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From Russia with Love - Excess Excised

ParanoidAndroid

ParanoidAndroid

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As a fan of the Ian Fleming novels and films that followed, I have long been interested in the various projects posted here that either polish what are only slightly rough diamonds or salvage works that I otherwise would have preferred to have forgotten!

My first Bond edit falls into the former category, with a few trims to remove parts that I never liked much, but on a whim I had a go reorganising the early scenes to initially give the impression that a scheme is being devised by the Soviet SMERSH organisation (as in the 1957 book) rather than SPECTRE (invented several years later), the truth only being revealed with the first appearance of Ernst Stavro Blofeld himself. I believe that the attempt is successful, and hope that any viewers would not consider my alterations to one of the most acclaimed films in the series as sacrilege!
 
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Adding that misdirection sounds interesting.

Are you trimming the Turkish girl fight? Make it a bit more gritty and "for real" by trimming the silliest moves?

In the speedboat to Venice, consider cutting the entire fight at sea. That's the weakest battle in the movie, plus it works nicely if the audience thinks he got away clean. Then the reappearance of miss Klebb is all the more unexpected.
 
lapis molari said:
Adding that misdirection sounds interesting.

Are you trimming the Turkish girl fight? Make it a bit more gritty and "for real" by trimming the silliest moves?

In the speedboat to Venice, consider cutting the entire fight at sea. That's the weakest battle in the movie, plus it works nicely if the audience thinks he got away clean. Then the reappearance of miss Klebb is all the more unexpected.
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I haven't tried editing the fight yet (agree that it is a bit silly) since I'm not used to working within sections with that have music overlaid and avoiding obvious audio jump cuts, might have a go shortly.

I am not sure about removing the boat fight scene, while agreeing that this would tighten things up and provide the surprise you mentioned it might seem a little odd if SPECTRE (with all its resources) only sends Klebb to try and complete the operation rather than her go as a last resort. Will mull over this, thank you for the suggestion!
 
I have always thought the entire boat action sequence was unnecessary. I would also remove the shot of Bond waving at the very end of the movie. IIRC the hand is not Connery’s, he thought the shot was stupid and wouldn’t film it so they had someone else do it.
 
Many thanks for the suggestions, quite an honour to receive comments from veteran Bond faneditors!

I have had a go removing the boat fight and think a little reordering addresses my earlier concern about any lack of SPECTRE response. The sequence of events immediately after the train stopping now goes: Bond and Tania escaping in the truck; Blofeld exercising discipline; helicopter attack and departure on the boat; fade to Venice just after Tania asks where they are going. Pasting in a bit of later dialogue during the latter scene allows for a slower/more natural fade, he now responds "Venice, with a bit of luck we shall be there by tomorrow morning."

Also had a go removing the final wave after Bond further pollutes the Venice canal system, the first shot with "The End" fades nicely into the one that tilts up for the rest of the credits. A few more trims and I think the project will be ready!
 
Pending a watch-through, a slightly updated version of this edit will be made available shortly.

It is pretty much the same as before but with higher-bitrate video; improved audio transitions; upscaling on a section where the image is zoomed in on and full English subtitles (suggested by @Bored at 3:00AM).
 
Thankyew.

I'll let you know what my students think. Showing a 60 year old movie to a bunch of teens is always a crapshoot. They're either going to be bored stupid or absolutely love it because it's so unlike the ADHD paced material they're used to.
 
Bored at 3:00AM said:
Thankyew.
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No worries at all, have been meaning to redo my old edits for a while, just needed a prod to get going.

Bored at 3:00AM said:
I'll let you know what my students think. Showing a 60 year old movie to a bunch of teens is always a crapshoot. They're either going to be bored stupid or absolutely love it because it's so unlike the ADHD paced material they're used to.
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If anything from the period is to have a chance of keeping their attention I'd imagine that this would. I didn't start watching the Bond films properly until I was in university, The Spy Who Loved Me was the exception, first saw it when I was young enough to be excited by the action while confused by the suggestive content.

I did however read all the Fleming stories during my early teens (after finishing the then-published Alex Rider stories), these were probably the first "grown-up" (as they felt at the time) books I ever read and I found them thrilling despite how poorly-aged they could be. Think some of my teachers weren't too happy with the provocative covers (search Penguin 007 Collection to understand), but they would have been even less happy if they'd known just how dated the content inside was!

Actually, I remember my English teacher suggesting that I follow on from the Bond books with the more grounded spy fiction of John Le Carre, specifically recommending The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and the Karla Trilogy. Think I read all these before the Tinker Tailor film (which I saw theatrically) came out, would have been fifteen at the time yet I liked it and adored the old BBC TV series, so either tastes have changed since or (more likely) I was not a typical teenager!
 
Watched through updated version at last, all seems fine and subtitles completed, surprised at just how many words are misspelled or seemingly misunderstood!

Will be uploading the file shortly, it should hopefully be ready by tomorrow.
 
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