Billion Dollar Brain (1967)

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Billion Dollar Brain is the third Harry Palmer spy thriller starring Michael Caine (after The Ipcress File and Funeral in Berlin), and they've changed the director again. This time, madman Ken Russell is at the wheel, but at least initially, the film feels LESS experimental the first two directed by Furie and Hamilton respectively (although I'll concede the camera gets more and more chaotic, and every scene starts on an interesting non sequitur). When we catch up to Harry, he's left the secret service, but he gets pulled back in, and uncovers a plot to take down communism run by someone who might as well be the 1960s version of Donald Trump. The film is this crazy mash-up between 60s James Bond camp and Dr. Strangelove, and I'm not sure how it really fits the world created in the first two films. It's worth watching with an open mind just to see what's the next crazy thing that'll happen (and how it hits a bit close to home for 2015), but it's ultimately a failure because Harry has so little agency. He's dragged along so he can witness these events, but his survival so he can get to the next usually feels contrived. 8 years 4 months ago