Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Moderate
- tense
- paranoid
- procedural
- cold war movie night
- spy thriller marathon
What critics said
Critics broadly found the film competent and entertaining as a conventional espionage thriller, while considering its material old-fashioned and less substantial than its cast suggested.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
John Preston is suspended and sidelined by superiors who resist validating his nuclear-bomb suspicions, while K.G.B. officials investigate their own chairman's unusual operation.
Preston discovers that a dead courier carried an atomic-bomb component, then tracks a larger covert delivery operation involving additional parts.
The film places British intelligence and K.G.B. agents in opposition during a period of nuclear anxiety and glasnost-era espionage politics.
Preston's refusal to flatter his superior and his unauthorized operation lead to reassignment, even as his instincts uncover the central threat.
Films like The Fourth Protocol, and why
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
shared cold war espionage, British intelligence protagonist, and procedural spy thriller structure
The Whistle Blower
shared British spy-catcher perspective, institutional tension, and morally serious espionage atmosphere
The Odessa File
shared international spy conspiracy, nuclear threat, and brisk action-thriller mechanics
The Fourth Protocol
shared late-cold-war espionage, competing intelligence agencies, and undercover operative tension
Movie Details
- Director
- John Mackenzie
- Release Date
- 1987-03-20
- Runtime
- 119 min
- Rating
- 6.3 / 10 (213)
Cast
- Michael Caine
- Pierce Brosnan
- Ned Beatty
- Joanna Cassidy
- Julian Glover
- Michael Gough
- Ray McAnally
- Ian Richardson
- Anton Rodgers
- Caroline Blakiston
Common questions
- What is The Fourth Protocol about?
- A blunt British intelligence officer races to expose a K.G.B. operation assembling an atomic bomb on English soil while his own superiors obstruct him.
- What is The Fourth Protocol like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Fourth Protocol as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Fourth Protocol violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in The Fourth Protocol as moderate.
- What did critics think of The Fourth Protocol?
- Critics broadly found the film competent and entertaining as a conventional espionage thriller, while considering its material old-fashioned and less substantial than its cast suggested.
- Which films are like The Fourth Protocol?
- Films with a similar feel include The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, The Whistle Blower, The Odessa File, and The Fourth Protocol.
- How long is The Fourth Protocol?
- The Fourth Protocol runs 119 minutes.
