1. SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND DESIGN
THE DESIGN SCHOOL
FOUNDATION IN NATURAL BUILD ENVIRONMENT
NAME: TAN YIT FONG
STUDENT ID NO: 0319133
FILMS SELECTED: FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE (1963) & DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER
(1971)
WORD COUNT: 661
ENGLISH 2 (ELG 30605)
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT 1: COMPARE – CONTRAST ESSAY
LECTURER: CASSANDRA WIJESURIA
SUBMISSION DATE: 5TH
DECEMBER 2014

2. “From Russia with Love” and “Diamonds are Forever” are both films in the James bond series
starring Sean Connery with a decade long gap in between both their box office releases. The two films
are based on stories that are part of Ian Flemming’s popular series of spy fiction James Bond novels
published in 1956 and 1957 respectively. The Bond series in film are Hollywood classics in its own
right. Highly anticipated and watched by almost everyone who had a television at that time, I chose
these two movies
“From Russia with Love” is a story about the search for a Russian decoding machine, known as
Lektor that Bond needs to find before the evil SPECTRE organization discovers it first. Whilst being
romantically linked with Russian girl, Tatiana Romanova, Bond sneaks his way around Istanbul,
whilst each SPECTRE agent tries to pick him off. On the other hand, “Diamonds are Forever” is a
story about how after Bond travels the world in his quest to kill Blofeld, his long-time arch nemesis,
and returns triumphant. The British Government becomes suspicious when large shipments of uncut
diamonds begin disappearing during transit. Bond goes undercover as Peter Franks, diamond
smuggler and now must resist the wiles of a beautiful smuggler and survive the machinations of
Blofeld's two assassins so that he can uncover Blofeld's sinister plot.
The overarching similarity between both films is the character James Bond himself, on one of his
many missions, clad in his black suit and tie and slicked black hair. With gun in hand and sometimes a
brief case, he can solve any problem before it goes out of hand. He always seems to know what to do
in life-threatening times, remaining calm and cool, and is always one step ahead of his nemesis. This
leads me to another obvious similarity; it is almost inevitable that James Bond would succeed. He is
the Mary Sue character whereby the odds are always in his favour and he triumphs in both films.
However, even though both films share a similar ending, the road to it is definitely different. In “From
Russia with Love”, most scenes took place in a moving train on road to Piccadilly, Britain while in
“Diamonds are Forever” James Bond travels the world, from Amsterdam to Los Angeles to Las
Vegas with in-between scenes of the South African diamond mines and an airplane en route to
Germany. Hence, “Diamonds are Forever” contains much more details and action in its plot that spans
120 minutes while “From Russia with Love” only spans 57 minutes. Not to mention in “Diamonds are
Forever” there were special effects showcasing explosion clouds and satellites from outer space
blowing up submarines.
Who could forget the alluring bond girls that add that extra spark as James Bond’s love interest,
completing James Bond’s character to have it all- intuition, strength, desirability. Tatiana Romanova
and Tiffany Case from “From Russia with Love” and “Diamonds are Forever” respectively play
henchmen against Bond at the beginning of both movies and only to become his sidekicks later on.
Both women would be introduced and out by the next movie like many of the other Bond girls. Also,
both women end with an embrace on a cruise with James Bond himself- Romana on a gondola in
Venice while with Case it was on the RMS Queen Elizabeth cruise ship headed for Britain, probably
signifying that the relationship is only for the ride and would end at land.
Hence all in all, I feel that these two movies showcase the progression of the Hollywood scene over
the years. In the 1963 film it was all about bringing the words to life while on the other hand the 1971
film dramatized and expanded on the basic plot provided by Ian Flemming. Although at the end of the
day, basic skeleton of the ‘Bond-on-mission’ story is what ties both movies and creates an
immediately recognizable series that has entertained the masses since the 1950s.