Breaking Protocol...
Added 9/24/2009
The Mid Eighties: Deep within the Soviet Union, star of the "illegals" directorate, Major Valerie Petrofsky (Pierce Brosnan), is seconded to take part in a secret mission under the auspice of hard-line KGB chief, Gevorshin (Alan North). The nature of the mission is so potentially incendiary that it has already resulted in the execution of the mission planners who provided research and background...
Meanwhile, in London, unorthodox MI5 agent, John Preston (Michael Caine), finds himself between a rock and a hard place following the abdication and replacement of his former superior, Bernard Hemmings (Michael Gough), by the bureaucratic acting deputy, Harcourt-Smith (Julian Glover). A man devoted to his duty, his son and his country, Preston doggedly pursues a mole leaking classified documents from within the secret service and, as a result of his unorthodox methods, unwittingly finds himself in a position in which he uncovers the truth behind Petrofsky's terrifying mission....
Containing something to the order of only twenty gunshots, one car chase and no CGI at all, John Mackenzie's film of Frederick Forsyth's "The Fourth Protocol" is a cold war thriller of the type that they just don't make any more...and mores the pity.
Attempting to adapt Forsyth's brilliant, labyrinthine tale of plot and counter-plot for the screen was always going to be virtually impossible, but this film, while treating the viewer to a somewhat truncated version of the novel, remains true to it's feeling and vision. No doubt, this can be attributed to the intelligence of the screenplay (which was written by Forsyth himself and "Manchurian Candidate" screenplay alumnus, George Axelrod), John MacKenzie's muscular, spare direction and a stellar cast which boasts such luminaries as Sir Ian Richardson, Ray McAnally, Ned Beatty, Anton Rogers and Joanna Cassidy.
This is a film which is carried by it's actors and they do so superbly; the scene in which the late, great Sir Ian Richardson's serpentine peer of the realm confronts Anton Rogers' petulant civil servant is one of the greatest scenes of understated menace ever committed to celluloid in my humble opinion. Likewise, a young Brosnan gives a superb turn as the coldly calculating Petrofsky (one only wishes that he'd only been allowed to express this kind of ruthlessness during his tenure as Bond) and Caine subtly subverts and reinterprets his "Harry Palmer" persona during his performance as Brosnan's harried, human nemesis.
An espionage tale for those who prefer plot over pyrotechnics, "The Fourth Protocol" remains one of my all time favourite big-screen spy dramas. Watch it and, if you're anything like me, you'll find yourself whistling the menacing Leitmotifs from Lalo Schifrin's memorable score for days afterwards.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Terrific Movie -NOT THIS VERSION
Added 2/28/2009
Save yourself some grief and order this from Amazon UK.
I did and I'm glad I did.Their version has been digitally
remastered and therefore the pic quality is great.
If you don't have a region free dvd player(I didn't),go to
videohelp.com a get a hack for your dvd player.It will make
it region free.Hope this helps.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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DO NOT RENT THIS MOVIE
Added 1/11/2009
I wish I'd seen Sparky's review for this (http://www.amazon.com/review/R33NJA31NBBJLE/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm), because he nails it. This is a poorly transferred version of the film, edited for TV with language edited and terrible commercial breaks inserted. Unfortunately, his review was buried at the bottom of the page and it was only when I started looking for negative comments that I found it. I'm posting this review to increase the likelihood that nobody else gets duped into the digital version of this movie.
The movie itself was decent, but it looks like someone taped this off the television and uploaded it to YouTube. Amazon should be embarrassed to be selling this. It isn't worth $0.99 let alone the $14.99/$2.99 they are charging.
Avoid at all costs.
1 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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The Fourth Protocol
Added 10/30/2008
We received this DVD and were disappointed to find that it was not for this region and the language was spanish.
We emailed the supplier, davede, and returned the product to them on October 7th, requiring a US Postal Service Delivery Confirmation Receipt.
We are waiting for a refund.
Len Tranter
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Don't rent THIS verision
Added 4/7/2007
While this is a reasonably enjoyable bit of spy vs. spy escapism, the quality of this rental download is pathetic. I rented this film to watch on my laptop during a recent airline trip and frankly, I was a bit shocked. It's quite obviously been transferred from a twenty year old edited for TV analog video tape complete with choppy breaks for commercials and awful audio and video quality.
Amazon should really be embarrassed to offer (let alone charge money for) this version. This is certainly not what customers expect when they rent or purchase an Unbox Video. (Thankfully, it's the exception and not the rule)
4 out of 4 people found this helpful.
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Breaking Protocol...
Added 9/24/2009
The Mid Eighties: Deep within the Soviet Union, star of the "illegals" directorate, Major Valerie Petrofsky (Pierce Brosnan), is seconded to take part in a secret mission under the auspice of hard-line KGB chief, Gevorshin (Alan North). The nature of the mission is so potentially incendiary that it has already resulted in the execution of the mission planners who provided research and background...
Meanwhile, in London, unorthodox MI5 agent, John Preston (Michael Caine), finds himself between a rock and a hard place following the abdication and replacement of his former superior, Bernard Hemmings (Michael Gough), by the bureaucratic acting deputy, Harcourt-Smith (Julian Glover). A man devoted to his duty, his son and his country, Preston doggedly pursues a mole leaking classified documents from within the secret service and, as a result of his unorthodox methods, unwittingly finds himself in a position in which he uncovers the truth behind Petrofsky's terrifying mission....
Containing something to the order of only twenty gunshots, one car chase and no CGI at all, John Mackenzie's film of Frederick Forsyth's "The Fourth Protocol" is a cold war thriller of the type that they just don't make any more...and mores the pity.
Attempting to adapt Forsyth's brilliant, labyrinthine tale of plot and counter-plot for the screen was always going to be virtually impossible, but this film, while treating the viewer to a somewhat truncated version of the novel, remains true to it's feeling and vision. No doubt, this can be attributed to the intelligence of the screenplay (which was written by Forsyth himself and "Manchurian Candidate" screenplay alumnus, George Axelrod), John MacKenzie's muscular, spare direction and a stellar cast which boasts such luminaries as Sir Ian Richardson, Ray McAnally, Ned Beatty, Anton Rogers and Joanna Cassidy.
This is a film which is carried by it's actors and they do so superbly; the scene in which the late, great Sir Ian Richardson's serpentine peer of the realm confronts Anton Rogers' petulant civil servant is one of the greatest scenes of understated menace ever committed to celluloid in my humble opinion. Likewise, a young Brosnan gives a superb turn as the coldly calculating Petrofsky (one only wishes that he'd only been allowed to express this kind of ruthlessness during his tenure as Bond) and Caine subtly subverts and reinterprets his "Harry Palmer" persona during his performance as Brosnan's harried, human nemesis.
An espionage tale for those who prefer plot over pyrotechnics, "The Fourth Protocol" remains one of my all time favourite big-screen spy dramas. Watch it and, if you're anything like me, you'll find yourself whistling the menacing Leitmotifs from Lalo Schifrin's memorable score for days afterwards.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Terrific Movie -NOT THIS VERSION
Added 2/28/2009
Save yourself some grief and order this from Amazon UK.
I did and I'm glad I did.Their version has been digitally
remastered and therefore the pic quality is great.
If you don't have a region free dvd player(I didn't),go to
videohelp.com a get a hack for your dvd player.It will make
it region free.Hope this helps.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
DO NOT RENT THIS MOVIE
Added 1/11/2009
I wish I'd seen Sparky's review for this (http://www.amazon.com/review/R33NJA31NBBJLE/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm), because he nails it. This is a poorly transferred version of the film, edited for TV with language edited and terrible commercial breaks inserted. Unfortunately, his review was buried at the bottom of the page and it was only when I started looking for negative comments that I found it. I'm posting this review to increase the likelihood that nobody else gets duped into the digital version of this movie.
The movie itself was decent, but it looks like someone taped this off the television and uploaded it to YouTube. Amazon should be embarrassed to be selling this. It isn't worth $0.99 let alone the $14.99/$2.99 they are charging.
Avoid at all costs.
1 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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