Customer Reviews

The Fourth Protocol [VHS]

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This is the greatest spy thriller ever produced. Pierce Brosnan is the quintessential cold-blooded, mission-bound, Cold War Soviet spy, and Michael Caine is superb as an exasperated, mid-level British intelligence agent, on a fast-track to burnout. There were some good supporting performances, but Brosnan and Caine carried the show; they were at the top of their game in this nailbiter. Had Brosnan not been under contract with the Remington Steele show at the time (before 007 went p.c.), and the Bond franchise gotten its wish, he would have been the greatest Bond, too - you can see it so clearly in this show. Frederick Forsythe wrote The Fourth Protocol, and it was excellent, and the movie followed it faithfully. This same textual fidelity served the industry and fans well with another of Forsythe's works, The Day of the Jackal (the original, not the remake with Bruce Willis and Richard Gere, which was trash). If you like well-conceived, well-written, and well-acted spy movies, this is it. Everything else is make-believe.

After watching THE FOURTH PROTOCOL, I'm left wondering why British actors seem to make the most accomplished spies in releases for the Silver Screen, both big and small. In my mind, the top trio is Michael Caine (as Harry Palmer), Sean Connery (as "007"), and Alec Guinness (as George Smiley). Perhaps it's because, in real life, the UK's international spy agency, the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), has so much more traditional panache than the Yanks' CIA. In MI6, martinis are no doubt "shaken, not stirred". It wouldn't surprise me to learn that the drink of choice in the Central Intelligence Agency is simply light beer.

Here, Michael Caine plays John Preston, a domestic Security Service (MI5) agent on the wrong side of his boss. After being banished to Ports and Harbours, Preston stumbles across evidence that the Soviets are smuggling an atomic bomb into the UK. And indeed they are, as part of a renegade plot by KGB Director Govershin (Alan North) to re-heat the Cold War during the days of détente in the late 1980s. Govershin's infiltrates his superagent, Valeri Petrofsky (Pierce Brosnan), who's assumed the English identity of James Ross, to co-ordinate assembly of the explosive device next to a U.S. air base that stores nuclear bombs. Detonation of the Red nuke will thus be blamed on American carelessness, causing stress on the Anglo-American alliance.

More than a decade after the collapse of the U.S.S.R, the plot of THE FOURTH PROTOCOL, which is above average in entertainment value, approaches being quaint, though the danger of a "suitcase nuke" remains real enough in today's world of pan-national terrorism. The real joy of the film is watching Caine's portrayal of the cheekily insubordinate Preston. (Cheekiness is what defines Caine's acting style and makes him so consistently engaging.)

Brosnan's Petrofsky/Ross is baby-faced and not much beyond just sullen. Pierce has yet to acquire the patina of age that makes him one of the better, though never the best, James Bonds. (Brosnan, sure and begorry, was born in the Republic of Ireland, and is decidedly not British. Perhaps his best spy role - and it was truly excellent - was as the Bond-gone-to-seed secret agent in THE TAILOR OF PANEMA.)

Also eminently watchable is Ian Richardson as the MI6 wallah who has more use for Preston than the latter's boss. (Richardson, if you recall, played the Soviet's mole in MI6 in the refreshingly intelligent TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER SPY, in which Alec Guinness debuted as superspy George Smiley, my most favorite of that actor's screen roles.) I'm always mesmerized by Richardson as his character of the moment swings from smooth charm to understated menace.

Michael Caine's ability to play a believable spook has evolved over a continuum from such of his early films as FUNERAL IN BERLIN and THE IPCRESS FILE to the relatively recent THE QUIET AMERICAN. Whereas Sean Connery has abandoned the genre, and the late great Alec Guinness limited his participation to TTSS and SMILEY'S PEOPLE, Caine continues to venture into the espionage shadow world and THE FOURTH PROTOCOL is a rewarding mission impossible from the past.

I first saw this film on the same night as -- and as an antidote to the utter silliness of -- Kevin Costner's "No Way Out" (don't get me started). It was by far the better film. Like most movies made from Frederick Forsyth novels ("Day of the Jackal," "Dogs of War," "The Odessa File" etc.) the film cannot be expected to convey all the detail of the book, but serves as a useful introduction to it. It is in any case clearly better than most films on similar themes because the novel on which it is based is so carefully crafted and well researched. Although the Cold War is over, the combination of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction that the film protrays can certainly resonate with modern audiences. Both Pierce Brosnan and Michael Caine are excellent in their roles. My only questions are: Why is this film only available on DVD in Europe? And why are the European (Region 2 - PAL) versions not issued as a single DVD with multiple language tracks (E/Fr/G/Sp/I is customary) instead of one separate (expensive) DVD in English only ("The Fourth Protocol") and a less expensive DVD in German only ("Das Vierte Protokoll"). Who makes these nutty decisions, anyway? When the US DVD is issued (and I hope soon) it should have E/Sp/Fr/Port languages and subtitles. If the distributor wants to do us us a real favor it should add the German language track and subtitles, since the these are already available in the European version anyway. Do have a look at this film, however -- it is a very good and unusually intelligent thriller, and the book is even better!

This is a really good suspense-thriller (based on the Frederick Forsythe nove) which involves a ruthless Russian agent (Pierce Brosnan) who is sent on a mission by a KGB operative to smuggle in and detonate an atomic bomb at the British NATO air-base in hopes that the British will kick out the American bomber-force and thus disrupt NATO. Michael Caine replays his Ipcress File character and plays a smart British operative who stops Brosnan. I enjoyed this movie because it has a plot that makes sense, and it is well-acted and well-directed. If you are fans of Pierce Brosnan, you would enjoy this movie because Brosnan plays a ruthless Russian agent who does not hesitate to use his "license to kill." If you are fans of Michael Caine, you would definitely like this one. The only thing I did not like about the movie was its inexplicable and abrupt ending. Other than that, I felt that it was a suspenseful movie which built up to a good climax. This is one of the better pre-Bond Brosnan movies. Incidentally, Roger Ebert gave this movie three and a half stars.

Michael Caine and Pierce Brosnan in a cold war spy thriller...you know with those credentials you're in for some topnotch cinema and The Fourth Protocol does not disappoint.

The "thriller" face of the movie is cleverly crafted, it absorbs the viewer with long stretches of drama. The theme veers around the politics of the cold war and the power struggles of governments, both within and without.

As such, the film is thus more about the political conscience and the mindgames of those involved in international sabotage than it is about exploding bombs or rattling guns, a point which some reviewers obviously missed when they lament the lack of "action".

The beauty of the film is in its character development. Brosnan's rendition of a dark, brooding Russian with an outwardly cheerful disposition and a perfect British accent, is marvellous. One can see why he is where he is today as an actor. Michael Caine, needless to say, is sharp yet amusing as an independent-minded but loyal British secret services officer.

A fascinating rental if you aren't expecting a Lethal Weapon. This is so much more of a thriller and so much less of Hollywood.

In the 1960s Michael Caine appeared in a series of spy movies as Len Deighton's fictional cold war hero Harry Palmer. Then in 1986 Caine appeared again in much the same mold except in this instance, since it was based on a book by Frederick Forsyth, his character had a different name, even though in image and style he was very much a Palmer clone.
Forsyth has had a number of his works adapted into movies. In the 1970s we had such classics as THE ODESSA FILE and DAY OF THE JACKAL and even Christopher Walken fresh off his Oscar for THE DEER HUNTER appeared in 1980s DOGS OF WAR based on another bestseller. This mid-1980s entry is perhaps a little grittier in tone and more frightening in scope then the other movies mentioned and is ultimately fascinating as much for the picture it paints of the machinations of the intelligence community as for the intrigue played out on screen.
One needs to understand the political context in which this sly political thriller was written to appreciate it.
Today we are consumed with tackling terrorism but back in the 1980s the big threat was the Soviet Union and its nuclear arsenal. Indeed there were regular protests outside the American airbase of Greenham Common when people expressed their displeasure at the presence of cruise missiles.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this movie for today's audience is the appearance of a pre-007 Pierce Brosnan as a Russian spy. Having been forced to decline the role of James Bond in 1986 Brosnan instead appeared in this movie as one of the key villains of the piece - and what a nasty piece of work he is. Cold and emotionaless Brosnan's character obeys his orders without question and one wishes that he had played 007 more like this. In fact the plot of this movie bears more than a passing resemblance to the plot of the earlier 007 movie OCTOPUSSY though it is handled in a much more serious and plausible manner here.
As with that 1983 James Bond movie, here the KGB plans to explode a nuclear weapon close to an American airbase with the blame going to the United States. With the KGB smuggling in a weapon piece-by-piece the movie follows the plot of the book quite closely with British intelligence trying to track down the Russian agent after it intercepts materials used in the construction of an atomic weapon.
Playing the part of a Russian scientist assigned to put all the pieces together is the beautiful Joanna Cassidy. Her scenes with Brosnan allow the future 007 star to portray a truly ruthless killer for once.
The pace of the movie may prove to be a little too pedestrian for those who are used to the action thrillers of today. It is a more measured and (dare I say it) more intelligent approach to the thriller genre but it manages to ratchet up the suspense quite effectively and is well worth a look-see.
For DVD collectors with region-free players there is a DVD of this movie available in Region 2 (Europe) that also features a rather interesting making-of-featurette.

While this is a reasonably enjoyable bit of spy vs. spy escapism, the quality of this rental download is pathetic. I rented this film to watch on my laptop during a recent airline trip and frankly, I was a bit shocked. It's quite obviously been transferred from a twenty year old edited for TV analog video tape complete with choppy breaks for commercials and awful audio and video quality.

Amazon should really be embarrassed to offer (let alone charge money for) this version. This is certainly not what customers expect when they rent or purchase an Unbox Video. (Thankfully, it's the exception and not the rule)

How do the British do it? They can take a modest budget, a story that has no pyrotechnics, a total of maybe six gunshots, no chase scenes and produce a thriller with class and remarkable execution. A lot has to do with the first rate cast. Check it out. I hope you'll be pleasantly surprised as I was.

Based on Frederick Forsyth's book. A story about a British agent (Michael Caine) trying to stop a Russian agent (Pierce Brosnan) who tries to detonate a bomb. It is rather well made and I am surprised after the popularity of Pierce as James Bond this movie still has not seen a DVD release. Please,whoever owns the right release this on DVD.

This is a great story, so why won't Hollywood put it out on DVD in English?
The major actors, Caine and Brosnan, are perfect for the parts, but I'm getting
tired of watching it on an old VHS. Please light a fire under Hollywood to
put the DVD out again in English, Region 1.