Results tagged “From Russia With Love” from Birmingham Mail - Mega Movies

THE ELECTRIC CINEMA is to show a series of classic James Bond movies this month to celebrate the centenary of the birth on April 5, 1909 of the legendary 007 producer Albert R 'Cubby' Broccoli.

From Sunday, fans will be able to see Dr No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger and On Her Majesty's Secret Service on the silver screen again - and all at a marvellously restored theatre which will celebrate its own centenary as Britain's oldest working cinema on December 30 this year.

I'm not convinced the Electric would have been the best place to see Star Trek when you can see that at IMAX in amazing DMR format.

But this is something else. The old Bond movies are a bit creaky now as I found out when I saw From Russia With Love back in January.

Compared with a standard multiplex, though, I think they will surely come alive far more at the Electric, an atmospheric place which will actually make you feel like you are back in the 60s watching them for the first time.

Now how exciting is that!

Each movie is being screened on 59 other screens nationwide via the UK Film Council's Digital Screen Network and the digital release has been Lottery funded through the UK Film Council's Prints and Advertising Fund.

The Bond films in the Broccoli centenary season have been digitally restored frame by frame by world-leading Lowry Digital Images, enabling audiences to enjoy the outstanding picture quality and improved sound offered by this technologically advanced format.

The process involves taking moving pictures that show signs of age and wear, removing the fading, dirt, scratches and other defects that occur over time, and returning them to their original condition.

This Sunday's screening at 4pm is Dr No which will be followed by From Russia With Love (Jun 14), Goldfinger (Jun 21) and OHMSS (Jun 28).
Sunday 28 June.

Never been to the Electric before? Here are the full details... and, given the programme, over the next month, it would be worth the while of enthusiasts travelling 50 miles to see one of their favourite movies in this setting.

The cinema, by the way, is right at the back of New Street Station (next to the Old Rep) so handy for visiting by public transport, too.

www.theelectric.co.uk
nfo@theelectric.co.uk

0121 643 7879

For any last minute offers, deals and film info visit the Electric's Twitter page.
http://twitter.com/ElectricBham

Here, British Film Institute expert Dick Fiddy kindly gives his views of each film:

DR. NO (PG) (1962, 105 mins): Dir. Terence Young.

Cast: Sean Connery, Ursula Andress, Joseph Wiseman.
Sean Connery was cast in the lead role and the film featured the usual Broccoli touch of exotic locations: this time Jamaica and surrounding waters, from which a bikini-clad Ursula Andress memorably emerged. A fast-paced colourful romp, the film became an enormous hit worldwide.

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE (PG, 115 mins) (1963): Dir Terence Young.

Cast: Sean Connery, Robert Shaw, Lotte Lenya, Daniela Bianchi.
Broccoli considered this as one of the best Fleming stories. Connery once again excelled and was well supported by a great cast including Robert Shaw, wonderfully menacing as a brutal killer; and Lotte Lenya as the Russian agent with the famous poison-tipped knife device in her shoe. The film also features many distinctive Bond motifs for the first time and its huge success firmly established the 007 films as a cultural phenomenon.

GOLDFINGER (PG, 109 mins) (1964): Dir. Guy Hamilton.

Cast: Sean Connery, Honor Blackman, Gert Fröbe.
To many, the quintessential Bond film and a brilliant third entry in the series. Here Bond gets his Aston Martin, spars with two statuesque British beauties (Honor Blackman and Shirley Eaton) and pits his wits against a memorable villain, Auric Goldfinger. Add the first Shirley Bassey theme song and some exciting action sequences and the result is an explosive cocktail.

ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE (PG, 140 mins) (1969): Dir. Peter Hunt.

Cast: George Lazenby, Telly Savalas, Diana Rigg.
Connery's decision to quit as Bond left Broccoli and Saltzman with a headache. The Press went into overdrive speculating on Connery's successor; while the producers chose good-looking Australian actor George Lazenby after successful screen tests. Avengers' superstar Diana Rigg was brought in as an added lure and the resulting action-packed film ensured that the franchise would continue.

IT'S NOT out till April, but Fifty Dead Men Walking was as compelling as it was harrowing to watch today.

One of the stars is Sir Ben Kingsley, who plays a British 'peeler' in Belfast at the height of the Troubles.

HIs job is to try to win the confidence of informers who will help to save lives by revealing where arms are being kept or moved to.

The violence is scarecely watchable but the film does try to be even handed.

And, 26 years after Gandhi won him the Best Actor Oscar, Sir Ben proves that he is still a class act.

And it's good to see that he has quickly put The Love Guru behind him!

I was with Sir Ben in Milton Keynes today and, at 65, he seemed to be very relaxed and on top form.

More about him in the Mail when the film is released, but the news below makes me think he'd be a great James Bond villain.

I also saw a remastered version of 007 thriller From Russia With Love today which is being rereleased on April 24.

Sad to say, that although the nature of the plot was a change after some of the recent, convoluted 007 movies, this didn't half feel a bit dated and slow.

And Sean Connery didn't exactly appear to be busting a gut in the acting stakes. Maybe Ian Fleming was right all along when he initially thought they'd picked the wrong guy.

Connery's great advantage, of course, is that he got to play Bond first. When he tried to follow Roger Moore in Never Say Never Again he came unstuck himself.

I still think Pierce Brosnan could have been the best Bond, but he never did quite get the film to match his talents.

Dr No, Thunderball, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die and The Spy Who Loved Me are also going to be screened again nationally in April and May thanks to digital cinema technology giving them all a new lease of life.