The Fourth War (1990)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

John Frankenheimer

Writers (WGA):

Stephen Peters (novel)
Stephen Peters (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

23 March 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Two proud heroes with no one left to fight... But each other.

Plot:

Cold War drama about two gung-ho border commanders (Roy Scheider, Jurgen Prochnow) who carry out their own private war against each other on the German - Czechoslovakia border.

Plot Keywords:

Independent Film | Based On Novel

Cast

Roy Scheider	...	Col. Jack Knowles
Jürgen Prochnow	...	Col. Valachev
Tim Reid	...	Lt. Col. Clark
Lara Harris	...	Elena
Harry Dean Stanton	...	Gen. Hackworth
Dale Dye	...	Sergeant Major
Bill MacDonald	...	MP Corporal
David Palffy	...	Gawky Soldier
Neil Grahn	...	Needle-Nose Soldier
Ernie Jackson	...	Knowles Driver
Ron Campbell	...	Young US Soldier
John Dodds	...	Defector
Richard Durven	...	Young Soldier
Harold Hecht Jr.	...	Dwayne
Alice Pesta	...	Hannelore

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:M | Iceland:12 | Finland:K-3 (new rating: 2001) | Finland:S (original rating) | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Company:

Aurora Productions LLC

Trivia:

As its ending will verify, the film's title is taken from a quote by Albert Einstein: "I cannot predict what breed of weapons will be employed in the waging of the Third World War; what I CAN predict is that the Fourth World War shall be fought with sticks and stones."

Soundtrack:

Happy Birthday To You

a great "Cold War" parable

John Frankenheimer is an amazing director who has never been given the credit that he deserves. The Manchurian Candidate, Birdman Of Alcatraz, Seven Days In May and Black Sunday are among the great films that he has directed. This film deserves to be listed with them as well because it is a brilliant parable of what happens when two heroes only trained to fight in war have to live in a peacetime situation. Roy Schieder gives an awesome performance as a war weary colonel who just can't function in a peacetime setting. That very great character actor Harry Dean Stanton has a great scene where he chews him out. I think that the most chilling part of the film however is the one where Stanton quotes Albert Einstein when he was asked what kinds of weapons would be used in World War III and he replied that he did not know but that the fourth war would be fought with stones.