The Fourth War

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.
__TOC__
=Handguns=
== Colt Combat Commander ==
Colonel Jack Knowles (Roy Scheider) carries a Colt Commander compact pistol as his sidearm in the film.
==Beretta 92F==
The Beretta 92F is seen in the hands of Colonel Valachev (Jürgen Prochnow).
==Makarov PM==
A Soviet soldier is seen with a Makarov PM.
=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.
==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.
==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.
=Machine Guns=
==Browning M2HB Heavy Machine Gun==
Browning M2 HB machine guns are seen mounted on US Army APCs in the film.
=Grenades=
==M26 Hand Grenade==
COL Knowles holds up an M26 hand grenade when confronting some Soviet soldiers.
=Launchers=
==M72 LAW==
COL Jack Knowles (Roy Scheider) uses an M72 LAW to destroy a guard tower.
== 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.
==RPG-7==
The RPG-7 mounted with a PGO-7 scope, is used by Soviet soldier during the final confrontation.
== 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).
=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.
Category:Movie
Category:Canadian Produced/Filmed
Category:Crime
Category:Thriller
Category:John Frankenheimer