The Fourth Protocol (1987)

Average rating

(69%)

Starring:	Michael Caine \| Pierce Brosnan \| Joanna Cassidy \| Ned Beatty \| Julian Glover \| Michael Gough \| Ray McAnally \| Ian Richardson
Director:	John Mackenzie
Studio:	ITV DVD
Run time:	113 mins
Genres:	Thriller
Languages:	English
Released:	October 20, 2003
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From the acclaimed British director of THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY and THE HONORARY CONSUL in which Caine also starred. In THE FOURTH PROTOCOL an undercover plot to destroy NATO, the KGB plans to annihilate a peaceful English residential area and a U.S. Air Force base. Michael Caine plays John Preston, the only member of British intelligence who can stop the countdown to terror in this excellent cold war thriller.

Rating of 2 stars out of 5

Before getting his big break as 007, Pierce Brosnan tried his hand at life on the other side of the wall, playing a dastardly Russian agent out to blow up an American airbase in England in this spy thriller. Michael Caine is his less-than-super British counterpart and a familiar cavalcade of British actors (plus the odd visiting American) is on hand to help or hinder him. It's based on a Frederick Forsyth bestseller, but what made for diverting reading while on the way to the sun now appears tired and not particularly relevant.

Rating of 1 stars out of 5
Halliwell's Film Guide

Very competent but somehow old hat espionage thriller, from a best seller.

Highest rated reviews

8 out of 8 people found the following review helpful:

Elisabeth#1 from WORTHING, 20th December, 2003

A very good, taut, credible thriller, with Caine and Brosnan both on fine form. If there is a flaw, it's the absence of a big confrontation scene between the two. The whole movie seems to be leading us to that, and then it's resolved in a couple of seconds. But don't let that put you off watching. Caine is masterly as ever, and Brosnan in this early role pulls off the difficult feat of giving depth and sympathy to a cold-blooded killer -- so that we're rooting for the villain as much as for the hero. Makes for a most interesting movie.

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Most recent reviews

Excellent

rikerish from , 1st July, 2008

This is what the British Film Industry does best......taut thrillers, with believable, well acted stories. The acting by all was fab, not only by Caine and a young Brosnan, but by the rest of the cast to. It has so many.....'oh thats thingy, he was in so & so' actors, it will bring back great memories of other great films you've enjoyed. Some might think the film is a bit dated, but if you think about it, it could still happen. The story zipps along at such a nice pace, before you realize it, it's an hour later. Probably one, just for the blokes, but have an idea the wives would like it to. Part of me would like to see it re-made, using the same style as ' next ' and ' De-Ja-Vu '..... Don't wait till the next time it's on telly........rent or buy it now.

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Better adaptation than some ...

Ticvoria from , 20th December, 2007

At least the screenplay for this film was written by the book's author, Frederick Forsyth - and I suppose a couple of the solutions were elegant enough. But few adaptations manage to bring a book successfully to screen and this is no exception. I think I would have found the film seriously confusing had I not read the book beforehand. And I wonder how much it irritated Mr F. to turn Nigel Irvine into a career-obsessed snob and his ex-Army, firmly middle-class hero John Preston into something Michael Caine would play? Preston's final rant owed everything to the Caine working-man chip on the shoulder and nothing at all to characterisation.

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