Bullet to Beijing

"The Ipcress File's Harry Palmer is back.... and the Cold War is heating up again!"

1995 1h 41m EN

😐

5.2

MID

★5.2TMDB · 44

ActionDramaThrillerTV Movie

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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.

“The Ipcress File's Harry Palmer is back.... and the Cold War is heating up again!”

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Where to watch · US

Cast

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

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: George Mihalka
Languages: Korean, Hungarian, English, Polish, Russian
Countries: Canada, United States of America, United Kingdom, Russia

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

31 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 5 languages: Korean, Hungarian, English, Polish, Russian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 4 countries: Canada, United States of America, United Kingdom, Russia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Harry Palmer Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by George Mihalka, shot by Peter Benison. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor François Gill shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Michael Caine and Jason Connery and Mia Sara carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The Ipcress File's Harry Palmer is back.... and the Cold War is heating up again!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

George Mihalka directs. Peter Benison behind the camera. François Gill cuts. Produced in Canada, United States of America, United Kingdom, Russia. Dialogue in Korean, Hungarian, English, Polish, Russian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

131 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Dialogue crosses 5 languages: Korean, Hungarian, English, Polish, Russian.
3International production across 4 countries: Canada, United States of America, United Kingdom, Russia.
4Part of the "Harry Palmer Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5Directed by George Mihalka, shot by Peter Benison. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Editor François Gill shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Michael Caine and Jason Connery and Mia Sara carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "The Ipcress File's Harry Palmer is back.... and the Cold War is heating up again!".
9IMDB entry: tt0113633 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Only 44 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Peter Benison
Editing: François Gill
Production design: Yury Pashigorev
Costume design: Galina Nikolaeva
Runtime: 101 min · 1h 41m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
IMDB: Bullet to Beijing (1995)

Part of

Harry Palmer Collection

Harry Palmer is the name of the protagonist of a number of films based on the main character from the spy novels written by Len Deighton.

Also by

George Mihalka

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2022-09-03
★ 5/10
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.

Production companies