O Pacificador

This is an action packed apocalyptic thriller from director Mimi Leder. A renegade Russian diverts nuclear warheads, scheduled for dismantling, into the hands of a Bosnian diplomat still blaming the West for the death of his wife and daughter. A well planned train wreck is used to cover up the diabolical theft of the weapons. A race ensues to find one last missing nuke. A crack special forces Colonel(George Clooney)and a U.S. nuke expert(Nicole Kidman)track down the lone missing warhead targeted for the United Nations.

A very impressive opening showing the weapon laden train winding through southern mountains of the former Soviet Union. Plenty of action and violence. The cock-sure Clooney does his own stunts and incorporates his own brand of humor. You can't help but like him in this role. Miss Kidman is not only beautiful, but appears smart as a whip. There seems to be a very good working chemistry between the two. This breathless thriller also stars: Armin Mueller-Stahl, Marcel Lures, Alexander Strobele and Michael Boatman.

Did you know there's literally hundreds of nuclear warheads scattered throughout the old Soviet Union ? Bad news for humanity but good news for Hollywood producers who want to make a post cold war thriller featuring stolen nuclear warheads getting into the wrong hands but this type of scenario has become over familiar . While women watch " Disease of the week " TVMs I guess the boys will be watching " stolen nuclear warhead of the week " on another channel

So what makes THE PEACEMAKER different from a mediocre Tom Clancey novel or a James Bond movie ? Good question and one that I can't really come with a good answer to . I could point out that the bad guy is a White European Christian but if I remember correctly the plot of THE SUM OF ALL FEARS was changed so instead of Arabs we had WASPish Neo Nazis as the bad guys . In fact I'm struggling to remember when the bad guys weren't whacko white guys , would it be GOLDFINGER by any chance ?

I guess the movie deserves some credit in mentioning the motives of the villain who is misguided rather than evil , and the motives don't exactly put the United States in a very good light but of course it's left to an American special forces officer to save the day and yes there's a scene where the hero attempts to defuse a bomb that has a timer that helpfully lets the audience know how many seconds are left to detonation YAWN

THE PEACEMAKER isn't a terrible movie . In it's favour it's much better than another Hollywood blockbuster dealing with the Balkans conflict namely BEHIND ENEMY LINES but is in no way comparable to something like SAVIOR . It's also infinitely inferior to a mainly forgotten British production called SEVEN DAYS TO NOON and it's a movie that is more interested in making money at the box office than giving people sleepless nights in a world where a stolen nuclear warhead might explode anywhere

A nuclear blow up in deepest Russia turns out to be a terrorist act that triggers rapid response by USA government. The Pentagon to avoid the uranium robbers from utilizing to wreak atomic war against the U.S.A . assigns the dangerous mission to two high officers ( attractive Nicole Kidman and impulsive George Clooney) . The expert field agent Clooney and spunky but unexperienced Kidman must solve the risked complications on the East pursuing nasties suspected of smuggling soviet nuclear arms into nations less civilised and stable . They get involved in the tangled chase of the Servian terrorists that run across countries until Iran . Meanwhile, they go to Vienna , there are are helped by a good Russian general (Armin Mueller Stahl) . The final terror arises when the terrorist (Marcel Iures as meek musician professor in the film's best acting ) behind it all is looking vengeance and goes to N.Y where happens a moving ending in the midst of a confusing crowd.

This exciting movie contains suspense , thrills, twists and turns , rattling action, and implacable intrigue . The yarn is interesting though based on fictitious deeds and barely credible tale . There are suspense, thriller and action, and the scenario is varied and spectacular . The flick is fast moving and interesting , as a highlight after another piles up . Extraordinary nail-biting scenes, specially when there happens the helicopter attacks on some amazing images and final climax in New York streets . George Clooney's performance as hard-boiled colonel is excellent, he hands perfectly the role ; cocky Clooney along with elegant Nicole Kidman form a perfect couple as troubleshooter team dispatched to trace terrorists . Stirring and moving score fitting perfectly to action by today prestigious Hans Zimmer . Colorful and adequate cinematography by Dietrich Lohmann . The motion picture is well directed by Mimi Leder in his first movie . She's a good filmmaker , usually for TV (¨ER¨ played by Goran Visnjic who appears as secondary in The peacemakers) and occasionally for cinema (Deep impact , The Code). Rating : above average . Well worth watching .

There is nothing in "The Peacemaker" that is new or something we haven't seen done before in an action movie. Yet the movie serves its purpose; to bring some mindless entertainment with some nicely done action.

Nicole Kidman in a main part of an action movie? Yes, Nicole Kidman in the main part of an action movie and who would have ever known, she is actually believable in her part but her acting is just a bit too standard and boring but yet like I said before, her characters remains believable. Thumbs up for that! But the best roles are played by George Clooney and Armin Mueller-Stahl, who is always great in a movie.

The movie's opening is really a memorable one and is one of the very best action movie openings I have ever seen along with "The Rock", which was made one year earlier. After that the movie looses some of it's power and pace and we begin losing interest until the next action sequence occurs. Yes, it truly are the action sequences that are the highlights of the movie and make this movie a watchable one.

The visual style of the movie is also what makes this movie above average. The cinematography by Dietrich Lohmann gives the movie a cool action movie feeling. Dietrich Lohmann unfortunately died not much later during or shortly after completing the movie "Deep Impact".

The music by Hans Zimmer is most excellent. Zimmer and co really set up some new standards for action movie soundtracks in the nineties.

Standard action movie but well executed!

7/10

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When nuclear warheads get stolen during decommissioning in Russia, American military agents Thomas Devoe and Julia Kelly start to try and track their movements before they get into the wrong hands. Julia's intelligence background and Thomas' more direct approach don't gel too well, but they must recover the weapons before they are used in a terrorist strike against the US.

This starts well – with the detonation of a nuke in rural Russia, and indeed it goes on quite well from there. The story is the basic 'terrorist with stolen nuke' story but it has sufficient ability to rise above the norm to be quite enjoyable. The odd-couple of Devoe and Kelly isn't made too much of and it avoids that pitfall. The action scenes are handled well and, though lacking in flair, they do contain plenty of tension and excitement.

The cast really help – in particular Clooney. Clooney takes what could have been just a one dimensional tough military role and adds layers to it. His violence is just beneath the surface and it shows in his face and eyes. At times he does what is expected of him – but for the most he lifts the role and the film. Kidman also does well – at times she is a screaming side-kick, but she also has a bit of depth there too. The support cast never really get beyond ethnic stereotype – only Armin Mueller-Stahl has a good role. There are some interesting roles given to now famous people – Boatman (Carter in Spin City) and, to complete the ER coonnection between star and director, Goran Visnijc in a tiny role.

Overall this is a standard story. But a top-class Clooney and plenty of good, tense action scenes make this much better than the average stolen bomb flick.