an assassin with the body temperature of a snake. The yarn is otherwise little more than Mission Impossible tightly re-wound for the age of glasnost." Scott praised Michael Caine's excellent performance, but complained that the "role permits him to display only one of the three dimensions he was able to provide in his portrayal of the father in The Whistle Blower (1986)."Halliwell's Film and Video Guide described it as a "very competent but somehow old hat espionage thriller", awarding it one star from a possible four. Quoted in Halliwell's guide, Daily Variety stated that "there is an uneasy feeling that the whole affair could have been better made into an excellent miniseries". John Ferguson awarded it two stars out of five for Radio Times'', stating "what once made for diverting summer reading now appears tired and not particularly relevant". References External links 1987 films 1987 independent films 1980s spy thriller films British independent films British spy thriller films Cold War spy films Films about nuclear war and weapons Films about the Secret Intelligence Service Films scored by Lalo Schifrin Films based on British novels Films based on thriller novels Films based on works by Frederick Forsyth Films directed by John Mackenzie (film director) Films set in England Films set in London Films shot at EMI-Elstree Studios Films shot in England Films shot in Finland Milton Keynes MI5 in fiction Techno-thriller films Cultural depictions of the Cambridge Five Films shot in London Films about the KGB Films set in Glasgow Films set around New Year Films shot in Buckinghamshire Films shot in Essex 1980s English-language films 1980s British films