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Billion Dollar Brain

Play trailer Poster for Billion Dollar Brain 1967 1h 51m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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57% Tomatometer 7 Reviews 41% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
Harry Palmer (Michael Caine) is a former British secret agent who has taken up work as a private detective. An anonymous party hires him to deliver a seemingly normal package to Helsinki. However, he learns that he has been deceived into working for the Secret Service again, and is actually returning stolen virus-infected eggs to a government lab. Palmer is then persuaded to thwart a manic Texas oil baron (Ed Begley) who is planning to attack the Soviet Union with a supercomputer.
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Billion Dollar Brain

Critics Reviews

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Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times 01/14/2006
2/4
It is a spy movie that commits the unforgivable sin of losing track of its plot. Go to Full Review
Eddie Harrison film-authority.com 05/24/2024
5/5
…celebrates and detonates familiar spy tropes…classic Caine, a great spy movie, a super-smart view of geo-politics and an eye-popping action spectacle to boot…and not a lot of people know that about Billion Dollar Brain... Go to Full Review
Penelope Houston The Spectator 09/28/2020
Scrambled technique has the effect of a series of evasive mannerisms, to keep anyone from meeting the story head-on. Go to Full Review
Ken Hanke Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) 07/01/2014
4/5
A clever, brisk, entertaining spy picture that has a lot more Ken Russell in it than you might suspect. Go to Full Review
Pablo Villaça Cinema em Cena 01/11/2010
1/5
No mais fraco exemplar da série, Harry Palmer perde a personalidade irreverente, enfrenta uma ameaça absurda encabeçada por uma caricatura em um filme aborrecido e sem pé nem cabeça. Go to Full Review
Fernando F. Croce CinePassion 11/15/2009
Russell slams the I-Spy trappings into disjunctively eccentric frenzies Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Joaquin U @Joaquin1 10h Entertaining. Seems to be an opportunistic film riding the wave of the 007 Bond movies. Typical Cold War espionage thing full of maniacs. It might get a little confusing, cause the script and the direction are not the best you can find. Solid cast, but the characters are somewhat underdeveloped. Visually, it's pretty good. If you want light entertainment, it would not be a terrible experience. See more Patrick C @RT84374237 Mar 24 Almost from the word go this is a visually impressive, convoluted mess. There are intricate plots, and then there's this. It would take a better man than I to have a clear idea as to what was going on. Ken Russell had an undoubted genius for unique mise en scène, but had an equal capacity to lose track of plots. Here he managed both, one at the expense of the other. See more Bruce M @BruceMc Jul 31 Very atmospheric, but narratively is incoherent, plot makes little sense. Third act is a mess. A disappointment. See more Nik75 J @RT84472201 May 12 The second half of the movie with Ed Begley, saves the entire film. The first half is way too campy and disjointed. Some good cinematography, but in typical Russell fashion, the plot gets lost. A missed opportunity. It needed to be more in the vein of the first two in the series. See more bob c @RT46426964 01/22/2025 Len Deighton, Ken Russel, Michael Caine! But it’s junk. First five minutes OK and then fails. See more Harry D @HarryD 01/16/2025 My recommendation is to take the time you would spend on this and repaint your living room. Watch it dry. At least your living room will have a new coat of paint. No plot, no development of any kind. Not even Michael Caine can save it. He has almost nothing to do. I don’t think it would even make a good Mystery Science Theater 3000 subject. The best part of this rambling pseudo spy film is the stylish artwork in the Doctors apartment. All the rest is forgettable. See more Read all reviews
Billion Dollar Brain

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Movie Info

Synopsis Harry Palmer (Michael Caine) is a former British secret agent who has taken up work as a private detective. An anonymous party hires him to deliver a seemingly normal package to Helsinki. However, he learns that he has been deceived into working for the Secret Service again, and is actually returning stolen virus-infected eggs to a government lab. Palmer is then persuaded to thwart a manic Texas oil baron (Ed Begley) who is planning to attack the Soviet Union with a supercomputer.
Director
Ken Russell
Producer
Harry Saltzman
Screenwriter
John McGrath
Production Co
Jovera
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 16, 2008
Runtime
1h 51m
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