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The Peacemaker

The Peacemaker

List Price: $14.99
Your Price: $13.49
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: VERY refreshing spec ops piece
Review: This is the most refreshing action movie I've seen in a while. Forget the critics: director Mimi Leder has delivered a very credible film. The strategic premise is realistic, and the action scenes are hot, thanks to the inspired casting of George Clooney as Special Forces colonel Devoe.

Clooney is completely unlike the sad special operatives that Hollywood has been doping us with. He's no Rambo at a funeral, no tortured soul, no reluctant anti-hero full of dark secrets, ambiguities, or self-doubt.

Instead, he reminds me of certain Navy SEALs I've met: intelligent, cocky, self-assured, grinning. Ready for immediate action. Direct, practical, and unhesitating in dealing out whatever destruction and demolition will get the job done ... fast. Clooney's character metes out punishment equally well in military and civilian settings, and he is VERY clear about why he does what he does. The man has energy and snap.

If you like the fast, decisive action of special operations, do yourself a favor and check out The Peacemaker. Bear with the muddled plot; the hard action scenes are worth the wait. The fact that overweight film critics didn't like the movie, shouldn't trouble you in the slightest. They're paid to sit in armchairs and pontificate. This movie was made for you, not for them.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "The Peacemaker" is super-charged with suspense!!
Review: Man, I don't know how many times that I have seen this movie, but every time I watch "The Peacemaker", it gets better and better and so on! "The Peacemaker" is the very first film from DreamWorks SKG, the motion picture studio that was developed by Steven Spielberg, David Geffen, and Jeffrey Katzenberg. And I just have to say that DreamWorks did a brilliant job in bringing this adrenaline-pumping thriller to the big screen! This is also the first time that stars George Clooney and Nicole Kidman have shared the screen together (Clooney starred in "Batman & Robin", Kidman starred in "Batman Forever"). "The Peacemaker" focuses on the event about a train carrying atomic warheads being mysteriously crashed in the Soviet Union, and U.S. nuclear specialist Dr. Julia Kelly (Kidman) discovers that the crash was not an accident, it was a cover-up due to the fact that the warheads have been stolen. Unexpectedly, Julia is teamed up with a gruff and brash U.S. special forces Colonel, Thomas Devoe (Clooney). And of course, Devoe and Julia must put their personal differences away in a race against time to find the remaining stolen warheads that leads to a final showdown in New York City! The fast-paced direction by Mimi Leder ("Deep Impact") was outstanding! To me, I think that Leder should direct more films like this one day, even though her directing in "Deep Impact" was just as powerful as this film. And also, I think that "The Peacemaker" is the absolute best apocalyptic thriller ever, filled with action, suspense, and surprises at every turn! "The Peacemaker" never lets up on the action for a second! To anyone that hasn't seen "The Peacemaker" before, then I urge you to go out, buy it, and get ready for George Clooney and Nicole Kidman's best film ever!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Basically, George Clooney portraying Oliver North
Review: The is a good, solid political thriller. It's probably the best of that sub-genre that does not involve Tom Clancy in some capacity.

The most interesting thing, perhaps, about the movie is to see a diehard liberal like George Clooney play a character based EXACTLY on Ollie North, right down to mannerisms and hair. I guess this film proves ol' George can act after all...

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Noisy, ho-hum action
Review: I am really amazed at the wrap this movie is getting from other reviewers. The Peacemaker seems so formula, so noisy, and so poorly cast I can't see how it shines under the piles of same-movie-different-title releases in this genre. Even as an Australian reviewer, Kidman came across to me as plastic, fake-accented, and horribly dialogued. Schiffer (Screenwriter) has done a sloppy dialogue job, where everyone talks faster than a train in an oh-so-impressive tech-speak. The attempts at emotion (as in the hotel room, where Clooney discovers for 30 seconds his humanity) are token. This is Clooney's worst role in a feature, for my part, with his cocky quips and ever-assured actions. In between his smokin'-gun Rambo activities, Dr. Kelly (Kidman) is given 30-sec scenes in which multiple things 'dawn upon her' - our plot turning points. I am not overexaggerating by saying that Schiffer's script timing and plot development are trash. As they were in Crimson Tide, his other glossy, nothing movie that ripped-off the slick, stylish The Hunt for Red October. I caution you on this movie, don't buy it, it barely passes the brain-dead-o-metre. Get it as a weekly when you've absolutely got nothing else to do.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Excellent Action-Based Thriller!
Review: Although it moves like it came from the pages of a Tom Clancy techno-thriller novel, it is really just a terrific action film that pays proper homage to the well-proven formulas of great story, fast paced sequencing, and bankable stars. Nicole Kiddman does a real star turn in this one, showing she is a very versatile and saucy type, as well as a femme fatale. yet this really is George Clooney's movie, one that shows he can safely leaves the environs of TV land for the silver screen for good. Playing the part of a street-hardened veteran who understands the way the world works outside the Washington beltway, this is a Clooney tour-de-force!

He meets one's expectations for an action hero easily, showing he can talk the talk and walk the walk. When they need to get information from a sophisticated European businessman-crook, Clooney first asks nicely, and then simply terrorizes him into giving them the information, advising Kiddman on the side that they just don't have the time to fool around with this guy. Shortly thereafter, he shows just how crusty, clever and murderous he can be in one of the most imaginative car chases and set of action scenes yet filmed in the streets of Vienna.

And the movie has barely begun to cook, with some terrific high-tech elements as well as good old fashoned skullduggery and suspense, as well, as the film reaches its climax and denouement in the streets of the Big Apple. This is a handsome film, one that is well traveled and extremely easy on the eyes. It is also plausible, given all that we have learned in the last year or so about the dangers that suround us. I can highly recommend this. Enjoy!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "The Peacemaker" is super-charged with suspense!!
Review: Man, I don't know how many times that I have seen this movie, but every time I watch "The Peacemaker", it gets better and better and so on! "The Peacemaker" is the very first film from DreamWorks SKG, the motion picture studio that was developed by Steven Spielberg, David Geffen, and Jeffrey Katzenberg. And I just have to say that DreamWorks did a brilliant job in bringing this adrenaline-pumping thriller to the big screen! This is also the first time that stars George Clooney and Nicole Kidman have shared the screen together (Clooney starred in "Batman & Robin", Kidman starred in "Batman Forever"). "The Peacemaker" focuses on the event about a train carrying atomic warheads being mysteriously crashed in the Soviet Union, and U.S. nuclear specialist Dr. Julia Kelly (Kidman) discovers that the crash was not an accident, it was a cover-up due to the fact that the warheads have been stolen. Unexpectedly, Julia is teamed up with a gruff and brash U.S. special forces Colonel, Thomas Devoe (Clooney). And of course, Devoe and Julia must put their personal differences away in a race against time to find the remaining stolen warheads that leads to a final showdown in New York City! The fast-paced direction by Mimi Leder ("Deep Impact") was outstanding! To me, I think that Leder should direct more films like this one day, even though her directing in "Deep Impact" was just as powerful as this film. And also, I think that "The Peacemaker" is the absolute best apocalyptic thriller ever, filled with action, suspense, and surprises at every turn! "The Peacemaker" never lets up on the action for a second! To anyone that hasn't seen "The Peacemaker" before, then I urge you to go out, buy it, and get ready for George Clooney and Nicole Kidman's best film ever!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The most enjoyable action/thriller since "Air Force One"
Review: This first film by Dreamworks delivers as an engrossing thriller. While it does wait a bit too long to "grip" its audience, the first part of the film still keeps the viewer's attention; and once the action starts, it doesn't stop until the rolling of the end credits. I particularly enjoyed the last thirty minutes--some of the most exciting sequence of events I have ever seen in a film. Clooney and Kidman, while not great, are believable in their roles. The soundtrack by Hans Zimmer could have been better (like his work in "The Rock"), but there are still a few instances of stirring music. With plot elements reminiscent of a 007 movie, "The Peacemaker" provides much more excitement than Bond ever could. END

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excuse me I hate to keep interrupting
Review: While 1997's prescient "Peacemaker" is a piercing wakeup call with early echoes of 9-11 and weapons of mass destruction, it is also an instrument of propaganda that could easily have oozed out of America's trigger-happy military-industrial complex. But it also goes beyond both of these cliches to try to achieve an understanding of the subverted forces fighting each other in our ever churning world.

Politics not withstanding, this is just about the finest, tightest thriller I have ever seen, and extremely fast paced. It was Dreamworks' first major thriller, a home run that vaults way out of the ballpark! They did it right. Congratulations to Mimi Leder for a first rate job. Among the many German crew members, Hans Zimmer's score is one of his best. Or anyone's best, complete with full choir.

From first frame to last, Peacemaker is a film of razor-sharp pacing, superb casting, spectacular stunts, and incredible locations. It stimulates the brain on the most primitive and sophisticated levels, as the best films should -- a sensory delight of sound, music, facial expressions, graphic action, and delightful camerawork, and crisp and often funny use of language.

I found this film totally believable. From a standpoint of cast, script, and score, we clearly have here a labor of love.

First, let's talk about George Clooney as Lt. Colonel Tom Devoe. Clooney's never been in anything this good before or since. Mimi Leder brings out the best in George. His role summons superlative comparisons such as Alec Baldwin in Red October. Or William Shatner as Captain Kirk. Will the feat ever be repeated? Heroes like this don't come along every day.

Clooney is in his element, whether screaming expletives into a helicopter radio, or testifying before a congressional committee.

I nominate Clooney's peak moments in the film were when he 1) "excuse me I hate to keep interrupting" in the congressional briefing and 2) when he captures those warheads on the Russian bridge. Righteous! He has the most important neck of any actor in Hollywood, living or dead.

Kidman, with her sharp, aggressive, professional feminity, lights up the screen! Sorry, there just wasn't time for romance or love in this life-threatening story.

From the moody richness of a a train chugging through the dark Ukrainian forest, to the crowded streets of New York, Peacemaker is rich in imagery and texture.

Look closely. There are no extras. Nothing is generic or stock. Everyone on the screen, from lead actor to those many people in the background, render perfectly convincing performances! Even minor non-speaking roles were delivered with utter authenticity.

After the sensational Mercedes car chase in Vienna and the helicopter pursuit in Russia, the pursuit of Bosnian diplomat Dusan Gavrich in the streets of New York brings the film to it's desparate climax.

The only thing I found hokey and overblown was when the Russian General Aleksandr Kodoroff first steps out of his vehicle in the smoky train station; it seemed rather staged.

But forget that. This is one of the best thrillers ever made. Intelligent, thought provoking, and precise.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One I've watched over and over
Review: I've owned this movie for years. I seem to find myself reaching for it whenever I can't make up my mind on what to watch. I think it is George Clooney's finest film. I'm an avid action movie fan and this one just never gets old. There are very few slow spots and even they add to the story instead of leaving you sighing because you want it to get on with it. I don't usually review movies but this is one that I feel pretty strongly about. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys movies that you want to watch more than once.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: stop a nuclear warhead from going off, now go
Review: a good suspense thriller/action adventure about a train robbery and nuclear wareheads on the run with terroists. Kidman and Clooney team up and try to find the people in order to stop the madness. some boring moments brim this down but the finale is great. for fans of the leads. highlight is when Clooney gets out of the car and goes over to the guy in the other car and shoots him in the chest and grabs his suitcase, just great, he walks over and unloads bullets in the guys chestal cavity, awesome.


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