BULLET TO BEIJING marks the return of Harry Palmer, the unflappable British spy memorably played by Michael Caine in THE IPCRESS FILE (1965) and its sequels. Unfortunately, a lot of espionage has gone under the Berlin Wall since Glasnost, and the international tensions seem less genuine
in the '90s. The film was released theatrically in Europe, but had its American premiere on cable before a home-video release in 1997.
Forced into early redundancy, secret agent Harry Palmer (Michael Caine) gladly abandons British red tape for a freelance gig for Russian magnate Alex (Michael Gambon). But Alex's allegedly humanitarian job offer, which involves reappropriating a stolen bipartite biological weapon, is tainted by a
financial self-interest unknown to Alex's field operatives, Nicolai (Jason Connery) and Natasha (Mia Sara). Harry's assignment is to travel to Russia to intercept the germ warfare canisters before they get to North Korean commander Kim Soo (Burt Kwouk). In reality, Alex is duping Harry into
unknowingly smuggling half of the Red Plague bio-strain into the country.
In the course of his mission, Harry becomes target practice for Russian mafiosi (secretly in Alex's employ) and gets tricked by an old ally, Louis (John Dunn Hill), who's now in Alex's employ also. Before Harry boards the North Korea-bound train (known as the "Bullet to Beijing"), Louis slips a
toy containing half of the Red Plague bio-strain into Harry's suitcase. When Nicolai and Harry discover canisters containing the other half of the Red Plague bio-component, a train security agent, Colonel Gradsky (Lev Prygunov), suspects they are spies and forces them off the train. After an
unexpected detour through Siberia by air, Harry and Nicolai reboard the train, where retired CIA agent Craig (Michael Sarrazin) passes himself off as loyal to Alex (Craig is actually working undercover for the DEA to discredit Alex).
Harry deduces Alex's plan to sell all of the plague elements to Kim Soo in exchange for heroin to finance his future power schemes. Harry and Gradsky replace the germ warfare component in the canisters with an ineffective substance; they throw the real substance off the train. Although Kim Soo is
duped into accepting the now-harmless bio-strains, he orders the Russian mafia to attack Harry and his cohorts when they return to Russia. Successfully combatting the Russian mobsters, Harry blows up the truck containing the heroin coming from Kim Soo. Alex is temporarily beaten, but unbowed.
The viability of a spy thriller lies in how well the audience can circumnavigate the twists and turns of disposable identities, crossed purposes, and multiple betrayals. Somewhere between St. Petersburg and Beijing, BULLET TO BEIJING loses its audience as it opts for an inflation of the standard
double-crosses of successful espionage flicks. Among the many plot elements left dangling in midair is the question of whether Nicolai is the illegitimate child of Harry and a Russian Mata Hari.
Despite a surfeit of surprises and misinformation, BULLET TO BEIJING scores in several areas. Its updated Cold War scenario is adroitly populated by discarded heroes of the '60s: Craig, Harry Palmer, and Colonel Gradsky have outlived their usefulness to their governments. The screenplay also
features tangy tongue-in-cheek repartee, particularly for Caine, who flavors his dry-martini character with a cynical charge. These players are infinitely more convincing than the familiar but confusing spy shell game they're engaged in playing. (Graphic violence, extreme profanity, nudity, adult
situations, substance abuse.) leave a comment
