The Fourth Protocol (film)

Theatrical release poster.

The Fourth Protocol is a British Cold War political suspense film released on 1987-08-28. The film is based on the 1984 novel of the same title based on a set of nuclear protocols, the fourth being that nobody would attempt to smuggle a nuclear bomb into another nation.

In the film, the head of the KGB charges Major Valeri Petrofsky with a mission to destabilize NATO. In order to do this, he must infiltrate the UK, assemble a nuclear bomb, and detonate it at a US airfield. This will make the UK think the American military was reckless with their nukes, expel their military, and hopefully cause the dissolution of NATO entirely. However, the tenacious MI5 officer John Preston discovers a piece of the nuclear bomb and is hot on Petrofsky's trail. Can he stop him before it's too late?

Personal

I remember watching this film with my mother when I was quite young (definitely too young for such a violent film!). Certain scenes stuck in my memory (the scientist being shown nude photos of his gay adult son, the building of the bomb, the dead naked woman in the bath tub, and the trick played on James. I was eager to watch the movie again, but I couldn't remember a title. While making my list of all the movies I've watched, I was reminded of it, so I re-watched it in my 40s.

Cast

Actor	Character
Michael Caine	John Preston
Pierce Brosnan	Major Valeri Alekseyevich Petrofsky / James Edward Ross
Joanna Cassidy	Irina Vassilievna
Ned Beatty	General Pavel Petrovich Borisov
Julian Glover	Brian Harcourt-Smith
Michael Gough	Sir Bernard Hemmings
Ray McAnally	General Yevgeny Sergeyevich Karpov
Ian Richardson	Sir Nigel Irvine
Anton Rodgers	George Berenson
Caroline Blakiston	Angela Berenson
Joseph Brady	Carmichael
Matt Frewer	Tom McWhirter
Betsy Brantley	Eileen McWhirter
Sean Chapman	Captain Lyndhurst
Alan North	General Govorshin
Ronald Pickup	Wynne-Evans
John Horsley	Sir Anthony Plumb
Michael Bilton	Kim Philby
Peter Cartwright	Jan Marais
Aaron Schwartz	Gregoriev
Mark Rolston	Russian Decoder
Michael J. Jackson	Major Pavlov
Matthew Marsh	Barry Banks
Jerry Harte	Professor Krylov

Review

— This section contains spoilers! —

Good

• The premise is great for a suspense film and there are plenty of high tension moments.
• Michael Caine and Pierce Brosnan both give a wonderful performances.

Bad

• Most of the ancillary characters are poorly used and unimportant to the story.
  • Brian Harcourt-Smith initially acts as a foil for John Preston, but he just stops appearing half-way in.
  • Tom and Eileen McWhirter seem like they're going to be a problem for Petrofsky, but nothing happens.
  • Irina Vassilievna has no interest in sharing a bed with Valeri Petrofsky, but has sex with him shortly thereafter despite nothing have changed about their relationship.
  • In the end, John Preston realizes something very startling about two high ranking officials, but there is no satisfactory resolution.
• The "Russians" in the film don't speak Russian, and they don't even attempt a fake Russian accent.
• The score uses a lot of high pitch strings for tension which sounds pretty hokey.

Ugly

• Nothing.

Media

Covers

• 

  DVD - UK.

• 

  VHS - USA.

Posters

• 

  Poster - USA.

Videos

Trailer.

Representation

Strong female character?	Fail	Although Irina Vassilievna's smarts are needed to make the bomb, she has little depth and no growth.
Bechdel test?	Fail	The women only ever talk to men.
Strong person of color character?	Fail	Every character is white.
Queer character?	Pass	There are two minor characters, but they're all treated horribly. One gay man is murdered for stumbling upon the plot, the other is used as blackmail and threatened to be tortured to death.

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