The Peacekeeper

I'm a big fan of B movies, just interests me what the producers can pull off with limited budget and what kind of stock footage they steal, or the obvious video game cgi thats overlaced into the video.

This movie however has something that other B movies lack. A fairly descent and slightly more believable plot then the recent James Bond movies. Lundgren somewhat performs much better than his other features. It's fun to see Montel in this type of role. Keep an eye out on the dramatic Bruckheimer-like ending sequence, they pulled it off quite well.

Other than that, its definitely worth a watch if you're a fan of action movies, B movies, or Lundgren.

The Peacekeeper is an obviously familiar, but undeniably fun action vehicle for Dolph Lundgren. With the ever present 90s feel, the painfully generic title that would make Steven Seagal jealous, and enough entertaining action scenes to satisfy, The Peacekeeper is far from being the worst use of your time.

While it's an obvious Die Hard (1988) ripoff, I'd say it's a solid ripoff, and probably one of the better ones. It's Die Hard meets a Bond movie plot, with the setting of a missile silo being a little boring. The movie gets a little bogged down with its plot, but the action's loads of fun and Dolph is charismatic enough. The stakes are suitably high and the race against time didn't bother me.

Dolph Lundgren does a serviceable acting job and is helped out by Montel Williams, who gets a lot of screen time as the obligatory African-American sidekick that 90s action movies love (Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995), Under Siege (1992), Drive (1997), etc.) and he's pretty good.

The action sequences are the highlight. The long car chase near the beginning is actually excellent, and it's Bond film worthy. Definitely a high point, it may be the best action scene here. There are two or three brief shootouts and some small fights, with one long fight in a missile room being another highlight. Definitely loud, explosive, glorious B-movie action, and it's great.

One of Dolph's best 90s vehicles, this movie is underrated and is a great diversion. Seriously, name another movie that has a rooftop car chase. I wouldn't mind seeing Montel Williams again either.

Oh, and Dolph is chased down a large vent by an explosion. Things get pretty crazy.

The first thing that strikes you about the movie is the similarity of the title to the big-budget DreamWorks SKG debut movie [The Peacemaker] (starring George Clooney and Nicole Kidman and directed by Mimi Leder). Frequently movies with such cheap and obvious cash-in aspirations turn out to be: cheap, obvious and, of course, rubbish. This movie is a jolly exception. Don't be put off by Dolph Lundgren being in it, he isn't enough to undermine the movies good points.

High among those good points is the swift and exciting direction which is never better than during the spectacular roof-top car chase which occurs within the first twenty minutes. This chase is so good it could quite comfortably fit into a Bond movie featuring, as it does, eye-popping stunts, edge-of-the-seat excitement and ridiculous spectacle. While it does veer wildly into the improbable it never feels impossible and this aspect, for any action sequence, is of paramount importance. It is interesting to note that two key aspects of this chase sequence - the roof-top nature and the escape by getting out of the car just before it crashes through a parapet and down to the ground - also popped up in the same year's Bond adventure [Tomorrow Never Dies] (the motorcycle chase in Bangkok occurs partly over rooftops, the remote-controlled BMW car park chase ends by Bond getting out of the car just before it crashes through a parapet and down to the ground).

Another good point is the script. It's not consistently good but it is rather better than normal for a film that is not shown theatrically (it received it's UK premiere on Sky television not at cinemas). There are frequent one-liners which help push up the entertainment value while Roy Scheider and Michael Sarrazin share an unusual and thought-provoking plot line. Rather than demanding money and a plane to an extradition-free country, the usual demands of a nutball who has control of nuclear weapons in America (see [Broken Arrow]), betrayed Saddam Hussein-assassin Doug Murphy (Michael Sarrazin) turns up surprisingly alive though he was bombed by 'friendly fire'. His demands are for the President (Roy Scheider, the entire twilight of his career looks like it is going to be a series of DTV presidents) to commit suicide - to sacrifice his life for his country just as Murphy had (even though he had little choice about it and he survived) - on national television to stop a nuclear bomb going off in Washington D.C.

However, where this really scores over its pseudo-namesake [The Peacemaker] is that this movie accomplishes almost all it set out to, it is about as good as it could possibly be.

This movie surprised me. I usually shy away from any movie Dolph Lungdren is in, especially in the last few years. But, for some unknown reason, this movie interested me because the video box didn't give away too much of the plot and I was actually expecting an action thriller, not a Die Hard clone. As I said this movie was impressive in the way the plot was executed (except at the end, but I won't give that away) and the action sequences, although there weren't many of them, were filmed quite well. A stand out scene I guess is a car chase scene involving rooftops! (I'll say no more, its quite original). As well as that, Dolph gets some funny one-liners scattered at random throughout the movie. Not academy award winning material but worth a rental for the sheer entertainment value alone. 7/10

A surprising assemblage of talented actors came together to make this not unusual Dolph Lundgren military thriller. The story tells a neocon version of Dr. Strangelove with hints of The Rock. Rather than lampooning military paranoia, dysfunction and bureaucracy, The Peacekeeper presents us with a psychotic ex-military man who is hell-bent on personal vengeance against the president of the United States. How? by wiping out a third of the U.S.' population.

Lundgren is charged with protecting the 'black box' - a briefcase which controls the launch of a massive nuclear arsenal. On his first day on the job, the briefcase is stolen and he begins a chase which will comprise most of the remainder of the film.

Not surprising considering the cast - The Peacekeeper is better-acted than one would expect given the average quality of the script and the rather redundant and silly story. Lundgren, rarely challenged, gives the film his standard performance, Scheider and Montel Williams are very good, and Sarrazin plays the heavy well. But the entire production is hamstrung by the weak script and not very believable storyline.

The cinematography is above average for this sort of film. The directing is OK.

Recommended for Lundgren fans and fans of military fantasy.