Peacemaker, The (4K UHD Review)
- Review Date: Jun 12, 2025
- Format: 4K Ultra HD
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Director
Mimi LederRelease Date(s)
1997 (June 24, 2025)Studio(s)
DreamWorks Pictures/Paramount (Kino Lorber Studio Classics)- Film/Program Grade: B+
- Video Grade: A-
- Audio Grade: B+
- Extras Grade: C+
Review
At a Red Army missile base in Chelyabinsk, deep in the heart of the former Soviet Union, there’s trouble brewing. With Russia’s nuclear stockpile being gradually dismantled in accordance with their START agreement with the United States, it seems that a disillusioned Russian general named Aleksandr Kodoroff (Aleksandr Baluev) has decided to earn a little extra spending cash by selling a few SS-18 nuclear warheads on the black market. Kodoroff does this by hijacking the train that’s carrying them to be decommissioned, and he covers his tracks by detonating one of the warheads to destroy the evidence, something that naturally gets the world’s attention—it’s tough to miss a 700 kiloton nuclear explosion.
Enter Dr. Julia Kelly (Nicole Kidman), the acting chair of the NSC’s Nuclear Smuggling Group. Under enormous political pressure due to the incident, the US President needs answers fast, so Kelly is placed in charge of the effort to figure out what happened until her replacement is chosen. Assigned at her own request to assist her is a decidedly unconventional military liaison—a US Army Special Forces lieutenant colonel named Thomas Devoe (George Clooney). After examining the available evidence, Devoe has a pretty good idea of what’s afoot and the international contacts and field experience to prove it. Meanwhile, Kelly’s got the authority to cut through the bullshit and make the investigation possible. So with time running out, the pair races around the globe in a frantic effort to find Kodoroff and prevent his stolen warheads from falling into the hands of someone who means to use them.
A taut and effective military/political thriller in the mold of The Hunt for Red October (1990), though with a somewhat more European feel (think Spielberg’s Munich), Mimi Leder’s The Peacemaker was newly-formed studio DreamWorks SKG’s first live-action feature film, and one of their very first DVD releases as well. Inspired in part by Andrew and Leslie Cockburn’s non-fiction book One Point Safe, it was also director Mimi Leder’s first feature—up until that point, she’d cut her teeth directing TV, including episodes of China Beach and ER (thus the Clooney connection). Speaking of which, it’s easy to forget today that at the time this film was released, Clooney was best known as a TV actor. He’d been set to star in a Green Hornet movie for Universal, but it was producer Steven Spielberg who convinced him to take this part instead. (Ironically, his next role after Tom Devoe was Bruce Wayne in Joel Schumacher’s Batman & Robin.)
The screenplay, direction, cinematography, and editing here are all commendable, combining to produce a tightly-paced actioner. But the film is smart as well—its ultimate villain (played by Marcel Iureș) has readily understandable motivations; one can easily empathize with the personal loss that drives him. Clooney delivers a very good performance, as does Kidman, and the pair has genuine chemistry, though they do play things a little cool at times. In any case, it’s refreshing to see a down-to-business male/female relationship on the big screen for a change. To the extent their chemistry works, it’s that of professional respect earned the hard way. Clooney and Kidman are also believable out in the field as US Government troubleshooters. Armin Mueller-Stahl adds a measure of gravitas as a Russian Security Service colonel who has history with Devoe, and the rest of the cast is filled with character actors, including Michael Boatman, Holt McCallany, and others you’ve seen in a million things. The Peacemaker even features a strident but effective Hans Zimmer score (post The Rock, yet pre The Thin Red Line and Gladiator).
The Peacemaker was shot on 35mm film (specifically Eastman EXR 200T 5293 stock) by cinematographer Dietrich Lohmann (Color of Night, Deep Impact) in Super 35 format using Arriflex 535 and 535B cameras with Zeiss lenses. It was finished photochemically and released in theaters at the 2.35:1 aspect ratio. For its release on Ultra HD, original camera negative and master interpositive elements were scanned in 4K. The image was digitally restored and graded for high dynamic range (compatible with both Dolby Vision and HDR10). It’s presented here by Kino Lorber Studio Classic on a 100GB disc to ensure the highest possible data rates (consistently in the 70 Mbps range for the video alone).
On the whole, this is a very good 4K image, with impressive texturing, save for optically-printed titles and transitions which exhibit the usual generation loss of resolution. But given the Super 35 process, the choice of lenses, and the particular stock used—which is designed to have an incredibly fine grain structure that renders clean detail across a wide range of lighting conditions—the overall detail is so refined looking here that it almost appears soft. Velvety is the word I would use to describe it. Every bit of detail in the negative is rendered on screen, but it’s not obvious. As a result, this image wows less by brute force than by its subtleties, which are ample. Photochemical grain is present at all times, but again it’s very light. Colors are well saturated and accurate. Yet those of you with Dolby Vision capable displays will appreciate them, because the grade here is—not dark exactly, but the shadows are incredibly deep, particularly in nighttime scenes. I can’t call this a reference quality 4K image, but it is uniquely impressive, and it certainly represents by far the best this film has ever looked on disc (it’s a big upgrade compared to previous editions).
Both discs in this set include English 5.1 and 2.0 in DTS-HD Master Audio format. The 5.1 mix appears to be the exact same track that was found on Paramount’s original Blu-ray (reviewed here at The Bits), which is fine because the mix was perfectly good in 2010 and it remains so now. The soundstage is wide across the front, with constant and lively use of the surrounds for atmospherics, music, and directional effects. You’ll hear lots of engagement when the Russian nuke train closes its doors, for panning as both trains pass local farmhouses, for the nuclear bomb blast, aircraft and helicopter flyovers, and abundant street noise and city ambience in the New York City finale. Bass is muscular when needed, and dialogue is clean at all times. New for this release is an English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio mix. None of the alternate language tracks from the Blu-ray carry over though, nor do any foreign language subs. Optional English subtitles only are included.
Both the 4K disc and the movie Blu-ray include the following special features:
- Audio Commentary with Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson
- Audio Commentary by Laurence Lerman
These are newly-created, the first track featuring a pair of film historians and the latter a noted industry journalist. Mitchell and Thompson essentially have a running conversation about the early days of DreamWorks, the genesis of the project, Steven Spielberg’s involvement in pulling it together, the kinds of actors that were considered for the various roles, and more. Lerman’s track is more of an extended essay read aloud, but it offers lots of interesting trivia and production anecdotes. Both are worth a listen for fans of the film.
To this, the Blu-ray adds the following:
- Stunt Footage (SD – 5:36)
- From the Cutting Room Floor: Deleted Scenes (SD – 3:01)
- Trailers
- The Peacemaker (HD – 2:30)
- Out of Sight (HD – 2:35)
- The Interpreter (SD – 2:26)
- Eastern Promises (HD – 2:22)
- The General’s Daughter (SD – 2:31)
- Ronin (HD – 2:29)
The two featurettes and the theatrical trailer for The Peacemaker itself are carried over from Paramount’s Blu-ray release and the original 1998 DVD. Missing from the DVD is the Teaser Trailer (SD – 1:06), several pages of text production notes, and the trio of Cast & Crew Easter egg interview clips—George Clooney (SD – 1:16), Nicole Kidman (SD – 1:01), and Mimi Leder (SD – :46). So you may wish to hang on to that to retain everything.
The Peacemaker is a film I’ve long been fond of, and it’s one that should especially appeal to fans of Tom Clancy—its story would be right at home as a Jack Ryan film, and it feels very much of a piece (pardon the pun) with the short-lived Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan TV series. The action here is tense and well paced but never over the top, the story is grounded, and the cast and crew deliver admirably on all fronts. Kino Lorber Studio Classics has produced a very nice 4K image upgrade that isn’t what I’d consider eye candy. But fans who already love The Peacemaker and know it well should be quite pleased by this Ultra HD release.
- Bill Hunt
(You can follow Bill on social media on Twitter, BlueSky, and Facebook, and also here on Patreon)