Product Details

• Actors: George Clooney, Nicole Kidman, Marcel Iures, Aleksandr Baluyev, Rene Medvesek
• Directors: Mimi Leder
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English, Russian, Serbo-Croatian
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Dreamworks
• VHS Release Date: September 1, 1998
• Run Time: 124 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (86 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0783225636
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #69,766 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
It seems that thrillers these days--even good ones--are all about scene-chewing bad guys, cute retorts fit for the Dennis Miller show, and one big special effect to end the movie. Well, something like The Peacemaker, the first feature film from DreamWorks, puts the record straight. Here is an expertly paced thriller with a sensible villain, smart instead of cute dialogue, and a focus on action instead of special effects. It's not original, just solid. It's the second of these energetic and effective thrillers that writer Michael Schiffer (Crimson Tide) has penned. The White House Nuclear Smuggling Group tracks down 10 stolen nuclear bombs after a suspicious train wreck in Russia. The acting head of the department (Nicole Kidman) and her military field officer (George Clooney) are off to Europe to track down the bombs. Instead of a Gary Oldman-Bruce Dern madman, The Peacemaker's heavy is an unknown Romanian actor (Marcul Iures) playing a Bosnian rebel who works passionately and quietly. This may be a popcorn movie, but it uses the ripe emotions of the Bosnian War to create tension. This is the best film vehicle yet for the overwhelming charisma of George Clooney as a quick witted, generally warm Oliver North type who will seek deadly vengeance without pause. He's matched very well by the professional polish of Nicole Kidman who is showing great flexibility in dividing her roles between serious and fun fare. --Doug Thomas

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Action-Based Thriller!, July 14, 2002

By	Barron Laycock "Labradorman" (Temple, New Hampshire United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Peacemaker (Widescreen Edition) (DVD)

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!

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hooks you from the very first scene, September 30, 2004

By	Alexander E. Paulsen "AlexP" (Jacksonville, Fl United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Peacemaker (DVD)

I never get tired of seeing this movie. I'm so glad I bought the DVD. This is a model what an action-suspense-politcal thriller should be.

Basically Clooney and Kidman are trying to track down stolen nuclear warheads ripped off by a formenr Soviet general and for sale on the open market.

I can't think of anything I disliked about this movie. The plot was chilling, it made "Sum of all Fears" look like a kids cartoon in comparison. Clooney and Kidman had spectacular chemistry and played their parts to the hilt.

By the time you finish this movie you'll be out of breath. It has a nightmare inducing beginning, the most spectacular car chase I've ever seen in a movie with Clooney ending it with a cold and hard finish as I've ever seen. Watch Kidman through this whole thing, her reactions are perfect.

Plus the terrorist villan was not some faceless unknown manic bent of gratuitious destruction. You actually felt for the villan, maybe even understood what drove and motivated him. What a great change for the normal way these guys are portrayed in films.

The ending is pulse-pounding sorry to overuse that phrase but it fits perfectely. Not only that it was the most accurate portrayal of defusing a bomb I've ever seen, it was truly edge-of-your-seat stuff. They did none of that "red wire - green wire" sillness you see way too often in films. This was realistic folks, believe me it was very authentic. So much so I can understand if the less technically oriented viewers would be confused with the climactic ending as to what actually happened. But it was realistic.

I rate this even a better film than Black Sunday, and for me thats saying a lot.

Heck I think I'll watch it again later.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "The Peacemaker" is super-charged with suspense!!, February 21, 2002

By	Nicholas Williams "movie, music, and book fan" (Memphis, TN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Peacemaker (1997) [VHS] (VHS Tape)

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!