According to the credits, “The Fourth Protocol” (1987) is based on a novel by Frederick Forsyth. I never read the book, but the film is so weighed down with Cold War spy movie boilerplate, it’s amazing that Michael Caine didn’t get a hernia starring in it. It’s one of TV star Pierce Brosnan’s first major film roles (he plays a Soviet spy to Caine’s stock British spy). The worst part is that several Soviet characters are played by American actors who use their regular speaking voices. You can’t tell whether they’re actual Soviets, American double agents, or what. Very aggravating.
Archives for posts with tag: The Fourth Protocol
OK, here’s the rule regarding accents for films with international casts. As an example, we’ll use “The Fourth Protocol,” a 1987 movie starring Michael Caine as a British spy going up against the Soviets, because it grossly violates this rule. First option: Have actual Soviets play all the Soviet characters. Second option: Have all the Soviet characters speak with Soviet accents. Third option: Have all the Soviet characters speak with British accents (unavailable here since we also have British characters). NEVER ACCEPTABLE: Let Ned Beatty and Alan North play guys named Petrovic and Govershin but sound like they’re from Kansas.
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