This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

not as good as all the hype

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

That is a typical film of 1997, the last couple of years of Yeltsin in Post-Soviet Russia. The war is raging in ex-Yugoslavia with two dimensions: the religious fight of the Muslims not to be eliminated physically and politically on one hand, and on the other the desire of each little section of this unified federation to become independent and to join the European Union as fast as possible. The only objective of the USA in this field, or in the whole world, is to get as much out of Russia as possible: for them this period is nothing but looting. And eventually to prevent a nuclear catastrophe, provided they can loot again as much nuclear weaponry from Russia as possible.Yeltsin was dismantling the military apparatus and arsenal to please the Americans and to enable some hijackers, black-marketers, and disgruntled Soviet communists to get their vengeance as well as some profiteers to make some million dollars in a way or another. Simple isn't it, Dr. Watson?Yes, indeed. You will get slightly lost in the intricate meanders of the plot, if it is a plot. First some Russian general organizes the hijacking of some nuclear wars during their transfer from where they were to where they are supposed to be kept or destroyed. It has to look like an accident but it does not work like that to satellites who can see this was a plain criminal stealing action.The nuclear heads are supposed to be transported to Iran, but one Serbian has infiltrated the whole gang to carry out his own objective: to steal the heart of one and bring it to Bosnia for it to go in the diplomatic bag, pouch or "suitcase" of a peacemaker, i.e. a negotiator of peace for Bosnia, to New York, to the United Nations and blow himself up with the nuclear bomb.The Americans are of course supposed to prevent the nuclear heads from going to Iran, and then when they discover one has disappeared they manage to trace it and then run after it in New York. A very hectic chase. Luckily it does not last what it was supposed to last so that we can have a nice hectic chase that is after all the best part of this entertaining political fiction. The film concerns very important questions like the lack of security in the world concerning nuclear weapons; the hectic crazy situation in Russia and the world after the fall of the Berlin Wall and then the dismantling of the USSR; the ambition of the USA to be the only super power in the world; the immunity with which the USA wants to be able to intervene anywhere without any authorization from anyone except themselves. The only ones who resist that ambition are the Russians who down one US Air Force helicopter who was illegally intervening in the Russian military zone. The very bad Russians, indeed. I guess if a Russian helicopter had gotten lost in Alaska it would have been received by the Governor of Alaskan and the State Secretary of the USA with a full red carpet rolled out, flowers and a band. And then of course for the USA all other discontented people are terrorists, even if they are tied up so tightly that they only have that terroristic path to let the world know they are subjugated, enslaved and menaced with pure and simple destruction. You can now read this film twenty years later exactly when the USA have gotten so involved in terrorist or anti-terrorist wars that they are in fact helpless; when the USA are no longer the only super power because China has completely changed the game and within just a few years the USA will be the second economic power in real terms (and it is already second in PPP terms); when the USA will not impress anyone anymore with their bullying and imperialistic show of power; when the main power in this world will be a commercial alliance of about 80 countries centered around Asia and particularly China and soon India, an alliance out of which the USA excluded themselves and out of which the participants are very reluctant, for some of them at least, to let the USA come in: on a flap seat maybe but not on the stage.In other words, this film was pure propaganda for the USA as opposed to Russia, but it was nothing but the brilliant bragging of Bill Clinton who was trying to tie up the world under his own rule with the Internet managed by the Secretary of Commerce of the USA. Things have changed in twenty years and that bragging is no longer possible, even for Trump who can only moan and complain that he is the victim of a witch- hunt. The poor darling, my heart is really bleeding for him.Dr. Jacques COULARDEAU

Made in 1997, although very much relevant in today's world, The Peacemaker stars George Clooney and Nicole Kidman in this action thriller revolving around potential terrorist attacks in New York. The film takes us to a variety of countries as our two leads hunt down the men responsible for selling nuclear warheads to those hell bent on causing pain and disruption to a country they feel is responsible for destroying their families lives.The Peacemaker opens with a brilliant opening sequence where a corrupt Russian General steals nine nuclear war heads from a train transporting them across the country. In an attempt to cover up their actions they set off one of the bombs in the process, killing up to 15,000 people. The cover up however is not successful and Lt Tom Devoe (Clooney) sees straight through the smoke screen, and upon briefing the acting adviser Dr Julia Kelly (Kidman) the two dart off across the World on the trail of the missing warheads, both using very opposite techniques to find their answers. From Vienna to Eastern Europe to New York City, Clooney and Kidman do all they can to prevent one of the biggest disasters to occur in western civilisation.For starters there is nothing particularly original about this film. The premise is a slight variation on something we have seen so many times before. The problem with this is in the writing where included throughout are several clichéd moment that we have seen in many films of the same era. For example we have the typical cursing every time something bad is said or a gun is fired, we have the typical screaming sidekick teamed up with the unfazed hard man (Kidman and Clooney), and as well we have the run 'with only ten seconds to spare' and jump as the bomb explodes in the background, as a matter of fact we have that twice. It is a slight shame really considering the opening sequence is very well done, but the pacing there on in just drags until the next set piece which is then followed again by slow pacing before the next set piece. This can only be a fault in the writing where we are literally given all the stereotypes of this type of film in one two hour block. The best part about the writing is the B story involving a diplomat who has an agenda for his deadly act. The story is dripped in slowly at the beginning and then brought to the forefront for the final act. It is the best part about the story as it is something slightly different than your typical Russian baddie plot; however it isn't particularly the norm that a B story actually completely overtakes the main plot of a film for the final thirty minutes of it. It makes the opening ninety minutes feel a little clunky and shows how weak the main plot actually is.Some of these issues could be down to the direction, which although not entirely bad does seem a little flat. Mimi Leder does manage to get a decent performance from Clooney but Kidman doesn't seem out of her comfort zone. The opening sequence is very well directed, and the music really adds to the drama, but the other action sequences seem pretty lifeless, especially the chase scene through the streets of Vienna. Also something that was heavily noticed whilst watching was the amount of time taken to chase this man throughout New York without the bomb going off when he had put a time limit on the bomb for a much shorter amount of time. Put it this way an entire third act which is about twenty minutes of screen time told us it was only about seven minutes in their world. It was definitely not plausible and there is a way they could have got over this.The film isn't entirely bad but there is enough wrong with it to make it not particularly good. The tired clichés really take over after such a promising start to proceedings. The film could have, and probably should have, been better but the lifeless way in which the story was told, and the dull action sequences, really hindered the possibilities the film could have had. The music was one of the standout points, composed by Hans Zimmer, and from knowing his work in this day and age it is very obviously his work and the soundtrack booms over every tiny piece of action, unfortunately the action fails to live up to the score. I can't particularly say I was disappointed with this film as the opening scene was definitely one I was pleased to have seen, the thing is I could have happily turned it off after the opening twenty minutes and have ended up seeing a much better film.2 / 5For more reviews: www.tolli-movieworld.blogspot.com

Well, the 5.9 average doesn't do justice to this movie. The truth is that 'The Peacemaker' is a masterpiece and the reason is simple: it's captivating, thrilling and engages the human mind without relying on cgi effects but on masterfully directed subtle action scenes. I do not want to analyze it more because if I do I will miss the point. I will only say this: in many reviews we can read that it's a decent film and has nothing new to offer to the genre... In reality this is the exceptional thing about this film: it takes common place material, used again and again, and transforms them to something brilliant. This is one definition for the word masterpiece on cinema! I loved it!

The main problem with this movie is the notion of a Bosnian Serb as a nuclear terrorist, especially in the United States. There's just no historical basis for it. If he was just a madman acting alone, driven to madness by the death of his daughter, it might have made a little more sense, but he had organized help in the movie. The notion of any kind of organized Bosnian Serb terrorist attack against the U.N., also resulting in the deaths of large numbers of American citizens, flies in the face of historical reality. If the terrorists had been suicidal Islamist terrorists, it would have actually been a bit more believable, at least from a historical standpoint, although certainly offensive to some. This movie is deeply flawed, from a political perspective, and ultimately comes across as a piece of political propaganda.