The Peacemaker (1997)

A US Army colonel and a civilian woman supervising him must track down stolen Russian nuclear weapons before they're used by terrorists.

Director:

Mimi Leder

Writers:

Leslie Cockburn (article) (as Leslie Redlich Cockburn), Andrew Cockburn (article)

Stars:

George Clooney, Nicole Kidman, Marcel Iures

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
George Clooney	...	Lt. Col. Thomas Devoe
Nicole Kidman	...	Dr. Julia Kelly
Marcel Iures	...	Dusan Gavrich
Aleksandr Baluev	...	General Aleksandr Kodoroff (as Alexander Baluev)
Rene Medvesek	...	Vlado Mirich
Gary Werntz	...	Terry Hamilton
Randall Batinkoff	...	Ken
Jim Haynie	...	General Garnett
Alexander Strobele	...	Dietrich Schuhmacher
Holt McCallany	...	Mark Appleton
Michael Boatman	...	CPN Beach
Joan Copeland	...	Senator Helen Bevens
Carlos Gómez	...	Santiago
Armin Mueller-Stahl	...	Dimitri Vertikoff
Slavko Juraga	...	Stevo

Storyline

Two trains crash somewhere in Russia, one carrying a nuclear payload. A nuclear explosion follows the crash and the world is on alert... However, White House nuclear expert Dr. Julia Kelly doesn't think it was an accident... Special Operations Intelligence Officer Colonel Thomas Devoe doesn't think so either... Together they must unravel a conspiracy that goes from Europe to New York, to stop a terrorist who has no demands...

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Plot Keywords:

time bomb | army colonel | nuclear weapon | train | nuclear explosion | 

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Taglines:

In the fall of 1997, every nuclear device in the world will be accounted for... Except one.

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Genres:

Action | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and some language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Russian Serbian Bosnian Croatian Polish

Release Date:

26 September 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

El pacificador

Filming Locations:

Cremosne, Slovakia

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$12,311,939, 28 September 1997, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$41,263,140

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$110,463,140

Company Credits

Production Co:

DreamWorks

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

George Clooney dropped out of an unproduced Green Hornet adaptation to do this film.

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Goofs

In the church when attempting to disarm the bomb a button on the control panel with the 'II' symbol is visible. The 'II' symbol is the universal symbol for a 'Pause' button so why didn't then simply hit the pause button to stop the timer and prevent the bomb from going off.

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Quotes

[Losungsswort]
Julia Kelly: I need the password... What's the password?
Thomas Devoe: Hang on...
[rips duct tape and ask Hans]
Thomas Devoe: Password
Hans, German Backpacker: NO
Thomas Devoe: [to Julia] All right... Hang on...
[puts silencer on his gun and puts it on Hans left elbow]
Thomas Devoe: All right, Hans, we'll do it your way... How's the backhand? Password
Hans, German Backpacker: Hasselhoff
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in Watchman Video Broadcast: The Whirlwind (2012)

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Soundtracks

HUMORESQUE
Music by Antonín Dvorák

User Reviews

A Real Suspenseful Thriller by Mimi Leder!

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