The Fourth Angel Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
They took everything he had. Revenge is all that's left. (DVD box-art)
Jack Elgin is the European editor of The Economist, which is based in London, England. Jack has a wife named Maria and three kids named Joanne, Julia, and Andrew. Jack subtly changes the family vacation from a lazy week of Mediterranean fun and sun in Corfu, Greece, to a tour of India, because of a story he has to cover. Maria is not as impressed by this as the kids are. Jack himself envisioned a chance to simultaneously work an easy reporting assignment and spend a little quality time with his family. But on the way to India, the airplane, a 747 owned by AM Air, an American airline, makes an unscheduled stopover in Limassol Cyprus, because of a mechanical problem. After a while of waiting inside the Limassol airport, everyone gets back on the plane — which is then hijacked by a group of terrorists known as the August 15th Movement, led by a Serbian man named Ivanic Loyvek and his right-hand man Karadan Maldic. And they are demanding $50,000,000 from the US State Department in one hour, or everyone on the airplane will die. The demand is met, and Loyvek and Maldic start releasing the women and children, with the men to go last. But as soon as a front passenger door is opened, a local police team gunning for the terrorists opens fire. The flight attendants frantically open the rest of the airplane's doors and start getting passengers out, but the terrorists start killing passengers, leading to an explosion. Maria, Joanne, and Julia get out of the airplane, and then Jack, holding Andrew, gets out — only to watch Maria, Joanne, and Julia get shot by the terrorists. Jack tries to hide Andrew's face so he can't see it. Maria and Joanne are dead, and Julia is still alive — but Julia burns to death while crying for help. Jack and Andrew survive. In all, a total of 15 passengers die, and Loyvek and Maldic, the surviving terrorists, escape, knowing that they now have the $50,000,000. The hijacking would never have ended this way if the police team had waited until after the passengers were released from the airplane before getting trigger happy. Back in London, an absolutely devastated Jack is told that the terrorists were captured, but they were released and deported secretly, with no charges and no arrest, the result of some awfully compromised politics. Jack is understandably enraged that Loyvek and Maldic got off scot-free. While helping Andrew cope, Jack tries all the legal ways to ensure justice for his family, but to no avail. Jack even pays a visit to Henry Davidson, a CIA agent who works at the American Embassy in London. Davidson tells Jack that there's little that can be done. Obviously, the American and British governments are completely impotent when it comes to going after Loyvek and Maldic, so Jack has absolutely no choice in the matter. He must do it himself. With the help of his ex-intelligence operative friend Kate Stockton, who is well-schooled in the finer points of international intelligence, Jack becomes a one-man anti-terrorist squadron, searching for Loyvek and Maldich. Dogging Jack's trail is FBI agent Jules Bernard, who's cooperating with Scotland Yard on anti-terrorist activities, and who suspects that Jack is the man who has been killing anyone involved in the hijacking. But as it turns out, Jules is on Jack's side, and he's willing to help Jack make those responsible pay for the deaths of his family and the other people who died in Cyprus.
| Jeremy Irons | Jack Elgin |
| Forest Whitaker | Agent Jules Bernard |
| Jason Priestley | Davidson |
| Briony Glassco | Maria |
| Charlotte Rampling | Kate Stockton |
| Lois Maxwell | Olivia |
| Timothy West | Jones |
| Joel Pitts | Andrew Elgin |
| Anna Maguire | Joanne Elgin |
| Holly Boyd | Julia |
| Kal Weber | Kulindos |
| Ian McNeice | Lewison, MI5 Officer |
| William Armstrong | Perry |
| Garrick Hagon | Duguay |
| Serge Soric | Ivanic Loyvek |
| John Irvin |
5.40 out of 10 (912 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Fragmented hijacking drama
posted on 17 Jun 2009I found this movie a waste of my time, and a waste of Forrest Whitaker's acting talents. Although there is a lot of good action and suspense, the plot is too fragmented and confusing to be believable.I wonder how many script writers tried their hand at this film. The lead-character embarks on a killing-spree. WHY? was the question I asked myself continually during the movie. It went unanswered. His grief is understandable, but the resulting extreme measures are not. This could have been a very good movie, but somehow it failed to be.
Intelligent thriller, suddenly timely
posted on 25 Mar 2009Absorbing and intelligent, FOURTH ANGEL uses its London (and briefly Paris) setting skilfully to show the story of a man seeking to avenge the murder of his family by what appear to be terrorists. The film raises (lightly but thoughtfully) questions of how civilized people ought to react to outrageous attacks upon them and muses over the rights and wrongs of vigilantism. Jeremy Irons reminds us again that he is one of the best screen actors in the world; the pain and distress which he etches in his role as the bereaved father is very moving. Forest Whitaker makes the most of an underwritten part and when he and Irons come face to face in the climactic scenes they are a magnificent duo of powerful screen presences. This film will, presumably, disappear in the aftermath of September 11th events. Which is a pity since in its modest way it actually has something to say. And that's rare enough in the world of thrillers.
more holes than a pair of fishnet stockings
posted on 28 Jan 2009I can't believe some of the scores this film is getting on the IMDb website! Have I been issued with the Special Edition naff version? Edited by Dewhurst, produced by Bernard Matthews, this film should be housed in Battersea. I'm sorry for all the UK-centric references but if you're elsewhere and you've got no toenails to cut or you haven't got a beer mat collection to catalogue then this film might just be worth 90 mins of your remaining lifespan (as long as you haven't got any paint to watch drying). The plot has more holes than a pair of fishnet stockings and the direction and editing is astonishingly ham fisted. What on earth is Irons doing in this film?
OK, nothing special
posted on 25 Apr 2008An undistinguished revenge thriller, worth noting only because of the odd casting of Jeremy Irons as a sort of modern-day Scarlet Pimpernel or Count of Monte Cristo. When most of his family is murdered by terrorists, who are then let off without so much as a slap on the wrist, he begins seeking them out and killing them. He is a reluctant hero but an enthusiastic avenger. Forrest Whittaker is wasted as an FBI agent on his trail. Charlotte Rampling isn't half-bad as an old friend and surrogate conscience, but she is not on-screen all that much. The terrorists are predictably, and disappointingly, a bunch of white guys instead of the Middle Easterners they would have been in real life. Directed by a solid director, John Irvin, on what appears to be a miniscule budget. Short cuts are therefore taken to get us to the fiery, if predictable and mundane, climax.
Great performances by Jeremy Irons and Forest Whitaker!
posted on 25 May 2007This movie, The Fourth Angel is quite good and it has two very good role performed excellently by Jeremy Irons and Forest Whitaker! The story is good the things in it allows Irons to do a lot. In Fact he does quite a bit in the movie. His performance is very believable as it makes the viewer believe something horrible happened to his family. The terrorists are different in the film. The music is pretty good and it fits the film very well! The scenes when Irons and Whitaker are together really makes the film good and Whitaker does a very good job here. I feel he is really an underrated actor. Plus I like to see two unusual actors together in a film and see how they can make it interesting! Jason Priestley was different in this one and he performance showed Me that he can be a big star! Really the part I didn't like is the hunting scene. Other than this is a decent film! If you want to see Jeremy Irons and Forest Whitaker is superb performance then watch The Fourth Angel!
Jeremy Irons in nearly every scene
posted on 03 May 2007Jeremy Irons plays a journalist whose wife and daughters are killed right in front him during a plane hijacking; he is left alone with his 10-year-old son and finds himself unable to deal with the fact that these hijackers are going to be getting off scott-free. Being a journalist, he uses his skills to find out where the hijackers will be and he takes it upon himself to even the score. This is an extremely intelligent and absorbing film about a difficult subject, handled with skill and grace by everyone involved. Irons is superb, as always, incapable of making a false move; he embues Jack Elgin with a stunning mixture of rage, frailty, horror and resolve. Forest Whitaker, another brilliant actor incapable of a false move, is also used to fine advantage, as the FBI agent assigned to the case and finding himself -=- SPOILER ALERT -=- understanding and sympathizing with Elgin -=- END OF SPOILER -=-, and the appearance of the fiercely intelligent Charlotte Rampling certainly doesn't hurt. The film is very hard to find - I bought my DVD online through JumboVideo in Canada. There's a very cool Featurette on this DVD, where everyone involved talks about the making of the film in great detail, very satisfying.
Good actors, bad movie
posted on 21 Apr 2007I think the manuscript of this movie was written on the piece of toilet-paper. No respect whatsoever to many important details which intrinsically make the movie. For example, the names of some Serbian terrorists (that I remember) are Caradan Maldic, Ivanic Loyvek and Leo Hasse. What kind of names are that? Certainly not Serbian! By the way, Caradan Maldic!!! What a name, I laughed for days thinking about it. Probably an implication on Karadzic and Mladic. Secondly, there have never been any cases of terrorism done by Serbians. A journalist like the main character ought to have known that. Thirdly, the actors playing Serbian terrorists are not even Serbs nor do they speak Serbo-croatian. All this aside, this movie is solidly acted but the story is paper-thin and full of holes. At times it makes no sense whatsoever!!!
the fourth angel
posted on 15 Apr 2007never seen this film yet .......but the coach is which the gunfight happens - well i cleaned the coach up of all the fake blood(its a basket to get off Formica !!) and the blanks - the railway coach number is 70510 and is now based at the Hunsbury Hill railway museum in Northampton and has been converted in an artists studio anyway some insider info for you Kev smith director of the Hunsbury hill railway museum (NIRT)as for the films content - i have no idea - all i know is someone gets killed etc etc - as always its a British film - some are good some are bad some are real awful, all i know is this - this coach is a celebrity
Plot FULL of Holes
posted on 15 Jan 2007The November 15th terrorist movement alluded to in this movie as the August 15th movement was a Greek leftist organization in the 1980's. It had nothing to do with Serbs. The names of the "Serb" terrorists are not at all Serbian names. The language spoken by the terrorists is not Serbian. The writers clearly did not do their homework, it would have made more sense for the terrorists to be Greek in the first place since the hijacking takes place on Cyprus, an island claimed by both Greece and Turkey and thus a source of much conflict. I believe the writers seriously insulted the viewers' intelligence with this script. I hope the cast at least received a good paycheck for this less than impressive film.
Quite boring
posted on 29 Oct 2006Jeremy Irons and Forrest Whitaker are good actors. But this movie was badly written. First of all, during the hijack scene, Irons sits too comfortably in his chair...he appears to be READING something, and rather calmly too! Perhaps the director shot the actor in between takes? Also, the violence at the hijacking was a big letdown. Slow-mo, bullets flying--how his wife and daughter get killed is just not that interesting and the tension is lost. His grieving afterward wasted another 10 minutes. Then he decided to "get revenge" and talk to all his industry journalist friends and ambassadors (he's a journalist for the stuffy Economist rag) and lo and behold, they actually give him tips on where to find the bad guys! How do they know? But what really made me turn the movie off halfway through was when Irons finds his way into a warehouse where baddies are hanging out--BUT NOT THE BADDIES WHO KILLED HIS WIFE--and blows them away anyway. so he's just a murderer. he gets away and, well...I shut it off. I mean I couldn't figure out how his friends knew anything, and also I thought he was after the remaining 2 guys in custody who were the original hijackers. Instead he's going after their friends, I guess, or anyone who hangs out in warehouses and leaves automatic weapons laying around. The suspense was just totally conventional and the dialog was lame ("it's OK son, crying helps," he says to his son. Son says "no it doesn't" and father says "You're right..it doesn't.")Irons takes on questionable roles--like that one dragon movie he did. He was excellent in Brideshead Revisited, which is a completely different animal than this lukewarm thriller.
Why Do We Need Such Movies When We have Life?
posted on 06 Aug 2006This is a movie produced before but close to 9/11, and it had to wait a few months before being released after the terror attacks. Unfortunately, the world had become since the scene of terror attacks that make the story here credible. However, the moral line of the movie is very questionable - as justifying people taking justice in their hands, in what is a very contemporary situation is not right and wise. Anyway, as one man justice is a movie theme since Westerns era, let us look to the movie. Quite well done, even if some of the details do not really match 100% percent. The best performance is given by Forest Whitaker who is better and better in each film I see him (but watch your weight, buddy!). Jeremy Irons who is a great actor seems to be a little be embarassed to have taken a role written for Arnold or Harrison Ford. Worth watching, but there are certainly better movies on the video rental shelves. 6/10 on my personal scale.
An intriguing thriller
posted on 17 Feb 2006Although the genre (revenge thriller) is a little dated and the cast hardly A-list, this is a constantly involving film which may delight an unsuspecting audience. Jeremy Irons is not everyone's natural choice for an action hero. However, casting him as the beleaguered Jack Elgin only serves to reinforce the intelligence and sensitivity with which the film's makers construct the story of an innocent man's quest for justice. Support from Forrest Whitaker (amusing, if hackneyed), Charlotte Rampling (bizarre accent/affectation) and Jason Priestly (smarmy, slick and spot-on) enriches the drama and the little boy is fantastic.Action sequences are sporadic and small-scale compared with big-budget American movies like Planet of the Apes and A.I. but at least The Fourth Angel has characters about whom one cares and a story that, if not wholly original, is constantly involving.London sparkles spectacularly and the overall look of The Fourth Angel makes you wonder why other British-set films feel cheap and TVesque. The score is a little intrusive but the soundlessness of the Seventies seems a distant memory with modern films choosing to instruct the audience exactly how it should react with over-the-top strings and drums. End of rant. See The Fourth Angel.
Bright, thoughtful Irons film
posted on 28 Dec 2004I have appreciated Jeremy Irons since Brideshead Revisited. Anactor of much skill and emotional range, he can admittedly befaulted for the occasional bizarre choice of rolls, for example thepedophile in the Lolita remake and the mad bomber in Die Hard 3,performances that surely have him waking up nights in a coldsweat. In The Fourth Angel, he takes on a semi-action role, whichis not his usual casting, and yes, he pulls it off, because hischaracter is basically a brainy journalist who stumbles into theworld of shoot-em-up terrorists. If he is to survive, he must figureout how the clip goes into the AK-47 and how to work the safety,and learn it even as the killers are coming down the hall for him.There's no secret about the plot. His wife and daughter areslaughtered by terrorists and he discovers that governments arenot going to lend a hand. The way he expresses both his grief andhis outrage represent his art at its peak. This film is nicely writtenand paced, and reminded me of Defense of the Realm. The FourthAngel has an important role for a young male actor, who does verynicely, and features a brief but pleasing appearance by CharlotteRampling, who has made the transition from femme fatale tomiddle aged woman with great grace. (She will look better tosome now than she did then.)
Rather Weak
posted on 22 Apr 2003Quote from the Bible, in Revelations 16:8 : "And the Fourth Angel poured out his vial upon the sun: and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire." On a holiday flight to India, the family of magazine editor Jack Elgin (Jeremy Irons) are involved in a hijack and killed. When the hijackers are released on a technicality, Jack goes on a one-man mission to kill the terrorists after the governmental powers that be let them go. He uses his resources at work to track them down and eliminate them on his own, bringing him to the attention of US agent, Agent Jules Bernard (Forest Whitaker).Forest Whitaker makes the most of an underwritten part and when he and Irons come face to face in the climactic scenes they become a duo of powerful screen presences. The acting could have been better, the direction is sloppy, the screenplay is probably something out of a badly written dime story novel, and the whole premise remarkable in that it expects us to accept this magazine editor as a guy who could somehow defeat masses of heavily armed murderers on his own. A (generous) 6/10
Just a good movie
posted on 30 Jun 2002Quite a good movie actually with skilled cast and great locations. The plot and script are not really worth a lot, but it worked out for the best. If this would have been a low budget movie, it wouldn't be worth seeing it. But with this cast and director it's just a good movie. Enjoy it!
The exterminating angel?
posted on 19 Apr 2002It's strange that an earnest thespian like Jeremy Irons may have agreed to play this part .There's really nothing new under the sun.The umpteenth tale of revenge -which,as everybody knows, is a dish best eaten cold-No more gangsters and make way for the terrorists .But even if the baddies change,it's the same old song.I would save only one scene: when Irons is about to kill one more guy ,he runs into his little daughter,and begins to think over ,which he apparently didn't do much before:did he only have a thought for his motherless boy?A weird cast does not serve the movie:Jason Priestley 's pretty face is a very bad choice;Forest Whitaker cannot do anything with a hackneyed part.Charlotte Rampling a brilliant actress who could have matched Irons every step of the way is completely wasted.Consolation prize for James Bond's fans:Lois Maxwell(Miss Moneypenny) appears as the grandma.
Potential Poster Child for Bad Timing (9/11), Universal Miscasting and Zombie Plot.
posted on 22 Mar 2002It's far too easy to heckle and hack away at creative, artistic and financial investments. But this movie is worth seeing just for its assortment of flaws. I haven't seen all the legendary flops on film but this one is certainly "bad" enough to be considered potentially "good". As in all flops though, it demonstrates just how easily so many things can go wrong on one project, so much so that perhaps it deserves the analog "Why Bad Things Happen to Perfectly Good Movies". More things actually had to go wrong to make this the legendary flop it could have been but it did have a good start. It is also worth seeing just to observe how easily the mind wanders when flaws prevail. I have to admit though that I did watch it on television while multi-tasking household chores but I was obviously impressed enough to remember its cryptic title and post this hatchet job, and my sincerest apologies to the cast, crew and producers. And damn-it, I never figured out or could read the addendum how it got its name either.
The art and craft of film making
posted on 15 Sep 2001Those of us who toil in the film industry as stunt doubles, sometimes see the fruits of our labour edited and watered down. We all have a vision, its is wise to remember the vision of the Director is the person steering the ship, the voyage that delivers the message what ever that message my be or may bring. With power comes great responsibility(spider man quote(!) but this is true. Those who judge and criticise surely cannot understand the true toil of film making and the sacrifices us toilers make for our art. please remember this when you are shovelling the shite that comes out of your mouths. Kind regards tall stunt double com.
Undertouted and underestimated
posted on 31 Jul 2009"The Fourth Angel" tells of one man's quest for retribution beyond all reason as he, the protag (Irons), takes on a bunch of hijackers while trying to avoid inquiries from government agents. Typically British in its austerity of production, this flick makes for a good middle-tier drama by creating a series of believable moral and practical dilemmas to which the well portrayed protagonist must react. A satisfying though not sterling blend of action, intrigue, and human drama, "The Fourth Angel" is not a no-brainer and, considering the complexity of the intrigue over the run time, is very well managed throughout. Not for Hollywood blockbuster freaks, this little import now on cable is well worth a look for those into foreign intrigue and movies that make you think but not too much. (B)