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Poster for The Fourth War

The Fourth War

1990 · 91 min

A tense, brooding Cold War standoff that simmers with macho pride and the threat of escalation, anchored by two stubborn men.

Genres
Drama, Thriller, War
Tagline
Two proud heroes with no one left to fight... But each other.
Overview
Cold War adversaries Col. Jack Knowles and his Russian counterpart, Col. Valachev, are stationed on opposite sides of the German-Czech border. Both men are responsible for a group of troops in their remote settings, and both have been shaped by their combat experiences and a shared aversion to their superiors' ways of doing things. After a defector is killed, things escalate into a full-fledged battle with serious geopolitical ramifications.

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Genres
Drama, Thriller, War
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How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • tensestrength 3 of 3
  • darkstrength 2 of 3
  • earneststrength 2 of 3
  • melancholicstrength 1 of 3
Pacing
measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • war
  • obsession
  • power
  • betrayal
  • isolation
Places
  • countryside
  • military
Era
period
Audience
adult
Form
None
Content intensity
  • Gore mild
  • Language mild
  • Violence strong
  • Sex mild
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action5
Horror1
Humour2
Realism7
Romance1
Tension8
Darkness6
Complexity5
Emotional weight6

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Cast

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Details

Genres
drama, thriller, war
Directed by
John Frankenheimer
Written by
Kenneth Ross, Stephen Peters
Starring
Roy Scheider, Jürgen Prochnow, Tim Reid, Lara Harris, Harry Dean Stanton, Dale Dye, William MacDonald, David Palffy
Music
Bill Conti
Cinematography
Gerry Fisher
Runtime
91 min
Country
United States of America, Canada
Languages
Russian, German, Czech, English

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