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Masterful Movie

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

"Peacemaker" joyfully rips off "The Hidden," "Highlander," and half a dozen other S-F flicks, but you won't really care. This could be a pretty straightforward thriller without even resorting to the S-F elements. (This is a good thing, too, because it's obvious that the director and producer have no desire to shoot major S-F scenes. The arrival of the "rover" ship is stock footage...you never see it on the ground. The one scene of an alien healing his hand is pretty simple stop-motion. There are no futuristic weapons.) On the other hand, there are plenty of car crashes. Good, old-fashioned physical effects rule the day.The plot and writing are so-so, but serviceable. I'm used to being yanked several different ways during a movie, but I honestly didn't know for sure which alien was "good" and which was "bad" until about 2/3 of the way through the film.Robert Forster and Robert Davi turn in satisfactory performances. Lance Edwards makes a valiant attempt to simulate some weird speech impediment throughout the film, but doesn't really pull it off. (He's just learned to speak English by watching TV all night...sound familiar?) Hilary Shepard just plain chews up the scenery. Still, they all work together and nobody stands out as being way superior or inferior to the other members of the cast.It's a B-movie that stands just a little bit taller than most of the other dreck out there.

Due to budgetary limitations, this movie isn't quite up to the same standard as similar films from the Eighties/early Nineties that it was clearly influenced by (for example, THE HIDDEN, DARK ANGEL, and THE TERMINATOR). The use of familiar stock footage from BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS to portray the alien's arrival on Earth is particularly disappointing. However, despite these problems, PEACEMAKER is still a highly entertaining sci-fi/action hybrid that has been undeservedly overlooked and is ripe for rediscovery. It's also one of the few films in which the gorgeous and talented B movie actress Hilary Shepard was given a leading role.

This pleasingly straightforward and unpretentious low-budget sci-fi/action rehash of "Starman" and "The Hidden" depicts two alien adversaries -- brutal escaped convict Yates (the almighty Robert Forster in peak nasty form) and dedicated cop Townshend (hunky Lance Edwards) -- landing on Earth and proceeding to duke it out between themselves, causing a great deal of death and destruction in the process. Caught in the middle of the aliens' lunatic fray is Dr. Dori Caisson (the gorgeous, but extremely annoying Hilary Shepard), a fiery, tart-tongued pathologist who cuts loose with an endless stream of groan-inducing stupid one-liners ("The only difference between a brown nose and a s**thead is depth perception") and dutifully doffs her duds for the obligatory gratuitous sex scene.Efficiently directed in a taut, punchy, streamlined fashion by underrated B-movie maestro Kevin S. ("Witchboard," "Night of the Demons") Tenney (who also wrote the derivative, but functional script), "Peacemaker" has the right rousing stuff to pass muster as a really satisfying flick: a peppy, barnstorming pace which rarely flags, accomplished, hyper-kinetic cinematography by Thomas Jewett (the manic Steadicam work is especially strong), a furiously pile-driving score by Dennis Michael Tenney, fine acting from an able cast (besides Forster and Edwards in powerhouse leads, pockmarked tough guy Robert Davi as a gruff police sergeant, Bert Remsen as an amiable coroner and Wally Taylor as a friendly hospital security guard are on hand to give sturdy supporting performances), copious and often quite gory violence, and, most importantly, the wildly out-of-control and adrenaline-charged full-bore action scenes are executed with tremendous hair-raising verve (said action includes frenetic foot chases, guys crashing through doors and glass windows, mucho painful hand-to-hand combat, frenzied firefights, heavy falls from high places, and one particularly awesome protracted automobile pursuit set piece). Only a lousy sense of tiresomely smartaleck humor detracts somewhat from this otherwise nicely dynamic, heart-racing and entertaining little winner.

This movie was one of the more fun ones that I've seen in a while. There isn't 2 minutes that go by without explosions, gunshots, car chases, and other fun treats. Peacemaker is a movie that, when you first start watching, you think will be a big waste of time. Nope, just the opposite. This movie is packed with testosterone pumped fun. After about a minute, when the action started to pick up, I knew already that this wasn't going to be your average, boring B-movie. Yep, it is a B-movie, but even though the plot is hokey, it manages to pull out a few twists and turns that keeps you guessing who the hero is, and more importantly, it keeps you interested. One of the only flaws is bad dialogue, with some corny one-liners and such. But, I suggest that if you spot this at your video rental store on a Friday night, and you're in the mood for some fast-paced action scenes, go for it.