Movies like The Fourth Protocol (1987)
The best movies like The Fourth Protocol (1987) are Avalanche Express (1979), Torn Curtain (1966) and The Chairman (1969). If The Fourth Protocol hooked you with its action and thriller, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedFail Safe (1964)7.8/10 from 515 votes
- NewestTinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)Released 2011
Avalanche Express (1979)
CIA agent Harry Wargrave is sent to aid Gen. Marenkov, a senior Russian official, who is defecting to the west. Wargrave decides they should travel to safety on a train across Europe, the "Atlantic Express". During the journey, they must survive attacks by terrorists and an avalanche, all planned by Russian spy-catcher Nikolai Bunin.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisTorn Curtain (1966)
During the Cold War, an American scientist appears to defect to East Germany as part of a cloak and dagger mission to find the formula for a resin solution—but the plan goes awry when his fiancee, unaware of his motivation, follows him across the border.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Chairman (1969)
An American scientist is sent to Red China to steal the formula for a newly developed agricultural enzyme. What he is not told by his bosses is that a micro-sized bomb has been planted in his brain so that should the mission ever look likely to fail, he can be eliminated at the push of a button!
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & thriller
The Jigsaw Man (1983)
Philip Kimberly, the former head of the British Secret Service who defected to Russia, is given plastic surgery and sent back to Britain by the KGB to retrieve some vital documents. With the documents in hand, he instead plays off MI6 and the KGB against each other.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisScorpio (1973)
Cross is an old hand at the CIA who often teams up with Frenchman Jean “Scorpio” Laurier, a gifted freelance operative. After their last mission together, the CIA orders Scorpio to eliminate Cross, leaving him no choice but to obey.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Iron Curtain (1948)
The Iron Curtain is based on the actual 1945 case of Soviet cipher clerk Igor Gouzenko, (Dana Andrews), who, after careful training, was assigned to the U.S.S.R. Embassy in Ottawa, Canada in the midst of World War II. Eventually, Gouzenko defected with 109 pages of material implicating several high level Canadian officials, outlined the steps taken to secure information about the the details of the nuclear bomb via numerous sleeper cells established throughout North America. The scandal that resulted when details of this case were publicized by American columnist Drew Pearson in early 1946 involved Canada, Britain and the United States.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller
The Whistle Blower (1986)
A war veteran tries to investigate the murder of his son who was working as a Russian translator for the British intelligence service during the Cold War. He meets a web of deception and paranoia that seems impenetrable...
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisFuneral in Berlin (1966)
Colonel Stok, a Soviet intelligence officer responsible for security at the Berlin Wall, appears to want to defect but the evidence is contradictory. Stok wants the British to handle his defection and asks for one of their agents, Harry Palmer, to smuggle him out of East Germany.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDiplomatic Courier (1952)
During the Cold War, diplomatic courier Mike Kells must retrieve a dispatch containing top-secret intelligence. But when he arrives at the meeting point, a train station in Salzburg, his contact turns up dead, and the message is nowhere to be found. With no clear suspect in sight, Kells must sort through his uncertain relationships with two women, while sidestepping the pitfalls of subterfuge, sabotage and spies in his search for the documents.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller
The Deadly Affair (1967)
Charles Dobbs is a British secret agent investigating the apparent suicide of Foreign Office official Samuel Fennan. Dobbs suspects that Fennan's wife, Elsa, a survivor of a Nazi Germany extermination camp, might have some clues, but other officials want Dobbs to drop the case. So Dobbs hires a retiring inspector, Mendel, to quietly make inquiries. Dobbs isn't at all sure as there are a number of anomalies that simply can't be explained away. Dobbs is also having trouble at home with his errant wife, whom he very much loves, having frequent affairs. He's also pleased to see an old friend, Dieter Frey, who he recruited after the war. With the assistance of a colleague and a retired policeman, Dobbs tries to piece together just who is the spy and who in fact assassinated Fennan.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Dandy in Aspic (1968)
Double-agent Alexander Eberlin is assigned by the British to hunt out a Russian spy, known to them as Krasnevin. Only Eberlin knows that Krasnevin is none other than himself! Accompanying him on his mission is a ruthless partner, who gradually discovers his secret as Eberlin tries to maneuver himself out of a desperate situation.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller
The Hunt for Red October (1990)
A new technologically-superior Soviet nuclear sub, the Red October, is heading for the U.S. coast under the command of Captain Marko Ramius. The American government thinks Ramius is planning to attack. Lone CIA analyst Jack Ryan has a different idea: he thinks Ramius is planning to defect, but he has only a few hours to find him and prove it - because the entire Russian naval and air commands are trying to find Ramius, too. The hunt is on!
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFail Safe (1964)
Because of a technical defect an American bomber team mistakenly orders the destruction of Moscow. The President of the United States has but little time to prevent an atomic catastrophe from occurring.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTelefon (1977)
Nicolai Dalchimski, a mad KGB agent steals a notebook full of names of "sleeping" undercover KGB agents sent to the U.S. in the 1950's. These agents got their assignments under hypnosis, so they can't remember their missions until they're told a line of a Robert Frost poem. Dalchimski flees to the U.S. and starts phoning these agents who perform sabotage acts against military targets.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBillion Dollar Brain (1967)
A former British spy stumbles into in a plot to overthrow Communism with the help of a supercomputer. But who is working for whom?
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisTinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
George Smiley, the aging master spy of the Cold War and once heir apparent to Control, is brought back out of retirement to flush out a top level mole within the Circus. Smiley must travel back through his life and murky workings of the Circus to unravel the net spun by his nemesis Karla 'The Sandman' of the KGB and reveal the identity of the mole before he disappears.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Ipcress File (1965)
Sly and dry intelligence agent Harry Palmer is tasked with investigating British Intelligence security, and is soon enmeshed in a world of double-dealing, kidnap and murder when he finds a traitor operating at the heart of the secret service.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisIce Station Zebra (1968)
A top-secret Soviet spy satellite -- using stolen Western technology -- malfunctions and then goes into a descent that lands it near an isolated Arctic research encampment called Ice Station Zebra, belonging to the British, which starts sending out distress signals before falling silent. The atomic submarine Tigerfish, commanded by Cmdr. James Ferraday, is dispatched to save them.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Spy Who Came In from the Cold (1965)
British agent Alec Leamas refuses to come in from the Cold War during the 1960s, choosing to face another mission, which may prove to be his final one.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Sum of All Fears (2002)
When the president of Russia suddenly dies, a man whose politics are virtually unknown succeeds him. The change in political leaders sparks paranoia among American CIA officials, so CIA director Bill Cabot recruits a young analyst to supply insight and advice on the situation. Then the unthinkable happens: a nuclear bomb explodes in a U.S. city, and America is quick to blame the Russians.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Day of the Jackal (1973)
An international assassin known as ‘The Jackal’ is employed by disgruntled French generals to kill President Charles de Gaulle, with a dedicated gendarme on the assassin’s trail.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTopaz (1969)
Copenhagen, Denmark, 1962. When a high-ranking Soviet official decides to change sides, a French intelligence agent is caught up in a cold, silent and bloody spy war in which his own family will play a decisive role.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Holcroft Covenant (1985)
A man who was a confidant of Adolf Hitler dies and leaves a fortune to make amends for his Nazi past—but his son has to search the world to find it.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Domino Principle (1977)
Roy Tucker, a Vietnam war veteran with excellent shooting skills, is serving a long prison sentence when a mysterious visitor promises him that he will be released if he agrees to carry out a dangerous assignment.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & action
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Looking Glass War (1970)
When a Polish sailor jumps ship in Britain, a couple of local intelligence operatives keep him under surveillance. Soon, he’s recruited to infiltrate a missile installation outside of East Berlin and bring back photos of the new rockets.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & thriller
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Near the end of the Korean War, a platoon of U.S. soldiers is captured by communists and brainwashed. Following the war, the platoon is returned home, and Sergeant Raymond Shaw is lauded as a hero by the rest of his platoon. However, the platoon commander, Captain Bennett Marco, finds himself plagued by strange nightmares and soon races to uncover a terrible plot.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Kremlin Letter (1970)
After an unauthorized letter suggesting U.S. support for a Russian attack on China is sent to Moscow, a former naval officer and his team go undercover to retrieve it. Their plans are disrupted when a cunning politician raids their hideout.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller & action
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Odessa File (1974)
Following the suicide of an elderly Jewish man, investigative journalist Peter Miller sets out to hunt down an SS Captain and former concentration camp commander. In doing so he discovers that, despite allegations of war crimes, the former commander has become a man of importance in industry in post-war Germany, protected from prosecution by a powerful organisation of former SS members called Odessa.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDefence of the Realm (1986)
A reporter named Mullen 'stumbles' onto a story linking a prominent Member of Parliament to a KGB agent and a near-nuclear disaster involving a teenage runaway and a U.S. Air Force base. Has there been a Government cover-up? Mullen teams up with Vernon Bayliss, an old hack, and Nina Beckam, the MP's assistant, to find out the truth.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBullet to Beijing (1995)
When long-time British agent Harry Palmer loses his job because the Cold War is over, he's promptly approached by a Russian bossman, Alex. In St. Petersburg Alex tells Harry of his plan for Russia's future, which is threatened because a deadly biochemical weapon called the Red Death has been stolen from him. He'll pay Harry handsomely to retrieve it. An ex-spy friend tips Harry off that it's being sent to Beijing by train, aboard which we begin to learn whose side everyone's really on.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both action & thriller
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Fourth Protocol?
The closest matches to The Fourth Protocol are Avalanche Express (1979), Torn Curtain (1966) and The Chairman (1969). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Fourth Protocol?
People who watched The Fourth Protocol most often go on to Avalanche Express (1979), Torn Curtain (1966) and The Chairman (1969).
What is the highest-rated movie like The Fourth Protocol?
Fail Safe (1964), rated 7.8/10 by 515 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Fourth Protocol?
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Fourth Protocol?
Yes: Avalanche Express (1979), Torn Curtain (1966) and The Chairman (1969).
How are movies similar to The Fourth Protocol chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Fourth Protocol, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.