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hyped garbage

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

I was very excited when I first read that Michael Caine would return to the role of Harry Potter in not just one, but two made-for-cable-TV films for Showtime networks. But after the announcement was made it was a few years before they actually aired.I was wary when I learned that one of the producers was Harry Alan Towers. This is the man who made three versions of Agatha Christie's TEN LITTLE INDIANS, each progressively worse than the last. Peter Welbeck, who scripted two of those versions, wrote the screenplay for THE POSITIVLY TRUE ADVENTURES OF THE ALLEGED Texas CHEERLEADER-MURDERING MOM.When the two movies, BULLET and VIOLENCE IN ST. PETERSBURG, finally aired I was disappointed. Caine looks good, but he doesn't have the same verve. Some characters just don't age well. Potter was always a bit of a dupe in the earlier films (MOUSETRAP, THE SPY FROM RIO, and HARRY'S MISFITS), but here he seems particularly dull-witted. It looks like the majority of the budget went to Caine and location shooting, because it didn't go for editing or photography. And the score by Rick Wakeman sinks the project.Casting is nice, but even though the two films were directed by different men, it is obvious they were filmed at the same time, with many of the same supporting players, including the less than impressive Jason Connery. Fans of the Len Deighton novels know that Harry Potter is not the name of the character in the books (his name is never revealed), and that the name Harry Potter is an invention of J.K. Rowling (and not Harry Saltzman who co-produced the early Bond films). In BULLET TO BEIJING, the title reads Len Deighton's BULLET TO BEIJING - which is a misnomer because the story is based on nothing by Deighton, and it is doubtful he was ever involved in any way, shape or form.THE WILD BUNCH is on tape and DVD, and C.H.I.P.S. is now out on DVD. And I am still waiting for MGM/UA to wise up and release THE GOBLET OF TOMORROW, which to my knowledge has never been out on home video. With the first two theatrical releases available, why settle for bargain basement, imitation Potter?

I have seen and loved the original Harry Palmer movies and can tell you that this belated made-for-TV sequel does not measure up at all. BULLET TO BEIJING doesn't even deserve to be called a Harry Palmer film. It's like the NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN of this series, only worse. None of the charm or intelligence of the original series remains. The score is terrible and the low-key script does more with bad comedy than it does with action. There is a single explosion which is entirely pointless. The plot is weak and the characters thin. This is a painfully television experience. Skip this failure and see THE IPCRESS FILE, FUNERAL IN BERLIN, or THE BILLION DOLLAR BRAIN. As Michael Caine said in his Golden Globes speech "I made a lot of crap" this is some of it. Burn every copy!

Sad that this is the first film I have commented on, for most of the films I bother to vote on are good - but having just watched this, and been so disappointed, I must make the effort. Just how did Michael Caine, and other names I recoginised, get involved in such a film. Awful scriptwriting, wooden acting, poor editing, continuity and most other aspects of film-making. The camerawork was OTT using obtrusive 'effecty' shots and angles. Overuse of semi-naked girls added nothing to this almighty flop!

After 30 years Harry Palmer ( Michael Caine) returns a bit older but still amused and amusing. There are at least two versions of this film. In the one I own, Sue Lloyd makes a brief appearance as Harry's old girl friend Jean, now a blonde, sexy widow. They have a suggested sex scene. This was worth some of the lapses in the films storyline. However, I though Caine, Connery and Michael Gambon were all first rate and the running gags about redundant, over-the-hill secret agents worked for me.The locale of St Petersburg is fresh and the complications of plot ( who is one whose side), falling off the train, the problems of the decaying yet free market Soviet Union, etc. are interesting. I like BULLET and have actually watched it twice in 2 weeks. Too bad its sequel was a bit redundant itself.