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The Fourth War

Play trailer Poster for The Fourth War R,  1990,  1h 39m,  Action/ Drama/ Mystery & Thriller/ War Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist 64% 11 Reviews Tomatometer 30% 100+ Ratings Popcornmeter
64% Tomatometer 11 Reviews 30% 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 Jan 1, 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) Nov 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 Jan 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 Dec 27, 2014
B
A modest but highly entertaining quirky Cold War thriller. Go to Full Review
Chuck O'Leary Fantastica Daily Sep 1, 2005
2/5
Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Aug 19, 2005
2/5
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Audience Reviews

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Anakin R Nov 19, 2018 Interesting but surreal.
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The Fourth War

My Rating

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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) 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
Cannon Pictures Inc., Kodiak Films, Aurora Productions LLC
Rating
R
Genre
Action, Drama, Mystery & Thriller, War
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 1, 2018
Box Office (Gross USA)
$1.2M
Runtime
1h 39m
Sound Mix
Surround
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