Gregory Peck stars as Dr. Hathaway, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist who formerly sidelined in spy work. He retired from espionage after the recent death of his wife, but he has received a mysterious letter from a former mentor, Professor Soong Li (played by Keye Luke from Kung-Fu), now living in Communist China.
Americans have not been welcome in China since the Cultural Revolution, but Hathaway is determined to check on his old friend. However, when he tries to make travel arrangements, he is intercepted by Shelby (Arthur Hill), an old acquaintance and military officer. He learns that China has developed an enzyme that will revolutionize agriculture, but they have not been able to get Soong Li to help them mass-produce it. Hathaway is recruited to steal the formula.
Shelby works out of an underground spy center in London, with a British second-in-command, and for this operation, support from the Russians. He arranges for Hathaway to be implanted with an undetectable radio device in his skull, which will provide a one-way voice link to London via satellite. Hathaway is not told that the device can be remotely detonated!
Soon Hathaway is on his way to Hong Kong. Will the Chinese let him see Soong Li? Can he get his hands on the formula? Will the spymasters blow his head off to prevent the Chinese from finding out what he knows?
Other characters in the movie include Chinese intelligence officer Yin (Ric Young from Temple of Doom), Chinese seductress Ting Ling (Zienia Merton from Space 1999), and The Chairman himself (Conrad Yama from Midway). Anne Heywood has a small role as Hathaway's girlfriend back home.
This film tries to simultaneously be a spy caper, a dark comedy, an anti-Communist warning, and a chilling look at the word of international espionage… but that mix fails to work here. The pace is slow, the opposition is weak, the humor lands flat, and there is not enough action.
That's not to say there aren't good parts. It's certainly original to have Hathaway and Mao debate philosophy while playing ping pong, but then Mao exits the movie, leaving no archvillain for Hathaway to overcome. Intelligence officer Yin stands out for revolutionary fervor, but the plot lets him down. Arthur Hill is wooden in a poorly conceived role that is supposed to be serious yet comic. Space 1999 fans will be tickled to see 'Sandra' in a different light! (But only briefly.)
The 1969 technology naturally looks dated, including a countdown clock with flip-digits. Hathaway's implant supposedly interferes with Chinese radar (?), yet it takes most of the movie for the Chinese to locate it. We do get to see Gregory Peck drive a British scout car, but why is it in China? The soundtrack is by Jerry Goldsmith.
The U.S. version has no nudity, but the international version includes brief top and bottom nudity in the club scene, and Ting Ling is topless in the hotel room scene. The international version includes mild swearing.
Can you wargame it? The ending has Hathaway trying to cross the border, with Chinese soldiers in pursuit, Russian soldiers trying to save him, mines, an electrified fence, and neither the Chinese nor Russians willing to kill each other. Could be the genesis for a skirmish scenario.
I would say miss this movie unless you like offbeat, low-energy Cold War spy capers.