as he’s being oiled up by the blonde woman. Number 3 inspects the merchandise by punching Grant in the gut, and she’s happy with the result. She orders him brought to Istanbul in 24 hours, and she takes her leave. In Istanbul, Grant follows a beautiful young woman who goes to meet Number 3. The young woman is Tatiana Romanova (played by Daniela Bianchi but voiced by Barbara Jefford), and through her we learn that Number 3 is actually Colonel Rosa Klebb, of SMERSH (Special Methods of Spy Detection) fame. Klebb makes some flirtatious comments about Romanova, so we know she’s evil.

Klebb lets Romanova know her job is to relay some false information to an enemy agent. Speaking of an enemy agent, we cut to James Bond making out with Sylvia Trench. Hey, what happened to Honey Ryder? Who knows. Bond’s make out sesh is interrupted by a call from Moneypenny. He has to come into the office, but he leaves himself time to bone Trench one more time before heading into work. In the office, he finds M waiting for him and is told that Romanova had contacted Station T in Turkey and told them she wants to defect. She’s fallen in love with Bond by looking at his file photo (and never having met him), and she’s so horny to get to the West that she’s willing to bring a Lektor device with her. MI6 will only get the Lektor device if Bond personally comes to Istanbul to get her and bring her back to London. Bond knows this is a trap, but he takes one look at Romanova’s picture and his boner decides he’s willing to go.

M lets Bond know that Q Branch has a special gadget for him to take on his trip, provided by the Equipment Officer (Desmond Llewelyn). It’s a briefcase, containing some hidden ammunition, a knife, a gun, some cash and some tear gas that will explode if the case isn’t opened the right way. What an accessory! Armed with his fancy new briefcase, Bond gets his plane ticket from Moneypenny and the two share a healthy dose of flirtation before M interrupts. With that, Bond is off to Istanbul! Bond is met at the airport by a gentleman with whom he shares some coded dialogue, and Grant and some Bulgarian agents follow behind them as they head off to their destination. Bond arrives at Station T and meets the head of the Station, Ali Kerim Bey (Pedro Armendáriz), who prefers to use his sons as chauffeurs and waiters. Kerim Bey tells him that Romanova is going to meet them when she chooses to, and until then Bond should just enjoy Istanbul. Bond heads off to his hotel, with Grant (who’s taken the liberty of incapacitating one of the Bulgarian spies) close behind him.

We watch Bond check his hotel for bugs while his theme music blares. Once he finds a bug, he calls down to be moved to a different room. This is the sort of thrilling action we’re in for, folks! Grant leaves his car, with the now-dead Bulgarian officer inside, outside of Bond’s hotel. Grant meets up with Klebb, who congratulates him on his work; the Soviets will blame the British for their dead agent, and hostilities will rise. At Station T, Kerim Bey is bugged by his neglected mistress. It’s a good thing, too, because if she hadn’t dragged him away from his desk he would have died in a sudden explosion. Bond arrives at Station T and Kerim Bey explains that someone placed a mine on the wall outside his office in the hopes of killing him at his desk. Kerim Bey doesn’t understand why the Russians would take an action like this out of nowhere, and Bond suspect his arrival has something to do with it. Kerim Bey takes Bond to and underground aqueduct below Station T, which leads to a periscope through which they can spy on the Russian consulate.

Through the periscope, they learn that an assassin named Krilencu is responsible for the bombing. Romanova enters, giving Bond a chance to ogle her ass for a bit. Kerim Bey isn’t thrilled to see Krilencu in town, so he tells Bond they need to get out of town. They visit a Romani village, where racial stereotypes abound and there’s a half-naked dancer for Bond and the other men to enjoy. Krilencu and his men prepare to attack while Grant looks on. After the dance it’s time for a few women to fight to the death over a man. This bit of male fantasy is interrupted by the arrival of Krilencu and his men, who begin shooting up the place. Krilencu shoots Kerim Bey in the arm and Bond chases after him. Bond is almost killed by one of Krilencu’s men, but Grant, watching from above, saves Bond’s life. Krilencu and his men retreat, and Kerim Bey resolves to track Krilencu down tomorrow. Bond saved the Romani leader during the fight, and naturally Bond is presented with the two women from the catfight to screw all through the night.

With that out of the way, Bond and Kerim Bey decide to actually get some work done and track down Krilencu. Kerim Bey shoots Krilencu in the back while he tries to flee his hideout through a secret hatch in a billboard attached to his building. The hatch is in the mouth of the woman on the billboard, prompting Bond to give a classic line about the woman keeping her mouth shut. Delightful. With this revenge assassination taken care of, Bond returns to his hotel room where he finds a nude Romanova waiting for him. Bond asks about the Lektor device while the two make out and then they bang while SPECTRE observes in secret. Those pervs! The next day, Bond observes while Romanova drops off a blueprint of the Russian consulate, where the Lektor device is being held, and he notices a Bulgarian spy tailing him. Grant kills the Bulgarian before Bond has the chance, ensuring Bond has the chance to pick up Romanova’s blueprints.

Bond compares the blueprints with the ones Kerim Bey has, and the two joke about banging Romanova while Bond plans to use the blueprints to break into the consulate and steal the Lektor device. On a boat ride Bond records Romanova as she describes the technical aspects of the Lektor device (when she’s not busy begging Bond to make love to her all the time after she defects) and he relays all of this to MI6. At the consulate, Bond waits for a distraction (provided by Kerim Bey in the form of an explosion) and he’s able to meet up with Romanova and steal the Lektor device. They meet up with Kerim Bey in the aqueduct and the three, along with the Lektor device, make it back into the city safely. They rush to catch a ride on the Orient Express, but Romanova catches sight of a Russian security officer who boards their train after them.

On the train, Kerim Bey provides them with false identification and then Bond gives Romanova some old timey lingerie to wear in London. Kerim Bey catches sight of the Russian security officer spying around, and he lets Bond know about him. Kerim Bey is planning on arranging for an unscheduled stop so the trio can depart and make their way to London, but first Bond and Kerim Bey tie up the Russian agent. Bond returns to Romanova, unaware that Grant is still skulking around on the train. After presumably screwing some more, Bond and Romanova go to meet Kerim Bey in the dining car as arranged. Unfortunately, they learn that both Kerim Bey and the Russian are dead; it looks like they killed each other, but Bond is unaware that Grant killed both of them. Without Kerim Bey to stop the train, Bond and Romanova miss their rendezvous and are stuck on the Orient Express. Bond roughs up Romanova to find out what her orders are, giving her a good slap like a proper hero should, but she says she doesn’t know anything.

The Orient Express arrives in Belgrade, and Bond lets one of Kerim Bey’s sons know that his father is dead. He asks the young man to have someone sent from Station Y to meet him at the train’s next stop in Zagreb and help him get back to London. Grant overhears all of this, and when the train arrives at Zagreb he kills Nash, the agent sent from Station Y, and assumes his identity. Bond buys Grant’s story about being Nash and asks for his help to get through customs without the Lektor device falling into the wrong hands. Grant and Romanova head off to dinner, while Bond snoops through Grant’s briefcase to make sure Nash is who he says he is. Bond eventually joins the two in the dining car, but Grant drugs Romanova during dinner and she passes out as soon as they get back to their car. With the dame out of the way, Bond pulls a gun on Grant because he knows he slipped Romanova a drug. Grant is able to knock Bond right the hell out and disarm him.

When Bond comes to, Grant has him stay on his knees and settles in for a villain monologue. Bond figures out that Grant is from SPECTRE, and that SPECTRE is trying to pit MI6 and SMERSH against each other. Grant boasts about keeping tabs on Bond and saving his life until Bond got his hands on the Lektor device. Grant makes a point to let Bond know that Romanova isn’t working for SPECTRE, as she thinks Klebb still works for SMERSH and this is all for Mother Russia. Grant lays out the rest of his plan; he’s going to plant a copy of the film of her and Bond screwing in the hotel on Romanova, then on Bond plant a fake letter from Romanova stating that she’ll release the film to the press unless Bond marries her. Because the press would care, right? This is all to make it look like Bond killed Romanova for trying to blackmail him and then killed himself.

Bond puts on a ruse in an attempt to buy Grant’s loyalty, but Grant’s too interested in killing Bond in the most painful way possible. Bond asks for a final cigarette, offering to pay for it with the gold sovereigns from his suitcase. Grant inspects the suitcase, causing the teargas inside to go off in his face. Bond and Grant beat the hell out of each other, with Grant almost choking Bond to death with his garrote wire. Bond is able to use the suitcase’s concealed knife to escape, and then chokes Grant to death with his own wire. The train is stopped by a SPECTRE agent, and Bond drags the drugged Romanova off the train. Bond steals the truck Grant was going to use to escape, and he and Romanova make a break for it with the Lektor device.

The truck is pursued by a SPECTRE helicopter, which is able to disable the truck thanks to some grenades. Bond lures the helicopter away while Romanova hides under the truck. Bond is able to save the day by shooting the helicopters copilot with his sniper rifle, causing him to drop a live grenade which Bond couldn’t possibly have known the man was holding in that instant. The grenade explodes and the helicopter crashes, allowing Bond and Romanova to make it to a dock where an escape boat is waiting. They head for Venice, while Number 1 confronts Kronsteen and Klebb for their failure. Klebb kills Kronsteen by stabbing him with a poison-coated blade hidden in her boot. Number 1 explains that SPECTRE plans to sell the Lektor device back to the Russians, and SPECTRE’s reputation relies on them always keeping their promises. He gives Klebb one more chance to capture Bond and get the Lektor device, and she agrees.

Bond and Romanova are pursued by SPECTRE agents in speedboats, but Bond is able to escape by dumping barrels of fuel into the water and igniting them with a flare gun, causing the enemy boats to explode dramatically. Bond and Romanova make it to Venice, where Klebb, in the guise of a maid, enters his hotel and tries to steal the Lektor device. Romanova recognizes Klebb, and saves Bond when Klebb pulls a gun on him. Klebb tries to stab Bond with her poison boot knife, but Romanova is able to shoot her former boss and kill her. With that out of the way, Bond and Romanova set out on a boat ride and probably bang in the canals or something while the From Russia with Love theme, sang by Matt Monro, plays us out.

The End

~~~~~

Jumpin’ Jehosaphat! What a rollicking ride! I think this instalment had a lot more action in it than Dr. No, and I appreciated that. The final fight between Grant and Bond was really intense, and I thought Klebb’s poison boot knife was a lot of fun. I could have done without any of that Romani stuff, and seeing Bond slap Romanova around wasn’t fun. Romanova had all the substance of a soap bubble, and the idea that she could actually fall in love with Bond to the point that she was willing to betray Klebb kind of made me roll my eyes. I know I need to suspend disbelief a bit when it comes to the women in the movies, but c’mon. Also, it was pretty clear from the way Klebb was flirting with Romanova and feeling her up that we were supposed to know she’s evil because she’s a big old lesbian, and that wasn’t fun. I liked Kerim Bey and his army of sons a lot, but I had a feeling that he, much like Quarrel, wouldn’t make it to the end of the movie. I feel like Connery had a lot more swagger as Bond this time, and I thought the music and some of the stunts were really fun. There were plenty of puns flying around, but I was mainly glad that the briefcase got used after it was given so much attention early on. As far as gadgets go it wasn’t mind-blowing, but by golly it came in handy. There was some gross stuff, like Bond slapping Romanova and his line about the billboard woman keeping her mouth shut, and there were some moments that got a bit dull, but overall I liked the action and stunts enough that I managed to have a good time.

All in all, I give From Russia with Love QQQQ on the Five Q Scale.

Tune in soon for Eli’s recaps of the next two episodes of The Golden Girls, “Hey, Look Me Over” and one of my favorites, “The Case of the Libertine Belle”, and then after that I’ll be back to post my recap of Bond’s next adventure in Goldfinger.

Until then, as always, thank you for reading, thank you for that briefcase and thank you for being One of Us!

#one of us #james bond #007

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