The Fourth Protocol (1987)

John Preston is a British Agent with the task of preventing the Russians detonating a nuclear explosion next to an American base in the UK. The Russians are hoping this will shatter the "special relationship" between the two countries.

Director:

John Mackenzie

Writers:

George Axelrod (screen story), Richard Burridge (additional material)

Stars:

Michael Caine, Pierce Brosnan, Ned Beatty

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Caine	...	John Preston
Pierce Brosnan	...	Valeri Petrofsky / James Edward Ross
Ned Beatty	...	Borisov / Pavel Petrovic
Joanna Cassidy	...	Irina Vassilievna
Julian Glover	...	Brian Harcourt-Smith
Michael Gough	...	Sir Bernard Hemmings
Ray McAnally	...	General Karpov
Ian Richardson	...	Sir Nigel Irvine
Anton Rodgers	...	George Berenson
Caroline Blakiston	...	Angela Berenson
Joseph Brady	...	Carmichael
Betsy Brantley	...	Eileen McWhirter
Sean Chapman	...	Captain Lyndhurst
Matt Frewer	...	Tom McWhirter
Jerry Harte	...	Professor Krilov

Storyline

KGB agent Major Valeri Petrofsky has been reassigned at the request of the KGB Chairman for a secret mission wherein he is sent to England to establish a residence near an American military base and receive various items from couriers from the USSR. John Preston is the top British spy catcher, currently at odds with his superior because he doesn't lick his boots. After he conducts an operation without his superior's permission caused his superior some embarrassment, he is reassigned to the menial task of overseeing airports and ports. One day one the couriers Petrofsky was expecting comes off a freighter has an accident which leaves him dead. Preston is informed by the pathologist that the man is not a seaman so Preston goes through his things and finds that he was carrying something which he is told is an atomic bomb component. Preston now suspects that someone is bringing in parts for an atomic bomb, his superior doesn't want to let Preston be proven right so he doesn't authorize ...

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Plot Keywords:

dead body in a bathtub | british | kgb | russian | england | 

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Taglines:

On August 28, the Fourth Protocol will be broken in a deadly game of seduction, conspiracy, sabotage...and beyond. The countdown to terror has begun.

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Genres:

Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 August 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

El cuarto protocolo

Filming Locations:

Royal Albert Hall, South Kensington, London, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$12,423,831

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fourth Protocol

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Cinematographer Phil Meheux and Director John Mackenzie have also collaborated on Ruby (1992), Beyond the Limit (1983), and The Long Good Friday (1980). Meheux also lensed the James Bond films GoldenEye (1995) and Casino Royale (2006), the former of which starred Pierce Brosnan as Bond.

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Goofs

Soviet officers have got the wrong tabs on greatcoat lapels - black with no goldish frames. They also have service caps with the wrong cap bands - made of black plastic instead of goldish cords.

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Quotes

Wynne-Evans: It's polonium.
John Preston: What's polonium?
Wynne-Evans: Well, when combined with lithium, the two together form an "initiator." That's... a detonator for a bomb.
John Preston: A bomb?
Wynne-Evans: An atomic bomb.

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Connections

Referenced in Riot on 42nd St. (1987)

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Soundtracks

We Shall Overcome
(uncredited)
Musical and Lyrical adaptation by Zilphia Horton, Frank Hamilton, Guy Carawan and Pete Seeger
Sung by the protesters at the air force base

User Reviews

Well done and realistic spy thriller!

Usually we get treated to one type of spy movie these days. This type is made up of good looking young agents with all sorts of high tech weapons and gear. There are beautiful women who are just lining up to sleep with the good guy. The Fourth Protocol is not one of these movies and thank goodness! It is one of the most realistic cold war spy movies out there. Despite it's age(1987) it is relevant to today's world. There is nuclear terrorism and real looking spies. Michael Cain plays a British agent and is too busy looking for Russian spies to be sexing up fine Russian female agents. In fact he has a family. He is excellent as the seasoned agent who uses his mind and not gadgets to track down the Russian spy played by Pierce Brosnan. For those of you who saw Brosnan in Tailor of Panama and found it refreshing to see him play a creep secret agent will be in for a real treat in The Fourth Protocol. Brosnan plays Petrofsky, a young hot shot KGB agent who tries to slice and dice his way to the top. I mean Petrofsky is a flat out cold blooded killer. He makes the guy in Tailor of Panama look like a saint. He has a conscience but he doesn't let it get in the way of his mission to explode a nuclear weapon on a US Air Force base in Great Britain in order to make it look like the US had a nuclear accident. Petrofsky was the right man for the job he would blow up two or three thousand people just like that. If he wasn't a KGB agent, he could surely find work as a serial killer.

The story moves along quickly and sometimes a bit too quickly. However it doesn't detract from the movie. The movie looks more like a cop movie in the way the investigation unfolds. When they finally find out what's going on there is a good action sequence that doesn't go over the top. It just serves the purpose in this movie. Other things I liked was the scene where they constructed the bomb.

I would recommend this one to anyone who likes spy movies and are tired of the James Bond rigmarole.

Rayvyn