O Pacificador

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

Terrorist films abound these days, as though putting stories about terrorists who make mistakes is supposed to make us all feel more safe. This taut, well-written and finely acted espionage film is different that those currently in front of us: made in 1997 this film in retrospect had a better grip on just how frightening terrorism is and how two-sided the implications of danger usually are.

Filmed with never let your guard down suspense, the story is rather simple: nuclear weapons are circulating with one headed to the US and the military joins with science in tracking the carrier of the bomb. George Clooney is in fine form as Lt. Col. Thomas Devoe, professional yet charismatic and his scientific colleague is Dr. Julia Kelly, with Nicole Kidman delivering a polished performance. And for once we get to see a terrorist as a person: Dusan Gavrich (Marcel Iures), despite his mission to destroy us, is a vulnerable, bruised human being. The supporting roles are well handled by such strong character actors as Armin Mueller-Stahl.

Cinematographer Dietrich Lohmann keeps the action lively with multi-angled shots and surveillance scenes and the tension is well maintained with the music score by Hans Zimmer. But in the final analysis the credit for the success of this film lies in the capable hands of Mimi Leder. A terrific little suspense film. Grady Harp

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.

A US Army colonel (George Clooney) and a civilian woman (Nicole Kidman) supervising him must track down stolen Russian nuclear weapons before they are used by terrorists.

My biggest problem with this film is that it seemed to me to be miscast. George Clooney is pretty good, and he plays the smarmy role he is great at doing (the modern day Cary Grant). Nicole Kidman seems off, though. The role never seems to fit her, and there never seems to be a clear understanding of who she is: bumbling, nervous librarian? Or assertive world-class diplomat? Not surprisingly, the movie has sort of faded into obscurity, and will probably continue to do so as time goes on.

A lot of so-called action directors should take some time off to watch this movie and learn from it. We do not need to see a dodgy cgi train crash when we can have things the subtle way, just a couple being awoken by the distant destruction. We don't need to see a carriage load of soldiers cut down with machine guns in a choreographed ballet sequence, just the arcing laser sights through an open doorway. We don't need ultra evil bad guys who kill off their companions in sudden rages, just a compassionate man on a disillusioned mission for peace. We don't need the 'obligatory' kiss between the co stars at the finale, just the promise of future things.

Peacemaker is politically unbelievable, it has some seriously ill thought out moments. But at the end of the day it brings a freshness to sequences we've all seen a million times before, it lets us feel the emotions of ALL the characters. Intelligent, stylish, and great fun to boot. Worth a couple of hours of anyone's evening.