The Fourth Protocol

"If the Fourth Protocol is ever breached, there would be no warning, just a nuclear explosion from a bedsitter... The unthinkable has just begun."

1987 1h 59m EN

😐

6.3

MID

★6.3TMDB · 214

ActionThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Led by Kim Philby, Plan Aurora is a plan that breaches the top-secret Fourth Protocol and turns the fears that shaped it into a living nightmare. A crack Soviet agent, placed under cover in a quiet English country town, begins to assemble a nuclear bomb, whilst an MI5 agent attempts to prevent its detonation.

“If the Fourth Protocol is ever breached, there would be no warning, just a nuclear explosion from a bedsitter... The unthinkable has just begun.”

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Cast

Michael Caine
John Preston
Pierce Brosnan
Valeri Petrofsky / James Edward Ross
Ned Beatty
Borisov
Joanna Cassidy
Irina Vassilievna
Julian Glover
Brian Harcourt-Smith
Michael Gough
Sir Bernard Hemmings
Ray McAnally
General Karpov
Ian Richardson
Sir Nigel Irvine

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: John Mackenzie
Writers: Frederick Forsyth, George Axelrod
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

39 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by John Mackenzie, shot by Phil Meheux. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Lalo Schifrin. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Graham Walker shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Michael Caine and Pierce Brosnan and Ned Beatty carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "If the Fourth Protocol is ever breached, there would be no warning, just a nuclear explosion from a bedsitter... The unthinkable has just begun.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0093044 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John Mackenzie directs. Phil Meheux behind the camera. Lalo Schifrin scores. Graham Walker cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

139 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Directed by John Mackenzie, shot by Phil Meheux. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Lalo Schifrin. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Graham Walker shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Michael Caine and Pierce Brosnan and Ned Beatty carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "If the Fourth Protocol is ever breached, there would be no warning, just a nuclear explosion from a bedsitter... The unthinkable has just begun.".
7IMDB entry: tt0093044 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Released under 12 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Phil Meheux
Original score: Lalo Schifrin
Editing: Graham Walker
Production design: Allan Cameron
Costume design: Tiny Nicholls
Makeup / hair: Peter Robb-King
Sound: Nicolas Le Messurier
Stunt coordinator: Eddie Stacey
Runtime: 119 min · 1h 59m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $6,000,000
Box office: $12,423,831
Return: 207% of budget
Original language: EN
IMDB: The Fourth Protocol (1987)

Also by

John Mackenzie

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2023-02-09
★ 7/10
There is something plausible abut Michael Caine's performance here. He ("Preston") is the antithesis of Sir Alec Guinness's "George Smiley" - a hard nosed, blunt spy catcher who hates toeing the line with his bosses. After a bit of clandestine activity, he is on his way out and is sidelined until a seemingly straightforward fatal accident gets his alarm bells ringing. Meantime, KGB agent "Petrofsky" (Pierce Brosnan) arrives in the UK and - eventually - takes up residence near an American Air Force base equipped with nuclear missiles. What's he up to and can "Preston" find out and thwart his dastardly plan? This is one of Frederick Forsyth's better stories. The plot is clear to the audience, but the two characters exist in isolation (from each other) for much of the drama as neither know of the other's existence! Despite being experienced and pretty well known, the supporting cast isn't the most effective - I struggled a bit with Ned Beatty's "Borisov"; but both Caine and Brosnan work well to build up a sense of menace as the nature of the mission becomes clear and director John Mackenzie develops a tightly constructed and well paced plot into a denouement that goes down to the wire. It's dated a little, and maybe serendipity plays a wee bit too much of a part at times, but it's still very much at the better end of those cold war stories and is still well worth a watch.

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