KGB: The Secret War

This exciting cold war espionage thriller by action maestro Dwight H. Little is rarely mentioned these days and that's a shame as it is a cracking, well-paced spy yarn that frequently provides some quality entertainment that might have been better served with a bigger budget. Ruggedly handsome Peter Hubbard (Michael Billington) is a 'sleeper' KGB agent, deeply embedded in the US under a false identity, covertly tasked with obtaining valuable, top secret computer micro-chips, but soon it becomes uncomfortably clear that after 7 dutiful years undercover he is now expendable, so he must attempt to extricate himself and his American girlfriend Adele (Denise DuBarry) from the ever encroaching danger from both sides of the iron curtain, never quite knowing who he can really trust.

As the palpable threat to their lives increases, their only real hope of survival is for Peter to defect, but extremely hard line, distinctly murderous Soviet agent Nicolai (Walter Gotell) has other far less amenable plans for them both! Gonzo Director Dwight Little is certainly no slouch when it comes to zesty action, later going on to shoot cult B-classics 'Getting Even' and 'Rapid Fire' and he puts his nascent filmmaking talent to good use by constructing a number of especially thrilling sequences, but also showing remarkable restraint and deftness with the more heartfelt dramatic sequences; there is one emotional exchange between Adel & Peter which lent these beleaguered protagonists some additional pathos. Ostensibly a slick, hyped-up TV movie, 'KGB: The Secret War' has much to recommend it, not the least being a terrifically rousing score by gifted composer Misha 'Ninja III: The Domination' Segal, and credibly muscular performances from Michael 'UFO' Billington and Walter 'Puppet Master III' Gotell, not exactly a forgotten classic but a righteously entertaining Spy thriller nonetheless.

The main character in this film, Peter Hubbard (played by Michael Billington), is a KGB 'sleeper' agent who has been living in Los Angeles under an assumed identity for many years. His KGB handlers want him to steal computer microchips, in an operation that will inevitably expose his cover, and then return to Moscow. He believes he won't reach Moscow alive and so aims to defect, offering the CIA information about KGB operations as a bargaining point. He then has to play both sides in order to survive.

This film has a complex but not too complex plot, an unpredictable ending, exciting action scenes in all the right places, competent acting and a tight script. I liked it better on watching it for the second time. The first time, I was more struck by its flaws, it felt a little unsatisfactory. The biggest flaw is that Peter Hubbard's girlfriend, Adele Martin, is given no background and her character is underwritten, and so it is impossible to figure out why she agrees to stay with him at all after she finds out he is not what he seemed and his actions have put her in terrible danger. As a character, she seems empty. The other major flaw is that the information about what happened to Peter Hubbard's Russian family should have been revealed earlier in the film to be most effective. Placed quite late in the film, it derails the plot slightly and seems too convenient a plot device. If it was revealed earlier it would have made Peter Hubbard a more believable and relatable character.

The script, too, is a little uneven. In a lot of the scenes, the sparse dialogue is exactly right. In others, it isn't quite enough to drive the plot or make the characters relatable. But there is nothing wrong with the quality of the acting.. Michael Billington is perfectly suited to the "action hero" lead role. Sally Waterman (claim to fame: she was Major "Hot Lips" Hoolihan in M. A. S. H.) is good as a hard-nosed, wise-cracking CIA agent.

This is worth a watch if you like spy films - and if you can find it. It seems to have only ever been released on VHS; I've seen the odd copy appear on ebay. Myself, I got it on DVD from an American company that specialises in copying obscure films for film collectors.