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The Fourth War

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The Fourth War
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BluRay Cover
Country Error creating thumbnail: File missing USA
Directed by John Frankenheimer
Release Date 1990
Main Cast
Character Actor
Colonel Jack Knowles Roy Scheider
Colonel Valachev Jürgen Prochnow
Lieutenant Colonel Clark Tim Reid
General Hackworth Harry Dean Stanton


The Fourth War is a 1990 drama directed by John Frankenheimer and starring Roy Scheider as Jack Knowles, a US Army Colonel and decorated Vietnam veteran who comes to be at odds with a Soviet colonel (Jürgen Prochnow) at the West German-Czechoslovakia border during the height of the Cold War in the late 1980s.


The following weapons were used in the film The Fourth War:


Handguns

Colt Combat Commander

Colonel Jack Knowles (Roy Scheider) carries a Colt Commander compact pistol as his sidearm in the film.

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Colt Combat Commander - .45 ACP.
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Closeup of the Colt Commander compact pistol carried by COL Knowles. Note that his Commander is fitted with an extended, ambidextrous safety lever.
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COL Jack Knowles (Roy Scheider) holds his .45 Colt Commander while confronting some Soviet soldiers.
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COL Jack Knowles holds his Colt Commander on COL Valachev while confronting him in his car.
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Another close view of Knowles' Colt Commander from the above scene.

Beretta 92F

The Beretta 92F is seen in the hands of Colonel Valachev (Jürgen Prochnow).

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Beretta 92F - 9x19mm
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The Beretta 92F is seen in the hands of Colonel Valachev (Jürgen Prochnow).
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Colonel Valachev (Jürgen Prochnow) armed with the Beretta 92F.
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A closer view as Valachev holds the Beretta on COL Jack Knowles.
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Closer view of the Beretta's barrel as Valachev holds it on COL Jack Knowles.

Makarov PM

A Soviet soldier is seen with a Makarov PM.

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Makarov PM - 9x18mm Makarov
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At the left, a Makarov PM is used.

Rifles

M16(SP1) with M16A2 handguards

An early M16/SP1 rifle fitted with A2-style round handguards is notably used by COL Knowles during his secret missions. This particular rifle is also fitted with an underbarrel laser sight. This particular laser-sighted M16 is also used briefly at the end of the film by Lt. Colonel Clark (Tim Reid) after he takes it from one of his men. At the time of filming, the US Army had recently adopted the M16A2.

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Colt M16 aka SP1 (flat "slab side receiver") with A2 style handguards used to impersonate the M16A2 - 5.56x45mm
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An M16 fitted with an under-barrel laser sight is notably used by COL Knowles during his secret missions.
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COL Knowles holds the M16 when he confronts the Soviet soldiers.
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LTC Clark (Tim Reid) holding the laser-sighted M16 (SP1) with M16A2 handguards, which is also used in the film by COL Knowles (Roy Scheider).
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LTC Clark (Tim Reid) activates the laser.

M16A1 (w/ A2 style handguard)

The majority of the US soldiers in the film carry what appear to be M16A2-style rifles, but close inspection reveals that they are in fact carrying M16A1s with A2 style handguards.

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M16A1 with A2 style handguards - 5.56x45mm.
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US troops at the right with their rifles. Note the forward assists.

Norinco Type 56-1

What appears to be the Norinco Type 56-1 rifle carried by Soviet soldiers in the film. These rifles have the distinctive full-circle ("hooded") front sights of the Norinco, but have slant muzzle brakes of Soviet-made AK rifles. Most are fitted with bakelite magazines (rather than metal), and at least one seen near the end of the film is fitted with an AK-74-style muzzle brake in an attempt to imitate the Soviet armed forces' service rifle at the time. Colonel Valachev (Jürgen Prochnow) uses one of these rifles that's been fitted with what appears to be a mock-up of a GP-25 Grenade launcher.

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A Norinco Type 56-1 (7.62x39mm) mocked up to look like an AKS-74, as in GoldenEye.
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Norinco Type 56-1 rifles are carried by Soviet soldiers behind Colonel Valachev (Jürgen Prochnow).
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Colonel Valachev (Jürgen Prochnow) raises his Norinco Type 56-1 fitted with a mockup of GP-25 Grenade launcher to fire.
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Colonel Valachev (Jürgen Prochnow) holds the Norinco Type 56-1 that's been fitted with a mockup of GP-25 Grenade launcher.
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The GP-25 Grenade launcher is seen underneath Valachev's rifle.
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A view of the AK-style slant muzzle brake fitted on the Norinco Type 56-1 rifle.
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Soviet soldiers ride with their rifles on armor in response to the fight.
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The rifle seen here appears to be fitted with an AK-74-style muzzle brake. Note that behind the soldier holding the Type 56-1 is another soldier holding what appears to be a .308-caliber Valmet M78A2 with a thumbhole stock (here being used as a stand-in for an SVD).
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Soviet soldiers aim their Norinco rifles. These rifles have the distinctive full-circle ("hooded") front sights of the Norinco, but AK-style slant muzzle brakes. These rifles also have been fitted with laser sights.

Machine Guns

Browning M2HB Heavy Machine Gun

Browning M2 HB machine guns are seen mounted on US Army APCs in the film.

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Browning M2HB on vehicle mount - .50 BMG
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Browning M2 HB machine guns are seen mounted on US Army APCs in the film. According to Dale Dye, the military adviser on the film, the M113 APCs were borrowed from the Canadian military as the movie was filmed in Canada.
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Browning M2 HB machine gun on the US Army APC.

Grenades

M26 Hand Grenade

COL Knowles holds up an M26 hand grenade when confronting some Soviet soldiers.

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M26 "Lemon" hand grenade.
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COL Knowles holds up an M26 hand grenade when confronting some Soviet soldiers.
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Knowles holds the grenade in Valachev's vehicle.
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The grenade also seen in a vehicle.

Launchers

M72 LAW

COL Jack Knowles (Roy Scheider) uses an M72 LAW to destroy a guard tower.

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M72A2 LAW - 66mm
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COL Jack Knowles (Roy Scheider) uses an M72 LAW.

GP-25 Grenade launcher

What appears to be a GP-25 Grenade launcher is mounted underneath the Norinco Type 56-1 rifle used by Colonel Valachev (Jürgen Prochnow). This launcher is clearly a fabricated mockup which likely uses shotgun shells or another form of blank, since the GP-25 was not available to film armorers in the West at the time that this movie was filmed.

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GP-25 Grenade Launcher - 40mm
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A close-up of the Norinco Type 56-1 in the hands of Colonel Valachev (Jürgen Prochnow) as he employs it for the first time. The mock-up GP-25 is clearly visible here.
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Colonel Valachev (Jürgen Prochnow) pursues COL Knowles while carrying his Norinco Type 56-1 fitted with the GP-25 mock-up. Note the shape of the trigger guard, which indicates clearly that the weapon is a mock-up (compare to the picture of a real GP-25 above).
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The grenade seen in the launcher.
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Preparing to use the launcher.

RPG-7

The RPG-7 mounted with a PGO-7 scope, is used by Soviet soldier during the final confrontation.

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RPG-7 - 40mm
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FIM-92A Stinger

During a confrontation with Soviet forces at the German-Czech border early in the film, COL Knowles orders one of his soldiers to point an FIM-92A Stinger at the "Soviet" helicopter (actually an American Sikorsky S-58 painted in Soviet Army markings) which buzzes the armored column under his command. The Fourth War is one of the earliest movies to feature an actual FIM-92A Stinger instead of the earlier FIM-43 Redeye (Fire Birds, which also featured the Stinger, was released nearly two months after this movie).

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FIM-92A Stinger 70mm
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COL Knowles orders one of his soldiers to aim an FIM-92A Stinger at the "Soviet" helicopter. Note that this Stinger, like most used in movies, features a genuine launch tube mated to a mock-up fire control unit with a demilled IFF antenna - it notably lacks the latch at the front to secure the fire control unit to the launch tube. The IR window also appears to be gone.

Helicopters and armor

During the final confrontation, US and Soviet forces respond with many armored vehicles and helicopters. Some of the "Soviet" armored vehicles in this scene appear to have been originally built for Red Dawn.

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A Sikorsky S-58 fitted with mock-up rocket pods and painted in Soviet markings.
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What is likely a mock-up of an LAV-25 (incorrect for the US Army at the time) built from a Canadian-origin GM AVGP Grizzly (the movie was filmed in Canada), while a Gazelle helicopter gunship (also not used by the US Army) buzzes nearby.
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An M113 APC fitted with a Browning M2; several Willys M38A1 jeeps trail behind (note that in US military service, the Ford M151 "MUTT" had long replaced the M38 during the time in which the film takes place; by 1988, the M151 itself was being replaced by the HMMWV).
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An M60A3 tank.
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A mock-up of a T-72, likely the same one from Red Dawn, but re-painted.
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The "Soviet" Sikorsky S-58 hovers over a mock-up BTR-60 and a mock-up BRDM-2 (both likely the same vehicles originally made for Red Dawn).