The Fourth Protocol (1987)
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.
- John Mackenzie
- Diana Dill
- Chris Rose
- John Dodds
- Christopher Hall
- Frederick Forsyth
- George Axelrod
- Frederick Forsyth
Rating: 6.2/10 by 173 users
Alternative Title:
A negyedik záradék - HU
O 4º Protocolo - BR
O Quarto Protocolo - BR
北极光 - CN
核战风云 - CN
Le Quatrième protocole - FR
Το 4ο πρωτόκολλο - GR
Das Protokoll - Ein tödlicher Auftrag - DE
Das 4. Protokoll - DE
Das vierte Protokoll - Ein tödlicher Auftrag - DE
Country:
United Kingdom
Language:
English
Runtime: 01 hour 59 minutes
Budget: $6,000,000
Revenue: $12,423,831
Plot Keyword: cold war, secret agent, british spy, female spy, agent, russian spy
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.
