Directed by:
John FrankenheimerCinematography:
Gerry FisherComposer:
Bill ContiCast:
Roy Scheider, Jürgen Prochnow, Tim Reid, Harry Dean Stanton, Dale Dye, Bill MacDonald, David Palffy, Roman Podhora, Larry Laverty, William MacDonald (more)Plots(1)
Col. Jack Knowles (Roy Scheider), serving at a faraway post on the German-Czech border, carries on a personal war with his Soviet counterpart, Colonel Valachev (Jurgen Prochnow). Both have been hardened by past combat experiences, and both have been embittered by the exigencies of red tape, bureaucracy, and diplomatic deal-making. Their friendly rivalry snowballs (literally so!) into a guerilla-like combat situation, culminating in a one-on-one showdown. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Reviews (1)
Factually, of course, The Fourth War is silly, but in terms of a story not based on actual events, I can rise above that more than in the case of, say, Operation: Daybreak. John Frankenheimer simply made a B-movie this time, and yet it looks genuinely A-list in many scenes, the two leads are well suited to their roles and Bill Conti wrote rather good theme music for it. Just don't expect a realistic drama from the Czechoslovakian borderlands, please. What the film wanted to say, it said very well.
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