The Peacekeeper (1997)

User Rating:

4.7/10   

Director:

Frédéric Forestier

Writers:

Robert Geoffrion (writer)
Stewart Harding (writer)

Release Date:

15 January 1998 (Italy)

Genre:

Action

Tagline:

Mass destruction just met its match.

Plot:

When a terrorist group steals the US President's personal communications computer for launching the US arsenal in case of war, only a heroic Major has the key to prevent a Presidential assassination or a nuclear holocaust.

Plot Keywords:

Washington D.C. | Nuclear Weapons

Cast

Dolph Lundgren	...	Major Frank Cross
Michael Sarrazin	...	Lt. Colonel Douglas Murphy
Montel Williams	...	Lt. Colonel Northrop
Roy Scheider	...	President Robert Baker
Christopher Heyerdahl	...	Hettinger
Allen Altman	...	McGarry
Martin Neufeld	...	Decker
Monika Schnarre	...	Jane
Tim Post	...	Nelson
Carl Alacchi	...	Holbrook
Chip Chuipka	...	Davis
Roc LaFortune	...	Abbott
Gouchy Boy	...	Robinson
Phil Chiu	...	Kong
Serge Houde	...	Secretary of Defence

Also Known As:

Hellbent (USA) (working title)
Red Zone (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and language.

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

UK:18 (DVD rating) (1997) | Finland:K-16 | South Korea:15 | France:U | Germany:18 | Netherlands:16 | Singapore:NC-16 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Company:

Filmline International

Trivia:

The two sets of target coordinates are N 43.96253 W 103.37880, which is near the small town of Rockerville, roughly halfway between Rapid City and Mount Rushmore; and N 38.90505 W 77.01616, which is a mile from both the Capitol and White House.

Quotes:

Lt. Colonel Douglas Murphy: Wanna be a hero just like me? You're running out of time to save the world!

Movie Connections:

Edited into Traitor's Heart (1999)

Has some good bits but, like Lungren himself, it's pretty bland

Major Frank Cross faces a court martial for an act of mercy he showed to Turkish refugees. However the President intervenes and employs him to protect the black bag that contains the missile launch code for the US nuclear weapons. On his first day, Cross is attacked by terrorists and loses the black bag. He follows the terrorists to the silo and teams up with Kt Con Northrop to stop the launch. Meanwhile the President is on-route to meet the demands of the terrorist - however their demands are not ordinary.

Oh good - more `terrorists with nukes' plots, throw in a bit of Die Hard and we're away. The story here is really daft and has major plot drivers that aren't explained. It's not a bad plot overall - in fact the demands and the motives of the terrorists are quite clever and interesting. However it is a Dolph Lungren film so it's not going to be that great…..

The action scenes are OK but rarely believable, eg a rooftop car chase is fun but stupid! The terrorist's main demand brings the greatest tension, but their motives make them seem too sympathetic and when they become ruthless it is harder to accept. Outside of this `demand' I thought it was mostly poor, most of the plot seemed to exist to create action scenes that didn't deliver.

Lungren is as good as ever - ie, mediocre. He does his strong man stuff well, but he lacks charisma and relateability. Scheider is OK as the President and plays out his dilemma well - however the script lets him off too lightly. Chat show host Montel is actually OK as Northrop, but I just couldn't forget that it was Montel!

Overall this is bland video entertainment - it's not terrible, but it's not good either.