The Fourth War ** (1990, Roy Scheider, Jürgen Prochnow, Tim Reid, Lara Harris, Harry Dean Stanton) – Classic Movie Review 8528

Director John Frankenheimer’s 1990 Cold War drama The Fourth War stars Roy Scheider and Jürgen Prochnow as cold warriors who fight it out in the snow, in this old-fashioned action thriller set where the Western side meets the Eastern side near the East German-Czech border. The two gung-ho border commanders, Colonel Jack Knowles (Scheider) and Colonel Valachev (Prochnow) wage their own private war on each other.

There is intense, maybe over-intense acting from the stars as the rival American and Soviet colonels plus quirky support from Harry Dean Stanton as General Hackworth and Lara Harris as love interest Elena.

But the tame story, based on a novel by co-scriptwriter Stephen Peters, will not carry the burden of the serious weight thrust on it, and Frankenheimer’s direction is merely conscientious rather than distinguished. Its short running time of 91 minutes is in its favour, so it does not outstay its welcome as an interesting oddity.

Also in the cast are Tim Reid, Dale Dye, Bill MacDonald, David Palffy, Harold Hecht Jr, and Alice Pesta.

The Fourth War is directed by John Frankenheimer, runs 91 minutes, is made by Kodiak Films and Aurora Productions, is released by Guild Film Distribution (1990) (UK) and Cannon Film Distributors (1990) (US), is written by Stephen Peters and Kenneth Ross, based on a novel by Stephen Peters, shot by Gerry Fisher, produced by Wolf Schmidt, scored by Bill Conti and designed by Alan Manzer.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8528

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