Billion Dollar Brain (1967)

Secret agent Harry Palmer (OscarÂ(r)-winner Michael Caine - Best Supporting Actor, The Cider House Rules, 1999; Hannah and Her Sisters, 1986) is blackmailed into working for MI5 again on his wildest - and most dangerous - assignment yet. An insane oil billionaire, intent on destroying Communism by starting a new world war, is close to achieving his goal with the help of the world's largest, and mostpowerful, computer. Harry is the only man who may be able to stop him; but as he races from London to Finland to Latvia to Texas and back, he must determine who of his supposed allies (a sexy Russianagent, a Soviet colonel and an American mercenary) is the one he can actually trust!

One of the most ridiculous finale ever

The movie starts well, but then the leftist ideas of the director take over and we are given one of the most ridiculous, absurd villains ever. Not to mention that the KGB general (Homolka) is presented as a refined, cultured gentleman, while the "Texan billionaire" of leftist fantasy is completely rotten. Yeah, the West stinks, those that fought the Communist were crooks, and the Communists are the true gentlemen, this seems to be the message of a movie whose director should have spent time in a KGB prison for reeducation. October 9, 2008

Don't waste your time

I've read quite a few of Len Deighton's novels and watched and enjoyed the 2 earlier Harry Palmer movies ("The Ipcress File" And "Funeral In Berlin"). So when I came across this movie, I bought it hoping to find another well done anti-Bond flick. No such luck.

In the movie, Palmer takes on a fanatical billonaire, General Midwinter, who has his own private army and a plot to take on Russia and gain freedom for one of the Soviet states. "Takes on" is probably an overstatement, since Palmer spends most of the movie aimlessly wandering around and does absolutely nothing to stop the General. At one point, scenes of the General's army being loaded into assault vehicles disguised as oil and gas trucks are alternated with Palmer frantically driving his car and telling his companion that Midwinter will start WWIII and they have to stop them. The next scene has Palmer pulling into the courtyard now empty of army and assault vehicles, driving around it, and leaving.

It made me miss the god-awful Roger Moore movies of the 70's. Save your time and money and buy "The Ipcress File" or "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold" instead. September 1, 2008

Classic at its best!

Excellent panavision film with great suspence and International espionage scenes. You will surely love this film as its a series of short films by British actor Michael Caine. August 23, 2008

Harry Palmer Continues

This is what happens when Hollywood decides to cash in on a character. This movie is scenic, well shot, decently acted but lacks the snap and high drama of Caine's classics--Ipcress File and Funeral In Berlin who were both done at Pinewood Studios in London. I suspect the screenplay was done by someone who knows precious little about MI-6. May 9, 2008

The Other James Bond

The Billion Dollar Brain, The Ipcriss File and Funeral in Berlin form a trilogy of Harry Palmer films released in the late sixties and early seventies.
Secret agent Harry Palmer was author Len Deighton's answer to Ian Fleming's 007, but unlike Sean Connery's suave character, Harry Palmer is a cockney ex-thief blackmailed into the British Secret Service.
Michael Caine brings a dry humor to the role, as Harry Palmer(no pun intended?)muddles his way to success. Acclaimed actor Karl Malden provides the foil as an ex-CIA agent gone bad, and the redoubtable Ed Begley is the arch-villain, a Texas oilman bent on world-domination.

January 13, 2008

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