The beautiful women from the James Bond films have intrigued us in many ways over the years, but seeing them join in on the action wielding all sorts of guns definitely added to the sex appeal. Above you’ll see a slideshow of some of the sexy Bond girls holding their firearms, starting the the sexy Tanya Roberts from “A View to a Kill” sporting her big hair from the 80s. Next we have an action shot of Olga Kurylenko from “Quantum of Solace” and then the elegant Daniela Bianchi pointing a gun at Bond in “From Russia with Love.” Michelle Yeoh handles some serious firepower in “Tomorrow Never Dies,” and then another action shot with Naomie Harris from “Skyfall.” The slideshow finishes up with three lovely Bond girls posing with their guns – Carey Lowell in “Licence to Kill,” Catrina Skepper in “The Living Daylights” and finally badass Grace Jones in “A View to a Kill.”

Barbara Bach points a gun at Bond in “The Spy Who Loved Me.”

Plenty of girls with guns in “Octopussy”

Bullz-Eye is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first James Bond film with look back at every Bond movie, 007 One by One, along with a series of features about the Bond franchise, all laid out in our James Bond Fan Hub.

Over the years James Bonds came and went. Directors and writers shifted and changed. Vocalists were routinely swapped out. Though not the only constant in the Bond franchise, Maurice Binder, as the primary designer of the instantly recognizable title sequence, was certainly one of the most noticeable ones. For the bulk of Bond’s first 27 years, Binder brought us a cavalcade of swirling colors and curvaceous ladies, typically set to the tune of a current pop sensation. His job was to help set the tone for the film to come by presenting elements and themes from the movie in an abstract, artistic fashion. For many, these title sequences became an important, even necessary part of the Bond movie-going experience, and remain so today, over 20 years after Binder’s passing. Here we take an entirely subjective look at his ongoing contributions to cinema’s longest-running movie franchise.

The first thing ever seen in a Bond movie is the opening gun barrel sequence, and no amount of praise can be too effusive for Maurice Binder’s creation of it. James Bond emerges in profile from the right, caught in the movie viewer’s cross hairs. He then spins around, shoots, and the gun sight fills with, presumably, the viewer’s blood.

It’s become part and parcel of the Bond films ever since, though only in “Dr. No” is it part of the title sequence proper; afterwards, it would be separated from the titles by the now also iconic pre-credits sequence. Coupled with the infamous Monty Norman-composed Bond theme song, the gun barrel sequence is that instantaneous moment when everyone simultaneously acknowledges they’re watching a Bond film.

After the gun barrel sequence, flashing colored lights set to the Bond theme reveal the title “Dr. No” as well as the cast, followed by the silhouettes of people dancing a sort of Jamaican mambo, and, finally, a calypso version of “Three Blind Mice” dovetails nicely into the movie itself. The “Dr. No” titles are a lot fun and unique in the Bond film series; the only real element of them that would come to feature heavily in the future is Binder’s inventive, energetic use of silhouette.

It’s anyone’s guess into what directions the Bond title sequences might’ve gone if Binder had helmed the titles for the “Dr. No” sequel. But he did not, and for the next two films – “From Russia with Love” and “Goldfinger” – the titles are designed by Robert Brownjohn. Both sequences march to the beat of different drum than Binder’s, and even though Brownjohn only ever did these two, his influence on what the Bond titles would ultimately evolve into on Binder’s watch cannot be discounted.

There’s an elegance and class that Brownjohn brings to the table that may or may not have progressed out of Binder as well, but for certain the one thing Brownjohn can be credited with is the fetishized exploitation of the female form, and both of his sequences are loaded with it; the curvaceous fairer figure is all but worshipped, and the dominant centerpiece of “From Russia with Love.”

Brownjohn’s other gimmick – projecting imagery over those lovely bodies – is strikingly used in both sequences. In the former, the credits are projected over the undulating female form, and in the latter, snippets of scenes from the movie itself. However, anything Brownjohn does with the “Goldfinger” sequence is very probably overshadowed by the sounds of Shirley Bassey, as this other imperative element – the pop song – finally drops into its place in the title sequence timeline. Bassey is the true star here, and her vocals remain some of the most iconic in film history.

With 1965’s “Thunderball,” Maurice Binder returned to his post in the franchise, and would remain with the series in this capacity for the next 24 years. Right here, right now . . . BAM! This is where all of the familiar elements finally congeal into the Bond title sequence we all know and love. Silhouettes of floating naked women mingle with silhouetted deep sea divers armed with harpoons. Water bubbles against myriad colors filling the screen. Tom Jones delivers bombastic accompaniment to the intense, widescreen visuals (also a first for the Bond series). This handful of disparate elements combine to create movie history, and our expectations for Bond would never be the same again.

Further, sometimes those silhouettes weren’t all that dark. Perhaps the one area where Binder figured he could outshine his temporary predecessor was to titillate the audience with brief flashes of visible boob and butt, and it worked, ahem, swimmingly.

Binder got even more creative on the next outing, by adding graphics and playing around with his silhouette technique by inverting it, as well as throwing filmed bits of flowing lava, erupting volcanoes, and sexy geisha ladies into the mix. Between the titles for “You Only Live Twice” and “Thunderball,” most of the tools in Binder’s creative box are on display, and he’d use various combinations of the pair in his work over the next 20 years and change. We’d also be remiss to not mention the theme tune sung by Nancy Sinatra, a hypnotic piece of work that’s stood the test of time.

Since “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” was quite the mouthful, composer John Barry opted to create an instrumental piece for the titles, and it’s a rousing bit of work. Because this movie was, for the first time, introducing a new actor (George Lazenby) playing Bond, much of Binder’s work here consists of a montage of clips from the previous films, as the need was felt to stress to audiences that they were still following the adventures of the same man. The trip down memory lane aside, the graphics are borderline psychedelic, bursting with eye-popping color — wholly indicative of the film to come.

With “Diamonds Are Forever” the series moved into a new decade, yet the movie still had a foot in the Sixties, as is evidenced by the return of both Sean Connery and Shirley Bassey; the latter again dominates these proceedings. Binder grabs the iconography of diamonds and Blofeld’s cat to create the titles which brought an end to the Connery era.

When Roger Moore arrived on the scene in 1973’s “Live and Let Die,” the titles exploded around him, via the inevitable hiring of a Beatle (and his wife) to pen and perform the theme. Paul McCartney and Wings arguably delivered the most instantly perfect Bond theme since “Goldfinger,” which is vaguely ironic, since it was in “Goldfinger” that James Bond took a swipe at the Fab Four: “That’s as bad as listening to the Beatles without earmuffs!”

Here Binder deals in the nightmarish, voodoo aspects of the movie, including human skulls and crackling fire, all wrapped around women of color, some covered in tribal paint. An argument could be made that these titles are the “You Only Live Twice” titles on LSD. There can be no doubt that the franchise, and Binder’s work along with it, had firmly entered the 1970s.

The titles for “The Man with the Golden Gun” are a fairly paint by numbers affair, despite the complete and utter catchiness of Lulu’s theme song. Indeed, as a rule of thumb, if the song is the most memorable aspect of the Bond title sequence, then boundaries aren’t being sufficiently pushed, even within the limited confines of the format. That being said, the silhouette gettin’ down about two-thirds of the way through is a fine specimen of woman.

Harsh criticism can in no way be leveled at “The Spy Who Loved Me” titles, which showcase Binder at quite possibly the height of his creative powers. Simply put, everything comes together, in about an ideal a manner as possible. The imagery is slightly more abstract than the norm, mostly eschewing iconography from the movie, though sexy, athletic Russian ladies are a theme. Instead it seemingly invokes Bond’s relationship with women in general, achieved via the inclusion of Roger Moore, under the direction of Binder, as a part of the sequence. This was a first. It wasn’t movie footage, as had previously been done with “Goldfinger” and “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” – this was specially shot, and given the film’s title, it was an appropriate creative call.

Then there’s that perfectly gorgeous theme tune, performed by Carly Simon, and written by Carole Bayer Sager and Marvin Hamlisch, that so effortlessly works hand in hand with Binder. “Nobody Does It Better,” indeed. The marriage of music and imagery here is the stuff the very best music videos are made of, and this compares to ballet. If we were stuck a desert island with only one Bond title sequence, it’d be this one.

It’d be easy at this point to claim it was all downhill for Binder’s Bond after ’77, but that would be to deny a huge chunk of his artistry. Just because he peaked with “Spy,” doesn’t mean there weren’t bursts of beauty afterwards. Sadly, “Moonraker” doesn’t really have one of those moments. Visually it feels like leftovers from “Spy,” but its biggest problem, which is no fault of Binder’s, is the return to the Shirley Bassey well for a third time, a decision that no longer works. She’s from a different era altogether, and out of step with the movie itself, which was thematically looking forward to the future via its sci-fi aspects.

Things get seriously back on track with 1981’s “For Your Eyes Only,” a sequence, which, like “Spy,” features a visual first: The inclusion of chanteuse Sheena Easton’s face and body as a part of the titles. It’d be easy to claim that this was a reaction to the growing popularity of MTV if not for one thing – MTV didn’t launch until about three months after the movie was released. So instead we must assume that the decision was purely an aesthetic one, given that Sheena Easton was pretty enough to be a Bond girl herself. She’s a marvel, and the song by Bill Conti and Michael Leeson is nearly as tight as Carly Simon’s. Finding a current, pretty pop star with serious pipes was the apology after Bassey’s flaccid “Moonraker.”

Binder creates a swirling, sensual concoction here, and this was the last time he was truly on fire, doing the thing that he’s best known for, in the history of cinema.

We need look no further than the titles for “Octopussy” for proof of our previous assertion. Rita Coolidge is a fine singer, but not at all right for Bond, and out of step with the cultural zeitgeist of that moment. Couple her with yet another title that makes for a potentially awkward theme, and we end up with “All Time High,” and likely Binder’s least inspiring work in the series. There’s simply nothing of note here, unless we want to mention the unintentionally laughable bits such as Bond swinging a woman around in circles by an arm and a leg, and the visual around the 1:20 mark, where it appears Bond is humping the model.

With Moore’s swansong, “A View to a Kill,” the series swings back around to contemporary and current by getting Duran Duran on board. Their theme song is exceptional, and Binder gives it his all, in an attempt to deliver visuals to match the audio. This title sequence, much like the year 1985, is a garish, hideous affair, drenched in glow in the dark excess. Not bad necessarily, as Binder seems at his worst when he’s not trying, and here he clearly is, but such a freakshow, you cannot take your eyes off it. He even brings a little something new to the table by featuring silhouetted naked men – on skis, no less! In doing so, Binder sort of proves why he’d never done it before: They appear neutered, like a Ken doll. Clearly the male form does not lend itself well to Binder’s artistry.

As we enter the final stretch of Maurice Binder’s work with the James Bond series, a new actor – Timothy Dalton – has been cast in the lead role, and a new era seemingly begins, even though behind the scenes it was all business as usual, with the same creative minds calling the shots in a cinematic world threatening to leave Bond behind. It was a franchise in a mild creative crisis, punctuated by being only a two-picture affair. It should come as no surprise that Binder’s final title sequences, as well as the songs the play over them, reflect this rocky footing.

“The Living Daylights” feels like a straight-up greatest hits compilation. It works well enough, but just. The same can more or less be said of Binder’s fourteenth and final Bond title sequence, 1989’s “Licence to Kill.” Few artists do their greatest work at the end of their careers, and Binder is no exception. While this is workmanlike, and not particularly exceptional, it’s difficult to level too much criticism at this stage, since he’d essentially been reworking variations of the same idea repeatedly since “Thunderball” (much like the franchise itself). But the fact that he was able to do it over and over again, for so long, while simultaneously charming generations of moviegoers speaks volumes to his talent and legacy.

Maurice Binder died at the relatively young age of 66 in 1991. Even if he’d lived to see ’95, when the Bond franchise was revived with Pierce Brosnan in the lead, it seems unlikely his services would have been called upon. Starting with “Goldeneye,” the title sequences (“Quantum of Solace” aside) have been designed by commercial and music video director Daniel Kleinman. On his watch they’ve become elaborate, CGI-driven affairs, which, while taking cues from and paying due homage to Binder’s work, have become their own, different sort of excessive animal.

All 22 of the Bond title sequences are now available to view in one single block (clocking in at over an hour), in gorgeous eye-popping 1080p, on the bonus disc of the recent Blu-ray box set, Bond 50: The Complete 22 Film Collection.

Also available for Bond enthusiasts is a new 2-CD set entitled “Best of Bond . . . James Bond: 50 Years – 50 Tracks.”

We continue our look at the film adventures of the world’s most beloved killer spy with the James Bond flick many critics and fans consider the best movie in the series, based on probably the most well regarded of Ian Fleming’s spy novels.

“From Russia with Love” (1963)

The Plot

After the death of their operative, Dr. No, SPECTRE is one rather peeved diabolical organization bent on world domination. Also, they could use some cash. The villains’ collective therefore devises a plan to steal a hugely prized Lektor decoding device from the Soviets by using the superspy responsible for No’s demise as a pawn. Endgame: Sell the device for a huge sum and kill James Bond. The bait will be the defection, with the Lektor, of a beautiful and unknowing Soviet operative working out of the Russian embassy in Turkey. She is another pawn, a loyal low-level agent who is tricked into cooperating and told to develop a romantic fixation on Bond. The proposal is such an obvious trap, and the Lektor such a desirable prize, that there’s no way the British secret service can possibly resist going to Istanbul for a look. It all wraps up in a sexy and violent trip on the legendary Orient Express and an exciting and dangerous (for stunt men) boat chase.

The Backstory

Following up on the success of “Dr. No,” the EON production team of Albert R. “Cubby” Broccoli and Harry Saltzman elected to follow the lead of the series’ most famous fan. President John F. Kennedy had singled out Ian Fleming’s novel, From Russia with Love, as one of his ten favorite books in an issue of Time Magazine. Despite nearly 100 opening pages in which Bond does not appear, the story was more or less tailor made for a movie, and the rest was a matter of bringing back “Dr. No” writers Richard Maibum and Johanna Harwood to make the story more Hollywood friendly.

First of all, the relatively simple Stalin-era plot of the original novel was updated and complicated to avoid controversy. In light of the more morally complex Khrushchev era and the recent Cuban missile crisis, many viewers were likely to disagree with Ian Fleming’s extremely hawkish, if somewhat tongue-in-cheek, take on the Cold War. And, so a story about ultra-evil Russians trying to take out the West’s most effective counterspy with maximum collateral PR damage, became a tale involving SPECTRE’s desire to grow its cash and power reserves while manipulating MI6 and the KGB into a costly and unnecessary battle. Seeing as the production code was growing weaker even as the Bond budget was growing larger, the sex and violent action quotients was also bumped up considerably from the novel.

Along with newborn superstar leading man Sean Connery, dashing director Terrence Young returned for his second Bond outing after the success of “Dr. No.” Aside from allowing the talented Young to firmly set the tone for the series, bringing him back proved to be a wise choice. Often described him as something of a real-life James Bond, Young was the kind of steady hand the difficult shoot would require.

The challenges Young would face included several changes in locations, numerous reshoots, plus lots of difficult and dangerous stunt work. A scene involving hundreds of rats proved especially tricky because English law permitted only the use of white rats. When the animal wranglers placed cocoa powder on the rats to give them a less hygienic look, the rats were distracted, licking the tasty cocoa powder off themselves and each other. The scene wound-up being shot in Spain.

Murphy’s law was certainly in force on the second Bond film, but director Young took events in stride. He was reportedly back at work within hours after being involved in an apparently minor helicopter crash, though we’re not sure how a helicopter crash can be anything less than a big deal. More tragically, Young also had to deal with the news that key actor Pedro Armendáriz was terminally ill. (More about that below.)

The Bond Girls (Rule of 3 or, in this case, 4)

Yes, an apparent threesome boosts Mr. Bond usual number of consummated movie affairs. The “From Russia with Love” Bond girls are…

Sylvia Trench (Eunice Gayson) — Bond’s Chemin de Fer opponent from “Dr. No” returns. Trench was supposed to be an ongoing liaison in each of the films, but her lakeside tryst with Bond was to be her final appearance. We’re guessing that even a hint of sexual repetition was seen as too much of a hindrance to 007′s womanizing ways. Ironically, Gayson had originally tried out for the longer-lasting but more chaste role of Moneypenny.

Vida and Zora (Aliza Gur and Martine Beswick) — Bond watches with interest, and some concern, as a pair of extremely jealous Gypsy girls stage a to-the-death fight over a man,  but are interrupted by a sudden violent intrusion by a group of Russian-paid Bulgars. After Bond helps save the day for the Romany, it is strongly hinted that the hot blooded trio spend the rest of the evening making love, not war. (In the novel, Bond is more of a passive observer of some kinky bloodshed.)

As for the talented and lovely ladies who played Vida and Zora, Aliza Gur was a former Miss Israel and Miss Universe semi-finalist. She would later appear in such spy-themed TV shows as “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” and “Get Smart.” The Anglo-Jamaican Martine Beswick, who may or may not have been one of the dancing silhouettes from the “Dr. No” credits, would return to Bondage as Paula Caplan in “Thunderball” and enjoy a lengthy career as a busy working actress. A supporting role in 1966′s “One Million B.C.” would be followed by such low-budget productions as 1967′s “Prehistoric Women,” 1971′s “Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde,” and 1980′s “The Happy Hooker Goes Hollywood.” More upscale roles from the eighties and nineties included “Melvin and Howard,” “Miami Blues,” and the 1993 version of “Wide Sargasso Sea.”

Tatiana Romanova (Daniela Bianchi) — An idealistic operative who thinks she’s working for the Soviets in an operation designed to pass false information to MI6, Tatiana finds it easy to play the role of a love struck defector when she meets the dashing James Bond. Though her loyalties may be divided, her attraction to Bond is undeniable.

Since her character was described as resembling 1930s film star Greta Garbo in the novel, it was a sure bet that former Miss Rome and Miss Universe semi-finalist Bianchi would be lovely and charismatic, if not quite up to the acting standards of the great Garbo. Ms. Bianchi does, however, deliver a credible and very sexy performance, though her Italian accent was removed with a total voice assist from veteran English actress Barbara Jefford. Unfortunately, her best remembered non-”From Russia with Love” outing remains the notorious Eurospy spoof, “Operation Kid Brother,” which starred real-life Sean Connery kid brother, Neil. (Check out this slideshow for more pics of Daniela Bianchi)

Friends and Colleagues

M (Bernard Lee) and Moneypenny (Louise Maxwell) are both back for more banter. By this point, the pattern is being set for the character’s inevitably fun but equally exposition-heavy scenes throughout the series: It’s Moneypenny’s job to provide some flirtatious silliness and M’s job to make sure the frivolity doesn’t eat up too much screen time. The business with Bond throwing his seemingly unworn bowler hat on the hat stand makes a return as well. However, “From Russia with Love” gives us two additions to Bond’s onscreen colleagues, each in their own way legendary.

Ali Kerim Bey — Jovially ironic and cheerfully vice-ridden, the Istanbul station chief has produced enough sons with a variety of women to populate the entire Turkish branch of MI6; he is clearly a man after 007′s own heart. Indeed, in the movie he seems to be one of the very rare male characters who could be described as an actual friend of Bond. (In the novel, Bond’s ongoing admiration for Bey reads to modern eyes like an out-and-out man-crush.) The character was reportedly inspired by Ali Nâzım Kalkavan, an Oxford-educated Turkish shipowner connected to the English film industry whom Ian Fleming met while researching the novel.

Film acting great Pedro Armendáriz might have hailed from parts significantly west of Istanbul, but he had just the right playful, larger-than-life presence to embody Ali Kerim Bey. The American educated Armendáriz had stumbled into a career as major star in his native Mexico as a handsome youth. He also appeared in a number of north of the border films in Hollywood, and it was none other than the legendary director John Ford who suggested the half-Anglo Armendáriz to Terrence Young for the part of the half-English Kerim Bey.

The actor had costarred with his good friend, John Wayne, in Howard Hughes’ notorious epic, “The Conqueror” — a film many believe to be “cursed” by radiation from early atom bomb tests. Whatever the cause of his illness, Armendáriz, a smoker, learned just before production began that he was suffering from terminal cancer. He decided to make the film, perhaps mainly to help support his family after his death. Reports about the precise sequence of events differ, but it appears he returned to Los Angeles and the UCLA Medical Center after his illness grew too debilitating, where he killed himself with a bullet to the heart. Terrence Young used doubles to complete the film. Armendáriz’s son, actor Pedro Armendáriz Jr., would appear in 1989′s “License to Kill.”

Major Boothroyd — The armorer, eventually known simply as Q of Q Branch, actually did appear in “Dr. No,” but don’t feel bad if you missed blink-and-you’ll-miss-him original Boothroyd/Q Peter Burton; we did too. Unable to return because of a prior commitment, veteran working actor Desmond Llewellyn replaced Burton in the second Bond film. Though Llewellyn’s debut lacks any humorous by-play, the production team apparently realized they had something with the droll actor. Things would be different next time.

The Nemeses

“From Russia With Love” is distinguished by a group of genuinely distinguished and fascinating bad guys who were, in turn, played by some of the most fascinating performers in the Bond cannon.

Ernst Stavro Blofeld — The cat loving, human hating, head of SPECTRE makes his first film appearance here, though we won’t be seeing his face until “You Only Live Twice.” The hand which pets the pretty white kitty is provided by Anthony Dawson, who portrayed the unfortunate Prof. Dent in “Dr. No.” The voice is by Austrian actor Erich Pohlmann. Perhaps partially because of ongoing legal wrangling over “Thunderball,” which first introduced SPECTRE in the Bond novels, the credits only list his name as “?”

Kronsteen — The brilliant chess player who develops the original plan is able to defeat a chess opponent in a matter of a minute, even while risking death by not immediately answering SPECTRE’s call. Nevertheless, he eventually falls prey to Mr. Blofeld’s very strict personnel policies. Kronsteen was portrayed by Vladek Sheybal, a Polish-born newcomer chosen for his memorable face and performing style. He would remain a consistently interesting and watchable character actor in English productions until his death in 1992.

Rosa Klebb — In the novel, the toadish Klebb is the depraved and, naturally, lesbian operative of the Soviet SMERSH. In the movie, she has defected to SPECTRE, but that fact has been kept hidden by the Kremlin, making her just the person to deceive the communist but otherwise innocent Tatiana. With the poison tipped knife in her shoe (SPECTRE standard equipment, it seems), Klebb is a figure of pure bile, yet believably human.

What many Bond fans don’t know about Rosa Klebb is that the woman who played her, Lotte Lenya, would be an important figure in world culture if she had never appeared in a single film. A world famous cabaret performer and the wife and muse of German-emigre theater composer Kurt Weil, you can hear Lenya being name-checked in the classic Bobby Darin and Louis Armstrong recordings of Weil’s best known melody, “Mack the Knife.” Her other notable film roles include an Oscar-nominated turn in 1961′s “The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone” and as a Klebb-like sadist of a masseuse who humorously tortures football star Burt Reynolds in 1977′s “Semi-Tough.”

Donald “Red” Grant — The utterly cold-blooded killer who meets his end after one of the famous hand-to-hand battles in movie history is a pure psychopath or perhaps, as we’re told, a homicidal paranoiac. The novel goes into some detail describing his apparently inborn propensity for murder and cruelty, but from the pre-credit sequence on, the movie makes that clear enough. The film subtly establishes the emptiness inside Grant by making him silent throughout the film as he shadows Bond and helps keep him alive long enough for SPECTRE’s evil plan to take hold. He finally speaks, but not as himself, when he meets Bond under the guise of a recently deceased MI6 contact. As in the novel, his repeated use of the English boarding school expression “old man” becomes a bit of a tip-off to Bond. He also conveniently explains the entire plan to Bond before trying to kill him, which is always helpful behavior in a villain.

Young Bondians are often astonished to learn that the gigantic, strapping, red-haired Grant is the very same human being who portrayed the scrappy, not-quite-gigantic brunette seaman, Quint, in “Jaws.” Shaw was clearly one of the better actors tasked with killing James Bond and Grant was far from his only memorable movie bad guy. He was the chillingly ruthless Doyle Lonigan of “The Sting,” the uncompromising subway hijacker, Mr. Blue, in the original 1974 “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three” and the most imposing Sheriff of Nottingham ever opposite Sean Connery’s middle-aged Robin Hood in “Robin and Marion.” Between those films and his Bond gig, Shaw won an Oscar for his portrayal of King Henry VIII in 1967′s “A Man for All Seasons.” The master thespian was also a novelist and playwright, perhaps best known today for the play “The Man in the Glass Booth,” inspired by the trial of Nazi war criminal Adolph Eichmann. He died while still at the height of his movie fame in 1978.

Lesser Bond Baddies

With such a large and notable cadre of bad guys, you’d think we’d have the notable bad guys covered. However, we should give at least a nod to the Soviet paid Bulgar assassin Krilencu, whom Kerim Bay does away with as he is looking out of a poster for an upcoming Bob Hope/Anita Eckberg comedy. The assassin was played by the late Hungarian-born actor and stunt man, Fred Haggerty.

License to kill

After the fairly wanton killing of Prof. Dent last time around, Bond is on slightly better behavior. He does, however, offer to perform the cold-blooded assassination of Krilencu. Instead, Kerim Bey performs the honors in what is arguably a case of “all’s fair” in the war between the two men. We suppose you could make a case 007 doesn’t actually have to garrote Red Grant to death at the end of the fight in the train, but we’re willing to chalk that one up as reasonably pure self-defense and some justifiable anger for messing up an enjoyable evening.

The gadgets

The really elaborate doodads will be making their debut in “Goldfinger.” However, Boothroyd/Q does give Bond an extremely nifty and useful briefcase which the spy describes as a “nasty little Christmas present.” It features a folding AR-7 sniper rifle, hidden rounds of ammunition, a throwing knife that pops out of the side, an innocent looking can of talcum powder that holds a tear-gas canister, and hiding places for 50 gold sovereigns, always handy for potentially life-saving bribes. Believe it or not, with enough cash you can purchase a suitcase claiming to be the actual Bond case from the firm of Swaine Adeney Brigg. We’re wondering if those sovereigns would cover the cost.

The exotic locales

After the success of “Dr. No,” the famously thrifty Cubby Broccoli was prepared to spend a bit more on travel-related expenses. However, while many sequences were filmed in Istanbul, Venice and elsewhere, a surprising number of sequences were actually shot in Sean Connery’s native Scotland and at London’s Pinewood Studios. Again, director of photography Ted Moore does a fantastic job of creating a sumptuous look on a relatively lowish budget, give or take some of those inevitable obvious early sixties back-projection shots.

The outrageous villain’s lair chess room

Befitting the reputation of “From Russia with Love” as the most straightforward Bond film made in the 20th century, the sets are, on the whole, a bit more restrained than in future entries. However, even with legendary production designer Ken Adam taking a break from the series, they range from beautiful to spectacular. Syd Cain had worked in an accidentally uncredited capacity as the art director on “Dr. No” — rather than expensively redo the credits, Cubby Broccoli gave Cain a solid gold pen instead — and he was more than up to the task of production design.

Still, the villain’s lairs get upstaged this time. Yes, there is Blofeld’s rather lavish office on his yacht, but it’s a relatively restrained affair. Even his aquarium is normal sized and only houses three ordinary Siamese fighting fish. The oft-spoofed SPECTRE Island training facility, with its live shooting galleries and deadly dojos, is suspiciously similar to an elaborate multipurpose silent film set used to comic effect in, believe or not, “Singin’ in the Rain.” Easily the most spectacular set this time around is the room where Kronsteen wins his chess game. The huge Venetian frescoes that adorn the room remind us of where we are and spice up what might have been a somewhat dry scene.

The Opening

By the early sixties, teasers were a common technique used to persuade the ever-growing TV audience to sit through commercials, and so it seemed like a natural way to “hook” a movie audience right away. Producer Harry Saltzman had come up with the idea that the second film should open with the apparent death of James Bond. Furthermore, Stanley Kubrick’s Oscar-winning film of “Spartacus,” had given the filmmakers the idea of an extremely rigorous SPECTRE instructional camp where death was the equivalent of a non-passing grade.

Thus, the thrilling James Bond movie pre-credit sequence, which eventually became as much a part of the series as the girls and the guns, was born. This time, we meet psychopathic, eerily silent professional killer Donald “Red” Grant who encounters the apparent Mr. Bond in the spectacular garden of an English mansion and dispatches him with the help of some garroting wire secreted in his watch. We quickly realize the entire thing is a very deadly war game when one of Grant’s superiors pulls a mask off the body, revealing a mustachioed man who should have considered the dubious employment practices of SPECTRE.

The Credits

Like production designer Ken Adam, “Dr. No.” credit designer Maurice Binder was not on board for “From Russia with Love.” He was very ably replaced by the imaginative Robert Brownjohn, who borrowed an old avant garde film technique and projected the credits on and around the bodies of dancer, setting the sexy, male-gaze friendly tone of the production. Brownjohn would employ a variation of the process in his next and final Bond outing, “Goldfinger.”

Action Highlights

With a bigger budget came more frequent and more elaborate action sequences. Undoubtedly the most famous action scene in “From Russia with Love” is the climactic fight in Bond’s private room on the Orient express. The fight, rather brutal by the standards of its time, wowed audiences but it took a lot work as the use of stunt men was limited, allowing for a greater degree of realism than audiences were used to. The scene must have given Broccoli and Saltzman at least a touch of indigestion and it is supposed to have taken some three weeks to choreograph and film — enough time to shoot an entire movie. The effort certainly paid off, however. A later boat chase was more even more dangerous to film, though perhaps less effective for jaded modern viewers.

The Music

John Barry might not have gotten the credit he felt he deserved for the iconic James Bond theme he conducted and arranged for “Dr. No.” Of course, it was Barry, and not credited composer Monty Norman, who was asked back to score the second Bond film. Even so, the extremely talented 30 year-old still had to play second-fiddle when it came to the theme song. Since Barry had yet to write a pop hit, the producers instead turned to songwriter Lionel Bart, who had just made a smash in London and on Broadway with his songs for “Oliver!”

In our opinion, Bart is not quite in the same musical league as Barry (we’re not big fans of “Oliver!” either) and his “From Russia with Love” is not one of our very favorite Bond melodies. So, the film wisely leads off with an instrumental rendition arranged and conducted by Barry, leaving a vocal rendition by Matt Monro for later. Barry adds elements of quasi-classical dramatic film music and jazz, transforming Bart’s somewhat bland melody into an exciting composition that properly sets the tone of romance and adventure.

Perhaps trying to get a bit of his own back, Barry also created his own “007 Theme.” While the original Bond theme emphasizes danger, violence and mystery, Barry’s new melody, which would become a staple in Bond films for decades to come, strikes a playfully martial note. It sounds almost as if it might have been composed for a classic Hollywood adventure along the lines of “Gunga Din” or “Beau Geste.”

The one-liners

The enjoyably groan-inducing Bondian witticisms are, to the relief of some, few here. However, after Tatiana saves Bond from the poison-tipped hidden shoe-knife of Rosa Klebb, Bond says of the late Miss Klebb that “She had her kicks.”

At another point, Bond risks a movie-related in-joke, which has become very “in” indeed. After shooting down a SPECTRE helicopter, he quips, “Looks like one of their aircraft is missing.” This is a reference to “One of Our Aircraft is Missing,” a once popular World War II-era propaganda film from cinephile favorites Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger (“The Red Shoes”). Sadly, the film in question fell into public domain and has rarely been seen in any but the most battered prints for decades.

The cocktails and beverages

There is some booze, but no actual cocktails this time. Bond — who actually seems to prefer bourbon over martinis in the novels — seems to be in more of a caffeinated mode. He orders his super-strong Turkish coffee “medium sweet” while hanging with Ali Kerim Bay, and later requests from room service that his morning wake-up beverage be “very black.” Nevertheless, Bond and his new buddy, Bey, drink an allegedly “filthy” Turkish liquor called raki at the Gypsy camp.

Later, Bond is disturbed when Red Grant, masquerading as Bond’s contact, orders a red wine with his fish dinner. An especially tragic faux pas as it was Grant’s last meal. (Actually, oenophiles inform us you can pair red wine with fish as long as you know what you’re doing. Grant clearly didn’t know what he was doing.)

Random facts

– The poster that soon-to-be deceased assassin, Krilencu, is looking out of shortly before his last breath is for the Bob Hope, “Call Me Bwana.” Not surprisingly, the film happened to be another movie produced by Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman’s EON Productions. If you’re going to give a movie free advertising, it really should be your own.

– “From Russia With Love is one of numerous thrillers to include trains in general and the Orient Express in particular. A few of the films Terrence Young and company might have had in mind as they were shooting the train sequence were Josef von Sternberg’s “Shanghai Express,” 1934′s “Orient Express,” Alfred Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest” and “The Lady Vanishes,” as well as Carol Reed’s “Night Train to Munich,” which had a somewhat Bondian-leading man portrayed by Rex Harrison. Although Agatha Christie’s novel, Murder on the Orient Express was first published in 1934, there was no film version until America’s Sidney Lumet made an Oscar winning film version, costarring Sean Connery, in 1974.

The Romantic Ending

Fans who saw both “From Russia with Love” and “Dr. No” might have spotted the beginning of a pattern. Bond and Honey Ryder (Ursula Andress) wrap up in the first movie engaged in some heavy movie-style petting in a small boat. Bond and Tatiana end the film engaged in some goodness-knows-what in a Venetian gondola. Whatever they’re doing  may or may not be legal under Italian law, but Bond probably has license for that as well.

“James Bond Will Return”

One last tradition began in “From Russia with Love” and it was the promise of another 007 adventure before the end credits. In keeping with the tendency of films of that era to get a bit cute with the closing “The End” title card, here it’s followed by “Not Quite the End” and then, “James Bond will return in the next Ian Fleming thriller . . . ”Goldfinger.” And so he did.

Of course, this is completely misleading, but I thought I’d pump myself up a bit before we get started. Basically, what this is all about is promotion for the upcoming James Bond Blu-ray set of all 22 extent canonical Bond films (slobber, slobber!). With the help of the good people at the Ian Fleming Foundation, the folks at MGM/Fox were allowing Con-goers to line up for an opportunity to have their pictures taken with these various mean machines.

The only problem was, it’s not like a simple freelancer like me arrives at Comic-Con with a bevy of men’s magazine models and, alas, Bond Booth Babes weren’t in anyone’s budget, it appeared. The thought of forcing innocent readers to view repeated pictures of me in front of four of these machines seemed almost Blofeldian in its wrongness.

Instead, I did the natural thing at Comic-Con. With a little help from my photographin’ pal Rodney Reynaldo, I recruited some of the costumed denizens of the Con to provide the visual pizzazz that I thought I needed. Fortunately, we also have some additional photos.

And so we begin at the beginning….

The Q Boat — This number was featured in the Thames boat chase sequence from 1999′s “The World is Not Enough.” In the film, Bond (as portrayed by Pierce Brosnan) appropriates the boat to give chase to a bad guy who has committed a dastardly murder at a party, though the fact that the event was in honor of good ol’ Q’s retirement adds a slightly ironic note.

I’m not quite sure what kind of note our anime-inspired friends provided, but there they are, along with a shot from the movie, in our gallery. And, yes, you can’t see the front of the vehicle from the shot on the floor of the San Diego Convention Center, but get a load of this shot of the vehicle in action from the movie.

The Ground Parahawk — This snow vehicle also turned up in one of the action sequences in the 1999 Bond opus.

What, you don’t remember Fred and Wilma Flintstone posing in front of it? Well, here’s how it looked in its more natural state.

The Jaguar XKR

The coolness factor went up considerably with the first of two actual cars, this one from 2002′s “Die Another Day.” To be honest, as far as I can find out without having the movie handy, it appears that Mr. Bond never actually drove this car. Instead, he was nearly done in by it, as suave bad guy Zao (Rick Yune) tried his best to deprive 007 of his license to live.

Of course, if Spider-Man and Spider-Girl had been along for the ride, things might have gone a bit differently. Or not.

The Aston Martin V8 Vantage Volante

It would have been way too much to expect the original and greatest James Bond supercar, the Aston Martin DB5 from 1964′s “Goldfinger” (AKA the most famous car in the world). Still, we got close enough for Comic-Con with the amazing Aston Martin V8 from 1977′s “The Living Daylights,” one of two Bond outings starring Timothy Dalton.

It might not have been as famous as the original Bond car with its built-in machine guns and ejector seat but, at least in terms of numbers, it out-gadgetted the original. The Volante in the film came come complete with, among other features, guided missiles, tire-slashing lasers, and a self-destruct capability in case everything went to hell in a hand basket.

It was our determination that only James Bond himself was cool enough to stand in front of an Aston Martin of this caliber. Since we didn’t happen to spot him wandering the convention floor, this one stands alone.

But not your dad; not this year. This year, you are going to give dad the gift of gaming. In trying to help all sons and daughters with this task, I was shocked to discover that there are actually quite a few good games for dad available. While you can’t go wrong with classics like “Call of Duty,” “God of War,” “Uncharted,” or a genuine full-size arcade cabinet of “Cabella’s Big Buck Hunter,” these are the ten titles that I feel most dads would want most on their big day.

Red Dead Redemption

If you’re dad’s anything like mine, he can catch a Sergio Leone movie or “Unforgiven” rerun on TV with frightening accuracy and consistency. So what better gift than what is far and away the best western game ever made?

Whether it’s ropin’, ridin’, thievin’ or shootin’, your dad won’t need the letter “g” if you give him the game that lets him freely roam the west and re-enact his favorite moments from the great western genre. To make the gift even better, pack it in with the “Man with No Name Collection“, or the first season of “Deadwood” to insure that you put your dad in a deadly entertainment cycle that will be driving mom crazy for months to come.

Forza Motorsport 4

This is just a gimme. Featuring over 500 cars (well over half of which most normal people will never see with their own eyes) and an almost endless amount of customization, tracks, game options and other extra content, “Forza 4″ is simply the greatest racing game ever made. Even if for some reason your dad isn’t a car nut (the odds aren’t great there), “Forza 4″ is a game that is having so much fun with its subject that it basically becomes impossible to not get swept up in it.

The only way you can miss on this one is if dad doesn’t own an Xbox 360. Then your prospects get trickier. For PlayStation 3, you could always go for the stuffier but enjoyable “Gran Turismo 5” and just never let dad know there is a better option out there, and for the Wii there is always “Mario Kart.” Everyone loves “Mario Kart.”

Sports Games… Too Many Sports Games

I don’t want to make generalizations here, but I’m going to put the odds of your dad liking sports in about the 90% range. Obviously, if your dad has a favorite sport, it’s easy to get the appropriate game to match it. Football fans get “Madden,” basketball nuts go with the “NBA 2K” series, soccer hooligans go with “FIFA,” and so on.

However, if you want an easy out for the sports conundrum, just go with” Wii Sports.” I can’t explain it, but dads of all shapes, sizes and backgrounds love the hell out of “Wii Sports.” They seem to have no knowledge or care for how stupid they look, and just spend hours throwing fake bowling balls around. It’s a scary phenomenon, but there is no sense in denying the draw of this game with middle aged and above men.

Dead Rising 2

Look, I don’t want to be grim here, but I don’t want to have to kill a zombie that used to be my dad. I’m guessing you feel the same. But since there is going to be a zombie apocalypse, unless certain precautions are taken, you may have to face this horrifying situation.

My advice? Get him prepared. Get him “Dead Rising 2″ and let him learn how to fight off insurmountable hoards of the undead with whatever may be lying around. Not only will he have hours of fun roaming around a pseudo Las Vegas and turning the old weed whacker into a device of mass destruction, but you will also be preparing him for the inevitable fate of the dead walking the Earth. So when the two of you are back-to-back one day with katana swords fighting off zombies, you truly will have the proudest dad alive for having gotten him ready.

From Russia with Love

This one is actually a last generation title, but its an essential game for dad. Because like most other men, your dad most likely made a sound decision at one point in his life that he would like to be James Bond. Unfortunately, it turns out that Aston Martins don’t handle that well, sleeping around that much internationally leads to strange new VDs, and it takes years in a government position for most people to just escape the mailroom.

Instead of watching dad drown his sorrows in shaken martinis waiting for the next Bond movie, let him finally live out his Bond dreams. “From Russia with Love” isn’t a perfect game, but it has the feel of a Bond movie down perfect. Plus, you get to play as Sean Connery, the one true Bond in most old school fans eyes. It’s worth digging out the old PlayStation 2 or Xbox for.

An Old School Classic

I grew up in an NES family. When we bonded, it wasn’t over a bedtime reading or a day trip, but rather a gathering around the old console. Whether it was getting murdered at failed “Contra” or “Battletoads” sessions, putting countless hours into “Dragon Warrior” in lieu of homework, or seeing if we could beat “Super Mario Bros. 3” without that cheap warp whistle trick, we were a gaming family.

If this applies to you, then the gift is simple. You search eBay for a cheap console of your choice with your favorite old school game to go with it, and you have it set up in the living room waiting to take dad back to those simpler times. Just make sure you stop off at Radioshack on the way for an adapter, though, unless you take a sick joy in wasting half of the day figuring out how to hook one of those old beasts up to a modern TV.

Grand Theft Auto IV

I’m sure your dad tried to do right in raising you. He taught you moral guidelines, he worked hard for his living, and probably even took you to church once or twice. However, probably due to the patriarchal tones of “The Godfather,” I’m betting your dad secretly hoped for a turn of events that would force him into the world of high profit organized crime to support his family.

Much as the rest of the world found out with the overnight success of “GTA: III” in 2001, this series is the perfect way to harmlessly live out those criminal urges. While your dad may initially feel overwhelmed by the size and scope of the game, once he figures out that most issues can be solved with a baseball bat, he’ll probably find himself as hopelessly addicted as millions of others have. Bonus points if you snag the “Complete Edition” that includes the “Lost and the Damned” content that will let him finally join that motorcycle gang.

Portal 2

Maybe “Portal 2″ doesn’t immediately spring to mind when you’re thinking of dad games, but it definitely should. You could fool him at first into thinking that it’s going to be a shooting title, only to let him slowly be drawn in by the unique concept and level design while the game’s unrivaled sense of humor keeps just about anyone playing just to see what the next gag is going to be. Plus, even if he doesn’t usually get into puzzle games, he’ll probably feel the classic fatherly urge of one-upsmanship take over and will end up beating it in an effort to prove that you’re not smarter than your old man.

The best reason to go with “Portal 2,” though, is the co-op. While I spent hours of my youth trying to awkwardly catch and hit a baseball to spend time with dad, this new age has offered us the better option of letting you two try to mutually work your way out of the world’s most complex rat maze.

BioShock

Considering that it’s one of the greatest and most important titles of this generation, I don’t think I need to go into detail on why everyone should play this game. Here’s just a few specific reasons why dad needs to play it:

1. He probably doesn’t get around to playing many games that challenge the “games are art” debate. So this is a chance to expand his horizons without trying to find the best way to discreetly wrap some LSD.

2. He probably can’t help but admire the parenting skills of the Big Daddies in the game, and when he eventually has to take them down, you get a chance to prove that your dad can actually beat up any other dad.

3. Since “BioShock: Infinite” is now delayed until 2013, whenever you need to start up a conversation with the old man, you can call him up and share just how much that sucks.

Rock Band

All right, all right, I admit that this game and the genre are a little played out. But besides being able to snag the whole set cheaper now that the craze has died down (ideally), the real value of this game comes in its ability to get the whole family together having fun just like dad was always trying to do.

Then, of course, when its late at night and no one is around, dad can sneak into the living room, tie up the old headband and rock out to “Shooting Star” just like he used to. While mom may not appreciate him inviting the guys over to play in order to get the band back together one more time, dad certainly will, and this is his day after all. Plus, he did give up on his music dreams in order to support his family, so you can’t forget that.