MOVIE DIALOGUE OF THE DAY ― THE FOURTH PROTOCOL (1987)

Connection with the previous post (THE ODESSA FILE): FREDERICK FORSYTH wrote the novel TOD and the book and screenplay for THE FOURTH PROTOCOL.

RATINGS: IMDB ― 6.5/10, Rotten Tomatoes ― 71%, ME ― 65%

John Preston: Have they told you anything? 

Captain Lyndhurst: Just that he's a terrorist. John Preston: Oh, he's more than just a terrorist. He is a top Soviet agent, a pro. Captain Lyndhurst: Is he alone? John Preston: Maybe there's a woman in there. He's armed with a bomb. Captain Lyndhurst: How big a bomb? John Preston: Atomic bomb.
[Lyndhurst and the other SAS stop what they're doing and look at John in stunned silence]

Michael Caine as John Preston and  Sean Chapman as Captain Lyndhurst


Trivia (From IMDB):

The Fourth Protocol is a fictional secret protocol of the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, containing an agreement between nuclear powers that nuclear weapons will only be delivered to their target by conventional means, e.g. dropped from aircraft or on missiles. In the world of the film, it effectively prevents them being left in luggage lockers or delivered by postal companies (or specifically in the case of this film, being assembled and left in a house close to the target).

The radio presenter, reading the news broadcast that Valeri Petrofsky (Pierce Brosnan) is listening to for information, is Frederick Forsyth.

Michael Caine once said of this film in his autobiography What's It All About? (1992): "We wound up with a wordy action movie which, although it was quite a good picture, and did fair business, never had the speed and pace of the best American action movies... So for long sequences in the film, we not only had a talking picture, but a lot of talk, and even worse, most of it unintelligible. I went there as the star and Associate Producer, and one might have thought this would give me sufficient authority to put my own strongly-held opinions into practice, but no chance. Even I, in my exalted position, wound up making a talking picture, when it should have been a moving one".

Michael Caine and author Frederick Forsyth had been friends for around a decade prior to this picture. In the three earlier filmed adaptations of Forsyth novels, Caine was never selected to be in them. So the two decided raise the finance themselves, so as to make sure they could work on a movie together. The two are billed as Executive Producers on this movie.

'The Fourth Protocol' was the fifth novel and seventh book written by Frederick Forsyth.

The movie featured Matryoshka dolls, a.k.a. Russian nesting dolls, or Russian nested dolls. These had become popularized, and well-known from appearing in the opening title sequence of the earlier television production of John Le Carré's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979).

This film is the fourth theatrical movie adapted from a novel by Frederick Forsyth. The first three were The Day of the Jackal (1973), The Odessa File (1974), and The Dogs of War (1980).

One of two espionage movies that starred Michael Caine in 1987. The other film was The Whistle Blower (1986).

The spy film that actor Pierce Brosnan made before becoming James Bond in Golden Eye (1995). Ironically, it was the same year that the Bond movie The Living Daylights (1987) was also released. That was the Bond film, for which Brosnan was originally cast, but in the end, could not do, due to his contract being picked up for further episodes of Remington Steele (1982).

The title is a reference to the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The meaning and relevance is as defined on the Australian video-cassette sleeve: "The Fourth Protocol is a secret agreement between the Soviet powers and the Western allies forbidding the importation of component parts of a nuclear bomb into the territory of any nation". As such, one of the movie's taglines declares, "If the Fourth Protocol is ever breached, there would be no warning, just a nuclear explosion from a bedsitter..."

The two lead roles in this spy movie are played by actors who have played famous spies: Michael Caine (Harry Palmer) and Pierce Brosnan (James Bond).

Cinematographer Phil Meheux and director John Mackenzie have also collaborated on the feature films Ruby (1992), Beyond the Limit (1983), and The Long Good Friday (1980). Meheux' went onto lens the Bond movies GoldenEye (1995) and Casino Royale (2006).

The film starred Michael Caine and featured Michael Gough. Both actors have played Bruce Wayner's butler Alfred Pennyworth in the Batman and Dark Knight movies. The Fourth Protocol (1987) was the only film in which they both appeared.

A video game of 'The Fourth Protocol' was developed and released in 1985 two years before this film was made. As such, the video game has the distinction of being made before, and not at the same time, or after, the movie. The computer game was made for the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum home computer platforms.

The film's opening prologue states: "1963―top British agent Kim Philby defected to Moscow. 1968―America, Britain, Russia signed an agreement to halt the spread of nuclear weapons. This treaty continued four secret protocols. Today - only one remains.....".

Despite their mutual top billing, Pierce Brosnan and Michael Caine share very little screen time together in the movie.

Final theatrical film of actor John Horsley.

The KGB training facility, seen at the beginning of the movie, was a group of converted school buildings.

Debut film as an Executive Producer for author Frederick Forsyth.

Doubling for the Soviet Union (Russia), was the country of Finland. The production shoot there ran for just one week.

The reversed code number of James Bond can be read in the license plate of Pierce Brosnan's motorcycle: C700 OBL.

This movie was made and released three years after its source novel was published in 1984.

Second of three movies that Michael Caine made with John Mackenzie. The first was Beyond the Limit (1983), and the last was Quicksand (2003). Pierce Brosnan previously worked with John Mackenzie on The Long Good Friday (1980).

The production of the movie had a Royal Visit. Prince Michael of Kent visited the set during principal photography.

Cameo ― 
Frederick Forsyth: Uncredited, the film's source novelist as the voice of a Radio Newsreader.