The Fourth Protocol (1987)
Sometimes a perfectly competent film simply misses the boat. The Fourth Protocol is a prime example of this. Based upon the novel by Frederick Forsythe this well made, somewhat clinical thriller arrived in cinemas at a time when the cold war was coming to an end due to “glasnost” and the “red menace” was becoming a somewhat tired plot device. It didn’t help that a similar story about a rogue Russian mission to detonate a nuclear device on a US base had already featured four years earlier in the Bond film, Octopussy. Michael Caine spent several years trying to get the project off the ground, after initially reading the author’s draft manuscript of the novel. Veteran screenwriter George Axelrod was hired and John Frankenheimer was sought to direct the film. However, difficulties in financing the project led to changes in the production and Forsythe ended writing the screenplay himself, while John Mackenzie (The Long Good Friday) took on the direction.
The Island (1980)
After the commercial success of Jaws and The Deep, Universal Studios decided to explore the works of Peter Benchley a little further and adapt his novel The Island. Benchley wrote the screenplay himself and director Michael Ritchie was given the job of bringing this rather dour tale to the screen. A substantial budget of $22 million was assigned to the production and a somewhat eclectic cast was assembled. The resulting movie was very poorly received and subsequently pilloried by the critics who found it both risible and revolting. 35 years on is The Island as bad as some would have you think?