The Peacemaker (Widescreen Edition)
by Mimi Leder
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DVD details
Actor: Aleksandr Baluev, George Clooney, Marcel Iures, Nicole Kidman, Rene MedvesekDirector: Mimi Leder
Brand: Paramount
Producer: Andrew Cockburn
Writer: Andrew Cockburn
Producer: Branko Lustig
Producer: John Wells
Producer: Laurie MacDonald
Writer: Leslie Cockburn
Writer: Michael Schiffer
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 124 minutes
Published: 1998-12-01
DVD Release Date: 1998-12-08
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Dreamworks Video
Product features:
- TESTED
DVD Reviews of The Peacemaker (Widescreen Edition)
DVD Review: George Clooney's best action role (not that he's had a lot of action roles)
Summary: 4 Stars
In the turnstile of movie villain cliches, the nuclear terrorist seems to swing around fairly often. THE PEACEMAKER is only one more in the long line of action thrillers featuring intrepid whosoevers attempting to stave off a mushroom holocaust. Is it original? No. Is it perhaps hackneyed? I would say yes. Ah, but is it worth watching? I would also have to say, yes. There's something to be said for expert filmmaking, a suspenseful tone, action packed sequences, and bankable star power.
Plot SPOILERS will now occasionally pop up.
When a Russian train ferrying atomic warheads enroute to dismantling collides head-on with a passenger train, triggering a nuclear explosion, it doesn't take too long before the U.S. government sniffs something foul. Nuclear specialist Dr. Julia Kelly (Nicole Kidman), who heads up the less-than-sexily named White House Nuclear Smuggling Group, is the first to figure out that something underhanded is in the works, that someone had deliberately set off the detonation. She promptly gets put in charge of the mess.
Dr. Kelly apprises the brass and sundry government big wigs that she'll need "a military liaison with intel background and Russian contacts." and to make sure that "he's willing to take orders from a woman." And, so, of course, the camera immediately shifts to a courtroom scene, in which George Clooney's character is the focus of a disciplinary hearing. Clooney plays Lt. Colonel Thomas Devoe, a straight-talking, maverick U.S. Army intelligence officer. It's pretty inevitable that Kelly and Devoe are soon engaging in heavy bickering. Devoe shows her up in her war room briefing. Kelly calls him a "talented soldier with sloppy impulse control." Apparently, to the filmmakers, weapons of mass destruction aren't enough fireworks for the picture.
THE PEACEMAKER, which came out in 1997, is a really well-executed film, from cinematography to editing to score. We don't see the principal actors until around 16 minutes into the movie, but even those first 16 minutes suck you in (as it details the hijacking of the train). The film is very solid with the action pieces, with the feel of the thing leaning more towards Tom Clancy than Ian Fleming. Clooney demonstrates his action chops, doing his best clenched square jaw bit in this movie. And the word is he did most of his own stunts. The Clooney mannerisms are still there, but kinda tamped down by the testosterone and this implacable edginess he this time brings to the table. I really buy him in his role of action hero with a bite.
Regarding Nicole Kidman, it just goes to show that, every once in a while, even the most accomplished actresses yearn to rest up and have fun with an undemanding part. She's basically slumming as Dr. Julia Kelly (and kicking around a mostly solid American accent), but I'm thinking there aren't that many actresses out there who can deliver the same level of intelligence and depth. Let's be honest, there really isn't anything new to the two lead characters. And yet Clooney and Kidman's sheer screen presence manages to keep your eyeballs glued to the movie. That adversarial heat they have going on between them doesn't hurt, either. Surprisingly - and I'm actually thankful for this - romance doesn't rear its beautiful head until the very end, and then it's only an inkling of the thing.
Action-wise, no complaints. THE PEACEMAKER is a well-oiled engine, hitting all the expected beats. There's foreshadowing in Dr. Kelly's statement to Devoe whilst on a plane to Vienna: "I'm not afraid of the man who wants ten nuclear warheads, Colonel. I'm terrified of the man who only wants one." Devoe and his military troops manage to wrest back all but one of the atomic warheads. As it turns out, the last half of the film is devoted to tracking down the last nuclear bomb. The movie climaxes with a frantic manhunt in New York and that old chestnut, the ticking timebomb. But, before that, there's some globe-hopping, exciting chases, Clooney mistreating a truck shipping executive, a callback to unfriendly American-Soviet relations, and Clooney taking charge and putting it down hard on punks trying to take down civilization.
The dvd's special features are kinda skimpy: Stunt Footage - basically, we're shown the stunts followed by the finished film footage on two sequences: the car chase in Vienna and Clooney jumping car to car in New York; the teaser & trailer; Cast & Crew bios; Production Notes; and the "From the Cutting Room Floor" segment - 3 minutes of interview snippets with Kidman and Director Mimi Leder, as well as several outtakes. So, yeah, skimpy.
Granted, there isn't much levity in this film, but I just had to smile when Devoe and Kelly learn that the password to access a German bad guy's computer turns out to be... "Hasselhoff." So, really, the only grouses I have are that the villain is tedious and the somber cutaways to Bosnia serve to slow down the pace. Overall, I really like this film. It works as a slam-bang action thriller and demonstrates that, even when in low brow, common denominator stuff like THE PEACEMAKER, quality will out. George Clooney and Nicole Kidman are quality; they're bullet proof, baby.
Description of The Peacemaker (Widescreen Edition)
DVDIt seems that thrillers these days--even good ones--are all about scene-chewing bad guys, cute retorts fit for the Dennis Miller show, and one big special effect to end the movie. Well, something like The Peacemaker, the first feature film from DreamWorks, puts the record straight. Here is an expertly paced thriller with a sensible villain, smart instead of cute dialogue, and a focus on action instead of special effects. It's not original, just solid. It's the second of these energetic and effective thrillers that writer Michael Schiffer (Crimson Tide) has penned. The White House Nuclear Smuggling Group tracks down 10 stolen nuclear bombs after a suspicious train wreck in Russia. The acting head of the department (Nicole Kidman) and her military field officer (George Clooney) are off to Europe to track down the bombs. Instead of a Gary Oldman-Bruce Dern madman, The Peacemaker's heavy is an unknown Romanian actor (Marcul Iures) playing a Bosnian rebel who works passionately and quietly. This may be a popcorn movie, but it uses the ripe emotions of the Bosnian War to create tension. This is the best film vehicle yet for the overwhelming charisma of George Clooney as a quick witted, generally warm Oliver North type who will seek deadly vengeance without pause. He's matched very well by the professional polish of Nicole Kidman who is showing great flexibility in dividing her roles between serious and fun fare. --Doug Thomas
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