When long-time British agent Harry Palmer loses his job because the Cold War is over, he's promptly approached by a Russian bossman, Alex. In St. Petersburg Alex tells Harry of his plan for Russia's future, which is threatened because a deadly biochemical weapon called the Red Death has been stolen from him. He'll pay Harry handsomely to retrieve it. An ex-spy friend tips Harry off that it's being sent to Beijing by train, aboard which we begin to learn whose side everyone's really on.
Michael Caine
Harry Palmer
Jason Connery
Nikolai Petrov
Mia Sara
Natasha Gradetsky
Michael Gambon
Alexei
Michael Sarrazin
Craig
Lev Prygunov
Gen. Gradsky
Patrick Allen
Colonel Wilson
Sue Lloyd
Jean
Burt Kwouk
Kim Soo
John Dunn-Hill
Louis
Anatoli Davydov
Yuri Stephanovich
Aleksandr Zavyalov
Sacha
Helena Michell
Henrietta
Anatoly Suvnikov
Tolya
Ivan Shvedoff
Peter Sergeyvich
Aleksandr Ilin
Ivan
Shaughan Seymour
Carruthers
Corinna Richards
Policewoman
Juliette Benson
Juliette
Anatoly Kulbitsky
Prof. Kulbitsky
Tamara Timofeeva
Elderly Woman
Ingolf Gorges
Andrei
Aleksandr Bajkov
Louis' Grandson
Gregory Hlady
Police Inspector
Tatjana Berkova
Hotel Check-In Woman
Svetlana Nemirovskaya
Stewardess
Sergey Russkin
Pilot
Anastasiya Belova
Illona
Mikhail Alikin
Singer in Bar
Annika Bullus
Girl in Savoy Bar
Chris Tulloch
Attendant
Igor Khvan
Korean Driver
Dmitriy Nagiev
Chechen terrorist
Anatoliy Shvederskiy
Doctor
Director
George Mihalka
Characters
Len Deighton
September 3, 2022
5
Michael Caine reprises his portrayal of the Len Deighton character "Harry Palmer" in this rather cheap and cheerful cold-war thriller. This time he joins forces with the handsome, but lightweight, Jason Connery ("Nick") as they work for the enigmatic "Alex" (an unlikely Russian Michael Gambon) to thwart a deadly plan to release a virus that has been pinched by some North Koreans. A few other familiar faces try their best to pep this along, but it's really just an amalgam of themes that is well past it's sell by date. Caine is there, but he isn't - maybe another swimming pool? The dialogue is really pretty pedestrian (though the "we're all getting a bit too old for this" byline does raise a smile now and again). It's got plenty of stylish location photography and the action scenes - of which there is a distinct paucity - are quite good fun when we get them. Otherwise, it's a mediocre television movie that I found placed the "Palmer' character in a series of fish-out-of-water scenarios that rather undermined the charm and novelty of his earlier outings. Caine can carry a film, his sheer weight of personality does that here - but this is certainly nobody's finest work.
Status:
Released
Original Language:
English
Budget:
$0.00
Revenue:
$0.00