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The Fourth War

Play trailer Poster for The Fourth War R 1990 1h 39m Action Play Trailer Watchlist
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64% Tomatometer 11 Reviews 27% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
Cold War adversaries Col. Jack Knowles (Roy Scheider) and his Russian counterpart, Col. Valachev (Jürgen Prochnow), are stationed on opposite sides of the German-Czech border. Both men are responsible for a group of troops in their remote settings, and both have been shaped by their combat experiences and a shared aversion to their superiors' ways of doing things. After a defector is killed, things escalate into a full-fledged battle with serious geopolitical ramifications.

Critics Reviews

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Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times 01/01/2000
3/4
The Fourth War is essentially a psychological study of a man coming apart at the hinges. Go to Full Review Rene Jordan El Nuevo Herald (Miami) 11/16/2022
The slow direction, almost ostentatious, grossly boxed in, suggests that Frankenheimer accepted the film as a compromise. [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review David Nusair Reel Film Reviews 01/14/2022
2/4
...an oddball premise that's employed to partially watchable yet mostly tedious effect by Frankenheimer... Go to Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews 12/27/2014
B
A modest but highly entertaining quirky Cold War thriller. Go to Full Review Chuck O'Leary Fantastica Daily 09/01/2005
2/5
Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com 08/19/2005
2/5
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Audience Reviews

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Steve D 02/24/2023 I wouldn't exactly recommend it but the cast play well off each other. See more 04/13/2022 LOL, Roy Scheider's greatest movie ever!!!!!!!!!!!! Ages 17+. See more 01/12/2020 Really enjoyed this movie. Very interesting concept. Ending doesn't quite pack the punch it could have. See more a.l.jude p @judebd 11/19/2018 Interesting but surreal. See more 01/11/2016 Its 1988, the Cold War is winding down. Colonel Jack Knowles (Roy Schneider) a hero in the Vietnam War who has bounced from from assignment to assignment finds himself in command of a small U.S. base on the West German/Czechoslovakia border. When Knowles witnesses Czech border guards shoot down a dissident trying to flee to the West and encounters his Soviet counterpart, Colonel N.A. Valachev (a war hero from Afghanistan) the two men develop a dislike for each other and soon their feud threatens to start World War III. Not as good as John Frankenheimer's 1960s Thrillers (The Manchurian Candidate, Seconds, The Train, etc) but it is still an enjoyable and action-filled Thriller. With Tim Red as Schneider's XO and Harry Deann Stanton as U.S. Army general. It did not do well at the ox office, but a year before this movie came out, Berlin Wall came down. See more 11/30/2011 Bad and Painful to Watch ! See more Read all reviews
The Fourth War

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Cast & Crew

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John Frankenheimer

Director

Roy Scheider

Col. Jack Knowles

Jürgen Prochnow

Col. Valachev

Tim Reid

Lt. Col. Clark

Lara Harris

Elena

Harry Dean Stanton

Gen. Hackworth

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The Fourth War

The Fourth War (1990) The Fourth War (1990) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Cold War adversaries Col. Jack Knowles (Roy Scheider) and his Russian counterpart, Col. Valachev (Jürgen Prochnow), are stationed on opposite sides of the German-Czech border. Both men are responsible for a group of troops in their remote settings, and both have been shaped by their combat experiences and a shared aversion to their superiors' ways of doing things. After a defector is killed, things escalate into a full-fledged battle with serious geopolitical ramifications.
Director
John Frankenheimer
Producer
Wolf Schmidt
Screenwriter
Stephen Peters, Kenneth Ross
Production Co
Aurora Productions LLC
Rating
R
Genre
Action
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 1, 2018
Box Office (Gross USA)
$1.2M
Runtime
1h 39m
Sound Mix
Surround