The evening train sequence from Spectre (2015) is arguably one of the best sequences of any James Bond movie. It’s often compared to the train sequence in From Russia With Love (1963), but I’d argue this one has it beat.

The look and feel of the start of the evening dinner with Bond (Daniel Craig) and Swann (Lea Seydoux) is visually stunning. Cinematographically, the dim and understated lighting on the dining car gives the scene an authentic, vintage look that would transport any Bond fan to their favorite 1960’s Bond movie.

Swann’s silky sleek dress and Bond’s white dinner jacket with signature red carnation are a perfect combination for an intimate evening. The couple’s love is fully on display, and what more could convince the audience of true love than when Bond agrees to drinking a dirty (!) martini with Swann! (Even though they are some of the clearest dirty martinis I’ve ever seen!)

Of course, the love affair and perfect evening are short-lived, and the dichotomy of the love-fest quickly changes to a hand-to-hand fight to the death battle is jarring, but particularly well done (even though it boggles the mind where all of the other patrons go during the fight – a few are seen in the background, but not nearly as many as shown at the start. I guess they quickly left the car?). Anyways, Bond is completely outmatched in the fight with Hinx (Dave Bautista). Although he connects some punches and even sets Hinx’s arm on fire, nothing seems to truly sway the fight from Hinx’s control until the very end in the bar car’s storage.

Swann does try her best at first but is knocked out quickly, and a frantic (and smart) 007 realizes he won’t stand a chance in the fight if he doesn’t change the fight environment and move to other train cars. Tons of property damage later – the normally gun-shy Swann does make a difference in shooting Hinx in the arm – stunning and disabling him as he retreats. This gives Bond enough time to regroup and regain his consciousness, and successfully ends the fight as quick as it started with his fast-thinking head-lasso-keg-connect-kick maneuver. Shit! Bravo!

The exasperated couple then ends the scene (and the drama) in each other’s arms and eventually out of each other’s clothes, albeit implicitly, off-camera – and rightfully so. I remember this part of the movie on first viewing that the “What do we do now?”/start of a sex scene was very well received by the audience with loud laughs and claps in the theater. The scene was as enjoyable then as it is now!