Agente Z 55 missione disperata

A nuclear scientist is kidnapped by Chinese communists in Hong Kong. A Japanese group of judo experts kidnaps him from the kidnappers, but before they can contact the American agent who has been assigned with overseeing the scientist's transfer back to the USA, the agent is killed. The American secret service send their top man to Hong Kong as his replacement, with the mission of locating the scientist. But there are TWO rival gangs of baddies who are also looking for the same target, so our hero has to assume a different identity to infiltrate them. "Desperate Mission" is not a bad entry in the Eurospy genre, however it goes on far too long at 115 minutes. There is enough action and exotic sightseeing, but not much urgency to the story. German Cobos makes a passable if a bit bland lead, while Milton Reid, who has appeared as a henchman in two separate James Bond films, plays another Oddjob-like figure here. The film is certainly not served very well by its current full-screen and murky-colored prints. ** out of 4.