La quatrième guerre

It's November 1988. Col. Jack Knowles (Roy Scheider) is newly assigned to a base in West Germany. He is a hardened warrior frustrated with the lackadaisical attitude of his soldiers. Most want him to relax his intensity as relationship with the Soviet Bloc warms up. He grows angry as a defector is shot dead by men under Czech Col. Valachev (Jürgen Prochnow) right in front of him at the border. He decides to go on his own infiltration mission into enemy territory.

This movie is obviously diffused by real world events. The Berlin Wall literally fell four months before the release of this movie. That's why an opening text was added to place this movie in 1988. The movie retains its logic in that sense but it loses its reality to the audience of its day. There was a few similar cold war thrillers that became out-of-date by the time they got released. It's not their fault but it cannot be discounted.

As for the movie itself, it has great potential as a dive into the psychology of an obsessed warrior but it becomes a clown crossed with Rambo. It's too silly and serious while being unrealistic all at the same time. The only action I truly love is the helicopter landing. The helicopter is hovering around with real intensity like it's going to hit the ground. The movie closes by paraphrasing Albert Einstein, "I do not know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." It misunderstands the quote by trying to tie it to that final fight. It's obviously an important theme for the movie which makes the flawed understanding a little problematic. All in all, the movie has problems and struggles to compete with real world events.

Throw out logic, and enjoy the absurdity of "The Fourth War". The acting by Roy Scheider, and especially Harry Dean Stanton is terrific. The snowy landscapes are photographed to best advantage. Now about the story. Scheider is a maverick Army Comanding Officer on a personal vendetta against the Russians across the Czech border. His wild jaunts into Communist territory provokes a Soviet Officer, Jurgen Prochnow to respond. Their personal battle eventually escalates toward an international incident that threatens to erupt into war. If you allow yourself to be drawn into the maniacal plot, while overlooking the implausibilities, there is dark humor, and a creative story to enjoy. - MERK

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.

I frankly expected more from a Frakenheimer movie. Roy Scheider as Colonel Jack Knowles is okay as the hothead military iconoclast who's not been the same since the war in Vietnam. He is sent to the German-Czech border and wages a personal vendetta against the short-fused Russian colonel Valachev, played quite menacingly by Jurgen Prochnow. The end of detente and the last Cold War battle? Well, Scheider throws a snowball at Prochnow and the fourth war starts. basically that's how. The premise is good but we are treated to a long and meandering tit-for-tat between two Army colonels that borders on the childish and wanton. While occasionally funny, this is not an intelligent movie. You'd be better off watching Toy Soldiers if you want a more gripping story.

I would not call this a gripping suspense movie since there are some places that make you laugh when maybe you should not. But if you take the performances of the two colonels and the major general aside, the movie is redeemed two-fold and you end up with some enjoyable entertainment, thanks to Scheider, Prochnow, and Stanton. But, don't expect a realistic post-cold-war scenario. Would two colonels with so many years invested in their careers risk it all just to express personal dislikes of each other? And would the general pussyfoot around so long with an American colonel who's actions could at any time escalate them into a major confrontation? I think not!!! But just watch the movie and you might disagree with this, since all you think about at the time is "will World War III start over a snowball fight?".