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The Fourth War

Play trailer Poster for The Fourth War R 1990 1h 39m Action Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
64% Tomatometer 11 Reviews 29% 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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Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly Rated: B- Sep 7, 2011 Full Review Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times The Fourth War is essentially a psychological study of a man coming apart at the hinges. Rated: 3/4 Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Entertainment Weekly Rated: B- Jun 1, 1990 Full Review Rene Jordan El Nuevo Herald (Miami) The slow direction, almost ostentatious, grossly boxed in, suggests that Frankenheimer accepted the film as a compromise. [Full review in Spanish] Nov 16, 2022 Full Review David Nusair Reel Film Reviews ...an oddball premise that's employed to partially watchable yet mostly tedious effect by Frankenheimer... Rated: 2/4 Jan 14, 2022 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews A modest but highly entertaining quirky Cold War thriller. Rated: B Dec 27, 2014 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (9) audience reviews
Steve D I wouldn't exactly recommend it but the cast play well off each other. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/24/23 Full Review Audience Member LOL, Roy Scheider's greatest movie ever!!!!!!!!!!!! Ages 17+. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Audience Member Really enjoyed this movie. Very interesting concept. Ending doesn't quite pack the punch it could have. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review a.l.jude p Interesting but surreal. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member 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. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/24/23 Full Review Audience Member Bad and Painful to Watch ! Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review 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

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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
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