Display MoreThe Wing Commander movie club found that From Russia with Love held our attention! It's interesting seeing Bond that feels so much slower and less like a vehicle for getting from action set piece to action set piece… but at the same time, you can see the modern formula for a James Bond movie starting to form this early.
Here's our very simple Wing Commander connection, a Privateer 2 wingman who is mirroring Bond's raised gun pose! That pose, which would be repeated endlessly over the years, was first captured in the PR photography session for this movie. The unusual length of the gun isn't a silencer, it's actually an airgun that had to be used when Bond's signature Walter PPK was unavailable for the shoot.
Bob also noticed that two ships in Privateer 2's registry have Bond's famous "license to kill.": H643 345D and X465 435E. Bond introduced the term in his first novel, Casino Royale, and it would eventually serve as the title for one of Timothy Dalton's outings. We'll add that one to the movie queue so we can see how Bond evolves!
There are two important behind-the-camera figures that didn't work on this film but are key connections between the Bond franchise and Wing Commander. Peter Lamont worked on Bond films from 1964 (starting with Goldfinger, the movie that followed this one) to 2006… with a little break in 1998 to serve as cinematographer on the Wing Commander movie! The other is David Arnold, Wing Commander's composer, who would score five Bond movies between 1997 and 2008.
Sully isn't sure what to make of this fellow…
